Pokémon GO reveals ‘Carnival of Love’, brings shiny Choreogel and a top raid

Max Handwerk Max Handwerk Reading time 2 minutes

Pokémon GO introduces a new event, the “Carnival of Love.” We summarize what Pokémon and bonuses are hidden in it here.

When is the event? The Carnival of Love runs from Tuesday, February 13, 2024, at 10:00 AM to Thursday, February 15, at 8:00 PM. You have three days to take advantage of the event’s bonuses.

What are the highlights of the event? Much revolves around different forms of Pokémon. For the first time, you can encounter the shiny version of Choreogel. The bird Pokémon comes in different forms, which are regionally bound.

  • Choreogel in Flamenco style: Europe, Middle East and Africa
  • Choreogel in Cheerleading style: America
  • Choreogel in Hula style: African, Asian, Pacific and Caribbean islands
  • Choreogel in Buyo style: Asia-Pacific region
This is what shiny Choreogel looks like in different forms

Additionally, the Pokémon Flabébé is roaming in its various flower forms in different regions. You can also switch the form of Coiffwaff to the heart-cut form if you spend 25 Coiffwaff candies and 10,000 stardust.

Top Raid with Cupidos: On Wednesday, February 14, the legendary Pokémon Cupidos will appear in Top Raids. These must be completed on-site and are expected to require a lot of trainers to defeat. Moreover, it will only appear at certain times:

  • At 12:00 PM
  • At 1:00 PM
  • At 5:00 PM
  • At 6:00 PM

If you defeat the raid, various flying and fairy Pokémon will appear around the gym for 30 minutes. These include Piepi*, Pummeluff*, Snubbull*, Schwalbini*, Fleknoil*, Emolga, Geronimatz*, Dartiri*, Parfi* and Flauschling* (possible shinies are marked with an asterisk*). However, some trainers were unhappy with the timing of the raids.

Start video
Pokémon GO shows the new season “Timeless Travels” in the trailer

What bonuses and Pokémon does the “Carnival of Love” bring?

Event bonuses: Two bonuses will be active during the Carnival of Love.

  • You have an increased chance for XL candies when you walk with your buddy
  • You get two guaranteed XL candies when evolving

Collector Challenge: In a collector challenge, you can encounter Roserade. You will also receive XP and stardust there.

Showcases: Here there is also an unusual requirement: You can have your buddy Pokémon compete. However, they must be at least “Super Buddy”.

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Which Pokémon spawn? In the wild, you will encounter:

  • Choreogel* (form depending on region, see above)
  • Flabébé
    • Red flower: Europe, Middle East and Africa
    • Blue flower: Asia-Pacific region
    • Yellow flower: American continent
    • White flower & Orange flower: Everywhere, rarer
  • Snubbull*
  • Eneco*
  • Liebiskus*
  • Coiffwaff*
  • Velursi*
  • Kwaks
  • Roselia* (rarer)

In field research:

  • Snubbull*
  • Roselia*
  • Pandir with heart pattern*
  • Perlu*
  • Liebiskus*
  • Coiffwaff*
  • Velursi*

In addition, there will be an optional limited-time research available in the shop for one US dollar (expected to be similar in euros). You can receive stardust, XP, two incense, and five encounters with heart-pattern Pandir. However, this research will only run until February 15 at 8:00 PM.

The Carnival of Love is not the only date coming up in Pokémon GO soon. You can find all events in February 2024 for Pokémon GO here.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. Pokémon GO Live

The ‘Queen of Twitch’ sees no future on the platform: ‘It breaks my heart’

Lydia Lydia Reading time 3 minutes

The streamer Imane “Pokimane” Anys has long been the face of Twitch. On January 30, 2024, she surprisingly announced her departure. Now she has explained what lies behind her decision.

Who is the streamer? Imane “Pokimane” Anys is one of the most well-known female streamers on Twitch. For a long time, her face even adorned the app of the streaming platform. Although the 27-year-old has been streaming less since 2022, she continues to be the largest female streamer on Twitch by follower count (via SullyGnome).

On January 30, Pokimane hinted in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that she would be leaving Twitch after 10 years. In the latest episode of her podcast, she justified her decision and explained how things will proceed.

Pokimane gives up platform exclusivity

What’s next for Pokimane? As the 27-year-old explained, she does not want to completely give up streaming. However, she does not want to be tied exclusively to one platform in the future. Such exclusive contracts are simply not as lucrative as they used to be, Pokimane states. Additionally, they could lead streamers to prioritize the quantity of hours streamed over the quality of content, the streamer further explains.

Instead, she wants to stream on various platforms in the future. A similar path was already taken by the famous Ninja:

Start video
Through Fortnite to the largest streamer on Twitch – Who is Ninja and what is he doing today?

Pokimane speaks of a toxic streaming culture

Why is she leaving Twitch? The decisive factor for Pokimane is what she sees as an increasingly toxic streaming culture on Twitch. In her podcast, she says she would probably continue streaming on Twitch if it weren’t for the rise of “manosphere, red pill garbage.”

According to the streamer, some of the most popular and established male creators on the platform spread ideals of toxic masculinity: “Some of the things they say and do break my heart.”

The “Manosphere”, sometimes also referred to as “Mannosphere” in German, is a loose network of online communities that has emerged from the men’s rights movement, among other sources. It is often associated with traditional ideals of masculinity and anti-feminist thought.
A central rhetoric of the Manosphere is the red and blue pills, referencing the sci-fi classic Matrix: Choosing the red pill in the film awakens one to see the world as it really is. The blue pill, on the other hand, symbolizes staying in the simulation.
In reference to this, the “initiated” also call themselves “Redpillers” and look down disdainfully on the so-called “Bluepillers” (via The Guardian).
Former kickboxer Andrew Tate is considered a central figure within the Manosphere.

Pokimane explains that to remain on Twitch, she would either have to fight a losing battle against those other streamers and their views, or try to target the same audience as them. However, she does not want to do either:

Why would you say something against someone who has countless followers and hardcore fans that will turn against you and come at you? It’s almost like it doesn’t make sense to express your opinion to people that you’ll never change anyway, you know?

And honestly, many of them are prepubescent little boys who just need to go through puberty and then they’ll understand some things. You know, I don’t want that demographic.

Pokimane apparently feels that she is not adequately supported by Twitch in this regard. The platform has severely regressed, especially compared to the times of the pandemic. Back then, there were so many people watching streams and being enthusiastic about games, according to the streamer. There were many female viewers, and the demographics were overall more diverse.

However, now, in 2024, there are still many problems, Pokimane states. “When I tell you that there are people, viewers on Twitch, who stalk and harass streamers endlessly, who have made thousands of accounts…” In such cases, the platform can do little, as they do not impose IP bans, the 27-year-old explains.

More Twitch news on MeinMMO:
“I shouldn’t have opened my mouth” – Twitch streamer dared to criticize her colleagues, now says what consequences it has for her
von Johanna
2 years ago, 2.50 € plunged German Twitch into chaos, now the chairs are flying
von MeinMMO
30,000 people celebrated with a German developer on Twitch about the launch of his game – 1 week later he sees what it has brought him
von Johanna

Pokimane wants to focus on creating a “cool, safe environment” for her community and continue to build it across multiple platforms. Her first stream on YouTube is set to take place on February 1, 2024.

Regardless, she also wants to enjoy her newfound freedom and, for example, spontaneously go live on Instagram for an hour – something that hadn’t been possible before.

The queen of Twitch speaks about her experiences as a woman in gaming: “Have boys always been like this?”

