The original Lords of the Fallen was released in 2014, and the reception was mixed. Despite this, the upcoming reboot is aiming to change the opinions of its predecessor, and the previews so far are looking incredibly promising. The developers at Hexworks are preparing to take on FromSoftware with a compelling Souls-Like experience that will cement their name in the genre. Releasing on October 13th, let's take a look at what to expect from this highly anticipated successor!
Class System
Like may RPGs before it, Lords of the Fallen will operate with an extensive class system. With 9 classes available from the start, there's an array of choices to help you approach the story to suit your playstyle, so what will be available upon release?
Blackfeather Ranger
If you're a big fan of ranged attacks, then the Blackfeather Ranger may be the choice for you. This class has multiple types of ammunition to pummel enemies from afar, but you won't falter if you end up in close-combat. Though you may need to upgrade weapons or skills, the Blackfeather Ranger has the ability to loose specialised arrows into the attacker causing huge debuffs that allow you to finish them off in style. The starting gear of the Blackfeather Ranger comprises of an axe, a bow, oak arrows, poison arrows, a light shield and medium armour.
Exiled Stalker
If stealth and cunning is more your style, then you should definitely check out the Exiled Stalker. This class wields the typical rogue-like twin daggers and can be the best option for DPS. Jumping in with chained hits and disengaging, only to re-appear like a bad rash is their primary goal. With the ability to poison weapons and boasting high endurance, this class is not for the faint of heart. Equipped with two daggers, medium stalker armour, throwing daggers and poison salts as starting gear, this cut-throat daredevil is great for those who like organised gameplay.
Partisan
For players who attack relentlessly and unwaveringly, the Partisan is for you. Equipped with a crossbow, this class has incredibly powerful single target ranged options to pick off the bulk efficiently. But where it lacks in AOE, it makes up for with the bulky flail it swings around, allowing you to get up close to your enemies and batter them bloody. With a fantastic defence, and a stamina buff that keeps them going, so be sure to increase that Agility from early on. The Partisan is the perfect skirmisher class with a perfectly balanced build that's effective in every situation you will be faced with. Their starting gear consists of a flail, a knight shield, a crossbow, heavy armour, and unripe berries for that all important stamina regeneration.
Orian Preacher
With a pretty stylish hat and magic at their fingertips, the Orian Preacher is the perfect option to truly smite your enemies. Equipped with a hefty hammer perfect for smashing skulls, and an array of Radiant spells to buff players with divine power, the Orian Preacher is all about tactical support play. This is perfect if you want to engage in PVP or co-op. Starting off with a hammer, a light shield, a radiant catalyst, healing radiance spells, light armour and a small manastone consumable. Given that the game radiates religious aspects, it's unsurprising that this class has been included.
Mournstead Infantry
Every RPG must have the typical infantry soldier archetype, and Mournstead Infantry fills that role. Specialising in extremely long range melee with an emphasis on defence, these skilled warriors fight just like that - warriors. Despite having lower damage when you start off, the Mournstead Infantry makes up for this in their ranged capabilities - being quick on their feet and keeping enemies at spears-length. You can find that their starting gear is made up of a spear, a light shield, heavy armour, throwing javelins and a healing-over-time consumable. This class gives big Dark Souls vibes.
Condemned
Quite the difficult starting class, the Condemned are a feeble and flimsy choice that will cause nothing but annoyance to your enemies to start with. But if you manage to put enough time and effort into building up skills, you can find yourself being the dark horse on the battlefield. With a sprinting heavy attack that will put the Fall in Lords of the Fallen, the Condemned are equipped with the dive kick which makes all that hard work pay off in the long run. The starting gear with this class is a broken bucket fist weapon, throwing rocks and light armour.
Pyric Cultist
A worshipper of Adyr, the Pyric Cultist is a pyromaniac at heart. Fuelled with pyromantic spells that engage enemies from afar and is perfect for crowd control, this class is perfect for those who want their game to be all-out chaos. You can focus on either endurance stats to maintain higher stamina, or strength to wield more devastating weapons than that which you start with. This class is all about destruction, so if you've got a penchant for going in Leroy Jenkins style, this may be the choice for you. The Pyric Cultist starts off with a staff polearm, Rhogar catalyst, Infernal Orb spell, medium armour, and a small manastone consumable.
