WoW: With these 3 tips, you can quickly reach any rare spawn

Traveling in Zereth Mortis, the new area in World of Warcraft, is stressful when you want to reach a specific destination quickly. We give you 3 tips to make it much better.

Zereth Mortis is a significantly larger area than many players initially suspected. This not only provides more opportunities to explore and discover things but also leads to frustration. As soon as a specific “Rare Spawn” is marked on the map, players rush in from all directions.

However, it often leads to frustration when the rare enemy dies just before you can reach it. Currently, flying is not possible in Zereth Mortis, and travel routes are consequently exhausting. Therefore, it’s worth knowing a few tricks to travel quickly and efficiently through Zereth Mortis and be able to engage the one or other rare enemy before it meets its end.

The colleagues from wowhead have compiled several methods for fast travel, which we will explain in more detail.

Silver Shardhide Whistle

The “Silver Shardhide Whistle” is a toy that you could originally obtain in Korthia. Even there, it was essential for traversing large distances at lightning speed. The whistle grants you a speed boost for 20 seconds, allowing you to compete even with epic flying mounts. For 20 seconds, you dash through the area, generally moving so fast that enemies can’t even catch up to you.

After the first 20 seconds, the effect diminishes, and you move at normal speed, so you should switch back to a regular mount. Usually, the speed boost is sufficient to cover about 1/3 of Zereth Mortis in just a few seconds, allowing you to partake in the kill of one or more enemies.

Wow Shardhide Toy Demon Hunter
Turbo mode with this toy.

How to get the Silver Shardhide Whistle? To obtain this item, you must solve a small puzzle in Korthia. This takes less than 5 minutes and is well worth the time investment, as the whistle will serve you well in Zereth Mortis for several days. This guide explains how exactly you can get the Shardhide Whistle.

Goblin Glider Kit

The last item is the “Goblin Glider Kit”. This is especially a must-have for exploration fans, and every character should have at least one stack of them in their inventory.

The Goblin Glider Kit allows you to jump from heights and then travel at an incredible speed during your glide. The prerequisite is, of course, that you jump from an elevated spot. Given the many elevation changes in Zereth Mortis, this is easily achievable.

At the same time, you can already use the Goblin Glider Kit to reach the eastern part of Zereth Mortis, where the raid entrance is located. While you cannot enter the raid yet, there are more treasures on the island waiting to be looted – which yields many Cipher of the First and even a toy that allows you to transform into an Automa.

How to obtain Goblin Glider Kits? Goblin Glider Kits can be crafted by engineers who were active in Warlords of Draenor. In most realms, the kits only cost a few gold pieces, so you should find them in the auction house – otherwise, you’ll need an engineer you trust.

Traveling is very fast with the glider.

Gunshoes

Similar to the Goblin Glider, the “Gunshoes” have a similar effect. They increase your movement speed by a whopping 200 % for 25 seconds – so you are faster than on an epic mount. In addition, the Gunshoes grant water walking during their duration, though this isn’t relevant in Zereth Mortis.

How to obtain Gunshoes? Gunshoes are also available from your trusted engineer or in the auction house. Depending on the realm, the price can vary, and they are usually significantly more expensive than the Goblin Gliders. Therefore, they are more suitable as a bonus if you are an engineer yourself or want to be the first person to arrive everywhere.

Bonus: The Flight Points

If you’re running from A to B all day in Zereth Mortis, you might forget about the three flight points. These are the fastest travel methods to get from west to east (and vice versa).

WoW Zereth Mortis Flight Points

Currently, there are only 3 active flight points in Zereth Mortis that you need to activate. Keep in mind that these are machines and not your typical “flight masters”. Simply click on all 3 machines when you are nearby to utilize these shortcuts in the future.

Do you have any further tips and tricks to get quickly to the most important places in Zereth Mortis?

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

Twitch streamer xQc loses over 400,000 runes in Elden Ring after a noob mistake

Canadian streamer Félix “xQc” Lengyel also played at releaseElden Ring, the new action RPG from FromSoftware. In one of his streams on Twitch, he earned a fortune through diligent farming – only to lose it in a very clumsy manner.

Who is xQc?

  • Félix Lengyel, better known as xQc, became famous thanks to Overwatch. In Blizzard’s shooter, he was an esports pro until he was banned for his fiery temper and behavioral hiccups.
  • The self-proclaimed “child of the Twitch chat” then became a full-time streamer on the platform. Due to his frequently surprising and entertaining personality, xQc evolved into a superstar on the platform, becoming the largest streamer for the first time in 2019.
  • He no longer specialized in just one game; gaming actually took a backseat. Instead, he engages in constant interaction with the chat and reacts to everything his viewers find exciting. Since late 2019, xQc has consistently been the most-watched streamer in the world, largely due to the sheer amount of streaming he does.

What mistake did he make? In Elden Ring, there are the so-called runes. These are among the most important things in the extremely challenging action RPG. Because they serve as both XP and currency in the game.

These runes have a catch: If you die in Elden Ring, you lose the runes where you died. If you die again before you can collect them back at the site of the disaster, they are gone forever.

xQc wanted to gain an advantage in Elden Ring with these runes. That’s why he farmed them until he accumulated what was a true fortune for a beginner: a whopping 400,000 runes he had in his possession before he died.

More on the topic
Elden Ring: The best method to quickly farm runes
von Marko Jevtic

That wasn’t a problem; he could easily collect them again – the farming route was very familiar to him by now.

However, the streamer misjudged a routine jump with his horse. He missed the root of the tree he intended to land on. xQc shows no reaction while his character falls for what feels like an eternity. Only when the screen is going dark does he explode with emotion:

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After two loud, fervent screams full of frustration, he says: “I’ve had enough, I don’t want to see [the game] anymore.”

Elden Ring is a huge success on Twitch, also thanks to streamer frustration

xQc’s viewers experienced a lot of schadenfreude at that moment. Messages saying only “-400k” flooded the chat almost immediately.

These moments of tension and frustration also make Elden Ring a significant success on Twitch.

In the meantime, over 900,000 viewers have watched various streamers struggle with Elden Ring.

How close heaven and hell are in Elden Ring was also noted by streamer Disguised Toast during the release weekend. He struggled for 4 hours against one of the first bosses in the game – only to get a weapon that is useless to him:

Twitch streamer fights in Elden Ring for 4 hours against the Tree Sentinel – For a useless weapon

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

Elden Ring shows: Dark Souls is becoming the predictable formula and that frustrates me

Elden Ring advances the popular ‘Dark Souls’ gameplay, especially thanks to open world. MeinMMO author Marko Jevtic has been a Souls fan since the very first hour and is having a lot of fun with Elden Ring again. However, after the first 15 hours of gameplay, there is one thing that worries and frustrates him.

Elden Ring has been out since February 25, and finally I get to play it too. Unlike my colleagues Tarek Zehrer and Irina Moritz, who were allowed to play in advance, I had to wait patiently.

The waiting was particularly difficult for me, because I have been a Souls fan since the very first hour. I imported Demon’s Souls from Japan back then because the game appealed to me so much before its release in the West. For a long time, it was only playable internationally like this. That was in 2009. 

Since then, FromSoftware games have become much more widely spread worldwide, both in stores and in the minds of players. And I have been there for every new release. Every Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Sekiro, even the best imitators like Nioh or Salt & Sanctuary – I have played and celebrated them all.

Because I love the typical Soulslike gameplay:

  • They mechanically challenge me over and over again, without being unfair. 
  • The way they tell their stories only implicitly fascinates me every time. 
  • Nothing can surpass the feeling of mastering these games and sliding past previously tough bosses like a hot knife through a block of butter.

Of course, I was looking forward to Elden Ring so much. But after about 15 hours of gameplay, I increasingly notice that something is missing. Because although Elden Ring – despite annoying technical problems – is undoubtedly an excellent game, I keep hearing a thought that grows louder in my head with each hour of play:

“I know pretty well what comes next.”

Elden Ring Purple Sky River
In the impressive new world of Elden Ring, old gameplay virtues continue to work too well

Elden Ring invites me to a dance that I already know too well

The genre that FromSoftware founded with Demon’s Souls, and especially Dark Souls, is often referred to as “Soulslike” in the community.

But more than any game with the word “Souls” in the title, I was particularly fascinated by 2 other titles from the developer: Bloodborne and Sekiro. These spin-offs took the core gameplay and changed it in such an interesting way that I could hardly believe my eyes.

Bloodborne was an irresistible symphony of blood, sweat and adrenaline, thanks to its claustrophobic atmosphere and an incredibly fast and aggressive combat system. Sekiro is like a rhythm game with swords, where the clashing blades produce an electrifying beat that sends me into an ecstatic trance.

But if the battles in Dark Souls are a dance, then I notice while playing Elden Ring that the choreography is already very familiar to me.

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In the MeinMMO podcast, the colleagues discuss what “Dark Souls” newcomers can expect from Elden Ring.

Elden Ring refines the combat system of Dark Souls in important aspects, also thanks to new facets like the stance. But it is still clearly recognizable as the combat system of Dark Souls – and anyone who has already mastered that can largely rely on the same, well-known tricks

The best example for me are the backstabs. They work in Elden Ring in 2022 just as they did in Demon’s Souls in 2009, and are just as effective. The sequence of steps for this dance should be well known to every Souls fan:

  1. You make eye contact with your dance partner, and you both walk slowly toward each other.
  2. You both raise your shields in the air, and you circle your dance partner until you are standing behind them.
  3. You stab your dance partner sneakily and brutally in the back, kick them to the ground and keep hitting them until they stand up again.

This choreography – and every other in this game – is undoubtedly still fun. But no FromSoftware game has been able to surprise me mechanically as rarely as Elden Ring. However, FromSoftware has shown with Sekiro and Bloodborne that they can reinvent known mechanics in such a way that they fit the unique and special identity of each game:

In Bloodborne, the offensive power was emphasized much more than in other Soulslikes. For example, there was only one shield, which was intentionally completely useless. Additionally, you could heal again if you attacked the enemy immediately and aggressively after taking damage. If you play cautiously here, you lose. 

In Sekiro, good timing was absolutely crucial. Every boss had several phases with its own flow and tempo. Each duel was an exciting back-and-forth, dozens of attacks had to be parried in succession, and all defensive actions were also effectively an attack thanks to a refined stance mechanic. No other action game offers this type or quality.

This own and special identity is what I have been missing in Elden Ring so far. Instead, it mainly plays like a Dark Souls 4 under another name – defensive, waiting, well-known.

More on the topic
Elden Ring combines the best of Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Sekiro – Here’s how it feels to play as a Souls veteran
von Tarek Zehrer

Elden Ring is a logical evolution of proven gameplay – Unfortunately

This feeling that the latest FromSoftware game refines rather than reinvents the wheel is something I had before: when I played Dark Souls at release.

