Paladins (video game)
| Paladins: Champions of the Realm | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Xbox store artwork, featuring the game's playable character classes | |
| Developer(s) | Evil Mojo Games |
| Publisher(s) | Hi-Rez Studios |
| Engine | Unreal Engine 3 |
| Platform(s) |
Microsoft Windows PlayStation 4 Xbox One macOS Nintendo Switch |
| Release |
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| Genre(s) | First-person shooter, Third-person shooter |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
Paladins: Champions of the Realm is a first-person, third-person video game developed and published by Hi-Rez Studios.
The Switch version was initially the only version that required payment, through the Founder's Pack that would include all champions, until it became free-to-play on July 25, 2018.
Gameplay
Paladins provides various characters, called Champions, for the players to choose during their gaming sessions. Each of these Champions falls into one of the following categories: Front Line, Damage, Support, and Flank. Being a team-based shooter, players must rely on strategy, character knowledge, coordination, and teamwork in order to attain victory. Players may use VGS, along with text and voice chat to communicate. A good team will have a balanced choice of classes that will support each other during the game.
- Front Line: Heroes who serve as the anchor of the team, holding the front and protecting their allies. With high health pools and shielding capabilities, Front Line champions excel at blocking enemy fire and disrupting enemy objective captures, they are very effective at zoning out the enemy team after a wipe. They are the front-line class characters: Ash, Barik, Fernando, Inara, Makoa, Ruckus, Torvald, Terminus and Khan.
- Damage: Heroes who possess reliable and consistent damage outputs or large burst damage potential. Their damage, coupled with average health pools and decent mobility, make Damage champions ideal for skirmishes and extended firefights. They are the damage class characters: Bomb King, Cassie, Drogoz, Kinessa, Lian, Sha Lin, Tyra, Viktor, Willo, Strix, Vivian and Dredge.
- Support: Champions with high utility and healing abilities, the backbone of any team. Due to their healing capabilities that keep their allies in the fight, Support champions are very valuable allies. They are the support class characters: Grohk, Grover, Jenos, Mal'Damba, Pip, Seris, Ying and Furia.
- Flank: Champions who excel at traversing the battlefield and getting behind enemy lines, eliminating vulnerable key targets. While most Flank heroes are relatively frail, having lower health pools than any other role, their excellent mobility and self-sustain provide them with the means of escape and survival.They are the flank class characters: Androxus, Buck, Evie, Lex, Maeve, Skye, Zhin, Talus, Moji and Koga.
There are 40 champions[1] in Paladins, 5 of which are available from the start for new players to choose between. Additionally, 4 champions are also temporarily accessible for free on a two-week rotation. Players can permanently acquire additional champions through purchases using in-game currency. More champions are slated for release throughout 2018.
Game modes
There are different gameplay modes for Paladins:
- Siege: The 'main' Paladins game mode, two teams race against each other to capture the map's central capture point and, if successful, push a payload that spawns from it to the enemy base. Each successful push or capture grants one point. Preventing the enemy team from pushing the payload also grants one point. The first team to four points wins the game. A team cannot score their fourth point on defense however, meaning you must capture a point or push the payload to win.
- Onslaught: Teams battle over a large combat area in an attempt to take point control and earn points. Along with holding an uncontested presence on the control point, slaying enemy players also scores points for the team, akin to a team deathmatch. Killing an enemy scores the team 5 points, while holding control over the combat area earns the team 1 point per second. The first team to reach 400 points or the team with the most points after 10 minutes wins the game.
- Team Deathmatch: A classic game mode in most first-person shooter games, where two teams fight against each other to score kills. The first team to 40 kills wins the game.
Cards
The cards system is an ability amplifying mechanic in Paladins. Each Champion has one default loadout (a collection of cards) that cannot be deleted. At the beginning of a match, players can choose their load-outs from one of 6 load-outs. (the player can create 5 of their own load-outs). A loadout contains 5 cards and 15 points, each card having a level up to level 5. Each player receives all the cards of a character when a character is unlocked. Cards can grant mechanics like cooldown reduction or movement speed bonuses, and sometimes even more health. Previously in earlier versions of the game, loadout cards could be leveled through radiant chests.
Talents
Formerly called legendary cards, talents are not bound to a specific loadout but are selected at the start of a match as well. Talents grant heavier bonuses and more amplification. Each Champion has four available talents, and these are unlocked by leveling up the character through playing games and earning experience points, or by spending some in-game currency.
Items
Items grant special bonuses during matches, similar to cards, but are instead obtained by purchasing them with credits, a currency gained in a match from killing enemies, pushing payloads, or capturing points. These items can grant special bonuses, like extra damage to shields or a percentage cooldown reduction or increased Ultimate charge. Items have three tiers, and Champions can only purchase one item per category: Defense, Healing, Utility, and Attack. Items do not carry over from matches.
Competitive
The Competitive game mode is unlocked for players once they have unlocked 14 champions and reach a player profile level of 15. Competitive only features the Siege game mode. However, at the start of the match, players must choose their champions one by one. The first players on each team can also ban two Champions from being played on either team. First, one player chooses. Then, two players from the opposing team choose. Then two players from the team opposing the last choose. This continues until the last player (from the team opposing the one that has first pick) has a role. This challenges the teams to try and counter-build each other by specifically choosing certain champions. While in this game mode, only the first person view is available. Competitive games also affect a player's Competitive rating.
In-game currencies
Paladins has three in-game currencies that can be used to acquire different in-game champions, cosmetics, or other items:
- Battle Pass XP: Completing daily quests, Battle Pass Challenges, or just playing the game rewards Battle Pass XP points.
- Crystals: As the premium currency in the game, the player can acquire Crystals by purchasing them using real world currencies. The game also rewards the player with small amounts of Crystals as part of its daily login reward.
- Gold: Gold (coins) are the easier in-game currency to earn for free and can be earned as a reward from many different activities including daily login, playing matches, completing daily quests, Battle Pass rewards, and level-up rewards.[2].
Reception
| Reception | ||||||
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In response to accusations that the game is an Overwatch clone, Hi-Rez COO Todd Harris said that "Overwatch was not the inspiration for Paladins", and "the game that deserves the most credit is Team Fortress 2".[5][6]
See also
- Realm Royale – previously Paladins: Battlegrounds, a battle royale spinoff game
References
- ↑ "Paladins Website - Champions". www.paladins.com. Retrieved 2018-05-21.
- ↑ "Earning Gold in Paladins". www.gamemoola.com. Retrieved 2018-05-20.
- ↑ "Paladins for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2018-07-05.
- ↑ "Paladins: Champions of the Realm for Switch Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2018-07-05.
- ↑ Phillips, Tom (2016-09-16). "Paladins open beta launch trailer reminds us a lot of Overwatch". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2017-05-15.
- ↑ Jonathon Dornbush (2016-09-20). "Paladins Developer Responds to Overwatch Comparisons". IGN. Retrieved 2016-10-22.
- Oliver Cragg (2016-09-23). "Overwatch 'clone' Paladins takes Steam by storm with over 750k downloads". International Business Times. Retrieved 2016-10-22.