Year 6: Lost Horizons

## Lost Horizons

> *"Within Heathmoor, there may have been some forgotten worlds, some forgotten stories, mythology that has yet to be uncovered. We want to dive into that and tell that story."*
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Lost Horizons is the sixth year of For Honor and refers to all changes and new heroes that will be brought about this year, during Seasons 21-24, starting with Golden Age.

Year 6 will introduce two new heroes, one in Y6 season 2 and another in Y6 season 4, together with new event content, updated maps, extensive Hero reworks and other cosmetic goods. With the story being focused on "relics," new Hero skins will be tailored to tell the story of these mythic objects. Other changes such as Hero balance, bug fixes and quality of life touch-ups are to be expected.

## Overview

In Year 6, the world of For Honor is getting bigger and it starts with the arrival of a new group of heroes presented in Y5S4, the Outlanders.

Venturing from the outside, the Outlanders will view the For Honor world under a new lense but also impact Heathmoor with novel forms of combat and cultures.

The first of this group, the Pirate, bring with them multiple relics they have collected across their different travels. These relics will uncover these lost horizons and forgotten mythologies of Heathmoor.

These relics will be unveiled one by one each season and will help push the boundaries of new themes that will be explored.

* During the Golden Age season, the Chalice was revealed to be a precious vessel for dragon blood that Lord Ramiel drank out of to attain immortality.
* During the Curse of the Scarab season, the Scarab Bracelet was brought home by Bolthorn Raven-Hands, only to unleash a curse upon the land.
* During the Demon Dagger season, demons escaped their prison within the Myre, and Meiko the Yokai Slayer used the Demon Dagger to lock them back in.
* During the Shattered Fates season, the Arabians held the Celestial Sphere which could foretell fate, and Commander Ravier wished to keep that knowledge all to herself.

Unlike previous years, the Year 6 narrative will not necessarily unfold in chronological order.

## Heroes

Like previous years, Year 6 will have four new Seasons, each with its own theme, rewards, and activities.

Just like the previous two years, two new warriors will arrive in Heathmoor. Both coming from the new Outlanders faction, they will bring clarity to some of the relics that will be found throughout the year. One Hero will be released during Year 6, Season 2, and the other during Year 6, Season 4.

You will be able to purchase these Heroes upon release or unlock the new Heroes with steel as usual.

## Hero Skin

Along with existing offers such as new unique battle passes each season, themed armor and weapon variations, content of the week; Starting in Y6S1, we will be adding a new customization option to the mix: Hero Skins.

Hero Skins will be a new option in the hero appearance customization tab. Here, players will be able to select any Hero Skins that are available to the hero that they are looking to customize.

But what are they? Hero Skins are top-to-bottom designs that affect every element of a hero’s appearance harmoniously. With these full-set designs we can push the boundaries of all the elements composing the hero’s customization and push the fantasy of their identity even more. This includes armor, weapon, body type, skin, facial features in novel ways, and we cannot wait to show you what it looks like!

For Year 6, we are aiming to release one hero skin per season for a single hero within the current For Honor roster.

When equipped, the Hero Skin will override the customization and body type you already have on your hero while Perks will remain unchanged. This extends to not just the Armor, but also the Weapon visual. You cannot dismantle Hero Skins but some customization elements can still be changed, specifically the Color Palettes and Materials. As such, Hero Skins can offer what could not be given by the traditional customization system, such as moving armor parts.

The Hero Skin is an additional option for the player to customize their hero. It is important to mention that the traditional customization system remains.

The Hero Skins can be purchased anytime with Steel or in stores upon their release.

## Crossplay

We are excited to announce that Crossplay is coming to For Honor on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox. Crossplay will be implemented in 2 phases:

* Phase 1: All player pools will be unified for matchmaking; players can choose to opt out of Crossplay. Out on March 17th when the Year starts.
* Phase 2: In development, but will help let the Crossplay feature allow players to play in groups and with friends.

Crossplay has been an ambition of our team for a very long time. There have been many technical challenges to bring Crossplay to For Honor because the core technical game components were not originally designed to support it. Thanks to the hard work of the team, we are now proud to bring Crossplay to our Warriors. We believe Crossplay will benefit For Honor and its long-term vision.

See more about specific information about Crossplay on the Ubisoft's dedicated FAQ page.

## And More

Just like the last year, there will be a battle pass every season; the addition of Crossplay; a competitive scene to be hyped up for; new customization to dress your heroes up in to look fashionable on the battlefield; more balance patches to improve the existing 30 Heroes, and the two new ones that will come. Year 6 will be another year of improvement as the story onto a more fantastical twist.

* Season 1
* Season 2
* Season 3
* Season 4

## Information

### **Rating(s)**

Mature

> *"Long before the Cataclysm, before Heathmoor ever bore its name, a brave Warden vowed to bring peace to his people. By doing the unthinkable, he ventured out where no one had ever dared, in a forest lay a beast no one could tame. But the Warden's will did not waver, sealing a blood pact to end all wars."*
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> *"The hero and the beast brought forth... the Golden age of Heathmoor!"*
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**Lost Horizon Season 1**, named "Golden Age," is the twenty-first season of the ongoing Faction War. Long ago, the first Warden to ever exist, Lord Ramiel, sealed a blood pact with a legendary beast. His brave act was intended to end all wars, originating from the very ancient chalice used to seal this deal: the Chalice of Immortality. See for yourself how this mythic hero came to be, and how he established the Wardens.

## Overview

> A brave Warden seals a blood pact to end all wars. The hero and the untamable beast bring forth a golden age to Heathmoor in the start of a gripping new year of For Honor.
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The lost reliquary of Wyverndale has been unearthed by travelers from faraway lands. Among these treasures lies the Chalice of Immortality, an artifact that sheds light on the ancient past of Heathmoor. Long before the Cataclysm, Knights, Wu Lin, Samurai, and Vikings all lived in harmony in the ancient citadel of Wyverndale, which stood as a monument to peace and prosperity. This era of wonder was achieved thanks to the unprecedented efforts of Lord Ramiel, a heroic Knight who would become known as the First Warden.

In a time of terrible war, Lord Ramiel sought to bring an end to the bloodshed by making a pact with the Great Wyvern – a mythical, fire-breathing creature. The Wyvern helped the Knight defeat his enemies and, together, they watched over Heathmoor for generations.

## Features

### Oath of Wyverndale

During an era known as the Golden Age, the First Warden, Lord Ramiel, protected Wyverndale against all manner of evil. Only the bravest and the most valiant joined his legion to become fellow defenders of peace and prosperity. But to join Ramiel’s side, warriors had to prove their worth to the First Warden – in a trial of blood and fire.

From March 17th to April 7th, partake in the season's launch event. The Wyverndale gamemode is a Dominion-variation on a map that is usually locked out of the Dominion loop: the Cathedral. On this map, you will fight Lord Ramiel within the steeples, instead of having a typical midlane filled with minions. Side points will have buffs around them that will help players to fight against Ramiel, with Wyverns raining flames onto the battlefield. Once a team has entered breaking though, Lord Ramiel will leave the church to hunt down any Hero that is in his way.

For more details on the event and gamemode, check out the dedicated Oath of Wyverndale article page.

### Hero Skins

> The pious Knight made a sacrifice to bring peace and protect his people. Through a sacred ritual, he bound his fate to a Wyvern and drank its blood in the Chalice of Immortality. As long as the Knight lived, so would the powerful creature. They vowed to protect the legendary citatel of Wyverndale together.
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> When the First Warden drank the wyvern's blood, he was blessed with tremendous powers, but also lost a part of himself. He lost his humanity, his ability to feel pain for himself and others. That is why modern Wardens and Warmongers have different interpretations of that same tale, claiming Ramiel's sacrifice as a symbolic story driving their beliefs.
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As the first season to feature the newly implemented Hero Skin customization option, Warden receives the first skin, attaining the visuals of the legendary Lord Ramiel.

### Testing Grounds

Dominion changes will come to the live game. Below is a list of the changes made to Dominion as a result of the previous Testing Grounds:

* Renown gain is now Standardized across all Heroes instead of being different per Class. Assassins should no more receive the short end of the stick when it comes to performing non-assailant duty.
	+ Hero Kills: 20
	+ Minion Kill: 2
	+ Kill Assists: 10
	+ Capture Zones: 10
	+ Contest/Boosting Zones: *See below.*
	+ Revive: 20
	+ Rally: 30
* Boosting and Contest Zones now operate a bit differently. Boosting a Zone offers 42 Renown/min, while Contesting a neutral or opposing Zone offers 30 Renown/min. However, Contesting an allied Zone now offers a bit more Renown, at 36 Renown/min. This hopefully should replace the Defender Renown bonus that was removed.
* Special Renown Bonuses, particularly Kill Modifiers and the Defend Zone Bonuses, have been removed. An exception is given to Kill Streaks, Comeback, Revenge and Streak Breaker:
	+ Kill Streaks: 8 - 20
	+ Comeback: 25
	+ Revenge: 17
	+ Streak Breaker: 25
* Feat Unlock Threshold has been rebalanced in recognition of the new Renown gain model:
	+ Tier 1: 58 -> 50
	+ Tier 2: 155 -> 120
	+ Tier 3: 265 -> 210
	+ Tier 4: 335 -> 320
* Renown is now differentiated from Team "Renown" as the latter is now called "Points." This is most apparent with the integration of the Renown Widget, which will show you how much Renown you have earned just above your Renown bar, while Team Points earned remain within the text feed.
* Zone Point generation has been rebalanced, and should hopefully discourage sitting on a Zone aimlessly.
	+ Captured Zone: 0.74 Points/s -> 0.9 Points/s
	+ Boosted Zone: 1.85 Points/s -> 1.5 Points/s
	+ Captured Minion Lane: 1.35 Points/s -> 1.5 Points/s
* Zone Capture Speed remains the same, compared to the unified Capture Speed present in the Testing Grounds. Capturing a Zone with one Hero remains at 5.5 seconds, while more Heroes present on the point will hasten the process.

A new iteration of Conqueror, along with Shaolin changes, will be present in a new round of Testing Grounds on March 31st to April 7th.

