Those who speculated about playing Fortnite: Battle Royale with a Bluetooth-connected controller on mobile or smartphone will now be disappointed. As Epic announced, there will be no controller support for the time being.
But players are also skeptical: What will a touchscreen control look like for such a complex game? Item management, the quite complicated building mode, and resource management – all of this Epic will have to manage with the touchscreen.
As Epic recently announced, there will (for now) be no controller support on mobile devices.
No Controller Support on Smartphones and Tablets
As Eric Williamson, Senior Designer at Epic, stated on Reddit, controller support will be disabled at the launch of Fortnite: Battle Royale on mobile devices. Thus, you will be limited to your touchscreen in the beginning.
This decision carries a certain tension, after all, crossplay is supported optionally. But how can one compete with controller players on consoles using a touchscreen, not to mention PC players with mouse and keyboard?
As Williamson further elaborates, if controller support is activated later, matchmaking with other controller players (on consoles) could also be considered. Since there is no cross-play between Xbox One and Playstation 4, this matchmaking would have to be separated.
Robert thinks: How the control on mobile devices will look is still unclear. However, it is clear that Epic must deliver something truly convincing here for players to use touchscreen controls.
Because up until the announcement that controllers would not be supported on smartphones, I was sure that of course I would use a controller.
The touchscreen controls must be convincing, otherwise, the venture into the mobile world could turn out to be a big mistake.
What do you think about the decision to not allow controllers on smartphones and tablets for the time being?
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Summoners in World of Warcraft will soon have more fun again. With Battle for Azeroth, the demon warlocks are getting a makeover!
Demonology warlocks have been in a bad position in World of Warcraft since Legion. They lost their Metamorphosis – a powerful, temporary transformation into a demon with cool extra abilities. The reason was the introduction of demon hunters, who also mastered Metamorphosis. To give demon hunters another unique feature, it had to be taken away from warlocks.
This led to Blizzard giving the demonology warlock a rework with Legion. Instead of becoming a demon themselves, the number of summoned demons was increased. These had to be empowered every few seconds, and it took a long time for the warlock to ramp up and deal damage. Or, in short: Demonology has not been fun for many players anymore.
Now that the Burning Legion is more or less shut down, new leaders are needed for the demons – and evidently, the warlock is taking care of that! With Battle for Azeroth, they will be able to summon more demons than ever before. This refers not only to the number of different creatures but also to the amount of simultaneously active demons. It will often happen that 8, 9, or even 10 demons beat down on the opponent at the same time.
The best news first: Demonic Empowerment is completely gone. This spell was used to grant all active demons 50% speed and additional health for 12 seconds. Since demons were summoned constantly and had a short lifespan, it almost took mathematical precision to cast the spell at the optimal moment. Often, warlocks spammed it “by feel” and it never really felt meaningful.
Also completely gone is Demonic Wrath. This spell was channeled and caused all summoned demons to deal damage around them. This was of little help when a significant portion of the demons consisted of ranged attackers who weren’t even close to the enemy masses.
The missing spells have been replaced by cooler mechanics or special DPS cooldowns with noticeable effects.
Imp Explosion is now available for every demon warlock – Those who want to throw their imps at the enemy and make them explode will surely have a lot of fun.
The Demon Commander summons a strong demon that enhances the duration and damage of all other demons.
Imps have gained more significance, as with Imp Swarm it is possible to summon up to 5 at once. Whenever the imps attack, there is a chance to gain a stack of Molten Core, which in turn reduces the cast time of Soul Fire – a particularly powerful fireball with high burst damage.
These changes are intended to make the demon warlock feel much more active and exciting to play. Whether that really works in reality will be seen in the coming weeks and months as more players enter the alpha and beta of Battle for Azeroth.
Jetpack Cat has been desired by many players as an Overwatch hero. A origin story video has already been created – made by a fan.
The Overwatch heroes are consistently popular among fans. However, 27 different characters are not enough for the community, which is why there are always crazy demands for new heroes. One of these heroes was “Jetpack Cat”, as the name suggests, literally a cat with a jetpack.
This was once just a fixed idea from the developers to test the limits of how far one wants to go in Overwatch. This limit was then Winston, the scientist gorilla. Jetpack Cat was thus history for the time being.
Jetpack Cat wants “her human” back
But in the hearts of the fans, Jetpack Cat lived on. Hopes were fueled by various teasers from Blizzard, which later turned out to be an announcement for Brigitte. There were repeatedly clips of a cat seen, along with blueprints for mechanical devices. For many players, it was clear: Blizzard is trolling a bit here and packing a lot of references to Jetpack Cat into the teasers.
However, some fans are not satisfied with that, such as the YouTube channel To Binge. This channel has previously created several clips about Overwatch and has now also dealt with an origin story of Jetpack Cat. Here you can watch the “Jetpack Cat Origin Story”:
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As expected, it features Brigitte’s cat, who thinks in typical cat fashion. For example, she refers to Brigitte as “her human, who has to fight against evil vacuum cleaners together with grandfather (Reinhardt) and the garden gnome (Torbjörn)”.
Because the vacuum cleaners have stolen her human, she now has to take life from the vacuum cleaners. Sounds convincing, doesn’t it?
What do you think of this fan cinematic? Would it be a good explanation for Jetpack Cat? Or should this just remain a silly figment of imagination?
Fortnite: Battle Royale (PC, PS4 & Xbox One) offers you a huge selection of extremely wacky and cool skins or outfits. But which skin is your favorite? Which outfit do you like best? Participate in our survey and find out which skin the community prefers!
In Fortnite: Battle Royale, there are regularly new skins that you can purchase or unlock during special events or regularly in the game. However, certain skins and outfits are more popular than others.
Therefore, we want to know from you which outfits and costumes you particularly like. Do you prefer the deadly simplicity of the Grim Reaper? Are you more into shabby teddy bears or even mystical ape creatures from the far east?
Mein-MMO is searching for the Super Skin!
We have compiled a selection of the most colorful, coolest, and wackiest skins and outfits. The sheer number of costumes would otherwise have exceeded the scope of the survey. Therefore, the following skins are available, summarized in the gallery below.
The agony of outfit choice! What should I wear?
Have you found your favorite skin? Then select it in the survey list below. But be careful, you only have one vote! So think carefully about whether you want to give it to a specific outfit.
The team OpTic Gaming was denied second place in a high-stakes tournament at PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG). A wall glitch cost the team $12,000, about €9,750. The alleged cheater stated, “It was an accident, the glitch doesn’t really provide any advantage.”
PUBG has some glitches and exploits that professional players are aware of. One of those was OpTic Gaming’s downfall. Player Ian “Bahawaka” Crowe is accused of having used a glitch that allowed him to see through a wall. This is frowned upon in eSports and has serious consequences.
As reported by Kotaku, the incident occurred in the eighth game of the PUBG Invitational tournament in Katowice. Bahawaka moved in a specific way that made a wall transparent, allowing him to briefly look outside from the safety of a building to survey the surroundings.
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Another eSports professional explained this glitch on Twitter. According to Scoom from Team Liquid, the glitch is specific and can hardly be invoked accidentally.
You need to move in a certain way to do this. You also likely need to consciously holster and unholster the weapon. The glitch is thus reproducible if you know what you’re doing.
