A bad talisman in Elden Ring makes the strongest strategy against bosses even better

Marko Jevtic Marko Jevtic Reading time 4 minutes

The Ash of the Mimic Tear is a popular tool in Elden Ring. Even after the nerf, this NPC summon is a massive support in every boss fight. With a clever trick, you can get the absolute best out of it. MeinMMO tells you more.

Patch 1.03 has nerfed the Ash of the Mimic Tear. This caused a big stir in the community. Users of the Ash were concerned that it was now useless; purists hoped that more people would have to “play the game correctly”.

However, none of these reactions have proven true. The Mimic Tear does less damage after the nerf, but that was never its main strength. Instead, this summon is so incredibly powerful because it distracts bosses and takes damage in your place.

With a clever trick, you can leverage this and make the best of the Mimic Tear even better. And it’s really easy to do.

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In the MeinMMO podcast, we discuss whether you can play Elden Ring incorrectly

Mimic Tear becomes stronger when you briefly equip a bad talisman

How does this strategy work? For this clever trick, you first need the Ash of the Mimic Tear. This NPC summon is an exact copy of your character, including your weapons, armor, and talismans. This clone then fights independently with you against the bosses.

You can find the Ash of the Mimic Tear in Nokron. We’ll tell you exactly where in detail in this article:

More on the topic
How to find the Mimic Tear in Elden Ring – Makes every boss ridiculously easy
von Marko Jevtic

Next, you need the talisman Shabriris Woe. You can find it in the game world (more on that later), but you can also select it as a keepsake right at the beginning of the game. However, this is not recommended.

Because Shabriris Woe is one of the worst talismans in the game. Once you equip this item, you continuously attract enemy aggression. You essentially make yourself automatically and voluntarily public enemy number one in the Lands Between, with no positive side effect, unless you play solo.

Elden Ring Shabriris Woe Description
Shabriris Woe is actually one of the worst talismans in the game.

But you can use this negative effect with the Mimic Tear to your advantage. And that against every boss. Here’s how:

  • Equip the talisman Shabriris Woe.
  • Enter the boss room and the area where you can summon spirits with an ash. You can recognize these zones by the gravestone symbol at the left edge of the screen.
  • Summon the Mimic Tear.
  • Immediately take off the talisman Shabriris Woe.

What is the effect? With these steps, you’ve ensured that the Mimic Tear has equipped Shabriris Woe. And as long as it is active. However, you immediately take off the talisman, so you are no longer affected by the effect.

This means your clone continuously draws aggro from the boss. The boss is completely distracted by the Mimic Tear and is only hitting your clone. You, in turn, have all the time in the world to deal damage to the boss.

This strategy works against every boss and enemy where you can also summon a spirit. Whether and when this is possible is indicated by this symbol in the HUD:

elden-ring-spirit-summoning-symbol
This symbol shows you that you can summon a spirit like the Mimic Tear

How to find the talisman Shabriris Woe

Since you probably and correctly did not select the talisman as a keepsake, you need to find it in the game world for this strategy.

The talisman is hidden in the Village of the Raging Flame in Liurnia. This is not far from a tower that gives you the madness status effect just from looking at it. Just ride past quickly.

Elden Ring Shabriris Woe Location
You can find the talisman Shabriris Woe at the southern end of the Village of the Raging Flame in Liurnia

You reach the village or the tower itself by turning right towards the east just before the Dectus lift that takes you to the Altus Plateau.

The talisman is located at the southwestern end of the village, at a tower. It’s not hard to find there. In case of doubt, you can check the exact location on the interactive map.

More about Elden Ring:

This is how you find the worst talisman in the game, Shabriris Woe, which makes a strong strategy even better with a clever trick. Do you often use the Mimic Tear? Do you still do so after the patch? If so, do you find the patch reasonable? And what do you think about this strategy? Let us know in the comments.

Since the Mimic Tear clones your entire build, it’s worth equipping the best weapons in the game. In our weapon tier list, we tell you how good each of the 309 weapons in the game is and which ones you should definitely play:

Elden Ring Tier List – All 309 weapons ranked after Patch 1.03

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

Witcher 4 has been announced, but not for you

Irina Moritz Irina Moritz Reading time 2 minutes

At the Game Developers Conference 2022, developer CD Projekt Red announced their next Witcher game. What you can expect from the sudden announcement will be revealed in the new episode of the MeinMMO Podcast.

This is what happened: A news spread like wildfire through the gaming community on March 21: The new Witcher game has been announced! A flood of reactions overwhelmed forums and social media.

Many of them were euphoric and celebrated the announcement. Others were more cautious and repeatedly mentioned the problematic launch of Cyberpunk 2077.

So far, however, very little is known about the game. It is said to be open world again and tell an entirely new story that is not based on the book’s template. Players also do not need prior knowledge of the previous games to understand this new story.

In the new special episode of the podcast, Leya, Schuhmann, and Micha from GameStar discuss what the announcement means and what we as players can expect from it.

Here you can listen:

You can also listen to the podcast here:

Another open-world hit that is currently being talked about a lot in the gaming community is the action RPG Elden Ring. If you want to jump into the challenging game as a newcomer, we can tell you what to expect there.

You can find more episodes of the MeinMMO podcast here:

Suggestions or criticism?

Here’s how you can contribute: You can actively participate in improving the podcast. If you have feedback, suggestions, or criticism, or just want to submit a cool topic proposal that should definitely be discussed, then take a look at our Discord server.

Alternatively, you can also directly email us at [email protected] and share your thoughts with us. Share your opinion in the comments.

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

Lost Ark: Learn to whistle – How to get this important emote

Alexander Leitsch Alexander Leitsch Reading time 2 minutes

The emote “Whistling” is needed in Lost Ark for a useful relationship quest. Through this, you can obtain gold and epic engraving manuals. We at MeinMMO will reveal where you can learn to whistle.

How to get the emote whistling? To learn the emote, you need reputation level 3 with “Insects in the Grassfields.” You level up this reputation through the daily quests from Unas Tasks.

First, you must complete the quests “Ruffians in the Ground.” This takes place on the island of the Azure Winds south of Rohendel and requires a gear score of 802 or higher. Once you have completed this quest, you can level up the reputation faction.

You can then pick up the whistling as a reward once you have raised the reputation of “Insects in the Grassfields” to level 3 out of 3. However, to gather enough reputation, you must complete quests for this faction for at least 15 days.

It is advisable to place the Bifrost point on the island of the Azure Winds for reputation grinding.

Lost Ark Whistling Unlock
In this section of Una’s Tasks, you will find the emote.

Why is whistling important? The whistling can generally be used as an emote at any time. However, it becomes especially useful in connection with the relationship quest to the NPC Nagi. This NPC is located in the village of Nia in Punika.

Epic Engraving Manuals and Other Useful Rewards

What does the relationship quest bring? You will receive the relationship quest with Nagi after you reach item level 1,100 in Feiton. It is called “Strange Symptoms.”

After you have completed the first tasks, you must whistle for quest progression. This is only possible if you already possess the emote.

