Helios

Helios is an old bartender working in Julesvale. Little did he know, remnants of his past life as the Shining Flame of the Fire Mora will soon be knocking at his door…

SOL – Helios has the ability to create small orbs of fire called Sols. They can be moved around by hitting them with attacks and other Sols.

FLASHSNAP – By snapping his fingers, Helios can create a blinding flash of light around himself and his Sols, briefly immobilizing anyone caught in it.

SOLAR POWERED – Helios can cancel some of his moves on hit, and it includes hits on Sols !

Helios is a moderately slow and heavy character, with a lot of disjointed hitboxes and space control tools.
His main gimmick uses Sols, orbs of fire behaving like infinitely active projectiles. They can be moved around by hitting them with attacks, in the direction of the attack’s knockback angle.
Helios gets significantly stronger as you master the different uses for his Sols, wheteher they’re used as space control tools, combo extenders, projectiles, recovery tools, and so on.

However, only 2 Sols can exist at the same time, and you’ll have to use down special to remove them before creating new ones. Managing your Sols is a crucial part of Helios game plan !

Additionally, Helios benefits from some effects on hit, including hits on Sols :
– Strong attacks can be cancelled into Snapflash (down special) on hit
– Rising sun (up special) can be cancelled into Revolution (forward special) on hit
– Revolution (forward special) will bounce on hit

For more information about his special moves, you can watch the two spotlight videos available here :
https://twitter.com/MapleGecko/status/1714007206138359940
https://twitter.com/MapleGecko/status/1723816539848061247

A 30 minutes long gameplay video is also available, hopefully providing pointers on how to play Helios in the context of a match :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8e9qJ-WVBY

In-depth tips !
– You can use your joystick during nspecial to change to position of the Sol you’re creating, giving you more freedom and precision when placing your orbs.
– His jab can be used after some of his aerial moves to extend your combos.
– Helios neutral relies a lot on pivots and b-reverse nspecial. Pivot bair and pivot dair are especially useful to overwhelm your opponent and find some space to place your Sols.

[Please make sure to watch the trailer before reading this part !]

Helios was an important figure in the Firelands. Known as the Shining Flame, his achievements and presence as a Fire Mora general are considered unmatched to this day. Firelanders often tell the tales of the unending days caused by the sun-like light of the fire he creates during his battles.

At some point during his youth, Helios began to doubt : What is the point of all these conquests ? Isn’t there a more peaceful way to unite the Firelands ?

From then on, Helios retired as a general and started teaching at the capital’s academy, as a martial arts teacher.
Being proficient with all kinds of weapons, he spent years designing and revising the standard martial arts of the Fire Mora.
Not only using the weapon, but also the body with maximum efficiency, was the golden rule behind his craft.

After some time, Helios felt a change in the Council’s decisions. Battles with the neighboring tribes were more frequent, more violent. Overwhelming, brutal power was suddenly all that mattered, and it was something that Helios started to hate.

He decided to leave the capital for good after understanding that it was too late to stop the changes that were happening. He settled in Julesvale, where he opened a small bar to spend his retired days, as far as possible from the empire’s ideals he rejected.

A few years later (right after the events of Dungeons of Aether), he meets by chance with an old student of his : Artemis.
After learning about Renburn’s death, he realizes that nothing will obstruct the Council’s desire for power anymore, and that it might have terrible consequences for the people of his former nation. Determined to stop this madness, Helios decides to come back to the Firelands to prevent the forshadowed large scale conflict that’s to come.

Character by Goomboo (@Maplegecko)

Big thanks for their help along the way :
Eldraev (@Eldraev) – Trailer portraits, animation
Reblys (@BS_Reblys) – Music, editing
Lazarus (@UILazarus) – Spotlights voice-over

And of course thanks to all the testers from the Extended Workshop Discord server who provided feedback !