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Cheater says: It was an accident, the glitch brings no advantage in the situation
The alleged cheater says on reddit that he just wanted to be in the corner to hear better what was happening outside. Anyone who saw the match or knows the terrain would know that having visibility here provides no advantage.
In any case, the tournament organizers punished OpTic Gaming and denied them the victory in the match where the glitch was applied. The organizers cite a clause in the rulebook that prohibits such visibility glitches.
Without the points from the won game eight, OpTic Gaming dropped from second place to fifth and lost the prize money of $12,000. They left empty-handed.
The incident seems to confirm the concerns of many that PUBG is not polished and clean enough to function as an eSport.
Last week, we reported on further issues plaguing PUBG as an eSport title:
Tencent, the Chinese giant, is considering limiting children’s gaming time through contracts that they would enter into with their parents. This way, they could earn more time for gaming through good grades or doing household chores.
China is crazy about Honor of Kings, known in Germany as “Arena of Valor.” It’s somewhat like League of Legends as a mobile game. Its publisher Tencent controls all digital threads: in addition to the games, it also oversees messenger apps and payment services.
In China, many parents and teachers are concerned that the country’s children are spending too much time on the game. Honor of Kings is seen as a nightmare for parents. The kids play it endlessly.
The vice president of a university called video games “the new opium to poison teenagers.” Even the state press reports on the problems. The situation is serious.
Now, Tencent is still considering how to appease parents’ concerns.
Tencent: Contracts between children and parents should regulate gaming time
Tencent’s CEO is apparently not a fan of strict regulation and has other plans. He thinks it would be better if gaming time were agreed upon between children and parents.
Thus, CEO Pony Ma suggests that parents and children enter into a digital contract where performance and gaming time are correlated. If the child does something good, such as spending time outdoors, completing household chores, or achieving good grades, then longer gaming time could be a reward for the child.
Whether Tencent will really implement this is currently unknown.
Rather, I feared for the future of Fortnite. Because the PvE mode was back then already not very fresh, and the PvP mode looked like a typical “Jürgen game” once again: colorfully, crazy, wild and doomed to die.
Since I firmly expected that Fortnite would never compete against PUBG, I played it as long as I could. But somehow this game was probably not affected by the “Stöffel curse”. Instead of dying after just a few weeks, even more gamers seemed to share my taste.
Fortnite kept getting bigger, which surely also had to do with the fact that it was free-to-play and ran on consoles. But on the other hand, Fortnite: Battle Royale just ran smoother than the competition. The developers at Epic just know how to do it and can really program well as the developers of the Unreal Engine.
Meanwhile, PUBG still struggles with performance issues today. Fortnite, on the other hand, rarely stutters for me, unless there’s a huge download running in the background or my girlfriend is watching Netflix.
Colorful and silly instead of serious and realistic
And then there’s this unique Fortnite look that has delighted me since the PvE version. A battle royale scenario is actually quite cruel. After all, it is based on the book and film of the same name, in which students cruelly slaughter each other as part of a dehumanizing experiment.
Honestly, nobody wants to experience something like that in real life. Thus, I always found the sober, realistic presentation of PUBG somewhat depressing. Especially after the unintentionally creepy launch trailer for the Xbox release of PUBG. I missed the necessary distance to truly enjoy it as entertainment.
Less violence, more fun
With the colorful comic graphics in Pixar style, I have exactly that humorous distance from the action to shoot around at will. You just can’t take it seriously when a nutcracker, a skier, a teddy bear, and the monkey king Sun Wukong blast each other away with a minigun and shotgun.
Besides, nobody really dies in Fortnite: Battle Royale. If you go down, you are timely teleported to safety. There’s no blood either, it’s all just a big fun fest. This is probably one of the reasons why the game is so popular among children.
Less complexity, more action!
Compared to PUBG, Fortnite is quite simple in many aspects. There are no vehicles and no weapon upgrades. You might find that terrible as a simulation fan, but I celebrate it! Due to my profession, I have to play many MMOs and hardly have time to really dive deep into one.
Therefore, I prefer games where I can just jump in and play. Unlike in PUBG, I can grab an assault rifle and go hunting. I don’t have to first look for tons of upgrades because the gun only rocks with a laser sight and stock.
I also find the smaller map a blessing. It starts off quickly and it doesn’t take long to find new opponents. Exactly my pace!
Humor and silliness instead of gray seriousness
And then there’s the crazy humor of the developers. It starts right with the fact that you don’t just jump out of a plane. No, in Fortnite, you’re not cowering together in fear on the plane. You celebrate before the battle royale in a flying party bus! You can even hear the muffled party music!
Then it continues in a similarly quirky fashion. When jumping out, players leave colorful trails behind them. In the end, gliders are deployed, bringing Mary Poppins umbrellas, Chinese dragons, and gigantic teddy bears named “Bear Force One” to light. That way, you safely land at delightfully alliterating places like “Snobby Shores”, “Salty Springs”, or “Anarchy Acres”!
The pencil of death!
Once you land, the craziest characters run into your sights. I already mentioned cuddly bears and Wukong. But Fortnite goes further and copies popular characters from games and films. The ultimate battle pass skin “Grim Reaper” looks very similar to the action anti-hero John Wick.
You can also see this in the accessories. For the pseudo-Wick, you can unlock a glider that resembles his beloved car. If you look closely, you’ll also find a pickaxe for the “Grim Reaper”. It’s a nasty pick with a pencil at the end.
If you know the Wick movies, you surely remember the quote that the terrified Russian mobsters tell about Wick: “He once took out three guys in a bar, with a pencil!” He probably had such a pickaxe with him then.
Motivation through challenges, not loot boxes
I am also really glad that Epic Games does not rely on loot boxes as a progress method in Fortnite. That, as we know, did not end well with EA and Battlefront 2. Instead of getting some box full of junk because you want a specific skin (and never receive it), you can buy outfits in Fortnite directly.
They are admittedly not exactly cheap. But since the game is free and you can earn the real money currency V-Bucks in the PVE part of the game, you are less hesitant to spend money in Fortnite than in Battlefront and so on.
The battle pass is simply great!
A real bargain, however, is the battle pass, which costs around 9.50 euros and currently offers 100 levels full of rewards. Addition to that are daily and weekly challenges. This forces you to motivate yourself to change your tactics and gameplay from time to time.
If you have to get five kills with a submachine gun, you’ll try out that weapon more often and may find it enjoyable. And if kills need to be achieved at a remote location on the map, those places suddenly see more action at the beginning of the game.
Experiments instead of stagnation
Finally, I find it absolutely great that the developers never stand still but continuously develop Fortnite: Battle Royale like crazy. A new game mode just comes out every week. Recently, there was a mode where you only found perfect weapons. The rounds were much more offensive because everyone was quickly perfectly equipped and didn’t have to search forever for good gear.
As of the time of this article, there is currently a game mode where five teams of 20 players compete against each other. A chaotic mess and a hell of a fun at the same time!
One learns from mistakes
Of course, now and then the developers miss the mark and introduce a mode that doesn’t work well. This happened with the 50vs50 mode. But that’s okay, a week later, something new will come anyway, and what wasn’t good won’t be back or will be revised.
The curse is broken!
