Welcome to our latest Champion Spotlight design blog!
Today, we're going to go into detail on our newest Champion: Wulfgar, Son of Beornegar - A Human Barbarian, and a member of the Companions of the Hall!
Wulfgar will be available in our final Year One Event, Brightswords, launching TOMORROW (September 12th)! I hope this blog will give you all you need to know about our latest Champion.
How you can unlock Wulfgar:
Wulfgar is unlocked by playing Brightswords, a limited-time event launching on September 12th and running until September 24th. Once you unlock Wulfgar, he swaps with Tyril or Barrowin.
Who is Wulfgar:
Wulfgar is the final piece to the Companions of the Hall team that started with Bruenor in the base game, and continued with the introduction of Catti-brie and Regis as event champions, and Drizzt as an evergreen champion. With Wulfgar as the final Event Champion of Year One, the Companions of the Hall - made famous through
R.A. Salvatore's bestselling Legend of Drizzt series - is now complete!
Wulfgar started his life in the north as the flag bearer of the barbarian Tribe of the Elk. He was bested in the assault on Ten-Towns by Bruenor Battlehammer, who decided his punishment would be five years and a day of service. Bruenor grew to love the tall barbarian, eventually seeing him as an adopted son. At the end of his service, Drizzt Do'Urden taught Wulfgar the ways of combat and Bruenor crafted for him a mighty warhammer, named Aegis-fang. This magical warhammer bears the symbols of three of the Dwarven Gods: Moradin, Clangeddin, and Dumathoin. It is specifically attuned to Wulfgar and magically returns to his hand upon telepathic command.
Wulfgar's Design:
We approached Wulfgar as the final piece of the Companions of the Hall formation. We wanted to make sure that he was strong on his own, but when placed with the Companions, the team shines.
Martial Training: We began by looking at his backstory and how he would want to work with all of the companions. Immediately, we landed on his
Martial Training ability - the idea that since Drizzt taught him how to fight, he and Drizzt have been able play off each other and capitalize on their combat strategies. Whenever one of them kills an enemy, both of them increase their damage for 10 seconds. As a note, this is a one-time boost that lasts for 10 seconds. If the bonus is already in place and either of them get another kill, it just resets the countdown to 10 seconds.
Barbarian Smash: Wulfgar's base attack is second to none. He jumps out and smashes the nearest GROUP of enemies with a chance to stun them all for 5 seconds. Stuck at your wall and your tank can't take all the attacks? Bring Wulfgar in to help you clear them out. As we continue to talk about his abilities, you'll notice a lot of them deal with stunned enemies. Wulfgar is your expert at stunning, but his abilities will also work against enemies stunned by other Champions. He's like bringing the Xanathar to a Binwin fight. Oh? Too soon? Sorry. . .
Companion Abilities: Everyone knows that the adventuring party is always strongest when they are together, right? Well, we wanted to hammer that idea home with Wulfgar, who has an ability tied to each Companion. If they are in the formation, the ability is active. If they aren't, it isn't.
- Bruenor: Increases the effect of Bruenor's Rally ability for each stunned enemy.
- Regis: Stunned enemies drop more gold if Regis is in the formation.
- Catti-brie: Increases the chance of Catti-brie's critical hit ability against stunned enemies.
- Drizzt: Because Martial Training wasn't enough Drizzt/Wulfgar buddy cop fun, we also added an ability that increases Drizzt's damage against stunned enemies.
Smash 'n Grab: Wulfgar wields a GIANT magical warhammer that Bruenor created and called
Aegis-fang. Not only does it magically reappear in his hand after he throws it, Wulfgar really loves smashing things with it. With his
Smash 'n Grab ability, Wulfgar deals more damage against armored enemies. If he does enough damage with his attack to remove a chunk of the hit-based armor, he also increases the damage of all Champions for 10 seconds. This will hopefully help a few more Champions get in on the armor-breaking fun!
Flag Bearer: Wulfgar's damage is increased against stunned enemies. When he stuns an already stunned enemy, all Companion abilities are buffed for the duration of the stun. Acererak should really have thought twice before coming to this plane.
Wulfgar's Specializations:
As noted above, Wulfgar really wants to smash things. If he can't kill them outright he wants to stun them so the rest of the Companions have something to do. His specializations allow you to choose how he maximizes his abilities depending on the formation you have.
His three specialization choices are based on the deity symbols that adorn his mighty warhammer:
- Clangeddin's Will: Choosing Clangeddin, the dwarven god of war, will increase Wulfgar's damage by 400%
- Dumathoin's Will: Choosing Dumathoin, the dwarven god of buried secrets, will increase the chance of Wulfgar's attack stunning ALL enemies in the attack area by 10%
- Moradin's Will: Choosing Moradin, the dwarven god of creation, will increase the duration of Wulfgar's stuns from his Barbarian Smash basic attack by 2 seconds.
Each of these specializations will help you augment how Wulfgar (and the rest of the Companions function in your formation. Try them all out to see which one works best on any given adventure. Don't forget, you can also change your choice mid-game by using a Potion of Specialization.
Wulfgar's Ultimate Attack:
Aegis-fang is unleashed with Wulfgar's ultimate attack. He throws Aegis-fang at the most distant enemy, dealing damage to and stunning all enemies in that line for 10 seconds.
Wulfgar's Equipment
Slot 1: Warhammer
- Wulfgar's warhammer increases his damage.
Slot 2: Hair Clip
- Wulfgar's dwarven hair clip shows the weight of his dwarven upbringing, increasing his damage.
Slot 3: Dagger
- Wulfgar's Dagger increases the effect of Martial Training ability.
Slot 4: Tribe of the Elk Banner
- Wulfgar's Tribe of the Elk banner increases the effect of his Smash 'n Grab ability.
Slot 5: Dragon Scales
- The trinkets Wulfgar collected from his battle against Icingdeath increase the damage of his Ultimate Attack.
Slot 6: Wolf Cloak
- Wulfgar's Wolf Cloak reduces the cooldown on his Ultimate Attack.
TL;DR- Final Wulfgar Thoughts
Wulfgar is the final piece to the Companions of the Hall puzzle. He focuses on stunning enemies he can't outright kill, and buffs the rest of the Companions of the Hall if he (or anyone else) stuns enemies. We're looking forward to seeing what new formations pop up now that he has been introduced! We'll be watching the discussion online and on discord to see how well he's received, so let us know what you think on
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