Game Rant exclusive reveals the newest Salutor forThe Thaumaturge,Morana. For the uninitiated, players take on the role of a Thaumaturge named Wiktor, who can perceive certain entities that normal humans cannot. These Salutors manifest in many ways, withdeveloper Fool’s Theory (which is also developingThe Witcher 1 Remake)taking from several mythologies and belief systems to create these designs.
Previously, Fool’s Theory had revealed fourSalutors forThe Thaumaturge. There’s certainly more to come, but prior to Morana, fans knew about the Bukavac, a hard-to-tame horned monster filled with violence and ferocity that can rend human and foe alike; the Upyr, a skeletal ghoul-like creature trapped between life and death, envious and malevolent toward the living; the Lelek, a bird-headed creature believed to influence the decisions of men, while slowly driving them insane; and Weles, an entity that thrives in splendor and serves as an unpredictable ally.
Not only does each Salutor have a unique design and unique gameplay elements inThe Thaumaturge, but they each come from unique backgrounds. There are manySlavic beliefsmanifested here, but fans can expect more from Jewish, Bavarian, or Arabian circles, design director Karolina Kuzia-Rokosz tells Game Rant. It’s also possible for Thaumaturges to have Salutors unique to them, with Wiktor meeting others during his journey inThe Thaumaturge. If nothing else, Morana who is a humanoid woman in nature shows how vastly different each Salutor is.
The Thaumaturge - Morana
The Thaumaturgedescribes Morana as the “quiet death beneath the water.” In Slavic beliefs, the death of the Goddess Morana at the end of winter represents the return of Spring. Because of this, Morana is known to be a particularly powerful Salutor. Thaumaturges may find her lurking just beneath the water, taking possible victims by surprise and dragging them down in her deadly embrace. Ultimately, it remains to be seen how she manifests outside of combat, but it seems likely that her abilities deal with surprise, death, and nature.
In combat, her drowned bride conceit works by reducing an enemy’s focus and dealing damage in correlation with their remaining focus. For example, her Pestilent Breath ability reduces focus and interrupts an enemy’s planned action, while her In Death’s Embrace ability reduces focus and slows the enemy’s planned action. Once ready, Morana can use The Price of Peace which deals damage equal to a whopping 8 times the missing Focus. This ability will restore all of the enemy’s focus, however, and she has one more damage-dealing ability (not tied to enemy focus) called Winter Sleep. It deals damage and slows all enemies' planned actions.
Overall, Morana is impressive in design, in lore, and in abilities, and it’s easy to see many would-be Thaumaturges keeping her ready to go for combat.The Thaumaturgereleases in February 2024, so fans will just have to wait and see what this Drowned Bride brings to the table, as well as to what11 bit studiosand Fool’s Theory have prepared for fans.
The Thaumaturge
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The Thaumaturge is an isometric, story-rich RPG with a unique take on turn-based combat, character development features, and investigation mechanics, facing you with morally ambiguous choices – set in a world teeming with mysterious powers and strange ethereal beings called salutors.The year is 1905. Warsaw lives under the yoke of imperial Russian tsardom. Its inhabitants constitute a diverse group of different ancestries, views, and beliefs with often conflicting interests: Russian soldiers, Jewish merchants, Polish townspeople, and more. Despite the circumstances, the city is a buzzing metropolis, where one can attend a breathtaking party with the high society, and later get robbed in one of the dark alleys of the Praga district. A city of great hopes and dreams on one hand and dark desires on the other.A thaumaturge bears both a gift and a burden at the same time. This parallel holds true for Wiktor Szulski, the game’s titular protagonist, who is drawn back to the tumultuous streets of 20th-century Warsaw by family matters. The gift of thaumaturgy is intertwined with family legacy, passed down through one’s ancestors. This mystical inheritance significantly shapes Wiktor’s life journey tied around a pursuit of unearthly entities and their hosts. As only a thaumaturge can tame these ethereal entities - known to a select few as salutors - utilizing their mystical abilities to discover secrets hidden within the human soul and speak to the Darkness, no one understands quite like Wiktor how everyone suffers their own demons.
