Io ▶️ is a Support Champion in Paladins, added on July 17th, 2019.
Lore[ | ]
This is Io's official bio currently found in her champion page in-game.
For eons, the moon goddess Io watched over the Realm. Then, disaster struck: the Darkness smothered the goddess's light and shattered the moon that hung above the lands.
Pieces of the moon fell to the Shattered Desert, where Io's faithful watched over them. They kept vigil for the shattered goddess, praying that one day she would return to guide them.
As the Magistrate marched on the desert sands, intending to claim the power of the moon shards in their vicious struggle with the Resistance, that day finally came. At the urging of her celestial contemporary, Jenos, Io revealed her true form to fight for her people and stand against those who would threaten their survival.
Now, in a human form, she is weak but reborn. She has a lot to learn as she protects all those who look to her for hope.
This is an unofficial version of Io's bio intended to more clearly present all currently known information regarding her. Sources can be found here.
Io watched over the Realm for eons, waiting, dreaming of the day she could finally meet those who lived within. Io's dream would come true, but not in the way she'd hoped, for Yagorath would unexpectedly collide with the moon, shattering it to pieces, which shattered Io herself, splitting her into multiple entities and severely weakening her. Some of these pieces fell into the Realm itself, and on these shards, came Io, along with the Darkness that had broken her. Io was fragmented, unable to sustain her true form, yet despite that, her followers watched over and cared for the pieces of her that had fallen, along with guarding the pieces which contained Yagorath, all while Io herself hid away in the shadows for centuries, Luna, a piece of Io split from her original form, being the only part of her that accompanied the followers through this hard time.
Io continued to hide, until the home of her followers became the conflict of yet another battle between the Magistrate and Resistance. Io didn't wish to fight, but also didn't want to see her people hurt. Eventually, her contemporary, Jenos, who'd been participating in the battle himself, urged her to join the fight as well. And so, after centuries of hiding, Io created a new form for herself and appeared once more to fight for her people. She'd successfully chase the Magistrate away after severely injuring Corvus, while later assisting Atlas in one of his battles against Yagorath.
This was Io's in-game bio prior to the The Damned Frontier update. It's no longer considered canon.
For eons, the moon goddess Io watched over the Realm. But then disaster struck: The Darkness smothered the goddess's light, and shattered the moon that hangs above our battlefields.
Pieces of the moon fell to the Shattered Desert, where Io's faithful watched over them. They kept vigil for the shattered goddess, praying that one day she would return.
That day finally came as the Magistrate marched on the moon shards, determined to harness their power in the ongoing war against the Resistance. At the urging of her celestial friend Jenos, Io revealed her true form to fight for her people and stand against the Magistrate.
Summary[ | ]
Io is a support character who can hold their own for a decent amount of time. Their Moonlight can rapidly heal any teammate and also mitigate some damage with the Goddess' Blessing talent, and with the Life Link talent, they also can provide AOE heals with the Guardian Spirit ability. Their movement ability, Lunar Leap, can both get them out of difficult situations and make them a harder target to hit while leaping. However, if they can't escape a flanker, Io can also rely on Luna's stun to win fights. Io's Ultimate Ability, Begone, allows Io to push enemies along the travel path of a large projectile which can potentially save Io's or another allies life.
Skills[ | ]
Talents[ | ]
Cards[ | ]
This is a list with all cards available to Io:
Name | Image | Description | Cooldown | Category |
---|---|---|---|---|
Broken Deity | Increase Luna's deploy range by {20|20}%. | Guardian Spirit | ||
Celestial Body | Increase your maximum Health by {50|50}. | Armor / Weapon | ||
Crescent | Reset the Cooldown of Lunar Leap after dropping to or below {15|15}% Health. | 15 | Lunar Leap | |
Eternal Reliquary | Lunar Leap restores {2|2} Ammo. | Lunar Leap | ||
Feral Strength | Increase Luna's Health by {225|225}. | Guardian Spirit | ||
Full Moon | Gain a {100|100}-Health Shield for 3s after activating Lunar Leap. | Lunar Leap | ||
Half Moon | Reduce the Cooldown of Lunar Leap by {0.8|0.8}s. | Lunar Leap | ||
Lunar Connection | Reduce the Cooldown of Luna's initial deploy by {1.2|1.2}s. | Guardian Spirit | ||
Moonlight Garden | Generate {2|2}% Moonlight for each enemy hit with Light Bow. | Armor / Weapon | ||
Moonwalk | Increase your Moonlight's capacity by {8|8}%. | Armor / Weapon | ||
Protectors | Regenerate {2|2}% Moonlight every 1s while within 30 units of Luna and not using Moonlight. | Guardian Spirit | ||
Restored Faith | Heal for {10|10} every time you Heal an ally with Moonlight. | Moonlight | ||
Sanctum of Faith | Regenerate {1|1}% Moonlight every 1s when not using Moonlight. | Moonlight | ||
Sky Walker | Lower your gravity and increase your air control by {50|10}% while firing your Light Bow. | Armor / Weapon | ||
Spirit Arrows | Reduce the Cooldown of Luna's redeploy by {0.1|0.1}s after Healing with Moonlight. | Moonlight | ||
Swift Arrows | Increase allies' Movement Speed by {6|6}% while they are being Healed by Moonlight. | Moonlight |
- Moonwalk doesn't change the regeneration time of Moonlight, but does modify the ammount gained from Protectors, Moonlight Garden, and Sanctum of Faith.
