As we continue toward Wyrd Street’s launch later this year, it’s time to take a look at another of the game’s Iconic Characters. This time, we call upon the dark power of Bing Li, the Heretic.

Bing Li was an outcast in her homeland of Tiahn. In a nation where no disobedience is allowed, she questioned the imperialistic expansion of the Divine Legion. In a land that venerates the light of the Celestial Powers, she was drawn to the darkness.

When the law caught up with her, she fled Tiahn, and after many hard struggles, she found a home of sorts in Wyrd Street, in the city of Morhold. She became a student of the Bala mystic Ten Obsidian Vulture, and found a life partner in the Plainsfolk Scoundrel Burning Grin.

Even in egalitarian Morhold, those who wield the dark powers Li has mastered are viewed with suspicion, but those who know her know that she is a loyal friend and a tireless crusader against injustice. A Heretic she may be, but that doesn’t mean she can’t also be a hero.

The Fortune Teller was my first attempt at a “dark” magic class for Wyrd Street, but it ended up leaning more into chance manipulation and didn’t entirely fulfill the niche of dark caster. Hence, the Heretic became the game’s true master of the dark arts, inspired by the resurrection cults I’d already written into the lore.

While the flavour of Heretic is all blood magic and necromancy, mechanically they actually play a bit closer to a bard, or a “skill monkey” rogue build. Of all Wyrd Street’s classes, they have the most emphasis on utility and non-combat skills.

As outcasts spent hiding their true nature, Heretics have a natural talent for stealth and infiltration. Rather than relying on skill checks only for such things, they have a variety of magical abilities to let them navigate society and slip through the shadows. Charm of the Lock can be used to open locked doors without a skill check, while abilities like Read the Body and Steer the Heart let them master social encounters by subtly tapping into the biology of people around them.

But just because they’re masters of non-combat skills doesn’t mean Heretics can’t hold their own in a fight. With the power to both generate focus at the cost of health and regain health by defeating enemies, they have some of the best longevity of any class, and their blood magic provides access to a variety of crippling Afflictions.

Drawing from the dark powers of the resurrection cults, the Heretics can enhance the powers of their own bloodline, increasing their core attributes beyond what is possible for other classes, and even gaining a second racial ability.

Like any good necromancer, the Heretic can also call upon unliving minions to do their bidding. Their Blood Dolls are golems of dead flesh constructed to resemble living humans and thus go unnoticed in the busy city streets. Blood Dolls are individually weak, but Heretics can summon an increasingly large number of them as they level up, and if one is slain, it only costs a little focus and an action to replace it. Just as your foes think they’re getting the upper hand, your Blood Dolls will rise again.

Blood Dolls can also be upgraded by several higher level abilities. Plaguebringers buffs their attacks and turns the damage type to poison, while Shadow Puppet grants one of your Dolls a deadly ranged attack.

The emphasis on stealth applies to Blood Dolls as well. The Dress Up Dolls ability allows you to change the appearance of your Dolls, potentially letting them impersonate specific individuals.

Of course, if you’re not a fan of minions, it is still possible to eschew Blood Dolls and focus more strongly on your other abilities.

Finally, Heretics are a class that can benefit strongly from synergy with other party members. Their Exsanguinate ability deals increased damage based on the number of Bleeding stacks on the target, and while Heretics can apply Bleeding themselves, Exsanguinate becomes an even more powerful option if your party members can help you stack the Affliction. Meanwhile their max level ability Possession allows you to take control of a Stunned enemy… but Heretics themselves have no Stun abilities, so you’ll need to coordinate with your allies if you want to choose that ability.

Bing Li will stop at nothing to protect the downtrodden from those who would oppress them, and with the terrifying powers of the Heretic at her disposal, the bullies and tyrants of the world have much to fear.