The sandbox MMORPG Albion Online is celebrating its second anniversary. A reason for us to take a look at how the online RPG is currently doing.
Albion Online launched on July 17, 2017, and has been playable on Steam since May 2018. The MMORPG has gone through a lot during this time. Regular content updates have been released, and the team is by no means resting on its laurels.
Nevertheless, the numbers today, on the second anniversary, are still very good, and it can be said that the game is doing really well.
How are the player numbers looking? After the transition to the free-to-play model, the player numbers shot up. At peak times, according to Steam charts, over 13,300 players were online at the same time.
In the meantime, the numbers are dropping a bit again. This is quite normal, as the free-to-play transition attracted many players who wanted to check it out. Not everyone stays.
Moreover, the DDoS attack cost Albion Online many players. The MMORPG was hardly playable, and some players gave up in frustration.
Currently, according to Steamcharts, an average of 3,559 players are online simultaneously. At peak times over the last 30 days, there were 6,157 players. It must be noted that these are only the numbers from Steam. Albion Online can also be played through its own launcher.
However, there are no official figures. Nevertheless, it can be assumed that the total number of players is higher than what is indicated by Steamcharts.
Good mood among the players
What is the current mood like? One can see from the reviews on Steam that the mood in the MMORPG is currently really good. Over the past 30 days, they have climbed to 82%, thus “Very Good”.
Especially the new features from the last update were well received. Players praise that they can now customize their heroes more and that the PvE content – even solo – is now more enjoyable. For many, it is a positive development that Albion Online is moving away from being a PvP-focused game and offers more PvE content.
What does the future hold? The developers already have plans for the upcoming period. Upcoming innovations include:
The Outlands will be revised
Players of all levels will get more activities in the open world
There will be PvP “hotspots”
The faction wars should be improved
The team at Sandbox Interactive aims to make the third year of Albion Online particularly exciting. Fans can look forward to many innovations and plenty of surprises.
In the next expansion for Destiny 2, Shadowkeep, Guardians will return to the Moon. Mark Noseworthy and Luke Smith discussed how the location has changed and what players can expect from the new Earth satellite in an interview.
How has the Moon changed? In the interview, Noseworthy and Smith stated that the Moon in Shadowkeep has changed, developed further compared to Destiny 1. After all, the location is now more than twice as large as before.
Moreover, the satellite should feel different than the Tangled Shore or the Dreaming City from Forsaken. Smith and Noseworthy compared the Moon more with the Dreadnaught from Destiny 1 with its long, claustrophobic, and confusing corridors.
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How will veterans feel at home? Mark Noseworthy further stated that Destiny 1 veterans among the players will feel right at home immediately. Nevertheless, the experienced Moon explorers should feel that something has changed or that something is not quite right.
For instance, the Accelerator, a landmark from the Golden Age that players could visit in Destiny 1, is said to have been destroyed. A mysterious force is working to change the once-familiar place.
Moreover, the Moon should feel both familiar and new as a whole, according to Noseworthy:
You discover your first Lost Sector in a public area and you think, ‘Was that always there?’ You really get interesting emotions when you see something for the second time with fresh eyes and discover how it has developed and changed.
Additionally, players should also be able to explore the new fortress that has appeared on the Moon. However, Bungie did not want to elaborate on what makes it so close to Earth and what it means.
Furthermore, Noseworthy and Smith talked about how weapons in the Destiny universe get their quirky names:
Blizzard nerfs its latest dungeon in World of Warcraft dramatically. Numerous bosses deal less damage and the trash is also more manageable.
Operation: Mechagon is the second “Mega-Dungeon” in World of Warcraft and was part of the major Patch 8.2 Rise of Azshara. Unlike most other dungeons, players can spend several hours here with an average group, as the dungeon features a total of 8 bosses, while most others only have 4 bosses. However, apparently the dungeon was significantly too difficult, as the developers have applied heavy nerfs.
What has been changed? Within the dungeon Mechagon, numerous enemies have been adjusted. In addition to minor tweaks to many foes, there are also a lot of significant changes, making some trash groups now appear much less threatening.
Acid Splash from Gnawing Slime now deals 10% less damage.
Gyroscrap from Heavy Scrapbot and Defective Scrapbot now deals 25% less damage.
For the enemies Piston Popper, the damage from Shoot has been reduced to 75% of weapon damage, and the damage from Shot Sprint to 50% of weapon damage.
Hammer of the Scrapmaster now reduces the target’s armor by only 10% per stack (previously 20%).
Shockwave from Scrapper of the Scrapbones deals 20% less damage.
Trash from Trash Thrower of the Scrapbones now deals only 100% of weapon damage. Additionally, the cast time has been increased from 1 second to 2 seconds.
The Scrap Cannon of the Weaponized Crabbler deals 15% less damage and its shock attack 20% less damage.
A bug has been fixed that caused targets of Shrinking, triggered by the Renormalizer of Mechagon, to receive increased threat.