More about Lost Ark on MeinMMO:

Once you have established a friendly relationship with Nagi, you will receive, among other things, two bags of engraving manuals of the Honor Battle, which may provide either an epic or even legendary engraving manual. This reward is where the whistling plays an important role.

You will also receive 2,200 gold once you reach the rank “Familiar.”

Start video
Everything you need to know about Lost Ark’s endgame – in the video

Have you already unlocked the emote whistling? Or do you know of other places where whistling gives you an advantage? Feel free to write it in the comments.

All our guides to Lost Ark, including beginner guides, builds, and generally useful tips, can be found in our comprehensive overview:

Lost Ark Guides: All tips, tricks, and builds at a glance

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

Pokémon GO: 4 % of you like the smoke change – “Let the lazy finally run again”

Franzi Korittke Franzi Korittke Reading time 4 minutes

In Pokémon GO some changes regarding smoke were made a few days ago. We at MeinMMO wanted to know how you feel about them. In the meantime, more than 2,900 readers have participated in the survey. We have summarized the results for you here.

What changes are we talking about? With the beginning of the Alola season, Niantic not only ushered in a new season, but also introduced some changes related to smoke and Raid Passes.

The goal is primarily to get trainers out of their comfort zone and send them back outside. After all, that was the original game concept of Pokémon GO. Therefore, since March 1, 2022, the following innovations have been implemented:

  • up to 2 free Raid Passes per day when you spin a PokéStop
  • Smoke now lasts 90 minutes
  • Smoke is more effective when moving (about 1 Pokémon per minute)
  • When stationary, smoke attracts fewer Pokémon (about 1 creature in 5 minutes)

However, especially the changes regarding smoke have caused a lot of discussions on social networks. For this reason, we wanted to know from you in the past days how you like the smoke changes:

More on the topic
Pokémon GO: 15 days after the smoke change, how do you like it?
von Franzi Korittke

You have a clear opinion about the smoke change

These are the results: On March 15, we asked you in our related article how you liked the smoke changes. As of March 22, 2022, at 11:55 AM, a total of 2,972 people participated.

Your answers clearly indicate that you have a pretty clear opinion on the smoke change. We received the following results from the survey:

  • 2,727 votes (92 %) for “I think the change is bad”
  • 124 votes (4%) for “I think the change is good”
  • 121 votes (4 %) for “I don’t care about the change”

Accordingly, the overwhelming majority of trainers are dissatisfied with the new smoke conditions. Nevertheless, 124 participants think the new changes are good. To better understand their respective decisions, some readers elaborated in the comments of our article and in our Facebook group about why they made their choices in the survey.

Why did you decide this way?

This is why they find the change bad: For most trainers, the reduced spawn rate when stationary is a major problem. In 2020, Niantic made the smoke more effective even for playing from home as part of the COVID bonuses due to the ongoing pandemic.

This allowed players to catch about one Pokémon every minute even while stationary. In the meantime, trainers have become accustomed to this premium item and mainly used the smoke as a supplement during events in recent months.

Furthermore, the increased spawn rate also made it possible and easier to play in bad weather, in areas with few PokéStops, or during quarantine. Now, trainers can no longer benefit from this advantage and must leave their homes for more spawns. This is also reflected in your comments (Facebook/MeinMMO):

Note: For better understanding, we have corrected the following comments for spelling and grammar. The content remains unchanged.
  • Attila M.: “Nothing for quarantine”
  • Hans-Martin I: “Very disadvantageous for people with disabilities”
  • Chrissie E.: “The smoke is now rubbish. At home, 1 to 2 Pokémon spawn, and due to my shift work and working in the middle of nowhere, the smoke was great… especially when you had to work on C-Day, you could at least try to catch Shinys… and last week I was sick and going outside didn’t really work and thus the smoke was pointless from the couch… They should change it back and make it like it was before…”
  • Melanie L.: “Well, I’ve been here from the beginning, but the smoke has never been this bad. It has become completely useless and pointless. Even when moving properly, the spawn rate is really poor, to the point where you don’t even notice a difference whether you activated it or not. This article is definitely going to be a dead stock in the shop now.”

More about Pokémon GO:

  • CHRISTIAN: “I think the smoke should be strengthened again, as it is really hard to complete the tasks in villages and there is much more going on in cities. So please Niantic, strengthen the smoke again. Otherwise, I won’t buy a pass anymore, since I can’t finish it anyway.”
  • HIOBtheDragon: “The smoke change makes the item partly simply USELESS! When you are on the go, you don’t need it, and when stationary, it’s not even as promised that a Pokémon spawns every 5 minutes, but (after multiple tests) about every 10-20 minutes. Once I had to wait almost half an hour. Overall, Pokémon GO is strongly declining, and the fun of the game is not really there anymore. If I weren’t so stubborn, I probably would have stopped playing a few weeks ago.”

This is what you like about the new smoke: However, not all trainers find the smoke change bad. After all, 4% can find something positive in it and even see it as an improvement to the game. They primarily hope that more trainers will head outside to play again. This is also evident in their comments (MeinMMO):

  • Malte: “I think it’s good like that. Pokémon GO is not responsible for whether you can’t play just because you are sick or the weather is bad. They were more than generous in the last two years, and I’m tired of how many lazy people complain that they can no longer play the game from home. Personally, I like to use smoke when I’m in villages or out in nature, where there are hardly any stops.”
  • erzi222: “Good, let the lazy people finally run again! It’s a GO game, not one for home.”
  • zigZag: “The smoke is simply a comfort bonus. I only used the ‘better’ smoke at the beginning, but even then I quickly lost interest because I simply didn’t want to sit on the couch for an hour and stare at my phone.”

Moreover, a few readers, like ZigZag, suggest that the smoke could be strengthened again during certain events, like Community Days.

Whether Niantic will heed this criticism and adjust the smoke in favor of the players remains to be seen for now. If there are any new updates, you will find out here on MeinMMO.

What is your opinion on the current smoke? Let us know in the comments!

Moreover, a few readers, like ZigZag, suggest that the smoke could be strengthened again during certain events, like Community Days.

Whether Niantic will heed this criticism and adjust the smoke in favor of the players remains to be seen for now. If there are any new updates, you will find out here on MeinMMO.

What is your opinion on the current smoke? Let us know in the comments!

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

Find Your Next Game: Spring – Many new games in April!

Benedict Grothaus Benedict Grothaus Reading time < 1 minutes

In the first week of April, we will present many new titles in our livestream and on our websites again. There will also be live gameplay, a live podcast, and some surprises.

At the beginning of April, it’s time on our websites GameStar.de, GamePro.de, MeinMMO.de and on our livestreaming channel Monsters and Explosions on Twitch again Find Your Next Game – short FYNG.

In the Spring Edition, we will present you with numerous new games in over 20 livestream hours and many preview articles, including some exclusive new gameplay.

We will broadcast live from April 4 to 7 from late afternoon until late at night.

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In addition to the game presentations, we offer a Ask-me-Anything round with representatives from all three editorial offices, a live podcast, and a talk on board games for role players. Of course, there will also be live gameplay again, presumably a brand new co-op hit.

