For Honor News

For Honor’s 5th year is finally here with Y5S1: Asunder! All celebrate their chosen covenants and continue their march to battle. Starting March 11th, experience how Heathmoor is now torn asunder between the Order of Horkos and the Chimera Alliance. Get access to new armor variations, weapons, events, battle pass and more!

For more insight into Y5S1, you can hear what the dev team has to say by checking our Y5S1 Season Reveal Livestream on Warrior’s Den.



After the Battle of the Eclipse, the Chimera Alliance and Order of Horkos fought relentlessly for years. As Heathmoor's population declined, people everywhere began to make 'Covenants', secret pacts to share intel and resources, with either Horkos or Chimera warriors. Covenants could be used to gain allies outside their faction, while rooting out the evil among their own. Sealing a Covenant was also a symbolic way to make a statement about the future. Would someone embrace the warmongering views of the Horkos, following strict codes and rituals to keep the strongest in their rightful place? Or would they rather fight for Chimera's ideals of solidarity and peace?

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Those determined to honor Apollyon's legacy, and to create a new order ruled by the most deserving warriors of Heathmoor, often pledged their alliance to Horkos. Among the various initiation rites that would allow someone to join the Order, the Masquerade would pit a promising challenger against other warriors in a deadly battle. Only the survivors would be accepted in the Order. It was a way to keep the strongest in their rightful place, while bringing new recruits in the Horkos.

From season launch to April 1st, you are invited to the Horkos Masquerade. Will you be strong enough to survive and stay? Participate in a special Horkos themed game mode, Carousel of Horkos, and earn exclusive Weapons.

Carousel of Horkos is a 4v4 PVP game mode. Two teams compete until all the members of the same team are defeated at the same time. It's a Single Pick match with no Revive, no Feats and no Gear Perks. To add to the chaos, there is a buffed up Neutral Bot known as “The Horkos Challenger”, that will attempt to defeat you. Quick tip, if you succeed in killing the NPC, you steal its modifier.

During the event, all warriors will have access to the free Event Pass which allows them to earn a multitude of rewards such as a new Battle Outfit, a Mood Effect, as well as an Ornament. You can also expect 28 new event specific weapons to loot from now until April.



In Y5S1 Paired Emotes are coming to For Honor! Celebrate gruesome executions, epic ledges, savage ganks, or simply express yourself along with your warrior friends. For Honor's first Paired Emote, Chest Bump, will be available through Y5S1's Battle Pass.






Based on your feedback from our previous Testing Grounds, updates to Warden's gameplay take effect at season start. For more information regarding Warden’s Changes, and future testing grounds, check out our Fight Update article.





While some makers chose to serve the Horkos, others followed Ilma's lead and joined the Chimera. These skilled artisans benefitted from the newest technological advances and shared resources to improve the warriors' gear.

In Y5S1, For Honor continues to bring new seasonal customization. Throughout the season, look out for new armor variations, weapons, and more!





With more resources at their disposal, the makers of Horkos were able to craft some of the most refined weapons and draperies one could find in Heathmoor. A scribe who attended one of the Masquerades described the style of the Horkos warriors as 'sophisticated yet violent, gorgeous yet terrifying'. If one took a closer look at the bright colors and smiling masks of Horkos, they would discern a disturbing truth beneath the lavish surface.

This season, play through the Battle Pass, and add some Horkos flair to your character's look through the 100 Tiers of rewards available for all heroes! Remember, exclusively included in this season’s Battle Pass is For Honor’s first ever paired emote Chest Bump.



Starting Y5S1, changes are coming to the rewards warriors will receive at the conclusion of seasonal faction wars. These changes are detailed below.



For more insight into Y5S1, and what is to come, you can hear what the dev team has to say by checking our Y5S1 Season Reveal Livestream on Warrior’s Den.

[h3]PS4: 1.3 Gb, Xbox One: 1.6 Gb, PC: 1.6 Gb[/h3]

Known Issue: Warden's Top Heavy to Side Heavy Unblockable is currently undodgeable. We are working on a fix and will release it as soon as possible.

Known Issue: Warden's zone attack is undodgeable, but lacks the blue undodgeable effect, We are working on a fix and will release it as soon as possible

[h3]BATTLE PASS FEST[/h3]

• Battle Fest is a weekend when players will grind double BP points compare as normal day (same as XP fest but for BP points)
  

[h3]FACTION WAR[/h3]

• Starting in Y5S1, changes are coming to the rewards warriors will receive at the conclusion of seasonal faction wars.
  

• We made the faction-colored territories on the World Map more transparent to make the seasonal and event realization elements more visible.
  