Pre-Built Loadouts[ | ]
All of the following cards are in Io's pre-built loadouts:
Cosmetic Items[ | ]
These are the Cosmetic Items currently available for Io:
Champion Skin Collections[ | ]
Default | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Icons | Character Model | |||
|
||||
Weapon | Default Light Bow | |||
Rarity | Common | |||
Availability | Standard | |||
Release | July 17, 2019 | |||
Cost | Free | |||
Voicelines | Io voice lines | |||
Voice Pack Preview | ▶️ • ▶️ • ▶️ | |||
Cost | Free | |||
Voicelines | Io voice lines | |||
Voice Pack Preview | ▶️ • ▶️ • ▶️ | |||
Character Model | ||||
Feral | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Icons | Character Model | |||
|
||||
Weapon | Feral Light Bow | |||
Rarity | Uncommon | |||
Availability | Standard | |||
Release | July 17, 2019 | |||
Cost | 60,000 • 300 • • • Bounty Store • Season Pass 2019 - 2020 (Feral Io Collection) | |||
Voicelines | Io voice lines | |||
Voice Pack Preview | ▶️ • ▶️ • ▶️ | |||
Cost | 60,000 • 300 • • • Bounty Store • Season Pass 2019 - 2020 (Feral Io Collection) | |||
Voicelines | Io voice lines | |||
Voice Pack Preview | ▶️ • ▶️ • ▶️ | |||
Character Model | ||||
Starfall | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Icons | Character Model | |||
|
||||
Weapon | Starfall Light Bow | |||
Rarity | Rare | |||
Availability | Limited | |||
Release | July 17, 2019 | |||
Cost | Season Pass 2019 - 2020 (Starfall Io Collection) | |||
Voicelines | Io voice lines | |||
Voice Pack Preview | ▶️ • ▶️ • ▶️ | |||
Cost | Season Pass 2019 - 2020 (Starfall Io Collection) | |||
Voicelines | Io voice lines | |||
Voice Pack Preview | ▶️ • ▶️ • ▶️ | |||
Character Model | ||||
Pirate's Treasure | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Icons | Character Model | |||
|
||||
Weapon | Pirate's Bladed Bow | |||
Rarity | Epic | |||
Availability | Exclusive | |||
Release | September 11, 2019 | |||
Cost | • • • • Pirate's Treasure Battle Pass Level 1 (Pirate's Treasure Io Collection) | |||
Voicelines | Pirate's Treasure Io voice lines | |||
Voice Pack Preview | ▶️ • ▶️ • ▶️ | |||
Cost | • • • • Pirate's Treasure Battle Pass Level 1 (Pirate's Treasure Io Collection) | |||
Voicelines | Pirate's Treasure Io voice lines | |||
Voice Pack Preview | ▶️ • ▶️ • ▶️ | |||
Character Model | ||||
Eight Oceans | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Icons | Character Model | |||
|
||||
Weapon | Oceans' Bladed Bow | |||
Rarity | Epic | |||
Availability | Limited | |||
Release | September 11, 2019 | |||
Cost | Pirate's Treasure Battle Pass Level 50 (Eight Oceans Io Collection) | |||
Voicelines | Pirate's Treasure Io voice lines | |||
Voice Pack Preview | ▶️ • ▶️ • ▶️ | |||
Cost | Pirate's Treasure Battle Pass Level 50 (Eight Oceans Io Collection) | |||
Voicelines | Pirate's Treasure Io voice lines | |||
Voice Pack Preview | ▶️ • ▶️ • ▶️ | |||
Character Model | ||||
Stellar Protector (Default) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Icons | Character Model | |||
|
||||
Weapon | Astral Bow | |||
Rarity | Epic | |||
Availability | Exclusive | |||
Release | July 29th, 2020 | |||
Cost | • • • • Radiant Stars Battle Pass Level 1 (Stellar Protector Io Collection) | |||
Voicelines | Stellar Protector Io voice lines | |||
Voice Pack Preview | ▶️ • ▶️ • ▶️ | |||
Cost | • • • • Radiant Stars Battle Pass Level 1 (Stellar Protector Io Collection) | |||
Voicelines | Stellar Protector Io voice lines | |||
Voice Pack Preview | ▶️ • ▶️ • ▶️ | |||
Character Model | ||||
Stellar Protector (Magenta) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Icons | Character Model | |||
|
||||
Weapon | Astral Bow | |||
Rarity | Epic | |||
Availability | Exclusive | |||
Release | July 29th, 2020 | |||
Cost | Radiant Stars Battle Pass Level 2 (Stellar Protector Io Collection) | |||
Voicelines | Stellar Protector Io voice lines | |||
Voice Pack Preview | ▶️ • ▶️ • ▶️ | |||
Cost | Radiant Stars Battle Pass Level 2 (Stellar Protector Io Collection) | |||
Voicelines | Stellar Protector Io voice lines | |||
Voice Pack Preview | ▶️ • ▶️ • ▶️ | |||
Character Model | ||||
Stellar Protector (Teal) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Icons | Character Model | |||
|
||||
Weapon | Astral Bow | |||
Rarity | Epic | |||
Availability | Exclusive | |||
Release | July 29th, 2020 | |||
Cost | Radiant Stars Battle Pass Level 16 (Stellar Protector Io Collection) | |||
Voicelines | Stellar Protector Io voice lines | |||
Voice Pack Preview | ▶️ • ▶️ • ▶️ | |||
Cost | Radiant Stars Battle Pass Level 16 (Stellar Protector Io Collection) | |||