For the game presentations, we have well-known developers in interviews who will answer your questions. You can ask our experts live in the stream or express your opinions as always.

Soon, you will learn more about FYNG: Spring here, including the expected broadcast schedule and the topic of the big live podcast.

Here you can already listen to current podcast episodes:

In addition to the streams and talks, you will find detailed articles on all three sites about the featured games as well as insider tips from the editorial teams. You are sure to find a hit or two that will captivate you for the coming weeks or even months. You can find all previous presentations from MeinMMO in our FYNG hub:

All game presentations from Find Your Next Game from previous years

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

CS:GO: Professional team throws a player out in the middle of a match – “He is drunk”

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

In Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Steam), the team Strife released one of their players during an official league match. The 21-year-old American cxzi played so poorly that teammates thought he must be drunk. And he apparently actually was.

This is how the situation looked from the outside:

  • The team Strife played against the team MIBR in the ESL Challenger League. Strife lost the first map 16-5.
  • In particular, the professional player Danny “czxi” Strzeczy seemed completely out of form. He had one of the worst games of his career and ended with a rating of 0.45.
  • After the first map, there was a long break. Then Strife announced that cxzi would not play in the next map – and would not compete for Strife for the entire season. Austin “AAustiN” Urb was substituted in, but couldn’t save the situation either. The next map was lost 16-6.
More on the topic
Man dressed up as “Only for Women” tournament in CS:GO – Totally exposed
von Schuhmann

Player reportedly slurred and played complete nonsense

What happened there? As the website dust2.us reports, the player cxzi was apparently intoxicated when he played the match.

According to his own statements, the 21-year-old had taken about “5 drinks” between 2 PM and 4:30 PM, before he arrived for the match at 7 PM. Strife had thrown cxzi out of the team after the game and terminated his contract.

It is said that one of the players suspected in Round 1 that cxzi had been drinking. By Round 2, the rest of the team noticed as well.

One player said that cxzi must have “just come from a dentist appointment and can’t use his face or he is drunk.”

When cxzi was inexplicably separated from his team during the bomb planting, they were sure, “he must be drunk.”

Player posts suspicious video with “beer bongs” before the match

It was also added that cxzi reportedly slurred during the match. The player apparently posted a story on Snapchat after the match showing some people using “beer bongs” and “shotgunning” beer. This is when someone punctures a hole in a beer can and then drinks it as quickly as possible.

What does the player say? The player claims that he posted the video but was not there. He seems to admit that he drank something before the match, but in his perception, he was apparently not drunk. He says:

“In the end, I’m the only one who can assess how I feel. People make assumptions about how I spoke or so, and have “evidence” against me, but that proves nothing.”

We have reported on MeinMMO before about professionals in CS:GO who ruin their careers:

Player sabotages professional career in CS:GO at 14, sues Valve at 18

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. dust2.us

Ubisoft has developed a technique to create even larger games than Far Cry 6 – Who needs that?

Tarek Zehrer Tarek Zehrer Reading time 4 minutes

Ubisoft has recently introduced a new cloud-based technology called “Scalar.” This is said to allow for the creation of “even larger worlds.” In the presentation, this was portrayed as something good. MeinMMO author Tarek Zehrer, however, believes: Games don’t need this.

What kind of technology is this? Here’s the summary:

  • Scalar is based on cloud technology but is not meant to be a streaming platform like GeForce Now or Google Stadia.
  • Rather, the cloud takes over tasks that would otherwise have to be calculated by graphics cards and chips thanks to Scalar. Thus, for example, the computation of AIs, in-game physics, and other things could be outsourced.
  • This is expected to make it possible to create technically more demanding games without needing to upgrade the hardware again.

Here you can watch the trailer:

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The announcement states that Scalar is supposed to enable “even larger” games. At first glance, that sounds good. But then I remembered how Ubisoft’s games have been structured over the years and how the infamous Ubisoft formula has established itself.

For me, this is not good news. It’s akin to a threat.

The Ubisoft formula shows that “larger” does not equal “better game world”.

Ubisoft has built in a number of systems and features in numerous franchises like Assassin’s Creed or Far Cry 6 that are nearly identical in every new installment. This is known among gamers as the Ubisoft formula.

The best example here is Far Cry 6, which was released 10 years after the 3rd part of the series. But regardless of whether it’s 2012 or 2022, the pattern has remained exactly the same:

  • One takes a “twisted” setting with an “iconic villain”
  • Add a huge game world as an adventure playground.
  • Some generic enemy strongholds are interspersed, mixed with repetitive mission types.
  • On top of that, one adds imposed RPG mechanics, predictable skill trees, and resource grinding.
  • The whole thing is framed by a meaningless story that can at best pretend to be provocative.
  • Also “iconic” are the lookout towers that reveal parts of the map. This mechanic has been copied numerous times in other games since then.

The series evolved from action- and story-heavy games with compact open worlds to games with absurdly large worlds.

The maps are getting larger and larger, while the content becomes more monotonous, stretched, and generic. This video shows you how ridiculous the dimensions have become:

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And now Ubisoft wants to bring even larger games with new technology? For whom, who even wants this? One can only hope that with “larger” something other than the dimension of the next mega-map is meant.

Open-world games need many things, but not more boring time-eating tasks

I am a fan of games with large, open worlds and have loved many of them. And yes, I used to have fun with games like Far Cry 3 or Assassin’s Creed Black Flag.

But back then, these formulas were still relatively new and served their purpose, especially since they were created due to the limited resources of the developers. However, if, almost 10 years later, there are barely any advancements in terms of variety and quality, I start to wonder.

Ubisoft should focus much more on filling larger worlds with meaningful content rather than creating larger worlds. Because nothing is more boring these days than a packed, generic game world where nothing feels special.

There are plenty of examples that do it better.

  • Those include games like Elden Ring, Zelda: Breath of the Wild, or Red Dead Redemption 2. They are by no means perfect, also have massive dimensions and their own issues.
  • But they fill these game worlds in a meaningful way, or offer outstanding gameplay, as in the case of Breath of the Wild’s sandbox mechanics. Thanks to the incredibly good game physics and the possibilities to exploit them, the world has a pull and is literally a playground.
  • Or they are extremely immersive like RDR2, which presents a believable world at the beginning of the 20th century in the dying Wild West, including a grand story and characters. The game world serves here as an unbelievably beautiful backdrop that carries the main story while still offering freedoms for players who want to spend more time in it.
  • Elden Ring, on the other hand, excels in using exploration as a central gameplay mechanic and does not throw everything at you with quest markers. No matter which corner you are currently exploring, there’s something cool to discover. It hides its valuable loot so well sometimes, that it makes you really paranoid. That’s why, in my eyes, it also has the best open world to date.

Such elements are clearly missing in games like Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry. The maps are littered with icons, the backdrops are beautiful, but offer hardly any interaction options. There is now no feature, aside from their size and nice graphics, that really stands out.

In this regard, I hope that Ubisoft doesn’t mean simply enlarging the maps with “larger.” Rather, the technology should be used to move away from the efficient but excessively worn-out Ubisoft formula and bring some depth to the worlds.