Fortnite: Battle Royale is probably the first game that I really like and that is successful. Currently, it doesn’t look like Epic is going to crash with the game. I’m just glad that my curse is probably broken and I can spend a lot of time in Fortnite: Battle Royale.
And even if it sounds like I hate PUBG: That is not the case at all, I also think this game is good and had a lot of fun there, especially in a team! Only Fortnite appeals to me more. Luckily, there is enough room for both battle royale games!
There is nothing wrong with a “thank you” to fellow fighters. Or is there? Death threats poured in against an Overwatch commentator.
Most gamers will have at least seen Soe Gschwind-Penski (Soembie) as she is annually active as a host at BlizzCon. Some also appreciate her for her eSports analyses in the Overwatch sector, her cosplays (like Tracer) or her drawings.
However, on the last International Women’s Day, Gschwind-Penski made a serious mistake, resulting in several death threats and abusive insults.
She had specifically thanked on Twitter all the men who fight alongside women for equality and see them as equals, regardless of race and gender – because that is primarily what equality is about.
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However, many people on Twitter seemed to interpret it differently and assessed the tweet in such a way that Gschwind-Penski wanted to put men in the foreground. In some tweets, it was even implied that she was “misogynistic” – simply because she thanked fellow fighters for the same cause.
“Death Threats” for Equality
Shortly after the first tweet, Soembie further explained:
“In the past 20 minutes, I’ve received death threats and hundreds of hate messages for thanking men for treating me as an equal on a day whose focus is on the fight for equality. Hate because I’m grateful for the men in our lives who fight alongside us for our rights…”
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There isn’t much to add, because anyone who drowns someone with so much hate for a simple “thank you” should not be surprised if their own demands are not taken seriously.
Or to put it in the (perhaps wise) words of our future Minister of Digital Affairs: “Only politicians, journalists, and psychopaths are on Twitter anyway.”
Patch 4.25 for Final Fantasy XIV will go live on March 13 and bring fans a new batch of content. The most exciting part is the Forbidden Land Eureka.
Final Fantasy XIV is known for its regular content updates and the next one is just around the corner.
With Eureka, the development team will introduce a new instance with a new level system and dangerous open-world gameplay on March 13.
Reason 1: “Content like never before”
For the first time, the Forbidden Land Eureka was mentioned in a letter from the producer shortly before the end of the Heavensward expansion.
At that time, it was supposed to be a modified version of the already existing instance Diadem that would provide players with open-world content.
However, the development team went much further with their ideas than initially planned. The area kept growing, which led to Eureka being postponed repeatedly for over a year.
The director and producer Naoki Yoshida has apologized multiple times for the delay. According to him, it should become content “like never before”, a strong promise.
However, this seems to be the case in FFXIV as the elemental system of Eureka brings fresh air to the game with its flexibility.
Within Eureka, there are its own laws.All players start there with an elemental level of 1.
This can be increased with the help of EXP on the special Magia Board, allocating points to different elements and redistributing them as needed.
The system is interesting in that it makes the “power level” of players within the island of Eureka flexible. You can adapt to any enemy and exploit their strengths and weaknesses in battle.
During the demonstration of the first area of Eureka, “Anemos”, Yoshida said that even a single point in an element will have a massive impact on the damage dealt and received.
It is a welcome change to the linear leveling and progress system that one is otherwise familiar with in FFXIV.
Reason 2: Relic Armors instead of just Weapons
The quests for relic weapons are now an integral part of FFXIV. Players have already had to complete two full cycles of development quests to obtain these weapons.
Accordingly, many players were disappointed to learn that the quests for the new relic weapons will be released over six months after the release of Stormblood along with Eureka.
Relic quests are content that can be relatively relaxed, and which especially appeals to casual players, as they can complete them alone and do not require a raid group.
This will also be possible again in Eureka, as players will be able to enter the instance alone.
But hardcore players can benefit from it too, as relic gear has always been “best in slot” at the end of its quest line.
The reason why the weapons are best-in-slot is the flexibility, as players could choose the secondary stats of the weapon after a certain step.
Even though the tasks of the quests are often “grindy”, players can do the relic weapons well in between or on the side.
However, with Eureka, the development team decided to take another step forward.
In 4.25, players will finally be able to upgrade their job-specific armors in the same manner as the relic weapons from previous quest lines.
In the first Eureka area “Anemos”, there will be special monsters referred to as “notorious”. They will drop special materials after death that are needed to upgrade weapons and armors.
What item level the improved job-specific equipment will have is still unknown. Based on experience, one might assume that it could even reach the currently strongest raid gear.
And it will also be dyeable!
Reason 3: More danger please!
With the Forbidden Land Eureka, the developers are also responding to fans who wish for more danger in the open-world areas.
New threads asking for dangerous open-world content appear regularly in the official forums.
Even in level 60-70 areas, the enemies pose no problems for the characters. They do attack the players but are simply annoying. For many fans, it spoils the fun of exploring new areas.
Naoki Yoshida emphasized that the extremely strong enemies will relentlessly pursue you when you attempt to flee, making Eureka a dangerous place.
Additionally, death on the island will be penalized more severely than outside it. Characters will lose a certain amount of elemental EXP if they are not resurrected within 10 minutes of their death.
This could even lead to characters losing multiple elemental levels.
Opinions on this matter are divided. Many players say they have neither the time nor the desire to walk back the long way after death, let alone grind all the lost EXP again.
Eureka seems to be a compromise solution. The world outside the island remains safe while thrill-seekers can now indulge in Eureka.
Bonus Reason: Flashbacks for FFXI Fans
Part of the FFXIV community consists of former or still active FFXI players and they will recognize many of the features in Eureka.
FFXIV NPC wearing the Scorpion Harness and Strider Boots from FFXI
The EXP loss after death was a standard mechanic in FFXI that could also lead to a level down.
In Dynamis, a parallel reality in FFXI, one could farm and upgrade strong job-specific relic gear similar to Eureka.
Additionally, the new elemental system with the Magia Board strongly resembles the Elemental Wheel from FFXI, which has become second nature to every Ninja, Black Mage, and Blue Mage.
All in all, it is a small love letter to the first MMORPG from Square Enix.
It starts on March 13
It is certainly too early to definitively say how well the Forbidden Land Eureka will function as content.
The community is primarily concerned about the high EXP loss after death because it sounds like a feature that could be exploited for griefing.
Furthermore, the relic quest series is notorious for its often one-sided grind. Whether Eureka manages to add more variety to this remains to be seen.
However, from everything we know, it looks like interesting fresh content into which players will invest a lot of time to obtain strong gear.
All known info about the Forbidden Land Eureka is available here:
With the announcement that Fortnite: Battle Royale is coming to mobile devices, Epic has dropped a little bombshell. But that’s not all. Fortnite offers cross-play and cross-progression on smartphones and tablets. Isn’t that unfair?
Anyone who regularly watches Ninja’s streams knows what capable PC players can do to their opponents in Fortnite: Battle Royale. And now pros like Ninja should also be allowed to take apart people on smartphones thanks to cross-play? It’s not as bad as Epic revealed!
What does cross-play and cross-progression mean in Fortnite: Battle Royale?
Epic has announced that smartphone players can compete against PC and PS4 players. The other platform (iOS / Android) will also be able to compete with each other. This greatly increases the matchmaking pool.