What do the changes mean? If you had problems in Operation: Mechagon in the past few days, you should definitely try again with a group today in the dungeon. This could lead to a much more relaxed experience through the instance. However, the boss fights are still quite challenging.
What else did the patch bring? In addition to the nerfs, there were also some bug fixes. Many quests that were previously bugged can now be completed again. Additionally, the laser beam from Cyclotron Bombardment of the trinket “Calculator in Pocket Size” can now be interrupted. This should be a relief especially in PvP.
If you still need equipment for Mechagon, then check out the LFR – it is now open:
On Wednesday, Patch 9.14 was released in League of Legends. It was considered particularly important due to the many balance changes it brought. However, instead of positively impacting the MOBA, the patch only caused frustration among players.
What went wrong with the patch? From the players’ perspective, pretty much everything. Over 60 partly critical bugs crept into LoL. The list of complaints is long, and many fans refer to Patch 9.14 as a disaster and the worst update in years.
Riot responded by disabling ranked matches and implementing some quick bug fixes.
Have all the bugs been fixed now? Riot Games fixed the game-breaking bugs within the first eight hours after the patch’s release. The ranked mode is now active again.
However, there are still smaller bugs and problems with logging into the launcher.
Abilities did not work at all or were faulty
What were the most critical bugs with champions? Fans of the champion Annie probably had some fun for a few hours. All of her abilities stunned enemies with every use. This was supposed to happen only with every fourth ability.
That’s why Annie was disabled shortly after the patch’s release. The same went for Mordekaiser, Ryze, and Qiyana, who also had game-breaking bugs.
However, some non-disabled champions also came with issues:
Pyke could kill allied players with his ultimate ability.
Jayce could crash the entire game with his abilities.
What were the most critical bugs aside from champions? Items and runes were also not safe from bugs:
In the first hours, the items Electrocute, Manaflow, and Phase Rush did not work at all.
All support items gave no gold to players even if they stood close enough to allies.
Wards caused issues and did not reveal enemy players.
Some runes simply did not work at all.
It was also problematic that Baron had no hitbox in some games, preventing players from killing it. Also, the creep waves sometimes behaved strangely, ignoring each other and just walking to the tower.
Players also blame Teamfight Tactics
What are fans so angry about? Many hardcore LoL players are venting their frustration in the forum. For them, it’s primarily Teamfight Tactics, Riot’s new auto chess game, that is to blame for the disastrous patch.
Players mentioned various reasons. Some suspect that resources were diverted from LoL in favor of TFT, which are now missing in quality control.
Others, like the user A Wild Script, even theorize that Riot Games intentionally built in the bugs to push players to Teamfight Tactics. He says:
Wake up, sheep. Don’t you realize that Riot does this on purpose so that everyone plays ranked in shitty TFT.
His theory has some followers in the forum, but it has a crucial flaw. Even in TFT, there were issues and crashes after the patch. The Patch 9.14 also brought many changes here.
If you walk diligently in Pokémon GO, you will be rewarded every week with Adventure Sync. There, you can also receive eggs, but what is actually inside?
What kind of eggs are these? The eggs you can receive through Adventure Sync contain significantly fewer Pokémon. There are 5-km and 10-km eggs that you can get from there.
Each egg pool contains 6 Pokémon, mainly from the 4th generation. But are the eggs even worth it?
Adventure Sync Eggs – What’s Inside?
Where does the data come from? The analysts from TheSilphRoad have taken a close look at the eggs. They examined which Pokémon hatches how often from the eggs and which creatures are actually included.
In addition to eggs, you can also receive many other useful items from Adventure Sync
The Pokémon in the 5-km eggs: You can receive these eggs as long as you walk 25 km in a week. They are also included in the 50-km rewards. The following Pokémon can hatch from them:
Shnebedeck
Glibunkel
Wadribie
Finneon
Bronzel
Bamelin
The Pokémon in the 10-km eggs: You can only receive these eggs if you walk 50 km in a week. So you have to put in quite a bit of effort. These 6 Pokémon are inside the eggs:
Riolu
Dratini
Kindwurm
Sheinux
Tanhel
Larvitar
Riolu is probably the most interesting Pokémon in the eggs
Which Pokémon are the most common? The data from TheSilphRoad shows that each Pokémon is approximately equally rare. However, the analysts most frequently hatched Riolu and Shnebedeck. These were only slightly more common.
Are the eggs worth it? The 5-km eggs are quite useless. All Pokémon from this egg pool are weak and most of the player base likely already has developed them.
In WoW Classic errors were reported that are actually features. Some of them are quite amusing again.
Although the beta of World of Warcraft Classic has already ended a few days ago, Blizzard has once again updated the list of supposed errors that players frequently report. These are features of WoW Classic that may look like bugs at first glance, but are indeed part of the original experience of WoW.
These bugs were reported incorrectly: The following abilities or situations were complained about by multiple players during the beta of WoW Classic through the “Report Bug” system. However, they are all intended:
Frostbolt behaves exactly as expected by the developers and as it was in Classic.
