For Honor’s New Sohei Hero and Photo Mode Available July 25

For Honor's newest Hero, the Sohei, is a towering Samurai who brings not one but seven weapons to the battlefield starting tomorrow, July 25. Inspired by depictions of the historical warrior-monk Benkei, the Sohei wields a Kama Yari polearm as his primary weapon, as well as a sickle, mallet, saw, club, pole fork, and sword. The Sohei is available July 25 for purchase and will be unlockable with 15,000 Steel two weeks after launch, and players can also compete to win the Sohei in the Photo Mode Sweepstakes by using the new Photo Mode feature - also available in For Honor starting July 25 - to capture in-game images of their customized Heroes.

In For Honor's narrative, the Sohei is exemplified by a man named Oniwaka (roughly translatable as "Demon Child"), whose monstrous appearance made him an outcast - which gave him a vicious grudge and something to prove. Learning to wield as many weapons as possible, he collected the blades of his fallen opponents and built a fearsome reputation in battle. The first one to fight him to a standstill was Master Katashi, the Orochi who wields the last Muramasa Blade, and the two became friends. Oniwaka now seeks to pass down his formidable skills to students to grow the ranks of the Sohei.

To participate in the Photo Mode Sweepstakes, players need to submit Photo Mode images of their custom Heroes by August 8 - more details can be found in this blogpost. Winners will be chosen through a curated vote, which will be conducted live via Twitch starting at 2PM PT/10PM CET on August 13.

The Sohei and Photo Mode will arrive as part of Title Update 2 for Year 8 Season 2 of For Honor - and to celebrate, the game is free to download and play from July 25 until August 1 on Xbox and PlayStation, and until August 5 on PC via Ubisoft Connect. The free period is a chance for new players to dive into For Honor's unique melee-focused battles at no cost for a limited time - and any progress you make during the free period will carry over to the full game if you decide to purchase it. Players can also take advantage of a free Event Pass starting today, featuring a new Ornament, Mood FX, Battle Outfit, and more.

Year 8 Season 2 will also feature three Hero Fests for the Lawbringer, Shugoki, and Gladiator Heroes on August 15, August 29, and September 5, respectively. During Hero Fests, a specific Hero is available for all players to try free for that week and is also available for purchase at a discount. A unique execution is also released at the start of each Hero Fest for that week's Hero. Also, during the week of August 22, players can participate in the Carousel of Ragnarok throwback event and battle it out for control of the Hamarr of Ragnarok, a weapon that can deal heavy damage with chain-lightning and knockdown attacks (at the temporary expense of the wielder's defensive abilities).

For Honor is available now for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC (via the Ubisoft Store, Steam, or Epic Games Store), and is included with a Ubisoft+ Classics or Premium subscription.