[h3]FIGHTERS[/h3]

General

• Whenever a Hero is in the startup of a Guard Break, if that Hero is struck by a Guard Break it will now automatically perform a Guard Break Counter.
  

Developer's comment: This is to prevent situations where two players would attempt to Guard Break each other at a very specific timing and the first player to get Guard Broken would need to re-press the Guard Break button to tech it.

[h3]Warden
[/h3]

The changes from the Y4|S4 Testing Grounds are now live, with bug fixes and other improvements.


[h3] Shoulder Bash[/h3]

• Shoulder Bash is no longer accessible from Back Dodge
  
• Shoulder Bash now slightly moves forward when feinted
  
• Fully Charged Shoulder Bash no longer has additional forward movement when feinted
  
• Any Non-Shoulder Bash Attack can now chain to Shoulder Bash.
  

Developer’s comment: These changes should help Shoulder Bash both feel fairer and flow better. Warden now has to be on the offensive to use Shoulder Bash and rewards using every part of the kit instead of relying on only part of the kit.


[h3] Heavy Attacks[/h3]

• Side Heavy Openers now have flatter and larger trajectories
  
• Top Heavy Finisher is now a 900ms attack (down from 1000ms)
  
• Side Heavy Finishers are now 900ms attacks (up from 800ms)
  
• Side Heavy Finishers are now Unblockable
  
• Side Heavy Finishers now deal 30 damage (down from 35 during the Testing Grounds)
  
• Top Heavy Finisher now deals 32 damage (down from 34 in the Testing Grounds)
  
• Side Heavy Finisher trajectories are now flatter
  
• Warden now moves forward more when performing Side Heavy Finishers
  
• Light Attacks now chain to Heavy Finishers at 100ms during their recoveries (down from 200ms)
  

Developer’s comment: Warden should now be able to use Heavy attacks more effectively; the increased speed on the Top Heavy Finisher makes it harder to interrupt and Side Heavy Attacks (both Openers and Finishers) are stronger both in group fights as well as the minion lane.
[h3]
Zone Attack[/h3]

• Zone Attack recovery is now 500ms (down from 1000ms)
  
• Warden now moves forward more when performing Zone Attack
  

Developer’s comment: Warden’s Zone Attack no longer needs to commit to an additional attack to be useful; the extra forward movement also helps in group fights to catch opponents that might be further away.

Additional fixes based on Y4|S4’s Testing Grounds player feedback:

• Fixed an issue where Side Heavy Finishers were undodgeable after a Top Heavy Opener (FH-1089)
  
• Fixed an issue where Side Heavy Finishers were undodgeable after a Top Heavy Opener (FH-1022)
  

[h3]
FEATS[/h3]

• [Adjustment] Replaced “Thick Blood” on Warden and Nuxia with “Thrilling Comeback”
  
• Thrilling Comeback is a passive Feat that recovers a small amount of health upon entering Revenge
  

Developer’s comment: Player feedback from the Y4|S4 Testing Grounds correctly noted that Thick Blood Warden negatively affected the viability of Testing Grounds Peacekeeper and Nobushi – as it nullifies their bleed entirely. Here, by changing the effect of Thick Blood entirely, we remove the unhealthy aspect of being able to shut down bleed heroes’ kits for free, as well as the bad feeling of taking Thick Blood but not queuing into any bleed heroes. In this new Thrilling Comeback, it retains the passive feature of making you live a bit longer, and now is globally useful with a much more healthy design.

[h3]MAP[/h3]

[h3]Forge[/h3]

• [Adjustment] Created new stair access points to Capture Zone A
  
• [Adjustment] Created an access point from Mid-lane into the central workshop building
  
• [Adjustment] Reworked Ashfeld lighting environment and is now daylight
  

[h3]BREACH [/h3]

• [Adjustment] Added a warning to the defending team when their Commander takes damage
  

[h3]
USER INTERFACE[/h3]

• [Adjustment] We tweaked the size and opacity of revive/executed icons to make them less intrusive
  

[h3]
BUG FIXES[/h3]

[h3]GENERAL[/h3]

• [Bug Fix] Fixed an issue that allowed the Special follow-ups after Superior Blocking/Deflecting attacks to trigger on ally or minion hits
  
• [Bug Fix] Fixed an issue that caused the Centurion or Jormungandr to perform “Eagle's Talons” or “Hamarr Slam” on an opponent that will not be Unbalanced (FH-1136)
• [Bug Fix] Fixed an issue that caused the dodge shadows VFX to remain stuck on players
  

[h3]FIGHTERS[/h3]

[h3]Lawbringer[/h3]