Udurangr Warwolf
This class is your typical Barbarian-style all out offensive type. With a mighty strength that can stagger foes and devastating wide sweeping attacks, if you want to focus the aggro on you then be sure to start off with the Udirangr Warwolf. You're going to want to heavily focus on boosting your strength to increase your melee damage and be the biggest aggressor on the battlefield, but don't forget that you do have the ability to set your weapon on fire to light up your enemies like it's New Years Day. The Udirangr Warwolf starts off with a long sword, throwing aces, medium armour and fire salts.
Hallowed Knight
Do you like playing Paladins? Maybe you like to be a jack-of-all-trades? Then the Hallowed Knight is the answer. A classic sword and board archetype, this class has a fast attack rate and relatively agile despite the heavy armour. It's wise to focus boosting the Vitality and Endurance stats to start off with, before moving into Agility or Radiance to expand your weapon or spell choices later on. The Hallowed Knight starts off with a short sword, a knight's shield, heavy armour, grenades and a healing-over-time consumable.
Dark Crusader
If you've picked up the Deluxe Edition of Lords of the Fallen, then you'll have instant access to this bad boy. (Not to worry, standard edition players. This class becomes available later in the game for you guys!) Equipped with Radiant powers, a powerful longsword and excellent physical protection, the Dark Crusader is the class of classes. Capable of massive sweeps, deadly vertical strikes, devastating spins and the capacity to charge into enemies head first - few will be able to withstand the onslaught this class brings to the table. You'll definitely want to focus on Strength for this class, whilst also choosing to boost your Endurance to avoid encumbrance so easily. Equipped with a Crusader greatsword, Crusader heavy armour and Rosary Catalyst at the start of the game.
Gameplay
There's one thing we do know from the outset, it's that this game has 30+ hours worth of gameplay and New Game +! We mentioned before that Lords of the Fallen is aiming for a Souls-Like experience when playing this game, and we have no doubt that this will be achieved. There's well over 100 insane weapons to choose from depending on your playstyle and class choice, and the option to fully customize your character to the max.
With precise and fluid combat, this game has some of the most responsive and seamless gameplay we've seen. Integrated into the core of the combat are magic, melee and ranged abilities that will aid you in your ability to survive. Not only that, but you will be equipped with a lantern that possesses the ability to cross between realms; the overworld of Axiom and the parallel world of Umbral. The latter will act as a puzzle-solving purgatory for your character, you will be given a last chance to resurrect yourself so long as you can find an anchor point in Umbral before it's too late. But what if you die in Umbral? Then in true Souls-like fashion, you will lose all progress and have to start over. It's a pretty unique take on this fan-favourite genre.
Schools of Magic
We've clarified that many of the classes are imbued with magical abilities, but where is this power drawn from? In Lords of the Fallen, it's been revealed that there are three schools of magic each tied to one of the Gods within the story. Each God represents a different type of power; Chaos Adyr is represented by the school Rhogar; Orius' holy power is represented by Radiant; and Umbral proudly waves the flag of the Goddess ruling over the Land of the Dead. These schools are where you, the player, will draw your power for your chosen playstyle, and you will need to equip a special catalyst in order to wield this magic.
There are two core magic stats when it comes to your character. Infernal specialises in the likes of pyromantic magic, so that's perfect for those who want to play Pyric Cultist. Radiance is the stat used for Radiant magic, which is what powers the likes of the Orian Preacher and Hallowed Knight. There's a huge amount of spells within the game, varying from your healing and buffing spells to area of effect damage perfect for your crowd control. We can expect to see the likes of frost, poison, and so much more.
Pre-Order Bonuses
If you've managed to pre-order Lords of the Fallen before its release on October 13th, you'll be rewarded with some pretty sweet pre-order bonuses. You will receive exclusive bronze, silver and gold armour trinkets, which will allow you to customise your in-game wearable items with the corresponding colours. Not only that, you'll also grab 5 HP items, 5 MP items and 3 XP items to give you that edge when starting out.
We hope this blog has fully prepared you for what to expect in Lords of the Fallen, and if you haven't already be sure to pre-order your copy by clicking the buttons below!
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