Only the Xbox One was initially excluded from the announcement. Now Microsoft has announced that they are working to participate in cross-play as well.
Additionally, you can log in to your Epic account on your smartphone or tablet and enjoy the same progress that you have already achieved on consoles or PC. It is therefore not necessary to purchase a second Battle Pass on the smartphone.
This is called cross-progression and works similarly to the cross-save functionality of some games between the PS Vita and the PlayStation 4.
But if PC players play with mouse and keyboard while mobile users are using the touchscreen, a big imbalance arises, right? According to Epic, you don’t necessarily have to deal with this!
Cross-play between smartphone/tablet and PC is optional!
The official announcement hinted at bad omens, but shortly after, Epic announced via Twitter that the cross-play option between PC and smartphone is merely optional. PC players will never enter the lobby of mobile players.
On the other hand, mobile gamers can join the matchmaking lobby of PC players via settings. This setting is deactivated by default, so it must be confirmed manually.
Those who were afraid that hordes of PC players would descend upon helpless touchscreen users can rest easy.
In Destiny 2, there is a new credible leak regarding the second expansion. The leak reveals the name and the release date of the next DLC.
So far, little is known about the next DLC for Bungie’s second series spin-off. Only the May 2018 timeframe is officially confirmed for the release.
However, hints have increasingly suggested that the story will revolve around a Warmind and a woman named Ana Bray and will lead the Guardians to Mars – this can be deduced from official DLC graphics (see title image). A new emblem recently found in the data of Destiny 2 has also confirmed this assumption.
However, this information has not yet been confirmed by Bungie. A new, credible leak now reveals the likely official name and release date of the upcoming expansion.
The second expansion is likely called The Fallen Warmind
This time, both GameStop and Amazon listed matching information regarding the name and release date of the next expansion for Destiny 2.
Screenshot from GameStop
DLC II is expected to be called “The Fallen Warmind” and will be released on May 8, 2018, for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. However, both entries have since been removed from the retailer websites, so their authenticity cannot be confirmed at this time.
Screenshot from Amazon
Both the name and the potential release date of the 2nd DLC would thematically align with previous speculations and hints. After the upcoming update 1.1.4, scheduled for March 27, 2018, official information should not take long to arrive. Following this update milestone, Bungie is expected to fully dedicate itself to DLC promotion.
What do you think of this leak? Is it all hot air or finally a credible indication?
Massive presented its plans for the future of The Division. In addition to a sequel, a roadmap for Year 3 was introduced, which includes the new feature “Shields.” This will allow players in The Division 2 to prove that they are veterans from Part 1. Furthermore, players will have missions to complete in The Division 1.
With the announcement of The Division 2 and the plans for Year 3, Massive dropped a big bombshell during the State Of The Game on March 8. Besides the two new patches 1.8.1 and 1.8.2, which are set to release in April and June, the “Shields” feature was announced as part of the second patch.
What are Shields?
According to Massive, Shields are special achievements that give you the opportunity to unlock rewards for The Division 2 in The Division 1. These are supposed to
be released monthly
provide agents with plenty of engagement
unlock rewards for The Division 2
Concrete information on how this will play out in The Division is not yet available. However, some solutions seem likely.
How could Shields look like?
There are many possible variations. They could be structured like the commendations that you can already unlock in the game. These come with a variety of tasks, whether you have to kill enemies in a certain way or complete missions without dying. Similar to the commendations.
Similar tasks like the daily and weekly assignments are also conceivable. These always follow the same pattern. “Collect 30 tools,” “Kill 50 LMB mercenaries” are common objectives, but something completely new is also possible.
Is The Division inspired by Destiny?
With a likely similar system like the Shields, Bungie managed the transition from Destiny 1 to Destiny 2. They relied on a “seal book.” Players unlocked milestones and then received emblems in Destiny 2 that signified what they had achieved in Destiny 1.
This is roughly how the system in The Division could look as well.
What could the rewards for The Division 2 look like?
There are several possibilities: Equipment, such as weapons and armor, but also weapon skins, patches, and unique outfits are always popular. Especially cosmetic items can give veterans the feeling of standing out from new players in The Division 2.
Equipment and weapons are problematic since this could give an advantage over newcomers. Therefore, cosmetic items are the more likely and less controversial solution.
A reward in the form of crafting materials and Cypher keys is also possible. However, we still do not know whether and in what form there will be crafting or a real-money shop in The Division 2.
So we have to wait for Massive to provide more information.
What do you think about this feature? Will you try to unlock the upcoming rewards?
You are into pain, loot, and hordes of enemies? You feel most comfortable in a dark world full of black magic, dark powers, and little chance for good? Then Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is the game you have been waiting for!
Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is the successor to the popular title Warhammer: End Times – Vermintide. The gameplay is simple: Four heroes are sent on a mission where they must chop their way through massive amounts of enemies and bosses.
Sounds familiar, Left 4 Dead works in the same way. However, in Vermintide, you are not fighting against zombies but against ratmen (Skaven) and evil people from the North, followers of the dark chaos gods.
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Warhammer is a world where constant war prevails. There is always some power to fight against, or one that starts a war by itself. Warhammer is not a classic “good vs evil” but more of a “we against all.”
Somewhat more familiar to gamers may be Warhammer 40,000, which is set nearly 40,000 years in the future. The world and the conflicts are the same. Broadly speaking: The Empire of Man against everything else that exists in the universe.
In Vermintide, you find yourself in the scenario of Warhammer: Fantasy. Here, there are no spaceships and ‘the Emperor’, but castles and Sigmar, in whose name battles are fought. Instead of aliens (Xenos), the enemies are mainly ratmen, the Skaven.
Unique Characters with Level System
In Vermintide 2, just like in its predecessor, there are five characters that you can play as.
The further you progress, the more you can develop your characters. Each character has three subclasses, called careers, the second of which is unlocked at level 7 and the third at level 12. There is also a talent point at every five levels. This creates dynamics. The classes have the opportunity to specialize in such a way that they can take on roles in a group.
Extremely Difficult Missions with Lots of Blood
Before a mission, the group meets in a decaying castle to prepare for the upcoming task. In the pre-order beta, there were four campaign missions; in the finished game, there will be more. A group always consists of four characters. If a player is missing, a bot takes over.
The first part of Vermintide was known for its difficulty. When four people charge into battle against hundreds of enemies, it is clear that this cannot be easy.
A relatively small group of enemies with Rat Ogre.
If you’re not careful, you’ll quickly get surrounded and overrun. Items for healing and replenishing ammunition are rare and often widely scattered throughout the missions. Quickly replenishing arrows or health is not an option.
If that’s not enough, there are special enemies that attack you with unique abilities like Gatling guns, gas bombs, or as an assassin. These special enemies require coordination and markings so that they do not take out a group member. Teamwork is key.
Vermintide 2 raises the ante even further. Even the first steps are tough, and beginners are likely to be picked up off the ground more than once by their teammates. But that’s what friends are for. Without cooperation, nothing works.
If the missions are not difficult enough for you yet, you can make them even harder while playing. In the beta, you could choose whether to play the mission on “Recruit”, “Veteran” or “Champion” difficulty.
Recruit: Starter difficulty, which gives the least loot chests. Everyone starts with a healing potion.
