Year 7: Swords of Injustice Season 2

## Vengeance

> *"Fare thee well, distant shores, lands of pain and sorrow. A portrait colored gold, brushed by foes foul and free. Oh, what menace did prowl, struck down under bright sun. Lives taken, wonders broken, that riches cross the sea. A vain triumph come home, wealth collected in blood."*
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> *Behold and celebrate those who would monger... war. So falls decency, a prize for all to see. Eagle hearts take flight; blood runs at first light!*
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**Swords of Injustice Season 2**, named "Vengeance," is the twenty-sixth season of the ongoing Faction War. One of the Inquisitor known as Vela has set out to foreign lands under the command of Astrea. There, she found an empire filled with riches and exotic goods, all worth plundering. Such plunder was what she returned to Heathmoor with, together with one single prisoner. However, are the stories of grand conquest, told by Vela and her crew, actually true or are they embellishments that hide a coming storm...?

## Overview

> Sent across the sea to explore the New World, Conquistador Vela has returned to Heathmoor with the stolen riches of a fallen civilization.
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Whispers of a New World recently reached the Horkos. The brutal explorer Conquistador Vela set sail with a fleet to investigate. What she found exceeded all rumors: vast cities of gold, the precious metal plentiful as mud. But this civilization would not suffer invasion so easily. They challenged the Conquistadors to fight at a set time and a place – an odd custom Vela pretended to agree to, before she ambushed them.

Now the Horkos return in triumph. Obscene amounts of gold and treasure fill Vela's Castle. But her greatest prize of all is the enemy combatant she's captured: the strongest warrior from the New World. Many Horkos lives were lost in taking the prisoner. Kept caged and hidden, this spectacular fighter will soon be unveiled before Astrea for a public execution.

Until then, the Horkos celebrate.

## Features

### The Stolen Empire

The Conquistadors have returned from their journey to the New World with vast hoards of gold. The Horkos war machine now funded beyond belief, warriors gather inside Conquistador Vela’s castle to celebrate the boundless might of their order. Revelries, feasts and festivities await, where all will marvel at a most prized trophy: a caged warrior from the stolen empire.

Partake in the launch of the season to earn rewards from the Event Pass and unlock unique event loot. Available only from June 15th to July 6th.

### Hero Skin

This second season offers a new Hero Skin to the next Hero: the Warmonger. What is offered is the visuals of Conquistador Vela. Tasked with a crucial mission by Astrea herself, she sailed to the New World, where she found an empire of gold. Through deception, ruthlessness and barbarity, Vela decimated this civilization, and took its unbelievable treasures for herself. Now, she returns to Heathmoor as a Horkos hero, living proof that the strength of their Order knows no bounds.

### Hero Update

Some changes will be coming to the live game at the start of the season, primarily small changes for Nuxia, Warden and Hitokiri, and some quality of life changes:

* Nuxia Traps now are slightly faster, from 400ms to 300ms, while the transition timing from their respective attack into trap has been changed to accompany this change (attack-to-trap timing is 100ms later).
	+ **Developer's Notes**: *Nuxia's changes to her Trap timings were found to be successful in the Y7S1 Testing Grounds, so now we integrate her changes into the Live game. The Testing Grounds showed that with these timings, players were unable to react to Traps, so this should be a strong boost to her core move set.*
* Warden's Side Heavy Finishers are faster and have better and flatter hitboxes to hit external opponents. Shoulder bash can also be initiated into the Front Dodge as early as 100ms, down from 300ms.
	+ **Developer's Notes**: *Warden has been underperforming for a while, especially in group fights and at initiating offense in 1v1 scenarios. With these changes, the hero should be better equipped to hit opponents around them, as well as having a better way to get into Shoulder Bash from a front dodge.*
* Hitokiri has received a few changes to make their Opener Heavy perform better.
	+ Opener Heavies now possess Hyper Armor as early as 500ms into an Uncharged attack, and have a minimum charge time of 300ms (down from 400ms), making an Uncharged Heavy Opener 700ms down from 800ms. As a result, an Uncharged Heavy Opener deals slightly less damage.
	+ Zone Attack now has a better trajectory to match the weapon's visual.
	+ Chain timing from a Heavy Opener into a Chain Heavy has been adjusted to 200-400ms from 366-400ms.
	+ **Developer's Notes**: *Hitokiri has also been underperforming, and so we're doing some changes to help the hero get into their offense better. With Uninterruptible Stance on their Heavy Openers, we are hoping that Hitokiri is in a slightly better position as the hero should be safer when using these attacks to initiate offense. Their shorter minimum charge time should also help in making these attacks more potent. We've also adjusted the chain link timing after Heavy Attacks so that Hitokiri's chain offense comes out at a more reasonable timing, giving the hero better pressure. Finally, Hitokiri's Zone Attack should have better reach and hit opponents around better.*
* Aramashu's Blade Blockade has had its stamina cost adjusted: now costs 10 Stamina overall, instead of costing 5 on a successful block and 15 on an unsuccessful block (attempting a block when there is no incoming attack).
	+ **Developer's Notes**: *Aramusha's Blade Blockade had an extra penalty on whiff that made it extra punishing, but also rewarded using the move as a recovery cancel too rewarding, so we decided to switch around the stamina costs a bit. Overall, this is a buff for the hero on miss, but a nerf on successful blocks, which should even out over time.*
* Jormungandr can now perform Ouroboros Might (chain Zone) while out-of-lock. (not actually in the patch, will be fixed in a later patch)
* Training Mode change: Added a new option for opponent Bots in the Training Arena, called "No Block". Intent is to allow players to freely attack bots without them accidentally blocking due to having their guard in the designated direction (most applicable to Hero bots with static guard).

