Starting today, all players who own a PS4 or Xbox One with internet access can download and play the Destiny 2 beta. In the past few days, a preorder or early access code was necessary for the “Closed Beta”. Today, Friday, the beta gates open for everyone – the Open Beta begins without prerequisites.
Update: Around 6 PM, an update for the beta was released on the PS4. It carries the version number 1.03. Stability issues are being fixed. It is 61 MB in size.
When does the Open Beta of Destiny 2 start on PS4, Xbox One?
For PS4 players with early access, the beta has been open since Tuesday. All console players without early access can join from tonight. Here are the important dates:
The Open Beta starts on PS4 and Xbox One on July 21st at 7 PM
The beta ends for everyone on July 24th at 6 AM (Monday)
On July 23rd at 7 PM, the Farm goes live for one hour. This is the new social space in Destiny 2. You can only enter this area during this hour.
PC: The beta on PC starts at the end of August.
What content is playable in the Open Beta?
The Open Beta includes the same content as the Closed Beta:
Hard to believe, but true: a player completed the Vault of the Wardens in World of Warcraft solo on Mythic +17.
Mythic dungeons at a high difficulty level are among the toughest content you can tackle with a small group. But if you don’t want other players, you can do these dungeons solo! While tanks with great self-healing or particularly strong damage dealers can still progress relatively far on the normal “mythic” difficulty, the chance of success drops drastically with increasing difficulty.
But a Blood Elf has proven once again that Demon Hunters are simply the most powerful class that WoW currently has to offer – at least when it comes to soloing content.
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Demon Hunter Completes Vault of the Wardens +17 Solo
The Demon Hunter Mionee has completed the Vault of the Warden solo. And at a dizzying difficulty of Mythic+17! Where a large part of the players fail even with a full group, she has soloed bosses and trash mobs.
However, it was anything but a walk in the park. Overall, the “run” on the dungeon took a good 12 hours, as developing the right tactics for bosses and trash opponents was not so easy. Just the first boss consumed 4 hours, and Cordana (the final boss) cost another 4 hours of practice.
Ultimately, this is an achievement that Mionee will not be easily matched – and if so, the person will likely have picked up a trick or two from the Demon Hunter.
Have you also attempted such missions? Or is it just a waste of time for you?
The PvE area of Destiny 2 will change significantly compared to the beta version at release. Many new features have already been made.
In recent days, one topic dominated the global Destiny forums: Is the PvE sacrificed to improve the PvP? Many design decisions have led to a more stable PvP balance, but robbed Guardians of their power in PvE – and thus the fun. The main criticisms: Too little heavy ammo and infrequent and weak abilities (grenades, supers).
The producer Jared Berbach and the beta design lead Rob Engeln address this criticism in “This Week at Bungie.”
The PvE tuning has changed significantly
According to Engeln, the PvE tuning has already changed “very significantly” compared to the beta version. A beta of this size reflects a version of the game that is already months old.
In many cases, they used feedback from beta players to review and confirm changes that were based on internal tests.
Engeln mentions as an example that they noticed that ammo, especially heavy ammo, was too rare in PvE. Therefore, they made adjustments to the drop rates and created a system that guarantees you heavy ammo from certain enemies. This way, power weapons play a more reliable role in your arsenal. Luke Smith recently announced that these changes to the ammo will be available at the launch of Destiny 2 in September.
Additional significant changes have been made to the effectiveness of grenades in PvE, boss health points, and weapon damage against non-player enemies (i.e., against the aliens in PvE).
All of this leads to you becoming more powerful in PvE again and not just having to shoot enemies with primary weapons.
Beta has already been incredibly helpful
They learn a lot from beta feedback about how Destiny 2 will be at launch. It has been incredibly helpful for the development team. Berbach compares it to a plow in front of a train, clearing all the snow from the tracks to clear the way.
In Destiny 2, they use new technologies that still need to be tested. They are checking whether the new server model works. Additionally, they can already evaluate some technical improvements during the beta that you will only see at the launch of the full version.
Ultimately, the beta is there to ensure a smooth launch.
By the way:
Bungie will soon release an overview with statistics about the beta. What have they learned from it? How many Guardians shared a bubble with Zavala?
The next expansion for Guild Wars 2 could come very soon
Guild Wars 2 wants to complete Season 3 of Living World before shifting public attention to the next expansion – for which there are no official details yet. However, this should all kick off pretty soon. Perhaps even faster than we think.
The finale of Season 3 is coming on July 25 – after that, there should be nothing standing in the way of presenting the new expansion. ArenaNet is not ready to discuss it yet because they want to conclude Season 3 first.
Expansion for Guild Wars 2 could be released in September
However, much about the expansion has already leaked in advance. Especially the fact that Guild Wars 2 is finally getting mounts turned out to be the highlight of the large “Guild Wars 2 expansion leaks” in May 2017.
Now, two months later, there’s one of those popular “Oh, a retailer has already posted a date for the expansion” leaks.
According to this “leak”, the release of the second Guild Wars 2 expansion is already on September 30, 2017. That would be a Saturday and therefore unlikely. However, September 30 marks the end of the 3rd quarter of 2017.