[Bug Fix] Fixed an issue that caused Lawbringer's “Impaling Charge” to sometimes have offset animations when performing on an uneven surface

[h3]Orochi[/h3]

• [Bug Fix] Fixed an issue that caused Orochi's top heavy opener to deal 20 damage instead of 24 (FH-1272)

[h3]Aramusha[/h3]

• [Bug Fix] Fixed an issue that caused Aramusha’s “Ring the Bell” to be interrupted on opponent death (FH-878)

[h3]Gryphon[/h3]

• [Bug Fix] Fixed an issue that caused Gryphon to sometimes have offset animations when performing “Dauntless Chase” on an uneven surface (FH-1087)

[h3]CUSTOMIZATION[/h3]

• [Bug Fix] Fixed an issue that caused the "I Bring War" to have various offset issues on the Gryphon (FH-1194)
• [Bug Fix] Fixed an issue that caused Warden's "Folville" chest to apply Paint Patterns incorrectly (FH-1135)
• [Bug Fix] Fixed an issue that caused the Shugoki's helms to have issues with stretching and wrongly applied physics (FH-1153)
• [Bug Fix] Fixed an issue that caused the Tiandi's “Yi Ru Fan Zhang” Execution respawn timer starts 3 seconds earlier than expected (FH-1115)
• [Bug Fix] Fixed an issue that caused the Shugoki’s “Ikko-Ikki” chest symbols and embossings to be displayed on his back (FH-1139)
• [Bug Fix] Fixed an issue that caused the Shaolin's "Chilly Snowflake" weapons have the wrong part names (FH-1127)
• [Bug Fix] Fixed an issue that caused the Gryphon’s “Protector” Chest shoulders to not apply materials (FH-1103)
• [Bug Fix] Fixed an issue that caused the Warlord’s “Hrym” arms right shoulder to have a stretching issue on one of the spikes (FH-1092)
• [Bug Fix] Fixed an issue that caused the Raider's “Steinunn” arms for Male Rider to have a stretched spike on the right shoulder plate (FH-1101)
• [Bug Fix] Fixed an issue that caused the female Berserker's “Asmundar” helm yo be missing teeth compared to other similarly looking helmets (FH-1067)
• [Bug Fix] Fixed an issue that caused some of the Shinobi’s helm sets to have fabric poking through the cloth in two spots near the top rivets in the back of the head. (FH-860)
• [Bug Fix] Fixed an issue that caused the Shugoki's weapon to stutters while respawning when the free roam emote 'Tantrum' is interrupted
  

[h3]PC[/h3]

• [Bug Fix] Fixed an issue that caused 100% CPU usage on PC upon For Honor boot (FH-1287)

Welcome new and returning Warriors! The For Honor community uses a lot of complex terminology when discussing this game. This can be frustrating to newer or more relaxed players who are just trying to understand their own hero.

We created this guide for players who don’t understand their losses, or feel that they may be missing crucial knowledge.

Practice always helps, but game knowledge can go a long way when asking “How do I stop light spammers?” or “how do I deal with bashes?”

Whether you’re new or just someone who wants to brush up on their terminology, we hope you find this useful.



[h3]Bashes[/h3]

Bashes are moves that cannot be blocked or parried. They are often used to open up opponents. Bashes typically use part of the body or armor rather than a weapon. Warden’s Shoulder Bash is a well-known example of this type of move.

Counter-play: Dodging is the main defense against bashes. Heroes that have a dodge attack can deal with bashes quite well.

Another counter is reading when a player is likely to use a bash – catch them early enough, and you can use an attack to interrupt the bash before it even gets started.


[h3]Uninterruptible Stance / Hyper Armor [/h3]



Uninterruptible Stance (often called hyper armor) is an attack that, at some point in the animation, cannot be stopped. Landing an attack on a hero who is attacking with an Uninterruptible move will not interrupt the animation, and heroes like Hitokiri and Shugoki are able to strategically trade damage for damage.

Counter-play: Attacks with uninterruptible stance can still be defended against with parries and dodges, though sometimes these attacks have other special properties (such as the Unblockable property). They also may have variable timing, which can throw off your dodge and parry attempts.

Be aware that deflects are not always a good option against Uninterruptible attacks. Typically, heroes with deflects have less health, so the damage trade-off may not be worth it.


[h3]Enhanced Attacks[/h3]

Enhanced attacks are attacks that can be used in a combo after a prior attack has been blocked. Most attacks can’t go further into a combo after a block, as it puts the blocked hero into recovery.

Warlord is a hero whose light attacks are enhanced.

