In the current episode of Dragon Ball Daima, Vegeta showcases a new form that fans have never seen him officially exhibit before. However, indirectly, this form has been seen once before – even by adult Vegeta.
What kind of form is this? Vegeta transforms into the triple Super Saiyan in the 12th episode of Dragon Ball Daima. He fights against the Tamagami from the second demon world and has to give it his all.
You can see what he looks like in the following image:
Vegeta gets longer hair and loses his eyebrows.
In the triple Super Saiyan form, the hair of the Saiyans grows rapidly compared to SSJ2, while they lose their eyebrows. This visually indicates that Vegeta is using SSJ3. This has never happened in the anime before, probably, because this Saiyan form costs so much energy.
But finally, Vegeta manages to use the triple Super Saiyan form. Unfortunately, the Z-crew around Son-Goku has shrunk, so we only see this special form of Vegeta as a child. However, there has already been an appearance of Vegeta transforming into SSJ3 as an adult.
The trailer for Dragon Ball Daima clearly shows the shrinking problem:
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In Dragon Ball DAIMA, Son Goku and his friends shrink
And it is in this manga that Vegeta was seen. In chapters 21 and 22, Majin Vegeta reached the state of SSJ3. He teamed up with Spopovich and Yamu to defeat his own version in SSJ4 form.
You can see his appearance in a tweet from DBZcom:
An excerpt from Dragon Ball Heroes Victory Mission, via X.
This form has even longer hair than Vegeta does in his child version. So, fans got an impression of what Vegeta looks like as SSJ3 10 years ago.
What kind of manga is this? Dragon Ball Heroes: Victory Mission is a spin-off of the Dragon Ball manga and tells the story of a boy named Beat. He lands in an arcade game of Dragon Ball, where many characters from the anime appear.
Here, the wildest combinations and forms that never existed in the official manga are possible. This also made the fight of SSJ4 Vegeta against SSJ3 Vegeta possible. At that time, the form was not 100% official, but it already showed 10 years ago that Vegeta has mastered the triple Super Saiyan and what he would look like.
However, you have to envision the black M on his forehead as absent when imagining Vegeta in his normal state as a triple Super Saiyan. Where he got the M from and what it means is explained by MeinMMO in a separate article: Dragon Ball: This is the meaning of the M on Vegeta’s forehead
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Anyone who wants to cash in big should hurry. Because a good token exchange in World of Warcraft is only available for a few more days.
In World of Warcraft, the 20th anniversary of the MMORPG is currently being celebrated – but only for a few more days. In less than a week, the event will end and many rewards will no longer be available. However, even those who think they have everything should act now and exchange excess tokens to receive a lot of future rewards.
Last chance for the birthday event:
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WoW celebrates its 20th anniversary – Here’s what you can earn
Which tokens should be exchanged? During the birthday event, you collect “Bronze Dragon Celebration Tokens” through almost all activities. They are primarily needed for the many rewards of the event, but they also have a secondary use. You can exchange all excess tokens for Time-Warped Badges – the currency you receive for Timewalking dungeons and can trade with the corresponding vendors.
Where can you exchange the tokens? This can be done in Tanaris. At the vendor “Historian Ma’di” at the festival grounds, you can buy three different chests, each containing Time-Warped Badges. For 25 Bronze Dragon Celebration Tokens, you get a hefty 500 Time-Warped Badges.
Ma’di sells several chests – with plenty of Time-Warped Badges.
Note that you can bundle all your Bronze Dragon Celebration Tokens on one character via the currency menu. Then, you only need to visit the vendor once.
Until when can this be done? You only have a few more days, until January 7, 2025. Then the birthday event ends, and the Bronze Dragon Celebration Tokens will likely expire.
What can you buy with the Time-Warped Badges? Time-Warped Badges can be exchanged for rewards at the active vendor for Timewalking. Depending on which vendor you visit, you’ll be offered different toys, mounts, or transmogs. Blizzard recently updated all these vendors with new loot, so you need several tens of thousands of badges to truly own everything.
It’s also important to note that Time-Warped Badges are an “evergreen currency,” which occasionally proves useful. From time to time, Blizzard introduces new rewards that often cost several thousand badges. If you already have a hefty stockpile, you can treat yourself to a lot right when the new rewards are introduced, without having to farm for a long time.
Studying has been the goal of more and more young people for decades. However, a change in thinking is currently taking place in Gen Z.
Is no one from Gen Z studying anymore? No, the change is not that extreme. However, according to a report from CNBC, young people aged 18 to 25 are making different choices in their career paths compared to previous generations, particularly Millennials. Instead of studying, more are opting for trades. This includes training as mechanics, plumbers, or welders, among many others.
And there are at least the first signs of a change in thinking among Gen Z in Germany as well.
Who exactly belongs to Gen Z? The people also known as Zoomers were born no earlier than 1996 and no later than 2012. Following them is the so far theoretically describable Gen Alpha; however, most are still too young for real insights. The Millennials (Gen Y) came before Gen Z.
Many from Gen Z still find their way to universities, and some of them have initiated a project to demonstrate the dangers of AI and surveillance in everyday life:
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Students spy on passersby with hidden cameras and AI, find name and address in seconds
Something tangible with good prospects
What exactly is Gen Z doing differently? According to data exclusively obtained by CNBC from data collection service Gusto, since the end of 2023, the proportion of hires of 18- to 25-year-olds in the so-called Skilled Trades has been increasing. These can largely be compared to our training professions, with a focus on crafts or related industries.
In general, in the USA, skilled trades/industry are referred to as Blue-Collar-Workers. Our translation for this would be overalls. In contrast, there are desk jobs, also known as White-Collar Jobs. You can read more about “Skilled Trades” at Berks.
From a low of around 24 percent in November 2023, the most recent figure for May 2024 was 31 percent of all new hires that month. However, this is not the highest value for the years 2018 to mid-2024, which was 37.5 percent in May 2021. However, the current development looks more stable and less erratic than before. This might indicate a stabilization of a trend observed for years.
Why is Generation Z behaving this way? There does not seem to be a definitive, conclusive answer to this. CNBC describes that the economic conditions under which Gen Z leaves school and enters the job market are completely different from earlier. Millennials, let alone Gen X or Boomers, were offered far more predictability to lay the foundation for their careers.
