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"I remember a time of peace. Of cherry blossoms and summer winds. Another life no longer meant for me. Bushido calls in the shape of a blade! The last of its kind! The only thing that stands between the Myre and oblivion!"

"Our enemies are legion. They strike at us by the swarms. But a thousand blades cannot outmatch mine!"

"Send your armies! I will be waiting... for anything... and anyone."

Forged in War Season 2, named "The Muramasa Blade," is the thirtieth season of the ongoing Faction War. Upon settling in the Myre, the Samurai built the Sanctuary Bridge. For years, it would stand as the only pathway to reach the heart of the Samurai. Many hostile warriors would storm this bridge, only to find a single Orochi warrior guarding it. No matter how many challengers were sent forth, they would all meet the same fate at the end of this warrior's cursed blade, their weapons laid around the bridge as mementos of every enemy the bridge guardian has defeated.

Yet, no wall can remain standing tall. No esteemed guardian can remain impregnable. For this venerable Orochi who has left behind his previous life in order to protect his home at all costs... he too will meet his match on the sacred bridge.

Overview[]

"Word has spread of Seion Bridge, a crucial access point to the Myre. On this bridge stands Master Katashi, the guardian of Seion Bridge, with his Muramasa Blade, a legendary weapon fabled to contain the strength of an entire army. Now Master Katashi has made it his mission to protect the Myre at all costs, and stop anyone from crossing the bridge…"

Long ago, the Samurai sought to maintain their way of life in a land that wasn't their own. Everything they since built in the swamps has long been under threat from war and oppression. No target is more vulnerable than Seion Bridge, a crucial access point to the Myre. Now, enemies of the Samurai are gathering.

But at the mouth of the bridge, these invading forces face a single warrior: Master Katashi. Expert swordsman, genius tactician, a strict follower of Bushido and above all, he is the wielder of the fabled Muramasa Blade---a weapon said to grant the power of an entire army.

Master Katashi has made it his mission to protect the Myre at all costs, and stop anyone from crossing the bridge...

Features[]

Bridge of 1000 Blades[]

Seion Bridge is a crucial access point to the Myre, which all Factions attempt to invade. The bridge is marked by their graves: a thousand fallen blades. Invaders must face Master Katashi, the Orochi who wields the fabled Muramasa Blade. A warrior of pure serenity, control and mastery, Master Katashi has made it his mission to hold the bridge for the Myre.

To announce the start of For Honor's Y8S2: The Muramasa Blade, engage in the free event pass and uncover exclusive event loot. Available exclusively from June 13th until the 4th of July.

Hero Skins[]

The start of the season kicks off with a Hero Skin for the masterful bridge guardian Orochi, Master Katashi. Master Katashi is a wanderer without a home. He travels across the Myre, playing his flute and somehow always finding trouble. A strict follower of Bushido, he is a master who only uses his strength to fight for his people – especially those at the mercy of tyranny. But when he comes in possession of the fabled Muramasa Blade, Master Katashi decides it’s time for him to stop wandering. If the people of the Myre are to thrive, he must plant his feet at the mouth of Seion Bridge, and stop any force from invading.

Fight with the undying code of Bushido atop the sacred bridge with the Hero Skin of Master Katashi, a full body customization of the Orochi. Available in For Honor at the start of Y8S2: The Muramasa Blade.

Hero Update[]

Some changes will be coming to the live game at the start of the season, primarily bringing a general sweep on overperforming Feats along with some quality of life changes for some Heroes:

