Hyper Light Breaker Shows off Upcoming Character Rondo in…

Hyper Light Breaker hasn't lost any steam since its Early Access release back in January 2025, routinely delivering handy updates based on player feedback to deliver the best possible roguelite multiplayer experience. This time around, Hyper Light Breaker is unveiling its biggest update yet: entitled 'Buried Below,' the update slated for April 29 aims to redefine the game's roguelite loop while introducing a host of new content. Hyper Light Breaker's roguelite runs will transition to a single life format, a new tutorial will streamline the onboarding process, more weapons are being added, and additional points of interest are arriving in the Overgrowth to explore. To top it off, the game is introducing a new Crown, Maw, and a new Breaker, Rondo.

Hyper Light Breaker Hands-On Preview

The Best War Games gets an early hands-on look at Hyper Light Breaker's challenging roguelite extraction combat, exploration, and build variety.

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By Joey Brown

Hyper Light Breaker's Rondo Rewards Skillful Melee Combat

The trailer kicks off by offering a description of Rondo as a "silent, deadly mercenary" who hails from The Shroud region. Rondo is shown to be extremely agile, unleashing a rapid flurry of attacks with a glaive. Rondo's two Sycoms—Hyper Light Breaker's class archetypes—both reward skill in melee combat. The first Sycom, Bladedancer, gives Rondo improved melee damage and attack speed. Meanwhile, the Reaper Sycom enhances Rondo's perfect parries by inflicting bleed damage. The Best War Games spoke with Lead Producer Michael Clark about the new character, who described Rondo:

"Rondo, the newest Breaker, has two SyCom perks, each one buffs one of your core combat maneuvers. The Reaper perk causes nearby enemies to bleed whenever you land a perfect parry, and the Bladedancer marks enemies for increased damage when you hit them with a Flash Step."

When asked if Rondo was a result of player feedback like so much of Hyper Light Breaker's updates, Clark said, "We have a mix of paper and prototype designs for all of our remaining Breakers. Breakers are meant to spearhead playstyles, so they’re not something that we would leave for a reactive approach to design." Although Heart Machine doesn't use player feedback to design classes, the team will undoubtedly be watching closely to see how Rondo is received by Hyper Light Breaker's audience. A character focused on executing perfect parries sounds like a welcome addition for Hyper Light Breaker's more skilled players looking to test their timing against enemies found at new points of interest coming with this update.