Furthermore, education or university in the USA is rarely fully funded by the state or companies. Costs can run into tens of thousands of dollars to obtain a degree. Entering “Skilled Trades” is much more affordable than going through college.
However, data from Gusto also shows that many younger workers are taking jobs from older people. In both the USA and Germany, baby boomer generations are now retiring. Employers in trades or industry also need to fill a significant portion of these positions with younger workers – and Gen Z seems ready to do so (via Destatis).
How is the situation otherwise in Germany? The statements about the USA cannot simply be transferred to Germany. There are simply too many differences in the labor market, laws, universities, and training standards. However, according to Statista, the proportion of first-time students in a year has stagnated at around 56 percent for about eight years. Additionally, the number of applicants for training positions has recently increased for the first time in the last decade (via Labor Agency).
In Pokémon GO, trainers want to evolve Parfi. To do this, you actually need to use a smoke, but there is a trick for it. We will show you all the information about the Parfi evolution.
Anyone who prefers to save the smoke can resort to a trick and unlock the evolution with it.
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The Pokémon World Championships 2024 in Hawaii
Evolving Parfi – The Requirements
What you need to do: Parfi forms the base form of Parfinesse. However, to obtain a Parfinesse, you need to make a few preparations for the evolution. In the main Pokémon games, Parfi is evolved by trading it with other trainers. In Pokémon GO, though, the mechanics have changed.
In the game, it says Go on adventures together to trigger the evolution. Then, when you tap the evolution button, the error message Complete a challenge with this buddy appears. In Pokémon GO, it works like this:
Use Parfi as your buddy Pokémon
Use a smoke
You can now evolve Parfi into Parfinesse by pressing the evolution button on Parfi
The evolution will cost you 50 Parfi candies. Anyone who doesn’t want to spend a smoke for the evolution and wants to save this item can use a trick.
If you follow our guide, you can evolve Parfi – even without smoke using a trick
Tip: To change your buddy, tap on the small photo of your buddy on the main screen and scroll all the way down. There you will find the button Switch buddy.
Use the free Meltan Box (Wonder Box) and save smoke
This is the trick: Right now, anyone can unlock the Meltan Box (Wonder Box) for free in Pokémon GO and activate it every three days. It works similarly to a regular smoke and unlocks the evolution for Parfi just the same. This way, you bypass using the normal smoke and use a rechargeable item instead.
For this, set Parfi as your buddy, ignite the Meltan Box, and then start the evolution normally with Parfi.
The Wonder Box is normally needed to attract Meltan – In this case, it serves another purpose
This is how you get the free Meltan Box: To get the box for free and without using a Nintendo Switch, you just need to follow a few steps. For this, download Pokémon Home, create a free account, and then connect it with Pokémon GO. You can transfer one Pokémon every 3 days to receive or activate a Meltan Box.
We from MeinMMO have tried the trick ourselves and can confirm that the Wonder Box works as a substitute for the smoke. Whether this possibility will last forever or Niantic will adjust something and negate this trick cannot be said at the moment. As soon as something changes, we will update the article. Speaking of evolutions: Do you already know all tricks to evolve Eevee in Pokémon GO specifically?
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Diablo 4 is currently giving away boosts to returning players. They are meant to help you quickly see the new content. However, a couple wanted to experience the whole Diablo experience and found: you can accidentally make yourself stronger than planned.
This happens when you press the button:
Since November 19, 2024, there have been character boosts in Diablo 4 for all returning players.
Anyone playing on the Eternal Realm can boost a character to level 50. Owners of the Vessel of Hatred even get two boosts.
The character then receives one of three pre-made builds including suitable Legendary items, a million gold, 1,000 obols, and crafting materials. Additionally, all altars of Lilith are unlocked.
Vessel of Hatred has its own altars:
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Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred: Lehren von Akarat sammeln – So geht’s
This happened to the couple: A user on Reddit explained that he hadn’t played since July 2024 and wanted to check out Diablo 4 again with his girlfriend. The characters were still at level 23.
A visit to the tavern and just a quick click on one of the three options caused the characters to be fully equipped at level 50. Unfortunately for the couple, they actually wanted to play through the story together. The user writes:
I know, it’s not a big deal, but it wasn’t entirely clear what the outcome would be. We are now starting with new characters. Otherwise, we find that the game is significantly better than Diablo 3.
While the current max level is 60, the grind after getting the right equipment is already part of the game in the last levels.
Other players say that level 23 is luckily earned back quickly. Nevertheless, that one accidental click is pretty annoying, and they are not the first players to get boosted unintentionally.
In the over 160 comments, Reddit users discuss the free boost. There is a pop-up when logging in after a long time, but otherwise, there’s really no guide for the boost.
The game somehow pushes you back there repeatedly. Because: the boost is listed as a priority quest and sneaks constantly into the active quest log. If you simply follow the markers, you will inevitably end up at the reliquary where the boosts are located.
That’s not really a big problem in itself, but for those who want to explore the world on their own, the boost can ruin a lot. While you can simply start a new character, at least all altars remain uncovered. Thus, exploration falls flat. Also, there is only one or two boosts per account – one mistake can quickly waste that.
Actress Milla Jovovich portrays protagonist Alice in the Resident Evil films. However, her character never made it into any of the games. The actress sees this as a missed opportunity, as an appearance by Alice would have made perfect sense in the games.
Why did Alice never appear in one of the games? When director Paul W. S. Anderson had the opportunity to make films based on the popular video game franchise, he opted for an alternative version of events set in the world of Resident Evil.
While well-known characters like Leon S. Kennedy, Jill Valentine, or Ada Wong appeared in the films, none of the characters from the films made it into any of the games. As a result, the film character Alice never had the chance to make an appearance in any of the Resident Evil games.
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Resident Evil 4 Trailer
A Bursting Dream
Why would an appearance have made sense anyway? There are indeed characters in the Resident Evil universe who have used viruses to gain superhuman abilities and strengthen themselves. For example, Albert Wesker used them to acquire abilities such as excessive strength, speed, and regeneration.
Nevertheless, it was not intended to blend the universes of the films and games too much, as, even though well-known game characters appeared in the films, they only served as supporting characters and did not play significant roles.
