Now that we’ve outlined the Online and Offline modes for Heroes & Heralds – out December 19 in all territories as free DLC – it’s time to take a look at the Ability Cards that power the whole thing. Today we’ll examine three Ace Attorney themed cards, their effects and other details.

The A-B-C icons in the upper left corner of each card indicate its rank, with C designating common cards, B slightly less common and A fairly uncommon. Think of A-rank cards as the “rare” card in a collectible card game – they’re potentially better than the rest, but are harder to come across while playing Heroes & Heralds mode. Then there are S-Rank cards, but we’ll let you discover those on your own…

Two players meet with their decks of three cards each, Hero faction on the left and Heralds on the right

Before we jump into the card info, there’s one other important aspect to discuss – Primary and Secondary effects. As you can see in the screen above, Juggernaut has a star hovering over his art. That means he’s been set as the Primary card in the deck; every card has different abilities when in Primary or Secondary position, so if Servbot were made the Primary card instead of Jugs, their bonuses would change accordingly. Lots to consider for your deck, perhaps best explained with today’s three examples!

GODOT (Trials and Tribulations, 2007)

Primary slot: Switch Hyper Combo gauges with your opponent upon activation of X-Factor

Secondary slot: When you have only one character remaining and their vitality is 50% or less, HC gauge will refill automatically [Lv 1]

Now, what’s that [Lv 1] all about? Some abilities have various iterations, and are represented by level designations.  The Godot card, for example, has a Level 1, or weakest, version of this HC gauge ability. This implies there’s an Ability Card out there with a Level 2 and possibly Level 3, so keep an eye out.

MILES EDGEWORTH (Ace Attorney, 2005)

Primary: Gain a fixed amount of HC gauge upon activation of  X-Factor [Lv 3]

Secondary: Gain a fixed amount of HC gauge upon activation of X-Factor [Lv 2]

With a B rank, Edgeworth is slightly tougher to come across, but the Level 3 benefit is clear. This is also a case of a card having the same ability that changes intensity based on where it rests on your deck. Primary is Level 3, while Secondary is Level 2.

FRANZISKA VON KARMA (Justice for All, 2006)

Primary: Attack strength increases as vitality decreases [Lv 3] Increases the duration of X-Factor [Lv 1]

Secondary: Gain super armor when the timer reaches 30 (Uses HC gauge upon hit) [Lv 1]

As an A-rank card, Fran will appear far less than the others. but with two boosts in the Primary slot, she’s worth the effort. Seeing as you can earn cards in both the Online and Offline modes, it’s easy to get into a “one more match” mindset, as the cards keep on coming – and any one of them could be an A card!

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Heroes & Heralds’ Ability Cards. There are so many new abilities and powers, many of which are actually indicative of the character on the card. More on that tomorrow. Yes… *rubs hands together* … so much more…