The FromSoftware games really exploded only with Dark Souls. For most players, the title was the first time they could experience this captivating gameplay. And although I joined that hype back then – by the release of Dark Souls in 2011, I had already played Demon’s Souls for 2 years.

Dark Souls was the logical evolution of Demon’s Souls and a clear improvement in almost all respects. The semi-open world was justifiably praised to the skies, the new healing system was both mechanically more interesting and less frustrating, and the bosses and dungeons were almost all better.

But Dark Souls was not a revolution of Demon’s Souls; it was a understandable and comprehensible next step in important new directions. For without this step, Soulslikes would not be what they are today.

More on the topic
Elden Ring explodes on Metacritic – Receives bombastic reviews
von Marko Jevtic

I have the same general feeling about Elden Ring so far. However, Elden Ring is not the 2nd attempt in a completely new genre like Dark Souls was back then but the already 7th Soulslike from the original developer itself. There, the line between perfection and perceived stagnation is clearly thinner.

Unfortunately, I cannot assess whether I would have this disappointing thought if the game was not called Elden Ring but Elden Souls. And it’s not that I’m not having fun – quite the opposite. The typical Dark Souls gameplay is better than ever, and the open world is overflowing with excellent bosses and exciting dungeons. 

The formula itself is still brilliant in 2022. But FromSoftware has done too little with Elden Ring to fundamentally change this well-established formula beyond the open world. That they can do this impressively, they have proven multiple times.

I am still early in the game and know that I will likely play Elden Ring for weeks before I have seen everything. FromSoftware can still surprise me. 

I genuinely hope that this happens. Because nothing would please me more than to say in a few months: God, how wrong I was with this article.

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

How does Elden Ring actually appeal to players who have never played Dark Souls?

As usual, the difficulty of Elden Ring drives some new players to despair and causes frustration for some.

  • “I bought the game on a whim too. I’m damn bad at it. I totally regret the purchase. Great-looking game. I’m just bad and can’t beat anyone.” – CKT2k
  • “Yeah, a friend of mine tried it. Uninstalled and refunded in less than 3 hours. He asked if every single game was that hard. I said, ‘Yes, but it gets easier, I think.'”

However, many do not really criticize this but often simply accept it. Many believe: This is not a game for me.

Especially on reddit, there are many players ready to provide helpful tips and explain why newcomers should definitely keep at it.

Here in our comments, players also eagerly and willingly help each other. If you’re a newcomer and want to share your own experiences, feel free to do so in the comments here.

If you’re currently having trouble with Elden Ring, you can find here a Beginner’s Guide to Elden Ring – Easier Start with 12 Tips and Tricks

This refers to the typically cryptic and subtly told main story of Elden Ring, which is not presented in the style of The Last of Us or Horizon: Forbidden West. Cutscenes are rare and the story is non-linear.

Strelson criticizes especially the lack of mouse/keyboard controls and the FPS cap at 60 frames per second: “For hardcore Souls fans, who will play it on controller anyway and know everything from the previous games, this shouldn’t be a problem, but for someone like me, who has never played a Souls game before, it’s very cumbersome. “

As usual, the difficulty of Elden Ring drives some new players to despair and causes frustration for some.

  • “I bought the game on a whim too. I’m damn bad at it. I totally regret the purchase. Great-looking game. I’m just bad and can’t beat anyone.” – CKT2k
  • “Yeah, a friend of mine tried it. Uninstalled and refunded in less than 3 hours. He asked if every single game was that hard. I said, ‘Yes, but it gets easier, I think.'”

However, many do not really criticize this but often simply accept it. Many believe: This is not a game for me.

Especially on reddit, there are many players ready to provide helpful tips and explain why newcomers should definitely keep at it.

Here in our comments, players also eagerly and willingly help each other. If you’re a newcomer and want to share your own experiences, feel free to do so in the comments here.

If you’re currently having trouble with Elden Ring, you can find here a Beginner’s Guide to Elden Ring – Easier Start with 12 Tips and Tricks

This refers to the typically cryptic and subtly told main story of Elden Ring, which is not presented in the style of The Last of Us or Horizon: Forbidden West. Cutscenes are rare and the story is non-linear.

Strelson criticizes especially the lack of mouse/keyboard controls and the FPS cap at 60 frames per second: “For hardcore Souls fans, who will play it on controller anyway and know everything from the previous games, this shouldn’t be a problem, but for someone like me, who has never played a Souls game before, it’s very cumbersome. “

As usual, the difficulty of Elden Ring drives some new players to despair and causes frustration for some.

  • “I bought the game on a whim too. I’m damn bad at it. I totally regret the purchase. Great-looking game. I’m just bad and can’t beat anyone.” – CKT2k
  • “Yeah, a friend of mine tried it. Uninstalled and refunded in less than 3 hours. He asked if every single game was that hard. I said, ‘Yes, but it gets easier, I think.'”

However, many do not really criticize this but often simply accept it. Many believe: This is not a game for me.

Especially on reddit, there are many players ready to provide helpful tips and explain why newcomers should definitely keep at it.

Here in our comments, players also eagerly and willingly help each other. If you’re a newcomer and want to share your own experiences, feel free to do so in the comments here.

If you’re currently having trouble with Elden Ring, you can find here a Beginner’s Guide to Elden Ring – Easier Start with 12 Tips and Tricks

However, there are also numerous players who regret the purchase. The high entry barriers and accessibility are particularly criticized. Missing features that are common in popular open-world games are also a point of contention.

“The game just feels pointless because of that”

What bothers others little and has been accepted by the community as “typical FromSoftware” for years is by no means self-evident for new players. You can also tell this in the reactions to Elden Ring:

For example, Steam user K3rn5p4lt3r666 criticizes that it is not clear what goal one is actually pursuing:

The open world looks good, yes. But there is neither a reasonable story available, nor do I find it innovative and incredible. Just dodging a foe, dodging, dodging, hitting, and that all around. The game just feels pointless because of that […]. After almost 4 hours, I still don’t know why I’m even running around and beating up enemies. In my opinion, it’s just dull. […] I can’t comprehend any of the worldwide reviews (except for the well-designed open world). A lot of hype for actually very little content. What a pity.

This refers to the typically cryptic and subtly told main story of Elden Ring, which is not presented in the style of The Last of Us or Horizon: Forbidden West. Cutscenes are rare and the story is non-linear.

Strelson criticizes especially the lack of mouse/keyboard controls and the FPS cap at 60 frames per second: “For hardcore Souls fans, who will play it on controller anyway and know everything from the previous games, this shouldn’t be a problem, but for someone like me, who has never played a Souls game before, it’s very cumbersome. “

As usual, the difficulty of Elden Ring drives some new players to despair and causes frustration for some.

  • “I bought the game on a whim too. I’m damn bad at it. I totally regret the purchase. Great-looking game. I’m just bad and can’t beat anyone.” – CKT2k
  • “Yeah, a friend of mine tried it. Uninstalled and refunded in less than 3 hours. He asked if every single game was that hard. I said, ‘Yes, but it gets easier, I think.'”

However, many do not really criticize this but often simply accept it. Many believe: This is not a game for me.

Especially on reddit, there are many players ready to provide helpful tips and explain why newcomers should definitely keep at it.

Here in our comments, players also eagerly and willingly help each other. If you’re a newcomer and want to share your own experiences, feel free to do so in the comments here.

If you’re currently having trouble with Elden Ring, you can find here a Beginner’s Guide to Elden Ring – Easier Start with 12 Tips and Tricks

However, there are also numerous players who regret the purchase. The high entry barriers and accessibility are particularly criticized. Missing features that are common in popular open-world games are also a point of contention.

“The game just feels pointless because of that”

What bothers others little and has been accepted by the community as “typical FromSoftware” for years is by no means self-evident for new players. You can also tell this in the reactions to Elden Ring:

For example, Steam user K3rn5p4lt3r666 criticizes that it is not clear what goal one is actually pursuing:

The open world looks good, yes. But there is neither a reasonable story available, nor do I find it innovative and incredible. Just dodging a foe, dodging, dodging, hitting, and that all around. The game just feels pointless because of that […]. After almost 4 hours, I still don’t know why I’m even running around and beating up enemies. In my opinion, it’s just dull. […] I can’t comprehend any of the worldwide reviews (except for the well-designed open world). A lot of hype for actually very little content. What a pity.

This refers to the typically cryptic and subtly told main story of Elden Ring, which is not presented in the style of The Last of Us or Horizon: Forbidden West. Cutscenes are rare and the story is non-linear.

Strelson criticizes especially the lack of mouse/keyboard controls and the FPS cap at 60 frames per second: “For hardcore Souls fans, who will play it on controller anyway and know everything from the previous games, this shouldn’t be a problem, but for someone like me, who has never played a Souls game before, it’s very cumbersome. “

As usual, the difficulty of Elden Ring drives some new players to despair and causes frustration for some.

  • “I bought the game on a whim too. I’m damn bad at it. I totally regret the purchase. Great-looking game. I’m just bad and can’t beat anyone.” – CKT2k
  • “Yeah, a friend of mine tried it. Uninstalled and refunded in less than 3 hours. He asked if every single game was that hard. I said, ‘Yes, but it gets easier, I think.'”

However, many do not really criticize this but often simply accept it. Many believe: This is not a game for me.

Especially on reddit, there are many players ready to provide helpful tips and explain why newcomers should definitely keep at it.

Here in our comments, players also eagerly and willingly help each other. If you’re a newcomer and want to share your own experiences, feel free to do so in the comments here.

If you’re currently having trouble with Elden Ring, you can find here a Beginner’s Guide to Elden Ring – Easier Start with 12 Tips and Tricks

Elden Ring is a huge success among hardcore Souls fans. But what do complete newcomers think of the RPG? We at MeinMMO have gathered the opinions for you.

This is how Elden Ring fared at release: The game from developer FromSoftware scored dream ratings from the press and has a score of 97 on Metacritic. On release day, up to 750,000 players were online via Steam at the same time.

With the Steam release came the players’ reactions and they brought to light some technical issues that Elden Ring struggled with at launch. Accordingly, the opinions were quite mixed; currently, it has an average rating of 73, which is “Mostly Positive”.

You can tell in some areas: Elden Ring polarizes. After all, the game is the biggest release from FromSoftware to date, which is also reflected in the numbers. Elden Ring immediately became the biggest game on Twitch and was able to attract thousands of viewers.

So we want to take a look: How do new players find the game who have never played a game from FromSoftware? If you’re still undecided whether Elden Ring is for you, check out our short review.

Start video
Everything you need to know about Elden Ring – in 2 minutes

“I haven’t felt like this since Ocarina of Time”

This is how Souls newcomers rate the RPG: The reactions from newcomers are extremely varied. There are also some very positive voices here, but also harsh criticism.

Different things are mentioned. Since the technical issues have already been extensively addressed and also criticized by veterans, we will focus here on reactions to the actual gameplay.