  • Below are a list of Feats that have been adjusted due to either unhealthy elements or overtuned aspects:
    • Kiai now deals a fixed 80 Stamina damage, down from 100% Stamina damage. Kiai was a strong tool, thus has been made into a feat that has to be used with more awareness of your opponent's Stamina state.
    • Sinister Shield now costs 30 Health, up from 25 Health, and only lasts 8 seconds, down from 10 seconds. For a Tier 1 Feat, Sinister Shield's trade-off of offering an ally a shield for Black Prior's health was not consequential enough. The duration and health cost has been adjusted accordingly.
    • Gravity Pull and Speeding Comet (Afeera's T1 and T3 feats) have had their damage reduced and cooldown increased. These feats are strong ganking tools for Afeera, and should see less use as they shouldn't be usable in every fight they come across. Further adjustments will be made in the future if needed.
    • Take Shelter now heals for 5 Health per Superior Block, down from 10. Take Shelter activates more often than anticipated, so has been nerfed accordingly.
    • Juggernaut's Damage Reduction has been reduced to 20% from 50%, and has a longer cooldown. Juggernaut is a strong feat with a low cooldown. To preserve its immovable nature, the damage reduction has been nerfed; players can still trade with the Feat, but not as much in favour of the user as it was before.
    • Pugio's damage has been reduced to 15 from 25. As Pugio guarantees a Heavy for Centurion, along with other ganking opportunities, the base damage of Pugio has been reduced to make sure it aligns with other Tier 3 feats.
    • Fury's Damage Increase and Damage Reduction has been reduced to 20% from 35%. Fury is a strong and versatile feat, especially when used in tandem with other damaging Feats. The values has been reduced to make their effects more manageable and less snowball-y.
    • Invigorate now heals for 4 Health, down from 8. With the kit rework, Shaolin has been able to enter and use Qi Stance more often, thus activating Invigorate more consistently. As a result, the feat has been reduced in reflection of this.
    • Oathbreaker no longer prevents target from gaining Shields. Oathbreaker can be situationally strong, especially against Revenge Shield. With the effect of preventing shields removed, Black Prior players has to be more selective of when they use Oathbreaker.
    • Fire Flask's maximum impact damage reduced to 30 damage from 50. Fire Flask has been one of the most dominant T4 feats, due to its versatility and synergy with Fury. Even with Fury nerfed, the initial impact damage of Fire Flask still is too high, so has been adjusted so enemies can more easily survive the Feat if they have cleansing Feats.
    • Spear Storm's damage per wave reduced to 30 from 70. Spear Storm was basically an instant kill Feat, as being hit by one wave guaranteed follow-up waves. With Highlander's Rework, the feat has seen more use, thus needs immediate attention to be more in line with other T4 Feats.
    • Fear Itself's defense reduction reduced to 40% from 50%. Fear Itself is a generally versatile Feat, allowing your team to deal damage without incurring as much Revenge. The feat is being given a small reduction in value so that it isn't as strong.
  • All guardbreak throws now do not possess Uninterruptible Stance on the victim.
    • Dev comment - There was an inconsistency with heroes where some Guardbreak throws had Uninterruptible Stance applied to the victim and some did not. We have normalized the behavior so that no Guardbreak Throws apply Uninterruptible Stance on the victim to help with the ganking potential of these moves; this way it will no longer be possible to land several attacks without damage reduction on victims from multiple players.
  • Nuxia's Heavy Finishers no longer apply Uninterruptible Stance to their victim. Adjusted input comfort for followup attacks during Nuxia's Heavy Finishers to land more consistently.
    • Dev comment - In line with the system changes outlined above, Nuxia no longer applies Uninterruptible Stance on her victim when landing Heavy Finishers. This should help ganking situations. We've also made it so you can buffer attacks much earlier during Heavy Finishers on hit to make landing a followup Heavy on wallsplat more consistently.
  • Berserker's Health has been reduced to 125 from 130. Spin Chop also is no longer Enhanced.
    • Dev comment - Berserker has been overperforming at all levels, and we're slightly adjusting the hero downwards. Given the hero's extra agility with dodge cancels, we're comfortable lowering their HP slightly as they no longer require solely on trading to initiate offense, and we're nerfing Spin Chop as it is a very strong tool in group fights, letting players initiate offense off target-swapped Side Dodge attacks. With this change, Berserker must be more cautious when using Spin Chop, and should alleviate the issues with Dodge Cancelling Spin Chop's recoveries constantly in group fights.
  • Removed Shinobi's ability to backstep Light attacks. Ghoul's Embrace (Ranged Heavy) now counts as a Bash for Revenge.
    • Dev comment - In the past, we've removed the ability for Superior Block neutral Lights to backstep to eliminate some option selects regarding these heroes. Shinobi, while not being able to option select with this attack, is still able to use their backstepped Lights to interrupt opponents quite effectively and can also use them to access their finishers with very little risk, so we're removing their ability to perform this. We're also increasing the amount of Revenge that Ghoul's Embrace generates; as it is a Bash and is widely used in ganks, setting it to 30 instead of 14 (which is the amount of damage it deals) should help alleviate long 100/0 ganks with Shinobi.
  • Hitokiri's Charged Heavies now deal 30 damage, down from 34.
    • Dev comment - Part of Hitokiri's strength is landing 34 damage charged attacks from various points in their kit, and lets them overperform in ganking situations. We're setting the damage to these attacks to 30 to ensure the damage Hitokiri can output is consistent with the rest of the heroes, as well as is not overly powerful in ganks.
  • Removed Afeera's ability to bump players with Astro Flip.
    • Dev comment - In some cases, Afeera can perform Astro Flip into opponents and bump them, guaranteeing extra damage. We've removed this ability from the moves so they are consistent with normal dodges, where they can bump minions, but not players.
  • Removed the strict timing of Centurion's Lion's Roar (Guardbreak pommel).
  • Increased Peacekeeper's Side Dodge Attack's range to be more in line with other attacks of similarly-sized weapons.
  • General Bug fixes:
    • Fixed an issue where Shaolin's 2nd and 3rd strikes of zone attack get hit 66ms earlier when the attack is deflected by the opponent.
    • Fixed an issue where Nuxia's Jade Ballet won't properly track opponents or target swap.
    • Fixed an issue where Centurion's heavy attacks do not cost any stamina when soft feinted to guard breakduring the charge portion of the attack.
    • Fixed an issue where Zhanhu regains their Guard back in their Out of lock attack's recoveries if players lock on during the attack.
    • Fixed an issue where Lawbringer's Shove doesn't connect to Orochi and Kyoshin after Long Arm.
    • Fixed an issue where Pirate's unique feats consume stamina if buffered from counter guardbreak.
    • Fixed an issue where the Hitokiri can chain to Senbonzakura even when they are Out of Stamina.

