Feel the breeze, the calming gale, and the ever-changing zephyr as a new hero arrives in Esperia — meet Respen, the Windchild, AFK Arena’s newest hero.

Respen is the latest hero to come in AFK Arena after Kren the Fanatical and the crossover heroes Joker and Queen from Persona 5.

Joker and Queen are Dimensional heroes introduced at the start of 2021. They are one of the main protagonists of the video game series Person 5 and are a part of the Phantom of Thieves. Joker’s title in AFK Arena is The Leader of Few Words while Queen is known as the Courageous Tactician. Read our previous blog post to know more about this inseparable duo.

Going back to Respen, he is the 18th hero to grace the Wilders faction; nature’s guardians who will see to their power that the world’s natural resources are well-protected. He belongs under the Ranger class as a Burst Damage dealer. As his title suggests, Respen is all about the wind. 

Before we dive into Respen’s kit, let’s explore his origins.

Appearance

Respen looks like your typical nature boy with loose, flowy, and airy attire. He wears a dark blue cropped top that shows off his swirly tattoos located on his left side and crawling around his thighs. He also wears a pair of shorts and a flowy piece of cloth wrapped around his waist. Respen is also adorned with a couple of accessories like a fancy-looking arm bangle and copper arm protectors.

Upon closer look at his facial features, Respen has a noticeable teal mark on his forehead. It nicely complements his irises which are of the same shade. Respen also seems to sport a fluffy hairdo with streaks of gray, baby blue, and white.

For the full Windchild effect, his initial art shows his friends, the Wind Swallows, flying around him and even flocking on one of his hands, like a Disney princess.

Lore

Respen’s origin story came from a literature piece called the “Nautical Annals of the Kingdom” which tells the tale of the Windchild.

Respen’s birth produced a great storm, accompanied by violent, ferocious winds. The storm eventually threatened the Kingdom with great floods and dangerous tides until Respen met Khazard.

Khazard was known back then as the Guardian of the Tides. He greeted Respen and made him calm down, which stopped the storm immediately. This marked the start of a great mentorship between the two.

Khazard took care of Respen, continuously guiding the new elemental Guardian. His moods are closely related to the winds, and because Respen is fickle and ever-changing, so did the winds. One day it’s sunny with a nice breeze flowing through, the next it’s rainy with a violent gale all over the place.

Respen eventually managed to learn to control the winds and his responsibilities as a budding elemental Guardian, all thanks to his teacher Khazard. Until one day, Khazard disappeared.

Of course Respen, being closely attached to his mentor, searched for him everywhere until his quest led him to the Shrine of the Elements. There he found Khazard, who revealed himself as a Hypogean.

At this point, Respen’s lore suddenly becomes a dramatic story mainly focusing on the betrayal of his teacher and close friend. Khazard imprisoned Respen inside an ice wall that he made so he can finally crush the Shrine of the Elements in peace. If it were to be destroyed, the chaos that would ensue would be disastrous for Esperia.

While Respen is struggling to escape the frozen jail, he interrogated Khazard about his reason for betraying not just him but the whole Esperia.

Khazard only answered, “Pitiful worm, I truly wish you could see what I see.”

With Khazard as his ally, Respen was in control of his moods, hence he knew how to use his wind powers. But with Khazard as his enemy, the Windchild was having some serious problems with his emotions.

However, rage suddenly filled Respen which greatly helped him harness his powers and direct his anger towards Khazard. 

“None shall define me… Incompetent or otherwise, it is not for you to decide!” exclaimed Respen.

This lore is actually the tale of how the Bastion of the Elements was temporarily avoided.

The citizens of Thousand Sail city have always commemorated Respen, especially during festivals, offering wreaths to the young Guardian. This was how Respen came to be.

Abilities

• Wind Spiral (Passive) – Respen manifests a Wind Swallow every 3 seconds, which encircle himself up until 5 Swallows exist. Active: Using his Ultimate ability, Respen sends the enemy with the highest Attack Rating hurtling into the air, dealing 250% damage to them, also stunning them for 3 seconds. All Wind Swallows manifested by Respen currently on the battlefield will then respectively deal an additional 90% damage to the enemy.\
• Feathered Fury – Ability only activates when a Wind Swallow is next to Respen. Respen commands a Wind Swallow to attack the nearest enemy, dealing damage to them. If the enemy is not already being encircled by a Swallow, the Swallow will encircle them until the end of the battle. If the enemy is already being encircled by a Swallow, the Swallow’s attack will stun the enemy for several seconds, and the Swallow will fly towards an enemy that is not being encircled and encircle them.
• Winged Attack – When an enemy is sent flying into the air, Respen manifests an additional Wind Swallow to attack them, dealing 240% damage to them. After the attack, the Swallow will return to Respen’s side. This ability can target the same enemy once every 3 seconds.
• Winged Protection – When Respen is suffering the effects of control abilities, he manifests an additional Wind Swallow that encircles himself, creating a shield that exists for 6 seconds. The shield has a value equal to 18% of Respen’s own max health. This ability can be used once every 3 seconds.

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Tips for using Respen

• The Windchild seems like an all-around, pretty reliable hero with a debuff against enemies, a buff to his allies, some crowd control abilities, and even a decent shield. Try playing Respen with any of your comps and see which fits well with him!
• His shield ability, Winged Protection, might come in handy especially when you are fighting a crowd control-heavy team.
• Invest in Respen and unlock his Signature Item at +30, where he will increase ally Haste points by 25 after manifesting six Wind Swallows. This will let your team attack faster, which will lead to a good frequency rate of getting all your ultimates up.

Heroes that can synergize with Respen

• Alna

Respen seems like a good combination with Alna, the Frozen Mother especially because they both give off Haste points.

At +30 SI Unlock, Respen gives 25 Haste points to all allies while Alna gives off Haste reduction to enemies. It’s like a match made in heaven! Check out our hero guide to Alna to find out more about her.

• Lyca

Since we’re already talking about Haste points, Lyca is a wonderful addition to your team because of the headstart advantage she gives you.

She can cast a haste buff to all of your heroes and then grant them 70 energy, which works well with Respen’s SI.

• Tasi

With Tasi’s very powerful ultimate ability called “Slumber” which puts enemies to sleep for as long as five seconds and Respen’s Feathered Fury which stuns enemies, the CC power is strong on this one! Read up on our full guide to the Wilders faction here.

What do you think of Respen, the Windchild? Is he going to be another overpowered hero in AFK Arena? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!