This is what Milla Jovovich says about it: The actress playing Alice regrets that her character never made it into any of the games. Because even though the universes are supposed to remain separate, the games also borrow some elements from the films. She stated in an interview (via Game Rant):
They use pieces from the films in the games, but for some reason, they don’t want to bring my character, Alice, into the game… That’s a shame because I played the game years ago with my little brother, and it would be so cool to be in a game.
Whether Alice will ever make an appearance in a game set in the Resident Evil universe is uncertain, but also unlikely, given that this opportunity has not been utilized over the years. Thus, an appearance of her character in a video game will likely remain an unfulfilled dream in the future as well.
Last night from January 1st to January 2nd, 2025, a record was broken on Twitch: the record for the most successful hype train of all time. In numbers, the chatbot Neuro_sama received over 84,000 paid Twitch subscriptions through a subathon, which amounts to about €215,000. The special thing is: Neuro_sama is not a human, but a chatbot operated by AI.
What is a hype train? The hype train is activated when Twitch registers an increase in bits or subscriptions within a certain time frame. All viewers can now help keep the hype train alive and continue to fill the hype-o-meter.
A hype train is actually just a pure money-making scheme by Twitch: If a streamer receives continuous financial support from viewers, a fictitious hype train continues to rise and “rewards” viewers and the channel with certain emotes. A countdown runs to signal: Quickly throw in more money now, or else the hype train will run out.
Twitch receives a share every time streamers get money from their viewers, so it’s all just a huge advertising campaign for Twitch – without any real relevance. But it is always a big event for a streamer’s community and a financial blessing for the respective streamer.
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Prime Gaming, the secret behind Twitch’s success
So many donations came in that the chatbot lagged
This was the previous record: The former Blizzard developer Jason Thor Hall, who performs as PirateSoftware, set the previous record on Twitch in April 2024. At that time, he reached hype train level 106, primarily through donations that came in with the Twitch currency “bits.”
Neuro_sama has now reached level 111, mainly with subs. Because there was a subathon where each additional paid subscription extended the stream by 11 seconds.
The timer went up to over 250 hours during the flood of donations.
For Neuro_Sama, apparently a random element was built in, where a subscription was worth increasingly fewer seconds, which would have ended the stream “very quickly.”
Ultimately, a partner of Vedal tried to save the stream by initiating a hype train, which then escalated completely.
These are the reactions: Once again, Vedal is congratulated for creating such an entertaining AI that even outshines the best products of tech giants.
In comments on reddit it says: “Please don’t kill me, Skynet.”
“This is insane. This is just totally insane. This is so crazy.”
What is special? Neuro_sama is a chatbot that speaks with viewers through a language model. The bot has the avatar of an anime girl. Neuro_sama is known for its cheeky remarks and regularly tries to drive its programmer Vedal into financial ruin.
Viewers admire Vedal’s achievement in programming this bot and find it extremely entertaining to listen to Neuro_sama, especially when it interacts with other streamers, such as programmer Vedal himself. We recently reported on MeinMMO about Neuro_sama when the chatbot was technically the most successful streamer on Twitch: The most successful streamer on Twitch is a man
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the strategy game simulation Crusader Kings 3 (Steam), things are usually realistic. Players can step into the shoes of historical figures from the Middle Ages, perhaps playing as the Viking lord Björn Ironshield or Alfred the Great, the English king. But there are also quirky characters. Today we present to you possibly the quirkiest character in Crusader Kings 3.
This is how the characters in Crusader Kings 3 are: There are 3 different start dates in Crusader Kings 3 and a huge number of pre-made, fixed characters. When starting in the year 1066, the game features 22,418 characters on day 1.
Every historical figure that held a noble title and possessions at that time is represented in the game, with appropriate age, skills, and attributes that match the historical counterpart.
There are also over 100 known historical figures who, while they did not own land, were significant. They appear at certain times through events. These include warriors and warlords like William Wallace from Braveheart or poets, bards, and famous clergy.
In addition, there are randomly generated characters who are born or randomly created when figures are needed for the storyline, such as the NPC created for the “Kaspar Hauser” event.
From these tens of thousands of characters, the player recruits their court, selects their knights, lovers, clergy, or turns them into bitter enemies who then attempt to eliminate them through assassination.
Here you can watch the announcement trailer for Crusader Kings III:
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Crusader Kings III: Legends of the Dead – Announcement Trailer
All negative traits are combined in one character
This is the quirkiest character in the game: In the start date 1066, there is a character named Ewan “the Trustworthy” Cowhig Croft in the English province of Heartfordshire.
The man is 27 years old and has some of the worst traits one can have in Crusader Kings 3: he is a drunkard, a weakling, a dimwit, has only one leg and one arm – furthermore, he has a terrible education, being an amateur. Cowardly and stubborn he is as well.
He has a mediocre score of 11 points in Intrigue, a fair rating in all villainous and mean attributes, and is otherwise of no use.
The character should actually fall dead immediately, but no one lives longer
This is the special joke of the character: Many who stumble across the trustworthy dimwit will notice that he lives remarkably long, even though he is so heavily marked by fate that he should actually have a low life expectancy.
A player noted, for example, that Ewan was still alive and going strong at 77, despite all his ailments. Normally, at his age, with his condition, he should either have been dead long ago or at least at death’s door.
But in Crusader Kings 3, there is a hidden value “health,” which usually hovers around 5. However, for Ewan, it shows a 14. This means that the man can live up to 150 years old – as experiments show, this is the maximum age for characters.
Other characters in Crusader Kings 3, like the marauding Viking Haestein, also have artificially increased health values and therefore regularly live up to 80 years old, while normal mortals often check out around 60.
A YouTuber has brought the character with all longevity traits to his 147th year of life:
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Ewan is actually a developer at Paradox in Stockholm
What is behind the character? Ewan belongs to a fourth, special category of characters in Crusader Kings 3 – he is an “Easter Egg” character.
Ewan is “in real life” a developer of Crusader Kings 3, who was written into the game as a gag.
The man works in real life in Stockholm and has risen from game tester to game designer at Paradox over 6 years. One can only speculate what kind of reputation he enjoys among his colleagues to earn this virtual version.
Another employee of Paradox says of the character on Steam: Our people just think it’s funny to pack an absurdly ridiculous number of negative traits on their Easter egg characters.
