Dragonkin: The Banished Update Adds Harrower Hero, Permadeath Survival and New Grid Options

Dragonkin: The Banished has received a substantial free update that expands both its character selection and its long-term challenge options. NACON and Eko Software have added the Harrower as a new playable hero, introduced a dedicated permadeath Survival mode, expanded the Ancestral Grid with six modifiers, and released an optional Harrower Cosmetics Pack alongside the patch.

The update is available now for the action RPG on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. It follows an earlier update released in July and gives existing players several very different reasons to revisit their dragon-haunted builds, from a character designed around juggling elemental states to a mode where every expedition can become a character's last.

The Harrower brings Instability to the battlefield

The centrepiece of the update is the Harrower, a new playable character whose combat identity revolves around a system called Instability. Rather than being locked into a narrow selection of matching abilities, the Harrower can equip up to 10 Wyvern skills of any type. That broad access suggests considerable flexibility for players who like mixing elemental powers and experimenting with combinations that may not fit a more conventional class structure.

Using Wyvern powers can make elemental components unstable. Once all four elements have reached that unstable condition, the Harrower enters an Unleashed state, dramatically increasing the character's damage output. The result is a combat loop built around setting up a burst window: activate and rotate through powers, manage the relevant elemental states, then capitalize on Unleashed when the entire system comes together.

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That design could make the Harrower especially appealing to players seeking a more active resource-and-timing challenge. The character is not simply described as a damage dealer with a passive bonus. Instead, the damage spike is tied to maintaining momentum across four elements, rewarding attention to skill use and the order in which powers are triggered.

The Harrower arrives with 17 active skills, along with 16 unique passives and talents. Those numbers provide a sizable foundation for tailoring the character, whether a player wants to prioritize frequent access to the Unleashed state, strengthen particular Wyvern abilities, or create a more specialized arrangement within the available skill slots. With 10 Wyvern skills able to be equipped at once, the hero's build crafting potential appears to be a major part of the appeal rather than an afterthought.

Survival mode makes each death final

For players who want the stakes raised beyond the standard progression experience, the update's new Survival mode introduces permanent death. Survival requires players to create and use a dedicated character. If that character dies, the loss is permanent, making every push forward a decision with lasting consequences rather than a temporary setback.

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Permadeath modes fundamentally change how action RPG players approach encounters, loot and character growth. A powerful but risky strategy can look very different when defeat means the end of a run. The same is true of venturing into unfamiliar situations, holding onto rare gear rather than using it, or deciding when a character has progressed far enough to gamble on the next difficult objective. Survival mode is framed around seeing how far a player can advance while knowing there is no second chance.

Importantly, Survival characters are not completely disconnected from the rest of a player's time in Dragonkin: The Banished. They share town progression with Classic characters. That means broader advancement connected to the town remains relevant across both ways to play, helping prevent the new mode from feeling like a wholly isolated side activity.

At the same time, Survival characters develop within a separate ecosystem and are subject to strict rules for gear sharing. This separation is significant for preserving the integrity of a permadeath format. If players could freely funnel equipment from the standard mode into Survival, the tension of building a character through dangerous play could be greatly reduced. The gear restrictions are intended to keep Survival progression meaningful on its own terms while still allowing its players to benefit from shared town development.

There is also a legacy element for defeated characters. When a Survival hero falls, players can preserve that character's legacy in the Pantheon. The announcement does not detail every implication of the Pantheon system, but the feature gives a fallen character a form of lasting recognition. In a mode where failure is expected eventually, memorializing notable runs can be a fitting way to make a final defeat feel like part of a player's wider history rather than an erased investment.

Six Ancestral Grid modifiers expand build experimentation

The update also adds six new modifiers to the Ancestral Grid, providing another route for players to alter the behavior of their characters and abilities. Two of the six modifiers are exclusive to the Harrower, giving the new hero additional options connected to its distinct mechanics. The remaining four are universal modifiers that can be used more broadly.

One named universal addition is Whirling Mastery, which causes projectiles to spin around the player. It is a simple concept with potentially wide-ranging consequences depending on the skills, enemy density and positioning involved. Projectiles normally travel away from a character and resolve at range; having them circle the player could reshape close-quarters defense, create a moving offensive perimeter, or open unusual interactions with abilities that produce multiple shots.

The other new modifiers have not been individually described, but the addition of six options still matters for a game driven by build decisions. New modifiers can encourage players to revisit established setups, test skills they previously ignored, and find synergies between a character's passives, active powers and grid choices. For the Harrower in particular, dedicated modifier support should help ensure its 10-skill Wyvern approach has more room for distinct playstyles from the outset.

An optional cosmetics pack arrives with the character

Alongside the free gameplay update, an optional Harrower Cosmetics Pack is now available. The cosmetics pack accompanies the character's launch, offering an avenue for players who want additional visual customization for the new hero.

The Harrower itself, Survival mode and the Ancestral Grid additions are part of the free update. The cosmetics pack is separate DLC, so players interested chiefly in the mechanical additions can access the major new gameplay content without it. That distinction is especially useful for a patch that introduces a full playable character and a major mode: the core systems are not being held behind the optional appearance-focused offering.

A broader update for both experimentation and endurance

These additions serve two different but complementary kinds of Dragonkin: The Banished player. The Harrower and the added Ancestral Grid modifiers are aimed at experimentation. They offer more tools, more combinations and another character fantasy centered on building toward an elemental damage eruption. Players who enjoy refining rotations and discovering how systems interact have a fresh set of decisions to explore.

Survival mode, meanwhile, is focused on endurance and caution. It asks players to demonstrate how well they understand those systems when the usual safety net is removed. A build that performs brilliantly in ordinary progression may need to be reconsidered when a single fatal encounter can end an entire character. The shared town progression gives the mode continuity with Classic play, while the separate gear ecosystem protects the danger that makes permadeath compelling.

For returning players, the patch offers a choice between starting fresh with the Harrower or testing existing knowledge under Survival's harsher rules. For newcomers, it makes the game's current package more varied: there is a standard route for learning the game and advancing normally, plus an optional high-risk format waiting for those who want the pressure of permanent consequences.

Dragonkin: The Banished is available on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, and the Harrower update is free on all of those platforms. Whether players are drawn to the Harrower's Instability-driven elemental juggling, the unusual projectile behavior of Whirling Mastery, or the unforgiving promise of a permadeath run, the update is built to deepen the game's progression and replayability without requiring the core additions to be purchased separately.