* While some changes made to Conqueror were appreciated in the last Testing Grounds, there were a number of elements that were not as well received. This second iteration should help deal with what did not go well in the last Testing Ground while still maintaining the goals for the Conqueror revamp, such as increasing 1v1 viability and pushing the Hero to being more proactive than reactive. The following changes are additional to what changes were made in the previous Testing Ground:
	+ Can't Charge Heavy attacks in-chain anymore. Chain Heavies are not undodgeable anymore.
	+ No longer has infinite Lights, as Lights in-chain are now Finishers.
	+ Flail Uppercut is no longer Uninterruptible or Unblockable. It also now possesses a stance, thus can be Parried when the victim can act during Hitstun Stacking/3rd Hitstun rule.
	+ Cannot dodge out of Full Block anymore, and recovery to leaving FBS increased by 100ms.
	+ Chain Bash can now be performed after any non-Bash attack, but has reduced range.
	+ Zone Attack now costs less Stamina.
* Shaolin, despite being one of the more complex heroes, doesn't quite work as intended; the kit feels limited in what it can do, and while there are a lot of available options they do not pan out as expected due to multiple issues. We're looking to improve those issues and give Shaolin more flexibility and better flow to access these options in better, more effective ways. The following are the changes:
	+ Side Dodge Attack is now a chain opener, along with being able to enter Qi Stance.
	+ Neutral Top Light is now Enhanced.
	+ Zone Attack changed so that the follow-up two strikes are slower, but have better trajectory and damage along. Each hit is now target swappable, and Stamina costs are no longer paid upfront.
	+ Sprint Attack should be able to transition into attacks to properly guarantee damage if successful.
	+ Qi Stance Lights are all now 500ms and Enhanced; Top Qi Light does not Stun anymore. Qi Stance Heavies are all now 800ms in speed; Top Qi Heavy is now Undodgeable instead of Unblockable.
	+ Qi Stance Kick now does not follow-up into a Heavy or the Sweep.
	+ Qi Stance Lights and Heavies, together with Sun Kick Strike, now can chain into the Sweep with the Guardbreak input. The Sweep is feintable and has a guaranteed Heavy follow-up when the Sweep is successful. The Heavy follow-up is a chain opener and can enter Qi Stance.
	+ Qi Stance can be canceled with a Dodge.

Details about the specific changes made during the Testing Grounds can be observed in this patch notes page.

### April Fools

April Fools comes once more this year, and with it a small celebrate of mischief with the special Toon Filter. View the battlefield with a Cell Shaded look to it! Together with this look, the Hypnotic Eye effect makes a return, along with a few new content pieces such as the humorous Magician's Trick where you reveal a mini-me from a magic hat and the Dutiful Concision Execution.

### Hero Fest

A new mini-event will be held known as the "Hero Event." Aside from giving a spotlight to the particular Hero by making them free-to-use for that weak, 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 occur twice per title update, which results in four Heroes receiving a Fest per season, resulting in sixteen Hero fests occurring per year.

The first Hero to receive this Fest was Aramusha on April 7th to 14th, receiving the Shizuo's Sentence execution.

The second Hero was Jormungandr from April 21st to the 28th, receiving the High Striker execution.

The third Hero Fest was for Black Prior from May 26 to June 2, recieving the Vortiger's Regards execution.

The fourth and final Fest featured Jiang Jun fron June 9 to June 16, recieving the Close Call execution.

### 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 autumn colours and glistening metal aesthetics that harkens back to the Golden Age of Heathmoor.
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New visitors from far away have unveiled the lost reliquary of Wyverndale. Now, treasures long forgotten have been made available to warriors once more. From the ancient past of Heathmoor comes old weapons that once again glisten in the light of day. Arm yourself with the blades of Heathmoor’s original warriors, and fight like the forebears of old.

Bring your customization to a whole new level with some mythic flair 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 special Signature used to sign the Wyvern's Pact, along with an execution for the First Warden that is said to have been used on his nemesis: Ramiel's Ascendency. 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.

### Other Changes

Both Citadel Gate and Cathedral are customized with an autumn feel, with Wyverns flying up above. In both cases, some of the architecture has become much more refined with vintage glass panes and smooth bricks.

## Midseason Changes

During the midseason change on April 28th, couple of improvements were initiated. Find more information about this midseason change here.

### Event Throwback: For the Creed

Starting off the season is the return of an event from the Marching Fire update: For the Creed. Once again, Abstergo Industries invite you to synch with the past and unleash your inner warrior. However, with the Animus corrupted and mysterious figures of the past coming to Heathmoor, help Abstergo recorrect this error by fighting these strangers.

This throwback event will be available for three weeks until May 19th. The event will bring back mythical rewards from the original event. However, Abstergo brings to you during the first week new rewards from other Assassin's Creed universes, both present for purchase through Steel or through the Battlepass which was not available when the event first started.

For more details, please check out the Throwback section of the event's article here.

### Customization

>  *"Before the Cataclysm, heroes from all factions lived in harmony in the great citadel of Wyverndale. Now, from the past of Heathmoor comes ornaments and armors forgotten to time. Warriors now have access to armors worn long ago by their ancestor, bearing the effigies of old myths and powerful, winged creatures who, once upon a time, roamed the lands of Heathmoor."*
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With the launch of a title update comes a new set of armor variations. These new armor visuals offers pristine look for each Hero, with special white cloth, silver metal and intriguing gold markings.

### Hero Fest

The Hero Fest returns, offering a mini-event to a Hero for a week. Aside from giving a spotlight to the particular Hero by making them free-to-use for that weak, 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 occur twice per title update, which results in four Heroes receiving a Fest per season, resulting in sixteen Hero fests occurring per year.

The third Hero to receive this Fest will be Black Prior on May 26th to June 2nd, receiving the Vortiger's Regard Execution

The fourth Hero to receive this Fest will be Jiang Jun on June 9th to 16th, receiving the Close Call Execution.

### Other Changes

Below is a list of additions changes made as part of the midseason update. More details can be seen here.

* The Breaking UI will now block less of the screen space.
* For Nobushi, fixed an issue with her heavy sprint attack having animation stutters when switching stances for a chain attack, along with fixing Zone Attack from Hidden Stance instead performing a Light or Heavy attack.
* Fixed an issue where Shaman would perform a Guard Break instead of Predator's Mercy (bite pounce) if performed on the last Bleed tick.
* Fixed an issue with Zhanhu's bash incorrectly applying a damage reduction on hit reaction.
* Fixed an issue with Kyoshin's Fujin Force having inconsistent forward movement when inputting a directional movement during the move.
* Fixed Pirate's left hand flickering and twisting when moving around in left guard when locked onto an opponent.
* Fixed a hole that allowed Players to see the backside of the map structure in Qiang Pass.
* Fixed an issue with the Renown Widget inaccurately displaying renown values when contesting a zone.
* And more...

## Gallery

### Video

For Honor- Year 6 Season 1 - Golden Age Launch Trailer - Ubisoft -NA-
## Trivia

* The name "Ramiel" comes from the Archangel of the same name who is an Archangel of God, but also a fallen Watcher. Known for being the Archangel of hope.
* The "Ramiel's Ascendency" Execution is likely an homage to a scene in the first movie of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. During the scene, after a strenuous fight with one strong Uruk-hai, Commander Lurtz, Aragon stabs the Uruk-hai through the abdomen. Lurtz attempts to intimidate Aragon by pulling in the blade more into his abdomen, before Aragon removes the blade to behead Lurtz.
	+ The specific clip that the Execution takes from can be watched here.

## Information

### **Rating(s)**

Mature

> *"In a far corner of the world, legends speak of a bracelet, passed down from one pharaoh to the next. It was said the bracelet could restore life; erased from history, faded from memory. Now, I have fount it! With the bracelet, I bring glory to Valkenheim once more! Yet in it's wake, darkness spreads! What have I unleashed!?"*
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> *"Death made manifest. There is no glory here. No victory! What have I unleashed!?"*
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**Lost Horizon Season 2**, named "Curse of the Scarab," is the twenty-second season of the ongoing Faction War. After years of seeing his village suffer from misfortune, a fearless Raider leader, Bolthorn Raven-Hands, embarked on a quest to restore his clan's glory. He searched far and wide for a cure to his people's suffering, eventually happening on the distant lands of the pharaohs. There, he found the greatest of prizes, a relic said to harness powers that promise prosperity: the Scarab Bracelet. Now, gaze upon what is the actual "cursed" power that the bracelet holds, and how it affected this great Viking lord and his people in the years to come.

## Overview

> In the wake of the Great Cataclysm, a terrible curse descends over Heathmoor thanks to the unwitting actions of the Raider, Bolthorn. Who will save the people from this terrible fate?
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In the aftermath of the Great Cataclysm, the fearless Raider, Bolthorn Raven-Hands, embarked on a quest to restore his clan’s glory. Long had his people known hardship, and he journeyed to distant lands in search of treasure that might ease their suffering. No prize was so great as the Scarab Bracelet. The crowning jewel of a lost civilization, the relic’s magic promised to fill Valkenheim’s tables with meat and mead once more. And so, Bolthorn betrayed a friend to steal it.

On his return, an odd sickness took hold of the Viking. Fell omens seemed to stalk his every step. Strange weather ravaged Valkenheim and the land’s meagre harvest withered. The phenomena spread across Heathmoor, its people falling like grass before the scythe. Doomed to deliver death rather than salvation, Bolthorn tried to cast off the Scarab Bracelet to no avail. It had found a new home.

## Features

### Justice of the Pharaohs

To save his struggling clan, the Raider, Bolthorn Raven-Hands, journeyed to the ruins of a desert kingdom and stole the Scarab Bracelet. The relic was said to bring long life and prosperity to the Pharaohs – but, unknown to Bolthorn, the jewel doomed any mortal who would disturb it. Now Heathmoor is in the grips of the Scarab’s Curse, devastated by famine, disease, and sights once thought impossible. The common soldier has been annihilated. Although the battle for Dominion still rages, the ranks have been thinned to Heroes alone.

Only from June 16 to July 7, participate in the season's launch event, Justice of the Pharaohs. The gamemode takes the Dominion gamemode to the River Fort map, but because of the extreme conditions of the Scarab's Curse, only the greatest of warriors live to see battle. As a result, minions do not spawn, and instead, the midlane is now a third point of competition for the Heroes to secure. As a result, both sides have to work that bit more on their own as they cannot rely on the help of their file-and-rank soldiers to help push part of the battle.

For more details on the event and gamemode, check out the dedicated Justice of the Pharaoh article page.