Veteran: Available from 120 power. Enemies are tougher, and players have no healing potions at the start.
Champion: Available from 220 power. Enemies take significantly more damage and hit harder. Additionally, friendly fire for ranged attacks is always active.
In the finished game, an additional difficulty, “Lord,” will be added, which will be a bit harder.
In every mission, there are also three tomes and two grimoires to find. Tomes take the place of healing items for a character – he can no longer carry a healing potion or bandages. Unless he uses them immediately and then picks up the tome again.
A grimoire blocks the slot for buff potions. Additionally, carrying a grimoire reduces the maximum health of all group members by 30% per grimoire! However, it is worth collecting these books to upgrade the loot chest at the end of the mission and to obtain stronger weapons and trinkets.
If 1 against 7 still seems unfair to you …
Why Play Vermintide 2?
Vermintide 2 stands out with rounds that you can quickly and easily jump into. A mission lasts between 20 and 40 minutes and can be completed easily depending on the group and plan. They always remain challenging and reward with loot and experience.
Furthermore, the game has a unique charm. The entire world and each character has a deeper story, which unravels slowly even for newcomers while playing. The dialogues are often sharp and entertaining, enhancing the picture of the rough and dark world.
A PvP mode is not planned, but even in the “4 against Many” co-op, Vermintide 2 is challenging enough. Anyone who wants to level every character to the end has plenty to do. But those who only want to play their favorite to perfection will also enjoy it.
If you are starting with Vermintide, it’s best to play with friends or use the game’s voice chat. Communication is extremely important, and if you don’t know what to do, ask for help. Players are usually very helpful, after all, they are just as dependent on you as you are on them – even if it’s just as a holder of healing items or books.
Don’t reach too high! The game is hard, and that’s exactly how it wants to be. You will benefit more from slowly easing into it and achieving the missions, learning secret paths and positions, than by going all in immediately. The hardest part usually comes just before the end, and if you are not prepared there, the entire mission was for nothing.
Unlike in Left 4 Dead, you do not trigger hordes and bosses through noise. They just appear, often at inconvenient moments. Always be vigilant and stay together to avoid being overwhelmed. If it gets tight, always remember one thing: Burn the heretics and fight for the Emperor!
Warhammer Vermintide 2 is released today for PC. A release for PS4 and Xbox One is expected later in 2018.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
If you are a real athlete, you also need the right nutrition. This applies to gamers as well. Runtime offers alternatives to pizza and chips with “Nextlevel Meals” and “Performance Drinks”. We tested what eSports nutrition can do.
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Those who play professionally must also pay attention to what they eat. eSports athletes generally have a similar diet to “real” athletes. This ensures that they are in peak condition and can improve their reaction times.
The typical “nerd food” is unsuitable for this purpose. Pizza, chips, and soft drinks make you sluggish and negatively affect performance in the long term. As a professional gamer, you should therefore avoid such things.
The company Runtime from Berlin has developed a powdered food especially for eSports athletes, students, and anyone who needs to perform consistently.
The special thing: The products contain no conventional sugar, but isomaltulose. Our authors Patrick and Benedict received a package with six meals + shaker, two drinks, and a chocolate bar and tested it!
What is it like to eat eSports nutrition for a week?
Runtime’s Promise: A High Without a Low
Runtime’s products claim to provide energy quickly and yet over a longer period. Being able to stay awake and work (or play) longer and more effectively sounds promising. However, we were skeptical if such a powder could really deliver.
On the other hand, energy drinks have this effect too. Runtime further promises that after the energy boost, there won’t be a slump where you become sluggish. The “sugar crash” is not supposed to occur, meaning the body won’t weaken after the energy is burned off.
These are promises that sound overreaching at first and are difficult to fulfill. The company relies on a special substance, isomaltulose.
Runtime’s Promise: Gaming Without a Sugar Low.
What is Isomaltulose?
The special feature of Runtime’s products is the sugar that the company uses to replace regular household sugar in the products. The sugar is supposed to be suitable for diabetics and even tooth-friendly.
Isomaltulose is supposed to decompose slower in the body, thus suppressing the craving for unhealthy food for longer — which has worked at least for our testers. Runtime also claims that this substance does not cause a “sugar crash,” as too much household sugar does.
The “Nextlevel Meals” – 606kcal per serving!
For the test, we received 6 bags of powdered food in various flavors:
Original
Chocolate
Christmas Edition
Strawberry
Coconut
Marzipan
First of all, it should be said: The “Nextlevel Meals” are not a supplement to a meal or a snack. Each bag has a caloric value of about 606kcal.
They are intended as a substitute for a whole meal and for people who need to perform a lot! Such a bag is not a snack and not suitable for diets. Furthermore, no more than one meal a day should be replaced with one meal.
How are the Meals prepared?
The handling of the “Nextlevel Meals” is quite simple. Rip open the bag, fill the powder into the included shaker, pour in 300ml of water, add the spring ball into the cup, and shake well for about 30 seconds.
The powder does not completely dissolve in water, but only distributes. It becomes drinkable, making it easier to consume than spooning dry powder. Accordingly, a slightly floury consistency is to be expected — but that is normal.
A little note: When preparing, make sure that the included shaker is properly closed. The cap on the lid is difficult to close and can best be secured with a firm slap of the flat hand. Benedict didn’t do this twice…
How did the Meals affect us? Do they keep their promise?
It is not necessary to supplement a bag with additional snacks. After consuming the powder, both of our authors felt full for over 4 hours and had no appetite for snacks or other food.
Both also observed that during this time, the craving for greasy food or sweets had disappeared. According to the manufacturer, this is due to the sugar isomaltulose, which decomposes slower and thus covers the sugar needs over a longer period.
In short: Yes, the manufacturer’s promise is kept. Even though we were initially skeptical, neither of us felt the urge to eat or snack. However, the work during this time was neither harder nor easier. Whether the food keeps you awake was hard to judge since we were already awake.
Gaming and working with Runtime: Not worse than without, but not necessarily better. We were awake anyway.
What do nutrition experts say about it?
To obtain a professionally competent opinion on the products, the colleagues from Giga consulted nutrition expert Dr. Sigrid Röchter from the Consumer Center NRW. She said:
“Dietary supplements, as the name suggests, should complement food. These are vitamins, minerals, or other substances sold in dosed form, such as capsules, tablets, pills, powdered bags, or liquid ampoules.”
The effect of isomaltulose has been scientifically confirmed by the European Food Safety Authority. However, the “Nextlevel Meals” lack secondary ingredients and other fibers, making them not balanced meals.
The active ingredients in the performance drinks that are supposed to deliver energy are based solely on a Swedish study. Further research and evidence are still lacking.
In general, it is advised that minors refrain from consuming these products!
How did the “Nextlevel Meals” taste?
Taste-wise, it can be debated whether the meals really taste good or not. All the powders we tested tasted a bit like cookie dough or baby food. Not bad, but unusual.
The flavors themselves did not differ as much as expected, but enough to distinguish them. We all agreed that the strawberry flavor was not to our liking and didn’t really fit into the repertoire.
We preferred the other flavors. Patrick’s favorite is coconut, closely followed by marzipan. For Benedict, the order is reversed: first marzipan, then coconut.