Epic Games wants to keep Fortnite as free from cheaters as possible and bans cheating players, like most shooters do. However, sometimes errors occur, and an innocent player gets punished. One player has now shown that Epic apologizes commendably when they have banned sincere players.
What kind of apology was that? A player reports on Reddit that he was banned by Epic Games for 2 weeks in Fortnite without reason. Subsequently, he received an email from the developer of the battle royale shooter.
In the email, Epic Games apologizes and informs the player about a compensation he receives for the wrongful ban: “We mistakenly took action against your account. We have reversed this action and granted your Fortnite account 2,000 V-Bucks as compensation for the error, and we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.” (via Reddit)
So the player received a compensation of 2,000 V-Bucks, at least that is shown by the screenshot shared on Reddit. 2,000 V-Bucks are roughly equivalent to 18 € (2x 1,000 V-Bucks for 8.99 €).
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The trailer for the Winterfest event in Fortnite creates a cozy atmosphere with a fireplace
V-Bucks are the in-game currency in Fortnite that you can buy for real money and exchange for skins. For 2,000 V-Bucks, you can for example acquire the new skin styled after Johnny Silverhand from Cyberpunk 2077.
Would get banned again for 2,000 V-Bucks
What does the affected player say about the apology? The Reddit user seems very satisfied with Epic Games’ apology and writes: “I would take that anytime for 2k V-Bucks.” He would thus be willing to accept another ban if he would receive 2,000 V-Bucks again.
What does the community say about it? Other players also see something positive in the ban and the resulting compensation. One user jokes: “Epic sent you on paid vacation.” This is likely a reference to the fact that many develop a sort of love-hate relationship with the game and a temporary break can be beneficial.
Other Reddit users report that even more players have received the same compensation. It does not seem to matter whether they were banned for several months or just a few days. They apparently always received 2,000 V-Bucks. Some find this unfair but are nevertheless glad that there is even a compensation.
Fortnite is not an isolated case with false bans. There are also ongoing reports from other games like Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 or Warzone about players who have been banned incorrectly. This could be due to the fact that the affected player is reported en masse. This is followed by a kick from the lobby and a shadow ban: CoD: Players fight against cheaters in Black Ops 6 and Warzone – being kicked from the lobby for it
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The MMORPG Star Citizen earned three times more money in 2024 than the total development cost of Black Myth: Wukong – and it’s still the best game of the year according to PC gamers on Steam.
The $114 million is slightly less than what was earned in 2023, where it was still $116 million.
Nevertheless, it is an astonishingly high sum. It is the second highest annual revenue of Star Citizen ever. The significance of this amount is emphasized when comparing it to the costs of developing other successful games.
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Star Citizen: The new capital ship Polaris in trailer
Star Citizen earns enough money in a year to finance Witcher 3
How does this money compare to the budgets of other games?
The most successful game of 2024, in terms of peak player numbers on Steam, is the Chinese action RPG Black Myth: Wukong. At its peak, over 2.2 million people played it simultaneously. In the Game of the Year awards on Steam, it also faced tough competition.
Black Myth: Wukong is said to have cost $43 million in development. With the revenue from Star Citizen in a year, it could have been financed almost three times.
The budget for The Witcher 3 was significantly lower, at $81 million back then, compared to what CIG earns in a year.
Defenders of Star Citizen often use the exorbitantly high budget of the Western epic Red Dead Redemption 2 as a comparison, which is said to have cost between $370 and $540 million. The game was developed for about 8 years, and 2,000 people are said to have worked on Red Dead Redemption 2, which is considered one of the best video games of all time.
Star Citizen sells no ships, only pledges that the ships will come
How much money has Star Citizen earned in total? Currently, the revenue from Star Citizen stands at $774,481,284. Especially in November during the CitizenCon and in December around Christmas, quite a bit more “donations” came in.
Star Citizen refers to its revenues as “Pledges”. It implies that players are not actually buying real items, but are making promises that these items, especially ships, will eventually exist. Star Citizen claims to offer a ship for every playstyle. In the past, Star Citizen has been criticized for weakening a ship sold in the past to sell another, new ship that seemed more suitable for a specific playstyle.
What fans of Star Citizen say: Defenders of the project argue that not just a game is being developed here, but two games are being created: alongside Star Citizen, the single-player spin-off Squadron 42 is also in development.
Additionally, a new, modified engine is being created, which is necessary for the technological revolution behind Star Citizen, and the company’s infrastructure is also being built up.
MeinMMO demon Cortyn played the Persona successor Metaphor. However, why this means not only fun but also frustration can be read here.
During the holidays, I thought I should give in to my urge for JRPGs once again. One cannot currently avoid Metaphor: ReFantazio. The game from the creators of Persona has received fantastic reviews everywhere and is described as a masterpiece. Since I loved Persona 5, my confidence was quite high, so I decided to purchase it.
I was aware that Metaphor would also take quite a while to get into. The Persona games already have the reputation that the first roughly 10 hours of the game are a torment, and only afterward does everything “really get going” and you slowly lose yourself in the story while all the game systems finally interconnect. This is the case again this time – I was prepared for that.
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Metaphor: ReFantazio AWAKEN shows action-packed battles in the trailer
What I was not prepared for was the multitude of small and larger flaws that I would not have expected from a new game in 2024. Because in many, very many ways, this JRPG simply feels outdated. As if it were hanging on old systems that suited a different time, which they are now desperately trying to force into modern games. Sometimes it works better – and sometimes less so.
However, in global reviews, the game is fantastic. On Metacritic, it has 94 / 100, with many reviews that give either 5/5 or 10/10. Something I simply cannot comprehend.
Metaphor: ReFantazio is by no means a bad game, despite all its flaws. It is actually quite good. But it has so many small problems and quirks that add up to diminish the fun, leaving me asking: How the hell did this get released like this? Am I the only one who finds this strange?
Small quirks everywhere
Here follows a small list of many details that, in my view, prevent the game from being a true masterpiece. Some things are surely a matter of taste and subjective, while others can objectively be categorized as “not optimal”.
A colorless, boring game world
The most notable criticism, the first thing that catches the eye for me, is the monotonous game world.
