Hero and Companion Variants
At the start of "Anathema Annihilation", the player must select a Hero Variant. Each Variant corresponds to a unique Theme and Profession.
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The Theme determines the tone, environment, and select enemies that the player will interact with during the initial stages of "Anathema Annihilation".
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The Profession, which shares the title of the Variant, determines the Hero Avatar's passive and active abilities, skills, weapon proficiencies, armor/costume, and the general playstyle. These abilities and skills can be unlocked and leveled up over time and through gathering experience by way of defeating enemies.
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Companion Variants are identical to Hero Variants, complete with their own corresponding Themes and Professions, with the one exception that this selected Variant applies to an NPC that acts as your Hero Avatar's guide, mentor, and party member through the early-middle stages of Anathema Annihilation.
The player must select a Companion Variant that is different from their previously selected Hero Variant.
​Once the Companion meets up with your Hero Avatar, they will join your party and provide you with crucial information and support. All experience gained from killing enemies will be split equally between the Hero and the Companion.
Variant: Vagabond
The Vagabond is a versatile Variant that possesses a range of skills that center on survivability and adaptability.
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The corresponding Theme of the Vagabond is "Horror Shooter". As such, the tone of the initial phase of the game is dark, gritty, and scary. For this particular Variant, Showfall has designed an environment based upon an abandoned World War II Soviet gulag, situated in a frigid and forested Siberian taiga.
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The Anathemas that the Vagabond first encounters are the variants known as Lampreys: obligate scavengers with contorted limbs that are highly territorial, live in packs, and have faces that resemble the ShM-41 gas mask.
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The costume of the Vagabond is not flashy, but practical. This Variant is outfitted with a simple white linen shirt, a pair of thick, dark trousers adorned with a number of pockets, a pair of well-worn and faded black leather combat boots, and a quilted gambeson jacket sporting a patch with Showfall's iconic logo and the Hero or Companion's respective color scheme -- green for the Hero, blue for the Companion. Additional equipment includes a belt complete with a combat knife sheath and a holster, a pair of tactical gloves, and a segmented steel cuirass fashioned in the style of old Soviet SN-38 body armor.
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The Vagabond is proficient with one-handed firearms and short-bladed melee combat. Available weapons include an NR-40 combat knife and a Mauser C96 semi-automatic pistol (the "Red Nine"), which can fire ten rounds of 9mm cartridges before needing to be reloaded.
Other skills include: cold resistance, survival ingenuity, foraging, tracking, butchering, and proficiency in reading Russian.
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Variant: Renegade
The Renegade is a burst damage Variant with a focus on mobility, ranged combat, and the use of vehicles.
The corresponding Theme for the Renegade is "Cyberpunk", and Showfall has designed a futuristic, sci-fi dystopian cityscape to serve as the Companion's entry environment.​
The Anathemas that are encountered by the Renegade in the first level are known as the Anthrobionicae: humans that had altered their physical form through the addition and/or replacement of biological tissue by electromechanical parts to such a degree that their humanity had been lost entirely. This augmentation got to the point where the sentient robots of this particular world viewed the Anthrobionicae to be more akin to themselves than the humans who had created them in the first place, who had since been eradicated. The Renegade is the last remaining human in this realm.​
This Variant's costume focuses more on aesthetics than practicality and has the appearance of 'techware': dark cargo pants adorned with many pockets and straps, an oversized jacket/cloak with lighter matte and glowing trimmings, dark combat boots, and a streetware shirt with neon embellishments, all sporting the Hero or Companion's respective color scheme and imagery (green ichor for the Hero, blue spades for the Companion). Additional aesthetic equipment for the Companion includes a blue baseball cap, black tactical gloves, lapis headphones with cyan embellishments and a spade over each ear, and a dark fabric face mask.​
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The Renegade is proficient in long-range firearm combat and the use of land vehicles. Available weapons include an electromagnetic Gaussian coil-rifle, which utilizes kinetic energy to rapidly accelerate magnetic projectiles and can shoot up to 20 'ferro-bullets' before needing to be reloaded.​
This Variant can make use of land vehicles, particularly the electromagnetic motorcycle. This vehicle's wheels function using an electrodynamic suspension system, much like the Japanese “Maglev” (Magnetic Levitation) train. The wheels are suspended horizontally by an electromagnetic field, and can align themselves at almost any point around the front and back fenders while keeping the body of the vehicle in place. The magnetic field extends a certain radius past the wheels themselves, thereby allowing the motorcycle to drive upon any surface, no matter the orientation, without the need for a specifically designed track or rail system.​
Other skills include: electromagnetic vehicle engineering, advanced land vehicle movement, electrodynamics, electromagnetic firearm building and management, marksmanship, and complete fluency in Morse Code.
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