The ground effect of a Hunter’s Frost Trap breaks the Stealth of a Rogue.
The Berserker ability of Trolls works exactly as expected.
The pet summoned by a Warlock when they log into the game does not grant a Soul Shard if it is dismissed or goes out of range of the player.
The activation range of traps is reduced in Stealth if the stealthy player is the same level or higher than the Hunter.
Spirit Link cannot be removed by dispelling a Warlock’s pet.
The Succubus of the Warlock cannot cast spells if the pet is out of line of sight of its target.
If you manually break Stealth after using Vanish, the Vanish buff will also be removed.
Unleash has a low chance of failing when used against an effect that has a reduced chance of being removed.
Rogues are not revealed by the spell Blizzard until they take damage.
When Hunter companions are taunted, they attack the taunter when set to aggressive or defensive.
Whether these points should be considered bugs by definition, everyone must decide for themselves. However, the fact is that you will find these things exactly as they are in Classic when the game launches in August.
Despite the lull in new major AAA MMORPGs, there are currently many well-established titles on the market. Which ones are you playing?
Here’s what the survey is about: Even though there’s a lack of new high-budget MMORPGs, there are still enough games that have dominated the market for years or have managed to establish themselves in the genre despite everything.
These MMORPGs consistently deliver new content and updates for their players. We want to know: Which ones do you play regularly? Are you a regular player with hundreds of hours logged, or do you just check in for major updates to play through the new content?
You can cast up to 5 votes in the survey. You don’t have to choose only MMORPGs in which you’ve invested hundreds of hours. You can also vote for MMORPGs that you play only occasionally.
How were the titles for the survey selected? When selecting the titles for the survey, we primarily gathered the largest MMORPGs currently on the market, based on their approximate number of active players on Steam.
MMORPGs like ESO have found their place in the market and have been running for years.
Is there one of the MMORPGs you like to play missing from the selection? Let us know in the comments.
And now it’s your turn: Is there an MMORPG that is your long-term favorite? Or perhaps there are several MMORPGs that you jump between? Why do you play them? Tell us in the comments.
Those who respond to calls for help from other agents in The Division 2 and assist them will soon be particularly recognized. This will be ensured by the so-called Shepherd system, which is set to be introduced with Title Update 5.
What is the purpose of helping? Pretty much every agent has likely heard the radio message “An agent is requesting support” by now. The so-called Call for Backup is a feature that allows lonely agents to call other random players for help when they can no longer proceed or are dead.
While some players are annoyed by this feature and turn it off, many agents are also helpful and support their comrades in distress. To encourage this help, Title Update 5 will introduce further incentives – in the form of the new Shepherd system.
This is how the new Shepherd system works: Massive has recently introduced this feature in the State of the Game on July 17. Here is what we know so far:
The system is designed to encourage players to help each other and reward helpfulness.
When a call for help comes in, you can respond as usual and accept it. If you help the needy player for a while by filling a XP bar through playing together, they can rate the helper. Simply jumping in and out won’t work.
If there’s a thumbs up, the helper receives Shepherd experience and can thus increase their Shepherd level – Level 99 is the maximum.
There is a timer after the support ends (on the large map view). Once it runs out, there will be a reward if you have increased your Shepherd level.
These are the rewards: To create more incentives for potential helpers, special rewards will be introduced.
Shepherd title: If you help enough players, you will receive a special icon next to your player name. This way, everyone in the game can see that you are a seasoned Shepherd.
If you level up within the Shepherd system, you will be able to unlock special accolades and patches.
Additionally, there are plans to reward helpers with cosmetics (such as clothing) when leveling up.
When is Title Update 5 coming? The next major update and thus the Shepherd feature will be released on Tuesday, July 23 – for all players on all platforms. Agents won’t have to wait much longer.
At the same time, the new content of Episode 1 will also be released, at least for Year 1 Pass holders. All other players will have to wait until July 30, a week longer.
By the way, today, July 18, the weekly maintenance for The Division 2 has been canceled. It will be rescheduled for July 23, when Title Update 5 will be released. So you can play today without interruption.
What do you think of this Shepherd system? Is it enough of an incentive for you to support other unknown players more often or at all? Or are you already a diligent helper without this feature?
The European guild Method has taken the lead. Despite a disadvantage, they were the first to defeat Lady Ashvane in World of Warcraft .
Update: Since then, Limit has taken the lead again and defeated the 5th boss!
Original report:The race for the First Kill of Queen Azshara in the new raid “Eternal Palace” is in full swing. More than 70 guilds attempted yesterday to defeat Lady Ashvane in World of Warcraft at the mythic difficulty level. After many unsuccessful attempts, the professional guild from Europe, Method, succeeded. Despite the disadvantage, they have managed to take the lead in the race.
Why was Method at a disadvantage? Method plays on a European server. Due to the time difference and the differences in maintenance work, European guilds start with a slight delay. The American raiders thus have an advantage and can begin 12-16 hours earlier. In this case, however, it seems that the time was not well utilized. Because where many American raiders are still struggling with Lady Ashvane, Method overcame this boss quite quickly.