This could mean that the Guild Wars 2 expansion is likely to be released by then: the most probable release date would be “sometime in September.”
This is quite plausible. Heart of Thorns was released on October 23, 2015 – September 2017 is therefore a realistic date for the next step.
But of course: This is all unofficial. The retailer probably made a mistake.
The leak for the Guild Wars 2 expansion is presented in this article:
Ana from Overwatch and her sleep dart is being targeted. Because that very target has been a pain for some players for a while now.
If you spend a lot of time in the Arcade in Overwatch, you have surely found yourself in the “Total Mayhem” mode at least once. The name says it all: All heroes have increased health points, charge their ultimates faster, and have greatly reduced cooldowns on their abilities.
While it’s still cool for a Symmetra to fire a shield every 3 seconds and a Junkrat with permanent fall is still entertaining, there is one character who breaks all the rules of the game: Ana.
Who sleeps once, does not wake up again
Ana has a sleep dart with which she can take out an opposing player for a few seconds. The problem: In “Total Mayhem”, the cooldown of the sleep dart is shorter than its effect duration. So, as Ana, you can permanently send a player to sleep without them ever waking up.
This leads to “funny” situations like this one:
https://gfycat.com/CircularSizzlingErmine
The problem has existed for months, but in recent weeks, the uproar in the community has grown larger. Now, Jeff Kaplan has spoken out in the official forum, stating that “the problem will be fixed in a future patch” – so the cooldown will be increased. Whether he is referring to the upcoming Patch 1.13 with Doomfist or another later version is still uncertain.
But this decision is also being mocked again on Reddit. They suggest that the mode “Total Mayhem” should be renamed, perhaps to “Partial Mayhem”, “Almost but not entirely Mayhem”, or “Kinda sorta Mayhem I guess”.
Do you think this change is good? Or should “Total Mayhem” also leave such absurd possibilities in the game?
With the currently running beta of Destiny 2, we can finally see and try out all the abilities of the Voidwalker. What has changed compared to its predecessor?
In the Destiny 2 beta, two Warlock subclasses are playable:
We have already extensively covered the Dawnblade. This is the new Solar focus with a new Super and new abilities.
The Voidwalker is the Void focus of the Warlocks. This existed already in Destiny 1. However, in Destiny 2, it receives some updates.
The Voidwalker’s Focus – Skill Tree
Many abilities of the Voidwalker will be familiar to you. However, there are also changes like the class-specific super ability. The Nova Bomb has also undergone adjustments. Instead of the splitting bomb with three projectiles, these now form only after the first detonation and track targets. This initial detonation can even be triggered with firepower.
The subclass receives the following abilities:
Voidwalker Grenades
The grenades of the Voidwalker follow the familiar pattern. You have access to the Scatter Grenade, which creates many small projectiles. The Axion Bolt with its seeking projectiles is also back. The Vortex Grenade remains unchanged.
Class Skills
These are the class-specific skills available to all Warlock subclasses:
Empowering Rift: By holding Circle (PS4), you create a circle around you that increases the weapon damage of all allied Guardians within this radius.
Healing Rift: The healing rift is triggered in the same way as the empowering rift, with the difference that allied Guardians in its radius are continuously healed.
These skills give the Warlock the ability to effectively support your team. The rift in combination with a Titan bubble is likely to be a popular combination in the endgame of the main game.
The Movement Modes of the Voidwalker
The jump mechanics of the Warlock have changed compared to Destiny 1; it feels different. However, the descriptions are identical to the predecessor. You can choose from the following options:
Glide: Jump in the air to trigger a glide with strong initial speed.
Short Teleport: Jump in the air to trigger a teleport over a short distance.
Directional Glide: Jump in the air and activate a glide with strong movement control.
Chaos Theory
One of two perk quadrants you can choose from. Here, all nodes are unlocked, and there is no choice. You can decide between the quadrants Chaos Theory or Devouring. The set Chaos Theory provides the following bonuses:
Blossom: Enemies defeated with Void abilities explode.
Chaos Accelerant: Hold L1/R1 (PS4) to funnel super energy into your grenades, making them more effective and deadly.
Entropic Pull: Hit an enemy with your melee attack to trigger health drain and regenerate your grenades.
Catastrophe: The Nova Bomb moves slowly and seeks targets. Explosions scatter into smaller, seeking projectiles. Fire your weapon at the Nova Bomb to trigger an early detonation.
Devouring
The second set of abilities. Here, all nodes are unlocked as well. You receive the following bonuses:
Devour: Kill an enemy with this melee ability to initiate full health regeneration. Additionally, you will briefly be able to regenerate your health on kills.
Feed the Void: Hold L1/R1 (PS4) to absorb your grenade energy and regenerate health. Also grants the effect of the Devour ability.
Insatiable: Kills extend the effect of Devour while it is active and regenerate your grenades.
Vortex: The Nova Bomb creates a vortex that continuously damages enemies trapped within it.
What do you think of the new abilities of the Voidwalker? Yay or nay? Let us know in the comments!