The reactions fluctuate. From frustration to enthusiasm, there’s almost everything. Much praise goes especially to the open world and that it invites exploration.

Many feel reminded of the games of their childhood: “I’m almost 40 and haven’t felt this way about a game since I played Ocarina of Time at 11.” – JapchaeNoddle

Another user describes his experiences with the game enthusiastically, which are very positive despite his aversion to the Soulslike genre:

I love it damn much. I must say that every single description of Souls-like games I’ve ever read kept me away from them. […] When I read some comments about Elden Ring that it has “no story” and you have to piece the story together yourself, that the graphics are nothing special, that it still feels very Souls-like, that people “get lost” in it and waste their time – all of that turns me off.

[…] I needed 20 minutes to get addicted, in a good way. It takes me back to the games I played as a kid, where you weren’t spoon-fed and didn’t get as much help as in most modern games. […]

My friends started playing it at the same time, and we are all having such a unique experience, and we share our knowledge instead of looking things up. […]

If you’re used to casual games and think, like I do, that this isn’t for you, you should still give it a try – it could change your life.

endorphins 16, reddit

Not only in the subreddit can positive experiences from new players be found. There are also commendable voices in the Steam reviews.

WarrenGFan writes on Steam: “I’m a total beginner with Dark Souls, I’ve just defeated the first story boss and I’m trudging through the castle. So far I’m having a lot of fun, even though of course I’m taking longer on the bosses because I have to practice first. I’m very satisfied.”

Despite the praise, the technical condition is still criticized here, albeit rather on the sidelines:

I’m actually not much of a Soulslike player and yet I couldn’t wait for the release of Elden Ring. So far I haven’t been disappointed, challenging fights, a beautiful open world that invites to explore, and I have also found a way to play the game best with a colleague. The only real point of criticism is the occasional FPS drops. I’m curious about what else is in store for me!

9.5/10

[BFC]Shadowkiller via Steam

However, there are also numerous players who regret the purchase. The high entry barriers and accessibility are particularly criticized. Missing features that are common in popular open-world games are also a point of contention.

“The game just feels pointless because of that”

What bothers others little and has been accepted by the community as “typical FromSoftware” for years is by no means self-evident for new players. You can also tell this in the reactions to Elden Ring:

For example, Steam user K3rn5p4lt3r666 criticizes that it is not clear what goal one is actually pursuing:

The open world looks good, yes. But there is neither a reasonable story available, nor do I find it innovative and incredible. Just dodging a foe, dodging, dodging, hitting, and that all around. The game just feels pointless because of that […]. After almost 4 hours, I still don’t know why I’m even running around and beating up enemies. In my opinion, it’s just dull. […] I can’t comprehend any of the worldwide reviews (except for the well-designed open world). A lot of hype for actually very little content. What a pity.

This refers to the typically cryptic and subtly told main story of Elden Ring, which is not presented in the style of The Last of Us or Horizon: Forbidden West. Cutscenes are rare and the story is non-linear.

Strelson criticizes especially the lack of mouse/keyboard controls and the FPS cap at 60 frames per second: “For hardcore Souls fans, who will play it on controller anyway and know everything from the previous games, this shouldn’t be a problem, but for someone like me, who has never played a Souls game before, it’s very cumbersome. “

As usual, the difficulty of Elden Ring drives some new players to despair and causes frustration for some.

  • “I bought the game on a whim too. I’m damn bad at it. I totally regret the purchase. Great-looking game. I’m just bad and can’t beat anyone.” – CKT2k
  • “Yeah, a friend of mine tried it. Uninstalled and refunded in less than 3 hours. He asked if every single game was that hard. I said, ‘Yes, but it gets easier, I think.'”

However, many do not really criticize this but often simply accept it. Many believe: This is not a game for me.

Especially on reddit, there are many players ready to provide helpful tips and explain why newcomers should definitely keep at it.

Here in our comments, players also eagerly and willingly help each other. If you’re a newcomer and want to share your own experiences, feel free to do so in the comments here.

If you’re currently having trouble with Elden Ring, you can find here a Beginner’s Guide to Elden Ring – Easier Start with 12 Tips and Tricks

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

Trainer’s conclusion on the Johto tour in Pokémon GO – What went wrong?

The Pokémon GO Tour: Johto took place on Saturday and sparked much conversation with its content. We look into the community and see where trainers see opportunities for improvement.

This was the event: A few weeks ago, Niantic announced the big Johto Tour, which started in February 2022 as the successor to the Kanto Tour from 2021. For the first time, all Pokémon from the Johto region were available to catch in their dazzling form (as Shiny). Additionally, there were regional Pokémon like Corasonn and Skaraborn in raids.

The event lasted for a single day. Trainers had the opportunity to unlock special content with a ticket purchase. Special research, limited research, collector challenges, and much more were part of the tour. Now trainers are drawing conclusions.

Exhausting, too much content, too few Shinys – A community conclusion

These contents were offered: For ticket buyers, Niantic had a lot to offer. It started with a special research featuring Celebi and a limited research with Raikou, Entei, and Suicune. All featuring multiple chapters and three tasks per chapter. Several collector challenges were also included. There was one for all five habitats, one for raids, one for trading, and one with special Pokémon.

Additionally, there were increased shiny chances in the wild, special raids featuring Corasonn, Skaraborn, Ho-Oh, Lugia, Raikou, Entei, and Suicune were active, and the legendary beasts could even be caught in the wild. A very special content was provided by the new GO gym trainers – these are computer-controlled opponents whose appearance and battle team are based on real trainers who applied in the weeks before the event.

All of this was combined with egg bonuses and candy bonuses that encouraged further play. In our comprehensive overview of the Johto Tour, you can see all the contents.

Cool contents, but way too much

This is what players say about the contents: In the Pokémon GO community, a quickly widespread opinion found much resonance: The contents are good, but there is way too much for a one-day event.

On reddit.com, user Ishana92 writes: “I love the concept of the Johto event. But putting it all in one day is a bit too much. Multiple hour-specific catching challenges, raid collector challenges, trading, and exclusive collector challenges, evolving the entire Pokédex from Generation 2, battling thugs, etc. It’s exhausting and feels more like a grind than playing for fun.”

In the reddit community of TheSilphRoad, this was the highest rated opinion post regarding the Johto Tour on February 27th. Many trainers agree and say that with all the content, a whole weekend could easily be filled, and the battle event with the GO trainers could have been its own event.

Pokémon GO Today Johto Tour Evolve
All Pokémon from Johto evolve – Phew! A big task

User WorkingOnIt64 also thinks (via reddit.com) that the Johto Tour should have been divided into several small events. “That… that was too much. Too much for one day. I specifically took the whole day off and went all out, and it’s just too much.” He wished that Niantic had stretched the event over several days, so that the priorities could be tackled one after another.

In the comments on the thread, users claim that trainers without a ticket had fewer contents and thus more fun (via reddit.com).

Too few Shinys?

This was announced: For ticket buyers, Niantic promised a higher chance of certain shiny Pokémon. This was the main argument for many to decide on a ticket purchase and the silver or gold edition.

Pokémon-GO-Editionen-Johto-Tour Gold Silver
Depending on the edition, you should have a higher chance of obtaining the corresponding Shinys

How did it turn out? In practice, Shinys could be found, but not nearly as many as during the free community days. Trainers often report catching around 6 to 9 Shinys.

In our Facebook group for Pokémon GO, Tinka L. writes: “Too many tasks to complete in this time! The trainers only appeared at my PokéStops at 6:00 PM, so I only managed to catch flying and bug Pokémon. Shiny rate: 4 pieces in 12 hours! Disappointing.”

In the group, Filipe writes: “11 euros for 3 shinys is already bad, and I was active all day and used well over 1,000 Pokéballs.”

Tobi B. had more luck and writes “18 shinys, including one that I didn’t have yet. But overall, I’m satisfied.”

A trainer reports on reddit about his Discord group. “In the end, it must have been thousands of [Corasonn] raids […]. Not a single shiny was reported, but two perfect [catches] were. That must have left a nasty aftertaste for engaged trainers.”

Some trainers also write that they are quite satisfied with their shiny yield.

Smoke too weak

What was the problem? Trainers in the community often wrote that their smoke didn’t attract many Pokémon. Especially those who wanted to spawn more frequently and exclusively through smoke showed up very rarely.

User siamkor writes on reddit: “The most frequent complaint I see is that people hardly had Mantax-/Phanpy encounters while running smoke the entire event.”

These were the only boosted new Shinys, so the only new ones you could really expect at the event if you bought a ticket. And it required 12 hours of constant attention to your phone to check for 4 or 5 spawns per hour. That was not very well thought out. (Or worse, maybe it was.)”

User Boxinmonkey replies: “It felt like that was the problem. You paid for the unique smoke spawns, and it felt very lucky if one out of ten spawns was [one of those Pokémon]. It felt completely different than at the Kanto tour, where it was much more frequent.”

And then there were the GO gym trainers – But where at all?

What are these trainers? Niantic launched a competition a week before the Johto Tour where trainers could apply. The winners would then be activated as trainers in the game with their Pokémon and avatar for the Johto Tour, and all trainers worldwide could find them at PokéStops.

The problem: These GO gym trainers were extremely rare to encounter. That wouldn’t have been so bad if Niantic had made them optional. But for one of the battle challenges, you had to defeat all these trainers. All eight! So anyone who found a trainer at a stop by chance and managed to battle them had to move on and look for more trainers at other stops. This worked particularly poorly in rural areas.

This drove trainers to despair. Also, MeinMMO author Franzi Korittke tried to take on the challenge but eventually gave up.

Christian R. writes on our Facebook page for Pokémon GO: “The research and collecting tasks were quite good, and there were also decent rewards. Unfortunately, the gym trainer situation was extremely annoying because they hardly showed up. And there was no indication of the promised higher shiny chance.”

Doro T. writes, “Very disappointing. Shiny rate super bad, hardly anything else appeared in the smoke than in the wild. In 10 hours of gameplay, I caught exactly 6 Webarak and 9 Mantax. How one is supposed to get Shiny with that rate is a mystery to me. However, an endless supply of starter Pokémon that you can no longer stand. The task with the new trainers was also not solvable for me due to the lack of these new trainers. My conclusion is, I’m so annoyed that I need a break from playing and will never buy event tickets again.”

Severine B. writes in our Pokémon group: “I couldn’t complete the tasks. Only 4 out of 11, although I was in the park for 3 hours straight. There are about 12 stops and 2 gyms, but the trainers were not to be found. I was very upset.”

Some trainers are demanding from Niantic an event to compensate and a repeat of the battle challenge that should run over several days and significantly increase the chances of trainer spawns.

How lucky were you with the Johto Tour?

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

WoW just had its WildStar patch and I think it’s great

With the latest patch, World of Warcraft has become WildStar. At least that’s what Cortyn from MeinMMO thinks, seeing parallels everywhere.

