Paladins

Paladins is a 2018 free-to-play online hero shooter video game by Hi-Rez. The game was developed by Evil Mojo, an internal studio of Hi-Rez and was released on May 8, 2018 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, followed by a Nintendo Switch version released on June 12, 2018.

Paladins takes place in a sci-fi fantasy world called Realm. There are elements of both fantasy and science fiction, including medieval-looking soldiers who use ranged weapons such as shotguns and assault rifles instead of swords.

In the world of Paladins, there is a conflict between two factions; the Magistrate and the Resistance/Paladins. While the Magistrate wants to control magic, preventing anyone but its members to use it, the Resistance claims that magic should be available for everyone and used for good. Champions were recruited in order to minimize casualties of regular foot soldiers. The champions would be considered “special forces” as they are more efficient at combat than a regular soldier. Not all champions are committed, however. There were a few who did not pick sides during the war, rather they would contract with both, rendering them mercenaries. The rest of these special forces were committed to a faction, either the Magistrate or the Resistance.

There are also other factions in the game as well, such as the “Abyss”, the “Thousand Hands”, the “Pyre” and the “Darkness”, which do not necessarily pick a side between the Magistrate nor the Resistance, but do play a prominent role in some characters’ lore.

Paladins is a team-based first-person shooter that focuses on two groups of five players each, who compete for combat-based goals. The game is set in colorful sci-fi fantasy maps, where each player chooses a champion that cannot be repeated in the same team and cannot be changed in the match. Each champion has their own weapons, skills and fighting style; in addition, they can be enhanced and personalized from a card and skin system. The interface of each player is very profitable and customizable, with avatars and customizable borders to symbolize the player’s profile; titles when reaching mastery level 30 with a champion, among others.

Game modes
There are different gameplay modes for Paladins:

Siege: The ‘main’ Paladins game mode, two teams of 5 race against each other to capture the map’s central capture point and, if successful, push a payload that spawns from it to the enemy base. Each successful push or capture grants one point. Preventing the enemy team from pushing the payload also grants one point. Additionally, the team that captures the point will get a bonus of 300 credits. The first team to score four points wins the game. A team cannot score their fourth point on defense, however, meaning that the team must capture a point or push the payload to win.

Onslaught: Teams battle over a large combat area in an attempt to take point control and earn points. Along with holding an uncontested presence on the control point, slaying enemy players also scores points for the team, akin to a team deathmatch.
Team Deathmatch: A classic game mode in most first-person shooter games, where two teams fight against each other to score kills. The first team to score 40 kills wins the game.

Ranked: The same game mode as Siege, however when players are choosing a champion, each team can pick two champions to ban, which makes them unavailable for either team. Also, each team can see the opponent’s champions that are picked and selected, and once a champion is picked by any player on a team, the other team cannot use that same champion.

Decks
It is possible to customize the gameplay of the characters by unlocking talents (by leveling up) and by creating a deck with classic cards. Each champion has 3 talents. Each talent gives the champion a great advantage, but only one can be selected per game, they cannot stack. Each champion also has 16 classic cards (up to 5 cards can be used at the same time) that the player can use to build decks. Only one deck can be selected per game. Each card can be leveled up, from 1 to 5, which can be chosen by the player. Each deck must make 15 points in total.[1][2]

Abilities
Each champion has a basic attack and varying skills. It usually has 3 skills in addition to basic attack (two mouse clicks and 3 keyboard keys). These skills can also have related passive bonuses. In addition to these “classic” skills, each champion has an “Ultimate” skill that allows situations to be turned around. Each ultimate attack is unique and often very powerful. To be used, they must be charged (percentage) by dealing damage to opponents.[3]

Currency
The game has different currencies. Battle Pass XP for daily quests or in-game achievements, Crystals for purchase with real money, and Gold for leveling up, daily visits, quests or playing individual matches. Currencies can be used to purchase special items in the game.[4]