Highguard is adding a new hero who turns into wolf, and a new wolf mount that everyone else can ride around on (but no, they're not the same guy)

A major update to Highguard is rolling out tomorrow on Steam, bringing with it a new hero, a new map, a new mount, and of particular note to people who just can't get enough competitive action, ranked play.

The new character in Highguard Episode 2, as the update is formally named, is Ekon, and he's a bit different from the rest of the pack. While the game's other characters summon phantom mounts to ride around on, Ekon is his own mount: He has the ability to shapeshift into a direwolf. Developer Wildlight describes it thusly:

While in this form, Ekon’s speed is unmatched by other mounts. Through a full third-person point of view, the direwolf can see around cover. When moving in for an attack, weapons are laid down in favor of Ekon’s deadly bite attack, which will dash forward and bite a prey before immediately transforming back to human form to finish off the job. Attacking without a target will allow Ekon to perform a small air dash to traverse maps more athletically. In addition, while in Wolf Form, Ekon can track an enemy’s scent that they leave in their path. Ekon can use all of his other powers while in Wolf Form.

His passive, tactical, and ultimate abilities are also wolflike, enabling him to track enemies even over long distances.

The new mount? Also a wolf. It's kind of a theme here. The wolf mount will be free for all players.

The new map, "the fabled lost city of Skydrift," is essentially a huge castle built on floating rocks, connected by chain bridges and "Sky Jumpers," which makes me think a bit of BioShock Infinite's Skyline. "Wardens can navigate through hollowed out caverns once home to great winged-beasts, spar off against one another in an ancient ring of stone, and ride across colossal chain bridges and through remarkable Sky Jumpers to reach Skydrifts highest point—a palace above the clouds." The new map will be playable in both 3v3 and 5v5 modes.

And then, finally, ranked mode. It will only be available in 3v3 mode, which Wildlight says "is the more tactical structure of the game and fits best for comp." It will also "monitor feedback," though, and since minds changed pretty quickly on 5v5 I wouldn't be super-shocked if we see a similar turnaround here, too.

Each episode of Highguard will have two Ranked Splits, with different maps and base lists, and some balance changes. There are seven ranks to fight through, from Bronze to Grandmaster, each with three divisions; players will receive rewards based on their rank at the end of each episode.

The update comes as Highguard continues to try to find its footing. It came out strong, falling just shy of 100,000 concurrent players on Steam when it first launched, but it quickly tailed off to much lower concurrents. It's not catastrophic, and PC Gamer's shooter expert Morgan Park said in his 65% review that while there are aspects of the game that need work, "Highguard's central mode is genuinely cool."

This update looks like it could be a big step in that direction: Significant changes are also coming to Highguard's 'Gear Up' phase, a new stats menu is being added, there's a raft of quality-of-life changes, and of course numerous bug fixes and tweaks. Highguard Episode 2 is set to go live on February 6. The full patch notes are up on Steam.