Voicelines | Stellar Protector Io voice lines | |||
Voice Pack Preview | ▶️ • ▶️ • ▶️ | |||
Character Model | ||||
Stellar Protector (Green) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Icons | Character Model | |||
|
||||
Weapon | Astral Bow | |||
Rarity | Epic | |||
Availability | Exclusive | |||
Release | July 29th, 2020 | |||
Cost | Radiant Stars Battle Pass Level 57 (Stellar Protector Io Collection) | |||
Voicelines | Stellar Protector Io voice lines | |||
Voice Pack Preview | ▶️ • ▶️ • ▶️ | |||
Cost | Radiant Stars Battle Pass Level 57 (Stellar Protector Io Collection) | |||
Voicelines | Stellar Protector Io voice lines | |||
Voice Pack Preview | ▶️ • ▶️ • ▶️ | |||
Character Model | ||||
Stellar Protector (Red) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Icons | Character Model | |||
|
||||
Weapon | Astral Bow | |||
Rarity | Epic | |||
Availability | Exclusive | |||
Release | July 29th, 2020 | |||
Cost | Radiant Stars Battle Pass Level 75 (Stellar Protector Io Collection) | |||
Voicelines | Stellar Protector Io voice lines | |||
Voice Pack Preview | ▶️ • ▶️ • ▶️ | |||
Cost | Radiant Stars Battle Pass Level 75 (Stellar Protector Io Collection) | |||
Voicelines | Stellar Protector Io voice lines | |||
Voice Pack Preview | ▶️ • ▶️ • ▶️ | |||
Character Model | ||||
Stellar Protector (Yellow) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Icons | Character Model | |||
|
||||
Weapon | Astral Bow | |||
Rarity | Epic | |||
Availability | Exclusive | |||
Release | July 29th, 2020 | |||
Cost | Radiant Stars Battle Pass Level 94 (Stellar Protector Io Collection) | |||
Voicelines | Stellar Protector Io voice lines | |||
Voice Pack Preview | ▶️ • ▶️ • ▶️ | |||
Cost | Radiant Stars Battle Pass Level 94 (Stellar Protector Io Collection) | |||
Voicelines | Stellar Protector Io voice lines | |||
Voice Pack Preview | ▶️ • ▶️ • ▶️ | |||
Character Model | ||||
Stellar Protector (Black) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Icons | Character Model | |||
|
||||
Weapon | Astral Bow | |||
Rarity | Epic | |||
Availability | Exclusive | |||
Release | July 29th, 2020 | |||
Cost | Radiant Stars Battle Pass Level 110 (Stellar Protector Io Collection) | |||
Voicelines | Stellar Protector Io voice lines | |||
Voice Pack Preview | ▶️ • ▶️ • ▶️ | |||
Cost | Radiant Stars Battle Pass Level 110 (Stellar Protector Io Collection) | |||
Voicelines | Stellar Protector Io voice lines | |||
Voice Pack Preview | ▶️ • ▶️ • ▶️ | |||
Character Model | ||||
Stellar Protector (Inverted) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Icons | Character Model | |||
|
||||
Weapon | Astral Bow | |||
Rarity | Epic | |||
Availability | Exclusive | |||
Release | July 29th, 2020 | |||
Cost | Radiant Stars Battle Pass Level 117 (Stellar Protector Io Collection) | |||
Voicelines | Stellar Protector Io voice lines | |||
Voice Pack Preview | ▶️ • ▶️ • ▶️ | |||
Cost | Radiant Stars Battle Pass Level 117 (Stellar Protector Io Collection) | |||
Voicelines | Stellar Protector Io voice lines | |||
Voice Pack Preview | ▶️ • ▶️ • ▶️ | |||
Character Model | ||||
Salt | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Icons | Character Model | |||
|
||||
Weapon | Waveform | |||
Rarity | Epic | |||
Availability | Exclusive | |||
Release | November 10, 2021 | |||
Cost | 800 • • • Bounty Store (Salt Io Collection) | |||
Voicelines | Salt Io voice lines | |||
Voice Pack Preview | ▶️ • ▶️ • ▶️ | |||
Cost | 800 • • • Bounty Store (Salt Io Collection) | |||
Voicelines | Salt Io voice lines | |||
Voice Pack Preview | ▶️ • ▶️ • ▶️ | |||
Character Model | ||||
Corrupted | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Icons | Character Model | |||
|
||||
Weapon | Corrupted Dark Bow | |||
Rarity | Epic | |||
Availability | Exclusive | |||
Release | May 11, 2022 | |||
Cost | Lost Future Event Pass Level 7 (Corrupted Io Collection) | |||
Voicelines | Corrupted Io voice lines | |||
Voice Pack Preview | ▶️ • ▶️ • ▶️ | |||
Cost | Lost Future Event Pass Level 7 (Corrupted Io Collection) | |||
Voicelines | Corrupted Io voice lines | |||
Voice Pack Preview | ▶️ • ▶️ • ▶️ | |||
Character Model | ||||
Frozen Moon | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Icons | Character Model | |||
|
||||
Weapon | Frozen Dark Bow | |||
Rarity | Epic | |||
Availability | Exclusive | |||
Release | May 11, 2022 | |||
Cost | Lost Future Event Pass Level 24 (Frozen Moon Io Collection) | |||
Voicelines | Corrupted Io voice lines | |||
Voice Pack Preview | ▶️ • ▶️ • ▶️ | |||
Cost | Lost Future Event Pass Level 24 (Frozen Moon Io Collection) | |||