The latest patch of World of Warcraft has been live since last Wednesday, and I ventured into Zereth Mortis after a break from Blizzard’s MMORPG. I actually expected that the patch wouldn’t “hook” me, as I was hardly interested in the events beyond the outcome of the Sylvanas story.

But I was mistaken. I love Zereth Mortis for several reasons – and the most important one is a long-dead MMORPG.

The Shadowlands were already far removed from what makes Azeroth and World of Warcraft. Zereth Mortis takes that to another level. The creatures are visually even more abstract and unreal. Large sphere beings, robots with a singing voice, and everywhere geometrically perfectly shaped objects.

No, it all felt even stranger than the entire Shadowlands. That’s fundamentally okay, as this abstraction is exactly what Zereth Mortis is supposed to be. A toolkit of the original elements of the afterlife that the “First” experimented with. A forge where the blueprints exist not only for the environment but also for the creatures.

Yet, despite its inappropriateness for Warcraft, I felt oddly at home and comfortable. I couldn’t explain it until it suddenly came to mind:

The entire area of Zereth Mortis is WildStar, crammed into a few square meters.

WoW Zereth Mortis Wildlife
Well, wouldn’t a few Aurin with Equivars fit in here?

Once you grasp this thought, you begin to see parallels everywhere in Zereth Mortis. The entire story of the Nexus planet from WildStar strongly resembles that of Zereth Mortis.

It doesn’t matter which cardinal direction I’m heading. When I’m bouncing through the green fauna in the south of Zereth Mortis, I feel like I’m suddenly back in Celestion. In the far north, however, I increasingly feel like I’m in Deradune, and the Lopp should be jumping at me any moment, wanting my glitzis.

Even the geometric shapes, be it the hexagonal columns or the spheres, contribute to this. It all so strongly reminds me of Eldan design, which could be seen everywhere in WildStar. There, geometry and the “unnatural” design of perfect shapes in a wild environment played a significant role repeatedly.

WoW Zereth Mortis Area Desert
Geometrically perfect shapes in nature. It feels alien – and reminds of WildStar.

Honestly, I was just waiting for an Aurin to suddenly appear from somewhere and ask me frantically if I had seen their episodes of “Matria after Midnight” or if one could not stop the Chua from exploiting the planet.

Yet the entire gameplay design of the area constantly reminds me of the bygone MMORPG. The jumping puzzles have become more complex in many cases than what one was used to from World of Warcraft. In some places, I see a dozen players desperately trying to navigate their way across several small platforms to the next treasure (while the Venthyr players simply teleport up).

The Pocopoc unlocks for the little robot remind me a bit of the paths one could choose in WildStar. There are additional treasures to see, or different things grant temporary character buffs that speed up progress in the area.

Finally, the flair of the area is comparable to its story. In WildStar, it was always the exploratory urge that underpinned most decisions and the attempt to understand the Nexus planet. Similarly, in Zereth Mortis with the Automa, whose motives and language cannot be grasped at first. Players and NPCs just fumble around a bit on the peculiar consoles and try to grasp what is actually going on. As you understand more and more, more and more questions are raised, and by the time you see the “big picture,” many gameplay hours go by.

I’m not saying that World of Warcraft shamelessly borrowed from WildStar. Having a mysterious creator deity that lets a machine-like race work for them, based on logic and geometric shapes, is a pretty popular and well-known concept. WildStar was not the first game to do this, and World of Warcraft is certainly not going to be the last.

But Zereth Mortis reminds me in every corner of the map of this failed – but beloved – game, and just that makes the exploration really enjoyable.

Yes, Zereth Mortis has little in common with Azeroth or the other areas of the Shadowlands. But that’s perfectly okay, as this landscape is meant to be surreal and alien – it serves as a perfect unique getaway.

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

Xbox players could not play Elden Ring online – developer comments

Elden Ring launched to overwhelmingly positive feedback – and equally serious technical issues. Xbox players are also affected. They are struggling with something very frustrating that only concerns them: persistent server problems.

Elden Ring is going through a turbulent phase at release.

While this back-and-forth regarding the PC and PS5 version of Elden Ring was taking place, Xbox players were dealing with their own problems. However, these are hardly addressed in the discussions.

Update, February 27: The problem has been resolved. FromSoftware reports this via the official Twitter account of Elden Ring:

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Since Release: “Network status failed” on Xbox One and Series X | S

What difficulties are there on Xbox? Apparently, since release, the Xbox versions of Elden Ring have been struggling with persistent server issues.

Many Xbox players report that they have been seeing the error “Network status failed” since release, regardless of whether they play on Xbox One or Xbox Series X | S.

https://twitter.com/Blandobrando18/status/1497314813701144576

Thus, they can play the game offline, but they involuntarily miss essential Soulsborne features like player messages, phantoms, and the iconic multiplayer mode.

These problems seem to occur regardless of the region.

Some users report that they can still play the new Soulsborne game online on Xbox Series X, but they consider themselves to be exceptions. This Twitter user believes to have identified the problem. Some Xbox players apparently do not have the correct version of the game:

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Elden Ring on Xbox Series X is not the right version for some users, which prevents them from going online. I have been online since yesterday, but my friends cannot connect to the Elden Ring servers. Please release a patch.

@cemeterybandit on Twitter

What is the likely solution? Most players see “1.02” as the version number in the lower right corner of the Elden Ring start screen. This is the version of the game at release, right after the mandatory Day-1 patch for online mode. The quoted Twitter user is apparently playing successfully online with version 1.02.

However, players in the MeinMMO community also say that this is not the solution. For example, Bastian writes in our comments: “I also play on Xbox Series X and could only play offline so far. The version number displayed is 1.02.”

According to people on Twitter, 1.02.1 is the patch that should enable the connection. The problem is that not everyone has this patch, and there is no way to force the download. Some users therefore have to play offline without any possibility to do something about it.

Server Issues Annoy Players: “Is it so absurd to want something as simple as a damn confirmation?”

On social media, players are not only very upset about the server problems at launch. Particularly the fact that this problem is apparently not addressed by those responsible causes a lot of frustration.

  • A user writes on Twitter in all caps: “Fix your damn Xbox servers. The fact that I can’t play online with friends is ridiculous.”
  • Another user responds to an official tweet regarding the PC issues: “This is all good, but could you please make a statement on the Xbox servers? Friends around the world can play, and many can’t. This is very annoying.”
  • A Twitter user with an Xbox avatar writes: “We are being ignored by FromSoftware and Bandai Namco. It’s as if we are irrelevant or they don’t care about us. If a refund were an option, I would take it.”

MeinMMO has inquired with Bandai Namco about what the problem with Xbox is. We have already received initial feedback. The issue has been forwarded, and affected players should contact support. They should also check the auto-update feature on Xbox and see if a changed setting resolves the issue.

We are still in contact with the publisher and will continue to update this article as new developments arise.

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

How much money have you spent in Lost Ark already?

The new MMORPG Lost Ark is free-to-play, but has a cash shop with numerous items and a premium subscription that offers players advantages. Have you spent any money on it yet?

You can pay for in Lost Ark: Like in most free-to-play games, the MMORPG Lost Ark also has alternative funding options. These primarily included the Founder’s Packs that fans could pre-order before the release.

The game also features a cash shop with various items. This ranges from cosmetic items, which can also be earned, to things that can only be purchased with the premium currency “Royal Crystals”.

Contents of the cash shop include:

  • Premium currencies: Royal and Blue Crystals
  • Outfits, pets, mounts, and other cosmetic items
  • Housing items
  • Tickets for completing certain activities (dailies, quests, etc.)
  • Limited quantity upgrade items for equipment
  • Tickets for additional character slots, name changes, etc.

Additionally, there is an “Subscription Service” called Crystalline Aura for players, which grants them a buff. This provides them with more EXP while leveling, no teleportation costs, and other advantages.

Players therefore have more than enough ways to spend their money in Lost Ark if they wish.

Here you can vote: In the survey tool below, you can tell us if and how much money you have pumped into Lost Ark. Everyone gets only one vote and the choice cannot be undone.

So go ahead: Have you spent money in Lost Ark already? And if so, how much have you put in? Did you stick only to cosmetic items or did you also buy gold for trading with other players?

Share your purchases with us in the comments and feel free to tell us what else you want to buy (or not buy).

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

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

Three MMORPGs are getting major updates in the next few weeks

With Guild Wars 2, The Elder Scrolls Online, and Black Desert there are three MMORPGs that will receive major updates in the coming weeks. Additionally, updates for Lost Ark and WoW have already been released this week. We at MeinMMO summarize all the important news of the week.

The Highlights of the Week:

The Controversies of the Week: The new expansion in SWTOR is not well received by players. We at MeinMMO have tested the new content and come to a conclusion: SWTOR does 3 things really well with Legacy of the Sith – But that is far too little for an expansion.

The Discussions of the Week: How do you like the new Patch 9.2 in WoW? Feel free to let us know in the comments and participate in this survey:

More on the topic
Hey, WoW players! How do you like Patch 9.2 anyway?
von Cortyn

FFXIV brings graphic overhaul, Lost Ark continues to struggle with queues and issues

What happened with the major MMORPGs:

What happened with the minor MMORPGs:

What happened with MMORPGs in development:

These were the news of the week from the world of MMORPGs at a glance. What was your personal highlight? Did you experience something exciting this week? Or did we forget something important? Please let us know in the comments here at MeinMMO and discuss with us.

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

During the Johto Tour of Pokémon GO, I had great Shiny luck, but one thing was really annoying

In Pokémon GO, the Johto Tour took place on February 26, 2022. MeinMMO author Franzi Korittke absolutely did not want to miss this event and will tell you how she found it and what was really bad.

What kind of event is it? The trainers of Pokémon GO embarked on the Johto Tour on Saturday. The Pokémon of the Johto region were the focus of attention.

Trainers with and without a ticket were able to look forward to numerous spawns that appeared within 12 hours in 5 different habitats in the game. The special thing: all Pokémon from the Johto region could be caught in their shiny forms with some luck. 

For example, the regional Pokémon Corasonn celebrated its shiny debut, along with other monsters like Kapoera, Remoraid, and Phanpy. Additionally, trainers received some cool bonuses, such as double candies when catching or a shortened hatching distance for eggs.

Who is writing here? I am Franzi Korittke, a freelance author at MeinMMO and have been playing Pokémon GO daily for over 3 years. Of course, I could not miss the Johto Tour and played at least for several hours.

How I found the event surrounding the Johto Tour and what I thought was really bad, I have summarized for you below.

Few bugs and cool shinies at the Johto Tour

Overall, I was positively surprised by the implementation of the Johto Tour. At past events, there were often issues with Pokémon GO struggling with the large number of accesses in the game. Friend lists were often unreachable or the game threw other errors. However, during the Pokémon GO Tour: Johto, no major problems were observed.