Chocolate tasted almost like “original” and only slightly of cocoa, while the “Christmas Edition” had a bit of an acquired taste of gingerbread and spices. Benedict liked it, Patrick is unsure.
All in all, none of the meals disappointed taste-wise except strawberry. We found them much more enjoyable to drink than similar products.
Performance Drinks and MEGABITE Bars
The other products in the package at a glance:
Performance Drink Orange: also contains grapefruit, which is what it tastes more like. Strong taste of sweetener and a little artificial, reminiscent of sugar-free orange soda.
Performance Drink Berry: tastes significantly fruitier and somewhat like sweet berry soda. The taste of berries overshadows the sweetener.
In terms of effect, there are hardly any differences in the Performance Drinks compared to other energy drinks. Only the restlessness that one sometimes experiences after too much sugar and caffeine was absent. Otherwise, in terms of taste, not the first choice.The MEGABITE tastes more like cocoa and less like chocolate, but above all it is not as sweet as other bars – rather bitter. It is suitable as a snack when hunger strikes. With over 246kcal, however, it is not a light snack.
Price and Summary
In summary, it can be said that the food made a good impression on us. In terms of taste, the meals are “okay” – an acquired taste and special.
The price of the food (18.40€ for 7 meals on sale) seems a bit steep to us.
The drinks could be an alternative to conventional energy drinks if one is willing to accept the taste. The MEGABITE made a good impression on us.
Anyone looking for a food alternative (or supplement) can definitely give Runtime a chance. However, our testers Benedict and Patrick do not want to prefer the products to their usual food in the long run.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
We asked you who the strongest monster in Monster Hunter World is, and you voted. Here we present to you 5 monsters in Monster Hunter World that you have chosen as the toughest opponents!
Which monsters give the Mein-MMO community the most nightmares? Here is your top 5.
Rank 5: Bazelgeuse – The Boeing B-52
Monster type: Flying Wyvern
Habitat: Forcefully intrudes into any habitat!
Element: Fire
Weakness: Thunder
Description: The Bazelgeuse rains its explosive scales down on its victims like a carpet of bombs! This trait has also earned it the nickname Bomber-52 among hunters. The Boeing B-52 is an eight-engine long-range bomber of the US Air Force.
The scales then lie inactive on the ground like mines and react sensitively to friction, causing them to explode immediately. In rage mode, the scales explode even at the slightest contact.
The Bazelgeuse has no fixed habitat and seeks out fights in every area! Once hunters turn their attention to another large monster, the Flying Wyvern just can’t help itself and charges straight into the battle.
Quick combat tips: The Bazelgeuse’s legs are its weak points. Hunters should only attack its legs when the Bazelgeuse is not dropping its explosive scales. If it interrupts the fight with another monster, hunters can scare it away with dung bombs.
Rank 4: Black Diablos – The Black Horn
Monster type: Flying Wyvern
Habitat: Wildspire Wastes
Element: None
Weakness: Water, Ice
Description: The Black Diablos is the female version of Diablos. She has an increased amount of hormones, which darkens her armor and makes her even more aggressive than her male counterpart.
She has the same attack patterns as the regular Diablos, only that she can deal even more damage. The Black Diablos burrows into the ground just like the normal Diablos and attacks from there.
Quick combat tips: The head, chest, and wings are the weak points of the Black Diablos, and her tail can be severed. The Black Horned also has a weakness to paralysis, making traps effective against her. Since the Black Diablos is so aggressive, she chases her opponents for a long time. So watch out if you want to retreat from the fight.
Description: The Nergigante is an Elder Dragon and can regenerate incredibly fast. He is extremely aggressive and attacks everything in his path. When the spikes on his arms or back break off, they grow back immediately. Once the spikes have regrown and hardened, they deal more damage. The spikes also make it easier for attacks to bounce off.
Furthermore, the Nergigante is swift and agile despite his size. He rushes at his opponents faster than one would expect. He attacks with claws, teeth, horns, and jumping attacks.
Quick combat tips: To defeat the Nergigante, hunters need to closely watch his spikes. The spikes are located on his wings, forelegs, head, and tail. When the spikes are just starting to regrow, they will have a yellow to white color. In this stage, the spikes are breakable and the Nergigante is vulnerable.
Once the spikes are black, they are fully hardened and hunters can no longer break them. When the spikes have regrown, the Nergigante will rear up on his hind legs, roar, take to the air, and perform a dangerous jumping attack. You should better dodge that.
Description: Teostra is also known as the Fanged Sun and possesses a fiery breath. The Elder Dragon can unleash a concentrated beam of fire and even creates a supernova in rage mode, dealing devastating damage.
Teostra spreads a highly flammable scale powder around him with his wings. If he grinds his teeth together, a spark ignites the powder. The resulting fire aura continuously drains health from hunters who stay near the monster.
With his strong legs and wings, Teostra is agile and nimble. He often performs powerful jumps and can leap onto hunters even from a great distance.
Quick combat tips: The head of Teostra is particularly vulnerable, and its horns can be broken. Once the horns are destroyed, the Elder Dragon loses the ability to activate its fire aura. When Teostra ignites and takes to the air, it’s time to run! Teostra will then cause a large explosion that deals damage from a great distance. Hunters should keep their distance once Teostra begins to take to the skies.
Rank 1: Kirin – The Phantom
Monster type: Elder Dragon
Habitat: Coral Highlands
Element: Thunder
Weakness: Fire
Description: ThisElder Dragon resembles a unicorn and commands electricity. The Kirin is fast and agile and constantly surrounded by lightning. With its powerful horn, the unicorn charges at its opponents and tries to impale them. Hunters should not be deceived by its delicate-looking fur. When the creature is enraged, its skin becomes extremely hard, causing weapons to bounce off.
The Kirin possesses various lightning attacks that can paralyze hunters. The lightning strikes from the side or comes crashing down from the sky. If the unicorn is left undisturbed, it will not attack and has a peaceful nature.
Kirin Guide: Since the Kirin is your number 1 and the unicorn of your nightmares, we have created a detailed guide.
In the guide, you will find:
Weaknesses of the Kirin
Location and loot
All attack patterns of the Kirin explained with images
Tips and tricks to defeat the Kirin
A suggested armor set to defeat the hardened Kirin
The complete evaluation of your strongest monsters
Now that your top 5 has been presented, you certainly don’t want to miss the complete evaluation of the survey. Here you will find the percentage listing of the monsters that cost you the most tears and sweat.
Epic has revealed what is coming next week for players in Fortnite: Battle Royale. It’s Llamas. In exchange, Smoke Grenades are being removed. There’s also an image of the jetpacks.
Via Twitter, Epic shared a small developer update for Fortnite: Battle Royale. They briefly look at the new mode and introduce what’s in store for next week’s update.
Jetpacks have to wait
To start, they briefly mention the jetpacks. They were supposed to actually arrive in Fortnite Battle Royale, but the arrival of the jetpacks was postponed due to issues in internal gameplay tests.
Epic hasn’t announced exactly when they will come, but at least there is a screenshot of the jetpack.
New 20-player mode aims to bridge the gap between Team and 50-player modes
This is one of the Limited Time modes, so it will be disappearing from Fortnite soon.