### Hero Skins

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> Although he carried the signature axe of a Raider, Jarl Bolthorn gained a reputation among his people by killing his enemies with his bare hands. Such was the reason they took to calling him “Raven-Hands.” A brutal ruler dedicated to his people, Bolthorn grew tired of his clan’s constant losses. Each passing year, he saw his people grapple with natural catastrophes, dastardly invasions, brutal wars and dwindling resources. Seeking to put an end to their constant plight, Bolthorn left his throne, swearing he would one day return with the means of salvation.
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> For years, the Viking explored territories west of Heathmoor. In the vastness of the desert, he stumbled upon an old temple, half-buried in the sand. There, he found the Scarab Bracelet, a magical artifact that once belonged to a great civilization. Bolthorn brought the relic back to his people -- but an ancient curse laid dormant in the bracelet. Now his people suffer more than ever before, and Bolthorn is cursed to walk the lands of his dying home as the bracelet’s dark magic slowly takes hold of him.
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This second season offers a new Hero Skin to the next Hero on the list: the Raider. What is offered is the visuals of Bolthorn the Cursed, the very Raider who brought a plague onto his own people.

### Hero Update

Some changes will be coming to the live game at the start of the season, updating the kits for the new Hero Pirate, along with bringing to life the reworks for Conqueror and Shaolin. On top of this, the feat Bloodlust has been touched on to make it less powerful but more reliable.

* Pirate: *We've been monitoring multiple sources of feedback as well as internal data concerning Pirate and found the hero to be overperforming in some situations, so we're making some adjustments to curb down some of the stronger aspects of the hero while also fixing some other issues.*
	+ Side Dodge Attacks are now slightly slower, from 533ms to 600ms.
	+ Pinning Pistol Blast (the non-guaranteed Pistol Blast) and Walk the Plank now have less forward range.
	+ Walk the Plank's Knee variant (knockback variant) now has 200ms more recovery to prevent an infinite mix-up in certain situations.
	+ Pistol Blast from Walk the Plank now has normal Stamina costs, down from 15 to 6, but also feeds Revenge properly, up from 5 to 30.
* Bloodlust: *Bloodlust has been a strong choice as a Tier 2 feat for a long time; the large increase in attack and defense makeS the feat the top contender in many situations, especially when other feats at Tier 3 and 4 benefit from the attack boost quite a bit. This is the case for Pirate and Valkyrie where getting Bloodlust to trigger into a Trick Shot or a Fire Flask end up in a complete wipe of the opposing team; we've decided to lower Bloodlust's effectiveness but also lower its cooldown to compensate. This should lower Bloodlust's effectiveness, especially when combined with other feats, but also make it slightly more available.*
	+ Bloodlust now grants +20% Damage Increase and Damage Reduction, down from 50% for both.
	+ Bloodlust's cooldown is now 20 seconds, down from 30 seconds.
* Conqueror Revamp: *Conqueror was problematic in that the hero's defense was very high but lacked proper offense outside of Shield Bash; we've focused on making the hero more viable in both 1v1 and group fight scenarios.*
	+ Full Block Stance: *Conqueror’s Full Block Stance was difficult to use; it was accessible only from certain states, drained stamina when blocking and gave Conqueror less Revenge while blocking attacks. We’ve adjusted the move so that it can now be used as a recovery cancel to catch opponents performing dodge attacks, as well as gave it better follow-ups to use based on the situation (group fight or 1v1).*
		- Can now be used to cancel the recovery of any attack. Still can soft feint any move that can feint.
		- Now does not drain Stamina, instead regenerating as normal briefly after entering the stance or upon blocking an attack. Blocking no longer drains Stamina.
		- No longer can cancel into Zone Attack.
		- Now leads into new follow-ups, noted below.
	+ Zone Attack: *Conqueror’s Zone Attack was too defensive; players could use it in response to attacks at parry timing and either block the attack or hit the feint to Guard Break or light attack. In addition, holding Zone Attack was only truly useful due to the Superior Block function, and made Conqueror especially too strong and annoying in the minion lane. We’ve removed these properties but also improved how Zone Attack performs by making it do more damage, making it initiate chains and giving it better hitboxes to hit people around the hero better.*
		- Now is a single-hit move, and cannot be held. As a result, now deals damage in-line with other Zones ( from 8 to 15) and can initiate chains.
		- No longer has Superior Block.
	+ Bashes: *We’ve removed the ability for Conqueror’s Shield Bash to drain and pause stamina to make the attack fairer; previously, Conqueror could keep opponents out of stamina for a long period of time with Shield Bash. This is no longer the case. To compensate, Shield Bash now has better, dedicated follow-ups for both 1v1 and outnumbered situations, and the chained version can now be feinted for better mix-ups in 1v1.*
		- No longer has access to Shield Uppercut.
		- Bashes no longer drain stamina or pause stamina regeneration.
		- Shield Bash mix-up (chain bash) can now be feinted, or soft feinted into Full Block Stance.
		- Now leads into new follow-ups, noted below.
	+ Bash/Superior Block Follow-ups: *Flail Uppercut has changed its input through the Testing Grounds, and now ends up back on the Heavy button. It is now also available after performing Shield Bash (both from Dodge and in Chains) to give Conqueror a better followup to Shield Bashes, giving the hero more opportunities to execute opponents and better damage output in 1v1 situations. On top of Flail Uppecut, we’re introducing a new move to Conqueror to help the hero perform better in outnumbered situations - Scutage Collection can be used both after any Superior Block (including Full Block Stance and when Dodging) as well as after any Shield Bash; this lets Conqueror hit nearby opponents when surrounded (instead of being stuck with only Flail Uppercut).*
		- New follow-ups upon performing a successful Superior Block either through Superior Block Dodges or Full Block Stance, or after performing a Shield Bash. Both moves count as Openers, but cannot chain into a Shield Bash Mixup.
		- Flail Uppercut now is performed using the Heavy input. Dealing 13 damage from 20, and can execute. However, it is now not Undodgeable, and can situationally be Parried.
		- Scutage Collection is a new move, performed using the Light input. Deals 13 damage and hits in a 360-degree trajectory.
	+ Chain Attacks: *Conqueror’s Chained Heavy attacks did not prove to be threatening enough; by giving them the Unblockable property, they gain much more pressure. Their ability to be feinted now also lets Conqueror do feint-to-Guard Break to beat dodges and rolls, and their improved trajectories should help Conqueror perform better in outnumbered situations. We’ve also standardized the damage on Conqueror’s top and side uncharged versions so they are in-line with other heroes. We’ve also removed the Superior Block property from this move; this property used to let Conqueror option select attacks. Further, the Unblockable heavies are meant to put more of Conqueror’s focus onto using the flail itself for offense.*
		- Heavy Openers now deal increased damage, up to 27/24 damage from 24/22 on top and side respectively.
		- Superior Block property has been removed on all Heavies, including Charged Heavy (noted below).
		- Heavy Chain Attacks can now be feinted, just like all other Heroes.
		- Chain Heavy Attacks are slightly faster and now are all Unblockable. However, damage has been reduced to 22 on all sides.
	+ Charged Heavy: *While some aspects of the Charged Heavy did not make it through the Testing Ground, a few changes have past through the cracks, allowing the move to be better incorporated into Conqueror's kit and allowing the Hero to be more Offensive than Defensive.*
		- Charged Heavy Attacks, much like the Full Block Stance, now do not consume Stamina while charging, only costing Stamina once released.
		- Charged Heavy Attack now acts as a Heavy Opener, thus can lead into chain Lights and Heavies or into Shield Bash Mix Up.
		- Now does not possess a guard during the charge or when released. Damage reduced to 28 from 32/30 on top and side respectively, while charge speed has been sped up to 600ms from 1000ms. The move itself is slightly faster now.
		- Due to the removal of Shield Uppercut, Conqueror can now perform a Guardbreak while charging Charged Heavy.
* Shaolin Revamp: *Shaolin’s revamp focuses on improving the hero’s flow, as well as getting better openers and more ways to get into Qi Stance.*
	+ Qi Stance & Sun Sweep: *We’ve focused on making sure that Qi Stance attacks were more consistent, flowed better with Sweep and lets players perform more Qi Stance attacks than before. The new Sweep can always return to Qi Stance when players correctly read their opponents’ actions, Qi Stance Lights can now be used to initiate the Sweep in a more consistent manner and Qi Stance Top Heavy being Undodgeable means it will be more difficult to get random blocks when attempting to dodge Sun Kick.*
		- Can now cancel Qi Stance with a Dodge.
		- Both Qi Light and Qi Heavy have been streamlined. Qi Lights are now all 500ms and Enhanced, with Top Qi Light not stunning anymore. Qi Heavies are now all 700ms and Undodgeable.
		- Sun Kick can chain on miss, while Sun Kick Strike is now 400ms from 300ms. However, Sun Kick no longer chains into Sweep or Smash.
		- Qi Lights, Qi Heavies and Sun Kick Strike now chain to Sweep, renamed as Sun Sweep. Sun Sweep is 800ms and can now be feinted. It also no longer unbalances allies.
		- After a Sun Sweep, hit or miss, you can perform Sun Sweep Heavy Followup, which is similar to Sun Kick Smash. This Heavy Follow-up is 700ms, deals 24 damage and enters Chains, which allows it to enter Relentless or re-enter Qi Stance.
	+ Side Shadowstep: *Shaolin’s side dodge attacks often felt stranded; while they are good dodge attacks, Shaolin’s flow stopped when performing these attacks. They now can both initiate chains and enter Qi Stance, giving Shaolin better flow and more opportunities to go on the offensive.*
		- Now performs as a Chain Heavy Opener, thus can enter Relentless or Qi Stance.
	+ Flying Monkey Variant: *Shaolin needed a reliable opener to both enter Qi Stance and engage in group fight situations – this move should help Shaolin perform much better in 1v1 situations where it should be easier to enter Qi Stance with this opener.*
		- New Bash move from Forward Dodge. Functions similarly to Sprint Attack Bash, but is 500ms.
		- Flying Monkey and Flying Monkey Variant now guarantees a Light Opener (both Top Light or Death Point Strike). Can performing Light or Heavy Openers as follow-ups even on-miss.
	+ Chain Attacks: *Top Light should now be able to be used more reliably as an soft opener, while the Side Light openers have been updated to have their damage more front-loaded and deal slightly more damage with 2 hits than previously. Also, Shaolin’s Side Heavy Attacks should now more reliably hit external opponents and give Shaolin more pressure in outnumbered situations.*
		- Top Light Opener is now Enhanced.
		- Side Light Opener now deals 10 damage from 5. Death Point Strike now deals 10-4-4 damage from 5-5-7. Death Point Strike's input is much more lenient now.
		- Attack range has been increased on all Heavy Chains. Non-Finisher Heavy Attacks have had their recoveries normalized.
		- Heavy Finishers have been slowed down to 800ms from 600ms.
	+ Zone Attack: *We’ve changed how Shaolin’s Zone Attack functions. Previously, if the 2nd hit landed or was blocked, the 3rd hit was guaranteed to land – we wanted to update this functionality to make it clearer for both Shaolin and their opponents to deal with the attack. All 3 hits are now dodgeable or parryable, but to compensate we’ve increased the damage, improved the trajectories and let the move change targets in between hits for better minion clear and better performance in outnumbered situations.*
		- Zone Attack's second and third hit now are 800ms and 900m, from 500ms and 400ms respectively. As a result, third hit is not guaranteed anymore if second hit lands. Damage for the two attacks has also been increased as a result of them being slowed down.
		- Stamina cost is now distributed evenly (20 each for all hits) instead of front-loading the cost at 60.
		- Each hit can now change targets.

