This is a big update! First, we’re taking City of the Shroud to EGX - formerly the Eurogamer Expo - from September 22 - 25! We'll be heading up to the NEC in Birmingham, UK, to show off the game in the Rezzed Zone, so come on down and say hi if you're there!
But in even more exciting news, we are finally ready to unveil something we’ve been dying to get into players' hands for months: the newest addition to CotS’ class roster, the Duelist!
The Duelist is a martial-arts cowboy… assassin… Basically, she’s awesome:
“The Duelist is a hybrid strength/dexterity class, and also a hybrid melee/ranged class. Armed with pistols and martial arts, she has abilities to dash in and out of melee, as well as abilities that function differently if your target is in melee or at range. This makes the Duelist a very flexible class, capable of setting the terms of the fight. However, as the name suggests, the Duelist does best when fighting a single target, so you can defeat enemy Duelists by sticking together and ganging up on them.
When you manage to isolate your target, the Duelist is without question the deadliest class in the game. The core philosophy of the Duelist is that the best defense is a good offense, and if you can get an enemy in a one on one situation you will be able to use your mobility and disruptive offense to make short work of them.
When building a Duelist, you will have to choose between mobility, disruption, or pure offensive power. Whether you want to focus on staying safe and faking out your opponent while you whittle them down or simply diving in and going for the throat, the Duelist is going to be adept at picking off fragile enemies.”
Here are some of the moves you’ll unlock for her in the game:
Dash: From range, move to the closest available space adjacent to the target. In melee, move to the opposite side of the target. In either case, deal damage to all enemies in your path (if the enemies are lined up, you can use this ability to dash through the entire line, dealing damage to all of them). (Cost: 2)
Flashbang: Toss a grenade at the target which explodes after 3 seconds, damagingall characters within 1 tile of the blast and reducing their damage by 50%. (Cost: 3)
Quick Shot: Deal bonus damage if you have moved within the past 5 seconds. (Cost: 1)
Roundhouse: Damage and knock back all adjacent characters. (Cost: 4)
Here’s an example of how those tie together:
- Dash (Move in on target, dealing damage while you do) >
- Quick Shot (you just moved, let’s use the opportunity!) >
- Roundhouse (Damage the opponent and get knock them out of range if they’re melee) >
- Flashbang (Deal damage and reduce their damage - let’s see them try to counterattack!)
All together, this advanced combo only costs 5 AP, and you’ve closed the distance, hit them 4 times, knocked them out of melee range, and reduced their damage by 50%. The Duelist is fast and dangerous (and is my personal favorite of all the classes)! But don’t worry - the other classes have just as much up their sleeves.
There is also new combat footage featuring Duelist gameplay along with our recently-updated UI; give it a gander:
And if you’re in the UK and are going to EGX, be sure to drop by our booth to say hi!
