For Honor is getting four new heroes in the Year of the Harbinger

Ubisoft's multiplayer medieval massacre sim For Honor will get four new heroes in the upcoming Year of the Harbinger, beginning with a new Knight hero called the Vortiger. Year 3 Pass holders will have access to the character on January 31, when the new year of content begins, while everyone else will be able to purchase it for 15,000 Steel, which works out to about $15. 

For the moment, the new hero is only a hazy silhouette on a Year 3 promotional image, but Wikipedia describes it—or him, actually—as Vortigern, "possibly a 5th-century warlord in Britain, known perhaps as a king of the Britons, at least connoted as such in the writings of Bede." He doesn't sound like much of a champ, though: He apparently invited the legendary brothers Hengist and Horst to help him out with the Picts and Scots, but they screwed him over, killed his son, and founded the Kingdom of Kent instead. Vortigern hauled ass for Wales, and eventually became the subject of a sixth-century diss track dropped by British monk Gildas the Wise. 

The page also notes the possibility that Vortigern could be a title rather than a name, however, saying that the Brittonic word translates to "Great King" or "Overlord." That'll likely be Ubisoft's take on it: Less a guy who literally handed the keys to the kingdom to the Saxons, and more a Lionheart, conquering-hero type of dude. 

The Vortiger will be followed by a new Samurai hero in Year 3 Season 2, a new Viking in Season 3, and a Wu Lin hero in Season 4. The Wu Lin faction, based on ancient Chinese warriors, was added in October as part of the Marching Fire expansion. The Year 3 Pass is available now for $30, and also includes an Elite Outfit for all four new characters, an exclusive effect, 30 days of Champion status, and five Scavenger crates, or as part of the $110 For Honor Complete Edition.

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.