In the meantime, Limit has also caught up and sent Lady Ashvane to the ground. So it remains exciting and once again a “neck-and-neck” race has ignited between the two favored guilds.
A trinket helped: Particularly noteworthy in the kill is the trinket “Dripping Ink Capsule,” which was used by many melee fighters. The trinket applies a stackable debuff to an enemy as long as the enemy has over 30% health. When the enemy ultimately falls below 30% health, all stacks explode. The more stacks there are, the greater the damage. This provided a significant boost and made the percentage difference that ultimately led to victory.
How many bosses are left? Only 3 bosses are left until Method faces Queen Azshara – the eighth and final boss of the raid. In total, there are still 4 bosses left until the World First Kill is secured. If Method continues to perform like this, the chances are good that this time the title will go to the European guild.
Who are you betting on in the race for the World First Kill? How long do you think the kill will still take?
In Free2Play games like Fortnite: Battle Royale, there are plenty of opportunities to spend money. This becomes a problem when children either have unsecured access to the game or trick their parents.
As a result, guardians now have to pay significant amounts. In England, complaints from frustrated parents about microtransactions in games are piling up.
What is the situation? Recently, a case made headlines in the UK where children spent hundreds of pounds on loot boxes in the football game FIFA 19. This once again sparked a debate about microtransactions and loot boxes in England.
Even high-ranking politicians like Tom Watson, deputy leader of the Labour Party, pointed out the risks of microtransactions, especially loot boxes, which could be a dangerous precursor to gambling addiction.
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During the debate, the BBC called on parents to share their worst experiences with their children and transactions in games. And of course, Fortnite, which is popular among kids, was high on the list.
Thousands of Pounds for Fortnite and Other Online Games
What happened with Fortnite? One parent reported that their son had sunk around 1,000 pounds, equivalent to over 1,100 euros, into Fortnite. The boy did not spend the money all at once but repeatedly paid smaller amounts, which accumulated to this high sum over nearly 8 months.
However, there is also a silver lining for the parents, as the family car will now be clean for the next 15 years. And Fortnite is no longer available for the child.
What else has happened? With the 1,000 pounds, Fortnite ranks third in the list represented by the BBC.
The most money was spent by a 22-year-old with severe intellectual disabilities, who is under parental care, who sunk over 3,000 pounds into an iPad game called Hidden Artifact. Unfortunately, the money was not refunded by the developer.
A 16-year-old wagered almost 2,000 pounds in EA’s NBA basketball game. The parents never saw the money again, and all complaints were ignored by EA.
A 12-year-old boy did not realize he was spending real money when entering his children’s account bank details in Clash of Clans. Therefore, he wasted around 700 pounds in the mobile game hit Clash of Clans. Again, the parents did not get their money back.
The cases mentioned here show how unmonitored children and the resulting microtransactions can seriously hurt families financially.
Therefore, it is extremely important to activate all conceivable safeguards on mobile devices and consoles and to not let children play unsupervised on their own devices.
On the other hand, the calls for regulations are growing louder, and in England, legislation may soon take measures against rampant microtransactions and loot boxes. In countries like Belgium, loot boxes are already banned.
In addition to the case mentioned here, there have been further incidents in Fortnite where children nearly ruined their parents.
In Pokémon GO, you will soon save the world from the machinations of Team Rocket. A data miner has now found the quests for the special research in the code.
What has been found? The data miner Chrales found a new special research on Team Rocket, new badges, a new attack, and new Shadow Pokémon in the code of Pokémon GO.
Team Rocket has been a part of Pokémon GO since the latest update. The special research suggests that you should interact with the villains to complete tasks.
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What are the quests about? Initially, you will be made aware in the special research that PokéStops look strange. This has to do with the arrival of Team Rocket. You should strengthen your Pokémon in the quests as preparation.
Team GO Rocket are the new opponents who steal resources at PokéStops with their Shadow Pokémon. You should obtain such Pokémon from Team GO Rocket, which will then be analyzed with Candela.
Finally, a solution is found to purify the Pokémon. And you are supposed to help with that and save the world from calamity together.
When does the special research with Team GO Rocket start? A start date has not yet been announced or leaked. Players suspect that it would start after the GO Fest in Japan. So sometime after August 12. But these are mere speculations. Other players hope that this research could start later this week.
It is assumed that initially the new update in Pokémon GO must be enforced on devices before the new quests can begin. This has not happened yet.
Players celebrate this surprising kill in Red Dead Online. The online mode of Red Dead Redemption 2 is always full of surprises. This time, gravity played a crucial role.
What happened? On Reddit, player RedDeadRaccoon shared a clip from the online mode of Red Dead Redemption 2. In Red Dead Online, players can encounter each other and, if the opponent has the upper hand, be tied up by them. This has already led to bizarre actions in RDO.
In the clip, you can see such an encounter. RedDeadRaccoon is fighting in a fistfight with another player. The opponent throws him to the ground, but Raccoon manages to break free. He is then thrown down again. The players are near a cliff.