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. PC Gamer
  2. Spotify

Diablo 4: Curiosities Dealer – How to Get ‘Holy’ and ‘Endowed’ Items

Nicole Wakulczyk Nicole Wakulczyk Reading time 3 minutes

In Diablo 4, there are curiosity merchants where you can exchange your oboli for “sacred” and “gifted” items. How to obtain the items and where to find the special merchants is explained here on MeinMMO.

At the curiosity merchants, you can obtain items in Diablo 4 that have a rarity ranging from common to legendary. In addition to the rarity levels, there are “sacred” and “gifted” items that can drop depending on the world tier.

This also applies to the curiosity merchants that you can find in various locations in Diablo 4. However, you must first collect oboli – the currency with which you can purchase items from the special merchants.

Why merchants are generally quite useful, you can find out in the video:

Start video
Diablo 4: Merchants are more useful than you think

You get items at the curiosity merchant for oboli

What kind of items can I get? At the curiosity merchant, you can spend oboli and “gamble” for specific items. You can choose between equipment, weapons, and Whispering Keys. With the keys, you can open silent chests that you find in the open world.

What do I “gamble” for at the curiosity merchant? You can choose equipment and weapons that suit your class and build. To increase the chance of a specific item or aspect, one player has developed a gambling tool to calculate the optimal use of oboli.

How do I obtain “sacred” and “gifted” items there? To have a chance at “sacred” items at the curiosity merchants, you need to be at World Tier 3. You will only have a chance at “gifted” items at World Tier 4 – however, this is not a guarantee. For example, at World Tier 4, you can receive items that are “gifted” but at the same time only “magical”, meaning blue.

Initially, you can choose between World Tier 1 and 2; you must unlock World Tier 3 and 4. What is necessary for that, you can find out in our guide.

Here you can see what you need to do for World Tier 3 and what it brings you.
Here you can see what you need to do for World Tier 4 and what it brings you.

To trade with the curiosity merchant, you need oboli. These are the small purple “coins” you receive through various events in Diablo 4.

A specific number of oboli is required for the items. For example, caps, boots, and gloves cost about 40 oboli, while amulets and rings cost 60 oboli.

Where do I get oboli? There are various ways to obtain oboli. You can get them from legion and local events, which you can recognize by the red circle on your minimap when you are nearby. Events in dungeons can also yield oboli.

How to find the special merchants

Where do I find the curiosity merchants? You can recognize the curiosity merchants by the symbols with the money bag and the question mark on the map. Locations where you can find some include: Kyovashad, Cerrigar, Ked Bardu, Jirandai, Gea Kul, Zarbinzet, Hinterpfuhl, and Yelesna.

In Kyovashad, you can find the curiosity merchant in the building where the wardrobe is located.

A special feature is the “Unappetizing” curiosities. Their merchants can only be found in the PvP areas.

There, you can also gamble on “sacred” and “gifted” items (in our case, it was caps, tunics, gloves, boots, leg armor) – but you don’t pay with oboli, but with Red Dust, which enemies drop in PvP areas.

If you are looking for specific unique items, you can find all bosses with their corresponding uniques and an explanation on how to summon these bosses in our list: Diablo 4: Farming uniques from bosses – Overview of where to find all unique items

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

Palworld: The 10 strongest Pals for battle, according to an expert’s tier list

Sophia Weiss Sophia Weiss Reading time 5 minutes

113 different Pals are a whole lot of creatures to choose from for all situations in Palworld. YouTuber KhrazeGaming has now identified the 10 Pals that deal the most damage – completely without breeding and easy to catch.

[toc]

Who is the YouTuber? YouTuber KhrazeGaming has been active since 2016 and has accumulated 505,000 subscribers since the beginning of his career. His videos focus on news, builds, tips, and tricks related to video games.

Recently, there has been a lot of content for Cyberpunk 2077, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, and Spider-Man 2 on his channel. Since January 20, 2024, he has been publishing content exclusively about Palworld, which has been well received by the community.

Start video
Palworld: Here you will find a super fast ground mount

What are the selection criteria for the Pals? In his top-10 list, KhrazeGaming shows his top 10 of the best damage dealers in Palworld. It specifically concerns the Pals with the highest attack value, but also the balance and utility of the Pal in battle.

We link to the video with the Tier List from YouTuber KhrazeGaming here.

However, he deliberately leaves bred Pals out: Every Pal can become very powerful with the right parent Pals, as passive traits are passed down.

If you want to know how to breed Pals, you can read about it in our guide:

More on the topic
Palworld Breeding List: All Fusion Pals and Breeds Overview
von Benedikt Schlotmann

Palworld Tier List: The 10 Pals with the Most Damage

Below you will read the tier list of the strongest attack Pals. For your reference, here is our list of all Pals and their locations: Find all Pals and their locations on the map

You can find out exactly where to locate the following top 10 on the map below.

10. Warsect

KhrazeGaming has placed Warsect in 10th place. You can catch this Pal relatively early at level 30. It offers good attack power, but also nearly equal defensive capabilities. This results in a very good, early catchable tank.

Palworld Warsect
The stats of Warsect

9. Jormuntide

Jormuntide can be bred before level 25, but you want the Lord of the Sea version. We have marked where to find it on the map below – there are two locations. The “Lord of the Sea” Jormuntide deals 20% more water damage, and you do not lose stamina when traveling over water with this mount.

This Pal is not the best in terms of damage, but due to increased water damage and the mount ability, it ranks 9th.

Palworld Jormuntide
The stats of Jormuntide

8. Shadowbeak

Here we have, according to KhrazeGaming, the best mount Pal: It can fly and quickly. When you fight, you don’t have to dismount. You can just land and take off smoothly again. The mounted attacks are also impressive.

Shadowbeak is also the best combat companion if your opponent has a weakness to darkness.

Palworld Shadowbeak
The stats of Shadowbeak

7. Orzerk

If you need a lightning Pal, then Orzerk is your choice. You also want the Lord of version: The Lord of the Lightning. This battle buddy is super fast, and its attack Kerauno fires powerful lightning blades – from a jump.

You can find the best version in Wildlife Sanctuary No. 3.

Palworld Orserk
The stats of Orserk

6. Paladius

Paladius and its night version Necromus have similar stats. However, Necromus is a bit better, which is why Paladius is in 6th place. This Pal has a very high defense – possibly the highest in the whole game (without breeding). It also has a highly effective attack combination.

You want the version from the desert with the passive skills Legend and Celestial Emperor.

Palworld Paladius
The stats of Paladius

5. Necromus

The night version of Paladius is Necromus. Because it is a bit better than its day version, Necromus ranks 5th. It has more attack power than Paladius, but slightly less defense. The charge attack Rock Lance is top-notch!

Again, you want the special Lord of the Underworld version from the desert.

Palworld Necromus
The stats of Necromus

4. Blazamut

In fourth place we have Blazamut – a pure fire Pal. Your desired version has the passive skills Flame Emperor and Motivational Leader. Defense and attack are quite balanced.

Blazamut’s best quality? It is super effective against groups of opponents.

Palworld Blazamut
The stats of Blazamut

3. Anubis

Anubis makes itself comfortable in third place. You can collect it already at level 25 or even breed it. Although it can be quite early in your team, it is very powerful: It has very good defense and is particularly effective in battles against single opponents. However, its AOE attacks are also not bad.

As mentioned, you can breed Anubis. However, you will find the powerful Guardian of the Desert version in the center of the desert – it is an Alpha Boss.