For more concise information about patch notes, see here.

Seasonal Customization[]

Master Katashi has made it his mission to stop anyone from invading the Myre. As he wields the Muramasa Blade against the might of a thousand foes, he is at peace – for he knows what he is defending: vast pastures of unspoiled green, calm waters, warm beaches, singing swamps and serene temples. It is a harsh land that was carved into a home. A place where the Samurai will endure.

With the title update comes a new set of armor variations for the Samurai, Wu Lin and Outlanders. These new armor visuals offers an overall clean and customizable look for each Hero, void of the usual intricate prints and patterns seen on the armor. Let one be at peace with one's soul and bring about the code of Bushido on the battlefield with these pristine visuals.

Hero Fest[]

The mini-events known as "Hero Fests" continue this season. Aside from giving a spotlight to the particular Hero by making them free-to-use for that week, they will be cheaper to purchase by 33%, have two Symbols and one Emblem sticker assigned to them that will be obtained upon log in, and finally a unique Execution for them.

Hero Fests will occur three times per title update, following the increase from two to three last year. This means each season will offer six Heroes a fest per season, resulting in 24 Heroes receiving it a year.

The first three Heroes to receive this Fest this season will be Kensei on July 4th, Shinobi on the 11th, and Kyoshin on the 18th.

Battle Pass[]

Another battlepass is here. Through the hundred tiers, get access to the new collections of items that you'll be able to unlock as you progress through the free or premium pass. Battle Pass and season content will be themed around the traditions of the Samurai and the raging desire to challenge Master Katashi on Seion Bridge.

Word has spread of Seion Bridge, a crucial access point to the Myre. Now, enemies of the Samurai swarm the bridge in an attempt to invade. But all must face the indomitable Master Katashi. To defeat him, warriors from all Factions have armed themselves with new weapons, hoping their newly forged prizes will be able to match the fabled Muramasa Blade.

Bring your customization to a whole new level with some flair of the Bushido Code for your character's look through the 100 Tiers of rewards available for all heroes, all worth over a million Steel! For the premium tier, there is included a Unique Execution where you face your foe in an all-out Anime punching battle and a special Signature where you offer tea at the end of a match. As this pass is seasonal, progression through the Pass will reset at the end of the season on August 22, 2024.