Since I wrote for MeinMMO in the morning, I could only start playing a bit later, but during the time I was active, no major problems occurred. It was more the usual little annoyances that Pokémon GO also experiences outside of events, like a faulty raid lobby.

That bothered me less, and I was thrilled to play and catch with almost no problems. I was especially looking forward to the many spawns, partly because this was the first time that all Johto Pokémon were supposed to be available as shinies.

Johto Tour brings me a cool, long-awaited shiny

It had already been announced in advance that there would be new shinies for the Johto Tour, so it was less of a surprise. And even though my yield of shinies is unfortunately limited, I am still satisfied.

What particularly excites me is the catch of a very special Pokémon that I have been waiting for ages: Shiny Ho-Oh. How many times have I tried to obtain this monster in its shiny form in the past? And finally, it is here. Just for that, the event was worth it for me.

Shiny Ho-Oh

In addition to shinies like Snubbull and Gyarados, which I have caught several times before, I was also able to snag further shiny specimens that I had not yet registered in my Pokédex. The selection includes Sonnkern, Griffel, and Teddiursa. Overall, I am satisfied with my yield here as well.

Sonnkern, Griffel, and Teddiursa as shinies

Special surprise at the Johto Tour

A real surprise was also the legendary monsters Raikou, Entei, and Suicune, which Niantic let spawn in the wild. Although they were not so easy to catch, I was thrilled by this opportunity and gladly collected the double candies.

Especially for my Raikou, every candy is needed to level it up properly. After all, the Electric-type Pokémon is among the best attackers in Pokémon GO. Naturally, the corresponding legendary raids surrounding Raikou, Entei, Suicune, Ho-Oh, and Lugia were also present.

A wild Raikou

Due to the shortened raid times, I could do numerous raids, so my free passes were not enough. Besides the legendary specimens, I would have especially liked a shiny Corasonn, which I unfortunately did not receive.

Nevertheless, I consider the event a success. After the many smaller events that have taken place recently, I especially liked the numerous different spawns and the many raids. I also found the change of habitats great. However, one thing was really bad for me: the GO Gym trainers.

That’s why I found the GO Gym trainers really bad

In principle, I think Niantic’s idea is great that trainers can actively participate in the design of such events. Similar principles have already been used in other Pokémon GO events in the past.

While in the past, it was often criticized that the trainers, against whom one can fight at the PokéStop similarly to Team GO Rocket, spawned too frequently, they were rather rare during the Johto Tour.

This would have bothered me less because during this event I personally would have preferred to focus on catching and playing raids. But to complete one of the limited research tasks, it was necessary to defeat all GO Gym trainers. The problem: they were virtually nowhere to be found.

GO Gym trainers at the Johto Tour

GO Gym trainers were hardly to be found

Just as it happened to many trainers, it also happened to me. I searched for the GO Gym trainers, but even after an hour, none could be found at the surrounding PokéStops. After a while, I finally discovered a flickering PokéStop, and indeed, there he was. When I reached it and wanted to click on the Gym trainer, he disappeared right away. 

Even though I was eventually able to battle the trainer at another PokéStop, the search for the next one continued. I found this very annoying and it didn’t provide me with any fun at all. For this reason, I finally capitulated and decided to focus on the nice things of the event.

Dud of the event, especially for rural players

Nevertheless, I found the spawn rate of the GO Gym trainers in relation to such extensive research to be far too low, and thus it was my personal dud of the event. 

If Niantic wants to include such a concept in the future, I would wish for the trainers to be found more frequently. Especially for players living in rural areas, such a low spawn rate can result in tasks not being completed in the given time.

This is because there are only a few PokéStops in smaller villages, and the next one may be several kilometers away. Thus, these players depend on a certain mobility. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed the Pokémon GO Tour: Johto and I look forward to more events like this. 

How about you? What did you particularly like about the Johto Tour? And what did you think was really bad? Feel free to share your opinion here on MeinMMO in the comments and exchange views with other trainers.

We took a look at the community – These points Niantic needs to improve next time

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

What can a “Dark Souls” newbie actually expect from Elden Ring?

The action RPG Elden Ring has caused a lot of hype and launched with over 750,000 players on Steam. But what can players expect from a so-called “SoulsBorne” game? We discuss this in our MeinMMO Podcast.

This is the topic: Long before the release, Elden Ring was in 2nd place among the most anticipated games on Steam. On launch day, over 750,000 people played the new game from developer FromSoftware simultaneously.

It received an astounding 97 points on Metacritic and dominated Twitch, although there were ongoing complaints about performance issues.

Elden Ring belongs to the so-called “SoulsBorne” games, meaning games that work similarly to the popular titles Dark Souls and Bloodborne. What this is and what characterizes them is discussed by Alexander Leitsch, Tarek Zehrer, and Irina Moritz in this podcast. Tarek and Irina were able to test Elden Ring in advance and share their experiences.

You can listen here:

You can also listen to the podcast here:

If you’re only interested in new shooters that will be released in the near future, here on MeinMMO we show you the most important releases for multiplayer shooters that have been announced for the year 2022.

Suggestions or criticism?

This is how you can participate: You can actually actively contribute to the improvement of the podcast. If you have feedback such as suggestions or criticism, or just want to submit a cool topic suggestion that should definitely be discussed, then feel free to visit our Discord server.

Alternatively, you can also directly send an email to [email protected] and share your thoughts with us. Let us know your opinion in the comments.

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

Pokémon GO Tour: Johto in the Live-Ticker – Hurry up, the last minutes are running

In a few hours, the great Pokémon GO Tour: Johto will start. We at MeinMMO will keep you updated on all events and current information during the entire event through this live ticker.

What is the Johto Tour? The Pokémon GO Tour: Johto is an event where everything revolves around the Pokémon of the Johto region. For the first time, all monsters from the 2nd generation of games will be available in their shiny forms in the game.

When does the Johto Tour start? The Pokémon GO Tour: Johto takes place on Saturday, February 26, 2022, from 09:00 AM to 09:00 PM local time.

Pokémon GO Tour: Johto – Live Ticker

Here is our live ticker for the Pokémon GO Tour: Johto, which we will regularly update for you during the entire event on February 26, 2022. In it, we report on the spawns of the habitats, possible promo codes (if any are released), special spawns, and all news that are important during the tour.

09:00 PM: The Johto Tour is now over, and 12 eventful hours lie behind us. We hope you managed to catch a few strong and shiny specimens. Don’t forget that you still have until 11:00 PM to complete the last two collector challenges regarding evolving and trading.

We say goodbye for today and wish you a good night!

08:20 PM: The last 40 minutes of the event have begun. Check once more if you have completed all collector challenges. Also, don’t forget to pick up your event box with 3 free remote raid passes in the in-game shop, if you haven’t done that yet.

07:52 PM: You have just under an hour to take advantage of the Johto Tour. So, remember to stock your incubators until the end of the event to benefit from the shortened hatch distance even after the Johto Tour.

Furthermore, all trainers, whether playing with or without a ticket, have 6 special trades during the event. So it’s a good time to trade.

Vote here on how you liked the event:

07:40 PM: One of the collector challenges is not about catching Pokémon, but about trading with a friend. Depending on which edition you chose, you will need to trade the following Pokémon from a friend with the other edition to complete it:

Gold EditionSilver Edition
LedybaWebarak
BotogelSkorgla
PanzaeronTeddiursa
PhanpyMantax

You will have 2 more hours to trade after the event, until 11:00 PM.

06:25 PM: To complete the limited research “GO Tour Johto: Special,” you need to catch Celebi in addition to the Pokémon you can find in the spawns.

The mysterious Pokémon can be obtained as a total reward at stage 8/9 of the special research “Pokémon GO Tour: Johto.” You need to have solved this to redeem the limited research, so you must also have completed it.

05:05 PM: The last two hours of the Johto Tour have started. Check your collector challenges to see if you are missing any Pokémon. This is your last chance to catch the missing monsters. Make use of it!

04:45 PM: The last habitat minutes of Solo Silver Mountain are running. Between 07:00 PM and 09:00 PM, all habitats will be active again, but this time at the same time. At 09:00 PM, the Johto Tour will end.

03:55 PM: The next habitat is about to begin. The journey will take place from 06:00 PM to 07:00 PM at Silver Mountain. Happy catching! Here are the Pokémon available:

  • Onix
  • Seemon
  • Traunfugil
  • Sniebel
  • Schneckmag
  • Quiekel
  • Hunduster
  • Larvitar

02:43 PM: From now on, you can evolve your buddy Eevee so that it becomes Umbreon. Remember that during the Johto Tour, there is no kilometer requirement for this. Choose an Eevee as your buddy and then evolve it. You can still get Espeon with a nickname from Eevee.

01:13 PM: We have summarized the already known tasks of the Masterwork Research in Pokémon GO for you. You will need a lot of time for this. One of the tasks requires you to complete it 30 days in a row.

12:55 PM: Are you ready for the next habitat? Dukatia City will be next from 05:00 PM to 06:00 PM and will bring you these Pokémon:

  • Chaneira
  • Porygon
  • Marill
  • Griffel
  • Woingenau
  • Snubbull
  • Remoraid
  • Miltank

11:55 AM: Next up is the National Park habitat from 04:00 PM to 05:00 PM. Look forward to these spawns:

  • Duflor
  • Sichlor
  • Lampi
  • Mogelbaum
  • Sonnkern
  • Girafarig
  • Tannza
  • Pottrott

10:55 AM: The last minutes with Neuborkia are running out. After that, the Viola City habitat will be activated from 03:00 PM to 04:00 PM. It will bring you the following Pokémon spawns:

  • Golbat
  • Flegmon
  • Iksbat
  • Togetic
  • Natu
  • Xatu
  • Voltilamm
  • Yanma
  • Felino
  • Kramurx
  • Laschoking

10:40 AM: I finally found and defeated my first gym trainer. The fight was much easier than finding the trainer first. I recognized him at a PokéStop from a distance. He was shaking blue (and not dark blue like during a Rocket encounter). I immediately left my home office and sprinted to the stop. It seems they spawn in the correct order, as I immediately found the corresponding flying encounter.

10:30 AM: Remember that the Rocket balloons appear every half hour for you. At each full and half hour.

09:54 AM: The next habitat change is coming. From 02:00 PM to 03:00 PM, the spawns from Neuborkia will return, which were active from 09:00 AM to 10:00 AM. Here are the Pokémon:

  • Quaputzi
  • Evoli
  • Endivie
  • Meganie
  • Feurigel
  • Tornupto
  • Karnimani
  • Impergator
  • Wiesor
  • Hoothoot
  • Hoppspross

09:40 AM: For your evolving challenge (visible in the Today overview), you need to evolve an Eevee into Espeon. Remember that you can only do this during the day. So do it early rather than late. How all Eevee evolutions work in Pokémon GO.