This is especially evident in large squares in the game. When standing in the royal marketplace of the capital, Metaphor feels as if it has fallen out of time. Everything appears monotonous, has only a few colors, and looks as if its graphics come from the last or even the decade before that. That despite this outdated graphics, textures still need to be loaded occasionally is simply incomprehensible to me.
If I approach a bush in the wild and it suddenly gets a better texture at a distance of about 10 meters to my character, I cannot imagine that this would have been necessary.
Places often appear disillusioning and monotonous.
Equally bad are the “side quest dungeons.” They look – and I mean this without any sarcastic exaggeration – often so carelessly and outdated that I cannot explain how this came to be. Literally, the dungeons from ancient games like “Grandia 2” or “Final Fantasy X” visually look more appealing. In Metaphor, these dungeons are monotonous, visually simply boring, and often appear as if only 20 assets could be created per dungeon and then repeatedly connected in different ways. What a shame.
Difficulty levels in ping-pong mode
My next point is the difficulty level of the game. As usual, I play JRPGs in my first playthrough, if available, usually starting on “Normal” and then on a higher difficulty in my second run.
However, even on Normal, it becomes clear how far the actual difficulty level of individual battles can often diverge.
Whether you attack an enemy yourself or get surprised by the opponent has drastic effects that I usually only know from Soulslike games.
If I start the battle, the enemies are stunned, and generally all foes are dead before they even get a turn.
If the same enemy attacks me, however, the exact opposite can happen: You are hopelessly at a disadvantage, and if you do not have the perfect archetypes for the fight, even trivial enemies can suddenly lead to a game over.
Yes, these advantages and disadvantages have always been part of Atlus games, but never have they felt so drastic and thus so frustrating. When in a turn-based, tactical battle system the fight is decided by whether I dodged at the correct moment before the fight, like in an action game, it feels highly out of place.
The monster design is, typically for Atlus, somewhat quirky.
Additionally, there is a certain “tipping point” after which all planning is irrelevant anyway. Because as soon as you have the archetypes “Mage” and “Merchant,” you essentially have infinite mana to heal yourself and an infinite amount of money to buy anything you want.
You can literally renew the generally limiting resource of mana points (or “Magla”) infinitely or generate infinite money. You do not even have to “exploit” or unintentionally take advantage of game mechanics – it is the absolutely logical and obvious step to take once it is possible.
This also means that due to the lack of limitations, you can farm before any boss until you are 100% replenished and significantly outlevel the boss, trivializing the fight anyway. That is simply not well balanced.
This frustration with the battle system leads me to my next point …
No “reload” option in battle – Who messed that up?
What I find utterly incomprehensible is the lack of the option to bring up the main menu during a battle to reload a save. Because very often, during a boss battle, you realize: “Ah, I have the wrong archetypes for this fight. I can’t accomplish this like this. I need to reload and prepare the team differently.”
This is simply not possible. I can rewind the battle to the beginning – but only back to the start of the battle, meaning I cannot change any preparations. And as I cannot return to the main menu (at least in the PS5 version), I am doomed to either quit the game directly via the PS5 menu and restart or click through a hopeless battle for another 1-2 minutes until all my party members have finally died.
There’s hardly anything that robs you of joy more than having to continue an obviously hopeless battle in a single-player game for several minutes when you already know after just a few seconds: I need to reload and change my setup.
There are also curious politicians.
The calendar system – forced and simply ridiculous
Anyone who has played the Persona series knows that in Atlus games, there is almost always a kind of time limit in the form of a calendar system. Per day, you can only perform a certain number of actions while time progresses. Do you want to spend the day with your comrades or work on your character stats like eloquence or courage? Do you visit a dungeon or spend the afternoon cooking food for the next outing?
The time limit is never really annoying; in most cases, it is even good and sensible – if you could do everything without restriction, the whole game would not function.
However, in many cases, the system seems like it is artificially overlaid on the story, making it at times ridiculous.
There’s the case of kidnapped children, who are thrown to a monster and that must be stopped as quickly as possible so no more children are sacrificed – but don’t worry, you still have 12 days. So, on day 1, you go into the dungeon, play through half of it, and at the emotional peak of the dungeon story, you can then say: “Alright, enough. Now I’m going to spend the next 10 days discussing things with my friends before we save the children here.”
Comedy at the wrong moments
Additionally, there’s what I like to affectionately refer to as “anime bullshit.” Because in exactly the wrong, really dramatic moments, the game suddenly stops taking itself seriously.
When we get lured into a trap by the villain who feeds children to a monster after just hearing a dramatic backstory about unplanned pregnancy and child murder, it is simply very poorly received when our group of heroes is lured by the villain onto a trapdoor in the best “children’s show” manner.
Even worse if our companion, a perpetually flying fairy, also falls through the trapdoor and comments: “I’m falling too, ahhh!”.
I have nothing against comedic inserts – and in many cases, they are solid – but too often I find myself thinking: Hey, how can you consciously kill the atmosphere like this?
Sometimes the comedy in Metaphor is really good – but sometimes also misplaced.
The issue with sound
A big point that bothers me massively is the lack of voice acting. While the main story has voice acting for almost all passages (but not everything), this is not the case with the side missions. I understand that you cannot fully voice every insignificant side character in a large RPG. But the fact that even the character stories of the hero team, meaning all the quests that should bring you closer to the background of Hulkenberg, Strohl, and Co., are also not voiced is really, really uncomfortable for me.
Reading long dialogues that are completely silent felt outdated in JRPGs even 10 years ago.
However, even when there is voice acting, the mixing is simply not good. The (mostly) bombastic music is frequently so loud during dialogues that it completely drowns out the speakers. Yes, I could certainly adjust this manually by reducing the background music volume and increasing the voices. But adjusting this manually should somehow not be my task.
Additionally, the sound effects in cities become very annoying very quickly. NPCs in cities have small “sound snippets” with which they draw attention to themselves when you stand at a certain distance to them or pass them.
The problem here: Most NPCs have exactly one single sound for this. This results in having 1-2 annoying NPCs in towns constantly playing their same sound over and over:
“Hey, over here.” “Ugh, an eldan boy …” “Hey, over here.” “Hey, over here.” “Hey, over here.” “Ugh, an eldan boy …”
I really want to love Metaphor. It is also quite good, the story is solid, and the combat system is really interesting at its best moments. But it has so many small quirks that show everywhere that the typical “Persona formula” slowly but surely feels a bit outdated.
