Recluse seems both incredibly fascinating and entirely intimidating to me.
What do you mean she, like, steals the elements from cast abilities, but also zooms around in a fireball, lands as a lightning, but also envelops herself in cursed ribbons, and still manages huge powerballs? Sorry, how many abilities does each character get, again…?
Okay, this Ultimate is on Diablo level of awesomeness, though. Do we get to de-skin people, too?
Also, what’s with that combination of a gentle soothing voice and that massive hat of authority?!
…
Sorry, I got ahead of myself there — these colorful cinematics come from two trailers dropped by FromSoft this weekend: the Recluse Character Trailer & Gameplay Reveal! Let’s take a look.
Recluse Abilities
The Gameplay trailer describes Recluse as “a witch of the Deep Forest who deftly wields ancient sorceries” and mentions Recluse’s Abilities:
Character Skill | MAGIC COCKTAIL: Combine elemental residues into different powerful spells.
Ultimate Art | SOULBLOOD SONG: Affixes blood sigils to enemies that restore the health and magic of Nightfarers who attack them.
Which is to say, if you feel like 3 skills per character is not enough, go for the Recluse. When I was taking a look at Ironeye’s Trailers, the Ranger class of Nightreign, I mentioned that they aren’t all that flashy compared to others. This. This is the “others”, ladies and gentlemen.
Recluse’s main Character Skill offers a bit of variety — it’s not just a singular blast of fire or lightning, but an opportunity to mix the elements present on the battlefield and send their combination at the enemies, which inspires paying attention to what is being cast or inflicted, gathering up a good combination, and firing it off at a target that would be more susceptible to it. There is some strategy to it: a fire-encased creature shooting fireballs at you will not be as vulnerable to its own tricks, but if your allies are drowning a big mutant boss in fire, you can easily add to their efforts with your skill.
Recluse is another ranged character, but it’s worth noting that her primary way of attacking is slower and requires a bit of resource management. However, those well-planned hits can deliver an impressive amount of damage. An enthusiastic player could very likely learn how to make this character very powerful either in a group or solo — Recluse should be able to dodge around the field and counteract with powerful blows, while sustaining her health in boss fights with the Ultimate ability that restores health to those who hit the target of the spell. Still, for a newer player the character would probably be safer in team play while they get used to her core mechanic.
Recluse Trailers
Baah, but how incredibly satisfying it must be to gather elements around the field and fling them towards enemies! Also, that cool huge witch hat?! … I still can’t make up my own mind about this one.
See if this lady steals your heart the same way she did with the Elden Ring fanbase in the these two official trailers!
It’s hard to make something interesting of magic casters in modern video games, after so many RPGs pretty much tried it all, but it looks like FromSoft is succeeding. It’s easy to see from the comments by the fanbase that folks are very excited for Recluse’s core mechanic alone. Do you agree or feel like the lady is a bit too flashy for what is essentially just ranged magic DPS on the battlefield? Let us know in the comments below!
Share this article:
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.