Palworld Anubis
The stats of Anubis

2. Jetragon

Places 1 and 2 could also be swapped – according to KhrazeGaming, it depends on the player’s preference. However, he has placed Jetragon in 2nd place.

This dragon Pal is super powerful, one of the fastest Pals in the whole roster. It can be used as a flying mount and is strong against darkness-type opponents.

Be careful: Again, you want the special version that can be found on Obsidian Mountain. It has the passive traits Legend and Divine Dragon.

Palworld Jetragon
The stats of Jetragon

1. Frostallion

In 1st place is Frostallion. This Pal uses ice attacks, which makes it even more effective than Jetragon – hence the ranking. When it attacks, it usually uses Blizzard Spike first. This paralyzes the opponents for a moment. Then it follows up with a Crystal Wing – an almost unbeatable combo.

Additionally, the combination of attack value and defense is simply excellent. You are looking for the special version in the ice region with the passive traits Legend and Ice Emperor.

Palworld Frostallion
The stats of Frostallion

The Top 10 on the Map

On the map, we have marked the top 10 damage Pals.

According to KhrazeGaming, you can also breed many of the Pals – for example Anubis. However, it is worth catching the special versions as their passive traits give you a significant advantage.

Do you miss a specific Pal on the list? If so, which one? Let us know in the comments.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. YouTube

5 Games Like Palworld That You Can Play Today on Steam

Dariusz Müller Dariusz Müller Reading time 5 minutes

Palworld is currently unique with its mix of different games and its quirky humor. If you’re still looking for titles that resemble Palworld, we’ll show you 5 games on Steam that have a lot in common.

Palworld is currently a massive hit on Steam. Millions of players enjoy the crazy mix that combines monster collecting, as we know from games like Pokémon, with a survival game. Moreover, Palworld stands out with its quirky humor, as you can equip the little cute monsters with firearms, eat them, or “juice” them.

With this crazy mix, Palworld is indeed unique at the moment. Nonetheless, we want to recommend 5 games that are at least similar to Palworld in certain aspects.

How did we choose the games? We based our selection on three key elements of Palworld. The three factors are:

  • Survival games with creatures that you can catch/tame/breed and use for your purposes
  • Games where you collect monsters and battle with them
  • A dash of quirky humor

[toc]

Survival Games with Creatures

ARK Survival Evolved

Developer: Studio Wildcard | Model: Buy-to-play | Platforms: PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Switch |
Players: Solo, Coop, Multiplayer | Mode: PvE, PvP |

What kind of game is this? ARK: Survival Evolved is a survival game for PC and console, where you can tame and breed dinosaurs and mystical creatures like dragons.

Many of the creatures found in ARK can be used for various purposes after taming/breeding.

  • With a Tyrannosaurus Rex, you can fight against other creatures, players, or boss enemies
  • An Ankylosaurus is very useful for farming metal.
  • You can ride on an Argentavis, which is a large bird, and carry large amounts of resources with it.

For nearly every task, there is a creature that can help you complete it. Additionally, ARK also has weapons like an assault rifle, automatic turrets, or a rocket launcher. Typical survival mechanics such as hunger, warmth, and cold sensations, as well as building a base, are also included.

Start video
Everything you need to know about the survival game ARK: Survival Evolved

If ARK: Survival Evolved feels a bit outdated to you, you can also take a look at the remake ARK: Survival Ascended. This comes with the newer Unreal Engine 5 in better graphics and some “quality of life” improvements, but still has performance issues, some bugs, and fewer contents than ARK: Survival Evolved.

Special Recommendation: For ARK: Survival Evolved, there is also a large number of mods available on Steam that can further enhance or change the gaming experience. If you want colorful monsters like in Palworld instead of dinos, you can download a corresponding Pokémon mod from the Steam Workshop – complete with Pokéballs.

More on the topic
More on the topic
ARK: Survival Ascended is now on Steam – How does the game play and is it recommended?
von Dariusz Müller

Smalland: Survive The Wilds

Developer: Merge Games | Model: Buy-to-play | Platforms: PC, (Xbox, PlayStation) | Players: Solo, Coop | Mode: PvE, (PvP)
Start video
New survival game on Steam looks like ARK, but with insects instead of dinos – Coming this March

What kind of game is this? Smalland: Survive The Wilds is a survival game where you are shrunk to the size of insects and must survive in the wilderness – similar to Grounded. However, like in Palworld and ARK, you also have the ability to tame different animals like a spider or a grasshopper and then ride on them. There are also flying mounts.

Unfortunately, the animals in Smalland currently don’t have many functions that assist you in playing. They are mainly for traveling or fighting. Nonetheless, typical survival game mechanics, such as building your own base are included. In the future, PvP is supposed to be available, but currently only PvE is possible.

Currently, Smalland is still in Early Access and only available on Steam, but it already has 86% positive reviews and is expected to enter full release on February 15, 2024. With the full version, the title will also come to PlayStation and Xbox.

Quirky Humor

In Palworld, you can equip a monkey with an assault rifle, use a sheep as a living shield, or fire a penguin as a projectile from a rocket launcher. We won’t even begin to talk about the slaughtering and “juicing” of your own Pals or the duck named “Fuack.” Therefore, this list must contain at least one game that targets players who enjoy the humor of Palworld.

Cult of the Lamb

Developer: Massive Monster | Model: Buy-to-play | Platforms: PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Switch |
Players: Solo | Mode: PvE |
Start video
Cult of the Lamb – Trailer shows new features for the update ‘Sins of the Flesh’

What kind of game is this? Cult of the Lamb is a dungeon crawler in which you embody a cute little lamb and build your own cult. The bitter humor of the game made Cult of The Lamb a surprise hit on Steam in 2022

There isn’t much in common gameplay-wise with Palworld, but if you enjoy the quirky humor of the survival game and find joy in eating your cuddly creatures or forcing them to complete tasks, you might enjoy Cult of the Lamb as well.

Similar to Palworld, the game presents you with a choice: Do you want to be a benevolent guru who cares for the well-being of his “sheep”? Or are you a ruthless cult leader who ensures obedience through fear and terror? You can subjugate your followers with hallucinogenic mushrooms, make them work day and night, or kill them and feed the meat to the remaining members of your cult.

In the challenging battles against hordes of unbelievers and rival cult leaders, you spread the word of your sworn cult and repeatedly make quite questionable decisions.

In January, Cult of the Lamb received the “Sins of Flesh” update, fulfilling a long-awaited wish of the fans. You can learn more about it on MeinMMO: Cult of the Lamb gets long-awaited update – Fans wanted just one thing, and the developer delivers

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Pages: 1 2

WoW: New shop item costs 30 € – some fans are really angry

Cortyn Cortyn Reading time 2 minutes

A pretty fancy transmog set causes stress in World of Warcraft. Because many do not see the point of having to spend so much money on it.

Just yesterday in World of Warcraft the trading post for February went live. For many, a small dream probably came true, because anyone who has always wanted to channel their inner “Magical Girl” is getting their money’s worth.

However, there was also a bit of disillusionment, as only the pink set is available through the trading post. The black set, which has a somewhat dark Gothic style, could not be found. Some wondered where the set might come from – and now we have the answer:

It has landed in the shop for a proud €30.

What kind of set is it? The “Robes of the Twilight Witch” is a new transmog set that embodies the look of Japanese Magical Girl characters – but with a dark twist, in the colors black and purple. This light “Gothic” look had already fascinated many fans when the sets were discovered in data mining months ago.