Free & Premium Pass[]

The Season Pass has two ranks: the Free Pass and the Premium Pass. All players will have access to the Free Pass, earning rewards which include embossings, ornaments, an emblem outline, color swatches, paint patterns and more. Rewards are earned every few tiers. The Premium Pass on the other hand offers the bulk of rewards, such as new signatures, new weapons, new executions, new effects, and more. Premium Pass owners will still receive rewards from the Free Pass. The Premium Pass also offers +10% Battle Points, the points necessary to progress through the Battle Pass tiers.

As both Pass' progression are shared, a player is able to upgrade to a Premium Pass and receive all rewards they would have gotten if they had purchased the Premium Pass from the start.

Legacy Pass[]

Together with the usual Battle Pass is the new Legacy Pass, which will bring a previous seasonal Battle Pass to be plundered for new and old warriors alike. The Legacy Pass coincides with the normal Battle Pass in a similar fashion to the Event Pass, thus there is no fear of slowed progress because of its existence; for those who already had bought the premium tier and/or progressed through the previous iteration of the Legacy Pass, ownership of content and progress will be maintained.

Unlike the Event Pass though, the Legacy Pass will have a new tier 101 which will provide retrofitted Battle Pass items for Heroes who didn't originally receive the Pass's contents, meaning there is even a little something for veteran players. For those seeking alignment with the Horkos, this includes the poisoning Horkos Pharmakos Execution and mystifying weapon visuals.

The Legacy Pass will expire at the same time as the current Battle Pass on August 22nd, so don't miss your chance to obtain the Horkos loot!

Notes[]

Take note that the purpose of the Battle Pass is to guarantee rewards for players, compared to how all rewards were based around random drops post-match or scavenger crates. The Battle Pass however will not replace any current system of cosmetics and loot gain, such as the above mentioned random drops, any event loot or the content of the week.

Content of the Battle Pass, even for the Premium Pass and Legacy Pass, will only be character customization items and consumables, preventing a pay-to-win model. All tiers are also visible to Free Pass owners, so there are no hidden rewards. While the introduction of the Legacy Pass reintroduces previous Battle Pass items, the exclusive rewards in the Battle Pass may become unobtainable again at the end of the season with no certainty of returning.

Progression through the tiers of either Passes can be hastened with Steel, skipping either 1, 5 or 20 tiers at once. The price for hastening progress is static through the tiers and between all ranks of Battle Passes.

Midseason Changes[]

New Hero: Sohei[]

"One. Two. Three. Four, five, six! Seven... are you ready to face me!?"

The Sohei - warrior monks who spend nearly every minute of their lives mastering the weapons they have taken from fallen foes. Together with their imposing size, they will slowly wither their foes before unleashing a devasting blow to their foe with their Seven Force Strike!

Gameplay Changes[]

  • Orochi: This Hero has been overperforming at all levels of play. We're addressing some of the most critical issues for the hero at the moment, and will keep an eye on the hero as players adapt to the changes. We're keeping an eye on Orochi and will see where he ends up to address further issues should they pop up.
    • Zephyr Slash (side dodge lights) is no longer enhanced, including on off-target opponents
    • Heavy Finishers have less forward movement. Top Heavy Finisher damage lowered. Side Heavy Finishers now have smaller weapon trajectories to better match their weapon.
    • Chain Link timing from Dust Devil to Heavy Finishers is now 100ms slower at a minimum.
  • Lawbringer's Top Heavy Opener, Zone Attack moves and Impaling moves have had their damage increased.
    • Dev comment: We're adjusting a few of Lawbringer's damage numbers to make the hero more effective in a few situations and to give back utility to some specific punishes. Zone Attack and Make Way dealing 16 damage puts them more in line with other similar attacks, and gives Lawbringer a slightly better Heavy Parry Punish.
    • The changes to Top Heavy opener and Impaling Riposte specifically are meant to address a situation where Lawbringer would always get less damage by using Impaling Riposte after a Light Parry and getting a wall splat than using Blind Justice. At 26 minimum damage right now this means that Lawbringer is not as disadvantaged when using this option in the kit.
  • Warmonger's Preying Claw can now be performed as early as 100ms into her front dodge.
    • Dev Comment: We've done this change for Warden in the past, and it ended up being very successful with Warden at giving the hero a better way to open up opponents. Warmonger currently has a more difficult time opening up, and we're making this change for the hero so enhance those capabilities.
  • Chain Link timing between Berserker's Zone Attack and Chained Light attack when buffered is now longer.
    • Dev Comment: Before this change, opponents had a single frame in which to time a parry attempt for the Chained Light attack after a Zone Attack. Now, the window to parry is more in-line with other heroes, and should give players a higher chance to parry the attack.
  • Varangian Guard's throws now can wallsplat earlier, from 1000ms into the throw down to 700ms.
    • Dev comment: Varangian had an issue where if you were close to a wall, a throw would wallsplat too late and Varangian was not able to get their correct Heavy Attack punish on the opponent. With this change, it should always be guaranteed.
  • Jiang Jun can now enter Sifu's Poise at the same timing as Dodge is allowed during recoveries on hit
    • Dev comment: With this change, Jiang Jun can now effectively use Sifu's Poise then use Sifu's Swirl to punish fast bash attempts. This should give the hero better defensive capabilities, especially in 1v1 scenarios.
  • Post-release, chain links between Sohei's Parry and his Finishers were increased to prevent him from getting an almost guaranteed Heavy off Heavy parries.
  • Fixed an issue where Feinting on the last possible frame caused a Feint of next inputted attack.

