Everyone lock your doors, hide under the bed, and say your prayers—the Butcher is back with a new set of tools and bad intentions.
Last night, Valve released the Feast of Abscession bundle, the official Arcana-quality item set for Pudge, the Butcher. Pudge was the winner of the Arcana Vote at last year’s International, narrowly edging out then-rival Rubick, the Grand Magus by a slim margin of 8,711 votes.
The bundle prominently features the Feast of Abscession itself—which, when equipped, gives Pudge a pair of tendrils in the shape of chains on his back. These tendrils have some seriously menacing scythes attached to each end, and both glow a demonic red color.
In addition, the left half of Pudge’s face as well as the entirety of his belly are covered in what seems to be organic material—which also glows in the same way. This would imply that the item itself is a living, parasitic creature of some sort, or perhaps a symbiote not unlike the one in Spider-Man.
As with all other Arcana items, the Feast of Abscession includes a myriad of special effects that show up when Pudge uses his abilities. Meat Hook, for example, now has a running counter of how many hooks the player has hit consecutively, which pops up every time the ability lands. Pudge himself has additional voice lines for when the streak grows, adding further to the excitement of fishing for enemy heroes.
His ultimate ability Dismember also gets the special effects treatment. Dismember’s visuals change depending on the “body” of the enemy hero that Pudge bites into, whether the hero is made of flesh and blood, has an ethereal, spiritual vessel tying them to the mortal world, or is made up of elements such as ice, water, earth, fire, and the like.
Apart from the most obvious features, though, the Arcana itself adds a whole host of smaller effects, sound bites, and animations—as well as a second, alternate form which is unlocked by winning 12 games against an opposing Rubick. Check out video clips of these features on the Feast of Abscession web page.
