Soulframe's Warsong Update Brings Dark Villain Classes, Rideable Wolves, and Guilt-Free Fishing
Key takeaways
- The Warsong update introduces the Vadagar pact, a villain-aligned character class built around Wrath, Doom, and Death abilities
- Rideable mounts including giant wolves and a corrupted horse are finally coming to Soulframe, answering a major community request
- A catch-and-release 'vegan' fishing mini-game will also launch with Warsong, tied to the game's nature-preservation themes
Digital Extremes lifted the curtain on Soulframe's next significant content drop at Tennocon, showcasing a lengthy gameplay trailer for the Warsong update. The reveal came packed with new features — a story-driven quest, a brand-new character class rooted in villainy, long-requested rideable mounts, and an unusual spin on fishing. For a game still navigating its closed beta period, it's a surprisingly ambitious package that signals the developer's confidence in where Soulframe is headed.
The centerpiece of Warsong is the Warsong Fable, a new story quest featuring voice actor Ben Starr as Tempest Bayor, the update's primary antagonist. The quest digs into the protagonist's origins in the world of Soulframe, exploring the backstory behind their blue-armed Envoy powers, and offering players a rare glimpse into the high-altitude world of the Ode — the game's established faction of villains. It's a lore-heavy addition that seems designed to flesh out a world that players have been inhabiting in early-access form.
Perhaps the most talked-about feature is the Vadagar pact — Soulframe's term for character classes — which leans hard into dark fantasy aesthetics. Built around the Ode's deities of Wrath, Doom, and Death, the pact comes with corrupted abilities and a morally shadowy set of virtues. The development team candidly called it an 'edgelord pact' during the Tennocon live panel, while a press preview described the broader Warsong update as the team's 'Spider-Man 3 moment' for the game — a tongue-in-cheek nod to going full dark side.
Mounts are also arriving with Warsong, answering what the developers acknowledged has been one of the most persistent community requests since the game's early access began. Players will be able to ride giant wolves and a corrupted horse, with the team promising more mount varieties down the line. On the lighter side of the update, a so-called 'vegan' fishing mini-game will also be introduced — framed as catch-and-release in keeping with the game's broader nature-preservation themes, which run through much of Soulframe's world-building.
The Warsong update is targeted for a release window described as 'Fallish,' suggesting a loose autumn timeframe without a firm date. Players keen to jump in early can register for the ongoing Preludes test, though the deadline to guarantee access to the current build was July 12th. Soulframe still lacks a confirmed 1.0 launch date, but the consistency and scale of updates like Warsong suggest Digital Extremes is methodically building toward a full release.
The bigger picture
What makes the Warsong update interesting from a design perspective isn't just the content itself — it's the tone Digital Extremes is willing to bring to Soulframe. Calling an update your 'Spider-Man 3' and labeling a class an 'edgelord pact' signals a developer that's comfortable leaning into self-aware humor alongside genuine lore investment. That balance is tricky to pull off, but Digital Extremes has years of experience threading exactly that needle with Warframe, where absurdity and earnestness coexist comfortably.
The introduction of mounts is worth examining as a competitive signal. Open-world and MMO-adjacent games live and die by their traversal feel, and the absence of mounts in an expansive fantasy world has historically been a friction point for players. By bringing in giant wolves and a corrupted horse early, Digital Extremes is addressing that gap before Soulframe reaches a wider audience. The promise of more mounts coming post-launch also suggests the studio sees this as a long-tail feature, not a one-time checkbox.
The 'vegan fishing' mechanic might sound like a quirky footnote, but it's actually a clever piece of narrative design — it ties a beloved MMO staple directly into the game's environmental themes, reinforcing world identity rather than just borrowing genre conventions wholesale. As Soulframe edges toward a 1.0 release date that still hasn't been announced, updates like Warsong are doing critical work in building player loyalty and retaining the closed-beta community. Whether that translates to broader launch success remains the open question.
We're keeping a close eye on Soulframe here at LagPing because we think it represents one of the more genuinely ambitious live-service projects currently in development — one that isn't getting nearly the attention it deserves outside of the Warframe community. Digital Extremes has spent years quietly building one of gaming's most dedicated player bases, and watching them apply those lessons to a brand-new IP is genuinely fascinating. The Warsong update is a strong reminder that even in beta, this game has personality. We also love that the team is comfortable calling things like they are — 'edgelord pact' is honest, funny, and tells you exactly what you're getting. As the live-service space gets more crowded, that kind of clear communication with players matters more than ever, and it's something we'll keep tracking as Soulframe moves toward its eventual full launch.
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