Gold-Llama in PvE
What the new patch 3.3 brings
For next week, likely Thursday, March 15, Epic has prepared the next patch. This is update 3.3.
Here they are bringing the “Llamas” known from PvE. They will likely function similarly to treasure chests and ammo crates: as loot containers.
You can find the Llamas randomly on the island. They should help players right away, it is said. The more detailed information about what is inside the Llamas will likely be revealed in the next patch notes.
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Smoke Grenades are being removed from Fortnite: BR with 3.3 and are going back to the workshop. Player feedback led Epic to decide to remove these from Fortnite: Battle Royale – just like the submachine gun. The smoke grenades were apparently used too little and are scheduled for rework.
Around Destiny 2 is in turmoil. Fans are dissatisfied. Many are turning their backs on the game. Bungie is trying to get the game back on track with extensive changes and constantly emphasizes that they listen to the wishes and concerns of the community. But is Bungie really listening?
On Friday, March 9, Bungie released the long-awaited details on the sandbox adjustments as part of the upcoming Update 1.1.4 for the troubled Destiny 2. And as feared, the forums and comment sections of many fan sites are ablaze; the community is once again in an uproar.
The reason for this is some announced changes that the sandbox update will bring. Many of them will certainly do good for the game. However, others seem to be developed without considering the desires of the fans.
Some adjustments were never requested. They seem pointless or even exacerbate existing problems instead of resolving them. There is the impression that some essential parts of player feedback go unheard. The community feels overlooked – even though Bungie does not tire of emphasizing how much they hear the community.
So the question arises: Is Bungie really listening to the community?
Bungie’s handling of feedback – the root of all evil
Although Bungie recently promised to expand communication and make it more transparent, Bungie’s behavior in dealing with fan criticism has not significantly changed since Destiny 1. Bungie tends to fall into this pattern when processing feedback:
The community identifies a feature in need of improvement or parameters that could be better and provides constructive and thoughtful feedback: “Mode X is currently unattractive for reasons Y and Z. Bungie, here’s how you can solve the problem: Solution A, Solution B.”
Bungie reviews the feedback, works on it themselves, and responds afterwards: “We hear you! Your opinion is very important to us! We see that you want Solution A or B. But you don’t really want that. What you REALLY want is Solution C. So, we present you Solution C!”
The community looks at Solution C and says: “Okay, some aspects of Solution C are actually good, but Solution C does not ultimately solve problems Y and Z and may even introduce more new problems. Solution A or B would have eliminated all the problems.”
In response, Bungie says: “We hear you. Your feedback is of great value to us. But first, play Solution C; it will be really great. You will see.”
This pattern was also evident in the implementation of significant parts of player feedback in the already released Update 1.1.3 and the upcoming Update 1.1.4 for Destiny 2.
The community had already clearly and constructively communicated several times to Bungie where the most significant weaknesses of Destiny 2 currently lie and how these can be specifically addressed. “Finally remove the timer in the Nightfall strike. Lower the time to kill in the Crucible. This is the reason for many inconsistencies in the problem-plagued PvP of Destiny 2” – this was the prevailing sentiment within the Guardian community.
In response, Bungie’s developers presented changes that caused head-shaking, frustration, and confusion among fans. For instance, while the timer was removed in the Nightfall strike, Bungie instead installed a new timer – this time only hidden. At the same time, they quickly removed all modifiers from the normal version of the Nightfalls – a change that nobody asked for and that shocked the community.
Also, some recently announced changes that will come to the game with the next update at the end of March 2018 caused general astonishment. While Bungie also recognized that the time to kill is too high as one of the biggest problems, instead of merely optimizing this one parameter, Bungie adjusted a multitude of other factors, which could now lead to new problem areas in PvP.
Meanwhile, the actual problem – the high time to kill – apparently remains unresolved. When asked why they didn’t just lower the time to kill, Bungie responded that players should first play the update; it will be a fantastic experience.
Here, once again, the typical Bungie pattern becomes clearly visible.
Does Bungie listen to its fans?
This systematic approach reveals some fundamental issues in Bungie’s feedback processing and simultaneously answers the initial question of whether Bungie truly listens to the community.
Bungie hears the discussions within the community and collects feedback for potential optimizations – that much is clear. However, the feedback that developers receive does not only consist of criticism from players. A massive amount of further data, which Bungie casually collects from players in-game, also flows into the optimization process of Destiny 2.
This data provides developers with important additional insights into various parameters and problem areas of the game. Thus, developers have a completely different view of issues in Destiny 2. Consequently, they also have a different approach to solving these problems during the optimization process.
The mistake Bungie makes here is that they only involve the community once in the optimization process. They listen to the players – but only once and only at the beginning.
After that, players are completely left out. During the actual optimization phase, they do not engage in a much-needed dialogue with them. They do not present any of the developed solution approaches or ask the Guardians for their opinions on which solution approach is better and whether anything could still be improved.
They do not seek further feedback from the Guardians. The player community receives the final result of the optimization work in the form of an update and has no way to influence it further. There remains only the once listening from Bungie – but that is simply not enough!
And that is precisely the main reason why many in the community feel that their feedback falls on deaf ears at Bungie.
Is Bungie solely to blame?
Although Bungie itself determines the structures and processes of its optimization procedures, the approach chosen by Bungie to only involve the community once is not only attributable to the studio itself and its “evil intentions” – especially since such an approach embodies the common standard in the industry.
Bungie’s approach is, to a certain extent, even understandable. Because Bungie has already experienced firsthand where the unrestricted implementation of feedback from the community without a clear direction can lead to, as evidenced by the nerf issue with the predecessor. Certain parts of the community also vigorously contributed to the current situation back during the days of Destiny 1.
How can such problems be avoided?
If Bungie sticks to its existing concept for feedback processing and game optimization, it is unlikely that the current situation will change. However, a course change is not in sight.
A prime example of how it can be done differently is provided by the developers of The Division.
They entered history with their famous statement “Our game is not fun“. After this admission, Massive Entertainment worked hand in hand with the community. They invited selected players to the studio and ensured that wishes and thoughtful concepts from the fan community flowed directly into the optimization process.
This substantially contributed to The Division ultimately being able to offer a conciliatory gaming experience and currently standing strong as a result.
What do you think about this issue? Feel free to share your opinions in the comments.
Epic is diligent and now brings new items to Fortnite: Battle Royale weekly. With so many weapons and items, it’s easy to lose track. However, with only 5 equipment slots, you must weigh your options carefully. Thanks to our item guide, you’ll only take the most useful weapons and items into Fortnite!
In Fortnite: Battle Royale, you can find an increasing variety of weapons, healing items, and shield potions. The grenade arsenal is also constantly expanding. With only five inventory slots, you need to carefully consider which items you want to carry with you.
Although Epic recently removed a category of weapons (standard submachine guns), the selection is still enormous – and is likely to continue growing.
We categorize all weapons and items, and which items you should carry in each category.
Standard Weapons in Fortnite: Battle Royale
THE standard weapon in Fortnite: Battle Royale is the assault rifle. You should always have an assault rifle on hand, as it is the best all-round weapon. However, at the start of a round, you are likely to come across another weapon more frequently: the pistol (or the revolver or the hand cannon).