Voicelines | Corrupted Io voice lines | |||
Voice Pack Preview | ▶️ • ▶️ • ▶️ | |||
Character Model | ||||
Golden | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Icons | Character Model | |||
|
||||
Weapon | Golden Light Bow | |||
Rarity | Legendary | |||
Availability | Mastery | |||
Release | July 17, 2019 | |||
Cost | Rewarded at Mastery Level 50 (Golden Io Collection) | |||
Voicelines | Io voice lines | |||
Voice Pack Preview | ▶️ • ▶️ • ▶️ | |||
Cost | Rewarded at Mastery Level 50 (Golden Io Collection) | |||
Voicelines | Io voice lines | |||
Voice Pack Preview | ▶️ • ▶️ • ▶️ | |||
Character Model | ||||
Emotes[ | ]
Default | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Icon | Character Model | |||
|
||||
Rarity | Common | |||
Availability | Standard | |||
Release | July 17, 2019 | |||
Cost | Free | |||
Cost | Free | |||
Character Model | ||||
|
Yawn | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Icon | Character Model | |||
|
||||
Rarity | Rare | |||
Availability | Exclusive | |||
Release | July 17, 2019 | |||
Cost | Season Pass 2019 - 2020 | |||
Cost | Season Pass 2019 - 2020 | |||
Character Model | ||||
|
Radiant Joy | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Icon | Character Model | |||
|
||||
Rarity | Rare | |||
Availability | Exclusive | |||
Release | July 29th, 2020 | |||
Cost | • Radiant Stars Battle Pass Level 2 (Endless Emote) | |||
Cost | • Radiant Stars Battle Pass Level 2 (Endless Emote) | |||
Character Model | ||||
|
MVP Poses[ | ]
Default | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Icon | Character Model | |||
|
||||
Rarity | Common | |||
Availability | Standard | |||
Release | July 17th, 2019 | |||
Cost | Free | |||
Cost | Free | |||
Character Model | ||||
Cunning | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Icon | Character Model | |||
|
||||
Rarity | Rare | |||
Availability | Exclusive | |||
Release | July 17th, 2019 | |||
Cost | Season Pass 2019 - 2020 | |||
Cost | Season Pass 2019 - 2020 | |||
Character Model | ||||
Star Io | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Icon | Character Model | |||
|
||||
Rarity | Rare | |||
Availability | Exclusive | |||
Release | July 29th, 2020 | |||
Cost | • Radiant Stars Battle Pass Level 23 | |||
Cost | • Radiant Stars Battle Pass Level 23 | |||
Character Model | ||||
Cuddles | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Icon | Character Model | |||
|
||||
Rarity | Epic | |||
Availability | Exclusive | |||
Release | May 26th, 2021 | |||
Cost | Beach Bash Event Pass Level 10 | |||
Cost | Beach Bash Event Pass Level 10 | |||
Character Model | ||||
Trivia[ | ]
Lore
- Originally, Io resembled Luna with two tails and no collar,[4][5] but after the moon shattered she was no longer able to sustain her form or completely be herself.[6] Though when Bazaar eventually came under attack, Io created a new different form for herself,[7] with this form being how her followers had envisioned her looking like.[8]
- Despite this two tailed no collar Luna being Io's true form, Luna appears as she does in-game (only one tail and wearing a collar) in Io's teaser trailer prior to the moon being shattered.
- If Io's followers didn't exist, she may have instead based her new form on whatever the one who summoned her imagines her looking like.[9]
- This naturally means that Io and Luna used to be a singular entity prior to becoming shattered, which is supported by numerous developers statements.[10][11][12][13][14]
- Io and Luna are not currently capable of fusing back together, even for a brief moment.[15]
- The reason Io sounds as though she's always about to stutter is a result of the moon being shattered.[16]
- Even centuries later, the shattering still affects Io, as the reason she didn't help Vora at all or come down to Bazaar until requested to by Jenos is due to her being incomplete and not able to do everything all the time.[17]
- Io returned to the Realm during the summer.[18]
- It's assumed Io (and other characters not shown that are involved in the conflict) was present in Yagorath's trailer and assisted in fighting, but wasn't shown due to not being able to show every single character, instead focusing on including the ones they felt would say the most by their presence.[19]
- Io's story arc is about finding and accepting herself after she was split apart into her current incomplete form.[20]
- Io definitely noticed when Jenos originally ascended.[21]
- Yagorath implies (▶️) that Io isn't the moon itself, but merely inhabits it. It's unknown if how true this is.
