Rivals of Aether

Rivals of Aether is a fighting game set in a world where warring civilizations wield the powers of Fire, Water, Air and Earth. You choose a Rival and fight using elemental abilities and animal movement. Its modes include competitive battles, story, wave-based challenges, online play, tutorials and practice tools.

Story and rivals

Story Mode reveals each Rival’s backstory and begins to uncover Aether’s hidden mysteries. You can bring a friend into local co-op with drop-in play.

The roster includes warriors, guardians and other fighters from across Aether. Their abilities shape how they control the battlefield:

• Zetterburn: A hardened warrior and son of the Firelands’ ruling family, he fights with claws and flame. His special attacks set opponents on fire, his Down Special leaves flames on the stage, and his Strong Attacks can absorb the flames of burning opponents to launch them twice as far.
• Orcane: A playful trickster who transforms into water and uses bubbles. He creates puddles to teleport to with his Up Special, turns them into bubble pillars to trap enemies, and can consume a puddle beneath him to strengthen the range and knockback of his Strong Attacks.
• Wrastor: The Air Academy’s youngest trainee and an Aerial Ace in the Air Armada, he can jump four times. He creates a Wind Current to move faster and pursue targets, and performs charged Strong Attacks in the air rather than on the ground.
• Kragg: A loyal defender of the Aetherian Forest and one of the Wall Runners who patrol the Rock Wall. He can pull rocks from the ground and throw them; once thrown, a rock becomes part of the stage and players can break it. He can also roll toward enemies in a ball that can take damage but cannot be knocked away, and summon an Earth Pillar beneath himself, including when he is about to fall to his death.
• Forsburn: The disgraced eldest son of the Firelands’ ruling family, he finds refuge among outsiders who reject flame and master smoke. He can hide in a Smoke Screen, create a smoke decoy that attacks and disappears after one hit, and consume smoke clouds. After consuming three clouds, he can combust to knock opponents away at high speed.
• Maypul: The self-appointed Guardian of the Aetherian Forest uses her agility to catch intruders. Her Seeds or Watcher’s Dash mark opponents, leaving them open to follow-up attacks. She can wrap marked targets in place with Strong Attacks or her Plant, then use her vines to sling toward them.
• Absa: An engineer and martialist of the Elders of the Air Alliance, she secretly developed storm techniques in the Archai mountain caves. She places a cloud that stays in the air until she bursts it to knock enemies away, and can charge a lightning attack that connects her to the cloud and launches opponents caught between them. Her aerial kicks can also focus a lightning bolt’s power at her hoof.
• Etalus: One of the last surviving members of the Harbor Guard, this legendary warrior uses ice to augment his strength. He freezes the ground to slide across it, absorbs ice to create armor, and can shatter nearby ice to freeze enemies standing on it.
• Ranno: Once a feared martial artist trained by monks, he now protects his swampy homeland. His Specials, Strong Attacks and Jab Combo apply up to four Poison Stacks, which damage opponents when they attack and can be removed by hitting Ranno. His Neutral and Down Specials can trap opponents in a Toxic Bubble, with the trap lasting longer according to their Poison Stacks. His recovery starts with a quick Poison Lunge, followed by a Poison Kick or a Poison Spin that fires darts in many directions.
• Clairen: A warrior from a distant future where the heroes of flame disappear, she travels back in time to defeat the tyrannical, immortal emperor who defeated her. The charged tip of her two-toned sword can stun opponents; her Side Special leaves a damaging plasma resonance that can knock opponents out at its sweet spot; and her Down Special creates a field that damages and pushes Rivals away while stopping projectiles from entering.
• Sylvanos: The Aetherian Forest’s rageful deity seeks to spread the forest across Aether, but the Rock Wall traps him on the forest floor. He spreads grass as he runs, then can use Down Special to make plants rise and damage opponents standing on it. His Neutral Special fires a seed that locks an opponent in place if it hits; if it reaches the ground, it plants a flower that leaves permanent grass until destroyed. He can burrow through solid ground and emerge elsewhere, or bite upward through grass to knock enemies off the top of the screen.
• Elliana: A snake from the Eastern Wastelands, she built a steam-powered flying machine with engineer Ayala after an Air Armada captain rejected her dream of joining. She now plans to destroy the Armada. Her ship overheats when she uses Specials or her hovering double jump, preventing those abilities and leaving her more vulnerable. Strong Attacks vent steam to lower the Overheat bar and can catch opponents; while overheated, they cause a powerful explosion. Her Up Special lets her abandon the ship even while overheated, launching her upward as the ship explodes. She is vulnerable outside the ship and must rebuild it after landing.
• Ori and Sein: The pair from Ori and the Blind Forest bring Ori’s Bash, Stomp and Glide abilities, along with Sein’s Spirit Flame and Charged Flame. Sein follows Ori and can fire from wherever he is; Ori can Bash characters, projectiles, rocks and plants, or use a thrown Light Grenade to move around the stage. When Ori and Sein are close, Strong Attacks start tag-team combos with more powerful effects.
• Shovel Knight: Drawing on his skills from Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove, he fights with his shovel while collecting treasure to buy upgrades. His attacks knock coins and gems from opponents; taunting summons Chester, letting him spend treasure on Relics or Armors. His Down Air strikes from above and bounces off opponents, objects and projectiles, and his Down Special fishing rod can pull up treasure, a Treasure Rock or, with perfect timing, a Golden Fish.

Game modes

Versus Mode offers competitive 1v1 and 2v2 fights, as well as free-for-alls. Abyss Mode challenges you to defeat as many waves of shadowy fighters as possible, alone or with a friend; you can customize your builds and face friends in Abyss Versus. Tetherball is a sport-themed mode set on the beach.

Online Versus lets you play against friends with your own rules, while Ranked Mode lets you compete for a place on the leaderboard. Tutorial Mode covers beginner-to-advanced lessons, and Practice Mode provides frame data and hitbox visualizations.