In The Division, the PTS Phase 3 is coming soon to PS4 and Xbox One. This brings an additional change.
For a few days now, the public test servers for the Update 1.7 PTS Version 3 have been running on PC. Next week, the consoles will follow.
Presumably on Tuesday, July 25th, the agents on PS4 and Xbox One will receive the changes and bug fixes from PTS3. Community manager Yannick Banchereau mentioned in today’s State of the Game that it is challenging to get an update on the consoles through the certification process in such a short time, but it currently looks good for them to make it by Tuesday.
What does PTS Phase 3 bring?
PTS Phase 3 introduces three important new features along with various bug fixes:
The Improvement Station is activated, and every recalibration is completely free for testing purposes.
The Superior Caches in the Global Events have about a 30% chance of containing a classified gear piece. They now cost 1500 tokens.
The gear sets will be further adjusted, such as the Striker Set. The healing effect from the 6-piece bonus now depends more on stamina.
According to Banchereau, the PTS-3 version for consoles is a “special version”. The reason: There is an important change that does not exist on PC:
The SASG shotguns are currently too strong in combination with the Striker Set. Therefore, they significantly increase the initial spread of the SASG – meaning, it becomes harder to land all projectiles on the enemy. PTS Phase 3 also introduces a hard cap for the fire rates of all weapons that cannot be exceeded. This should resolve this issue, according to Massive.
When the new PTS version goes live on Tuesday, you should test SASGs with the Striker Set.
This change is not on the PC PTS – but when Update 1.7 appears in the main game, this change will be available on all platforms.
Massive will be more generous with Classified Gear
The drop chances for Classified Gear will be further adjusted in the future (after PTS 3). Then, two items are guaranteed to drop from a Superior Cache and, with a bit of luck, even a third. The chance of receiving a Classified item from such a box is expected to be around 50%. Otherwise, Exotics or standard gear sets may be included.
With this, Massive aims to make it fun and satisfying to collect tokens to open these boxes.
The maximum amount of “Global Event” tokens is 10,000. A Superior box costs 1500. These tokens can be carried over from one event to the next; they do not expire in the main game.
You can also obtain Classified Gear through the leaderboards in the Global Events.
Further information from the State of the Game on July 20th:
PTS Phase 3 is likely to be the last PTS phase. After that, the final adjustments will be made, and they will try to bring Update 1.7 live soon.
Massive admits that the invitation process for the console PTS was a disaster. They forgot to specify that you must be at least 18 years old to receive an email. Additionally, you had to have enabled receiving emails from Ubisoft. If you still didn’t receive an email, you should contact support. They will check it individually and possibly send you a code.
Season 11 in Diablo 3 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One has now started. We show you what rewards await you, the starter sets, and what the new Emerald Serpent is.
Today, on July 20th, the eleventh season in Diablo 3 started, bringing cool rewards and challenges to the game. You will once again fight with other players for the top spots on the season leaderboard and receive a special set for a class right from the start.
We show you what cosmetic rewards await you, what the goals of the season journey are, and which sets are waiting in Haedrig’s Gift.
Update: It’s finally starting. This article was originally published on July 6th, 2017. Console players will have to wait until around 2:00 AM tonight for the season to begin.
The start of Season 11 is on Thursday, July 20th at 5:00 PM German time. The developers are starting the season on a Thursday to fix any potential bugs before the weekend. Players on PS4 and Xbox One will have to wait until about 2:00 AM for the seasons to begin.
For progress in the season journey, you can unlock various cosmetic rewards.
Your new companion is the Emerald Serpent.
In addition, there are pants and boots from the exclusive Conqueror set.
And a portrait themed “Loot”.
Haedrig’s Gift in Season 11
By reaching stages 2, 3, and 4 in the season journey, you will be rewarded with one of Haedrig’s Gifts. Each gift contains a few pieces of a class set. Per season, you can receive a complete class set. Which class the set is for depends on which character you open the gift with.
The following starter sets are available in Season 11:
Barbarian – Wrath of the Wastes
Crusader – Roland’s Legacy
Demon Hunter – Unholy Essence
Monk – Raiment of a Thousand Storms
Necromancer – Rathma’s Bones
Witch Doctor – Helltooth Harness
Wizard – Tal Rasha’s Elements
S11 Season Achievements
In the new season, there are again new achievements that you can achieve:
Greed and Gold Greed
Speed Demon and Sleek
Boss Mode and A Class of Its Own
Simply Divine and Heart of a Lion
Master of All Classes and Game, Set, and Win
Chest Slots through Season Journey
Those who have already achieved the “Conqueror” title in previous seasons have now unlocked additional loot slots. If you have not yet earned four chest slots through previous season journeys, you can earn an additional one by completing the following tasks:
Complete a Nephalem Portal on Torment XIII in under 5 minutes.
Complete a Greater Nephalem Portal of level 60 in solo play.
Kill Greed on Torment XIII.
Kill Maghda on Torment XIII in under 15 seconds.
Forge a legendary or set item.
Upgrade an ancient item with a legendary gem of level 50 or higher.