For specific details on the changes made, see the patch notes for the season here and here.

### Testing Grounds

A new round of Testing Grounds will make its course during the last week of the Seasonal Event, bringing changes to how Guardbreak Vulnerability works so that players can keep on fighting even in outnumbered situations.
Dominion changes will come to the live game. Below is a list of the changes made to Dominion as a result of the previous Testing Grounds:

#### What are we trying to solve?

As the game evolves, heroes get rebalanced, and other system-level changes occur, the driving forces behind our direction is "We want heroes to attack more". This has been shown in a lot of our revamps - we're giving more and more heroes aggressive tools, touching up on stamina and improving their flow.

One of the issues that we are facing more and more as move along this path is the fact that players are not always incentivized to use chained attacks when outnumbered. Some heroes, like Jiang Jun, perform admirably there due to fast, wide-sweeping attacks, but there is a limit to this; we want heroes with slower attacks to not be punished hard for using them.

Guardbreak Vulnerability here is problematic: in a 1v2 situation, it is overly risky to throw attacks because it is very likely one of your opponents will land a Guardbreak during any of your attack recoveries. To top it off, Finisher recoveries are currently very Guardbreak vulnerable, making Finishers even riskier than other attacks to use when outnumbered.

#### What is our solution?

As we've debated over this, one clear, clean solution came to us: recoveries should be immune to guardbreak. This makes it so you simply do not get interrupted by a Guardbreak (and then a Heavy attack, and potentially even more if your opponent has an ally nearby!) during ANY recovery, including when attacks are missed. This lets players attack more with less fear of reprisal. It does not mean that you'll never get interrupted (Light and Heavy attacks exist, after all!) but it does make it much safer to use a wider variety of attacks in multiple situations.

#### Did we consider other solutions?

We did look into many other variants of this solution. One of them was making all recoveries except Miss recoveries be Guardbreak immune; while this had potential, the major issue we found is that it is not always clear when an attack is missed, is hit or is blocked; our system works in a way that we only consider the result of your locked target when determining the result of an attack, and as such attacks that did hit or were blocked by others externally but did not hit the locked target do not count as a hit or a block but rather as a miss. Situations like this occur quite frequently, and the status of Guardbreak invulnerability becomes difficult to read from a player perspective.

Another one we investigated was not making recoveries fully immune but rather make Guardbreak attempts teachable; this would have partly solved the problem as it does lower the vulnerability of throwing attacks, but had the major downside that players were still interrupted in the middle of their chains quite often, which is one part of what we're trying to solve.

#### What will be in this Testing Grounds?

* Most Attack Recoveries are now immune to Guardbreaks until the Hero regains the ability to block.
	+ "Immune to Guardbreaks": Guardbreak attempts will bounce off the opponent and not interrupt them at all, similar to when one tries to Guardbreak an attack too late during its start-up.
	+ There are some exceptions for especially slow recovery attacks such as Shaman's Pounce, Shugoki's hug, etc.
	+ When a hero regains the ability to block during a recovery, Guardbreak attempts will land, but are techable (as in, they can be Counter Guardbroken).
* All chained attacks are fully immune to Guardbreak, removing the small start-up vulnerability that they had.
* Every bash that had a recovery of less than 766ms on miss now has 766ms of miss recovery to ensure that Dodge Attacks will always beat Bashes.
* Some Heroes will receive changes to their kits in recognition of the changes being made:
	+ Highlander will receive new Side Dodge attacks while in Defensive Stance, performed by pressing the Heavy button to ensure the hero can beat bashes.
	+ Jiang Jun can now enter Sifu Stance at the same time as the hero can block during Hit/Block hit reactions, similar to Aramusha. This is to ensure that the hero can beat bashes.
* We must note that this change only applies to attack recoveries; Full Block Stances, as well as Dodges, are unaffected, and remain guardbreak vulnerable as they currently are, including when they are used as Recovery Cancels.
	+ Aramusha, for example, keeps the Guardbreak vulnerability when using Blade Blockade, even when it is used to cancel the recovery of an attack, so that there is an additional drawback to using this cancel.

#### Closing

This is a large system-wide change that we've been working on for quite some time. It involves changing a lot of data on our side, and it is possible that some bugs crept in. If you do notice something inconsistent, do not be afraid to report it; we will investigate all the reports and apply fixes as needed.

As usual, we'll be monitoring all the usual sources for feedback - positive or negative, all feedback is good feedback!

See you on the battlefield, warriors!

### 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 occur twice per title update, which results in four Heroes receiving a Fest per season, resulting in sixteen Hero fests occurring per year.

The first Hero to receive this Fest this season will be Hitokiri from July 7 to July 14, followed by Centurion from July 21 to July 28.

### 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 ancient past of the pharaohs, but also the very curse brought by Bolthorn and the mystical Scarab Bracelet.
>
>

To bring glory back to his clan, Bolthorn Raven-Hands ventured west, far from Heathmoor. Exploring lands of desert and sand, the Viking found the ruins of a fallen civilization forgotten by time. Along with the mystical Scarab Bracelet, Bolthorn has brought back ancient weapons as mighty gifts for his people, with the promise that the distant past will help them shape their future.

Bring your customization to a whole new level with some ancient flair 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 special Execution where you incase your foe within the magical Jasmine Box, along with a Signature where you bust out of a sarcophagus. 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.

### Other Changes

Due to the influence of Bolthorn bringing home the Scarab Bracelet and unleashing a curse on the land, River Fort is ever scarred by his endeavor. Bolthorn had brought home Egyptian treasures, which appear as large pillars or chests of treasure. However, the curse has brought both sand and frogs to the field, along with making the water around red like blood.

## Midseason Changes

During the midseason change on July 28th, couple of improvements were initiated. Find more information about this midseason change here.

### New Hero: Medjay

In the wake of the terrible curse that Bolthorn has brought upon Heathmoor, the Medjay has arrived to bring true salvation and take back what was rightfully his! Their kingdom lost to the sands, these elite warriors carry the burden of their culture as its last survivors. To make sure they can survive any peril that come their way and protect those who are in need, the Medjay have adopted a new fighting style, splitting their fan axe polearm into twin axes. Even as they step foot in the foreign lands of Heathmoor, integrity and honor rests at the core of their hearts.

He can be purchased for immediate access with monetary currency in the Medjay Hero Offer bundle, or purchased seperately with in-game currency two weeks later. Purchasing him through the bundle not only gives access to the Medjay, but also offers an exclusive elite outfit, an exclusive ornament, 3 Scavenger Crates and 7 days of Champion Status.

See more about the Medjay on their designated page here.

### Medjay's Deliverance

The Scarab Bracelet has left a trail of waste and death. Now hope comes from a distant desert.

Deliver Heathmoor from the Curse of the Scarab as Medjay, the guardian of the relic, and reap exclusive rewards only available during this event, from July 28 to August 18th.

### Seasonal Customization

*A long time ago, far from Heathmoor, a great civilization prospered in the desert. But after the Cataclysm, its towering monuments collapsed into ruin. Now, Bolthorn Raven-Hands has unearthed ancient armors and ornaments from the sand that once belonged to this great kingdom. In Heathmoor, they will once again be worn by mighty warriors, honoring a people that no longer exists.*

### UI & Menu

#### Match End Flow

Match End Flow has been streamlined. All screens shown after completing a match have been redesigned for improved legibility, clearer progression information, and with less disruptive animations so it is quicker to reach the options for the next match.\*

*Note: As of the making of this note, while the new Match End Flow is much more legible and clearer, the animations are locked behind a forced animation that overall has not reduced the time it takes to go through the menu.*

#### Parry Flash Option

A new option is available for Arena and Custom modes: "Deactivate Parry Flash Indicators." Players can now deactivate the Parry Flash Indicator, which usually flashes at the correct timing to Parry an attack, in the Arena as well as during Custom Games.

This option appears in the Arena under “Arena -> Arena Settings -> Parry Flash Indicator”, and in the Custom Game Match under “Custom Game -> Game Mode -> Parry Flash Indicator”

**Developer's Comment**: *Competitive players in the Dominion Series have been requesting this option for some time. Adding this option is meant to reduce the efficiency of players who have exceptional reaction times and to limit certain kinds of cheats.*

We specifically added this as an Option only in Custom Games and Arena so that competitive play can intentionally remove the parry flash to improve the level of offense in their games.

Normal matchmaking games continue to have the Parry Flash to help players learn the sense of timing to Parry attacks.

### Gameplay Changes

#### Out-of-Stamina (OoS) State

The Out-of-Stamina (OoS) State has been made to be less punishing, with the following changes.

* Stamina Pause no longer applies on players who are Out of Stamina
* Stamina is now fully refilled when getting up from the Unbalanced state\*
* *Note: As of the making of this note, Stamina Regen also applies to most moves that causes a knockdown, even if the target of the knockdown is not OoS. This is likely an unintended bug.*

**Developer's Comment**: *Previously, players in the OOS could conceivably be forced to stay in that state until killed. If your opponent had a quick Dodge Forward Bash attack, they could continually bash you to keep your stamina from ever refilling, while slowly killing you and limiting your options. By removing Stamina Pause while OOS, you should be able to get out of OOS more reliably, which should be less frustrating.*

*Similarly, we’ve now given back full Stamina whenever you get up from the Unbalanced state. The intent is that if you’ve been unbalanced, the opponent should have a single good opportunity for a punish, but not more than one. Out of Stamina punishes are typically the highest damaging punishes available – while we want players to have an opportunity for a big punish when their opponent overextends, the reward could be larger than intended when the opponent remained Out of Stamina and could be unbalanced for another large punish. This change should address this concern and make becoming Out of Stamina less frustrating.*

#### Targetable Feats on moving or Stealthed targets

An improvement has been made for projectile Feats when thrown at either moving targets or enemies who has the Stealth Feat active.

* Targetable Feats are no longer affected by Stealth while in-lock and should correctly track opponents who have the Stealth feat active. Still will not work if performing Targetable Feats from unlock state.
* Targetable Feats now track Dodging opponents better, especially Grenade-type feats, which could be thrown off-target by a large amount.
* Targetable Feats now track opponents who are sprinting on the same level, but will still not properly track enemies moving up or down elevations.

