Vortiger, the Black Prior, joins For Honor at the end of January

Vortiger, the Black Prior, a new For Honor hero that Ubisoft teased in December, will join the fight on January 31 for Year 3 Pass holders, at the beginning of the Year of the Harbinger.  

Formerly knights of the Order of the Holy Balaur, the Black Priors were created when their leader Vortiger fell under the influence of Apollyon, the warlord who manipulated the Knights, the Vikings, and the Samurai into fighting one another for reasons that were probably waved at in the single-player campaign. When she was defeated, the Order scattered, but now they're back to fight for Vortiger and make amends for their past misdeeds.   

Black Priors are heavy heroes who, in case you didn't notice it in the teaser, wield a funky longsword and bear a kite shield that's roughly the size of a VW Microbus. Their arrival opens Year 3 of For Honor, the Year of the Harbinger, which will also deliver new maps, seasonal events, and new heroes for the Samurai, Viking, and Wu Lin factions—one in each of the succeeding three seasons. The first season of Year 3 will also see updates to the Shugoki, Warlord, and Peacekeeper heroes, and the addition of a new Dominion map, Harbor, that will be free for all players.   

For Honor's Year 3 pass goes for $30 and includes one-week early access to each of the new heroes added to the game, each with an elite outfit, plus an exclusive effect for all heroes, 30 days of Champion status, and five Scavenger crates. The Black Priors will also be available for standalone purchase for 15,000 Steel, For Honor's in-game currency. A full reveal of the Year of the Harbinger will take place during a livestream on Twitch that will begin at 9 am PT/12 pm ET on January 24.

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.