Relic Knight Jeane Romee spotlight

"There is no exact explanation for how a Questing Knight gains their Relic. For some the quest is spiritual. For others the quest is more literal as their cypher guides them through the galaxy, righting wrongs, inflicting evils, or searching for artifacts. Each Knight’s quest is personal, dictated by their cypher, until their cypher sees fit to bestow upon them the gift of a Relic. It is then that they become a Relic Knight. Jeanne Romee has found her Relic and forsaken her pacifist ways. Now she puts her relic's sword to use, defending the last Galaxy.

With the relaunch of Relic Knights, we needed to bring an actual Relic Knight back into the fight for the last galaxy. Last week we showcased Questing Knight Jeanne Romee. This week Jeanne is back, and ascended to the status of Relic Knight.

This not only amplifies her Questing Knight abilities. It has made significant changes to her playstyle. Let's take a look.

The most dramatic change from her Questing Knight profile is the addition of a direct damage dealing attack, Smiting Blow. Not only that, it's a surge attack, it can press for up to 12 damage total, and it can inflict Knockback on its target. Combined with Jeanne's AoE, she could potentially be making this attack twice in a single activation.

Jeanne's AoE doesn't just benefit her either. All friendly unit could potentially be making two melee attacks per activation. This makes for a potentially very aggressive Shattered Sword build. Jeanne is not the only one with changes. Let's take a look at her cypher, Gallant.

This version of Gallant has traded out his PRIDE ability in favor of ROAR. This gives him a Push8 psychic attack, with the option to Bind the target. This will potentially clear enemies off objective markers and away from key terrain, while turning off key Surge abilities. Additionally the Bind status effect buffs several attacks across the entire Shattered Sword unit lineup. Despite all this, do you still prefer the Questing Knight version of Gallant?

Avert your eyes from the majestic crotch-tabard of Sebastian Cross for just a moment, and you'll see that the rules allow you to interchange cyphers of the same name. If you own both versions of Jeanne Romee and Gallant, you can take whichever version of Gallant you like, regardless of whether you field Jeanne as a Questing Knight, or a Relic Knight. Do you need more forced movement with Questing Knight Jeanne? Great, bring the Relic Knight version of Gallant and unleash his Roar ability. Do you need your units to make the same melee attack THREE times in a row? Combo Relic Knight Jeanne's Righteous Wrath AoE with Questing Knight Gallant's Pride ability, pay for the press and few shall stand before your overwhelming offensive capabilities. (A fun twist on a faction built to play defensively.) This is just a couple of ways you can build combos within your Shattered Sword cadre. Like her Questing Knight version, Relic Knight Jeanne Romee can also lead Miss Kaylee and the Sundown Enforcers in battle (found in the Radiant vs Void Starter Set).

This concludes our launch lineup of units for Shattered Sword. Stay tuned (and subscribe here if you haven't already) for one more article covering what our friends over at Warsenal Games are cooking up for this release...