**Developer's Comment**: *We’re changing how Targetable Feats interact with Stealth and Dodging opponents to make the feats more consistent.*

When an opponent had Stealth active, Targetable Feats would miss at moments where they did not feel like they should (ie. Your opponent was walking sideways). This makes the Feats more consistent in their tracking of Stealth opponents and no longer have Stealth be a hard counter to Targetable Feats.

Similarly, some Targetable feats, such as Grenade-type feats, had a tracking issue when used against a Dodging opponent, where they would land in unexpected locations. With this change, they should land as expected at the opponent even if they Dodge.

Targetable Feats are still able to be Dodged, but the result of the feats should be more consistent with the anticipated behavior.

### Hero Fest

The Hero Fest returns, offering a mini-event to a Hero for a week. 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 occur twice per title update, which results in four Heroes receiving a Fest per season, resulting in sixteen Hero fests occurring per year.

The next two Heroes to receive this Fest will be Zhanhu and Shaman.

### Other Changes

Below is a list of additions changes made as part of the midseason update. More details can be seen here.

* Fixed an issue where some Heroes could not change guard after initiating a Guard Break.
* Warlord can now target switch Headsplitter Leap Alternate. His Light Finishers when performed Out-of-Lock now do not possess Superior Block properties.
* Fixed an issue where Heroes with unique Parry follow-ups could be used Out-of-Lock to perform Unparriable tech.
* Fixed a camera bug on Orochi's confirmed Light after a left side attack.
* Fixed an issue with Nobushi's Top Heavy from Hidden Stance having a shorter feint window than Side Heavies.
* Fixed an issue with Aramusha's Heavy Openers having inconsistent Guard Break vulnerability window, depending on guard direction. Also fixed an issue where Fury Unleashed could not cancel into Blade Blockade.
* Fixed an issue that caused the Pirate's Walk the Plank to not feed the correct Revenge value.
* Fixed an issue that caused the Short Tempered Feat to also provide Rock Steady effects while active.
* Fixed an issue where the Guardian or Commander would run or remain idle from Pirate's Pocket Bomb.
* Fixed an issue that caused the players to fall through the floor near the first capture point of Walled City.
* Fixed an issue that caused the Shaolin Bots to be unable perform Top Light Openers.
* Fixed an issue where Highlander Bots would have an invalid Feat distribution (specifically having multiple feats of the same tier).
* Fixed an issue that caused the Behind These Blue Eyes sound effect to continue playing after the emote has been interrupted.
* Fixed a number of missing physics and missing pieces on some armor pieces.
* Fixed an issue that caused the Requiescat in Pace Execution to have the Hidden Blade misaligned.
* Fixed an issue that caused the In-game Recommended Quality Presets to be inaccurate.
* And more...

## Gallery

### Video

For Honor- Year 6 Season 2 - Curse of the Scarab Launch Trailer
## Trivia

* The name "Bolthorn" comes from the jötunn of the same name. Also known as "Bölþorn" (old Norse for "Evil-thorn), he is credited for being one of the first jötnar in Norse mythology, and is the father (in some sources, the grandfather) of Bestla, mother of Odin, Vili and Vé. The Poetic Edda mentions that Bolthorn may also be the father of the wise being Mímir.
* During the July 14th update, two weeks prior to the midseason update, the main menu had a subtle change to the cosmetic background. Prior to the update, there were four Anubis statues lined up holding the iconic scepter to the deity, the sekhem scepter. After the update though, the scepters were all replaced with fan axes; the outer two statues hold double-sided fan axes, while the inner two statues hold two fan axes crossed over their chest. This difference can be seen in the main menu images in the above gallery.
	+ This is a reference to the upcoming Hero who has been teased to wield fan axes, with the statues possibly revealing that they can be wielded both as a two-sided polearm and as two separate axes. As of the midseason, this speculation has been confirmed to be true.
	+ After the release of the Medjay, the statues returned to holding the scepters.

## Information

### **Rating(s)**

Mature

> *"As a child, I was taught never to fear the dark. To face my enemies with gritted teeth and a steady grip on my blade. But now, my hands tremble. Something has awakened in the Myre: glowing eyes watching the night; shadows slither through the woods, and twisted cackles taunt us. Brave Samurai venture into the swamps... but what comes back, it isn't them! A deadly web has been woven, and there is no escape. My teachings were wrong! Only fools don't fear the dark."*
>
>

**Lost Horizon Season 3**, named "the Demon Dagger," is the twenty-third season of the ongoing Faction War. The Cataclysm has cracked open an ancient cave, unleashing terrible spirits and powerful demons onto Heathmoor. Their presence now twist and turn those in the Myre into shadows of their former selves. The only thing that could save these souls is a mythical dagger that can seal away such demons... but at a terrible cost for its wielder. After her brother was stolen into the darkness, one Kensei by the name of Meiko chose to be the slayer of these Yokai.

## Overview

> Something has awakened in the Myre. A deadly web has been woven and there is no escape... Only fools don't fear the dark.
>
>

Something has awakened in the Myre. For centuries, a cavern at the heart of the swamps was sealed off until a fissure split open. Ancient Samurai once knew the truth of the cave, but the echo of their warnings had faded across the ages to a whisper. It was a prison. Now demons, once banished to the bowels of the earth, have escaped. And after their long, unholy hibernation, the Yokai hunger.

Motoori noticed small signs first. The young Orochi was the first to warn of the villagers’ strange behavior. Honorable Nobushi babbled and cursed. Aramusha bent and twisted impossibly. At length, the eyes of the Samurai took on pale glows – the last mutation before their massacre on Temple Garden. By then the Yokai’s possession was complete. To save the survivors, Motoori told them of another fable: the Mamono Dagger, a mythical blade said to trap spirits of the Yokai. But the demon dagger bears a terrible cost... and none are worse cut than its wielder.

## Features

### Yokai Nightmare

For centuries, the Yokai slumbered in the depths of the earth. Now these demons of Japanese legend have escaped and been set loose upon Heathmoor. Nowhere is worse struck than Temple Garden -- haunted by spectral sights and portents of doom, where even possessed Samurai have set their swords against their own people. Will you break the spell of the Yokai?

From September 15th to October 6th, face the Myre's demonic invaders in Y6S3's launch event The Yokai Nightmare to earn event-specific weapons, a Battle Outfit, a Mood Effect, and more. Available only for the duration of the event.

### Hero Skins

The new Hero Skin will come during the midseason, and will be in reaction to the resurrected demons of this season.

### Hero Update

Some changes will be coming to the live game at the start of the season, with Peacekeeper and Nobushi receiving some sweeping changes to give versatility and effectiveness to their kit . Additionally, Heroes who lacked any form of Side Dodge attacks now have them, Stamina costs have been lowered here and there to give room to more offense, and more.

* Side Dodge attacks for Heroes who don't have them. These Heroes are Centurion, Black Prior, Warlord, Highlander and Jormundangr. All dodge attacks except Highlander's will use the Light input.
* Peacekeeper:
	+ Increase in input window for Dodge Recoveries and Dashing Thrust.
	+ Guardbreak Stabs now deal a total damage of 28, in line with most Guardbreak punishes.
	+ Throws have slightly less recovery, allow them to have a late Dodge Recovery window.
	+ Increased forward movements on all Chain Attacks.
	+ Updated trajectory on Zone Attack's first strike.
	+ Crossbow now deals partial bleed damage instead of only direct damage. 15 + 10b instead of 25 damage.
* Nobushi:
	+ Better trajectories on Side Heavy attacks.
	+ Side Cobra Strike are slightly faster and now have I-frames.
	+ Front Cobra Strike is slightly faster and has a more lenient input window.
	+ Recovery timings on a number of moves have been updated.
* Zone Attack cost changes look to reduce them so that they can be used more often.
	+ Zone Attacks now cost 30 for Warden, Warlord, Berserker, Kensei, Shugoki and Zhanhu.
	+ Zone Attacks now cost 20 for Nuxia, Gryphon and Kyoshin.
	+ Zone Attacks now cost 30 + 20 for Gladiator.
	+ Zone Attacks now cost 12 + 12 + 12 for Centurion and Highlander.
	+ Zone Attacks now cost 12 + 6 + 6 + 6 for Shaman.
	+ Other Heroes with high cost Zones may have changes in the future.
* General touch ups for a number of Heroes:
	+ Warden's chained Lights are now 500ms, down from 600ms.
	+ Warlord's Board & Blade now has better trajectory and forward movement.
	+ Berserker's health is now 130, from 120.
	+ Orochi's Side Heavy Finishers are now 700ms, down from 800ms.
	+ Hitokiri's Charge Heavy attacks now cost 12 Stamina, down from 25.
	+ Lawbringer has better forward movement and trajectories, along with more lenient Parry follow-up windows.
	+ Kensei's Top Heavy Finisher is now slightly faster, soft feints to Fast Guardbreak and has better forward movement.
	+ Centurion's Charged Heavy Opener has better forward movement, and Charged Punch is now faster and has better tracking.
	+ Gladiator's Sucker Punch costs less, and their Parry Riposte input window is more lenient.
	+ Shaman's Heavy Finishers have more forward movement, while the Left Finisher is now faster. Switching from one pounce stance to another now does not incur a Stamina penalty.
	+ Black Prior's Tenebris Thrust now has more forward movement, their sprint attack is slightly faster and Bulwark Slash has minimal GB vulnerability.
	+ Warmonger's Heavy Finishers now have Hyper Armor starting at 100ms, and Preying Claw now deals bleed damage (follow-ups deal less damage in return).
	+ Gryphon's Veteran's Lesson now has Hyper Armor starting at 100ms, and Mind Cleaver has modified recoveries.

### Crossplay Phase 2

* Crossplay Phase 2 finally is here, coming in two parts. The first part launches with the start of the season, migrating all P2P gamemodes to be on Servers, reactivate voice chat to be cross-platform, and adding a Block List. During the midseason, the ability to invite and friendlist people cross-platform!

### Testing Grounds

A new round of Testing Grounds arrives, and with it, it offers reworks for Tiandi and Valkyrie to refresh their kit, along with a small change to Counter Guardbreaking so that the act of Guardbreaking isn't too strong. Below is a general list of changes:

* Valkyrie's revamp focuses on making her chain Heavies and Sweep viable, on top of changes to Shield Tackle so that it functions as the core of Valkyrie's mix up game. Other quality of life changes included.
* Tiandi's revamp looks to expanding on his Dodge options to live up to his title as Dodge Specialist, along with improving his general Offense. Other quality of life changes included.
* Counter Guardbreaking now will have slightly lower recovery and pushback distance. This should allow for CGB to be frame plus instead of frame neutral, thus allowing for other forms of viable counter attacks outside Light attacking.