The Early Access phase of the highly interesting MMO Citadel: Forged With Fire begins on July 26, but you can play in the Open Beta before that.
The Open Beta starts on July 22 around 3 PM and will last until July 23 at 6 PM. You will have the chance to try the MMO before the Early Access begins on July 26. The developers have not announced what the beta will include. However, everything you achieve during the testing phase will carry over to Early Access. Therefore, it can be assumed that the Open Beta will have the same scope as the Early Access version.
Sign up for the Beta
If you want to participate in the beta and play the MMORPG Citadel: Forged with Fire this weekend, you need to register on the official website by filling out a survey.
Since this is an open beta, everyone who registers will get in. This is the PC version, which will be released first. The development studio has already stated that they are working on versions for PS4 and Xbox One, but these do not have a release date yet.
Become a powerful wizard!
The MMO Citadel: Forged with Fire puts you in the role of a wizard who explores a vast world and seeks to gather immense power. You can build your own fortress and engage in battles against rival wizards.
Additionally, you are free to tame the beasts that inhabit the game world and explore it on a broom or on the back of a dragon. Sandbox elements are at the forefront.
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In Destiny 2 want to master the new subclasses Arcstrider and Sentinel. Here are possible combos and tips for the Super attacks.
In the beta of Destiny 2, there are six Guardian subclasses playable. Of these, three have completely new Super attacks: The Sentinel Titan, the Arcstrider Hunter, and the Dawnblade Warlock.
While the Super of the Dawnblade is quite easy to learn – you ignite it and throw fire projectiles at enemies – the other two Super attacks have more depth than one might think at first glance.
Combos for the Arcstrider – Hunter Focus
The Arcstrider activates an Arc Staff with L1+R1/LB+RB (the following key combinations will only mention the PS4) that he can whirl around himself and defeat enemies with.
Possible attacks in the active Super:
R1 – Standard attack
R2 – Short-range attack:
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Keep in mind that the Arcstrider has unlimited dodging energy in active Super. Use this ability to move yourselves in the Super. So do not move “strikingly” forward to get to the next enemy. This way, you save Super energy.
Combos for the Sentinel – Titan Focus
In active Super, the Sentinel can perform these actions:
R1 – Standard melee attack with the shield
Hold L2 – The shield is used as protection – useful for approaching enemies.
L1 – The Titan throws his shield – per Super, only one shield can be thrown. The Sentinel has a focus perk that allows him to make an additional shield throw (not available in beta). The shield can bounce multiple times and eliminate several enemies.
R1, R2 – The Titan strikes and then pushes forward with the shield.
L1+R1 – Hold these buttons to create a bubble. However, you will not receive a shield.
Here you can see the attacks in the video:
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The work on the PvP MMORPG Crowfall is steadily progressing, and a lot has happened in the game in recent months.
Publisher Travian Games has summarized changes and improvements that show the leap Crowfall has made. Moving away from a version that can basically be referred to as a technical alpha, heading towards something that resembles a finished game.
One of the biggest changes is the abolition of the archetype system. You can now customize your hero as you wish. You simply choose a race that you want to embody and a class. Then you freely distribute your skills and develop the hero as you envision.
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In addition, the Eternal Realms have gone online, serving as private instances for the “owners”. There, you can let loose your creativity in designing and building fortresses and cities. To participate already, early access packages have been released, and the in-game shop has also launched, where you can already purchase buildings and ground tiles for your Eternal Realm.
Currently, work is underway on the game’s first campaign. This will take you to one of the Dying Worlds, where you will fight for control and strive to achieve and gather resources, to then use your achievements to further develop your Eternal Realm. The developers have much more planned on how they want to continuously improve Crowfall and lead it to release.
The data miners are finding interesting things in the new WoW patch. Is Sargeras, the Lord of the Burning Legion, already dead?
Patch 7.3 of World of Warcraft is currently on the PTR (the Public Test Realm) and is getting new content regularly. Although some things, such as the new raid “Antorus, the Burning Throne”, are not yet available, the data miners have already extracted many things from the game files. This includes voiceovers for various bosses and important NPCs.
Therefore, there may be spoilers here. You have been warned.
Apparently, Sargeras intends to reconstitute the Pantheon of the Titans. To this end, he has captured the souls of the other Titans and wants to give them new bodies. This “Dark Pantheon” would be the perfect tool against the Void and the Void Lords. Aggramar seems to already be a part of this “new” Pantheon. He will be an enemy in Antorus.
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During the raid, players will discover that the Titan Eonar, the Lifebinder, is still evading capture. However, she is necessary to give new life to the Titans and is protected by the raid members.
Sargeras – has he been waiting for a rebirth for a long time?
But there are also other theories. Some fans speculate that the Dark Titan Sargeras has been dead for a long time and, like the rest of the Pantheon, is waiting for resurrection.
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It is suspicious that Sargeras has not appeared in person and has not done so for a very long time. In the last millennia, he always appeared in the form of an “Avatar” or took over other beings (such as Aegwynn, to corrupt Medivh even before birth). It is quite possible that Sargeras himself is only directing the fate of the Legion as a “soul”. This would also make it easier to capture the dark Titan – because other voice lines mentioned that Illidan is now “the jailer of the dark titan”. Like all the other Titans.
