How are champions actually created in Paladins? Thomas Holt is the lead artist of the MOBA shooter and explained to our author Leya how heroes are created. Read here how a champion grows from the first idea to completion.
Hero shooters thrive on their champions – they are the heart of every game in this genre. The characters need to be diverse, fun, and exciting to keep us engaged for the long term. Paladins offers variety among its champions.
There are characters in human form with a simple shotgun shooting with it. Then there are crazy winter witches who ride their weapons as if they were on a broom. From the CoD soldier to the proud knight, Paladins has it all.
I was curious how the colorful hero bunch in Paladins actually comes into being. So I asked Thomas Holt, the lead artist of Paladins, for an interview. He and his team of graphic artists, illustrators, and animators give the champions their appearance and breathe personality into them. He explained to me how the heroes are developed.
The entire process starts with a single question.
Why do we need a new champion in Paladins?
The creation of a champion starts with the “Why?”. First, the entire design team, along with the visual artists, considers why Paladins needs a new champion at all.
The answer to this question becomes the pillar of the champion and can be extremely varied. Sometimes it’s a role like a tank or a damage dealer that needs to be added. The answer can also be a specific mechanic that the team wants in Paladins. For example, the developers really wanted a champion that pulls enemies towards them.
From the idea of a single mechanic, Makoa with his anchor was born. The anchor was the start and became the pillar of the frontline champ. Then the idea was further developed, and the entire skill set was designed around the anchor.
Thomas Holt emphasized that Paladins is not only a shooter but also a fantasy game. This is taken into account when brainstorming a new champion. The team looks at specific roles or jobs that fit a fantasy world. A role could be filled by a dragon or a fairy. Jobs can involve knights, kings, or mysterious shamans.
The first phase is complete when the answer to the Why is found. And the answer can be something simple like a role, a gender, or a mechanic.
When the team is excited, an idea is developed
The answer to the Why is the foundation of the champion, and then it is elaborated on. The team collects and discusses ideas on how a hero should be designed. Whether an idea is actually developed is decided by the leads based on the enthusiasm of the staff. If the team is excited about an idea and can hardly wait to work it out, this is often the best approach to creating a champ that is fun.
Holt explained this process with the champion Zhin. He is the first character in Paladins that comes closest to a rogue. Zhin is the leader of a large criminal organization, has committed murder, and has done some terrible things to achieve his goals.
The team knew there should be a criminal in Paladins. The artists and designers received a rough description of Zhin’s personality. It was known that the general should become a criminal mastermind. Before art and mechanics can start, the team must understand the general idea of the champion.
Then came the idea with the sword. Both the artists and game designers were excited about the idea of giving Zhin a sword. The challenge of incorporating a sword into a shooter that would also reflect Zhin’s character was seen as brilliant by everyone. Due to this enthusiasm for the sword, it was ultimately developed.
A real ping-pong takes place between the game designers and artists
According to Thomas Holt, many studios work in such a way that gameplay is first developed and then the artists beautify everything.
But at Hi-Rez, the graphic artists and game designers want to work closely together and design new champions collaboratively. Holt believes that this way, a much rounder result is achieved because everything is coordinated and everyone understands the champion at its core.
Once the core of a champion is established, the real work begins. The design team now starts to develop the abilities of a champion. They work with the programmers. The champions don’t yet have a visual appearance but only consist of blocks to test skills. First, the mechanics must work and function before a champion can be visually developed.
For the artists, it is also time for the concept phase. The concept artists often start with just shadows and outlines of the champions. What is liked is then refined in detail.
Thomas Holt provided concept art of Zhin for this article. It shows well that Zhin could have received a much more brutal appearance.
The artists present their concepts to the design team and are sometimes inspired to come up with new abilities. But it can also happen that the game designers have an idea and ask how it could be artistically supported. The graphic artists then adapt the weapon of a champion accordingly.
The team considers it important that there is a constant exchange – like in ping-pong – between game design and graphics.
Ash is a perfect example of this. Her core was that the developers wanted a strong female knight in Paladins. In the first drawn concepts, Ash received a large, heavy armor. However, the graphic artists wanted to give her even more presence and drew a long flag that Ash ties to her back.
The flag therefore only existed visually in the graphics at first. When the game designers saw the drawings, they came up with the idea that Ash would take her flag from her back and slam it to the ground. Thus, Ash’s ultimate ability was created merely because of a drawing.
In the final phase, the entire team is moved to play
When the concept drawings and the skill set are finished, it’s time for the final execution. Here the champions are designed in detail, and their appearance is also determined. Normally, one team works on the champion itself and another team on the weapon.
In this phase, regular meetings take place, where the entire team sits in a room and someone plays the champion. Here, special attention is paid to whether a champion feels good: Does the sound sound good? Is the ability fun enough? Does everything work?
To avoid tunnel vision, employees who have nothing to do with champion design are also invited to these play meetings.
In the end, when everyone is basically satisfied with the champion, the cards for the hero are created. After that, marketing ultimately comes into play. Here, it is considered how to best announce and tease a new champion.
In Paladins, champions always receive a teaser video that showcases their personality. Below is the one from Princess Lian, who steps on the lower people.
Before the champion reaches the live game of Paladins, it is tested every day after completion to ensure that everything is indeed consistent. This means for the team: Play as much as possible.
This is how champions are created step by step in Paladins. For studio Hi-Rez, this means above all a strong exchange between artists and game designers. There is always communication, and they try to inspire and excite each other.
In general, Holt said that Hi-Rez doesn’t want champions that are simply black and white. The team wants various elements; no one is simply good or evil. The champions should have real emotions and a broad background story.
What do you think of Hi-Rez’s approach to developing champions in Paladins?
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