Raccoon manages to break free once more but is eventually thrown to the ground a third time. This time, the opponent turns him onto his stomach and begins to bind Raccoon’s hands behind his back. When he is done, he is standing so close to the cliff that he loses balance and falls over backwards.
Gravity seemingly played in favor of RedDeadRaccoon and saved him.
This surprising fall amuses the spectators.
This is what the accident looks like: In the Reddit video you can watch the funny fight. We embed it here for you:
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This is how players react to the clip: The video titled “You Can’t Fight Gravity” is popular on Reddit. After one day, it already gathered over 10,000 upvotes.
“That’s pure comedy gold”
“He ties you up, goes back, falls off the cliff, and you still get credited with the kill? LOL”
“He sounded like Homer Simpson falling off a cliff”
The Chinese company Tencent has released its own auto battler called Chess Rush. This mobile game offers several game modes, including a Turbo mode for fast rounds.
What is Chess Rush? Chess Rush is an auto chess game that has been released for Android and iOS. The game is more oriented towards classic auto chess and Dota Underlords, but comes with various game modes.
Included is a Turbo mode that ensures a round only takes between 10 to 25 minutes, making it significantly faster than Underlords or Teamfight Tactics.
How do I download Chess Rush? The mobile game is available for download in the Apple Store and on the Google Play Store. The game is free to play and is funded through cosmetic updates for the arena or your own avatar.
What is different about Turbo mode? In Turbo mode, you receive significantly more gold each round and start with two units. Also, the health points have been reduced from 100 to 60.
The game develops its own dynamics in Turbo mode because you don’t have much time to upgrade the units. The fast rounds also force the player to make quicker changes in units and strategies.
But it’s not just the Turbo mode that’s exciting. The coop mode is also designed to provide more fun.
What is Coop mode? In Coop mode, you play together with a friend. You both choose champions, and both receive gold and experience points.
New is that you share a game board. This allows more game pieces to be placed on the field and creates crazy combinations.
How does Chess Rush play out? Apart from the two special modes, Chess Rush is nearly identical to Auto Chess Mobile. Game flow, loss of health points, and even many units are identical.
You just have to quickly get used to the fact that Lycan is now called Werewolf or Doom is the Executioner. There are only slight differences in abilities and synergies among the Humans and Assassins.
Is Chess Rush worth it? The new mobile game is completely designed for smartphones. Those looking for a quick diversion with an auto battler on the go will have a lot of fun with the Turbo mode in Chess Rush.
One advantage of the game is that it offers many beginner tips. Good team formations are already presented within the app. It also looks good visually, even though it lacks a license like that of Dota.
Furthermore, Tencent has already organized the first tournament. In it, eight players from eight different countries will compete for a prize pool of 16,000 dollars.
What are the disadvantages of Chess Rush? The new auto chess game from Tencent is very solid but does not reinvent the wheel, especially regarding the units. It thus aligns itself with other auto battlers.
Chess Rush has disadvantages compared to Dota Underlords in that there is no crossplay. The coop mode, in particular, would invite it. Allegedly, Valve is also already working on its own Turbo mode to take away Chess Rush’s unique selling point.
From our perspective, there is also the slight disadvantage that Chess Rush supports many languages, including English and Spanish, but there is still no German version.
Those who want to play Teamfight Tactics on the go can hope for a new app:
Is the storm finally coming to the players of Anthem? After a found countdown was dismissed as a bug yesterday, strange anomalies have appeared on the live servers in recent hours. These were also seen on the test servers and are therefore associated by players with the Cataclysm.
What is happening in Anthem right now? The Anthem subreddit is currently in an uproar. Apparently, strange anomalies have recently appeared in the sky above the live servers.
They look like strange, swirling gears intertwined with each other, moving around continuously. This phenomenon is accompanied by thick clouds that shine brightly at times and appear dark and ominous at others, as well as furious lightning bolts racing across the sky.
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This is not the first time these anomalies have been seen. This phenomenon is one of the changes that were recently added to the test server. Players were disappointed that the Cataclysm only takes place on its own map and nothing can be seen of it in Freeplay.
Where can you see these anomalies? This anomaly is currently visible in Freeplay on the live servers. You should notice this phenomenon as soon as you arrive in Freeplay.
If you want a particularly good view of the strange happenings, you should head far north on the map, to the Singing Monument Watch.
In the north of the Freeplay map, you can see the phenomenon particularly well. If you’re lucky, there might even be clear skies that highlight the anomaly.
What do the players say? In the Anthem subreddit, there is now hope that the Cataclysm event won’t be long in coming. Some players are excited that something is happening in Freeplay, while other freelancers think it must just be another bug.
Just yesterday, we reported that a countdown to a “coming storm” was found in the game. Unfortunately, BioWare had to shatter the hope for the start of the Cataclysm. According to the community lead, it was indeed a bug. The countdown was meant to go live at a later time.
What do you think: Are the strange anomalies a bug or is the Cataclysm about to start soon?