### 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 occur twice per title update, which results in four Heroes receiving a Fest per season, resulting in sixteen Hero fests occurring per year.

The first Hero to receive this Fest this season will be Warmonger from October 6th to 13th, followed by Tiandi the following week of the 13th to 20th.

### 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 haunting monsters unleashed within the Myre, and the tools that would very much help warriors banish them back to their hellish realm.
>
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For centuries, the Yokai lay dormant in their cave. But after a chasm was formed in the seal of their cage, these malevolent demons are now free to haunt the swamps of the Myre once more. From the depths of their cavernous prison, weapons from the past are found. Bearing the markings of these vicious spirits, these weapons are ready to be wielded by only the bravest of warriors - those willing to face the Yokai and cast them back to their hellish realm.

Bring your customization to a whole new level with some Yokai horror flair 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 lock your opponent away with Card of Absolution, and a special Signature where you become the Dark Spectre. 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.

### Other Changes

Temple Garden has taken a turn for the worse as the Yokai has been unleashed on sacred ground. Demons trying to break out of cages as cobwebs build up on the hill. Are these signs that some greater evil will arrive in the midseason...?

TBA

## Midseason Changes

During the midseason change on October 20th, introducing a new Hero Skin for Kensei, a new Halloween Event, and Crossplay Phase 2 at launch. thereafter, there will be two more Hero Fests, a Testing Ground for dodge attacks, and the return of the Heralds of Chimera event.

### Hero Skins

> After the battle, flowers grow. Meiko was that flower, watered by blood, shaped by atrocities, but not defined by them. A humble Kensei dedicated to the protection of her people, Meiko was a beloved warrior, one of the few who took the time to enjoy the rare beauties of a harsh world. This was, more than likely, the reason why she was most often spotted with a smile on her face - even in the midst of battle. There was a spark in her eyes, one that could never be dimmed, no matter the circumstances. But Meiko's resilience was tested when the Yokai were freed from their prison.
>
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> After being dormant for generations, the monstrous demons were let loose upon the Myre. When Meiko's younger brother Motoori was taken, something changed in her. The spark took a darker shade, and the smile was put to rest. In order to face the Yokai, Meiko took the responsibility of wielding the Mamono Dagger. The blade was the only weapon capable of killing the Yokai - but wielding it came at a great cost. Every Yokai the dagger claimed was contained inside of it. The more it killed, the more powerful it became. And the more it threatened to consume its wielder. But Meiko had no choice. If she had any hope of saving her brother, she had to face these demons. Those both outside, and within.
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This third season offers a new Hero Skin to the next Hero on the list: the Kensei. What is offered is the visuals of Meiko the Yokai Slayer. Half-human, half-demon, she is the hero who will slay the demons that have been released.

### Web of the Jorogumo

A living nightmare haunts the Myre! The horrifying creature known as the Jorogumo has nested in the Market Place, where the monstrous spider feasts on cocooned villagers and viciously preys on the few warriors brave enough to face it. All hope lies in Meiko, who wields the Mamono Dagger. Accompany the Yokai Slayer through the web-infested village and attempt to do the impossible: defeat Jorogumo.

Only from October 20th to November 10th, take part in this midseason launch Halloween event, Web of the Jorogumo. This thrilling PvE game mode is a spin on the Emperor's Escape gamemode from the Zhanhu's Gambit event, but on the web-infested Market Town map. Escort Meiko through the capture points so that you can face the mother of all Yokai, the Jorogumo, a final boss entity that is like nothing players have ever seen before. Due to the teamwork and communication that will be much needed in this gamemode, it will have you at the edge of your seat right up until the very end.

Claim exclusive event loot through our free event pass which includes a mood effect, a Battle Outfit and an ornament. Additionally, during the three-week event, you will be able to unlock rewards from past Halloween events! Lastly, we will have a bundle available for purchase for the duration of the event, which includes 2 outfits, 2 executions and a paired emote. If you complete the gamemode, you will also be rewarded with Ornaments only exclusive to that gamemode and nowhere else.

For more details on the event and gamemode, check out the dedicated Web of the Jorogumo article page.

### Seasonal customization

Generations ago, the Samurai fought the Yokai and trapped them in a cave. The feats of the past may now be myth, but the stories of old are resurrected when the Yokai return to haunt the living. Now, warriors must dust off ancient armors that have not been worn in centuries – armors they can only hope will help them achieve what their ancestors did: push the Yokai back into the dark.

### Crossplay Phase 2

Crossplay Phase 2 finally is here, coming in two parts. After the first part that helped migrate all P2P gamemodes to be on Servers, reactivated voice chat to be cross-platform, and added a Block List, the game can finally add what everyone has been waiting for: proper invitation and friendlist of people cross-platform! Wait no more as your buddies on console or PC can play with you, no matter which platform you all play on!

### Gameplay Changes

The following is a list of changes initiated at the start of the midseason. Many of them address some quality of life fixes, while other look to enhance the experience of playing a Hero as the game moves forward in balance.

* Dodge Attack I-frame and Tracking Break timings has been adjusted for a number of Heroes. "Tracking Break" refers to the timing when a dodge or dodge attack will prevent a non-Undodgeable attack from following them.
	+ The following Heroes now have some more I-frames on their Side Dodge attack: Zhanhu, Nuxia, Shaman, Shaolin and Medjay (Axe Mode).
	+ The following Heroes have seen adjustments to when their Side Dodge attack breaks tracking of incoming attacks: Peacekeeper, Nuxia and Zhanhu have increased windows, while Shaman has a slightly reduced window.
* Kensei has had follow-up changes that aid ones made at the start of the season:
	+ Top Heavy Opener, Chained Top Heavy and Side Heavy Finishers now are faster, with their damage reduced accordingly.
	+ ~~All Chained Attacks and Dodge Attacks now cause Medium hit reaction instead of Heavy hit reaction.~~ Later hotfixes reverted the changes, making all these moves have Heavy hit reaction instead of Medium hit reaction.
* Zhanhu has received adjustments to make his Finisher offense more potent:
	+ Link to Heavy Finishers adjusted so they cannot be interrupted by a Light.
	+ Heavy Finishers can now be soft feinted into a Guardbreak
	+ Side Dodge Heavy attack miss recovery lessened.
* Jiang Jun has received changes to make it more fair to face him in teamfights, but to also let him use his parry grab with teammates more.
	+ Damage Reduction removed on Dou Shi's Choke victim.
	+ Dou Shi's Swirl And Sifu Swirl are slower.
	+ Heavy Finishers have had their damage slightly reduced.
* Shinobi's main gank has been nerfed as it had the potential of being an infinite gank that gave too little revenge.
	+ Shadow Strike can no longer chain on miss, preventing even more the Parry Unlock Tech that was possible on the Hero.
	+ Sickle Rain and Sickle Rain Lights now feed more Revenge (twice as much or more).
* Black Prior's backstep Light has reduced distance, while their Zone Attack is now slightly faster.
* Jormungandr's Zone Attack now costs much less, while it and all side Heavy attacks have had their trajectory changes to match the weapon's visual.
* Berserker's Sprint Attack now has Uninterruptible Stance.
* Nuxia's Zone Attack now has less Guardbreak Vulnerability.
* Gladiator's Fuscina Ictus (Toe Stab) is faster when performed in chains.
* Pirate's Cavalier Dance now cannot be soft feinted into Guardbreak, and the chain link from Guaranteed Pistol Blast is slower.
* Testing Ground's Guardbreak Changes will be added:
	+ Counter Guardbreaking will now have less recovery, making the move frame positive for the one how Counter Guardbreaks instead of frame neutral.
	+ Backwards movement on Counter Guardbreaking is reduced. This should prevent easy disengages after performing a Counter Guardbreaks.
* Parry Counter input timing has been adjusted on a number of Heroes to be have a more forgiving window: Jiang Jun, Warmonger, Centurion and Warlord.

For more details on the specifics of these gameplay changes, please look at the official patch notes here.

### Testing Grounds

Later in the season mid-November will be another Testing Ground, testing a slew of rebalances for Dodges and Dodge Attacks. What changes will be made are the following:

* Side Dodge Heavies now will count for a Light Parry punish, instead of a Heavy one.
* Side Dodge Bashes no longer chain on miss, along with always being punishable with a Guardbreak on-miss.
* All Side Dodge Attacks will now be standardized to have a minimum input window of 200 to 400ms into a Dodge, from either a static window or a smaller window.
* Heroes no longer keep their defense while dodging, except if they possess a Deflect or Superior/Normal Block Dodge.
* I-frames are no longer lost when losing speed while Dodging (such as when dodging into a wall or other entities).

Jormungandr has also been announced to be in the Testing Ground next Season with what is hinted at being a full relaunch.

### Hero Fest

The Hero Fest returns, offering a mini-event to a Hero for a week. 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 occur twice per title update, which results in four Heroes receiving a Fest per season, resulting in sixteen Hero fests occurring per year.

The next two Heroes to receive this Fest will be X on November 10th to the 17th and X on November 24th to December 1st.

### Other Changes

Below is a handful of other changes made that do not fit into the above categories:

* As a result of the Web of the Jorogumo event, Temple Garden has become even more haunted by the spider's influence. TBAed
* Enemy minions will appear as Kappa warriors, with turtle shell and cucumbers galore.
* Some previous global emotes and executions have been retrofitted to newer Heroes. These include the instrument emotes/executions and Horkos Crew signature.
* Fixed a bug that caused customization expressions to go missing on Heroes.
* Skip button at the Match End now functions properly, where it will more immediately skip screens or skill all of them with a button hold.
* Fixed a number of bugs for Heroes:
	+ Fixed Lawbringer's Side lights not have tracking while moving sideway.
	+ Fixed Jiang Jun's swirl attack animation skipping frames when performing while exiting Sifu's Poise.
	+ Fixed an issue that caused Centurion's Eagle's Talon animation to be offset when performed on a low health enemy.
	+ Fixed a few issues with Aramusha: slower OoS Top Light Attacks than intended; Right Dodge Heavy having more forward movement than Left Dodge Attack; an erroneous spinning animation when performing a Deadly Feint under certain circumstances.
	+ Fixed Hitokiri's axe having bad transitions between top and left guard.
	+ Fixed an issue that had Warmonger be pushed back if the opponent dies from the initial damage of Poisoning Wallsplat (when Vicious Impale pushes the opponent into a wall).
	+ Fixed bad camera transitions when killing an enemy with Jormungandr's Side Dodge Lights.
	+ Fixed head jittering when Kyoshin misses Aoarashi (in-chain Bash).
	+ Fixed an issue that caused Shaolin's Qi Stance Heavy to have increased damage and guarantee sweep in specific situations; also fixed Qi Sweep from unbalancing players that were not targeted by it.
	+ Fixed camera issues on Black Prior's Right Sided Dodge attack.
* Further fixes to holes in maps that caused players to fall through the ground, this time on Temple Garden Capture B.
* Fixed a number of customization issues:
	+ Fixed Kyoshin's Relentless Windstorm execution playing a sound effect while the sword is sheathed.
	+ Fixed Shugoki's Tachibana chest applying back customization to the front.
	+ Fixed Viking Reputation Outfits to be missing some content when comparing Heroes.
	+ Fixed a number of outfits having missing physics, gap in textures, and clipping of armor/cloth.
* Fixed a UI bug that caused an incorrect in-game notification when a friend request is sent on PC.

