Alani, an Eldrid "warrior-monk healer", will be available for free to all Battleborn players May 31 at 9 p.m. PDT or June 1 12 a.m. EDT. For those who'd purchased the Digital Deluxe of Season Pass, they'll be granted access May 24. Those who participated in the PS4 open beta will also be given early access.
"A member of the Eldrid faction who was raised as a healer, but forced to be a warrior, Alani is all that remains of her order after Rendain's Jennerit Imperium stole the oceans from her world," Gearbox's description reads. "As a warrior from a planet with vast seas, Alani's attacks and abilities revolve around her power to control water to dish out pain, or heal her fellow Battleborn."
Alani will differ from other characters in Battleborn in another way: she will have to be purchased with in-game currency, 47,500 credits to be exact. There is another way, however, and it involves a Gearbox's new "hero keys." Each new character will cost in-game credits or 1 hero key. Additionally, each new character will come with a key for Digital Deluxe/Season Pass holders. These keys can be used to unlock any character in the game, not just the DLC characters.
If a player chooses to use one of these keys, they can be regained later by meeting normal unlock requisites. Again, those who played the PS4 beta will be given a key as well as early access to Alani. Even more, those who played the beta and purchased the Digital Deluxe/Season Pass will gain an additional hero key. Nice.
Gearbox has said that this is the first of "many free updates." They've also said that there are four more free characters coming, along with paid DLC to include story missions, new skins, and taunts. The image above teases silhouettes of these other new characters, although who they could be and what they can bring to the table is anybody's guess.