What kind of ending do you wish for Sargeras and the Titans?
Legendary Pokémon are coming to you soon in the real world! Niantic has just confirmed this great Pokémon GO-news.
Finally, the moment has come. Niantic has kept us waiting for a long time and has repeatedly promised legendary Pokémon. The trainer community had to wait a long time for this moment, and now the developers announce: “The legendary Pokémon will appear very soon.”
Millions of players will soon witness the first spawns of these special monsters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLaz7WBk2g4
Zapdos, Lugia and other legendary Pokémon coming to the game soon
In the trailer, Niantic announces that the legendary Pokémon will soon be activated in the game and can be caught by trainers all over the world.
During your Pokémon adventures in the coming days, you should look out for the special dark raid eggs that will appear above arenas. If you manage to defeat a legendary raid boss with your team, you will have the chance to catch the monster!
Once you have caught the legendary bosses and added them to your collection, you can use them for attacks in arenas and against stubborn raid bosses. However, you cannot use these special monsters as defenders in arenas.
When are the legendary Pokémon coming?
This weekend, the GO-Fest will be celebrated in Chicago (and can be followed via live stream), and the first legendary Pokémon is expected to appear there. Along with millions of other trainers around the world, the GO-Fest will be celebrated on Saturday, July 22. If the trainer community works together, there will be cool rewards such as more stardust, experience points, or reduced distance for Pokémon eggs.
If enough Pokémon are caught during the GO-Fest, the first legendary Pokémon will be revealed in Grand Park Chicago. If the trainers on-site manage to defeat the legendary Pokémon, it will appear around the world as a raid boss after the GO-Fest.
In the first part of our preview report on the Destiny 2 beta, we looked at the PvE activities. Now it’s time for the Crucible. Find out in this review what Bungie has changed in Destiny 2 and how multiplayer battles play out.
The Destiny 2 beta not only delivers the first story mission “Return” and the strike “The Twisted Tower” but also offers content for the Crucible pros among you. The Control mode on the map Endless Vale and the Countdown mode on the Midtown map are unlocked for the beta. Also, the Frank Buschmann of the Destiny universe, Lord Shaxx, is back and delights us with his witty remarks – well, at least he thinks so.
The Gameplay of Destiny 2
One noticeable thing as soon as you enter the PvP of the beta for the first time: Your Guardian is noticeably slower than in the first part. Whether this is good or bad is a matter of debate, but it is definitely noticeable. The jumps also feel less quick and direct.
What stands out negatively is the delay of the radar after aiming with a weapon. Here you have to wait a full second before you can use the radar again. What Bungie was thinking here will probably remain their secret for now.
The HUD is significantly more cluttered than in Destiny 1. While it’s nice to see the classes of the opposing team, the health bar gets lost in the abundance of information, which is particularly problematic in the competitive multiplayer mode. So far, I have not seen a need to know the opposing classes; this will only be relevant in the upcoming Trials mode.
A real gain is the warning when Guardians activate their super ability or who has loaded which power ammo. You can now estimate exactly when to take cover or attack. This encourages a tactical playstyle.
The Weapon Arsenal – Team Shots instead of Lone Ranger
In the “This Week at Bungie” from July 13, it was explicitly mentioned that certain abilities and weapons will still change in terms of balancing and currently feel sometimes too weak or too strong. We can confirm this. Scout rifles are nearly useless, the damage drop-off over distance is massive, and close range has never been their strength.
On the other hand, pulse rifles feel good and responsive. Even at short range, pulse rifles could still reliably get kills; Bungie will likely still work on this until the release.
Overall, Bungie has significantly increased the “Time-to-Kill” (TTK), meaning the time needed with a weapon under optimal conditions to kill another Guardian. With hand cannons, you need four hits, and all other weapons also now require significantly more time before your opponent goes down.
With this measure, Bungie returns to its Halo roots. Opinions on whether this change is good or bad are controversially discussed. However, I welcome it, as players are encouraged to play more cleverly and tactically.
In particular, teamwork is now significantly emphasized, as team shots on a target are very effective. This will particularly become a problem for the highly skilled Lone Rangers among the players. While in Destiny 1, with excellent skills, you could take out more than one opponent, this will be much more difficult in Destiny 2. Team play is clearly at the forefront here.
The Abilities – As if “Trickle” were always active
In addition to weapon gameplay, class-specific abilities make up a large part of the game, especially in the PvP mode. Here, too, the abilities have been toned down across the board. This is a change I support, as sticky grenades are far too strong in the current Destiny 1 meta. A hit with a sticky grenade couldn’t even destroy my shield in the beta.
This change is nullified by a significantly increased cooldown for all skills. The community-hated strike modification Trickle now feels permanently active. I understand Bungie’s desire to encourage players to use their weapons more rather than just throwing grenades.