More on the topic:

Whether this happens, I doubt it. The successes of Far Cry 6 and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla show that the Ubisoft formula is at least financially very profitable.

So why dismantle a functioning system? But hope dies last, and perhaps Scalar will indeed turn out to be a “game changer.”

But what do you think about the topic? Do you have similar concerns or are you more optimistic than I am?

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

Because WoW is no longer playable in Russia, an old game is now bursting at the seams

Alexander Leitsch Alexander Leitsch Reading time 3 minutes

Large MMORPGs like WoW and New World are currently no longer playable in Russia. The reason for this is sanctions related to the Ukraine conflict. The old MMORPG Allods Online is therefore enjoying great popularity. The developers even had to open three new servers.

What is currently happening in Allods Online?

Russian players flood Allods Online – now has eight times as many players as before

What exactly is the player surge like? As mail.ru reports, more than eight times as many people are currently playing Allods Online as before the shutdown of WoW. Three completely new servers have even been opened, the last one on Saturday.

This surge can also be seen very clearly on Steam. There, the Russian version reached an all-time record of 2,198 concurrent players. Just in February, an average of nearly 100 people played the Russian version of Allods via Steam (via SteamDB). The number of peak players has thus increased nearly 22-fold.

An insight into the MMORPG is provided by this video from YouTuber Airini’s Legacy, who tried it out in February 2022:

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Does this surge also affect the western version? No. Those who want to play Allods Online in English, German, or French are still almost alone in the game world. The western version has a peak of 30 concurrent players on Steam in the last 24 hours.

Although there is also a separate client outside of Steam, Allods Online players themselves say that there is hardly anything happening on the western servers.

Our expertise at MeinMMO pertains to gaming. Anyone wanting to delve deeper into the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is advised to consult official sites or news magazines:

– Ukraine Live Blog (via Zeit)
– War against Ukraine (via Tagesschau)
– Solidarity with Ukraine (via auswärtiges-amt)

Important Note: If you are troubled by dark thoughts due to the current situation: You are not alone. Please seek help. For example, at the telephone counseling service at 0800/111 0 111 or the online counseling, where you can also use a chat. It is free and applies nationwide.

Allods Online resembles WoW in space

What kind of game is this? Allods Online is a Free2Play MMORPG that is strongly reminiscent of WoW. It features similar visuals and the same game systems, but in a space scenario. It was released in 2009 and still receives regular major updates.

  • You follow a story that is told through quests
  • You can join a guild to experience content together
  • There are dungeons and raids in the endgame
  • You can use a crafting system
  • There are also special PvP maps where you can compete against other players. The largest map offers a 24 vs 24 battle

However, Allods Online has never been particularly successful in the West. There has been significant criticism of the shop system from the beginning, which many consider to be Pay2Win. However, there are now two versions of the game: a Free2Play version and a pure subscription server where there is no in-game shop.

An MMORPG currently being implemented by some Ukrainian staff has posted a status update. In it, they explain what is currently happening in the studio:

Ukrainian studio behind Corepunk explains what it’s like to develop an MMORPG during the war

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

A new survival game with vampires is coming to Steam soon – Here’s how to get into the secret closed beta

Jürgen Horn Jürgen Horn Reading time 2 minutes

V Rising is a survival game where you play as a vampire and become stronger. However, you need to survive long enough in a creepy world and fend off hunters and other monsters. The game will soon enter beta on Steam. Everything you need to know is here at MeinMMO.

What kind of game is this? In V Rising, you play as a small, weak vampire who has been stripped of his power. But this is not how it should stay. Gradually, you attempt in the game to regain your old strength and power. To do this, you must feast on the blood of humans and creatures and also rebuild your vampire castle.

V Rising is a survival game. But with reversed roles, as you are actually the monster that haunts the world. However, there are also other creatures in the dark, Eastern Europe-inspired world, such as werewolves, forest spirits, or vampire hunters. Additionally, sunlight weakens you, and you need to find a hiding spot in time.

The studio behind V Rising is Stunlock Studios. They developed successful and fun games like Bloodline Champions and Battlerite. Therefore, you can expect action-packed battles and sophisticated gameplay in V Rising.

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Closed Beta starting soon on Steam

What are the features? The features of V Rising mainly include the vampire horror setting and the action-packed gameplay. Additionally, there are other features:

  • A personal vampire castle serving as a base. There should be up to 50 castles per server
  • Full loot – if you die, you lose everything and have to gather it again
  • A day-night cycle that determines whether you are stronger or weaker
  • MMO features include PvP, PvE, co-op, and clans

When does the beta start? If you are already looking forward to fun action fights with vampires, we have good news for you. The first round of the closed beta starts on March 23. It is under an NDA, so you are not allowed to share anything about your experiences in the vampire world.

The beta will last for a week, and there will be further test phases at the end of April and in May.

More about new MMOs and survival games:

How do you get into the beta? The secret closed beta of V Rising will only allow 3,000 players into the world for a week. You can sign up on the developers’ homepage.

If you don’t have luck this time, you may still get into the upcoming beta events in April and May. Please remember that due to the NDA, you are not allowed to publish or stream anything from the game. The developers want to keep the game content secret and test at this development stage.

After the tests, an early access phase is supposed to follow, in which everyone will be able to play the game.

V Rising could actually be one of the first new survival games you can play in 2022. You can find more from the genre in our list:

7 new survival games to look forward to in 2021 and 2022

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

LoL: A 19-year-old is the best player in Korea – He plays the most thankless role

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

In League of Legends, the only 19-year-old Ryu “Keria” min-seok was voted the most valuable player of the Korean LCK league. This is unusual: Because he plays the most thankless role, the Support. And he has the greatest player of all time in LoL, Faker, on his team.

Who is he?

  • Keria is one of the greatest talents that has ever existed in LoL. He was discovered at the age of 16 by coach cvMax at “Kingzone Dragon”. The controversial coach is known for having an eye for talent but is rough with his players: He is said to have once choked one of his players.
  • Keria made his breakthrough in 2020 with DRX, who made it to the Worlds. After the tournament, the highly talented team fell apart. Midlaner Chovy, who is now cult-like worshipped, also played there.
  • Keria landed at T1, the team of three-time world champion Faker. In 2021, it was only so-so – in the middle of the season, they even fired the coaches, but still made it to the semifinals of the Worlds. In spring 2022, however, T1 is the probably best team in the world, and Keria is the best player.
More on the topic
LoL: T1 buys Faker 2 brilliant world champion coaches – fires them after only 7 months
von Schuhmann

T1 and Keria break records in LoL in 2022

Why was Keria chosen for the Pvp? It was actually clear that T1 would provide the “MVP” 2022. Because T1 played a “perfect” regular season. With 18-0, they set a new historical record in the LCK. No LCK team had ever achieved such dominance even remotely before.

Normally, one would assume that the superstar of the team, midlaner Faker, would be crowned MVP or perhaps the ADC Gumayusi. But Keria apparently is seen as even more valuable.