WoW Twilight Pack
The Robes of the Twilight Witch, together with the Twilight Sky Stalker mount. 30 euros.

Why are people angry? This is due to how the set is offered in the World of Warcraft shop. Because if you only want to buy the transmog set, you are out of luck. It is only available in a bundle, together with a mount, the Twilight Sky Stalker. This is how the proud price of €30 comes about.

Together, this may be a quite acceptable price when considering that mounts have since cost 20 € each.

However, considering that both items included in the bundle are essentially just recolors of previously existing items, frustration rises. Moreover, because you cannot specifically buy the transmog set individually, you have to pay the higher price to get the bundle.

More about World of Warcraft:
WoW: Midnight Tier List – Ranking of the Best Classes for DPS, Tanks and Healers
von Christos Tsogos
The 16 MMORPGs with the most players according to official numbers from the developers
von Karsten Scholz
WoW Midnight: Legendary Prosperity – How to find the legend of the Haranir and complete the quest
von Alexander Mehrwald

Can the set be obtained in another way? Yes. Those who possess particularly much gold can also simply buy the set – as usual – with the WoW Token, instead of spending real money. But even then, the whole package is worth just under 1,000,000 gold pieces, which is quite a hefty sum.

At least: The description of the offer states that the set will later also end up in the trading post, but not until “3 months after the offer in the shop has expired” – that would be in the best case June 2024. Anyone who is not in a hurry for the set should just wait a few months and then buy the set for trader currencies without having to shell out €30 now.

What do you think of the set and the selling method? Fair enough or just cheeky?

Blizzard has also clarified things that should not come to the trading post.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

Palworld: Player shows how to get a fast flying Pal – this requires a lot of time and patience

jacquelinek jacquelinek Reading time 2 minutes

On Reddit, a user shows how he bred a super-fast flying Pal in Palworld. Here on MeinMMO you can find out how he went about it.

Which Pal are we talking about? The Pal in question is Faleris. Faleris is one of the Pals that you can only get later in the game. If you want to have it at a lower level, you can also breed it. However, you will need a lot of time, patience, and some cakes for that.

How you can level up quickly, you will find out in this video:

Start video
Palworld: How you can level up quickly

Breeding Faleris takes a lot of time

On Reddit, the user “bajungadustin” presented his fast flying Pal “Faleris” on January 30th. In the thread, he states that it took him a total of 24 hours to get his flying Pal through breeding.

In his post, he also describes how he proceeded and provides helpful tips for breeding a Faleris.

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How to breed a really fast Faleris: To breed Faleris, you initially need a Lamball with the ability “Good Runner” and a Direhowl with the passive ability “Quick as Lightning”.

Pals can generally possess many different passive abilities. However, for your Faleris to be really fast, it is very important that your Lamball and Direhowl have the two mentioned abilities.

You pair these two together until you obtain a Kelpsea and a Suzaku with the previously mentioned passive abilities. Then you pair these two again until you produce Anubis and Vanwyrm. It is important to mention here that you really use the Pals you get from the eggs, as they carry on their passive abilities.

You then pair Anubis and Vanwyrm together until you get your Faleris, thus creating a fast flying Pal.

“Phew, I need to renovate my base to optimize this”

This is how the community reacts: Opinions on Reddit are divided on this topic. Some are excited about this method, while others prefer to wait for a higher level to simply catch Faleris. However, this might also mean missing important passive abilities.

This is what some users are saying on Reddit:

  • caucassius writes: “At a certain point, it’s probably faster to just get to level 50, get Jetragon and its saddle lol.”
  • 1057cause notes: “Tell me you shortened the incubation time [in the game world settings] without telling me you shortened the incubation time. (And that’s fine, btw)”
  • Helios61 comments: “Oh, so that’s how the breeding mechanics work.. I thought you just needed 2 of the same species with different abilities and then you forced them to pass on the perfect genes… Phew, I need to renovate my base to optimize this.”

“bajungadustin” points out in a comment in the Reddit post that there are numerous different combinations when breeding Pals. Here you can see our breeding list for all fusion Pals and combinations at a glance.

More on the topic
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von Ody

How to breed Pals in Palworld? To breed Pals, you need a breeding farm, which you can unlock at level 19 in the tech tree. To build this, you not only need a lot of space in your base but also some materials.

How this works and what requirements you need to meet, we explain in detail in our guide on MeinMMO: Palworld: Breeding Pals and hatching eggs – Breeding Guide

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. Reddit

Diablo 4: Expert shows the Seneschal dealing billions of damage – “Blizzard, why don’t you hire this man?”

Nicole Wakulczyk Nicole Wakulczyk Reading time 2 minutes

The Senschall companion in Diablo 4 had a rough start in Season 3 – but now many players find him very useful. The Diablo expert Rob2628 shows how he can deal damage in billions with his Senschall.

The main feature in Season 3 of Diablo 4 is the Senschall – your own mechanical companion that you can customize and equip with abilities. Initially, players found him useless, but that has now changed. Players have leveled the pet and are getting the most out of it.

Rob2628 is known for his expertise in Diablo 4 and regularly provides players with videos and streams. With his OP build, he completed Zirs’ slaughterhouse as a druid in a 4-player group in under 3 minutes.

In his YouTube video from January 31st, the expert demonstrates how he deals damage in billions with his Senschall on a training dummy.

If you missed the gameplay trailer for Season 3, you can watch it here:

Start video
Diablo 4: The gameplay trailer for Season 3

2.3 billion damage, without attacking actively

How much damage does he deal? In the YouTube video by Rob2628, he presents the damage numbers he achieves with his Senschall companion on a training dummy. He shows gameplay with his barbarian, attacking alongside the Senschall. Right at the start, a damage number of over 160 billion is visible.

While he attempts to interact with his companion through the emote wheel, damage numbers over half a billion are flying around in the background, peaking at 2.3 billion at 11:16 minutes while he stands next to it explaining something.

In the video, he jokes at 8:10 minutes: ‘This pet is pretty good. I can’t even pet it, it’s too busy chasing these monsters into the air. It’s too busy killing, guys.’

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The Senschall causes around 887,600,000 damage while the character stands next to it.

How does the community react? The YouTube video has over 61,000 views and 228 comments at this point (February 1, 16:30). One comment with many likes comes from ‘mediocrity25years68’. The user writes: ‘Blizzard, why didn’t you hire this guy to test your seasons before they were released?’

Another user named ‘ExcessumGaming’ notes that it’s always barbarian builds that are “broken”, you can’t achieve the same damage with other classes, especially necros. Rob2628 replies with a link to a strong sorcerer build, agrees with him but adds that minion builds of the necros need ‘an enormous damage buff.’

Other users praise him for the work he invests. Many ask for alternatives to his Senschall build because they don’t have certain tuning stones.

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How does he achieve such numbers? At the beginning of the video, he shows the lead and tuning stones he has equipped for his Senschall companion of the barbarian. He uses ‘Orkan’ and ‘Adrenalinschub’ as lead stones as well as ‘Gift-‘, ‘Blutung-‘, ‘Verbrennungs-Unterstützung’ as tuning stones for ‘Orkan’ and ‘Dauer-‘ and ‘Taktische Unterstützung’ as well as ‘Immernacht’ for ‘Adrenalinschub’.

Rob2628 believes that the pet scales with the player’s character’s attack strength. This activates the ‘War Cry’ and thereby increases his total damage. Additionally, he has the unique stone ‘Immernacht’ that grants him +4 ranks for each ability.