However, I could only activate my super ability once per match at best. That’s too little. If you have a bad match, it can even happen that the game ends without the super ever being used. The melee has also been toned down. For a Guardian at full health, three hits are now required before the opponent falls. We hope Bungie hears this criticism and delivers improvements in September.
Everything Under Control
The Control mode has seen a few changes compared to its predecessor. Matches now take place in a 4v4 format. Also, zones A and C are already captured by the starting teams. Instead of the 2-3 Guardians that usually storm zone B, the control point is now virtually overrun. Capturing a hostile zone works much faster, as the zone no longer needs to be neutralized.
A welcome change, allowing you to dive directly into the action without first having to capture your own zone. Additionally, there is no longer an advantage when more than one player captures a zone. Thus, there is no longer a bottleneck at the control points; the other players on a team can spread out and defend strategically important points.
The points awarded after a kill have been simplified. Instead of the previously required 20,000 points, only 75 points are now needed to win a match. For every control point captured, you gain one point for your account per kill. Assists also always earn you a point. Bungie has reimplemented the mercy rule.
The Countdown is on
The second mode is Countdown. There have been plenty of information and lots of gameplay on this mode in advance. Teams in this 4v4 mode alternate between offensive and defensive roles. The offensive team’s goal is to plant a bomb in the enemy base, while the defensive team tries to prevent this. Additionally, the death of all players on a team ends the round. One could describe Countdown as elimination with an optional objective.
It will be interesting to see how the mode develops and whether Bungie makes any changes, for example, by awarding bonus points for successfully planted bombs to further incentivize achieving the primary objective of this mode.
Conclusion: Great Game Feel, but Some Questionable Decisions
Divided. The multiplayer mode is fun, no question about it. The typical game feel that made Destiny great is still there. Yet I cannot understand all the design decisions. We don’t even want to discuss the weapon balancing; Bungie will surely work on that.
The reduction of abilities is one thing, but the increase in cooldowns makes it a double penalty that seems excessive and also has negative impacts on PvE. This situation is currently being heavily criticized in the community, as Bungie does not view PvE and PvP separately.
Despite all these points of criticism: Destiny 2 is fun. It will be exciting to see how the game develops in the last 7 weeks before release and whether Bungie will address some of the criticisms and make changes to the game.
How have you liked the PvP mode so far? Let us know in the comments!
InPlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds top streamer DrDisRespect was banned for shooting a teammate during a live stream. Now, the “Doc” has created a new account and is trolling against PUBG head Brendan Greene.
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds has its first major drama. The well-known streamer DrDisRespect (over 500,000 followers on Twitch) was teaming up with two other streamers and a randomly selected player. As the Random didn’t fit on the recently found motorcycle, DrDisRespect simply shot him. Since such actions are prohibited, DrDisRespect was banned for a few days.
On Twitter, Brendan Greene, the namesake PlayerUnknown and Creative Director of PUBG, commented on the matter. He stated that no one is above the rules, not even a famous streamer. DrDisRespect countered with the satirical threat of a roundhouse kick to the chest.
Greene found this quite inappropriate, and he explained in a long statement that he was kicked through a glass pane back in college. Therefore, any form of threat of violence is not okay for him – even if it is meant as a joke.
However, those who thought that the notorious streamer would let this go were mistaken. DrDisRespect created a new account and continued to stream. However, he seems to have now focused on Brendan Greene.
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds – DrDisRespect “I apologize for nothing!”
DrDisRespect is now calling himself GlassWindow in PUBG, a clear reference to Greene’s traumatic experience back in college. Additionally, his latest stream is called “Jump Kicks” and has the hashtag “TriggeredDevs”. During the stream, DrDisRespect is venting his frustrations. He believes he was banned unjustly and will never apologize.
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After the incident, he said he simply got into his hot tub, had a gin and tonic, and thought about which wax to apply to his fat Lamborghini the next day. The whole drama was just “kindergarten” for him.
With this disrespectful behavior, DrDisRespect is living up to his name again. After all, the streamer with a porn-stache and mullet is an extremely exaggerated caricature meant to portray a rude and cheeky bastard. That is why his fans vehemently defend him against Greene, whom they see as oversensitive and unnecessarily offended. It was all just fun, and developers should just get over it.
It remains exciting to see how this situation will develop and how Brendan Greene will respond to this provocation.
Albion Online, the sandbox MMO by the Berlin-based developer and publisher Sandbox Interactive, is playable for everyone since this week. We took a look around the world of the game and want to give you some helpful tips for beginners.
1. Follow the main quest!
Even if this is your twentieth MMO, follow the main quest! It will familiarize you with the peculiarities of Albion Online, for example when it comes to crafting.
At the end of the quest line, you will also be rewarded with a mount. These steeds are, as you will quickly learn, essential for your later progress in the game.
2. Don’t expect to be hand-held
Unlike some other MMORPGs, Albion Online throws you into the deep end to a certain extent. Instead of giving you detailed instructions on where, when, and how to do things, you first receive just one task in the aforementioned quest: Go, gather, and process things!
Where or how you are supposed to do this? You will have to figure that out yourself.