- If Io had the chance, she'd date the interpretation of Ra from Hi-Rez's other title, Smite.[22]
- Based on a dev statement revealing Viktor to be around 5'9 or 175cm tall and comparing it to model sizes in-game and out of game, it was discovered that Io would be around 4'6 or 140cm tall.
- Though this calculation presents Io as shorter than Jenos (who was found to be around 5'1 or 155cm), it's been said that Io's supposed to be a little taller than Jenos.[23]
Cameos
Io appears in the following content:
- Cards
- Desperation - Raum Card*
- False Idol - Vora Card*
- New Purpose - Vora Card
- Out Of Time - Yagorath Card
- Sprays
- Other
- Bazaar*
- Cottontail Seris Splash Art*
- Cuddly Yagorath Splash Art*
- Cuddly Yagorath Skin*
- Let's Play! - Loading Frame
- Hi-Rez Expo 2019 Pin*
- Girl Squad! - Merchandise Design
- Heal the World - Merchandise Design
- Healer Ladies - Merchandise Design
- Io & Luna - Merchandise Design
- :hrx_luna: - Steam Emoticon*
Notable Characters that appear in Io's own content includes:
- Cinematics and Trailers
- Corvus, Terminus, Atlas, Imani, Jenos, and Valera - Io's Teaser Trailer*
- Cards
- Corvus - Protectors*
References
- Io shares her name of one of Jupiter's moons.
- Luna, part of Io and her fox representative, shares her name with a figure in ancient Roman religion and myth, the divine embodiment of the moon.
- Io and Luna took inspiration from both Kitsune mythology and Triple Goddess mythology.[24]
- One of Io's jokes "Don't touch the t-tail it takes an eternity to get it looking this good." (▶️) references a similar joke of Jenos' "Don't touch the hair! It takes centuries to get it looking this good." (▶️).
- In one line (▶️), Io hums the song Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.
- The line "Even the smallest being can alter the course of the future." (▶️) is a reference to a line from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
- Though Io's card Sky Walker is reminiscent of a popular Jojo meme, when asked, it was said this was unintentional.[25]
Promotion
- Prior to Io's reveal, Paladins artist Thunderbrush would change his Twitter profile picture to this image on June 4th, 2019.
- Io's standard teasers can be seen here:
- (Teaser 1) "Come closer, child. It’s time you learned the story of the Shattered Moon."
- (Teaser 2) "For eons, she watched us. Loved us. And we basked in the glow of our unbroken Io."
- (Teaser 3) "But then disaster struck. And the Darkness smothered our goddess's light."
- (Teaser 4) "In the centuries since the shattering, our goddess has hidden in shadows. Her fox our constant companion through her long, long absence."
- (Teaser 5) "We’ve honored our goddess. Protected the pieces of her that fell here. But now, they’ve come for her. The Magistrate."
- (Teaser 6) "We pray, child, that the Shattered Goddess still watches over us. We have faith that she will return. That Io will be whole, once again."
Concepts
- Io's very first concept shows her being more nature-themed and being accompanied by a large bear rather than a fox companion.[26]
- Io had several further concept designs following this, notably featuring her wielding a standard bow with regular arrows.[27]
- In concepts for Bazaar, one sketch showed the center statue of Io in a somewhat more dynamic pose, as well as wielding a more standard bow, lining up with her early concepts.[28]
- One of the original concepts for Io's ultimate would've featured her summoning a moon that would've slowed and stunned players.[29]
- Io's healing was also originally meant to function as a sort of "seeking projectile".[31]
- The animation for Io's healing was originally far more cluttered and had to be toned back.[32]
- It was briefly considered giving Io a talent that allowed Luna to spawn or redeploy herself, and by briefly considered, that means it was shot down immediately upon being mentioned.[33]
- Originally, Io's true form was meant to be a human form with two tails, but due to feeling this was too confusing to portray via card art, it was ultimately changed for a two tailed fox.[34]
- Io was initially intended to be Korean, but her design changed.[35]
- The woman seen on some of Io's cards such Eternal Reliquary, Restored Faith, and Sanctum of Faith was originally going to wear red clothing, but it was changed due to concerns people would mistake her for Lian.[36]
- Concepts for some of Io's cards show a few minor differences, such as Sanctum of Faith originally featuring many additional followers in the background.[38]
- Concept art for another card shows Io standing triumphantly as the characters from Eternal Reliquary and Sanctum of Faith hug Luna. This was meant to show the end of the battle in Bazaar. The moon is notably not shattered, though it's likely this is only due to being a rough sketch composed of simple shapes.[39][40]
- Unused background art for another card can be seen here.[41]
Other
- Including recolors, Io is tied with Imani for having received the most skins from Battle Passes (10 in total), though most of these skins consist of recolors from the Radiant Stars Battle Pass.
