The first of Rivals of Aether's next two DLC characters, Sylvanos, has been announced at Genesis 5. He's the game's third earth elemental character, and the third of four original DLC characters.
His trailer comes with information about the lore surrounding the world of Aether - how the world was once covered in plant life before the Fire Kingdom burned much of it to the ground and the sea merchants harvested the wood to build their ships. The ensuing destruction awoke the heart of the forest - a powerful entity with control over plant life who helped the forest dwellers fight back, but soon became too much for them to hold back, so they made a pact with those who dwell underground, who built a wall around the forest to both protect it from outside forces, and to contain its growth.
As part of the reveal panel at Genesis 5, lead developer Dan Fornace and lead programmer Trevor Youngblood discussed some of the details of how Sylvanos will play and what unique mechanics he'll have.
In terms of his playstyle, he's a zoner with a heavy focus on ground game, with a long range and strong disjoints on his normal attacks, but with poor speed in the air. While he has strong zoning tools, some of his attacks will whiff against opponents who get too close, and he struggles getting out of combos.
His main unique mechanic is a passive ability called Untamed Growth. Any ground he walks on will be covered in grass, which will linger for one second before disappearing, and he suffers less landing lag from landing on ground with grass on it.
His neutral special, Seed Shot, launches a seed either vertically or in a parabolic arc in front of or behind him. If it hits the opponent, it'll bloom into a spinning plant that deals multiple hits, but if it hits the ground, it'll bloom into a plant that creates a permanent patch of grass. It can also be used in place of the third hit of his jab combo to launch at a more horizontal angle.
Sylvanos' side special, Beast Dash, has him temporarily transform into a carnivorous plant, at which point he will lunge forward with a biting attack. If he does this on grass-covered ground, he will continuously rush along the ground, consuming any untamed growth in his path. This version of his side special can also be jump-canceled.
His down special, Plants Rise, has spear-like plants rise from any untamed growth on the ground, launching opponents towards Sylvanos. Any untamed growth used for this will temporarily becomes inactive, but will also stick around for an extra second after the cooldown ends.
For his up special, Burrow, Sylvanos leaps into the air before diving, burrowing into the ground should he come in contact with it. After burrowing, he can move left and right to determine where he'll surface, and either surface with an attack after a set period of time, or instantly surface without attacking with a press of the parry button.
His up special isn't his only recovery tool, as he can also pin himself to walls and platforms with his back-air, which can be angled up or down.
Sylvanos will be released sometime in the coming months alongside the game's fourth original character, whose silhouette can be seen at the very end of the reveal trailer.