But don’t worry, the mechanics are not incredibly complex. Once you are familiar with the basics of the game, they follow a universal pattern and remain unchanged across the various item tiers. As far as crafting mechanics are concerned, Albion Online does not reinvent the wheel. It only requires that you can find the wheel by yourself.
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Albion Online is purely a sandbox game. Therefore, the initial quest line is the only one you will see in this MMO. While some may enjoy this level of freedom, it may feel unusual for the majority of typical MMO players to have to independently seek a task or vocation. What you do with your time in Albion Online and in which direction you orient yourself is entirely up to you.
4. The interface is your friend
Essential for every new player, especially at the beginning – understanding the interface. Albion Online does not take incredibly complex or innovative paths here either. However, there are some very helpful features hidden here and there that you may not notice at first glance.
Notably, the area map (key N). When you open this in an area, you receive a schematic, stylized, and at first glance rather confusing overview of your immediate surroundings. However, in the top right corner hides perhaps the most important information on this map: A list of resource types and levels available to gather in this area.
Not all five materials (stone, ore, leather, wood, and plants) can be found in all five different biomes. The percentage next to it indicates the chance of finding a specifically enchanted material. However, this is not important for getting started in the game.
Overview map of Albion Online’s minimap
5. Don’t be afraid of big numbers
Staying on the topic of the interface, during the introductory quest, you will notice a box full of tasks in the upper right corner of your screen. Tasks with seemingly incredibly high numbers at first glance.
For example, you will be prompted to gather 2500 pieces of a single material to unlock the tool with which you can mine the next higher tier of that resource. It looks disproportionately high at first glance. It is definitely more than what you are used to from the current standard MMOs. But don’t let that intimidate you.
Of course, if you are not a fan of grinding, you will probably never warm up to Albion Online. But gathering goes faster than it appears at first glance. Type 2 materials can be mined faster with a level 2 tool than type 3 materials, the latter reward more points and resources.
How you navigate the destiny board is up to you. And: You do not have to do everything! This is a sandbox game! Like everything, you also have the choice of whether to specialize in pure resource gathering, refining, or crafting various weapons and armor.
6. You determine your path!
The simplest and safest way to prevent the time-consuming gathering of supposedly wrong resources is probably to think about what path you want to pursue in Albion Online right from the start.
Do you prefer fighting, gathering, processing, providing your fellow players with food, or relieving other players of their belongings in PvP?
The destiny board is essential for you here! You open it via the quick key B or the small icon to the right of the task box. Now, it is important not to be intimidated by the sheer mass of possible goals. Choose the path that you like best. Do you prefer crafting or fighting? If you prefer fighting, then close-range or ranged? Or magic?
All options are open to you, and you do not have to commit to just one path.For quick, goal-oriented progress, a certain degree of consistency is definitely advisable.
A small excerpt of the destiny tree
7. No one will believe me! Or will they?
No matter how low-tier the material is, the answer is mostly: Yes! And that’s a good thing! Because you need silver, the standard currency of Albion Online, for almost everything! Whether it’s to repair your gear, set up trade offers, or later in the game buy your own piece of land – you have to pay for all of that.
How great it is that almost every item you gather or create can somehow be sold. This is mainly thanks to Albion’s crafting mechanics. So, to craft higher-value items, you need both the raw materials for them and processed materials from a lower tier. So there is always a buyer for your gathered materials.
If you keep these few points in mind and orient yourself roughly according to them, not much should stand in the way of your successful entry into the basic mechanics and tasks of Albion Online. We wish you a lot of fun exploring!
Currently, one topic dominates the Bungie and Destiny Reddit forum: Some users are complaining that the changes in Destiny 2 may benefit the balance in PvP, but come at the expense of the PvE sector.Bungie sacrifices PvE!
These complaints received strong support and thousands of upvotes from the community. What are the reasons for this?
The fun in PvE suffers from the changes
The first three years of Destiny were marked by numerous balance issues in PvP. Sometimes one Guardian subclass was too strong, other times that shotgun was overpowered. And if you didn’t have that one weapon roll, you were out of luck in the Crucible.
In Destiny 2, Bungie wants to avoid this balance chaos. Many design decisions have been made in favor of the PvP sector, which can be summarized in a nutshell: Primary weapons take center stage – everything else becomes weaker or rarer.
This may seem sensible in PvP, but PvE suffers as a result.
The community is bringing these points of criticism to Bungie:
The cooldowns of abilities now take way too long. Both grenades and supers take forever to be used in PvE. Only the new class abilities can be triggered frequently.
Grenades have been nerfed too much. Not only can they be used less frequently, but they now deal much less damage. Some grenades don’t even take down standard enemies with red health bars. In PvP of Destiny 1, some grenades could directly eliminate an enemy Guardian. In Destiny 2, they can no longer do this. The reduced grenade damage is good for PvP but bad for PvE.
The movements feel slower in Destiny 2. In PvP of Destiny 1, this super-mobility was sometimes a problem, but this nerf wasn’t needed in PvE.
Moreover, the power ammo, the new “heavy ammo”, is far too rare in PvE. In other words, all the strong weapons that feel powerful in hand can be used extremely rarely.