09:23 AM: We often read in comments on Facebook where to find the GO gym trainers. They appear at PokéStops. However, the chances of them appearing seem to be quite low. So keep a close eye on the stops near you.

08:54 AM: The next habitat change is coming. From 09:00 AM to 10:00 AM, the Silver Mountain will bring these spawns:

  • Onix
  • Seemon
  • Traunfugil
  • Sniebel
  • Schneckmag
  • Quiekel
  • Hunduster
  • Larvitar

08:17 AM: Remember that in the “Today” overview, you also have a task regarding “Go Tour Johto: Evolving.” For this, you need to evolve 40 Pokémon and then receive 25,100 XP, 3 candy, and a star piece.

Pokémon GO Today Johto Tour Evolve

07:10 AM: We have written an article for you about the legendary Pokémon Entei, Raikou, and Suicune, which are now in the wild. Why you shouldn’t catch them right away.

06:55 AM: And another habitat has come to an end, and “Dukatia City” is getting ready. All the monsters you are still missing from the National Park challenge can be caught between 04:00 PM and 05:00 PM.

In Dukatia City, you will encounter monsters like Chaneira, Porygon, and Miltank until 01:00 PM. For the collector challenge of this habitat, you need to catch the following Pokémon:

  • Marill
  • Griffel
  • Woingenau
  • Snubbull
  • Remoraid
  • Miltank
  • Porygon
  • Chaneira

06:48 AM: Remember that there are special bonuses for ticket holders during the entire event that you should definitely use:

  • four times shorter hatch distance for eggs
  • double candies when catching
  • extra candies when catching monsters that were first in the Johto region
  • 3 free remote raid passes
  • 9 free raid passes

All trainers can also look forward to an increased limit of 6 special trades today. Additionally, you will receive a guaranteed XL candy after Level 5 raids. Level 1 and Level 3 raids also have increased chances for this. It is important that you do these raids on-site.

05:59 AM: Viola City is coming to an end. If you haven’t been able to complete the collector challenge, you will have another opportunity between 02:00 PM and 03:00 PM. But first, the habitat “National Park” is starting.

There you will find monsters like Duflor, Sichlor, or Tannza. Of course, there will also be a collector challenge for this habitat:

  • Lampi
  • Mogelbaum
  • Sonnkern
  • Girafarig
  • Tannza
  • Pottrott
  • Sichlor
  • Duflor

05:25 AM: During the Johto Tour, Niantic has also adjusted the field research and unlocked 8 event quests for you. Keep an eye out for the following tasks at your PokéStops:

TaskReward
Battle in a raid3 Max Revives
Catch 5 Pokémon500 XP
Catch 10 Pokémon500 Stardust
Hatch an egg1 Lugia candy or
1 Ho-Oh candy
Hatch 2 eggs1 special candy
Spin 5
PokéStops or gyms
100 Stardust
Spin 15
PokéStops or gyms
500 Stardust
Walk 1 km1 special candy

04:12 AM: Today you will also find a special event box in the in-game shop of Pokémon GO called “Training Box.” This costs 550 coins and is worth it in terms of content:

  • 1x Pokémon storage expansion
  • 1x item bag expansion
  • 30 Pokéballs
  • 5 Lucky Eggs

So if you wanted to expand your Pokémon and item bag anyway and need lucky eggs, don’t miss this offer.

Training Box

03:00 AM: The first hour is already over, and the habitat changes to “Viola City.” There you will encounter Pokémon like Golbat, Laschoking, or Voltilamm. There is also a collector challenge here. You need to catch the following monsters to complete it:

  • Togetic
  • Natu
  • Voltilamm
  • Yanma
  • Felilou
  • Kramurx
  • Golbat
  • Flegmon

02:55 AM: In Level 3 raids, you can also find Corasonn and Skaraborn today, the regional Pokémon from the Johto region. With a bit of luck, you might catch them as shiny. I tried my luck immediately, but unfortunately, it didn’t work out.

Corasonn in Level 3 Raid

02:24 AM: While “Neuborkia,” you need to complete a collector challenge. You need to catch the following monsters depending on your edition to get the reward:

  • Endivie
  • Feurigel
  • Karnimani
  • Hoothoot
  • Wiesor
  • Hoppspross
  • Quaputzi
  • Evoli

You will see the Pokémon when you set up smoke. If you do not complete your collector challenge in the first hour until 10:00 AM, you have another chance between 02:00 PM and 03:00 PM.

Depending on the edition, there is another collector challenge that runs across all habitats:

Gold EditionSilver Edition
WebarakLedyba
SkorglaBotogel
TeddiursaPanzaeron
MantaxPhanpy

09:00 AM: The Johto Tour has begun. We are starting with the first habitat: Neuborkia. Here you can expect Pokémon like Quaputzi, Evoli, or Endivie.

08:15 AM: As we already know from reports from players in other countries where the Johto Tour has already started, there will be plenty of raids today. These have a reduced preparation time of about 5 minutes and are available in each arena for about 25 minutes.

Additionally, you can encounter legendary Pokémon like Entei or Raikou in the wild. With a bit of luck, you might even catch them.

08:00 AM: Good morning, dear trainers! In just under an hour, the big Pokémon GO Tour: Johto will begin. So this is your chance to finalize your last preparations. If you purchased a ticket, you should definitely choose your edition beforehand.

To do this, go to your item bag and click on the blue event ticket. In the window that opens, scroll down to the bottom and select your desired edition. Note that this cannot be changed afterward.

What you should know in preparation for the Johto Tour

So that you can already prepare for the upcoming event, we have summarized the most important facts about the Johto Tour below.

Do you need a ticket? Depending on whether you purchased a ticket or want to play for free, you will have different contents and spawns. Ticket holders can choose between the gold and silver edition, which increase your chances for certain Shinies.

The event ticket costs around 12 euros and can be purchased in the in-game shop of the game. We have summarized what spawns and bonuses you can expect with a ticket for the Johto Tour in our related article.

But also participating in the Johto Tour without a ticket is not a problem. You will have access to a stripped-down part of the bonuses and can also look forward to cool raid bosses like Ho-Oh, Lugia, but also Skaraborn and Corasonn.

Do all monsters spawn at the same time? The Pokémon will spawn alternately in 5 different habitats during the entire event:

  • Neuborkia (09:00 AM to 10:00 AM and 02:00 PM to 03:00 PM)
  • Viola City (10:00 AM to 11:00 AM and 03:00 PM to 04:00 PM)
  • National Park (11:00 AM to 12:00 PM and 04:00 PM to 05:00 PM)
  • Dukatia City (12:00 PM to 01:00 PM and 05:00 PM to 06:00 PM)
  • Silver Mountain (01:00 PM to 02:00 PM and 06:00 PM to 07:00 PM)
  • All habitats (07:00 PM to 09:00 PM)

You can find more tips for preparation in our guide to the Pokémon GO Tour: Johto.

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

Pokémon GO: What did you think of the Johto Tour? Vote here

On Pokémon GO the great Johto Tour started on February 26, 2022, with many Shinys, special research, collector challenges, regional Pokémon, and more. We want to know how you liked it.

What is it about? At 9:00 AM German time the Pokémon GO Tour: Johto started on Saturday, February 26. Trainers could participate in the event with a paid ticket, but it was also completely free to join.

Many players participated in the event and discussed the contents of the Johto Tour on social networks and here on MeinMMO. Finally, we want to know from you how well the event was received. We have a survey for you.

Survey about the GO Tour: Johto – Vote here

This is how the survey works: In our survey, each participant has one vote. Choose how much you liked the event. You have the choice between “Good”, “Average”, and “Bad”. We differentiate whether you played with or without a ticket. So select the appropriate answer.

There were positive surprises, such as the legendary beasts in the wild. Although they were rare to find, they received a lot of positive feedback. The researches that rewarded trainers with many candies and exciting encounters were also well received.

On the other hand, the researches caused problems at times. Players were supposed to fight the new GO Gym Trainers, but they appeared only very rarely at PokéStops. Especially players in rural areas complained about a poor yield that stopped them from completing the challenge.

Let us know here on MeinMMO in the comments why you voted “Good”, “Average”, or “Bad”. Perhaps you also have some suggestions for improvement for the next event of this kind.

An important find by data miners shows: Generation 7 will probably be released in Pokémon GO soon

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

Valve boss plays FFXIV at the release of the Steam Deck – His son needs a healer

The Steam Deck is here, and even the boss of the manufacturer Valve is gaming on the new device. And although he apparently has renounced MMORPGs, he is playing one again. Namely Final Fantasy XIV, because otherwise his son would die in the game. Read the whole story here on MeinMMO.

Who is Gabe Newell? Gabe Logan Newell (59) is an American entrepreneur and co-founder and president of Valve, the company behind DotA2 and the successful platform Steam. Newell is considered an advocate for the PC as the top gaming platform.

He is also known as GabeN and a star of many relevant memes, one of them – Lord Gabe – you can admire in the title image here.

What is he playing on the Steam Deck? At the release of the Steam Deck on February 25, 2022, Gabe Newell was interviewed by IGN. There, he was also asked if and what he would play on the Deck.

In response, GabeN said that he would indeed be gaming on the Deck and even a lot. His current game would be Final Fantasy XIV:

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One of my sons recently got excited about Final Fantasy. I was kind of burned out from World of Warcraft. Whenever a new level cap was introduced, I would think “Ah!” and start playing. And after ten minutes, my brain started to meltdown. So I haven’t played any MMOs (RPGs) for a while, but one of my sons is now interested in Final Fantasy.

He was upset with the people he was doing raids with, so he asked: “Okay, I need a lackey. Dad, come and be my lackey. Be my healer who doesn’t let me die when I tank.” So I started playing with him. And from then on, I played a lot of [FFXIV] on the Deck.

For his son, it seems that GabeN has rediscovered his passion for MMORPGs.

More on the topic
6 important things you should know about Valve’s Steam Deck
von Benedikt Schlotmann

The Steam Deck is here

What exactly is the Steam Deck? Valve unexpectedly presented a kind of handheld console called Steam Deck in the summer of 2021. The device reminded many users of a more powerful version of the Nintendo Switch Pro.

The handheld is supposed to offer all the functions of a gaming PC without compromise. Most of your Steam games that you currently play on PC are also expected to work on the Steam Deck. On the official site, you can check if this is also true for you and your game collection.

On February 25, 2022, the Deck finally appeared in various versions. How the Steam Deck was received at launch and what to look out for, you can learn here on MeinMMO in our special on the Steam Deck launch: Steam Deck Test – What the first reviews say about Valve’s gaming PC in handheld format

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

5 Online games that are suitable for children

Help, my child really wants to play online games on the PC or console. But what games can safely be entrusted to small children, and what do parents need to consider when the little ones are playing online? We at MeinMMO explain it.

What are online games and MMOs? Online games are games that are not (primarily) played alone, but with other players over the Internet. This means that your children can play with friends, but also with completely unknown people online.

