Dragon Front is an addictive, free-to-play virtual reality trading card experience from High Voltage Studios for the Oculus Rift and Gear VR crafted in the same vein as industry stalwarts Magic: The Gathering and Hearthstone. In the game, you choose one of several factions to play as. Each faction has its own unique cards, abilities, and inherent strategies. So far High Voltage has released Scales, Thorns, Strife, Eclipse and Silence as playable factions for users.
Today, the studio is officially revealing the next army for its players to command: Essence.
Each of Dragon Front‘s factions has its own individual aesthetic that keeps the art of its various cards visually cohesive. For Essence, the not-so-subtle motif at play is angels. According to an email from Oculus — Dragon Front‘s exclusive platform — “the creatures of the Essence faction are celestial beings, golems, and elementals.”
The message also explains that Essence cards will possess two new, faction-specific traits that put an emphasis on board movement and agility in battle. These traits are:
- Push – This moves the targeted unit one space away from the owner’s Stronghold. This can be used to move friendly units forward, or enemy units backward. This doesn’t count as a move action, and thus doesn’t initiate combat.
- Shift (Self) – Shifting allows units to move left or right into the next Lane, as long as it is open (No Walls or Units). This counts as movement, and is followed up by an attack to Units in front of this one’s new space.
No Dragon Front faction is complete without its Champion and Essence is no exception. “West Wind Anima” will be your ace-in-the-hole if you choose this angelic arsenal for your deck. She packs a wallop with both flight and sprint as well as a spawn effect that refills your mana as soon as she steps into the fray.
Essence seems to be designed as a rush deck perfect for aggressive players that want to play an in-your-face game that focuses on mobility rather than the blast and burn tactics of Strife.
Essence will be available for all players in Dragon Front on January 17th for either 5,000 in-game gold or $7.99 like the rest of the factions.
Correction: A previous version of this story stated that the Essence faction would be free.