As a possible alternative, he mentions in a comment on YouTube ‘Verwüstungs-Unterstützung’ and ‘Verwundbar’, which he probably refers to the ‘Bruch-Unterstützung’ stone.

‘Immernacht’ is one of two unique tuning stones for the Senschall that you can only get from the Echo of Malphas. MeinMMO reveals how to summon and fight the boss: Diablo 4 Season 3: Summon Echo of Malphas – Farm glowing cores, tips for the fight

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

Palworld: A player reveals their trick against annoying raids, the community reacts with mockery

Christoph Waldboth Christoph Waldboth Reading time 2 minutes

The opposing raids in Palworld can really ruin a player’s day. A Reddit user seems to have found a good method to fight against them. But the community can only laugh at his suggestion.

What are raids like in Palworld? Groups of enemies repeatedly attack the player’s base. They try to get inside and destroy the base. They don’t spare buildings or the player’s Pals, quickly causing chaos. The community is already busy showing their bases to other players. It would be a shame if your headquarters were reduced to rubble.

A Reddit user has at least presented a way to keep the raids at bay in his post.

What trick does the user use? The user freddyxm posted a video (via Reddit), in which he wrote: “I never worry about raids anymore.”

The reason for this becomes clear in the video. The player has surrounded his base with a wooden wall. As the enemies approach, he climbs the wall and jumps down to the other side. While the enemies are trying to hit the wall, the player throws a very specific Pal at them.

Specifically, it is a Jolthog, a Pal of Electric type. With just one throw, it triggers an explosion and defeats almost all enemies. Those who survive the explosion die shortly after from the lightning that continues to deal damage.

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The player has found a safe way to combat raids. Or has he? The community on Reddit has its own opinion on that.

Another player’s Pal won’t stop growing. Is it a bug, or already a feature?

Start video
Palworld showcases the small monsters in massive action in the early access trailer

The community laughs at the user’s trick

How does the community react? Many comments from other players are gathering under the video. Most seem to be further along in the game and have more knowledge than the video’s creator, freddyxm.

They have mostly scorn for the supposed trick. The method might work well at first, but later in the game, it becomes completely useless.

QU417Z writes: “You will love it when you reach level 35 or higher.” As you level up, the raids change as well. Enemies will attack from the air and use fire and explosions to destroy the base. A plain wooden wall won’t help much. Maybe a roof?

“Don’t hold it against him, we were all foolish once,” chuckles the user Regetron. Referring to the series “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” LeftJayed writes: “Everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked.”

And Steinbei55er also questions the wooden walls: “What happens when the raid comes with flamethrowers and burns the wall down?”

All in all, the players agree and cheekily tell freddyxm: Don’t get too excited too early. The game is going to get tougher, and your trick won’t be worth anything then.

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Does the community have constructive suggestions? Yes, it does. One user suggests building the base high up on a plateau. The enemies would spawn below and wouldn’t be able to reach it.

Or one can simply disable the raids entirely. The player aski4777 has done that, as he finds raids “ridiculously difficult” especially in the later stages of the game. Want to defend yourself better? On MeinMMO, we have practical tips for legendary weapons and armor.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. reddit.com

The development studio behind Wayfinder lays off employees and cuts salaries, wants to continue to function and provide great experiences

Marie Friske Marie Friske Reading time 2 minutes

Airship Syndicate, the developer studio behind Wayfinder, confirmed the layoff of 12 employees. The salaries of the company’s president and CEO were also cut. This was necessary to keep the studio running.

The cooperative RPG Wayfinder from Airship Syndicate had a rocky launch. Server issues led to long wait times, along with login difficulties and problems with the base founder packages. You can read more about the release of Wayfinder here.

Later, the publisher Digital Extremes shut down its publishing department for external projects, allowing the developer studio Airship Syndicate to regain “full control” over Wayfinder. But now Airship Syndicate also has to make staffing cuts.

Here you can see a trailer for Wayfinder:

Start video
Wayfinder – Summer Game Fest Trailer

80 people continue to work on Wayfinder

Airship Syndicate confirmed in a statement to PCGamer that the game studio had to lay off 12 employees.

The statement reasoned: “This decision was made to ensure that Airship Syndicate can continue to operate and provide great experiences.“

Furthermore, there would be salary cuts for the company’s president and CEO. They would make these adjustments while working on securing future plans.

The spokesperson for Airship Syndicate also stated to PCGamer that as of now, 80 people are still working full-time on Wayfinder.

However, it was not disclosed how much the salaries of Ryan Stefanelli, the company’s president, and CEO Joe Madureira were cut.

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However, the spokesperson emphasized: “This is not the end for Wayfinder.” More information about the future of the cooperative RPG will be announced soon.

Recently, the event “Eventide” was running in Wayfinder, a winter festival that started on December 15, 2023, and ran until January 12, 2024. It provided players with new modes, quests, and rewards.

You can read more about it here: After months in Early Access, Wayfinder receives the largest update, getting closer to a release

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. pcgamer.com

Baldur’s Gate 3 already has 10 possible romances, but players are asking for more – “Let me marry the imaginary woman in my head”

Linda Knabe Linda Knabe Reading time 2 minutes

Baldur’s Gate 3 delighted not only with its story and good gameplay. The various romances also captivated players. But now they want even more options, and one of them doesn’t even have a face.

What possible romances are there in Baldur’s Gate 3? In the role-playing game, you can choose between 10 possible romantic relationships and one-night stands that you can start throughout the game. If you succeed, you can date all sorts of companions in the game.

Start video
A useful feature can make your life in Baldur’s Gate 3 much easier

In fact, it is even possible with some characters to have multiple romances at once.

By now, many players have likely completed at least their first playthrough of the game and thus probably also experienced one of the possible romances. Maybe some players have already started the next playthrough to experience another romance.

With 10 different options, one might think that players have enough choice. But now they are expressing their wishes for more romance options.

Which romance do players want to experience? On reddit, the discussion has now begun about which romance options Larian should still include in the game. Many hope for the tiefling bard Alfira or the smith Dammon as options.

This discussion was initiated on reddit by the user “Megazupa” with his post:

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In his post, he calls on Larian to let him marry the imaginary woman in his head. And it is quite clear who the user wishes for as a possible romance: the narrator.

She accompanies you from the beginning of the game and comments on all your actions and events. Thus, the “faceless” one seems to have genuinely touched the hearts of many players.

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Many agree with the reddit post and express in their answers that they too wish for a romance with the narrator and can quite easily imagine it:

  • SynnerSaint writes: “She can have authority over me anytime”
  • ChosenOfTheMoon_GR writes: “This narrator has one of the most beautiful and seductive voices I have ever heard”
  • Janixon1 writes: “Whenever she says ‘authority’, I feel the blood draining from my head”

It is clear that the narrator has been able to captivate players, especially with her voice and her way of emphasizing things.

User “XChrisUnknownX” also thought about what such a possible love scene could look like or in this case sound like and writes: “Your wish to marry me is rising. What is this feeling? It flows through your mind, gnaws at every one of your thoughts. You are staring straight ahead into the empty field. Do you want to marry me?”

Which character would you like to see as another romance option in Baldur’s Gate 3? Discuss in the comments.

Famous actors have also tried their hand at Baldur’s Gate 3. You can see how that went here: Frodo and Sam play Baldur’s Gate 3 – and it goes exactly as you think it does

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

New Role-Playing Game on Steam Convincing Players with 7 Minutes of Gameplay in the Trailer – “Definitely a Buy on Day 1”

Linda Knabe Linda Knabe Reading time 2 minutes

The Thaumaturge is a new role-playing game on Steam, which aims to impress with a dark concept. In a new trailer, nearly 7 minutes of gameplay can now be seen, and this already convinces players to buy the game on the first day.