Photo Mode[]

While PC players used to have access to "photo mode" through Ansel in offline games, from Custom matches to even PvAI matches, that feature was removed years ago as all modes except for Trainint Mode, Arcade and Story Mode went "online" and lost access to Ansel.

However, a new Photo Mode has been added to the game, allowing all platforms to now take pictures in the barracks where you customize your Heroes or out in select gamemodes where Photo mode is accessible (most solo modes, including single player PvAI). Photo Mode offers filters, frames and settings to edit the photo before saving it. It also offers, in-game only, two camera modes to move around to take the perfect shot: Hero cam where the Hero you were playing is the center of focus of the camera's movement, along with Free Roam cam which has less available features but photos can be taken from any in the map.

Gallery[]

Images[]

Video[]

Trivia[]

  • "Muramasa" is the name of the famed 16th century swordsmith Sengo Muramasa (千子村正) who founded the Muramasa school, with his students having made other well known weapons. For example, disciple Fujiwara Masazane (藤原正真) forged the Tonbokiri (蜻蛉切; lit. "dragonfly cutter"), one of the Three Great Spears of Japan.
    • He is often compared to Masamune, another famed blacksmith in Japanese history known for having made blades of beauty and perfection. Due to their fame for being the best swordsmith of their time, the two even have legends where they compete against each other despite being from different time periods (Masamune is from the 13th to 14th century).
    • Muramasa is most commonly known as a name used for "youtou" (妖刀, "wicked blade") in many fiction and is often seen as one of the most powerful kind of cursed blade. Continuing their legendary rivalry, while Muramasa blades are depicted as powerful but cursed, Masamune blades are often depicted as being controlled/reliable but tempered in strength.
      • While some of this origin may have origins in reflecting Muramasa's own ill-tempered nature, some of this association takes root in the Tokugawa clan. While favoured by the Tokugawa clan, many Muramasa blades were involved in numerous misfortunes within the clan; while the clan still favoured Muramasa's blades despite these misfortunes, latter generations began to declare his weapons as sinister. This change of reputation would be cemented when anti-Tokugawa activists during the Bakumatsu period would seek out Muramasa blades, believing them to be curse bringers against the shogunate.
      • Katana blades made by their craftsman typically included the maker's name as an epithet, such as Myōhō Muramasa and . As a result, in combination with the above infamy, katana blades were identifiable simply by the epithet if not being common to refer to blades solely by the epithet.
  • Until now, the name of the temple that Sanctuary Bridge and the Sanctuary are located was mistakenly read as "Shouon" (聖音; lit. "holy sound") due to no defined reading of the name being announced. With this update and season's lore, it has been corrected to be read as "Seion."
  • Many elements of the season, from the tale behind Master Katashi defending a bridge to the event title of "Bridge of 1000 Blades", make reference to the tale of Benkei and Yoshitsune.
    • Benkei was a warrior monk (僧兵; sōhei), known for his large stature and expertise in weapons. Originally a ascetic monk, Benkei became a wandering warrior monk who would eventually go on his famed quest to take 1000 blades from Samurai warriors in Kyoto. After collecting 999 blades, Benkei would be challenged by young Yoshitsune on a bridge; upon losing to the smaller warrior, Benkei became Yoshitsune's most loyal retainer.