## Gallery

### Video

For Honor- Year 6 Season 3 - The Demon Dagger Launch Trailer - -UbiForward
## Trivia

* On the modified Temple Garden map, a glowing message appears on the gravestone that stands between the minion lane and Attacker's Spawn. It reads "蜘の子は みなちりぢりの 身すぎ哉" which translates roughly to "The Spider's Children, all scatter everywhere, off to their own life" or more simply "The spiderlings have all scattered."
	+ This poem is one of many variations of the "蜘蛛の子" (*kumo no ko*; lit. "spiderling") waka poem by a number of Japanese poets. This specific variation of the poem is composed by famed poet and lay Buddhist priest Kobayashi Issa. A 5-7-5 haiku style of the poem's translation is offered above as a result.

## Information

### **Rating(s)**

Mature

> *"Fate is the one true enemy, a warrior that can't be fought or predicted. Yet in the libraries of Arabia, there is a sphere that tells the histories of tomorrow, hidden by a wise and beloved Sultana. Now it is mine. I have seen a prophecy, a secret for Horkos and us alone. Victory is in our grasp, and fate will be written by my hand."*
>
>

> *"Heathmoor's destiny laid bare, drawn from a feather, dipped in blood."*
>
>

> *"حانت ساعتك (hanat saeatuk)."*
>
>

**Lost Horizon Season 4**, named "Shattered Fates," is the twenty-fourth season of the ongoing Faction War. The Black Priors have learnt of a relic that can predict the future, lying within the hands of the benevolent Sultana of Arabia. Commander Ravier, under the command of Vortiger, sought to find this treasure. But upon finding it, she went even further: she destroyed the relic, killed the Sultana and ravaged the Arabian kingdom, all so that she can monopolize the visions that she saw in store for Horkos.

## Overview

> The Black Priors are tasked with finding the Celestial Sphere and stealing its forbidden prophecies. Armed with this knowledge, they hope to conquer Heathmoor—and will spare none who know its secrets.
>
>

Few know what happens in Arabia. Visitors have been long been forbidden. But with new sea routes opening Heathmoor to the secretive kingdom, the Sultana of Arabia finally opened the gates. First to enter was Commander Ravier, a top lieutenant of the Black Priors. She came as a diplomat. Yet while making overtures of friendship, Ravier's true orders were to find the Sultana's Celestial Sphere: a fabled relic said to foretell the future.

After much scheming, Ravier gained access to the relic. It showed her a flash of the future – a prophecy of Heathmoor’s fate. The secret would give the Black Priors just the advantage they needed to conquer their homeland. To ensure no one else might know the prophecy, the Black Priors shattered the Celestial Sphere. Then, for good measure, they burnt down Arabia's great libraries and put the Sultana to the sword. Commander Ravier was the one fate Arabia never saw coming.

## Features

### Frost Wind Nights

The Frost Wind season is once again upon us! From December 15th to January 5th, participate in For Honor's Y6S4 launch event, Frost Wind Nights, and claim exclusive stellar themed event content including Weapons, Effects, Ornaments, and Outfits. The Frost Wind season favorite game mode Ice Brawlers is also back and available only throughout the duration of the event. Don't miss your chance to condemn your enemies to an icy abyss..

### Hero Skins

>
> When Mount Ignis erupted, fire and molten rock burned everything in its path. That day, Ravier suffered a wound that she was quick to hide behind a mask. Some believe that she was brutally disfigured. Others say that she had only but a small scar, and that her pride was the only thing truly wounded that day. But the real truth is far more sinister. Ravier put on a mask not to hide herself, but to reveal who she really was: walking death. Immutable, unreadable, and unstoppable. Thanks to her merciless nature and her particularly cruel antics, Ravier caught Vortiger’s attention, and he promoted her. As his second-in-command, Commander Ravier lead the Black Priors to many victories, and she left such a trail of disembodied victims and horror stories that she came to be known by another name: the Lady Misery.
>
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> After rumors of a powerful artifact hidden in Arabia reached Vortiger, he sent Commander Ravier to the distant kingdom, once out of reach and now finally open to them thanks to the opening of new travel routes. Posing as an emissary, Ravier met with the Sultana and effortlessly read the monarch’s dreams and aspirations. Through deception, Ravier gained her favor, and obtained access to the Celestial Sphere, a relic capable of foretelling the future. After she witnessed what future awaited Heathmoor, Ravier destroyed the relic and slayed the Sultana. For only she could hold the secrets of the future. Only she could know what would come next. And its name was misery.
>
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This fourth season offers a new Hero Skin to the next Hero: the Black Prior. What is offered is the visuals of Commander Ravier. Cruel and calculating, she is the hero who brings misery to all who stand in her way.

### Hero Update

Some changes will be coming to the live game at the start of the season, with Valkyrie and Tiandi receiving changes to their kit from the Testing Grounds and feedback. Additionally, some quality of life changes has been made to a number of Heroes and gameplay aspects.

* Valkyrie's kit now revolves even more around her Shield Tackle ability, enforcing a playstyle that has her attacking while defending and defending while attacking. Aside from that, she has received a few other changes to give a quality of life touch to her kit.
	+ Shield Tackle now accessible from a front dodge instead of a back dodge. No more Stamina costs while holding the Full Block, although Stamina is paused during it. Shield Tackle now can chain on-miss, and also has a dedicated Light follow-up on-hit.
	+ Shield Crush replaced by Shield Tackle.
	+ Sweep is slightly faster and should now not hit nearby Walls and multiple players. Even if it hits allies, it will not unbalance them.
	+ Sweep Follow-up now has better tracking so that it is always guaranteed after a successful Sweep.
	+ Miss recovery on a number of moves reduced. Some moves now have more forward momentum.
	+ Chain Top Light and Top Light Finisher are now standardized to 500ms, with damage adjusted accordingly. Side Light Finishers no longer inflict Stamina damage, stun or pause Stamina.
	+ Side Heavy trajectories improved.
	+ Sprint Attack now initiates Chains.
	+ Dodge Lights are now Enhanced. Side Dodge Lights have more movement.
	+ Shoulder Pin is slightly faster, has stacking Bleed, and has better input comfort.
* Tiandi did not need many changes to be viable, focusing on improvements to two elements of his kit: Dodge Specialist and Dragon Kick. These were improved by giving him more flexible Dodge Recovery Cancels and more viability to the Dragon Kick. Palm Strike has also received a touch-up.
	+ Now has Dodge Recovery Cancels after any attack, instead of only Openers.
	+ Dragon Kick can now be Hard Feinted. Now chains to a dedicated follow-up on-hit that has Tiandi leap forward with a downward strike.
	+ Palm Strike's input changed to be "Forward Dodge + GB" from "Back + GB." Palm Strike no longer chains into Top Dragon Dodge on Heavy input, instead chaining into Heavy Finishers.
	+ Dragon Kick and Palm Strike no longer deals Stamina damage nor cause Stamina pause.
	+ Top Dragon Dodge's damage reduced. Side Dragon Dodge now has better recovery values.
	+ Heavy finishers now have better trajecotires.
	+ Out-of-Lock Finishers are now performed from the Left instead of from Top.
* Executions have received improvements so that they are now less vulnerable.
	+ Executions no longer force the hero to enter the Out of Lock state on exit.
	+ Executions no longer force specific stance directions on exit.
	+ Shared executions can now enter the Locked state 100ms earlier when the execution is completed.
* Consoles now have access to a Field of View slider.
* Nvidia Ansel can now be used in Spectator mode in any supported Game Mode.
* The following is a list of bug fixes:
	+ Fixed an issue where Jiang Jun, Gladiator and Shaolin could not change Guard Stance during their Guardbreak start-up.
	+ Fixed an issue with Conqueror's Charged Heavy having flicker. Also fixed animation blending with their Flail Uppercut.
	+ Fixed Shaolin having different speeds for Heavy Finishers between in-lock and out-of-lock. Also fixed the Invigorate feat from being able to heal by cancelling Qi Stance with a dodge attack.
	+ Fixed animation snapping on Tiandi's Top Tiger Dodge when performed after a Side Opener.
	+ Fixed an issue that caused Warmonger's Preying claw to inflict Bleed damage through Black Prior's Bulwark Counter. Also fixed a transition error from Warmonger's Sprint Attack into chained attacks.
	+ Fixed an issue where Jormungandr would have off animations in certain circumstances, including Jotunn Farewell having incorrect animations when performed after a zone attack.
	+ Fixed an issue that disallowed Medjay from influencing movement direction for Out-of-Lock attacks.
	+ Fixed multiple cases of map collission that allowed players to push either themselves or others out of bounds.
	+ Fixed being able to lock onto allies through Paired Emotes and performing unavoidable attacks using this bug.
	+ Fixed an issue that caused Players that join a match in progress to be unable to see the available options after using the tilde key on keyboard or LB on controllers.
	+ And more...

For specific details on the changes made, see the patch notes for the season here.

