In the weekly update video at Paragon, an unknown character appears.
Since the start of the closed beta last March, the now open beta free-to-play MOBA Paragon has been updated with new content every Tuesday. While the last updates were overall a bit more compact and mainly included cosmetic improvements, this is not surprising, as developer Epic Games is working hard on the new arena “Monolith”.
However, the weekly update v.34 for today, November 8, not only brings new outfits for Dekker and Khaimera and a revision of the T3 Apocalypse Steel skins, but also adds support for the PS4 Pro. Those who purchase Sony’s new console on November 10 can look forward to additional vegetation, volumetric effects like fog, the well-known and popular God rays, a larger draw distance, surface reflections, and full 1080p resolution in Paragon.
But this time it’s not just something for the eyes; there’s also additional support for new players. To help them better understand whether they can safely step into the turret’s range or should expect to get hit, colored warning rings have been added.
This works like a traffic light. Green means safe, as the turret is currently busy with minions, while red means to stop. Ideally, stay outside the turret’s range, of course. And if it pulses red, you’ve made a mistake, as you’ve already been marked for elimination. This color indication switches off automatically when reaching level 6, and you’ll have to rely on your own instincts.
Additionally, for players who suddenly get knocked out during an ongoing match and didn’t notice which move just overwhelmed them, a death cam is available to directly analyze what took them down.
A leak – or not?
Just as there is an update every week, Epic Games also adheres to its self-imposed schedule and releases a new hero every three weeks. Normally, this is introduced on the preceding Thursday. However, the first hint of the upcoming character can already be found in the brief overview of update v.34.
There you can see an unknown face next to the recently added Countess in the draft lobby starting at second 5. Due to the alphabetical arrangement of heroes, as well as a list of unimplemented characters created by data miners, it can be assumed that this is “Crunch”.
If the uncovered details are correct, he is supposed to belong to the melee class and will be able to let his fists do the talking. However, he won’t just swing his two hefty arguments but will also be able to fire them.
Combining this information with a tweet from an “Epic Games” employee who has worked on fighting games like Street Fighter or Marvel vs. Capcom and says the upcoming Paragon character might be one of his favorites, the signs that this is Crunch become clearer.
Especially when you consider that the mentioned employee is Senior Marketing Manager Wes Phillips. This makes it clear that no one accidentally overlooked anything when compiling the weekly video. However, what the fighter ultimately has to offer in the arena ring and whether he can bring his opponents down will likely only be revealed on November 10.