For more concise information about patch notes, see here.

### Testing Grounds

A new round of Testing Grounds arrives, and with it, it offer a second round for Lawbringer while offering changes to Legion Kick bashes.

* Lawbringer has received some additional changes to his kit from the last Testing Grounds. Below, changes marked in *italics* are new.
	+ Chains are now free to be any three-hit chain, meaning he can perform light after light.
	+ Heavy Openers can be followed up by a guaranteed Light follow-up. Guaranteed Light follow-ups now chain to Finishers.
	+ Mid-chain bash given a new animation (*has been made smoother compared to last Testing Ground*). Slower and feintable.
	+ Long Arm changed so that it is not guardbreak vulnerable.
		- *No longer drains or pauses Stamina.*
		- *No longer can be initiated during Guardbreak.*
	+ *Impale changes reverted. The changes was as follows: Imaple is now an Opener, but leads into a chain attack with reduced damage. No longer wallsplats if not fully held to a wall.*
		- *Impale after Parry is now slower, so is only guaranteed on Light Parry.*
	+ Chain Heavies now possess Uninterruptible Stance. Top Heavies do not stun anymore.
		- *Stun on Blind Justice (Top Heavy Parry Punish) removed. Damage also reduced.*
		- *Heavy Finishers have had their Uninterruptible Stance reverted.*
		- *Damage on Chain and Finisher Heavies reduced.*
	+ All Enhanced Lights are not Enhanced anymore.
	+ Zone Attack is now an Opener, but now has normal recoveries.
	+ *Light Riposte (Light Parry Punish) damage increase reverted.*
	+ *Back Throw range reduced.*
	+ *Parry branch to Heavy Ripostes increased.*
* All Heroes with Legion Kicks (500ms forward dodge bash) will have their timings adjusted. The speed changes are not representative of who will get the changes and at what speed, as the Heroes who received the changes are just meant to be benchmarks for data collection. Categories are as follows: non-feintable Bashes, feintable Bashes, and Bashes on Heroes without any other Forward Dodge Attack All categories of Bashes have been adjusted to be 466ms, 433ms, and 400ms to test which would be adequate for each category.
	+ Non-feintable Bashes:
		- Gryphon and Shugoki's Bash are now 466ms.
		- Centurion and Kyoshin's Bash are now 433ms.
		- Jiang Jun and Gladiator's Bash is now 400ms.
	+ Feintable Bashes:
		- Zhanhu's Bash is now 466ms.
		- Shinobi's Bash is now 433ms.
		- Jormungandr's Bash is now 400ms.
	+ Bashes without any other dodge attack:
		- Conqueror's Bash is now 466ms. However, branching into the Bash during the dodge has been increased to 300ms from 100ms.
		- Lawbringer's Bash is now 433ms.

For more details about this Testing Ground, see this page, together with the previous TG iteration of Lawbringer.

### Hero Fest

The mini-events known as "Hero Fests" continue this season. Aside from giving a spotlight to the particular Hero by making them free-to-use for that week, they will be cheaper to purchase by 33%, have two Symbols and one Emblem sticker assigned to them that will be obtained upon log in, and finally a unique Execution for them.

Hero Fests will now occur three times per title update, up from two of last year. This means each season will offer six Heroes a fest per season, resulting in 24 Heroes receiving it a year.

The first three Heroes to receive this Fest this season will be Warlord on July 6th, Valkyrie on the 13th and Gryphon on the 20th. TBA.

### Battle Pass

> Another battlepass is here. Through the hundred tiers, get access to the new collections of items that you'll be able to unlock as you progress through the free or premium pass. Battle Pass and season content will be themed around the treasures brought back by the Conquistadors and the culture from where those riches originated from.
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The Conquistadors journeyed to the New World and decimated an entire civilization in the name of Horkos. Now they have returned to Heathmoor, bringing with them amounts of gold previously thought unimaginable to further fund their war efforts. The Conquistadors have also returned with weapons and armors they traded for before the pillaging, made from the idols and valuables of this powerful civilization.