As long as you don’t find an assault rifle, take the pistol with you. Skilled shooters can deal significant damage even with the common variant. Depending on personal preferences, the burst assault rifle is also an extremely strong alternative.
The following ranking applies to standard weapons (the weapon at the top should be ideally included):
Assault Rifle
Burst Assault Rifle
Hand Cannon
Standard Pistol
Revolver
A blue rarity burst assault rifle might be preferred by some players over the assault rifle. Take what feels better for you!
With the nerf of the double pump shotgun, new options have opened up in the melee category. The shotgun is still powerful (especially with critical hits), but the double version has become useless.
A proper boost has conversely been given to tactical submachine guns. The magazine has been enlarged. Since the weapon can also be found in epic quality, it is a strong alternative to shotguns in close combat.
Since the fire rate of tactical shotguns is higher than that of pump shotguns, they should be preferred starting from the rare rarity (blue).
You should always have a melee weapon with you. The crucial question now is whether you
want to use only a shotgun or submachine gun, or
want a combination of pump shotgun / shotgun / submachine gun
This depends on your personal preferences, but also on your available slots. A combination of pump shotgun and tactical submachine gun is brutal, but requires two inventory slots.
By the way: The tactical submachine gun is always preferred over the suppressed variant. It offers a larger magazine and kills more reliably than the suppressed SMG.
If you like, you can also use a suppressed pistol for close combat. Critical hits deal devastating damage.
The weapon or combination you use depends on several factors. How many inventory slots do you have available? How well can you aim with the weapons? Are you aggressive or more passive players?
Ranged Weapons in Fortnite: Battle Royale
Ranged weapons in Fortnite: Battle Royale include the crossbow, the hunting rifle, and the sniper rifles. While the crossbow primarily uses its strengths in infinite ammo and suppression, the hunting rifle is also excellent for medium distances.
However, the best ranged weapons are still the sniper rifles. The bolt-action sniper rifle stands unchallenged at the top. Even the rare variant kills any player with a critical hit, regardless of the opponent’s shield and health points.
If you find a ranged weapon, you can use the following ranking to determine whether you should take it with you – or leave it behind:
Heavy weapons are extremely rare in Fortnite: Battle Royale. If luck is on your side and gifts you a grenade or rocket launcher – take it! Especially in the endgame, heavy weapons will serve you well!
Furthermore, rocket launchers are considered the rarest weapons in Fortnite: Battle Royale – and there’s a good reason for that. Whether you want to smoke out enemy fortifications or take your enemies out from above, the rocket launcher is a true all-rounder.
Since standard grenades are also considered explosive weapons, they also appear in the ranking:
Rocket Launcher
Grenade Launcher
Minigun
Grenades
Even though the minigun looks good on paper, it is rarely used. If you shoot at a fortress with the minigun, you often present an easy target. The damage against mobile opponents is also poor. The rocket launcher offers more options here.
Healing Items and Shield Potions in Fortnite: Battle Royale
You also have a wide selection of bandages, medkits, and shield potions at your disposal among other items. The slurp juice is the ultimate item in the game – the slurp juice heals your entire health and fully restores shields to the maximum.
Ideally, you should carry items that restore your health as well as reserve shield potions that can replenish your shield after a fight. At the beginning of each round, make sure to maximize your shield. You can then take any excess items with you.
Your shield is full? Then the ranking provides a good indication of which items you should take with you:
Slurp Juice (Maximum: 1) – Fully restores health and shields
Medkit (Maximum: 2) – Regenerates up to 100 health points
Shield Potion (Maximum: 2) – Restores 25 health and shield points each
Mini Shield Potions (Maximum: 10) – Provide 25 shield points per piece up to a maximum of 50
Shield Potions (Maximum: 2) – 50 shield points upon use
Bandages (Maximum 15) – Restore 15 health points up to a maximum of 75
Mini Shield Potions are excellent for regenerating shield points in short combat breaks. If you find two large reserve shield potions, take them with you. With Mini Shield Potions, shield points can only be built up to a maximum of 50.
If you haven’t found a slurp juice yet, it makes sense to reserve one item slot for shield potions and one for medkits.
So what does the best loadout look like in Fortnite: Battle Royale?
Ideally, you should have the following weapons and items with you:
An all-round weapon like the assault rifle
A melee weapon like the tactical shotgun / submachine gun
A ranged weapon like the sniper rifle
An explosive weapon like the rocket launcher
A slurp juice for complete healing after a fight
Depending on your personal playstyle, you may also choose to skip an explosive weapon and opt for two melee weapons instead. If you haven’t found a slurp juice, take one item for shield healing and one for health regeneration with you.
What weapons and items are you using in Fortnite: Battle Royale?
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the Overwatch League, disciplinary measures are raining down. There are even repeat offenders who have been punished multiple times for violations. The hothead xQc is caught, and it will be costly.
Blizzard is trying to establish the hero shooter as an eSport with the Overwatch League, elevating it to the level of traditional sports. This also includes the professionals taking on a role model function and presenting and behaving accordingly. Anyone who expresses themselves derogatorily or even racially has no place in the Overwatch League and must expect penalties that can be severe.
The hardest punishment, however, likely falls on Félix Lengyel, better known as xQc from the Dallas Fuel team. He received a hefty fine of $4000 and is also suspended for 4 matches starting March 12.
Repeated racism leads to hefty fine
As justification, the Overwatch League states that “xQc used emotes in a racially derogatory manner multiple times during the League’s stream and on social media. Additionally, he used derogatory terms towards the League’s casters and fellow players in both social media and his private stream.”
Although the League does not specify the exact incidents, it is assumed to involve spamming the “TriHard 7” emote when the host Malik Forte was visible on stream. Forte is Black, and the emote depicts a Black person.
xQc denies any racist intentions, pointing out that it is a normal emote on Twitch and refers to Malik Forte as “a good friend.” He had previously made similar positive remarks, but this was interpreted as irony.
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He suspects that the accusations are part of a campaign against him because he and other players have used the emote for ages without any penalties.
However, there have already been several incidents involving xQc that week, as he declared on Twitter that “casting the League has given him cancer” – so the punishment could also be related to that.
The Overwatch League itself seems to take it with humor and mocks xQc during the stream. Because xQc supposedly stands for “x-tremely questionable conduct.” The scene starts at minute 26:15.
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Defiance 2050 will be a reboot of the online shooter Defiance. Through the Valor system, it is possible to transfer some of your achievements from the original to the reboot. However, your character and its items will remain in the old game.
The Valor system allows you to transfer some of your achievements to Defiance 2050. These include:
Unique titles you earned in Defiance
Account upgrades like loadout slots and character slots
Additionally, it is possible to earn so-called “Valor Commendations” in Defiance. These allow you to:
Unlock boosts
Earn cosmetic items, including outfits, titles, and vehicle skins
However, the character and its items will remain in the old Defiance and cannot be transferred.
Complete Pursuits to earn Valor Commendations
These items will then be available to you in the reboot Defiance 2050. To receive these rewards, you must complete so-called “Pursuits,” new ones of which will be introduced in Defiance this coming summer with an update. Pursuits are the achievements in Defiance.
Pursuits already exist in the game, but they do not yet earn you Valor Commendations. With the June update, not only will further Pursuits be introduced, but the existing ones will also be expanded with the new system.