### Testing Grounds

A new round of Testing Grounds arrives, and with it, it seeks to put Jormungandr into competitive shape. Due to the hard-to-balance and unhealthy nature of their "Stamina Bully" identity, the Devs seek to open up the Hero's options by removing the "Stamina" from it, and instead pushing a unique "displacement bully" role where they specialize in knocking around their opponents. Below is a general list of changes:

* Gameplan: Jormungandr's identity moves from "stamina bully" into more of a "displacement bully" by making them more of a Disruptor than aiming to send the opponent into exhaustion. As a result, Hamarr Slam is no more the core of their kit, as they have access to tools to help them push their opponent around.
	+ All Bashes now do not deal Stamina damage or inflict Stamina pause. Jormungandr's moves will also not knock down OoS opponents.
	+ Midchain Bash has been changed into a dedicated knock down move as Jormungandr pommels their target's knees.
	+ Heavy Finishers now knock back opponents farther away. Top Heavy Finisher now properly knocks opponents back.
	+ New Guardbreak follow-up that has Jormungandr knock around the enemy in a similar fashion to their Heavy Finishers.
* Flow: Jormungandr's flow is currently lacking on the Live version. The hero feels limited, has strict 2 hit chains, and very little in the way of flowing between different attacks. We're looking to improve the hero's flow, as it is an important part of group fighting; as we move more towards this type of meta, heroes need a good flow so they can defend themselves when outnumbered.
	+ New midchain Zone that can be performed after any attack except Hamarr Slam and itself, and is meant to allow Jormungandr to keep up their offense.
* Quality of Life: We're also addressing other parts of Jormungandr's kit to make the hero more efficient, less frustrating to fight against and to revamp some now obsolete parts of the hero.
	+ Light Openers now are swings than punches, with Light Finishers not being Undodgeable anymore.
	+ Due to changes in the kit, Hamarr Slam and Heavy Finishers deal less damage.
	+ Jotunn Surge input changed from back + GB to front dodge + GB, and now utilizes the old midchain Bash animation.
	+ Serpent Smite is now slightly faster, with its Hyper Armour moved earlier into the move.
	+ Jotunn Gift and Jotunn Grudge now inflict Health damage due to losing their Stamina damage. Jotunn Grudge's animation has been reworked.

If you would like to know more about the specific details of the Jormungandr Testing Grounds rework, see here.

### 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 occur twice per title update, which results in four Heroes receiving a Fest per season, resulting in sixteen Hero fests occurring per year.

The first Hero to receive this Fest this season will be Shaolin from January 5th to the 12th, followed by Gladiator the following week of the 19th to the 26th.

### 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 starry night skies of Arabia, together with all its astronomical beauty and knowledge.
>
>

The faraway kingdom of Arabia has prospered for centuries thanks to the relic known as the Celestial Sphere. Commander Ravier is sent to meet with the Sultana as an emissary, but the Black Prior slays the monarch and steals the relic’s secrets. Now, Ravier travels back to Heathmoor, bringing with her not just knowledge of the future, but weapons long ago forged in Arabia. These weapons, bearing imagery of the stars, will once again be wielded by those fighting to secure their fate.

Bring your customization to a whole new level with some Arabian night flair 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 use the Celestial Sphere to obliterate your foe into the unknown with Time Crush, and a special Signature where you showcase your cool contact juggling skills through Sphere Skills. 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.

### Other Changes

The Harbor is now set in Arabian lands, placing players in the setting where Ravier had ventured to. With the Arabian night showcasing a beautiful starry sky, what secrets are there to be found on this map...?

## Midseason Changes

On February 2nd is the midseason changes, offering not only the new Hero, but also new armor variations, a free event pass and more. As was the case, there will be two more Hero Fests and one last return of the Carousel of Horkos gamemode.

### New Hero: Afeera

With the Celestial Sphere destroyed and the Sultana dead, the Afeera have decided to not stand on the wayside anymore! Outcasts-turned-elites, the Afeera are both excellent warriors as they are scholars, wielding with sharp precision a mace and a shield. Putting such to work, their mission has changed. No longer will they simply watch the events of Heathmoor unfold. Now, they will help shape them.

She can be purchased for immediate access with monetary currency in the Afeera Hero Offer bundle, or purchased seperately with in-game currency two weeks later. Purchasing her through the bundle not only gives access to the Afeera, but also offers an exclusive elite outfit, an exclusive ornament, 3 Scavenger Crates and 7 days of Champion Status.

See more about the Afeera on their designated page here.

### Twilight of the Afeera

With their Sultana dead, the Afeera swears vengeance upon Ravier. No matter what the Black Prior had sawn, these deft warriors will make sure Ravier won't see that future realized.

Fight on the battlefield as the swift Afeera, securing exclusive rewards only available during this event, from February 2nd to 23rd.

### Seasonal Customization

> *The Celestial Sphere allowed the scholars of Arabia to glimpse events from the future. Now, Commander Ravier and her Black Priors have returned to Heathmoor with plunder from Arabia, including weapons and armors marked with curious constellations. While there is no proof of this, some warriors believe these items may hold the secrets to their personal futures, hidden there by the seers of Arabia.*
>
>

With the launch of a title update comes a new set of armor variations. These new armor visuals offers a mystical look for each Hero, with colours of blue and gold offering amazing patterns that reminds one of an Arabian Night.

### Gameplay Changes

Below is a list of changes that will be implemented at the start of the midseason. Many of them address some quality of life fixes, while other look to enhance the experience of playing a Hero as the game moves forward in balance.

* Held Full Block Stances will now be standardized to not consume Stamina, as is the case with Heroes such as Conqueror during their recent rework. This includes the following:
	+ Holding the Stance no longer consumes Stamina nor does it pause Stamina Regeneration.
	+ Blocking in the Stance no longer consumes Stamina either.
	+ Blocking in the Stance will not build less Revenge than normal.
	+ Kyoshin's Kaze Stance has an enter cost, just like the other Heroes.
	+ Affected Heroes: Conqueror, Black Prior, Warlord, Valkyrie, and Kyoshin.
	+ Nobushi's Hidden Stance also receives part of the above treatment, as it no longer pauses Stamina Regeneration when held.
* Berserker can now cancel any attack recovery with a Dodge, instead of only on-miss. Their Close Combat trait still allows Berserker to initiate their Zone Attack only on-miss.
* Kensei's Chained Light attacks now cause Medium Hit reaction, from Light. Link timing from Chained Light to Finisher Light has been adjusted to ensure the opponent can dodge out of it.
* Black Prior's Light Finishers now cause Medium Hit reaction, from Light; their recoveries have been adjusted to maintain Frame Advantage rules. Tenebris Thrust can now cancel its recoveries into Bulwark Stance.
* Shaman's non-guaranteed Bleed stabs (Raven's Claw and Raven's Bile) now have uniform 400ms speed on all sides. Before, sides were 66ms slower.
* Kyoshin's Hakaze and Mujounokaze (Light and Zone from Kaze Stance) now cost 6 Stamina from 12.
* Warmonger's Beast of Prey now has Extended Dodge property.
* Gryphon's Helm Cleaver is now Enhanced.
* Nobushi can now perform Viper's Retreat and Hidden Stance 100ms after Stance Change (previously was locked behind an outdated 300ms window).
* Valkyrie's Shield Tackle no longer causes Stamina damage.
* During further hotfixes, a few more adjustments had been made to Afeera, particularly addressing their ability to Wallsplat infinite:
	+ Left Side Heavy Finishers, including the Red Omen variants, now have the following properties:
		- Recoveries to neutral and to Astro Flip have been increased to 1266ms and 900ms respectively. This is in comparison to 700ms and 200-300ms respectively for the other Finishers.
		- They now possess a specific chain to Neutral Lights, Neutral Heavies and Zone Attack to allow these attacks to land on a successful wallsplat. Chains to these are 600-700ms.
		- Movement has been added during the Finishers and their recoveries, moving the Afeera towards the left.
		- Pin duration increased slightly from 700ms to 833ms. Wallsplat window has been decreased to 100-300ms from 100-500ms.
	+ Reach on Afeera's attacks overall have been slightly increased, with Heavy Chain Finishers having increased forward movement. All side trajectories on attacks, including dodge attacks and zone attack, have also been adjusted to more consistently hit external targets.
	+ The Unique T4 Orbiting Shield has had its debuff buffed, doubling the debuff value from 20% to 40% and the debuff duration from 10 seconds to 20.
	+ Fixed a bug where feinting Afeera's Knockout Punch costed double.

To see a more detailed overview of these changes, see the official patch notes here.

### Hero Fest

The Hero Fest returns, offering a mini-event to a Hero for a week. 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 occur twice per title update, which results in four Heroes receiving a Fest per season, resulting in sixteen Hero fests occurring per year.

The next two Heroes to receive this Fest will be Kyoshin on February 23rd to March 2nd and Nuxia on March 9th to 16th.

### Other Changes

Below is a handful of other changes made that do not fit into the above categories:

* Added an option to disable all Voice Chat from players.
* Fixed a bug that caused Valkyrie's Spear Sweep to pin Heroes who are in an unpinnable state.
* Fixed an issue that caused Nobushi's Guardbreak after Heavy to lose tracking.
* Fixed an animation bug for Tiandi's feint from Dragon Kick.
* Fixed an issue that forced Aramusha to perform a backwalk Heavy when initiating a Heavy after a Back Throw.
* Fixed a bug that caused opponents affected by Zhanhu's Qilin's Ruse and Kyoshin's Mugen Houyou to become invulnerable.
* Fixed an issue where Warmonger's Corruption Blade would be consumed if it connects with Black Prior's Bulwark Counter without affecting the Black Prior.
* Fixed the scabbard placement for Kyoshin during a neutral dodge.
* Fixed an assortment of animation and clipping issues on Gladiator, Berserker and Nobushi.
* Fixed an issue where Horkos Masquerade weapons would be missing their unlock conditions.
* Fixed an issue that caused Champion Status XP to be missing from the end-of-match summary screen.
* TBA

## Gallery

### Video

For Honor- Year 6 Season 4 - Shattered Fates Launch Trailer

## Trivia

* The line spoken at the end of the Launch Trailer is in Arabic, and translates to "Your hour has come." Currently, it is assumed that while the trailer is narrated by Ravier, this line is spoken by the new Outlander hero who will be released during the Midseason.
* The main theme music of the season is sung in Farsi, with the music style being based off Persian folk music.
	+ The lyrics of the song is based off some lines from the mythical poetry book "Shahnameh" by famed Persian poet, Ferdowsi (full name: Abul-Qâsem Ferdowsi Tusi). Ferdowsi is celebrated as one of the most influential figures in Persian literature.
	+ The singer for the theme is Habib Haji Mola Hoseini.

## Trivia

* Unlike previous seasons which assumed a chronological order, it has been mentioned that Year 6 will not be chronological, likely due to how the stories to be followed will not all occur in the present.
	+ Confirmed by Ubisoft staff, UbiChem, in a reddit post reply, mythical events during this year are also meant to be taken as tales told by the denizens of Heathmoor, with fact and fiction intertwined. As a result, what is told in the season won't make it entirely clear which is what, but it can be safely assumed that none of the past lore is meant to be retconned by any "new lore" that comes this year.