Keria:

Keria is known for his engages, for his “initiation of fights”. If a supporter manages to immobilize or slow down opponents with CC abilities at the start of a team fight in LoL, he prepares a victory for his team.

Keria is regarded as the “master of engages”. His favorite champs in Season 12 are champs like Nautilus, Thresh, Karma, and Tahm Kench. Especially the rather aggressive support champion Thresh is considered over the years to be his “signature pick”, the champ with which Keria is most strongly associated.

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Keria is known for his brutal engages that decide a teamfight right from the start.

Keria is the 1st supporter to be voted MVP in Korea

What makes the MVP so special? Normally, the “Support” in LoL is the most thankless role because he gets the fewest kills and is there to set up the ADC, heal him, and support him.

Therefore, in the history of the LCK, a supporter has never managed to win the MVP award.

Keria is now the first in the history of the LCK – and he is only 19 years old.

In July 2021, we featured the then 18-year-old Keria on MeinMMO:

An 18-year-old is considered a “monster” and “genius” in LoL – while playing the most thankless role

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

WoW: Blizzard is indeed listening – Mage Tower will be opened permanently

Cortyn Cortyn Reading time 3 minutes

The biggest challenge for solo players in World of Warcraft is becoming permanent. The Mage Tower from Legion opens its gates – permanently.

For many years, Blizzard had to listen to complaints that they were not addressing the community’s wishes and that long-demanded improvements were simply always postponed. But for some months now, Blizzard has been proving the opposite in World of Warcraft and is making an effort to implement the community’s wishes. More account-bound progress, cross-faction play and now the Mage Tower – it will soon be permanently accessible.

What is the Mage Tower? The Mage Tower in World of Warcraft represents a series of special challenges that were originally introduced in the “Legion” expansion. Each player could tackle a particularly tough boss fight alone and unlock special skins for the then-artifact weapon.

In the new version of the Mage Tower, character values are scaled down, so that the difficulty of the past is almost entirely preserved. This time, the rewards include entire transmog sets and even a mount if someone completes all available fights.

WoW Mage Tower Return Blood Elf Paladin Yes title 1280x720

Time-limited Mage Tower led to frustration in WoW

What was the problem? The return of the Mage Tower was a highlight for many players in the current “Shadowlands” expansion – even though it was only a small part of the Timewalking event. But that was exactly the problem. The Mage Tower turned out to be quite challenging and, thanks to its connection to the Timewalking event, was only accessible for a few weeks a year. This led to great pressure for participants and even more frustration when it didn’t work out.

Some players were even completely scared off by this strict time limit and didn’t even attempt it.

Many players even used boosting services or lent their accounts to other players to have them complete the Mage Tower for them. This led to bans by Blizzard – many accounts also had their rewards removed.

What will Blizzard change? The Mage Tower will be permanently open in the future, and the connection to the “Timewalking: Legion” event will be removed. You will then be able to try to defeat the various bosses of your specializations at your leisure to earn the rewards. The developers stated on the official WoW website:

UPDATE: When we originally developed the Legion Timewalking bonus event, we looked for fun features from Legion that we could add. Time-lost keystones were one part of that, the Mage Tower was another.

After hearing the feedback and seeing how [the Mage Tower] was received, we agree that a challenge of personal skill, which is only available for a short time, is not in the spirit of this type of event. Therefore, with the week of March 29 [March 30 in Europe], the Mage Tower will be accessible at all times and will no longer be tied to the Timewalking event from Legion.

More news about WoW can be found here:

When does this apply? The permanent opening of the Mage Tower will take place at the weekly reset of next week – that is, on March 30, 2022. From then on, the Mage Tower will be permanently accessible and all interested players can attempt and struggle with it without restrictions. Because the challenges are likely to remain quite tough.

Are you excited about the Mage Tower? Or do you find the challenge too hard?

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

Twitch streamers Tfue and Ninja celebrate Fortnite without building: “The greatest fun in years”

Christos Tsogos Christos Tsogos Reading time 3 minutes

Fortnite has had no building since the release of the new Season 2 in Chapter 3. Now that some time has passed, well-known streamers like Ninja and Tfue have had the opportunity to test Fortnite without building, and they are enthusiastic. They are now calling for a permanent mode.

What happened to Fortnite? Since the release of Season 2 on March 20th, Epic has done the unthinkable and disabled building in all modes. Players have therefore received an additional shield and expanded sprinting.

Due to the change, players now have to rethink and try different tactics, as no protective walls can be erected. Most fans, however, do not mind the change and love Fortnite even more without the annoying building.

Now, well-known Twitch streamers like Ninja and Tfue have also had time to thoroughly test Fortnite. They have known the wacky shooter since its beginnings in Chapter 1 and know when something goes wrong. But after a few rounds, both were very much in agreement.

Fortnite should have a permanent mode without building

What do well-known Twitch streamers think about it? Ninja, Tfue, and other content creators like NickEh30 have commented on the changes in Fortnite. Especially Ninja and Tfue have known Fortnite since the early days of the battle royale hype.

Ninja-LoL
Fortnite made Ninja famous

They know when something is going well for Fortnite or when Epic should rather backtrack. However, this time both streamers are in agreement. Ninja posted his feelings about the change on Twitter, and it goes as follows:

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In doing so, he means that he has had the most fun in Fortnite for years. Tfue also commented on this and believes that Fortnite without building should be a permanent thing.

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The voices of the community are gradually becoming clearer, and many players, whether longtime players or returnees, hope for a permanent mode for this. It is unclear whether Epic has disabled the mode only for story reasons or to indirectly conduct a test.

MeinMMO has also given a well-founded opinion on how Fortnite is now without building, which goes as follows:

This is what our MeinMMO Fortnite expert thinks about the change: I am Christos Tsogos and mainly write for Fortnite and Destiny 2. I have known Fortnite since Chapter 1 and have invested 3000 hours into the colorful BR shooter. The new change in Season 2 really surprised me.
Fortnite has shown that the shooter does not only score with its distinctive feature (building). You will no longer be expecting a hide-and-seek game with players barricading themselves in huge towers, but rather fights where you have to confront each other.
It now finally depends on shooting skills and tactical play, which is how I have always wanted Fortnite to be. However, I believe that Epic should add two separate modes with and without building instead. Fortnite has become famous for its distinctive feature, and completely banning this characteristic would destroy the character of the BR shooter.

A lot from our opinion and the streamers, now over to you. How do you currently find Fortnite with the disabled building? Do you also think it should be a permanent thing, or do you prefer the old hide-and-seek gameplay? Let us know!

We have also put together a survey for you to participate in:

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

Nintendo finally brings an update for the Switch that fans have been wishing for 5 years

Benedikt Schlotmann Benedikt Schlotmann Reading time 3 minutes

Nintendo releases Update 14 for the Nintendo Switch. And this update comes with a feature that fans have been wishing for years. However, fans are still not completely happy.

Nintendo regularly releases updates for its popular handheld console. A Switch Pro with better hardware has not been introduced by Nintendo yet, but the consoles receive new features and improvements.

With the latest Update 14, a feature that players have been wishing for years arrives on the Switch. Because finally, you can create folders on the Switch.