In Fortnite: Battle Royale we now know what the robot looks like that will face off against the monster Cattus on Saturday. By the way, the monster is also seen for the first time.
While the Doggus robot in Fortnite is now on full display, there are also hints about the monster and the showdown between the two contenders.
However, since the head was missing until now, it wasn’t clear. Now a picture has surfaced that shows the robot in all its glory. It was pulled from the client’s data just after the release of Patch 9.40 and shows a robot with a head that somewhat resembles the cuddly bear skin. So, more of a bear than a dog.
Additionally, the new bonus skin from the Fortbyte challenge, Singularity, seems to be overseeing the completion of the machine. And since today the robot is also complete in the game and can be viewed in all its glory at Pressure Plant.
Funny detail: The individual body parts are all styled after Singularity, including feet from Durr-Burger and Pizza-Pit as well as an arm designed like Rex.
This is known about the monster “Cattus”
What does the monster look like? A hint about the shape of the monster has also been found in the files. Internally called Cattus, so far it has only been seen as an eye in the ice and footprints. However, it was suspected because of the name (Cattus means cat in Latin and also contains the English word “Cat”), that it is some kind of cat monster.
In detail, the beast is not yet fully visible, but a leaked image of a variation of the Fortbyte puzzle shows how the insane Bunker Jonesy has scrawled prophetic doodles on the bunker wall in madness. The leaked image shows the previously hidden center.
The center is now visible and shows a battle between a robot with a long spear and a fur-covered monster with pointed ears and huge claws. The beast appears larger and bulkier than the robot, which, however, should have a range advantage with its spear (or is it a sword?).
What happens on Saturday?
On Saturday, July 20, at 8:00 PM the countdown ends. This is expected to mean that Cattus will finally rise from the sea and fight Doggus. The battle of the titans is sure to change the island significantly, which would be a bold plan by Epic, considering it’s just a week before the start of the World Cup on July 27.
Still, it is hard to imagine that the meeting of the two titans will go unnoticed on the island.
According to many fans, by the way, Cattus is expected to win, Doggus is given little chance.
Recently, the arsenal of Destiny 2 has been enriched with another exotic weapon – the Pulse Rifle Bad Juju from the predecessor is back. What can this weapon exotic do, and what influence does the associated catalyst have?
For just over a week, the new exotic Pulse Rifle Bad Juju and its catalyst can be earned through the Tribute Hall. We’ll take a look at how this returnee performs in PvE and PvP and what the catalyst for the Bad Juju brings.
How to get Bad Juju: The new weapon exotic comes from a quest centered around the Tribute Hall. The catalyst for Bad Juju can also be obtained through this personal little palace aboard the Leviathan, which the Cabal Emperor Calus has built in your honor.
A step-by-step guide for this quest as well as some tips can be found here:
What makes this weapon special? Bad Juju is a pulse rifle with a lightweight frame and has a rate of fire of 450. The weapon fires automatically.
Your intrinsic perk Curse of the Rain causes kills to reload the magazine of Bad Juju, not from reserves but from thin air. As long as you get kills, you essentially generate ammunition continuously.
Additionally, it temporarily increases the weapon’s damage and grants Super energy back – depending on the strength of the Curse of Rain (up to 5x stackable). One stack of Curse of Rain lasts 3.5 seconds.
The Pulse Rifle Bad Juju
This is how damage increases with Curse of Rain in PvE:
1x Curse of Rain – 20% damage increase
2x Curse of Rain – 40% damage increase
3x Curse of Rain – 60% damage increase
4x Curse of Rain – 80% damage increase
5x Curse of Rain – 99% damage increase
For comparison: A 3x stack of Recklessness increases damage by 66%, a 5-stack of Brute increases damage by 65%. The damage of Bad Juju with 5x Curse of Rain is certainly notable.
In PvP, damage stacks as follows:
1x Curse of Rain – 12% damage increase
2x Curse of Rain – 20% damage increase
3x Curse of Rain – 32% damage increase
4x Curse of Rain – 40% damage increase
5x Curse of Rain – 52% damage increase
What does the masterpiece catalyst do? If you fully level up the catalyst and turn Bad Juju into a masterpiece, the duration of Curse of Rain is increased to 5 seconds. The individual stacks last longer, allowing you more time to further stack the perk effect. At 5 seconds, the effect lasts longer than Recklessness (3.4 seconds or 4.4 seconds with mod).
How Bad Juju performs in PvE
In PvE, Bad Juju can really shine. The 99% additional damage is quite noticeable in most situations. Additionally, you’ll never run out of ammunition as long as there are enough enemies in front of you.
Especially with the masterpiece version, you can easily maintain a 5-stack of Curse of Rain and mow down entire hordes of enemies without ever lifting a finger off the trigger or pressing the reload button.
Furthermore, the Super also charges significantly faster. The regeneration time of a complete Super is roughly halved when using the weapon with sufficient enemies, and that without Super mods on your armor.
