Support wizard Jenos descends on Paladins
What ascends must descend...
Remember the support champ Jenos who was teased as the upcoming new lad for team brawler Paladins [official site]? I can now give you some in-depth details on his skillz thanks to finally having time to pick through the handy dandy patch notes! So who is Jenos, the Ascended and why is he currently descending?
Character lore in Paladins isn't particularly detailed - it tends to be just enough to inform a character archetype but I get the impression they team are focused on the mechanical design side of things far more during open beta so extensive storylines are way down the list. The rework of a character called Ruckus was to root his character a bit more firmly in the world and to connect him to one of the maps more specifically but that's about as much as you get - they're like the opposite of Riot right now.
ANYWAY, so. Jenos "has descended from his mountaintop home to confront the aggressors of the world below. He soars through the battlefield with 2600 Health utilizing his long lasting heals, powerful setups, and devastating finishers to turn the tide of battle."
All of this ascending and descending reminds me of the Grandaddy song, Nature Anthem which goes "I want to walk up the side of the mountain, I want to walk down the other side of the mountain" for three minutes. I'm more partial to the Jenos version because instead of having to "try to be nice to everyone" you get to murder wizards.
God, that song is twee.
Where was I?
SKILLSET!
LMB - Star Splitter
"An otherworldly weapon that channels the power of the stars. Deals 120 damage every 0.13s at medium range."
This is just his basic attack
RMB - Astral Mark
"Apply a celestial blessing through all obstacles, healing for 250 Health every second for 10 seconds."
I hope Astral Mark is just some guy called Mark who gets sent out to deal with the injured.
Q - Void Grip
"Channel gravitational energy and lift an enemy up, dealing 150 damage every second for 2.5s. If the victim manages to move while lifted it will interrupt Void Grip."
Is this not anti-gravitational energy? Or are you creating a gravitational pull directly above them?
F - Stellar Wind
"Lower your weapon and move 75% faster while increasing your jump height and lowering your fall speed."
Floofy wizard jumping. If you play a warlock in Destiny I assume you will understand the appeal of this one.
E - Through Time And Space
"Lock yourself in place and gather the power of the cosmos for 1.5s becoming CC immune, then unleash your energy in a long range blast that pierces through all obstacles and deals 2400 damage."
A sort of devastating cosmic cannon with a long enough wind up time that enemies might be able to get out of the way.
The full patch notes have further details on things like the cards you can use to tweak Jenos' abilities as well as some bug fixes to the game more generally and some cosmetic doodads.
The only other thing of note in a broad strokes way is the addition of that map I mentioned earlier; Splitstone Quarry. I like the sound of this one because it's a different set of skills you'll need to deal with the deep-set capture point:
"Splitstone Quarry's capture point is cut into the deepest section of the quarry and forces players to defend from above while contesting the objective. While there are quick side routes, flankers will have to watch out for dangerous environmental hazards. The payload must be pushed through a corridor that emphasizes long range firefights."