I don’t think I ever want to play a game with the calendar system of the Persona series again.
I believe I expect significantly more voice acting from an extensive JRPG than Metaphor offers.
I believe game environments of a full-price title should not look so lifeless today as they did at the turn of the millennium.
I believe once I get through the game, I will be quite satisfied. But Metaphor: ReFantazio lacks the evolution I wished for from JRPGs – and other games, like Final Fantasy XVI, have tackled much bolder. Metaphor: ReFantazio would have been a masterpiece – if it had come out 8 years ago and not just a few months ago.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The games for PS Plus Essential in January 2025 for PS5 and PS4 have been officially announced. We will briefly introduce you to the games and show you when they will be available.
Which PS Plus games are available in January 2025? Again in January 2025, there are three games that you can get with the PS Plus Essential subscription.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League (PS5)
Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Remastered (PS4)
The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe (PS4, PS5)
When will the games be available? The games are always available from the first Tuesday of a month:
PS Plus games available: January 07, 2025, around 12:00 PM
All important information about PS Plus Essential in January 2025
Here we briefly present the three games:
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League (PS5): This game is a loot shooter where you take on the role of various DC supervillains. You can tackle the story alone or in co-op with friends.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League – Gameplay Trailer
Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Remastered (PS4): With this title, you have a revamped version of the classic racing game that puts players in high-speed chases between racers and the police. With improved graphics, crossplay multiplayer, and all DLCs, the game offers thrilling excitement and intense head-to-head duels on open roads.
The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe. (PS4, PS5): This game is an expanded version of the cult classic, which captivates players with a mix of humor, storytelling, and unpredictable twists. With new content and endings compared to the original version, it invites exploration of the boundaries of choice and freedom in an absurd office environment.
What else do I need to know? If you haven’t claimed the games from last month for PS Plus yet, you should hurry. Once the new games are available, the old ones will be disabled again.
A small team from Latvia created an animation film that has been garnering attention since its debut at the Cannes Film Festival. What started with a single developer, his laptop, and free software has now become a multiple award-nominated and winning animation film that will soon be shown in Germany.
What is Flow as a film project? The wordless animation film tells the story of the journey of a black cat trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world without humans along with a group of various animals. Together, they travel through forests, across water, and forgotten monuments, learning to coexist peacefully.
Gints Zilbalodis, the director of the film, explains in an interview with Fast Company how he managed to develop a project with a low budget of 3.5 million euros and a manageable team that seems to succeed despite the simple resources.
Here you can see the trailer of the animation film:
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The trailer for Flow shows the journey of a cat through a beautiful world, created entirely in Blender
From a One-Man Project to a Film Festival Surprise
How was the development in Blender? One of the reasons for the low budget was the use of the free program Blender. The 3D modeling software is freely accessible, runs on almost all laptops, and has become an industry standard alongside similar programs like Maya.
The team developed their own tools that advanced the development both technically and visually. For example, they were able to better control the animation of water, which represents an important metaphor in the story of the film.
Blender also offered the team the opportunity to work with a real-time rendering engine. This means that one does not have to wait for the fully rendered image, but can see all textures, effects, and lights directly while working.
How many people were ultimately involved in the project? While Zilbalodis worked alone in the early years, additional 2D, 3D, and sound artists, as well as other production staff, joined the project over time.
The core production team consisted of about 20 people, with additional temporary staff totaling around 50. According to Zilbalodis, usually only 2 to 3 people were actively working in the studio with him.
How were the stylistic decisions made? To create a closer connection between the film and the audience, the team opted for a graphic and abstract art style.
With a simpler design, they want to give audiences the opportunity to project themselves or their pets onto the characters and the story. It also allowed the team to implement more expressive facial and movement animations, which can be quite advantageous in a film without spoken words.
The environments are relatively endowed with significantly more details, which makes them appear particularly real and lively despite the painted style.
An image from the film shows one of the environments through which the animals travel.
Pokémon cards have become an investment for many collectors. Especially rare specimens can fetch horrendous sums. One man from the USA has been sent to prison for it.
What did the man do wrong? The now 33-year-old V. Oudomsine borrowed money from a loan program of the Small Business Administration. The loan was meant to serve as aid for small businesses that needed financial support during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Oudomsine received around 82,000 euros for his small business, which supposedly employed 10 people. However, according to the United States prosecutor’s office, such a business never existed. The convicted man partly used the money to buy a particularly rare Pokémon card in January 2021. This made him guilty of a crime.
For those who can’t afford Pokémon cards, there is currently a free alternative: Pokémon TCG Pocket.
Start video
Pokémon TCG Pocket scores with pure nostalgia
Criminal bets on the value of Pokémon card
Why did he spend the money on a Pokémon card? The card is a first edition of Charizard. In recent years, the prices for older cards have skyrocketed, allowing many fans to earn a horrendous sum by selling their cards. No wonder, that thieves have even started stealing the valuable cards.
The fraudster likely speculated that the card would increase in value. This way, he could not only pay back the loan but also pocket some money for himself. However, Oudomsine is said to have bought the card at the most inconvenient time.
When the then 31-year-old bought the card, it was supposed to have reached its peak value. Therefore, it would not have been possible to sell Charizard at a higher price. According to Price Charting, the current value of a comparable card is about 26,100 euros. Thus, the criminal’s plan went wrong.
What kind of punishment did he receive? Due to the embezzlement of the aid funds, Oudomsine was sentenced to 3 years in prison in 2022. Additionally, he was not allowed to keep the Charizard card – it was seized by federal authorities. Unless something has changed in the meantime, Oudomsine is presumably still in prison.
A fan of Monster Hunter World shares his story with the community. He wants to find like-minded individuals and new players for the release of Monster Hunter Wilds in February. In doing so, he reaches many fans directly in the heart.
What story does the player share? User BlindAaron mentions in his thread on Reddit that he is nearly blind medically. He can see nothing out of his left eye and only sees as if looking through a roll of toilet paper with his right eye.
Nevertheless, he has spent about 800 hours in Monster Hunter World and is really looking forward to the release of Monster Hunter Wilds on February 28, 2025. He primarily played it with his brother, but apparently, his brother has no interest in playing the new title.
