EA reveals all of Anthem's ultimate abilities

YouTube YouTube
Watch On

A new Anthem update takes a look at the ultimate abilities of Javelins, the heavily-armed, highly-mobile suits of power armor that players will slip into before venturing out into the dangerous game world.   

Ultimates are powerful special abilities that players can wheel out when situations get particularly hairy. It's a fairly common multiplayer mechanic, and it doesn't sound like Anthem will stray too far from the well-established basics: Ultimate abilities hit hard but must be charged up before use, a relatively slow process that can be hastened by taking down enemies, assisting allies, or equipping certain items.

As you'd expect, each of the four classes of Javelins has a distinct ability. The all-purpose Ranger packs a Multi-Target Missile Battery that enables it to engage multiple enemies—even fast-movers—simultaneously, while the heavy Colossus brings a multi-shot, area-of-effect Siege Cannon to the fight.

The Storm Javelin manipulates "the raw force of the Anthem," which is to say frost, electricity, and fire—so basically it's your elemental mage—and the high-speed Interceptor will pop Assassin's Blades that generate "echoes" that will continue to inflict damage over struck opponents for ten seconds. 

EA showed off the Storm and Interceptor ultimates earlier this week during Paris Games Week, but the IGN video above gets right to the good stuff, and also shows off the different movement and combat capabilities of each class. None of it is exactly carved in stone, as EA warned that Anthem is still in development and "all game features may be subject to change," but at this stage I have to think that things are closed to being nailed down. 

Anthem is slated for release on February 22, 2019. Here's everything we know about it.

Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

Latest in RPG
kingdom come deliverance 2 thunderstone quest
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2's masterful quest design can be summed up by one wonderfully weird search for a magic stone
The heroes are attacked by monsters
Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat to mark its 10th anniversary, and that means PC Gamer editors will soon be arguing about combat mechanics again
Junah beginning a battle in Metaphor: ReFantazio.
Today's RPG fans are 'very sensitive to feeling like they wasted time' when they die, says Metaphor: ReFantazio battle planner—but Atlus still made combat hard anyway
Image of Cersei Lanniser from Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Steam early access trailer
A new Game of Thrones RPG is coming to Steam today with a cast of 'familiar faces,' which is good because it's really the only way to tell it's a GoT game at all
A Viera looking confused in Final Fantasy 14.
Old armor continues to fall victim to Final Fantasy 14's bizarre two-channel dye system, unless you're super into changing the colour of teeny-tiny eyelets: 'Why even bother at this point?'
Starfield: Shattered Space
By the time Bethesda was on Starfield, you'd 'basically get in trouble' for breaking schedule, says former dev: 'A lot of the great stuff within Skyrim came from having the freedom to do what you want'
Latest in News
An Enshrouded player in a recreation of Erebor from The Lord of the Rings
Kings under the Mountain! 33 Enshrouded players spent 10,000 hours to recreate this iconic location from The Lord of the Rings
A mech awakens.
Mecha Break developer is considering unlocking all mechs following open beta feedback
Lara Croft Unified Art
Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics lays off 17 employees 'to better align our current business needs and the studio's future success'
A long bendy arm stealing money from people in a subway car
'You're a very long arm. You steal things. It's a comedy game,' explains developer of comedy game where you steal things with a very long arm
The heroes are attacked by monsters
Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat to mark its 10th anniversary, and that means PC Gamer editors will soon be arguing about combat mechanics again
Image of Ronaldo from Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves trailer
It doesn't really make sense that soccer star Ronaldo is now a Fatal Fury character, but if you follow the money you can see how it happened