After 5 years, you can finally create folders on the Switch

What kind of feature is this? If you install games on the Switch, all games and programs end up haphazardly in a tile system. There hasn’t been proper organization until now; you had to find your games via filters or search.

With the latest update, you can now create folders. This means you can group your games and pack them all into one folder. For example, you can put all your racing games into one folder, while your Pokémon games can go into another folder. And it becomes much clearer on the Switch.

Nintendo Switch grouped games
This is what the games look like in a group on the Switch.

How can you create folders? First, you need to install Update 14 on your Switch. This usually happens automatically via the Switch. If you want to create folders directly, follow these steps:

  • Scroll all the way to the right in the Nintendo Switch main menu and select “All Software.”
    Press the L button to sort your software into groups.
  • When you create a group for the first time, a popup will appear asking you to select “Create new group.”
  • Once you have created the first group, click the + button to create a new group.
  • Select all software titles you want to add to the new group, then click “Next.”
  • Rearrange the software titles as desired, then press “Next.”
  • Finally, enter a name for the group, and then press “OK.”
More on the topic
The 11 best free games for the Nintendo Switch
von Max Handwerk

Many users express satisfaction but demand more features

These are the reactions: On Reddit, the update has received more than 7,000 upvotes so far (via. reddit.com). Most users are pleased that the Switch finally received the folder feature, even though the update took quite a long time and should have come much earlier. One user writes somewhat sarcastically:

The crazy guys did it. They only took 5 years! Shall we count on 5 more years for themes?

The last major reveal, the Nintendo Switch OLED, did not really convince most users. This was mainly because many users had requested a Switch Pro with better hardware:

Nintendo’s Switch OLED disappoints many: “Is pointless for anyone who already has a Switch”

Another user sees it a bit more positively and writes:

Woah, first Mario Kart 8 gets a DLC, then the Switch finally gets folders. What a crazy, crazy year!

This is what users are demanding: Not everyone is absolutely satisfied with the update. For example, you cannot display your created folders directly on the home screen. The groups can only be found on the “All Software” screen and not in the main menu.

The update is therefore likely to be more useful for people who actually have dozens of games and want to sort them. For everyone else, it might not be worth it, and it would have been better if Nintendo simply copied the 3DS home screen, explains a user on reddit.

Some gamers also demand that Nintendo please add more functions. One particularly requested feature is “Themes,” like those already available on the PS4 and PS5. Others wish to finally have a Netflix app on the Switch.

The last major reveal, the Nintendo Switch OLED, did not really convince most users. This was mainly because many users had requested a Switch Pro with better hardware:

Nintendo’s Switch OLED disappoints many: “Is pointless for anyone who already has a Switch”

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

FIFA 22: The new Title Update 8 aims to stop overly motivated goalkeepers now

Max Handwerk Max Handwerk Reading time 2 minutes

For FIFA 22, the new Title Update 8 is coming. You can find everything about the download and content of the new FIFA patch here.

When is the new FIFA 22 update coming? The Title Update 8 was announced on March 22, 2022, via Twitter. It is expected to be available for download on this date – but initially only for PC (via Twitter).

For consoles, it usually takes a few days before the new update is available in FIFA 22. So expect about a week’s delay before the patch is also available for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.

We will show you what is included in the new update here.

FIFA 22: Title Update 8 fixes gameplay issues

What’s included in the new FIFA 22 update: The Title Update 8 is overall quite concise. However, the patch notes are not as short as for the predecessor Title Update 7.

Primarily, bug fixes have made it onto the list. Among other things, the goalkeepers are being slightly reined in. In “rare situations,” it has occurred that the keepers simply ran out of their box to attack the player with the ball. That is now over.

FIFA 22 Title Update 8
The keepers will now stay where they are supposed to be

In addition, a bug is fixed in certain situations where the automatic player switch did not occur in defense when the opponent made a cross. This could lead to issues in defensive movement and is now supposed to be fixed.

Moreover, adjustments and corrections have been made in the following areas:

  • The Drag-to-Drag skill move can now be interrupted earlier.
  • There were instances where goals did not count in the final minutes.
  • In co-op play, the first kickoff animation sometimes took too long.
  • Volta Arcade could be displayed as “unavailable” even when it was actually playable.
  • Also, red balls could appear on red Volta courts, making visibility difficult.

Additionally, there are the usual adjustments to stadiums and kits as well as a total of 51 revised or new star heads – that is, lifelike player faces.

More about FIFA 22 on MeinMMO:

What’s going on with FIFA 22? The Fantasy FUT event is currently happening in FIFA 22. Here, cards are in the game that can earn a total of 3 updates – and some of them are really strong. Team 1 will still be available this week before it is replaced by the second fantasy team. You can find out everything about FUT Fantasy in FIFA 22 here.

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

Pokémon GO: Spotlight Hour today with Treecko and XP Bonus

Franzi Korittke Franzi Korittke Reading time 2 minutes

Today, on March 22, 2022, a Spotlight Hour with Treecko is taking place in Pokémon GO. We at MeinMMO show you all the details of this short event, such as start time, bonuses, and the shiny version.

What is the Spotlight Hour? In Pokémon GO, a Spotlight Hour takes place every Tuesday, where a specific Pokémon is highlighted in the game for one hour.

You can find it everywhere in the wild during this time. Additionally, you will receive a special bonus that is meant to enhance the event further.

Today is the day again, and you can encounter numerous Treecko in the wild. The monster is accompanied by an XP bonus. Below, we will show you what to expect.

Spotlight Hour with Treecko – Start, Bonuses, and Shiny

When does the Spotlight Hour start? The one-hour event starts, as usual, at 6:00 PM local time and ends at 7:00 PM.

What bonuses are available? During the Spotlight Hour, you can encounter Treecko at almost every corner. If you want to catch even more, you can additionally use incense. However, keep in mind that Niantic has “nerfed” the incense and you now need to move to get more spawns.

Furthermore, during the 60-minute event, you will receive double XP for catching Pokémon.

Is there a shiny Treecko? Yes, you can encounter a shiny Treecko with some luck. You can recognize it by its long green body and red foliage.

Treecko and Grovyle normal (left) and as shiny (right)

More about Pokémon GO:

Is the Spotlight Hour with Treecko worth it?

The rock-type Pokémon Treecko is from the 2nd generation and has only one pre-evolution, in the form of Grovyle, but no further evolutions. The Pokémon is not particularly strong, which is why it plays no role in raids or the GO Battle League.

So, if you are looking for a strong attacker, Treecko is not the right choice. Therefore, the event is mainly worthwhile for shiny hunters. Additionally, the XP bonus is a great opportunity to boost your experience points, which you need on the way to level 50.

Tip: If you have no interest in Treecko and its shiny, you can alternatively activate the Mystery Box. This gives you the mysterious Pokémon Meltan for one hour.

Will you be participating in the Spotlight Hour today? Let us know in the comments.

