For Honor Season 3 kicks off next week with Highlander and Gladiator units, two new maps and a walloping big patch – all for free

By Brenna Hillier

For Honor Season 3 delivers the goods, something the brawler’s been a bit light on to date.

For Honor’s Grudge and Glory update has stacks of good stuff for those of you still faithful to Ubisoft’s multiplayer melee action affair.

The two new units and two new maps described below kick off For Honor Season 3. Season Pass holders can get their hands on the new units as of August 15 at no cost, but those who prefer to cherry pick their purchases will have to wait for August 22 and then cough up 15,000 steel for each hero.

Right, let’s take a look at what’s new in For Honor Season 3, starting with the units.

Highlander (Viking faction): Stoic and guarded, Highlanders are patient heroes capable of switching between two different fighting forms. Their defensive form allows for counter-attacking and trading blows, while their offensive form empowers them to unleash their deadliest attacks at the expense of being able to block. Wielding the heaviest and longest sword in the game, the Highlander’s massive claymore gives them a deadly combination of strength and range.

It’s neat that Ubisoft made a little nod towards explaining this unit’s presence in the Viking ranks. If nothing else has, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice should have taught you about viking raids on the British Isles.

Gladiator (Knight faction): Wielding a trident and shield, the Gladiator has made a living off of killing for sport, they now bring their ruthlessness and skill to war. Fighters by trade, they are brash and boastful; equipped with little armor, they can punch their opponents to create separation to set up attacks and stuns. Their larger stamina meter and reduced cool down times make them extremely agile and dangerous opponents.

It continues to be really meaningless to point out inaccuracies and anachronisms in For Honor, a game whose initial spark was a fierce wind blowing everyone’s desk ornament action figures into a pile, but still: ugh ugh ugh gladiators and knights were totally different historical eras you numpties.

There are also two new maps. The Sentinel is a castle in ruins, and Viking Village is – well, it says on the tin, innit,

In addition to these concrete offerings, For Honor is also getting an enormous patch. I don’t want to reproduce the patch notes, because I got tired just scrolling through them. Why don’t you view them on the For Honor website instead? The executive summary is “lots of bug fixes and balance changes”, basically.

Just as a reminder, For Honor is free this weekend. With new stuff around the corner this seems like a good chance to check it out.

The battler hasn’t gone over as well as Rainbow Six Siege, Ubisoft’s other big PvP service title, having difficulty retaining players in an early content drought. But Ubisoft is clearly pretty committed to continued support, at least for now, so For Honor has a good chance yet.