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HeroWarz, a free-to-play, isometric action MMORPG developed by A.Storm and KOG Games, recently added a new playable character to its roster in the form of the Izanami, an expert in illusions and dark magic.
Siliconera got the chance to ask a few questions to the developers at Astorm about Izanami, such as the process of character design, her unique range of skills, as well as any tips for players who would like to begin playing as her. You can check out the whole Q&A sessions below.
Siliconera: Can you tell us about the process of creating a new character? Do you start gameplay or the character’s art and story first?
Astorm: For HeroWarz, we always start with the core atmosphere of a character.
It can be the sound of a window breaking, reloading of a gun, or the sound of a knife hitting a cutting board; they’re all valid forms of inspiration.
However, we take that and consider whether it’s as solid enough foundation to build a character on. Once the key atmosphere of the character has been decided, we start to build the character to best represent that atmosphere; even if it’s a concept that is completely off the rails. We also take that same concept or atmosphere into consideration when the character gameplay is being designed.
But… Izanami was slightly different. The initial design of the character was first suggested internally, and because the suggested design was so popular, it became an actual playable character. The powerful illusion magic, black magic, and the Goddess of the Underworld concepts were all fleshed out after finalizing the initial design of the character.
How did you come up with Izanami’s design (referring the artwork)?
We intentionally approached Izanami without any references.
We built the character on the following key phrase “Goddess goth loli girl that lives on the top floor of the Pantheon” and tried our best to design a character that fits the world of HeroWarz. It’s our take on that concept.
We had to make her different enough from Ara, who is our inaugural loli girl character.
What skills make Izanami unique? What tips do you have for players diving into her?
If we describe Izanami’s playstyle in a few words, it would be “Controlled Nuker”.
Izanami has so many skills that can be setup prior to actual combat that it allows her to unleash it all at once if she needed to. She also has mana recovery and cooldown reducing skills to aid her.
One skill that makes Izanami unique would be the [Transform: Goddess of the Underworld] skill. For a short duration, Izanami takes on her Goddess form and performs a powerful melee attack with her scythe. Some skills even change functions depending on whether she is in her Goddess form or not.
Later on, when Izanami reaches a certain level, she will have to choose between the skill [Dream State] or [Dark Aura], and depending on which one you choose, it will change your playstyle and skill options. If you want to have more mana while sacrificing your health, you should go with [Dream State]. If you want to increase the damage that would effect a lot of Izanami’s skills, you should go with [Dark Aura].
Izanami had many fan requests, which other fan requested characters are you looking at bringing over?
We don’t want to spoil any surprises, but 2016 has yet to come to a close, and we’ve demonstrated that our content and character launch plans have ramped up immensely. Basically, HeroWarz players will see another character in 2016. Characters like Hwaran, Jackdaw, Bi-Gwang, Ramirez, Tom and Ethan are all viable options… maybe more. Not in that particular order of course.
HeroWarz is available for PC.