Counter-play: Enhanced attacks should be kept in mind so you’re not caught unawares after a successful block.

[h3]Unblockable Attacks[/h3]

Unblockable attacks are marked by a red trail on the weapon, in addition to a specific symbol that will appear.

As you may suspect, Unblockable attacks cannot be blocked. Dodging and parrying are still options.

Counter-play: Unblockable attacks force you to take some sort of action. Either dodge, parry, or interrupt the attack before it even begins. Use the Training Mode to practice defending against specific moves using pre-set AI attacks.

[h3]
Undodgeable Attacks[/h3]

Undodgeable attacks are marked by a blue trail.

Counter-play: Undodgeable attacks are an effective way of catching dodge attack-focused heroes. If you’re playing Tiandi or Zhanhu, be more careful in your use of that part of your moveset.



[h3]Feints[/h3]

There are two types of feint: hard feints and soft feints. Hard feints are used to cancel heavy attacks. “Soft” feints are moves that don’t require the use of the “Feint” input to be changed. Kensei, for example, has a few different soft feints from their top heavy finisher. By pressing the light attack button and a direction, they can adjust to a side light attack.


[h3]Punishes[/h3]

Punishes are the optimal attack to use in certain situations. It’s important to note that every hero has different punishes, but as a general rule you can use more damaging attacks if you manage to parry a light attack. Heavy attacks may only be punished by a light or a Zone.

Some heroes have dedicated punishes. If Nuxia parries an attack, she can use her dedicated parry punish move.

If she parries a light attack, she can use her heavy attack to punish her opponent for more damage. But she technically does have a dedicated parry punish that she can choose to use.


[h3]Game Score[/h3]

Game Score is how you push the enemy team into “Breaking.” When a team reaches 1000 points, their opponent is pushed into Breaking. When a team is breaking, it can’t respawn.

One crucial part of Game Score is the distinction between hard points and soft points. Some actions give your team points that never go away (i.e. killing heroes and minions). But when you capture a Zone, your team receives 100 soft points, which contribute to your team’s Game Score until the other team capture the Zone back.

This is important to know when in Breaking, because it means that capturing an enemy-controlled Zone may both release your team from Breaking, and possibly put the other team into Breaking.


[h3]Revenge[/h3]

Revenge is a meter that builds as an isolated player is attacked by multiple opponents.

Note that Revenge can be “held.” If you attack an opponent holding onto their Revenge, they can knock down any attackers who attack them.

Tip: Revenge is sometimes best used as a method of stalling, or waiting for help. You can try to win in an outnumbered situation, but carefully delaying until a friend arrives is also an option.


[h3]Guardbreak[/h3]

Guardbreaks are a method of opening up an opponent. However, a GB’d player always gets the opportunity to counter guardbreak.

Tip: Guardbreaks are useful for “catching” heroes who are dodging or rolling. Feinting a heavy and then guardbreaking is a useful trick for catching a defensive player.



[h3]Stamina[/h3]

Stamina is shown by the green bar underneath your health. When taking certain actions or being attacked by specific moves, heroes gradually lose their Stamina.

Some heroes, like Jiang Jun, are able to recover Stamina in a unique way. For all heroes, simply waiting for stamina recovery may make more sense than risking going Out of Stamina.

The Out of Stamina state, or OOS, is a painful situation to be in. Your attacks will come out much slower, and any throws will cause you to be “knocked down.” Knocked down opponents are vulnerable to very high damage punishes, so be careful! Play defensively when OOS around enemy heroes, or you’ll likely pay the cost.

As a general note: Zone attacks often cost a great deal of Stamina.


[h3]Dodge[/h3]



Dodging is a form of defense that avoids the attack entirely if timed correctly. Some heroes have dodge attacks, which means their defense can lead to effective offense.

It can sometimes feel impossible to hit these heroes, but remember that well-timed Guardbreaks will catch dodges and rolls. If someone is dodging a lot, you may be able to predict it. Feinting a heavy attack to force a dodge then immediately feinting into a guardbreak is one possible strategy.


[h3]Deflect[/h3]

A form of defense that often leads to very high damage. If your hero has a deflect, you may want to look out for attacks from the top of your guard indicator. Player typically find these easier to deflect for some reason.

It’s worth noting that “chasing Deflects” can get you into trouble. Sometimes a simple block is a much safer option. Also: you likely don’t want to deflect against an opponent using lots of Uninterruptible attacks.

But Deflects are very cool, so we understand if you want to keep attempting lots of them.

[h3]Ganking [/h3]




Ganking is attacking someone when you outnumber them. Anti-gank play is what happens when you’re outnumbered.