- Io's internal name prior to release was "Druid".[42]
- The icon for Io's Sacrifice talent uses the same art as her Broken Deity card.
- The icon for the talent Life Link uses the same art as the icon for Io's ability Guardian Spirit when Luna hasn't been summoned.
- The icon for the talent Goddess' Blessing uses the same art as the icon for Io's ability Moonlight.
- The card Full Moon is featured as the background of Vora's card Unified in Purpose.
- For one of Vora's teasers, an alternate version of the art featured in the card Sanctum of Faith was used, which removed the two characters present, as well as the faint orange light.
- Io's sound effects incorporate the usage of an Asian string instrument, though it's unknown which.[43]
- The animalistic aspects of Io's design were meant to show Io as a druid-style character that would represent all creatures and life in the Realm. [44]
- Io originally used Cassie's animations for testing.[45]
- In the 3rd Anniversary Spray Io lacks her pigtails and also has much shorter hair in general. The reason for this was to better fit the composition.[46]
- Both an individual carrying a barrel (dubbed "Barrel Chad" by the community)[47], as well as a scene of Jenos looking at his hands from Io's teaser trailer were made into sprays during the Community Battle Pass; these sprays being the Peak Peformance and Interstellar Crisis sprays respectively.
- The Cuddles MVP pose is based on a piece of art created for National Hugging Day.[48]
Champion Skins
- Feral
- Feral is a term used to describe animals that live in the wild, but descended from domesticated species.
- This skin lacking Io's headpiece could be a reference to her now appearing ever so slightly wilder.
- Starfall
- This skin may be named after shooting stars, a type of meteor that burns in the atmosphere, creating a trail in the sky.
- Pirate's Treasure / Eight Oceans
- Several lines reference Davy Jones' locker, which is a metaphor used to describe death on the sea.
- The Eight Oceans skin is likely a reference to the eight seas mentioned in one of Dredge's Top Play lines (▶️), as is one of the skins' own lines: (▶️).
- The Eight Oceans skin's color scheme is a reference to ghost ships.
- During a brief period when the official Paladins Twitter account was put under the control of Pirate's Treasure Io, it was revealed that Dredge and Remix Pepper are both part of Pirate's Treasure Io's crew.[49][50] Dredge himself also implied this during another period when he was in charge of the account.[51]
- The Pirate's Treasure skin appears in the Captain Io spray.
- Pirate Luna appears in the Kitsune avatar.
- This avatar also appears as a purchasable animated avatar on Steam.
- Pirate Luna also appears in the First Mate Luna spray.
- These skins share their theme with Swashbuckler Barik, Dutchman Makoa, Pirate's Treasure Ruckus, Eight Oceans Ruckus, Pirate's Treasure Maeve, and Eight Oceans Maeve.
- Stellar Protector
- On top of being known as the "Star Sisters", the group this skin is part of alongside most of the other Stellar skins, is known as the "Radiant Stars". This skin in particular is also mentioned to be a defender of the heavens.[52]
- These skins' are based on Magical Girl anime, particularly Sailor Moon.
- These skins' personality is a reference to a stereotypical anime protagonist, as a result, also making many references to the power of friendship
- The joke "The enemy captured the objective during my transformation sequence last game! Not one of my finest moments..." (▶️) is a reference to how magical girl transformation sequences often go on for far too long.
- The joke "Is it 7 AM already? Oh no, I'm already late for school and it's just my first day!" (▶️) is a reference to a common trope in anime, where the main character is late for school on their first day.
- The line "They're on our fluffy tails!" (▶️) may be a reference to the anime The Helpful Fox Senko-san, which features a kitsune with a notably fluffy tail.
- These skins' spawn chatter line with Koga "Haven't I seen you somewhere before? Reading a uh... *clears throat* book of sorts?" (▶️) references male anime characters shamelessly reading questionable magazines, a specific example being Kakashi from the Naruto series, who Koga resembles.
- The line "Heal me, senpai!" (▶️) is a reference to a common term used in anime to describe an upperclassman.
- The line "Eh..." (▶️) is possibly a reference to Asuka from Neon Genesis Evangelion, which featured her saying this line very frequently.
- One of these skins' jokes is a reference to a popular phrase amongst the "weeb" culture; "Your waifu is trash!" (▶️).
- Waifu refers to a fictional character an anime fan considers a wife. Husbando, an alternative, means husband.
- Concept art for these skins show that Mew Mew was originally going to be slimmer.[53]
- The default Stellar Protector skin appears in the Spirit and Starry-Eyed avatars.
- The default Stellar Protector skin also appears in the Cheerful! spray.
- These skins share their theme with Stellar Sorceress Imani, Stellar Sentinel Inara, Stellar Mender Seris, Stellar Witch Lillith, Gentleman Jenos, and Galactic Conqueror Vora.
