And here we thought Bandai Namco was going to hold on to the last two characters until after launch! We still haven’t heard about Revenant, but this Memorial weekend we got our trailers for Executor — an impressive Sekiro-like parry specialist… and absolutely nothing else that’s special about him, am I right? Am I right, guys?
Hey, look, an entirely unremarkable ability all other characters get to do as well
… Okay, I can’t hold that back anymore — a Sekiro-like deflect & counter class with a freaking werewolf transformation? Are you kidding me? No wonder FromSoft held this one back a little bit! I imagine quite a few players who have already decided exactly which Nightfarer they wanted to play are scrambling to rethink their decisions.
You remember how we had the Raider option to step up to all that’s massive and punchy? How about a Nightfarer with their own goddamn second boss phase?
(Also, yet another Nightfarer with the coolest voiceover. Every single one of them — how?)
Executor Abilities
The Gameplay trailer describes Executor as “a condemned warrior who wields a cursed katana blade” and mentions Executor’s Abilities:
Passive Ability | TENACITY — Receive boost when cleansed from status ailments.
Character Skill | CURSED SWORD — Deflect enemy attacks with a special stance.
Ultimate Art | ASPECTS OF THE CRUCIBLE: BEAST — Assume the form of the primordial beast.
So, that’s quite a bit to unpack here. First, the parry: a melee character’s ability to stay up close to an enemy defines their playstyle, since that’s how they get their damage in. Where we have the hook and stun of the Wylder, the stagger of the Raider, Duchess’s hit-and-run, and Guardian’s block, we have the melee deflect of the Executor. It doesn’t seem to be quite as persistent as Guardian’s defensive abilities, but with the player who masters the timing, Executor could probably easily function as a tank, with a duelist flavor.
Consider that Executor benefits from getting his status ailments cleansed, which means that the game encourages this character to bear the brunt of the debuffs and have a support character in the party (or make use of the healing consumables). He is certainly designed to hold the attention of an enemy, though whether the Executor deals enough DPS in solo play (which would be important, considering the timed nature of the Expeditions), is yet to be seen.
Executor seems to be more of a swing in terms of defense and damage. It’s likely that he will be a bit slower up close, but have the option to “release the beast” when the time to deal damage is right. If Executor’s swings are fast enough to regenerate that ultimate quickly, however, Executor will probably be one of the most powerful class options (albeit, probably with a bit of a learning curve).
Executor Trailers
Between his careful calculated strikes and the unrestrained rage of the beast, the Executor has a lot of badassness to show off in his two trailers. Check them out here:
What are your impressions? Is the Sekiro vibe alone enough to get your attention, or did the werewolf bit make you do a double-take? Are you intrigued or still more interested in a different character? And, since we are almost through all of the available Nightfarers — is seeing more getting you more and more excited, or are you now a bit overwhelmed by all the cool options? Let us know in the comments below!
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Mila Grish
Dedicated contributor at EIP Gaming and a part-time collector of books she will never have time to actually read. Jumps on the newest releases just as quickly as on the uncovered dusty collections from the basement. For her, shiny graphics can never be an excuse to not have a polished player experience or an immersive story.
