Firaxis Games has gone through a long list of established heroes for Midnight Suns, but the true protagonist is an original, player-made hero named The Hunter. The Hunter finally got their own gameplay showcase, which is different from the others in the sense that they can change depending on the player’s choices.
This approach means that The Hunter’s gameplay showcase is quite lengthy, clocking in at almost 11 minutes. It shows their three branches — power, light, and dark — and each has 10 cards and legendary ability associated with it. Power brings buffs, debuffs, and damage. The Wrath card can make all hits critical for the next few turns. Fury will apply damage and vulnerable to its target, but also prematurely finish The Hunter’s turn right after, meaning players have to play this card more strategically.
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Patience is another powerful card with a twist: It costs an extraordinary amount of Heroism when first drawn. However, like the name implies, the value drops with each turn, so those that keep it in their hand will be able to dish out major damage for little to no cost. This class’ legendary power is called Bladestorm, a callback to Firaxis’ XCOM 2, that damages characters in an area, applies heavy knockback, and lets users draw a card for each knockout.
Light is more a support class that has healing and buffs, but it also can deal damage. This legendary ability summons Charlie, the protagonist’s demonic dog, and they can attack and mark enemies. Holy Burst is a healing card with a spin that also damages foes in the blast radius. Holy Gift is an extremely powerful card that makes it so the next Hunter card that’s played isn’t discarded, even powerful ones that are typically tossed after use. Upgrading it makes it so the next card regardless of character isn’t thrown out.
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Dark is the strongest damage dealer, yet comes with downsides to compensate. The Mindbender card makes one enemy target another and Mindbreaker makes them strike a nearby unit regardless of what side they are on, which might be tricky for those who get unlucky or don’t plan ahead. Annihilations, the legendary skill, deals heavy damage in one area and does more damage when more Heroism is spent.
And while this video was quite exhaustive, there’s still more to cover, like special Hunter-specific meters, passives, tactical suits, and the ways in which players can mix classes. Host Christopher Odd noted that these details would come in another Hunter demonstration down the line. He also implied that there would be a bit of a break before the next batch of showcases because of the game’s delay, saying it would be a “little while” before he can cover the rest of the roster.