What kind of game is this? The Thaumaturge is a new role-playing game set to be released on February 20, 2024 on Steam. It is also expected to be available on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox. It is developed by 11 bit Studios, which is currently also working on Frostpunk 2.

  • The story takes place in 1905 in Warsaw and follows Wiktor Szulski, who returns to the vibrant city.
  • Wiktor is a Thaumaturge and can see, tame, and use Salutors (demons that feed on human weaknesses) in combat.
  • You can expect an isometric role-playing game where you have control over the course of the story and character development.

The latest trailer follows Wiktor on a quest and shows how he can use his abilities in exploration and combat:

Start video
The Thaumaturge shows in 7 minutes how you fight through the dark Warsaw

What excites the trailer? The trailer showcases nearly 7 minutes of gameplay from one of the possible quests. You get to see, among other things, world exploration, dialogues with NPCs, and combat gameplay.

Players seem to be quite convinced by the overall gameplay on display. Many people write in their comments (via YouTube) similarly to “GodSpeed9289” that it will definitely be a day-one purchase.

User “ordinaryfiver4403” even goes further, stating that he will not only buy the game on the first day, but that it will also be among his favorite games. He already decided this after the beta.

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New game on Steam could be the next hit for role-playing fans – ‘Could fill many empty hearts after Baldur’s Gate 3’
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Players are already believing in a new RPG hit

Right at the beginning of the trailer, the combat system is shown, which plays out in rounds and relies on a unique, dark concept. In combat, you not only use your own attacks or weaken the focus of your opponents with special abilities, but also utilize the various demons that you can acquire throughout the game.

These have different abilities that you can use in battle. For example, the demon Bukavac becomes stronger as your opponents weaken and can thus perform increasingly brutal attacks.

When exploring the world, you utilize Wiktor’s abilities to find hidden things and read the emotions associated with them. This could become important for you during the quests.

With the interesting concept and the dark world created for the game, players have definitely been convinced at this point. For example, “xdmeister8406” writes in his comment: “Man, I wish 11 bit would develop every video game…”. And also “mxjokereh” expects a lot from the game, stating: “I believe the developers don’t know that this game will destroy everything else at release”.

In an earlier trailer, The Thaumaturge was already compared to Baldur’s Gate 3. But another game can also be compared to the popular title: New RPG on Steam is like Baldur’s Gate 3 – But you can ride magical cowboys on dinosaurs

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

Netflix shows you a first glimpse of the highly anticipated 2nd season of Squid Game

Marie Friske Marie Friske Reading time 2 minutes

As part of the annual preview for 2024, Netflix presented a short first glimpse of the 2nd season of the South Korean hit series Squid Game, which is finally continuing after 3 years.

Squid Game was an absolute hit series upon its release in September 2021. The South Korean drama and thriller series by Hwang Dong-hyuk captivated Netflix viewers with its deadly games.

A few days ago, it was already announced to the shareholders that the 2nd season will be released this year.

Now Netflix has released a preview of the upcoming series and films of this year on YouTube – we also get a small glimpse of Squid Game here.

Here you can see Netflix’s annual outlook for 2024 for yourself:

Start video
NEXT ON NETFLIX 2024: The Series & Films Preview

What can be seen in the clip? In the short clip, you see Seong Gi-hun, the main character of the first season, at the airport, while the typical music from Squid Game plays in the background.

His phone rings. After he answers, he is threatened that he will regret his decision. Seong Gi-hun responds in anger: “I will find you. No matter the cost.“

If you want to know which new actors have joined the cast of Squid Game Season 2, then check out our colleagues at Filmstarts: Teaser-Trailer for “Squid Game” Season 2: These characters will fight for survival in the new killer games on Netflix

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When will Season 2 of Squid Game be released? So far, it is only known that we can look forward to the continuation of the South Korean series this year.

However, Netflix has not yet commented on the exact date. Additionally, nothing further is currently known about the plot of Season 2.

If you want to shorten the waiting time until Season 2 of Squid Game a bit, we have a suitable movie recommendation for you: A fascinating movie on Netflix is like “Squid Game”, but the game only ends when only one person is left

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. YouTube

EA FC 24: Streamer sells his favorite player for way too few coins – Blames his dog for it

Thomas Dummer Thomas Dummer Reading time 2 minutes

Getting his favorite player for Ultimate Team in EA FC 24 is sometimes not that easy, especially when he belongs to one of the rarest cards ever. A well-known streamer let this luxury cost him several million coins, but only seconds later, nothing was left of his very expensive purchase. He blamed it on his dog.

What is it about? The American streamer IshowSpeed has gained great fame and is even known in football circles for his enormous fan love for the Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.

For the Team-of-the-Year event, he even received a really strong card with heavy upgrades. After ‘Speed’ couldn’t pull him through various pack openings, the streamer gathered his courage and decided to buy his idol on the transfer market.

To welcome his favorite in a proper manner, he had a special guest on board during a livestream along with his community, who was to be honored in a special way. His dog was supposed to open the pack, which he did with the help of his owner. After the purchase was completed and the initial cheer over the absolute favorite player had subsided, however, came the big disillusionment.

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As quickly as TOTY Ronaldo came, he left again

What happened? When IShowSpeed finalized the purchase, he joyfully celebrated with his dog. Unfortunately, he seemingly completely ignored his controller. Under the scream of the streamer, it can be seen how he pushes TOTY Ronaldo into the Quick-Sell column and confirms this action. Even afterwards, wildly more windows open.

Instead of having his hero in his ranks, he unintentionally sold him for a fraction of the purchase price without realizing it. At that time, the streamer was not only without a TOTY Ronaldo but also 13 million coins poorer.

After he had calmed down somewhat, he initially searched in vain for a TOTY Ronaldo in his club. When he watched the replay of his own stream after unsuccessful attempts, he realized what HE had done.

Or, if one is to believe ‘Speed’s’ statements, one should actually say: … what HIS DOG had done. He stared at him with a serious face and accused him of selling his Ronaldo, repeatedly saying the name of the four-legged friend in a serious tone.

Not only was the poor little guy shaken up during the exuberant cheer and probably did not find his owner’s noise so great, but on top of that, he was also blamed for his owner’s recklessness.

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Happy ending for all involved: Web app makes it possible

What happened next? Fortunately for ‘Speed’, there is an option through the web app or the companion app for EA FC 24 to recover a certain number of discarded players. After he collected his thoughts after the initial shock, the streamer took this chance and looked for his sorted-out superstar on the web app. In the end, he was able to make up for the mishap and add TOTY Ronaldo back to his club.

Thus, the brief scare moment still ended well for everyone involved. IShowSpeed might be a bit more thoughtful in the future, which should also be better received by his little companion.

Even before the release of EA FC 24, we had previously reported about the streamer in connection with Cristiano Ronaldo. Back then, he was so upset about the new ratings of the superstar that it nearly choked him.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

Diablo 3: What is Thorn Damage and when do you use it?

Patrick Freese Patrick Freese Reading time 4 minutes

What does thorns damage mean in Diablo 3? We will show you here what you can do with this attribute and which classes it is used on.

What does thorns damage mean? This type of damage in Diablo reflects onto attackers. If you are hit by an opponent and you have thorns damage yourself, then this thorns damage is automatically dealt to the opponent, without you having to hit them yourself.

