Champion’s Ascension continues to build on their Slice of Massina / alpha offerings. The latest, due to open this Thursday, November 10th, brings us the first chance to try out our combat skills in the arena!
The pre-alpha combat test for Champions Ascension opens on November 10th. No specific timeline has been given yet, but typically these alphas are only open for a limited time.
Thankfully, the Emperor has provided us with a detailed combat guide. I’ll touch on a few points here, but for those who want all of the details, there is plenty of information to pore over in the guide. For those who don’t like to read, it seems like the combat basics will be simple enough that you could sit down with your controller and figure it out in a few minutes.
Arena Combat
Arena combat in Champions Ascension is active. Players move throughout the arena and execute attacks and abilities. Most attacks have a wind-up period, allowing a chance for players to dodge, block, or interrupt before the attack completes. Timing will be crucial.
There is actually a lot of detail to combat with more than just attacking and dodging. Combat also features combo attacks, parries, feints, knockdowns, executions, and even weapon locks. You know that time in movies when two combatants parry each other’s attack and stare each other down at close range before one pushes the other away? That will be in the game!
Champions have a Fury meter that slowly fills during combat. Once full, Champions can activate their Fury of the Titans attack. Fury of the Titans abilities are based on the Family and Essence of the Champion, though all of them are very powerful. Also, the more Purity points a Champion has, the stronger their Fury of the Titans ability becomes. Divine Parts that are aligned with a Champion’s Essence give a small boost to the speed of the filling of the Fury Meter.
But not every Champion is the same. Each has their own selection of abilities. Their are four basic elements that affect each character’s combat abilities and stats. First off, each character has a Family. The Family determines a number of base character stats such as speed, health, and defense. Champions also choose what sort of weapon to equip. Each weapon gives the Champion a base damage for their attacks plus a weapon specific moveset.
Then we have Parts. Every Champion can have as many as five (5) active parts. Each active part provides the Champion with a special attack. Active parts include Wings, Horns, Fangs, Claws, Tail, and Warpaint. Rarer parts provide abilities with higher damage and stronger effects.
In addition, Champions come with an associated Essence. Some Essences have slight combat bonuses against other Essences.
The Champions Ascension client is pretty big, so you might want to download, install, and patch up before the event starts. This arena combat alpha will only feature a limited number of fighters available for use.
For more about Champions Ascension, visit their website, follow them on Twitter, and join their Discord server.