Most players do not like being ganked. It’s not an easy situation to deal with. In modes that feature lots of players, uneven situations will always occur around the battlefield.

But if you’re trying to win a Dominion match, understanding how to gank and how to react to being ganked is crucial. Outnumbered heroes gain Revenge, which lets them continue to fight. Avoid feeding Revenge unnecessarily and remember to stay a bit more defensive when outnumbered. It’s okay to play conservatively until helps arrives!

Hello Warriors!

JC here again from the Fight Team, with an update to our plans for Year 5!

First, we’ll be releasing the Warden improvements we tested in Year 4 Season 4’s Testing Grounds. Feedback was positive, and we made minor improvements and bug fixes, but generally Warden is unchanged, kit-wise, from the previous Testing Grounds. For a full list of changes to the Warden, please refer to our patch notes coming on Thursday, March 11th.

We also have exciting news to share about Testing Grounds in Year 5!



Based on your feedback, we felt Warden was almost ready for release. We took extra time to look over the feedback we received, as well as parsed through our data, and ultimately felt that Warden could release almost as-is from the version that was present in the Testing Grounds.

Aside from bug fixes, the one change that stuck out the most was damage on Warden’s Side Heavy Finishers being too high, especially compared to the damage dealt by the Top Heavy Finisher, and so we adjusted it downwards to be more in-line with other attacks.

In addition to this, we’re also changing Thick Blood, which is present on Warden and Nuxia – it is a frequent subject of feedback from players as it invalidates the kit of certain heroes almost completely. To address this, Thick Blood no longer makes the hero immune to Bleed and Fire Damage, but instead heals the hero when they activate Revenge. This ensures that the feat is no longer a hard counter to certain heroes while keeping some utility in group fights.



We are proud to announce that we aim to have the Testing Grounds open more frequently in Year 5 to test upcoming balance changes!

We are looking to bring up heroes that might be lower in viability – similarly to what we did in Year 4 Season 4 with Nobushi and Peacekeeper, the global aim is to improve on heroes considered weak to make them more in-line with the rest of the cast. We would love to see more diversity in hero picks, and this is a big step towards this goal.

Additionally, the feedback we received for Shugoki during the last Testing Grounds indicated players had issues with Demons’ Embrace and as such we’re giving it another go with a new round of changes, going in a similar direction as the last ones but with changes addressing feedback we received from you, our players.

In the next Testing Grounds, you will be able to test not only new Shugoki changes but also multiple other heroes we’re looking to improve. Stay tuned for more details!

Warriors! We're back with another addition of the Warrior's Den Recap. We have a lot to cover from the February 18th Warrior’s Den, so let’s get started!





We are proud to announce that on March 11th, For Honor will be entering its 5th year, The Year of the Covenants!

Some years have passed after the events of the Battle of the Eclipse and the battle still rages on between the Order of Horkos and the Chimera Alliance. Both covenants are at a stalemate with no signs of either side gaining the upper hand anytime soon. With their forces diminishing, there is an abundance of resources. Both sides use this to their advantage and throw celebrations to attract new recruits and further spread their influence, and ideals, among the warriors of the land.

In the Year of the Covenants, we dive deeper into Horkos and Chimera’s values and ideals. We will see how they deal with hardship and disaster while war rages on between them. Their story will continue to unfold over the course of 4 new seasons each with new themes, a Battle Pass, and exciting events. Year 5 will also see 2 new heroes entering the roster with their own rich backgrounds and fighting styles.

As the year unfolds, be sure to keep an eye out from us for official news on what is to come.

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Warriors: we’d like to introduce you to a new, special kind of Knight. Do you remember Drop Attack Wardens? We’ve now met a Knight who is even more obsessed with Drop attacks. Shovel Drop attacks.

That’s right, Shovel Knight has come to For Honor! The Jump On Shovel Emote and three Illustrious Outfits are just what you need to strike fear into the hearts of your enemies. Fear of Shovel Justice!

• Jump On Shovel Emote for all heroes
  
• Stalwart Plate Illustrious Outfit for all heroes
  
• Rodent Regalia Illustrious Outfit for all heroes
  
• Ornate Plate Illustrious Outfit for all heroes
  

The new Cobalt Material is available for all heroes! Whether your inspiration comes from the sky, the ocean, or Shovel Knight’s resplendent armor, the Cobalt material can take your fashion to the next level.



We hope you enjoyed the Warrior’s Den (from home)!

If you haven’t already, join the For Honor Community on Twitter, Twitch, and Reddit.

We’ll see you again at the next Warrior’s Den Recap. Stay safe, see you on the battlefield!