A subgenre of online games is so-called MMOs. The abbreviation stands for “Massively-Multiplayer-Online[Game]” – So a game with massively many simultaneous players that is played online. In MMOs, many players are often in the same online world at the same time.

Online games and MMOs can belong to various genres within gaming. The most common are:

  • RPGs: This stands for Role-Playing Game, meaning role-playing games, where players take on roles and embody them online. For example, brave warriors and wizards in an online world.
  • Shooters: The classic “shooting games”. Here, the goal is to shoot opponent characters with a weapon. However, shooters are not necessarily violent “killer games”. There are also harmless games for children.
  • Building and simulation games: In these games, you can explore the game world and build things there. Often, the games have no defined objectives. You just play as in a sandbox.
  • Puzzle and platform games: In these games, the goal is to solve logic and physics puzzles and overcome tricky obstacle courses with a character.
children playing study
In order for children to have fun in online games safely, parents need to pay attention to a few things.

What parents should pay attention to

At what age should children even start playing? As a rule of thumb – the older they are, the more playtime a day should be allowed. Ideally, children from 0 to 3 years should not play digitally at all.

For 4-year-olds, according to media educators, the first learning games are okay. Children should play properly from the age of 5 (via GameStar).

How long should children play per day? Depending on their age, children should adhere to the following playing times according to media educators:

  • From 5 years: About 30 minutes per day
  • 6 to 9 years: Here, an hour of gaming is also allowed
  • From 9 years: It is recommended to calculate 10 minutes per completed year of age per day or one hour per week. A 10-year-old child could then play a maximum of 100 minutes per day or a total of 10 hours a week.

What else should I pay attention to as a parent? Especially with online games, it is important to pay attention to who the children are playing with. Parents should monitor game times and educate the children about the dangers of online gaming.

Children must be warned not to trust strangers and should always have their parents as points of contact.

Additionally, parents should check if their children’s games contain hidden costs. So-called “microtransactions” promise advantages in the game or particularly spectacular virtual clothes or items that can then be used online for a few euros.

It must be clear from the outset that children can’t spend a lot of money here without significant effort. Therefore, pay strict attention to appropriate security settings on the PC or console, so that children are not even able to buy items in the game with real money.

Where can I find more information? If you want to dive deeper into the topic of games and media for children, we recommend the following websites (via GameStar):

But enough of the preamble, the following games are all well-suited for children.

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

WoW: Those who report their teammates in China receive rewards

For Chinese players, it is worth reporting their fellow players in World of Warcraft. There are really great rewards waiting.

When looking at World of Warcraft and other Blizzard games across different regions of the world, there are some differences. Not only visually, but also in the Chinese version of Blizzard’s MMORPG, there are some adjustments, such as missing bones or in some places completely missing dialogues, such as from trans characters.

However, Chinese players also get to enjoy another bonus: If they report their fellow players, there are cool rewards waiting.

Start video
Everything you need to know about the MMORPG World of Warcraft – in 3 minutes

What kind of system is this? Chinese players will soon encounter a new system. When they report other players for misconduct, such as botting, cheating, insults, or any other unwanted negative behavior, they can benefit from it.

If the report leads to an account penalty for the accused, the reporter collects points. These points can then be exchanged for rewards.

For comparison: Here, we only receive a small in-game notification when a report leads to a sanction.

WoW China Shop Report Rewards
Some of the rewards for Chinese players who successfully report their fellow players. Image source: wowhead

What rewards are there? A whole lot. Players can unlock “generic” rewards like Hearthstone packs, skins in Heroes of the Storm, or even boosters. However, there are also some real delicacies that long-time WoW fans would probably lick their fingers for. These include:

  • Great War Bear
  • Flame-licked Hippogryph
  • The Victory Flag
  • Aspect of the Demon Hunter
  • Hippogryph Hatchling
  • Paper Dragon

Yes, you read that right: These are the rewards that originally were only available through the long-discontinued Trading Card Game and now occasionally appear in the black market auction house.

Will this also come to us? This is rather unlikely. In China, there has been a “points shop” as a bonus program for a while. Those who make purchases related to Blizzard games can then exchange these points for additional rewards, such as Hearthstone card packs or in-game mounts in WoW. The system is now merely being supplemented with an additional points income source for reporting disruptive players.

It is important to mention in this whole matter that World of Warcraft and other Blizzard games in China are primarily run by Netease, and Blizzard is not directly involved in these decisions.

Would you wish for such a system here? Or should there be no additional incentives to report other players?

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

Pokémon GO: All regional Pokémon of the Johto Tour and where to catch them

In Pokémon GO you can also encounter regional monsters during today’s Johto Tour. We at MeinMMO will show you which monsters you can look forward to and where to catch them.

What are regional Pokémon? In Pokémon GO, there are a number of regional monsters that can only be caught in a specific area. This includes, for example, Kangaskhan, which can only be found in Australia. To get them all, you usually have to travel to the corresponding regions.

On the occasion of today’s Johto Tour, you can temporarily obtain the regional monsters of the Johto region worldwide.

How to catch Corasonn and Heracross

The regional Pokémon of the Johto region are Corasonn and Heracross. While Corasonn can usually only be found near the equator, the Bug and Fighting-type Pokémon Heracross comes from Latin America.

Both monsters have also been catchable in Europe during certain events, but the shiny version of the Water and Rock-type Pokémon Corasonn celebrates its premiere during the Johto Tour.

But where can you catch Heracross and Corasonn? The two regional Pokémon will be found in level-3 raids throughout the Pokémon GO Tour: Johto on February 26, 2022. Once you defeat them, you will have the opportunity to catch one.

Are Corasonn and Heracross worth it?

Are there shiny versions of Corasonn and Heracross? Yes, you can catch shiny Heracross and shiny Corasonn. With a bit of luck, you may encounter the shiny version after the raid. They are also available as shiny in their respective regions.

Corasonn is distinguished by a blue body from its normal form. Shiny Heracross can be recognized by its pink body.

Corasonn and Heracross normal (left) and shiny (right)

Why should you catch Corasonn and Heracross? Both Corasonn and Heracross have no pre-evolutions or further evolutions. However, Corasonn is particularly interesting for shiny hunters today and stands out due to its rarity.

Heracross, on the other hand, you should definitely secure. Although the Pokémon also has a shiny version and is therefore of great interest to shiny hunters, it can also impress with a strong attack. Heracross is one of the best fighting attackers in Pokémon GO.

So it’s worth taking the opportunity if you’re looking for a strong fighting Pokémon for your team. Additionally, during the event, there is a candy bonus for catching, allowing you to collect valuable candies needed for leveling up.

Which Counters Should You Use Against Corasonn and Heracross?

The Best Counters Against Corasonn: The Water and Rock-type Pokémon is particularly weak against Grass-type attacks. You can also rely on Fighting, Electric, and Ground-type moves. Best use the following counters (via pokebattler.com):

  1. (Shadow) Torterra with Vine Whip and Leaf Tornado
  2. (Shadow) Venusaur with Vine Whip and Solar Beam
  3. (Shadow) Torterra with Razor Leaf and Solar Beam
  4. Zarude with Vine Whip and Leaf Tornado
  5. (Shadow) Exeggutor with Seed Bomb and Solar Beam
  6. (Shadow) Venusaur with Razor Leaf and Leaf Blade
  7. (Shadow) Porygon-Z with Hidden Power and Solar Beam
  8. Roserade with Razor Leaf and Grass Knot
  9. Gardevoir with Seed Bomb and Solar Beam
  10. (Shadow) Gloom with Razor Leaf and Solar Beam

The Best Counters Against Heracross: Since Heracross is a Bug and Fighting-type, you should use Flying counters or rely on Fire, Psychic, or Fairy attackers. We recommend the following counters (via pokebattler.com):

  1. (Shadow) Moltres with Wing Attack and Sky Attack
  2. (Shadow) Ho-Oh with Hidden Power and Brave Bird
  3. Mega-Pidgeot with Air Slash and Brave Bird
  4. (Shadow) Staraptor with Wing Attack and Brave Bird
  5. (Shadow) Honchkrow with Peck and Sky Attack
  6. Rayquaza with Air Slash and Hurricane
  7. (Shadow) Zapdos with Thunder Shock and Drill Peck
  8. (Shadow) Lugia with Aeroblast and Sky Attack
  9. (Shadow) Mewtwo with Confusion and Brave Bird
  10. Mega-Charizard with Air Slash and Heat Wave

You can find more strong counters in our overview of the best attackers in Pokémon GO.

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

Lost Ark: How to farm the important engravings to perfect your build

Engravings are an important part of your build in Lost Ark and are absolutely necessary to perfect it. But where do you actually get the best engravings and how do you best achieve your Level 3 engravings? We at MeinMMO show you how to farm effectively.

What do you need engravings for? Engravings are extremely important in the endgame of Lost Ark to perfect your builds or for some, to make them work at all. However, you can start engaging with them even before level 50 to prepare yourself as best as possible.

Engravings are available in three tiers, for which you need a total of 15 points on a specific engraving. After every 5 points, the next tier of the engraving activates and grants you bonuses. However, there are not only positive engravings that can affect your character. 

The only way to get engravings in Lost Ark without any negative effects is to equip them directly yourself. However, you need to gather powerful engraving guides, which come in various rarity levels.

The negative effects of all engravings come in one of four ways and thus limit you to less damage, less armor, slower movement, or slower attacks.

How do you obtain engravings? In Lost Ark, there are three ways to activate and improve engravings for your character:

  • Through the ability stones that you can obtain at various levels and then need to polish.
  • The various pieces of jewelry in your equipment also provide you bonuses to your engravings.
  • You can equip two engravings that you have already learned directly on your character.
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In this podcast, the MeinMMO team discusses how Lost Ark feels after 30, 60, and 120 hours.

How to farm the engravings

Farming Ability Stones – Where and how?

How do you obtain the ability stones? The first of these stones are obtained during a tutorial quest in Luterra, but then it remains quiet for a long time regarding the rare stones. However, do not worry, once you reach level 50, you will find quite a few of the stones.

They drop in Chaos Dungeons, Guardian Raids, and Abyssal Dungeons, as well as in the Tower or in the Cube. You can also receive them as quest rewards, drops from bosses, or from daily quests. If you’re still unlucky, you can also bid on the stones through the auction house, as they can be traded between players.

These stones always provide you with two random positive engravings and one random negative one. They also offer you bonuses to your vitality stats. By the way, there are only combat engravings on the ability stones, you will not find class engravings here.

You must polish the stones before you can use them

How rare are the stones? Not at all. Since you need great luck to have a stone that can offer you two meaningful engravings and then you still need to polish that stone to use it, you have a very high wear rate of the ability stones.

Lost Ark knows this, which is why you can hardly call it farming here. These ability stones drop really constantly and at every corner. You do not need to farm them specifically, but you virtually collect them automatically while going about your daily tasks.