- Salt
- This skin is of Pepper's best friend, Salt.[54]
- Salt is one of the few skins that is considered an "Echo Skin".[55]
- This skin came incredibly close to being its own individual champion, but was eventually either replaced or changed into VII.[56][57]
- Salt originally had a different appearance as a champion, with her skin design instead seemingly being intended as a separate skin for the character.
- One of the reasons Salt was designed was seemingly due to backlash to Pip's skin, Remix Pepper,[58] though it was also seemingly due to Pepper still being popular despite that.[59]
- This skin appears in the Lovely Io avatar.
- A beach version of this skin also appears in the Sun, Sand, and Salt avatar, prior to this skin's addition.
- This skin shares its theme with Remix Strix, Redux Strix, Remix Seris, Remix Pip, Remix Jenos, Raeve Maeve, and Neon Demon Grohk.
- Corrupted / Frozen Moon
- Vora appears in these skins' splash arts.
- The Corrupted skin appears in the Dark Embrace Io avatar.
- These skins share their theme with Corrupted Atlas and Vile Atlas.
Videos[ | ]
[ | ]
Ability Breakdown[ | ]
Changelog[ | ]
- Talents
- Life Link
- Old effect moved into Guardian Spirit
- Removed Moonlight healing penalty
- New effect: When Io or Luna heals an ally other than each other, they also heal the other at 50% effectiveness
- Old effect moved into Guardian Spirit
- Life Link
- Abilty
- Guardian Spirit
- Now heals allies around Luna for 300/s
- Moonlight
- Now always visible regardless of proximity to target
- Guardian Spirit
- Abilities
- Lunar Leap
- Decreased cooldown from 12s ➞ 10s
- Moonlight
- Increased base passive regeneration by 30%
- Lunar Leap
- Talents
- Life Link
- Increased Healing From 300 ➞ 320.
- Goddess' Blessing
- Now increases Moonlight’s Healing from 135 ➞ 150
- Life Link
- Abilities
- Moonlight
- Reduced Healing from 150 ➞ 135.
- Moonlight
- Bug Fixes
- Fixed an issue where Io's Ultimate, Begone, could push players out of bounds near the Capture Point on Ice Mines.
- Bug Fixes
- Updated Protectors card text to explicitly state that the card does not activate while using Moonlight.
- Bug Fixes
- Updated the Guardian Spirit ability long description to bring it up to date with its balance change.
- Talents
- Life Link
- Increased Healing per second around Luna 200 ➞ 300
- Sacrifice
- Reduced internal cooldown 45s ➞ 30s
- Life Link
- Abilities
- Guardian Spirit
- Luna can no longer Capture objectives points, or push the Siege Cart.
- Reduced Initial Deploy Cooldown 18s ➞ 16s
- Reduced Redeploy Cooldown 8s ➞ 6s
- Increased Luna's Health 3,000 ➞ 4,000
- Guardian Spirit
- Bug Fixes
- Fixed an issue where Luna’s location could desync between clients and the server in specific circumstances.
- Abilities
- Guardian Spirit
- Reduced base Health 4000 ➞ 3000
- Guardian Spirit
- Luna is now able to be Cauterized
- This is something we are still testing and would like to feel confident about before ultimately including this change in this update
- Cards
- Feral Strength
- Increase Luna’s Health by 200|200.
- Increased Health 200|200 ➞ 225|225
- Swift Arrows
- Increase allies’ Movement Speed by 8|8% while they are being Healed by Moonlight.
- Decreased Movement Speed bonus 8|8% ➞ 6|6%
- Feral Strength
- Bug Fixes
- Fixed an issue where Io’s model would sink through horse mounts and into the ground while mounted and not moving.
- Fixed an issue where the base Stellar Protector skin had the incorrect VFX play when using the Radiant Joy Emote compared to other Stellar Protector variants.
- Fixed an issue where Astral Bow variants showed the incorrect 2D art when obtained.
- Fixed an issue where the Star Io MVP Pose was not on the Battle Pass Track.
- Updated Guardian Spirit’s description with the new Health values.
- Abilities
- Cards
- Moonwalk
- Increased Moonlight capacity scaling {6|6}% ➞ {8|8}%
- Moonwalk
- Bug Fixes
- Fixed an issue where the Goddess’ Blessing Talent was still providing 25% Damage Reduction to the target of Moonlight.
- Talents
- Goddess’ Blessing
- Reduced damage reduction 25% ➞ 15%
- Life Link
- Reduced Healing per second 300 ➞ 180
- Sacrifice
- Now resets the Cooldown on Luna’s deploy
- Goddess’ Blessing
- Abilities
- Lunar Leap
- Increased Cooldown 10s ➞ 12s
- Moonlight
- Reduced Healing per tick 150 ➞ 125
- Rush (Luna’s Stun)
- Increased Cooldown 15s ➞ 18s
- Guardian Spirit
- Reduced Luna’s Health 4,500 ➞ 4,000
- Lunar Leap
- Cards
- Bug Fixes
- Fixed an issue with the description of the Spirit Arrows card.
- Bug Fixes
- Fixed an issue where Moonlight would sometimes not target a teammate when Io’s cursor passed over them.
- Fixed an issue with Io bot where it would not summon Luna or heal for a significant length of time without stopping with Moonlight.