You can think of it like your armor literally having thorns. Tiny sharp spikes. If an opponent hits, shoots, or kicks your armor, they damage themselves on the spikes of your armor. That’s how it works in Diablo 3. The exciting thing is that Crusader builds revolve completely around this type of damage.

How to use thorns damage – Builds

Thorns damage on rare items: On the regular blue and yellow items in Diablo 3, you can see thorns damage as an affix. But legendary items and set pieces also revolve around thorns damage.

Generally, thorns damage only really makes a noticeable impact when it is significantly amplified. Like with the Thorns set of the Crusader.

Diablo 3 thorns
This is how Diablo 3 defines thorns damage

A popular build: Especially among Crusaders, thorns builds are popular. A set that fully utilizes this type of damage is the set “Thorns of the Invoker“.

You can already see from the set bonuses why these items are so strong.

  • 2-piece bonus: Your thorns damage is dealt to all enemies within 15 meters. It is increased by 90% for 2 seconds when you hit an opponent with ‘Punish’ or ‘Slash’ or block an attack. This effect is stackable up to 10 times.
  • 4-piece bonus: You take 50% less damage for 20 seconds after hitting an enemy with ‘Bombardment.’
  • 6-piece bonus: Increases the attack speed of ‘Punish’ and ‘Slash’ by 100%. These skills deal 67,500% of your thorns damage to the first enemy hit.

Additionally, you wear items like the Belt of the Trove. It calls down a bombardment every few seconds, keeping your 4-piece bonus active. Other items provide more damage reduction in your build so that you can withstand as much as possible when engaging enemies.

There are also abilities that work well with the set.

  • Iron Skin with the Rune Reflective Skin
    • Reduces damage taken and increases thorns damage by 300%
  • Provocation with the Rune Hit Me
    • Taunt, gain wrath, and increase block chance by 50%
  • Command of Valor with the Rune Unstoppable Force
    • For more damage
  • Akarat’s Champion with the Rune Prophet
    • For more damage and reduced damage taken
  • Punish with the Rune Speed
    • For higher block chances and faster attacks
  • Cavalry with the Rune Endurance
    • For mobility and speed
  • With the passive skills Heavenly Strength, Iron Maiden, Fanaticism, and Splendor, you distribute more damage and increase your thorns damage even further

A current build for the Thorns of the Invoker set can be found here on Maxroll.gg.

From the MeinMMO community: Our reader NewClearPower recommends here in the comments of the article two more builds.

The first is “a mix of ranged and melee, with basically only thick elite enemies coming into melee range.” You can find the build here on icy-veins.com.

The second build that NewClearPower recommends focuses on timing. It is a bit more difficult to play, but can “also wipe out multiple elite enemies at high rift levels in a single blow.” You can find this build here on icy-veins.com.

In the comments, you will also find more details about the play styles of these sets. Thank you, NewClearPower!

How strong is it? The thorns builds have various variants, as you can see on the Maxroll.gg website. Some of them are really strong. In our Tier List for Season 22 in Diablo 3, a thorns build lands in Tier A. So this is more than just “goofing around” and can become quite competitive.

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This is how it’s played: Ultimately, you run through the hordes of enemies with the build (on the horse) and let them hit you. The reflected thorns damage ensures that opponents die. With the other skills, you temporarily increase your damage and ensure that you take less damage. The build is based on surviving as long as possible so that you can deal your thorns damage for a longer time and survive against elite enemies.

Your target, however, are the elite groups. With your buffed thorns damage and the 6-piece bonus that deals 67,500% thorns damage to enemies, you quickly take them out. You effectively run through the non-elite enemies and occasionally reflect damage while focusing on the elite packs with your skills.

You can see what this looks like in this YouTube video from Diablo expert Wudijo:

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What are your experiences with thorns builds in Diablo 3? Have you tried any or is it a play style that you prefer to avoid? Share your opinions here on MeinMMO in the comments and discuss with other players.

Have you been away for a while? Starting from Season 23, Diablo 3 has finally become more attractive for solo players. Even outside the seasons.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

Starfield has only mediocre reviews on Steam – Can the new big update improve the mood?

Dariusz Müller Dariusz Müller Reading time 3 minutes

Starfield has received a large update with many improvements, but can the patch improve players’ mood?

What was the mood of Starfield players before the update? Not good. In January 2024, Starfield received a total of 4,091 player reviews on Steam, of which 69% were negative. This continues the trend from previous months.

The last time Starfield received more positive than negative reviews was on November 22. Since then, it has been steadily declining. Overall, Starfield is now only 62% positive on Steam and has thus fallen by 10% since its release in September.

Players complain about the same criticisms as during Starfield’s release:

  • constant loading screens while traveling
  • lifeless planets
  • the performance of the game in cities

Overall, the picture emerges of players who had high expectations for Starfield and were disappointed by the finished product.

Start video
Starfield – Official Gameplay Trailer

Patch brings a huge mountain of bug fixes and improvements

What kind of update was it? Bethesda released the large update 1.9.51 for Starfield on January 30. The patch is over 11 GB in size on Steam and brought numerous improvements to the sci-fi role-playing game.

For example, an issue with the PC version that could lead to a crash when switching from full-screen to windowed mode was fixed. Bethesda also addressed numerous bugs, such as incorrectly invisible creatures on some planets and the occurrence of corrupted save files.

One of the highlights of the patch is likely the improvements to the graphics of the role-playing game. For instance, the lighting of the game world was improved in 73 locations and reflections on water surfaces were also enhanced.

You can find the complete patch notes for update 1.9.51 on the official website of the developers at bethesda.net.

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The new patch does not convince critical players

How do players rate the update? Not really well. On X.com (formerly Twitter), the mood is somewhat positive, and players appreciate the developers’ efforts, but some fans are also demanding new features and further improvements.

On Reddit, it looks similar—but even more negative. Many players simply ask, “Was bug x also fixed?” (via Reddit), while others continue to voice criticism and conclude that the update does not make them want to return:

  • No-Internet-4630 via Reddit: “It feels like I’ve been battling glitches for weeks and getting nowhere. The latest update that came out yesterday fixed exactly 0 of the problems I’ve encountered. […] It’s also pretty sad because I really enjoyed this game and wished I could continue playing. But it’s just more frustrating than fun right now.”
  • thefluffyburrito via Reddit: “I think there are just too many issues with the game right now for me to ever want to play it the same way I did Skyrim. Even if the game were completely bug-free, I could talk for hours about a range of issues that either don’t exist in other Bethesda titles or are highly exaggerated in this game.”
  • Metalocachick via Reddit: “I just think the game is fundamentally flawed. I tried to enjoy it, I really did, because Bethesda is one of the reasons I love video games today… But after spending the last few months figuring out why I have zero to no desire to play this game again, I believe it’s because the design decisions are just bad.”

Can the update improve players’ mood? Partially. Despite all the criticism, there are positive posts about the game every day in the Starfield subreddit. There are indeed still players who continue to play and enjoy the game. Some even report having 700 to 800 hours in Starfield. Among the players, there are thus two camps:

  • In negative threads, mainly players who want to post their criticism gather.
  • In positive or neutral threads, mostly players who still like Starfield.

Positive-minded players do not really express themselves actively in the posts where criticism is gathered.

Those who already like Starfield appreciate the bug fixes. For those who are critical of the game, this is not enough. The update hasn’t really improved the mood except for players who were already somewhat positive. What will likely be more important in this regard is the release of the first expansion “Shattered Space”.