How important are the stones? The stones give you, depending on their rarity and luck when polishing, up to 9 points on an engraving. So they are currently your most important resource for good engravings in the early endgame.

Farming Jewelry – Where and how?

How do you obtain jewelry? Rings, necklaces, and earrings are available as jewelry for your character in Lost Ark. They can all provide you bonuses to engravings, but they always come with a negative effect.

You receive them, similar to the ability stones, from practically all endgame content. They are treated like equipment that drops from bosses or simply drops from various monsters.

Especially noteworthy here are the Abyssal Dungeons, as you can find jewelry with class engravings there that do not exist anywhere else in the game. This means that the jewelry found there grants you bonuses to one of your two specific class engravings instead of one of the many combat engravings.

This way, you can specialize even better through jewelry than through the ability stones. Here you can specifically look for which of your two class engravings you want to improve.

However, if you are specifically looking for the normal combat engravings, you should avoid the Abyssal Dungeons accordingly. The jewelry here only has class engravings. By the way, they are also always accompanied by a negative effect.

On the right side of the menu, you can see the pieces of jewelry that are important for your engravings

How rare are the jewelry pieces? It behaves similarly to the ability stones, even though the jewelry drops at least a little less frequently than the stones. However, the difficulty with them lies again in having the luck to find exactly that one piece of jewelry whose stats suit you.

In addition to the engravings, the jewelry also has important attributes for your character, such as crit and agility. If you need these two attributes, a ring that increases your stamina is not very useful, even if it may have good engravings.

How important is the jewelry? The bonus from a single piece of jewelry to your engravings is limited. However, since you can wear two rings, two earrings, and one necklace, the overall impact is huge. 

If you want to play many different engravings, the jewelry is the best way to realize that. These pieces of equipment are also essential for your character’s attributes.

Farming Engraving Guides – Where and how?

How do you obtain the engraving guides? The guides for the engravings unlock the respective engraving for your entire account. This makes them the only way to farm good engravings for other characters.

These engraving guides exist in four different rarity levels and you need all of them to basically learn an engraving. For each new tier of an engraving, a total of 20 guides is needed. Therefore, to fully learn an engraving, you need 80 guides of the same engraving.

You cannot skip the different tiers. So, you must first read green books until the engraving is level 1, only then can you use the blue books of the second tier. With each tier, the guides give you +3 points to the respective engraving.

You usually receive the books in the form of containers that can be opened. Depending on the container, you can either choose a guide or receive a random one. You can find these containers often in side quests and on islands, but you can also obtain the guides in Abyssal Dungeons and Guardian Raids.

After reading 20 books, your engraving is level 1 and ready to use

In the Tower, you also receive some of the books, and rarely you can get them from Chaos Dungeons as well. Effective farming of the books is best possible in Abyssal Dungeons. 

Once you have learned an engraving, you can equip two of them directly and without negative effect. Furthermore, you can also transfer the desired engraving to one of your jewelry pieces for silver, this can be done at the engraver NPCs in every larger city.

How rare are the engraving guides? Much rarer than jewelry and stones, but also not too rare. You will find enough books to obtain the engravings you want. However, you should already inform yourself beforehand which ones you specifically want to learn.

Because to simply learn randomly, you will find too few of the desired guides, especially at the beginning. Moreover, in T1 content, meaning up to gear score 802, you can only obtain guides in green and blue. The epic and legendary guides, which can grant you up to 12 points on an engraving, only become available later.

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

How important are the guides? The engraving guides are probably the most important component of the engravings in Lost Ark. They offer you the highest bonuses with up to 12 points, and they come completely without negative aspects.

Additionally, you can later use the guides to eliminate the random aspect of the jewelry, as you can simply engrave your pieces of jewelry for silver if you have learned the appropriate engraving.

So it can be said that the engraving guides and the associated menu (Alt + I) are the heart of the engravings in Lost Ark.

Which engravings are you using? Are you already farming them specifically and know which ones you want, or are you currently just taking everything you can get? What do you currently consider the most sensible engravings to start with? Feel free to share your opinion with us in the comments here at MeinMMO, we are looking forward to your feedback.

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

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

The controller saves my fun in the MMORPG Lost Ark – Never again finger goulash

As a skilled controller player, MeinMMO author Maik Schneider occasionally has problems with keyboard and mouse controls. In the MMORPG Lost Ark, the controls are a real obstacle for him, but the controller support saves his gaming fun.

For a long time, the PC was just a machine for me, enabling strategy and building games. However, in recent years, the computer has increasingly come into my gaming focus – thanks, in part, to my work here at MeinMMO.

I have WASD down. I can also handle sliding, sprinting, and jumping. But what on earth is going on with the controls in the MMORPG Lost Ark?

I want to show you the problems I had with keyboard controls and give recommendations for your button mappings with the controller.

Keyboard leads to total failures when fighting and questing

As a budding artillery expert, I keep firing my rockets at the NPCs, confusedly using the wrong consumables when I panic and want to drink a potion, or I desperately search for the Y button for my ultimate.

Additionally, there’s movement by mouse click in combat. WASD is so deeply ingrained in my brain as a control scheme that it constantly leads to unpleasant mix-ups.

And then there’s the interact button on G … ON G!!! To be honest: The controls of Lost Ark with mouse and keyboard are terrible.

After several hours of finger stew and unnecessary deaths, I tried the controller controls. And what can I say: Lost Ark can be a lot of fun when the controls don’t get in the way.

Learn more about the success of Lost Ark in our video on the subject:

Start video
The 5 Reasons for the Incredible Success of Lost Ark

Controller controls are a blessing for confused brains

How does the controller control work in Lost Ark? The system is fully implemented and allows you to freely map the essential buttons.

If you want to tap around in the countless menus, the right stick functions like a mouse and lets you control the cursor.

Overall, the controller works 1A in Lost Ark. Plug it in, get started, done. Mouse and keyboard can still be operated alongside – the transition is fluid and you theoretically don’t have to adjust anything.

At first, I still had the mouse and keyboard nearby. After a few hours, I only use the mouse for inventory and reward management: There, the controller can’t keep up.

Especially in fights and quests, the controller is a real relief. If you’re struggling with the keyboard controls or come from consoles, you should definitely try the controller in Lost Ark.

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Lost Ark: Recommendations for controller mapping

What should I set for the controller controls? After a few hours with the controller, I felt really comfortable in Lost Ark.

I also made some adjustments to make the ability and item slots better fit the buttons:

Maik’s controller control abilities

  • Ability 1: LT + X
  • Ability 5: LB + X
  • Ability 2: LT + Y
  • Ability 6: LB + Y
  • Ability 3: LT + B
  • Ability 7: LB + B
  • Ability 4: LT + A
  • Ability 8: LB + A
  • Roll: A
  • Standard attack: X

Map the top abilities row to the back trigger (LT) and the bottom row to the front (LB). I arranged the other side with item slots and combat items the same way.

Maik’s controller control items/combat items

  • Empty Slot 1: RT + X
  • Empty Slot 2: RT + Y
  • Empty Slot 3: RT + B
  • Empty Slot 4: RT + A
  • Empty Slot 5: RT + RT + X
  • Slot 6 (Mount): Digital cross down
  • Combat item 1: RB + X
  • Combat item 6: RB + Y
  • Combat item 7: RB + B
  • Combat item 8: RB + A

For the map, I also swapped the buttons so that I have the transparent overview map on the small “SELECT” button, and for the full map, I still use the front trigger [SELECT + LB].

Maik’s controller control other

  • Interact: Press right stick
  • Inventory: Digital cross left
  • Instrument: Digital cross up
  • Emotes: Digital cross right
  • World map: SELECT + LB
  • Map: SELECT

For a quick overview of all the important buttons for fighting and questing at the start, I’ve packed everything into an image for you:

lost ark controller controls mapping

However, the controller does reach its limits with certain mechanics: If you have a engraving that requires you to spam exclamation marks in the chat, unfortunately, mouse and keyboard are better suited.

Does the mouse and keyboard control also frustrate you? Have you tried the controller in Lost Ark? Or were you pros from the very first moment?

Feel free to leave us a comment and share your thoughts with us. I’m really glad that I’m not stirring up any finger stew in Lost Ark anymore.

Are you now looking for more guides to Lost Ark? Then check out our comprehensive overview: Lost Ark Guides: All tips, tricks, and builds in the overview

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

Host of major game awards delivers harsh words for Activision boss

At the DICE Awards 2022, the highlight of the show this time was not the awarding of various prizes to outstanding games. Instead, host Greg Miller had a clear message for the controversial boss of Activision-Blizzard. What was said and why, you’ll find out here on MeinMMO.

What are the DICE Awards? The abbreviation DICE stands for Design, Innovate, Communicate, and Entertain and refers to a conference in the video game industry. As part of this conference, an important award ceremony takes place, the DICE Awards.

They are commonly understood as the “Oscars of the gaming industry.” In 2022, it was that time again, and under the moderation of industry experts Jessica Chobot and Greg Miller, awards were presented, including to Halo Infinite for Best Action and Online Game.

Host says live what he thinks of Activision-Blizzard boss Bobby Kotick and the audience is shocked

What did Greg Miller say? But the real highlight of the show this time was not the awards, but the speech of host Greg Miller. He spoke longer about certain things in the industry that he did not like. It started with the generally controversial NFTs and ended with a clear statement towards Bobby Kotick, the controversial CEO of Activision-Blizzard:

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We cannot talk about the industry we love so much without addressing the reports of harassment and abuse that we hear about Activision-Blizzard and other companies. But since this is a formal event being broadcast live to viewers around the world, I will just say “F… Bobby Kotick!” … Come on, I’m just kidding … “Fuck Bobby Kotick!!!”

What are the background details? As Miller already mentioned, there have been various cases of abuse and discrimination at Blizzard recently, which ultimately led to concrete charges from a government agency in the USA.

During this crisis CEO Bobby Kotick was reportedly aware of the incidents and at one point threatened employees. He is currently one of the most controversial figures in the industry.

However, Kotick remains the CEO of Activision Blizzard, even after the planned acquisition by Microsoft. There are suspicions that he will not remain CEO for long.

How was the statement received? Miller’s statement was received somewhat reservedly by the audience. Most seemed not to immediately grasp what had just been said live. Miller himself had discussed the action with the organizers beforehand and said, “I think the audience did not expect me to be so tough [on Kotick].”

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Here you will find our special podcast about Kotick and the scandal at Blizzard.

On Twitter, where Miller’s statement is also visible, the response has been positive. Many users celebrate the clear words towards a controversial figure in the industry and call it brave and courageous. However, some users also feel that it is not particularly brave to criticize someone in a room full of like-minded people who isn’t there.

A statement from Kotick or Activision is still pending.

More current information about Activision-Blizzard can be found here: Microsoft began the acquisition of Activision Blizzard just 3 days after a damaging report about the CEO

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