    • If this tale is being followed as the inspiration of both Master Katashi and the possible upcoming Hero, elements of the backstories are swapped as the "small warrior" Orochi is given Benkei's collecting of a thousand blades, while the future Hero who will likely be influenced by Benkei being the challenger instead of Yoshitsune. Some elements match, as Yoshitsune was known for playing a flute right before their duel in the same way that Katashi is portrayed playing a flute at the end of the season's trailer.
    • It's also likely that the upcoming Hero's story will align with Benkei's original goal in collecting a thousand blades: he found that Samurai warriors were unworthy of their weapon, being too arrogant.
    • On the seasonal variation of Sanctuary Bridge, the area just outside the Defender's spawn is covered in arrows stuck into either the ground or the gate, with a small area open as if someone had stood there. This may be a reference to Benkei's last stand: when Benkei and Yoshitsune were cornered, Yoshitsune retreated into the castle's keep to commit ritual suicide while Benkei guarded the bridge leading to it. Benkei fiercely guarded the bridge, allow no warrior to pass through that the enemy decided to defeat Benkei by launching a sea of arrows at him. After the battle, the enemy noticed that Benkei was still standing, but upon closer inspection, they realized he had died standing with arrow carpeting both him and the area around him.
    • At the end of the season trailer, a silhouette can be seen surrounding Katashi. This silhouette has some similarities to Benkei, along with possibly showing the Hero carrying at least four weapons on his back.
    • The seasonal event minion has a familiar Japanese tattoo design seen in previous seasonal event minions. However, this season, they have two unique tattoos on each side of their chest, showcasing what seems to be a traditional artwork of Yoshitsune and Benkei (in gallery above). This version of Benkei specifically is shown wielding a katakama yari (片鎌槍; lit. "one-side sickle spear") instead of the naginata that Benkei and most warrior monks are known for wielding.
      • While a specific year is not known, the katakama yari came into being around the 15th to 16th century as a variation of the kama yari (鎌槍; lit. "sickle spear"), hundreds of years after Benkei's time during the 12th century.
  • On the seasonal variation of Sanctuary Bridge are multiple weapons that don't belong to any concurrent Heroes. Due to the many references to Benkei, as seen above, it is speculated that these weapons belong to Benkei, in reference to his famed "seven tools" (七つ道具).
    • Thus far, seven weapons have been spotted on the map: a konbō (棍棒; lit. "club"), a kama (鎌; lit. "sickle"), a chokutō (直刀; lit. "straight sword"), an ōdzuchi (大槌; lit. "great hammer"), a sasumata (刺又; lit. "spear fork"), an oga (大鋸; lit. "large saw") and a yari (槍; lit. "spear"). Their visual and location are shown to the right, pictures courtesy of Shazzver.
    • One of the event orders for the Bridge of 1000 Blades event makes a reference to the presence of these weapons: "Unfamiliar Weapons - In his quest, Katashi has defeated all manner of Samurai. Their fallen weapons litter the ground, a testament to his mastery. But those who attempt to face the Orochi may also notice some unfamiliar weapons on the bridge."
    • Historically, there have been many versions of what weapons were Benkei's signature "Seven Tools," if not present more than just seven weapons. When comparing the seven found on the map, the weapons that are usually counted as Benkei's Seven Tools exclude the yari and the chokutō, while including the kumade (熊手; lit. "war-rake" or "bear hand") and masakari (鉞; lit. "battle axe"). Benkei is also often shown wielding a naginata, but aside from being treated as his main weapon, this weapon has just as much association to warrior monks in general than just Benkei thus is sometimes not counted as one of the Seven Tools.
  • The following is the Japanese transcription for the Sohei's reveal trailer: "一。二。三。四、五、六!七...覚悟はできてるか!?" (ichi. ni. san. shi, go, roku! nana... kakugo wa dekiteru ka!?)
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