Bring your customization to a whole new level with some flair of a stolen empire for your character's look through the 100 Tiers of rewards available for all heroes, all worth over a million Steel! For the premium tier, there is included a Unique Execution where you play hot potato with your foe, and a special Signature showing off your affinity with the beasts through XXX. As this pass is seasonal, progression through the Pass will reset at the end of the season.

#### Free & Premium Pass

The Season Pass has two ranks: the Free Pass and the Premium Pass. All players will have access to the Free Pass, earning rewards which include embossings, ornaments, an emblem outline, color swatches, paint patterns and more. Rewards are earned every few tiers.

The Premium Pass on the other hand offers the bulk of rewards, such as new signatures, new weapons, new executions, new effects, and more. Premium Pass owners will still receive rewards from the Free Pass. The Premium Pass also offers +10% Battle Points, the points necessary to progress through the Battle Pass tiers.

As both Pass' progression are shared, a player is able to upgrade to a Premium Pass and receive all rewards they would have gotten if they had purchased the Premium Pass from the start.

#### Notes

Take note that the purpose of the Battle Pass is to guarantee rewards for players, compared to how all rewards were based around random drops post-match or scavenger crates. The Battle Pass however will not replace any current system of cosmetics and loot gain, such as the above mentioned random drops, any event loot or the content of the week.

Content of the Battle Pass, even for the Premium Pass, will only be character customization items and consumables, preventing a pay-to-win model. All tiers are also visible to Free Pass owners, so there are no hidden rewards. However, the exclusive rewards in the Premium Pass may become unobtainable at the end of the season.

Progression through the tiers of either Passes can be hastened with Steel, skipping either 1, 5 or 20 tiers at once. The price for hastening progress is static through the tiers and between both ranks of Battle Passes.

### Onboarding Changes

Changes have been made to the Onboarding experience for new and existing players with the objective of streamlining and clarifying the Trials and providing a smoother bridge to the multiplayer gamemode.

* Major changes are:
	+ Essential knowledge is taught, and frustration elements are reduced throughout the Trials.
	+ Apprentice Trials and Warrior Trials are now both part of the Onboarding flow.
	+ All Trials are unlocked from the start so that they can be skipped if desired.
	+ Stamina Trial is cut, as it is instead taught contextually when needed.
	+ Scoring and Secondary Objectives are removed, removing unnecessary learning experiences such as "Guard Break after a Parry"
	+ Adding a PvAI Dominion match, with the intent of giving new players a way to get familiar with our main game mode, with the safety of fighting only Bots; added a "How To Play" Dominion page at the start of this PvAI match.
* Rewards:
	+ Collective reward remains the same.
	+ New players receive the rewards when all Trials are completed, including the PvAI Dominion match.
	+ Existing players will still be able to receive any remaining rewards when they have completed all the Trials. This should be much easier, as there is no need to complete difficult Secondary Objectives such as winning the 1v2 without getting hit).
	+ ***Developer's Notes:*** *Please note that all rewards can only be received once; if you previously received the Steel rewards you will not be eligible once again.*

## Midseason Changes

> "*Xihuala qui* (come to me). *Xihuala qui*. *Xihuala qui*! Let the hunt begin."
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* New Hero - the Ocelotl
	+ Embody the Ocelotl and unleash your vengeance against those who challenge you with your Macuahuitl and Tepoztopilli. Stalk opponents, and when the time is right, strike them with overwhelming ferocity.
	+ The Ocelotl hail from the great Aztec Empire. Master hunters, their name means “Jaguar Warrior” in their native tongue of Nahuatl. The Ocelotl stalks their enemies with predator patience -- only to tear them to shreds in moments. Efficient and calculating, they wield a macuahuitl club and tepoztopilli spear to maul their prey as the situation warrants. They are ferocious fighters who never forget a grudge.
* New Armor sets for the Vikings, Wu Lin and Outlanders
	+ Aboard their ships, the Conquistadors returned to Heathmoor with inconceivable amounts of gold – so much so that the Order of Horkos is now swimming in riches. With more gold than they know what to do with, new weapons and armors have been forged, bearing the iconography of the civilization they raided. Not in honor of them, but as a sign of Horkos’ ultimate supremacy over land both old and new.
* New Armor Variation sets for the Shinobi
* New Event Pass coming with the Ocelotl
* Three more Hero Fests: Peacekeeper, Raider, Medjay
* Balance changes for Jormungandr, Centurion and Nuxia
* Shadows of the Hitokiri Event Throwback
* More TBA'd

## Gallery

### Images

Vengeance Decadent Shard 2.pngVengeance Decadent Shard 5.PNG
### Video

For Honor- Year 7 Season 2 - Vengeance Launch Trailer
## Trivia

* The new Hero being Meso-American was hinted early on, ever since the first Warrior's Den livestream of the Year 7 Season 1. It was hinted at via the presence of an Aztec death whistle prop, lined up with other For Honor props and decorations in the background of the livestreams.