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

Bizarre skill dominates in Elden Ring PvP – Looks silly, but is absolutely deadly

Jürgen Horn Jürgen Horn Reading time 2 minutes

In Elden Ring there are many skills and one of them currently dominates the PvP. While it looks completely ridiculous, it is undeniably deadly. Find out here on MeinMMO what skill this is and how it looks in action.

What kind of skill is this? In Elden Ring there is a Ash of War called “Lightning Ram” (Lightning Ram). The skill is inspired by fighting goats. And indeed, you harness the power of the electric goat to summon this deadly skill.

With a powerful bleat, your hero charges up with electric goat power and then rolls through the vegetation like a living wrecking ball. Anyone who gets in your way takes damage and gets briefly stunned.

This puts your opponents in what is known as a “Stun Lock.” This means that with repeated attacks from the ball attack, they stumble around again and again and have little chance of retaliation.

And since the ball attack continuously hits in quick succession, fights this way can be decided quickly. This applies to bosses and especially in PvP. The following video on Twitter shows – with the fitting soundtrack – what such a death ball attack looks like in PvP.

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“This is the current PvP meta”

So players are reacting: The tweet with the PvP action was described by the creator as “You may not like it, but this is the current PvP meta in Elden Ring.”

Indeed, the skill is critically viewed in PvP. Other users say:

  • Rev finds such moves embarrassing: “I just don’t understand how people can have fun or be proud to play this way. But hey, whatever helps you sleep at night.
  • Also user Alonzo Jones sees it this way and is already waiting for the patch: “I just don’t understand how this can be fun and how people react like children when something like this gets patched out. Like “wah wah do you really have to play the game now? That sucks for you, my son.””
  • User Blake on the other hand thinks it’s only fair as long as you catch griefers: “If you have summoned a friend, an invader is usually a griefer. […]. They interrupt your friend’s help for a boss fight. It’s no shame to win against such a griefer by any means necessary.

More on the topic:

Players generally agree that such skills do not necessarily contribute to fairness in PvP. Recently, a particularly nasty combo was even nerfed down.

But on the other hand, PvP in Elden Ring is often brutal as players continuously find new, powerful combinations. When you can roll an annoying player with the mighty goat power, that’s certainly a great satisfaction.

Almost as powerful as a rolling death goat is the new OP sword “Bloody Streams.” But you can really miss this thing hard. So check out our guide and guarantee to find the new super weapon in the game before it’s too late!

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

Twitch streamer would boycott Pay2Win games like Lost Ark – But only if everyone participates

Sayumi (Lena) Sayumi (Lena) Reading time 2 minutes

One of the biggest MMORPG streamers on Twitch believes that it would be better for MMOs if there were no Pay2Win microtransactions – he would even boycott them if everyone joined in. The speaker is streamer Asmongold, who has invested countless hours in such games and owes his great Twitch career to them. MeinMMO reports.

How did the debate arise? While Asmongold reacted to a video of the “new big MMO of 2022” (Throne and Liberty), the debate about the Pay2Win aspect in MMOs came up.

The streamer often has a clear opinion about his favorite games, which doesn’t stop him from continuing to play the respective game.

Throne and Liberty comes from South Korea, so the community is sure that the MMORPG will certainly contain Pay2Win aspects. Asmongold agrees and thus started the discussion about microtransactions in games that give players an “unfair” advantage.

Start video
Career and life of Asmongold in 3 minutes – What makes him special?

Asmongold would prefer to boycott Pay2Win games

What does the streamer say about Pay2Win? He stopped the video about Throne and Liberty right when the YouTuber talked about the Pay2Win aspect and said:

I wish players of different games would come together and say that they don’t like it and somehow put a stop to it.

Asmongold

However, he adds that he knows that this is a lost cause and that he doesn’t focus on it as much anymore. Asmongold says people don’t really care about the Pay2Win aspect anymore and just accept it.

Games like World of Warcraft and Lost Ark also have Pay2Win elements, yet he enjoys playing the MMORPGs. Nevertheless, Asmongold has a strong opinion against Pay2Win:

I wish gamers would treat Pay2Win the same way they treat NFTs. If that happened, video games in general would be much better. If they treated microtransactions in general like NFTs, that would be so much better.

Asmongold

If he stopped playing Lost Ark and WoW and could get people to do the same in order to make a change, he would do it.

Asmongold went even further with loot boxes, saying that loot boxes should be illegal. He is “totally against” them.

More current topics around Twitch on MeinMMO

However, Asmongold acknowledges that people are not as concerned about this anymore as they used to be. Back then, there was more resistance to Pay2Win aspects, but these days players seem to have gotten used to it.

The streamer finds that unfortunate, because not everyone has the money for such microtransactions, not everyone has a well-paying job. However, he can’t do anything about it, even if he and his community decided together not to support Pay2Win games anymore, it wouldn’t make an impact; he’s not big enough for that.

Another clear opinion the Twitch streamer has regarding future technologies in MMORPGs is: Big MMORPG streamer says that the future of the genre lies in a new technology.

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

Lost Ark: What is a cadre and how can I level it?

Alexander Leitsch Alexander Leitsch Reading time 2 minutes

In the MMORPG Lost Ark there is character level and squad level. In this short guide, we at MeinMMO reveal what the squad level is about, how to increase this level, and what bonuses it brings.

What is the squad? The squad refers to all characters that share the same server. So if you have 6 characters on the German server Asta, they all have access to the same squad level.

However, if you create characters on a different server, you start again at 0 with your squad level.

What exactly is the squad level? The squad level is displayed with a purple experience bar. You can freely switch between your character’s experience bar and the squad experience bar in the interface.

Through the squad level, various bonuses can be unlocked, including small stat buffs and other useful rewards.

Start video
Everything you need to know about Lost Ark’s endgame – in the video

Increasing Squad Level – Here’s How and What It Brings You

How do you level up your squad? Basically, many activities in the game increase the squad level. Whenever your character earns experience points, whether through quests, the solo tower, or dungeons, your squad also gains experience points.

However, the purple quests provide particularly high experience points for the squad.

Using twinks also raises your squad level. It is only important that all these characters are on one server.

What do level-ups in the squad bring? Each squad level comes with its own reward. You can view these rewards in the squad information (key “O” in the default binding).

At the early levels, these are usually small stat bonuses like +5 Vitality or +5 Strength/Dexterity/Intelligence. From level 30 onward, items are also included as rewards, such as:

  • 10x Phoenix Plume at level 30
  • Greater Vitality Increase Potion at level 40
  • A Bifrost Key at level 60
  • + 500 maximum Labor Energy at level 70
  • 2x Chest with 50 Crystals at level 90

All these bonuses apply to all characters that are part of the squad.

Lost Ark Squad Level
This is what the squad rewards around level 50 look like.

What is the maximum squad level? The highest level is 250.

What is generally shared in the squad? A squad in Lost Ark has access to many shared things, including:

  • Cosmetic content such as skins, mounts, and companions
  • Progress in the adventure journal
  • Your own stronghold and the ships
  • Achievements and titles

Even many of the various currencies in Lost Ark are shared with your characters in the squad.

More about Lost Ark on MeinMMO:

What are squad friends? In Lost Ark, you can add both individual characters and an entire squad as friends. Squad friends have the advantage that you can see them even when they are logged in with another character on the server.

