Get the details on Quake Champions’ playable characters

A new interview with id Software’s creative director Tim Willits revealed key details regarding the new playable classes in its upcoming game Quake Champions.

Quake Champions is the newest multiplayer entry in the long running first-person shooter franchise, which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary.

"One thing that we discovered with Quake," Willits said, "is that everyone plays Quake differently." This concept inspired id Software to have its next game feature different character classes, a mechanic that has been made popular by online shooters like Team Fortress 2 and Overwatch.

The character classes in Quake Champions, aptly called "champions," will each have unique active abilities to fit the styles of different players. Players will have the ability to pick up any weapons from the map, regardless of their champion of choice. Willits highlighted four champions, who also appeared in the game’s recent E3 announcement trailer: Ranger, Visor, Nyx and Scale Bearer.

Ranger

Ranger, AKA QuakeGuy, was the playable character in the very first Quake. He was originally voiced by Trent Reznor of industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, which composed the game’s ambient soundtrack, but it’s unknown if Reznor will return for Quake Champions.

Ranger’s active ability is called "Dire Orb," which, when thrown, allows him to teleport to the orb’s point in space. This pays homage to Quake’s final boss fight in which the player had to kill the boss through a telefrag, a kill caused by teleporting to an enemy’s exact location.

Visor

First appearing as a playable character in Quake 3: Arena, Visor will have the ability of "Piercing Sight," which allows him to see enemies through walls and other barriers.

Nyx

Nyx is a new character appearing in Quake Champions, and Willits’ class of choice. She moves at a faster pace than the other champions and can phase to nearby locations, becoming temporarily invincible.

Scale Bearer

Another newcomer to the franchise, Scale Bearer is Quake Champions’ tank class. He is the largest champion revealed so far and is able to charge and ram into opponents using his "Bull Rush" ability.

You can get a closer look at each of the champions’ abilities in the announcement trailer below. Quake Champions has no release date as of now, but is planned to be exclusive to Windows PC.