PS4/PC's Enhanced Gauntlet Features More Choices, New Mode

Gauntlet: Slayer Edition, an improved version of last year's Gauntlet that's coming to PC and PS4, will offer players more choices and abilities, as well as a new game mode, developer Arrowhead Game Studios has revealed.

Arrowhead's plans to offer an enhanced version of Gauntlet were first discussed earlier this year. But even when it began to offer some details earlier this month, things remained fairly vague. A new blog post from the developer dives into specifics on what will turn Slayer Edition into the game that Arrowhead says it "originally envisioned."

Each of the game's classes (called heroes) can now change their weapon abilities. This is done by equipping new weapons found at the shop. Some of the cited examples include the Wizard being able to move between ice, fire, and lightning spells, while the Valkyrie can go from using the default Shield Throw ability to the Lightning Strike ability.

Potions, previously used for relics, are now used for a class-specific potion ability. These are described as "high-impact" abilities, and include things like the Warrior throwing a potion as if it were a grenade or transforming into an invincible giant who does additional damage. Which potion ability you have at your disposal is dictated both by your class and the talisman (a new type of item) you have equipped.

Relics were deemed to not be "pushing the personality of each hero enough," and have thus been reworked. You'll now only have one equipped at a time, and these are limited by a cooldown, rather than the number of potions you have. Arrowhead says that every relic in the game has been rebalanced, with some having their functionality altered, too. No examples were shared, but the company did say relics are now less about killing enemies and more about utility.

Slayer Edition also brings with it a new game mode called Endless mode. Players will fight through a never-ending series of procedurally generated floors, with leaderboards tracking your progress.

More details on Slayer Edition will be released in the "coming weeks." The game is due out on PS4 in August for $20, while these changes and improvements will be included in a free update for the existing PC version.