What do you think of Lost Ark’s squad system? Should other MMORPGs take a cue from it?

Find more guides about Lost Ark in our comprehensive overview:

Lost Ark Guides: All tips, tricks, and builds in overview

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

Witcher 4 only on the Epic Games Store, not on Steam? This is what the developers say

Cortyn Cortyn Reading time 2 minutes

The Witcher 4 sparks storms of anticipation. But one concern is spreading among fans. Is Witcher 4 not coming to Steam? The developers address this.

Rather unexpectedly, CD Projekt RED let slip a pretty big secret: A new game in the “The Witcher” series is in development and this makes the hearts of RPG fans around the world soar. However, with the announcement comes a concern for PC players: Will Witcher 4 only be released on the Epic Games Store and not for Steam?

Where does the concern come from? Along with the announcement of Witcher 4, it was also stated that they would be entering into a strong partnership with Epic. This is primarily because the next Witcher installment will use Unreal Engine 5 and thus will no longer be based on CD Projekt Red’s own engine, which was used for titles like Cyberpunk 2077 and Witcher 3.

Therefore, there is concern that this partnership could go so far that the new Witcher installment will be exclusively available only in the Epic Games Store.

A new saga – Also on Steam?

What do the developers say? Just a few minutes after the announcement of Witcher 4, this very topic was brought up several times on Twitter, prompting the official Witcher channel to quickly clarify:

We do not plan to offer the game exclusively at a single store.

While this is not a guaranteed “We will also release on Steam,” the likelihood of this is quite high. After all, CD Projekt RED is known for using multiple distribution platforms for their games to reach the broadest audience possible. So it can be assumed that the next Witcher game will be available both on the Epic Games Store and on GOG and Steam.

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This may ease the worries of fans who simply cannot warm up to the Epic Games Store.

More about the games from CD Projekt RED can be found here on MeinMMO:

When is Witcher 4 coming out? There are currently hardly any clues regarding this. However, it is clear that the new Witcher installment is still in its infancy and a release is several years away. Nobody should expect to actually be able to play the latest adventure in the Witcher universe before 2024 – or even later.

Are you excited about the new “The Witcher”? Or is it still too early to start the anticipation?

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

LoL: The most important team in the USA has fired its coach without notice – Because he was asking everyone for money

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 4 minutes

In League of Legends the long-time championship team of the US league LCS is increasingly maneuvering into crisis. The league is going badly in 2022. Now they had to fire their coach Peter Zhang. The allegations are outrageous: The Chinese coach is said to have asked his own players for money. He reportedly needed money for his sick grandmother’s treatment. For Zhang, this is a ‘cultural misunderstanding.’

Who is the most important team in the USA?

  • “Team Solo Mid” is actually the flagship team of the USA. For years, the biggest stars in US LoL, such as Doublelift and Bjergsen, played there. The team has won the LCS championship 7 times, had legendary players over the years, and is a pioneer in marketing and presentation.
  • However, in 2022 the team is in a deep crisis. Many key players and leading managers have left the club. Through a deal with a crypto exchange, TSM has indeed made a lot of money, but problems abound: The team’s CEO, Reginald Dinh, has apparently soured relationships with many former employees due to his brusque manner, particularly with his former star player Doublelift. Moreover, an investigation against him is currently ongoing by Riot Games.
  • Now TSM has fired its coach, but not due to poor results, rather because of a scandal.

Friendlier e-sport topics in LoL are coming from Germany:

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Everything you need to know about the LoL team Eintracht Spandau – in 4 minutes

“Conflict of interest” and “unethical behavior”

This is what TSM said: The team released a statement on March 19 (via Twitter):

We have recently been made aware of very serious allegations of “conflict of interest” and “unethical behavior” against the League of Legends coach, Peter Zhang.

Following a preliminary investigation, we have terminated his contract effective immediately. We are working with an external legal counsel to complete a full investigation.

Riot Games added that they do not want to comment on the matter but want to ensure: This is a purely internal team issue that does not concern other teams. So the dismissal was not about match manipulation. That is just what they wanted to clarify (via reddit).

LoL Doublelift Titel
This is Doublelift. When there is trouble at TSM, he is usually in the middle of it.

Coach allegedly asked players for $70,000

What is he alleged to have done?? According to former TSM player Doublelift, Zhang asked him to lend him $70,000. He allegedly needed the money because his grandmother who has cancer is in the hospital and he needs to pay the bill.

Zhang is also said to have asked other LoL players for $12,000 to $24,000, but they canceled their transaction in time, Doublelift recounts. The situation is so difficult because Zhang is not just anyone at TSM, but the head coach:

Guys, the guy who decides whether you have a job on the team or not is asking you for money. That is really a difficult situation.

Doublelift

It is really hard to say “no” to someone who wants you to finance the operation of his terminally ill grandmother when he is the one deciding whether you play next week or not.

Doublelift adds that he has heard “really weird stuff” about Zhang. Allegedly, he is donating money to Chinese female streamers via Weibo. He would “go to Chinese streaming sites and donate ‘ridiculously large sums’ of money to attractive women,” Doublelift said.

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According to the US site “Dexerto”, Zhang is also said to be involved in other machinations:

  • He allegedly also acted as an “agent” for players and promised to bring them to TSM if he received a part of their salary.
  • If the players from Asia allowed him to act as their agent, he would place them at TSM.
More on the topic
LoL: 7-time US champion spent a lot of money in 2022, is now last – This is how it happened
von Schuhmann

Coach says: In China, it is common to borrow money from friends and colleagues

What does Zheng say?? In an interview with Dexerto, Zhang presents the situation differently:

  • He actually needed money for his grandmother’s operation.
  • The Taiwanese “SwordArt”, a former player of TSM, tasked him with selling a car in the USA because he is returning to Asia. The sum for the car, $80,000, Zhang withheld to pay for the operation.
  • The player threatened to make the matter public – Zhang subsequently asked players at TSM for money.

Zhang says:

“I acknowledge that it was wrong to withhold the money, but I was working to pay back the debts and had repaid half by the time I was fired. My grandmother’s bill was due at the end of the month and I was not in the league to accompany both debts. I was experiencing a very difficult financial time, but I will pay every cent back to SwordArt.

The other allegations against me are not true. In China, it is common for friends and colleagues to lend each other money. I have learned a hard lesson about cultural differences in America. I will cooperate with Riot in any investigation. I have evidence that proves my innocence.”

Peter Zhang

Zhang also states that he never acted as a player agent. He did receive $1,000 a month from the salary of a player from TSM Academy. However, he only served as an intermediary and forwarded the money to the actual agent.

https://twitter.com/peterzhanglol/status/1502505735552307202
The tweet has aged poorly.

Additionally, he frequently exchanges Chinese currency yuan for dollars for players, as he has bank accounts in both countries and a green card. This could also create the impression that he is involved in dubious activities.

The problems that TSM is otherwise currently facing are discussed on MeinMMO in this article:

The most powerful man in US LoL is said to be quite a jerk who mistreats players

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