Behind the Scenes of Season X Weapon Skins

Charging into combat with a weapon that truly expresses your personal battle style is key to any discerning Warlord’s kit. Therefore, we'd like to give you a behind-the-scenes peek at how the Conqueror’s Blade weapon skins for Season X: Highlanders came together, from concept to final product. Lovingly crafted by our development and art team, we hope the weapon skins immerse you in the Highlands culture, conflict, and world.

We spoke to Anton Mamihonov, Creative Director at Booming Tech about the journey to bring Scotland to life in Conqueror’s Blade through our weapon skins.

How did you begin conceptualising the Weapon Skins for Season X: Highlanders?

We usually begin with historical research of corresponding historical periods – events, museums, mythology, symbolism - gathering possible visual references. After that, we select the most vivid points and try to use those in the weapons’ designs.

 How much inspiration did you take from real-world history?

One of the challenges we have is that we sometimes must mix styles. For example – how do you make a Japanese Nodachi look Scottish-inspired? We always seek inspiration in history and add a portion of fiction and mythology. For example – the round shield has a blade, then a dirk (dagger) attached to it to represent how it was used historically. It also features a native protection symbol painted in blue. For the Glaive attire we used the historical shape of the Scottish Lochaber axe.

 How do you want players to feel when they wield these weapons?

We think that every season has a different mood, and it projects on the weapons and the way players would feel while carrying those. For Highlanders, we wanted to highlight key points of bravery, love for freedom, and cultural heritage. We hope that players will feel like heroes who fight for the sake of their people.

What materials do you imagine the weapons to be made of this Season?

We focused on wood and iron for this season but some minor elements had more exotic materials such as deer’s horns (Short Bow).

When you run design playtests, what are you looking out for when it comes to how the Weapon Skins look?

Each weapon must have a visual key point that may be adjusted or improved during the creation process and revisions. Ideally, a weapon would have a background story, connection to historical events, or local mythology. If we’re able to create a design that tells a story – that means that we did something right.

Which is your favourite Weapon Skin of this season and why?

I don’t play Maul myself, but I like the Maul skin the most. It has good size proportions and an interesting idea using the Scottish national animal symbol of a unicorn’s head as the key visual element.

The Season X: Highlanders Battle Pass includes Blades which can be exchanged in the Seasonal Store to get your hands on your favourite Scottish-themed weapon skin!