Next For Honor update will add Varangian Guard to the Vikings

A heavily armored class for the northmen

For Honor has quietly been one of Ubisoft’s most successful and beloved titles from the previous decade and a continuous stream of content updates pushed out by a cost-effective development team just keeps it going for the very dedicated player base.

Next up for the combat game is a patch called “Year 7 Season 4 Title Update 2,” which is going to add a fresh hero class to the Vikings factions – the feared Varangian Guard.

The Varangian Guard will be the most heavily armored Viking class / Ubisoft

Players love For Honor due to its innovative and crunchy melee combat system giving the title a fighting game flair. Plus, the fantasy of vikings, samurai, and knights fighting each other is simply too good to miss out on.

Speaking of vikings and knights, the Varangian Guard is pretty much a hybrid between these two factions. Most Vikings heroes are only lightly armored, relying on brute strength and the power of berserking to crush their enemies. The Varangian Guard, however, is the first Vikings hero with a full set of heavy armor and a shield, making the class a tough cookie to deal with.

The Varangian Guard is a class firmly rooted in real history: They were viking mercenaries hired by the Byzantine emperors as bodyguards, which is why they were given such stylish, expensive gear. Hiring foreigners with no political connections was a way for the emperors to ensure their guard’s loyalty – they couldn’t expect any of that from their own subjects.

Though they proved their loyalty many times on and off the battlefield (such as at Manzikert, where they defended the emperor to the last man), there were some episodes of the guard taking part in coups or planning to do so. The Varangian Guard saw extensive service in the field, where they often distinguished themselves through their brutality and daring attacks.

In short: They’re a perfect blueprint for a fun character class in For Honor. Fans will get a detailed look at the Varangian Guard and its abilities in a developer livestream on January 25, 2024, on Twitch.

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