All three Guardian classes can benefit greatly from this; Bad Juju opens up various interesting build possibilities. Additionally, legendary grenade launchers are currently a strong alternative for the power slot, allowing Bad Juju to be confidently carried in the primary slot without sacrificing much firepower.
Especially for solo players, this weapon is very valuable, allowing them to use their Super more frequently, thus significantly enhancing their offensive power or survivability (depending on the Super). There are certainly many exotic weapons that are deadlier and more effective when it comes to pure firepower – especially against bosses.
However, none of these weapons charges your Super as quickly as Bad Juju. And Supers can be crucial at the right moment – whether solo, in a team, in a raid, Nightfall, Menagerie, or Gambit.
In PvE, Bad Juju may not be a DPS monster, but it is certainly a worthwhile exotic alternative in many situations, opening up numerous new build possibilities, and could become a popular companion for solo players.
What Bad Juju can do in PvP
While Bad Juju feels good in the Crucible in terms of handling, the weapon is clearly geared towards PvE.
You can only benefit from the damage increase through Curse of Rain to a limited extent. For maximum damage, you need to get 5 kills in quick succession with the weapon, which is likely to happen very rarely. And 1 to 2 stacks rarely provide the hoped-for advantage.
Furthermore, like many other pulse rifles with lightweight frames, it suffers from a lack of range. Within its optimal range, which is short to medium distance, it performs strongly. However, at medium to long range, you will likely always come up short against many hand cannons or even other pulse rifles with better ranges, such as Perfected Outbreak, in direct duels.
While you can charge your Super faster with kills, you sacrifice a stronger option in the primary slot. Here, each player must decide for themselves whether they can get more kills through the more frequent use of the Super or with another weapon.
In PvP, Bad Juju is a good pulse rifle (TTK 0.87 seconds), but just one of many. It can rarely benefit from its exotic perk (even as a masterpiece), so it is not really better than legendary competition. However, Bad Juju takes up the valuable exotic slot, which would be better filled by many other alternatives in the Crucible.
You can find a detailed review of Bad Juju in this video by Aztecross Gaming:
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Have you already earned Bad Juju and perhaps fully leveled the catalyst? What impression has the weapon left on you and what experiences have you had with it?
It has now been revealed that EA no longer has a license for Juventus Turin in FIFA 20. This expired on June 30 and was not renewed. What this means for the new FIFA installment, you can find out here.
Cristiano Ronaldo will no longer play in FIFA 20 wearing the Juventus Turin kit. This is not because the superstar has transferred to another club. No, EA Sports has actually lost the rights to Juventus Turin. The club may no longer be represented in FIFA 20 with logos, crests, and kits.
What does this mean for FIFA 20? The loss of the Juventus Turin license, one of the largest and most popular clubs worldwide, will surely hit EA Sports hard. Due to the lack of license, the club must be represented quite differently in FIFA 20.
This may also disappoint many fans, as a sense of realism may not be present with unlicensed teams.
This will probably look different in FIFA 20
These changes will occur in FIFA 20
Juventus Turin will be renamed to Piemonte Calcio
The original logo will be replaced by a new one
The original kits will be replaced
The Juventus Stadium will no longer exist
What remains unchanged
All player names and attributes will remain
The players will retain their appearance
The live attributes of the players will still be available
In Ultimate Team, the chemistry of the players from “Piemonte Calcio” will remain unchanged
The Juventus players will continue to receive special cards in FUT
What we still do not know
The new crest and the new kit are still unknown
Whether there will be dynamic images for Juventus players in FUT is unclear. However, this is likely to be improbable due to the kit and crest.
It will probably no longer exist: Dynamic card design
What does the new club name mean? The new club name “Piemonte Calcio” literally translates to “Piedmont Football,” where Piedmont is the region where Turin is located.
This has happened: Even before the loss of Juventus Turin was known, FC Bayern had already announced an exclusive partnership with Konami. However, this does not hit EA as hard as with Juve.
This is because EA Sports exclusively holds the Bundesliga rights, which allows them to represent FC Bayern with kits and crests. Only the Allianz Arena will be missing in FIFA 20.
What EA is doing: After the news made the rounds, EA Sports promptly reacted and published an FAQ to calm the fans. In it, the already clarified questions are answered.
EA announces a new exclusive license: Furthermore, EA took advantage of the unfortunate timing to announce an exclusive, long-term partnership with FC Liverpool. However, since FC Liverpool has not been missing in FIFA before, this news may leave many FIFA fans indifferent.
But maybe a player from the Champions League winner will be the cover star for FIFA 20. Cristiano Ronaldo will probably not be that player.
“We play FIFA because of the licenses” – How the internet reacts
This is how the fans react:On reddit, the news quickly circulated and sparked a heated discussion. Fans are definitely disappointed about the loss of the license. After all, the FIFA series has always been known for its thick package of licenses. Such a big club has never been missing.
Especially the comments that can be read in the FIFA subreddit are interesting. Here you will find disappointed players and those who are actually looking forward to PES and are gleeful towards EA:
jonwinslol: “At least players can import custom data (logos and kits) in PES.”
