Ubisoft notes that they will “keep adding to our cast of Defiants as the game evolves, drawing on a range of characters and abilities from the Clancy universe and beyond.” Abilities, weapon customisation and skins in XDefiantĮach faction will have its own set of passive traits, ‘ultra’ abilities, and “the freedom to choose from a number of different abilities” according to producer Kim Weigend. Echelon will be a support-based faction, which will be all about “hiding information from the enemies and giving more information to teammates”. The Cleaners will be a “high DPS assault class”, while The Outcasts will perform in a healing role. The Wolves will be a tank class with higher health than other factions and “abilities that are shield based”. Producer Kim Weigend has stated that the factions bring class-based gameplay. Finally, Echelon is a group from the Splinter Cell series. The Cleaners and The Outcasts are from The Division, while The Wolves are from Ghost Recon. These four factions will be familiar to many fans of the Tom Clancy franchise. Players will be able to choose from four different factions – the Cleaners, Wolves, Outcasts, and Echelon – at launch.
What factions will be available at launch? In the longer stream available below, a range of developers from Ubisoft San Francisco touch on their plans for the game and share what players can expect, with executive producer Mark Rubin and creative director Jason Schroeder describing the game as “fast-paced firefights meets punk-rock mosh pits”. The trailer showcases crossovers with other Tom Clancy games, including factions from The Division, Splinter Cell and Ghost Recon. The first trailer for Tom Clancy’s XDefiant was launched on July 19, giving players a first look at what the game will involve.