The special weapons slot is missed: You have no sniper, no shotgun, or no fusion rifle when, for example, you rely on a rocket launcher in the power slot. In PvE, you almost exclusively shoot with the “primary weapons” at the big bosses. This is boring; it doesn’t feel right.
The result: One shoots in PvE almost exclusively with the weapons classified in Destiny as “primary weapons”. There is too little variety. As a Guardian, you want to fly over the waves of enemies in PvE and eliminate them with your super or launch them into the air with grenades. Destiny is becoming a boring shooter when everything – except for the primary weapon – is extremely rare. If you want a monotonous shooting game, you don’t need Destiny for that.
For many Guardians, the PvE of Destiny is paramount. For them, the appeal of the MMO shooter lies in defeating aliens with friends and having a good time together. PvP is not everyone’s cup of tea. If PvE is no longer fun, Destiny is no longer fun for many.
Bungie will respond
However, it must be said regarding this criticism: So far, only the beta of Destiny 2 has been playable, and Bungie announced in advance that they would use this testing phase to adjust the balance.
We also do not yet know all the perks that will be on the armor pieces. Some of them could reduce the cooldowns of abilities, allowing super and grenades to be used more frequently.
Regarding power ammo, Game Director Luke Smith and Community Manager Cozmo have spoken out. At launch in September, there will definitely be more power ammo in PvE.
It remains to be seen how Bungie will take all this criticism into account and implement it by the release of Destiny 2. A user on Reddit sums it up: The previous changes were a step forward in PvP, but two steps back in PvE.
Gigantic launches today on Steam, and in celebration, there are lots of free packages with skins and boosters. How to get a so-called “Airship Package” for the Steam and Arc version of Gigantic, you can find out here!
Attention! According to Perfect World, there are currently (2:00 PM on July 20, 2017) issues with registered skins, as they are apparently not showing up in the game. The developers are working on it and should have the problem solved soon. You will definitely get your skins.
Gigantic, the colorful MOBA with giant monsters, is finally available on Steam today. To celebrate this, the developers at Motiga have provided some cool packages that we want to share with you.
Gigantic – New Skins for Tyto, Becket, Tripp, and the Margrave
The packages are called “Airship Packages” and contain the following skins and boosters:
Tyto the Swift – The Valerian Skin
Beckett – The Iron Tower Skin
The Margrave – Seraph Traitor Skin
Tripp – Amber Fortress Skin
Crown Boost: 10 Wins
Prestige Boost: 10 Wins
The two boosters improve your yield in a total of 10 wins. You can lose as often as you want in between. Only wins count, and the boosters do not expire in the meantime. You will get your keys by performing three actions from the following giveaway window:
Important: The keys are valid ONLY for the Steam or Arc version of Gigantic. They do NOT work on Xbox One or the Windows 10 App Store. Good luck with the giveaway!
Not long now, the online fighting game Absolver is about to start. You can now pre-order the game, and there is also new information about the weapons and fights.
In Absolver, you face off against other players in duels, trying to defeat them with your close combat skills. A new video introduces you to the weapons and fights. During the battles, you collect a kind of energy that accumulates in what are called “Tension Shards” floating around your waist.
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The more energy accumulates here, the more frequently you can perform special attacks or summon weapons out of thin air that deal significant damage to your opponents. However, it is possible to take these weapons from enemies if they are careless. Weapons can also break, so they should always be used tactically.
Pre-orders have started
The developers of Absolver also announce that it is now possible to pre-order the online game for PC and PS4 now. Those who do will currently receive a 10 percent discount, the Labyrinth Prospect Mask, and the Uring Priest Set. Additionally, a Collector’s Edition is available, which includes not only the game but also a real Prospect Mask with a display stand, a sticker pack, and a 52-page art book.
Absolver will officially be released on August 29.
The colorful MOBA game Gigantic launches today on Steam. This means all planned platforms are available and you can also play Gigantic on Xbox One, Windows 10, and via Arc. Additionally, there is a new hero named Ramsay and new skins.
Gigantic is a colorful and action-packed MOBA game that can be played on many platforms thanks to crossplay, uniting players from Xbox One, Windows 10, and the distribution platform Arc. Now Steam has also been added to this platform collection. Thus, all planned platforms are complete and there is also a new hero.
https://youtu.be/h321-zOwQec
Gigantic – Ramsay as a nasty new hero
On the occasion of the Steam release of Gigantic, there is a new hero in Gigantic. The nasty Punk swordsman Ramsay. Luckily, he only shares the name with the sadistic bastard from Game of Thrones, but Ramsay doesn’t look nice in Gigantic either.
Rather, the new hero is a grim character with a punk look. He fights with a serrated blade that hangs on a rope. Ramsay is the 19th hero in Gigantic, but in August, hero number 20 is set to join the game.
Also cool: Steam players who log into the game will receive the exclusive Stone Relic skin for Beckett. Players who log into Arc will receive an Arc Lightning Storm skin for the assassin Tripp, while players on Xbox One and Windows 10 will receive the Excelsior skin for Tyto the Swift.