Nik778899: “One cannot complain about Konami. They are fighting a lost war; they have to take whatever they can get.”
KingTocco: “As a Juve fan, I definitely will not buy FIFA 20, that is such a shame.”
nando1969: “Call me what you want, but seeing EA lose a battle puts a smile on my face. Even if it harms the franchise that I play.”
AdviceDanimals: “One of the biggest clubs in the world will not have a license in FIFA 20, that is just silly.”
The Twitter account of FOX Soccer, an American soccer channel, is having fun reporting the arrival of newcomer Matthijs de Ligt at “Piemonte Calcio.”
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A new trailer for Borderlands 3 spreads good cheer, roses, and of course plenty of corpses and loot. Just typical madness.
Slowly but surely, the loot shooter Borderlands 3 is coming within reach. Gearbox and 2K are of course ensuring that the hype continues to grow, releasing new trailers that are meant to introduce the game. The latest trailer is more of a music video and a fun parody than something to be taken seriously.
What can be seen in the trailer? In the latest trailer, the four vault hunters of Borderlands 3 are seen getting into a dance. To the perfectly mismatched music of “So happy together,” the vault hunters are dancing arm in arm while blasting away all sorts of psychos and other enemies.
Gradually, the video turns into a psychedelic drug trip, where in the end, golden weapons and plenty of loot rain down.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdImDagjNGQ
Or as one comment under the YouTube video beautifully summarizes:
This is what happens when people start smoking Eridium …
Presumably, things won’t be as flowery in Borderlands 3, and the vault hunters probably won’t be hopping through the game world in a dancing manner. However, the madness of the Borderlands series has definitely been captured well in the trailer.
The trailer was a consolation prize: The trailer was the surprise of the small event organized by the developers. Fans were a bit disappointed, as they had hoped for the announcement of cross-play for Borderlands 3.
In Pokémon GO, we can soon look forward to a new special research. A dataminer has found research about Jirachi, which will likely be available to every player.
What was found? The dataminer Chrales has discovered the text passages of a completely new special research. It revolves around Jirachi, the mysterious Pokémon, which could already be caught at the GO Fest.
The exact tasks are not yet known, but from the text passages, we can roughly conclude what tasks need to be completed.
The following text passages for the Jirachi quest were found
This is what the dataminer shows: Chrales has published all the text passages on his Twitter page that Professor Willow will say to you during the special research.
We will include all passages here in English:
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What can be concluded from this? Not all tasks are known, but some assignments that you need to complete will be told to you by the professor. We list them for you:
Make X new friendships
Catch X Pokémon from the Hoenn region
Catch X Flurmel
Take X snapshots
Catch X Psychic and Steel type Pokémon
Complete a trainer battle
Will there be more tasks? Surely these are not all tasks yet. There are a total of 7 stages in the research. In other special researches, each stage consisted of 3 tasks. So one can expect 21 tasks here.
Jirachi will soon be available to catch worldwide
Will this special research be available for all players? Looking at the passages, it seems that this will be the special research for every player. At the GO Fests, players were welcomed differently by Professor Willow. There was a direct reference to the GO Fest. This is not the case here.
What can be said about the quests? Many of these tasks resemble those from the special research at the GO Fest. There, players also had to take snapshots, and Flurmel or its evolution Krakeelo also played a role.
When could the special research come? Players suspect that the research will only come after the GO Fest in Yokohama. Then every player at a GO Fest would have the preferred chance to catch a Jirachi. The GO Fest there starts on August 6 and ends on August 12. Therefore, Jirachi could come afterwards.
However, there are no exact dates from Niantic. They could also bring the special research earlier.
Have you heard about the event with One Piece in Pokémon GO?
Fortbyte #38 has appeared in Fortnite . You can find this at the northernmost sky platform while wearing the Vendetta outfit. We will show you where to search.
What is the challenge? The riddle for Fortbyte #38 is: “Accessible with the outfit ‘Vendetta’ at the northernmost sky platform”
On the map of Season 9, we show you the exact location of this sky platform:
You will find the sky platform at Lazy Lagoon
Fortbyte #38 with outfit ‘Vendetta’ at the northernmost sky platform
You must search here: The northernmost sky platform is located southwest of Lazy Lagoon. You will also find the Fortbyte on this platform.
Land on it and smash the door. Inside, you will find Fortbyte #38. However, you can only collect it if you are wearing the ‘Vendetta’ skin. You unlock this at level 100 of the Battle Pass.
You will find the Fortbyte in here
The last byte: Fortbyte 38 was the last Fortbyte added to the game. You can now collect all bytes in the game.
Use this video: We are embedding a video with the exact location again. This way you can definitely find the Fortbyte:
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What are Fortbytes anyway? These electronic puzzle pieces have been in the game since Season 9, and each day a new byte has been added.
There are now 100 Fortbytes in the game, and if you collect 90 of them, you will receive the Utopia skin. If you have even more bytes, this skin can take on more levels.