Only at the end of December did Bethesda announce the big plans they have for the role-playing game in 2024: Starfield reveals big plans for 2024, talks about new gameplay options, mod support, and the first expansion

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

MMORPG deceives its players for 10 years regarding loot: They are now filing a class action lawsuit

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

The South Korean MMORPG company Nexon is known for video games like The Finals or MapleStory. In December 2023, it was hit with a record fine: The company had deceived players of an MMORPG about the chances of loot boxes for 10 years, decided a trade commission, imposing a fine of 8.1 million euros. Now, more than 1000 people are launching a class action lawsuit.

What is the scandal about?

  • Nexon was accused of lying about the probabilities with which certain items drop from the loot boxes of the MMORPG MapleStory.
  • At the launch in March 2010, all items had the same drop probability. This was changed in September 2010.
  • The South Korean trade commission found: Particularly sought-after items had not come out of the cubes at all for over 10 years, between August 2011 and March 2021. However, Nexon denied having changed the probabilities.

The company sold the cubes for €1.40, generated almost €383.5 million in revenue over the 10 years, and was imposed a fine of €8.1 million. Nexon stated that it accepts the fine but reserves the right to contest the decision.

Start video
MapleStory introduces Arteria, the Moving Fortress

Players file class action lawsuit against Nexon over MapleStory

This is now the consequence: The fine against Nexon came through the trade oversight in South Korea. According to reports from South Korea, players of MapleStory have now filed a class action lawsuit against Nexon, seeking a refund of their expenditures and damages.

As of January 26, over 1000 people had joined this class action lawsuit, as reported by the site YTN.

The logic behind the lawsuit is: Had the buyers known the actual drop probabilities of the loot boxes, they would never have purchased them. They could not have guessed that the winning chances had been so manipulated.

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The plaintiffs apparently calculate good chances for their lawsuit, as the investigation by the trade commission has already brought the facts to light.

From South Korea, it is said: The implication of the lawsuit could have effects on other online games and how they handle the probabilities of comparable loot boxes.

More about the fraud case involving MapleStory, which we have reported extensively on MeinMMO: MMORPG defrauds players for 10 years shamelessly with loot boxes – Now has to pay record fine

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

Diablo 3: Obtain Ancient Ashes and Use in Kanai’s Cube

Patrick Freese Patrick Freese Reading time 2 minutes

In Diablo 3 Season 28, the “Archaic Ash” returned. We will explain in the guide how you can obtain the ash and what you can use it for.

What is Archaic Ash? This is a new feature that was introduced with Season 28 and Patch 2.7.5 in Diablo 3. It is meant to help you obtain the coveted Archaic items.

In this brief overview, we will show you everything you need to know about the new ash.

How do you get Archaic Ash?

What you need to do: If you have obtained an Archaic item, you can visit your blacksmith with it. Use the recycling function with them and then select the item for which you want to receive the ashes. You will receive 55 Archaic ashes for each recycled Archaic item.

Currently, there are no other ways to obtain the resource.

What can you do with it? With the material, you can upgrade other items. If you have unlocked Kanai’s Cube, you will find a new recipe there starting from Season 28. With this recipe, you can upgrade a Legendary item that you have not crafted into an Archaic item.

Diablo-3-Archaische-Asche

Here’s the limitation: You can’t simply upgrade your entire equipment with the recipes. There is a limit to this.

Only one upgraded Archaic item can be worn at a time. You cannot equip more than one at the same time.

Blizzard further explains (via diablo3.com): “[…] upgraded archaic items do not retain the attributes of the legendary item used. New affixes will be rolled for all upgraded archaic items.”

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With this method, you obtain the new ashes and can further process them in your build. However, you first need to unlock the special items and then acquire them as well.

How to unlock Archaic items in Diablo 3 and get one guaranteed is detailed in our guide on MeinMMO.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

It was criticized at release, but now Humankind is a strong strategy game on Steam

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 3 minutes

The strategy game Humankind was met with disappointment at its release in 2021 by many strategy fans: A fantastic graphic attracted many, but problems in the game concept quickly frightened off genre enthusiasts. MeinMMO author Schuhmann has spent 150 hours in Humankind on Steam and says: This is a good, shorter alternative to Civilization VI.

What is Humankind?

  • Humankind is a classic turn-based strategy game like Civilization in the 4X niche: You lead a part of humanity through the millennia, from the first settlements to the Mars colony.
  • The game was released in 2021 for Windows and came out in 2023 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X. The game has since received expansions and regular updates, the latest just a few weeks ago.
  • Humankind currently costs €50 – you need to show some patience here, as it was available for €10 in a sale in January. This will surely happen again.
Start video
HUMANKIND – Official Launch Trailer

Humankind was criticized as “great presentation, weak gameplay”

What was the problem at release? Humankind had a tough time with strategy gamers at release. It was quickly labeled as a graphical tease: It looks great, but lacks depth and a solid gaming system.

Especially some systems surrounding declarations of war, demands, and religion are still highly controversial. For example, diplomacy in the game can play a trick on you when you are forced by the “Congress of Humanity” to change a religion, or when you diplomatically lose a war, even though you feel like you didn’t even fight it.

Moreover, there were genius blunders, such as a 7-day exclusive beta for the doomed console Google Stadia, and somehow a picture of the unfortunate game set in:

  • On Metacritic, Humankind only received 77 out of 100 points – the eternal rival Civilization VI, from 2016, stands at 88 out of 100 points.
  • On Steam, Humankind fares even worse: Here, only 66% of the reviews are positive, while Civ VI enjoys 86%.

You can read the review of Humankind by our colleagues at GameStar .

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Settings make a big difference

What makes Humankind appealing? I have now spent 150 hours in Humankind on Steam, and it was love at second sight. At release, I had already played the game for 30 days on Xbox Game Pass and hadn’t really warmed up to it.

Humankind not only has fantastic graphics, presentation, and is generally easy to read, but it also offers players some quirks and challenges that one must indeed get used to. Particularly, the expansion at the beginning of the game is important, and you can expand any city into new zones as you like, but you always have to be careful not to overdo it:

  • If you build too large cities, stability decreases and you have a problem.
  • If you found too many small cities, you exceed the city cap and the important resource “influence” dwindles.

A problem is also the map size, because in a “huge map” Humankind tends to meander and remains bland for a long time.

I only really warmed up to Humankind when I limited the map size to normal but started with 10 players. This way, you already have contact and war with opponents in the first years, can expand, and have constant action.

The appeal of change and the new

This is the main difference from Civilization VI: What Humankind offers, which Civ VI lacks: With each epoch, you can choose a new civilization and thereby gain special abilities. Finding the ideal combination of civilizations in succession to build the best special buildings in each epoch is the unique charm of Humankind. Here players can let their preferences run free:

  • I start with the nomadic people “Harapans”, who have particularly strong scouts to raid opponents early, and choose a food bonus.
  • Then I switch to the Mayans to build industry, followed by the Aztecs, who ensure faith gains and urgently needed stability with their eternal “sacrifices”.
  • In modern times, I switch to “Joseon”, practically Korea for a research boost, then I transition to Italy to increase influence before finishing the game as Japan (strong industry).

But surely everyone finds a different combination of civilizations for their own playstyle, whether it is aggressive, cultural, or economically focused.

I can recommend Humankind as a “faster alternative” to Civilization 6 for anyone who has gotten tired of the classic, and who is not discouraged by the negative reviews.

More about strategy games on MeinMMO: Steam: I am obsessed with the perfect start in Civilization 6 and have been loading the same save file for 2 years.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.