With his thread, he is mainly looking for new players who can be patient and forgive mistakes. He seems to have found and mastered his main weapon in the bow, but he also wants to try new weapons in Wilds. Additionally, he is considering starting to stream.
In the latest video, you not only get insights into the lore but also some new content:
Start video
Monster Hunter Wilds: Daisy Ridley explains the lore
“If you are a hunter… you are my family.”
How does the community respond? His call resonates strongly with the fans. Many express their admiration for him, that despite his severe limitation, he has managed to find a home in Monster Hunter World, and they would be happy to join him on his journey in Monster Hunter Wilds.
Among them are not only like-minded individuals who also embark on their hunt with a limitation, but also dozens of other hunters who want to support his endeavor:
User Zercomnexus writes on Reddit : “Honestly, mistakes in MHW are just fine. Are we going to smack monsters? Is the monster big and cool? Good”
User AltimitIchi invites him via Reddit: “If you are a hunter… you are my family. I will hunt with you.”
Organic-Commercial76 shared via Reddit: “I am physically limited and my partner who has ADHD will play. We always appreciate people who are just as considerate to us. Send me a message, and we can team up in February.”
User Genoxida resigns on Reddit: “I was just about to say that I would join, as my partner gets confused by playing survival games and we have played MHR/MHW, but there are so many people here.”
Some also ask how he manages the game with his limitation. Others encourage him that his choice to focus on a ranged weapon at first was the right one since this could actually benefit from his “focused field of vision.” They still encourage him to try other weapons as well and fuel his ambition to master those too.
Previously, the community had already shown that they are generally willing to forgive mistakes as long as a hunter is involved with enough passion. The fans also encourage those who think they are too bad for the franchise and give tips on how they can make it easier to get started: Can I play Monster Hunter Wilds if I’m bad at Monster Hunter? Community provides answers
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, more and more players are noticing that their opponents are leaving the matches. Many rounds are not completed with 6 players, as the game actually intended. Some players on Reddit are now providing the answer to what could be the reason.
Why are they running away? Many players are frustrated with the matchmaking in Call of Duty and therefore leave ongoing matches. The community believes that eventually a better lobby will come if they leave the ongoing rounds often enough.
The Reddit user “sw3ar” writes in a post in the BO6 forum: “Friendly monthly reminder – Just quit games. If the EOMM has decided that it’s your turn to suffer, just leave every single lobby until you find the right one. Don’t play sweaty Activision games. Just leave.” (via Reddit)
The post collected about 1,400 upvotes and over 650 comments. Some players add that they have more fun playing Call of Duty since they started leaving matches: “My experience has improved significantly since I started leaving games as soon as I realized it’s one of those rounds.”
Many players agree: Call of Duty is more fun when they occasionally “run away,” meaning leave a match.
Start video
CoD Black Ops 6: Prestige explained – Is it worth it?
Players believe a system determines who wins the match
Why would leaving help? This belief among some players is based – as often in Call of Duty – on a discussion about matchmaking.
In addition to the long-standing debate about so-called skill-based matchmaking (SBMM), which selects your opponents based on your gaming skills, there are now also theories about a system called “Engagement-Optimized Matchmaking” (short: EOMM).
The EOMM is supposed to fundamentally improve the gaming experience of players. The theory is that the system intervenes when, for example, you lose several games in a row. Some players believe that this system can also influence the outcome of a match. Furthermore, it is said in the community that everyone will eventually be due for a defeat (via Reddit).
Players are therefore convinced that after a few good and victorious rounds, there will always come a match designed for players to lose. A defeat is then inevitable. “Now it’s the opponents’ turn for a win.”
To escape this supposedly unavoidable defeat, they leave the match and look for a new one – until they are back to winning or even a winning streak. After all, the system must recognize from players leaving that things are not going well for them and thus want to actively improve the gaming experience again.
The only problem is: Activision has never confirmed that EOMM exists in Call of Duty – it’s all just a player theory.
The community of Diablo 4 has killed millions of Goblins during the winter event, unlocking rewards for all players. If you want them, you need to hurry: You only have until Thursday, January 2, 2025, at 7:00 PM to do so.
Here you can claim the rewards: The free items are available in Kyovashad. Simply visit the Goblin shrine to the left of the city portal and click on the statue. You will then have the opportunity to collect each of the 5 rewards.
Most rewards are available for all players. However, some are only obtainable if you possess the Vessel of Hatred. If you collect all the bags and open them, you will receive:
a Magnificent Spark
30 million gold
7,500 Oboluses (you will have to gamble multiple times)
at least 26 geared items with item level 800 and a Great Affix, including Uniques
some tributes, citadel coins, and more
With the gold and items, you have a strong start for endgame in Diablo 4, but you will need level 60 to even equip them. By the way: The Mother’s Blessing event also runs until 7 PM.
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Diablo 4: The trailer for the winter event ‘Sleigh Ride to Hell’
Free skins and limited offers in the shop
Also until January 2 at 7:00 PM, you can claim three free skins in the shop: two trophies and one mount armor. Additionally, there are the Christmas skins for sale, which will disappear from the shop again at 9:00 PM.
If you haven’t logged in for a while, you can also claim another reward in Kurast for the community challenge in the Dark Citadel. Here, at the statue southwest of the city portal, there is a trophy, some items, and a bit of gold, as well as a player title.
The winter event is well-received by the community (for example via Reddit) and many players hope that future events will follow a similar format. Both the rewards and the process are considered a good idea to offer something for all players.
In Pokémon TCG Pocket, a new event centered around the Water Pokémon Blastoise has begun. This means new promo cards, hourglasses, and additional rewards for collectors of the mobile game.
Trainers must again participate in CPU battles and complete special challenges to earn rewards and packs that may contain the new card. In addition to Blastoise, there are further rewards like promo cards that trainers can obtain. What these are will be revealed by MeinMMO in the following article.
With the new booster, Celebi-ex is available for the first time, for which you can build a special deck:
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Pokémon TCG Pocket: Celebi ex Deck – This is how you should play it in this combination
All info on the Blastoise event and how to defeat it
When does the event take place? You can now participate in the drop event, which has been running since January 1, 2025, at 07:00. After that, you have until January 15 at 06:59 to complete the battles.