- Fixed an issue where Luna could get stuck inside the Payload.
- Abilities
- Moonlight
- Moonlight will no longer break on immediate loss of sight, but instead has a small window before the link breaks.
- Moonlight
- Bug Fixes
- Fixed an issue where Io could no longer heal allies through Inara’s Impasse.
- Fixed an issue where Io’s 3P camera did not center properly when camera was rotated above her head.
- Fixed a text error with Io’s Guardian Spirit ability description.
- Fixed an issue where players would not see “Create New Loadout” buttons on Io’s Loadouts screen unless they owned her.
- Fixed an issue where the wing visual effects from Furia’s ultimate display on Io’s back instead of her front.
- Optimized Io's target updating for moonlight and modified the one second grace to only forgive line-of-sight loss due to object occlusion.
- Bug Fixes
- Fixed Io Ult visibility on low particle settings for users
- Luna can no longer be spawned into environmental hazards
- Io was added to the game.
Removed Content[ | ]
Champions |
---|
Front Line |
Damage |
Support |
Flank |
- ↑ Io's Teaser Trailer, YouTube
- ↑ File:Io Voice Actress.png
- ↑ PaladinsGame on Twitter
- ↑ Casey Edwards on Twitter
- ↑ Casey Edwards on Twitter
- ↑ Casey Edwards on Twitter
- ↑ Casey Edwards on Twitter
- ↑ We're the devs at Evil Mojo who made Io! Ask us anything about the newest Support Champion!, Reddit
- ↑ Casey Edwards on Twitter
- ↑ Lore of Paladins (Hi-Rez Showcase 2020 Panel), YouTube
- ↑ We're the devs at Evil Mojo who made Io! Ask us anything about the newest Support Champion!, Reddit
- ↑ Casey Edwards on Twitter
- ↑ We're the devs at Evil Mojo who made Io! Ask us anything about the newest Support Champion!, Reddit
- ↑ PaladinsGame on Twitter
- ↑ Casey Edwards on Twitter
- ↑ File:Io Stuttering Reason.png
- ↑ File:Why Io Didn't Help.png
- ↑ The Lore of Paladins (Hi-Rez Showcase 2020 Panel), YouTube
- ↑ File:Yagorath Trailer Other Champs.png
- ↑ The Lore of Paladins (Hi-Rez Showcase 2020 Panel), YouTube
- ↑ We're the devs at Evil Mojo who made Io! Ask us anything about the newest Support Champion!, Reddit
- ↑ We're the devs at Evil Mojo who made Io! Ask us anything about the newest Support Champion!, Reddit
- ↑ We're the devs at Evil Mojo who made Io! Ask us anything about the newest Support Champion!, Reddit
- ↑ We're the devs at Evil Mojo who made Io! Ask us anything about the newest Support Champion!, Reddit
- ↑ We're the devs at Evil Mojo who made Io! Ask us anything about the newest Support Champion!, Reddit
- ↑ ThunderBrush on Twitter
- ↑ ThunderBrush on ArtStation
- ↑ PaladinsGame on Twitter
- ↑ We're the devs at Evil Mojo who made Io! Ask us anything about the newest Support Champion!, Reddit
- ↑ Design-A-Champ Workshop (Hi-Rez Expo 2019 Panel), YouTube
- ↑ We're the devs at Evil Mojo who made Io! Ask us anything about the newest Support Champion!, Reddit
- ↑ Design-A-Champ Workshop (Hi-Rez Expo 2019 Panel), YouTube
- ↑ We're the devs at Evil Mojo who made Io! Ask us anything about the newest Support Champion!, Reddit
- ↑ Casey Edwards on Twitter
- ↑ File:Io Originally Intended as Korean.png
- ↑ Casey Edwards on Twitter
- ↑ Casey Edwards on ArtStation
- ↑ Casey Edwards on ArtStation
- ↑ Casey Edwards on Twitter
- ↑ Casey Edwards on Twitter
- ↑ Casey Edwards on ArtStation
- ↑ Design-A-Champ Workshop (Hi-Rez Expo 2019 Panel), YouTube
- ↑ File:Champion Sound Effects.png
- ↑ We're the devs at Evil Mojo who made Io! Ask us anything about the newest Support Champion!, Reddit
- ↑ We're the devs at Evil Mojo who made Io! Ask us anything about the newest Support Champion!, Reddit
- ↑ ThunderBrush on Twitter
- ↑ Evil Mojo Podcast: Exploring the Lore (Hi-Rez Showcase 2022), YouTube
- ↑ PaladinsGame on Twitter
- ↑ PaladinsGame on Twitter
- ↑ PaladinsGame on Twitter
- ↑ PaladinsGame on Twitter
- ↑ Radiant Stars will Rise in the Latest Paladins Update Xbox
- ↑ 53.0 53.1 Jasmine M on ArtStation
- ↑ ThunderBrush on Twitter
- ↑ ThunderBrush on Twitter
- ↑ ThunderBrush on Twitter
- ↑ ThunderBrush on Twitter
- ↑ ThunderBrush on Twitter
- ↑ ThunderBrush on Twitter