What new promo cards are available? As with the previous drop event, there are also 5 new cards as rewards this time. These are included in the promo packs of series A, Vol. 3. If you win a fight and receive a pack, you could find one of the following cards inside:
Snivy
Volcarona
Eevee
Chinchou
Blastoise (Full-Art)
Each of the cards is supposed to have the same chance of being included when opening a pack. Blastoise, Chinchou, and Volcarona have the same ability as the previous standard cards.
Eevee, on the other hand, can no longer deal damage with its attack, but can reduce the opponent’s damage by 20 points. For Snivy, the damage of the attack has been halved, but collectors now only need one energy card to attack.
What fights and rewards are available? In the CPU battles, there are 4 different Water decks available against which you need to compete. The following rewards await you for your (first) victory:
Shiny
First Time: 2 Pack Hourglasses, 50 Stardust, 1 Shop Ticket, 25 XP
Which deck should I use? To win against Blastoise, it is recommended to play a deck with Electric Pokémon. We can recommend the deck centered around Pikachu-ex, which makes a strong start at the beginning of the match.
Is there a special challenge? This time there are no surprises waiting for you. In the last event, you had to put a Pokémon to sleep. This time, you only need to complete the same standard challenges as usual.
For a challenge, you need to use a deck whose rarity is at most ♢♢♢. Replace Pikachu-ex and Zapdos-ex with the standard variants or other Electric Pokémon like Raichu or Magnemite and Magneton.
The deadly games from Squid Game have just been continued in Season 2. It could already be known when Season 3 will continue – but only by accident.
When will it continue? The Korean YouTube channel of Netflix may have already revealed that Season 3 will continue on June 27, 2025. So far, it was only known that the series would be extended in 2025.
The date would be perfect since it falls on a Friday. This way, fans who work during the week could binge-watch the series over the weekend. They wouldn’t have to take a vacation or watch the series in bits and pieces throughout the week.
You can watch the trailer for Season 2 here:
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Squid Game Season 2 – Trailer for the release date of the Korean series
Where does the leak come from? A 15-second video teased Season 3 of Squid Game. The Korean YouTube page of Netflix is said to have included the crucial hint in the video description that the start date is on the mentioned day.
Meanwhile, the video along with its description has been set to “Private,” so you can no longer check for yourself. Currently, only the teaser can be found, in which the date is not revealed. However, the Twitter channel of Maxblizz has secured a screenshot showing when Season 3 is supposed to come. With a translation tool, it can be seen when the Netflix series will continue.
Second leak confirms June for Squid Game Season 3
How likely is this? Note: This is still not an officially confirmed piece of information. It may be that the date is still subject to change internally and the series could air later (or even sooner). So far, it is only officially known that it will continue sometime in 2025.
There is, however, a second theory that supports June 2025: In the first episode, a calendar is shown where the days leading up to June 19 are crossed out. This could be a hint at the release of Season 3.
However, you should take this hint with caution, as the calendar in the episode is set to 2024. Therefore, it is unlikely that June 19, 2025 is the release date for Season 3. However, it could be a general hint at June 2025 and support the first leak.
The tier list for Season 6 in Diablo 4 shows you the best builds in German for all classes in the endgame. We provide you with a short description and links to recreate them.
Which is the best class in Season 6? The Spiritborn as the new class leads the list. Necromancers and Barbarians have also proven to be strong after a few weeks, but every class has at least one build that can carry them through the tough endgame content. The list is regularly updated and adjusted.
This is how we created the list: We refer to data from the Diablo expert and build theorycrafter Rob as well as assessments from other experts, such as maxroll.gg, particularly wudijo. For better context, the experience of our own experts at MeinMMO has been included.
The tier list covers all endgame activities for Diablo 4, with the Pit serving as a benchmark. The builds may not always be best suited for PvP, speed grinds, and level builds.
What does “S” to “F” mean? In the tier list, builds are categorized by letters. In this case, “S” stands for the best builds, while “F” designates the worst.
S Tier: The best builds in Season 6
The builds in this tier are the absolute best you can play. They have virtually no weaknesses and perform better than anything else in every content. There may be a minor weakness here and there, but generally, it is not enough for other builds to pass them by.
Finally, Barbarians have a proper ranged build: You throw your weapons around actively and obliterate enemies unfortunate enough to be in the trajectory. The goal of the build is to maximize the Mighty Throw, the new skill, as far as possible without sacrificing too much defense. A disadvantage: You absolutely need the unique “The Third Blade”.
Do you want to poison enemies with a giant centipede and then make them explode? Then this build is perfect for you. Touch of Death relies on high damage over time (“DoT”), which you can cause to explode at once with various abilities and legendaries for multiple times its damage.
An alternative to the touch build is the “Stinging Swarm” Spiritborn (via d4builds.gg). It uses the same abilities except for the main skill and is somewhat weaker, but significantly easier to play.
The best starter build for anyone who wants to play Spiritborn. You throw feathers around that explode on impact and then return, similar to the Hunter’s twisting blades. Although most damage comes from the Eagle, you use Gorilla and Jaguar as spirits for more defense. All you need for the build is a legendary power from the codex: the Bouncing Aspect. From there, the build only gets stronger.
For this build, you need the unique “Cuirass of the Blood Crafter,” which summons a free bone spirit whenever you gather enough blood orbs. You create these orbs via Blood Wave. A major advantage: Max HP increases your damage, making the build strong in both attack and incredibly tanky.
A fast-paced playstyle: You stab your daggers into an enemy, sprint through as many opponents as possible, and rip the weapons from the original target. On the way, the blades obliterate everything they touch. A melee build for anyone who wants to feel like a ninja.
Diablo IV reveals the expansion Vessel of Hatred in new gameplay trailer
A Tier: Strong builds for the endgame in Season 6
A-tier builds are generally somewhat weaker than S-tier builds, but constant improvements and tweaks often change the category, especially at the beginning of the season. However, these builds offer a bit more choice for your playstyle and are often not as heavily reliant on single items.
With the Landslide build, you frequently switch your form to take advantage of various bonuses. The main skill Landslide becomes a damage-over-time effect on the ground with the unique ring Earthbreaker and has a chance to generate additional landslides when cast multiple times.
The build works by constantly resetting your evasion ability, allowing you to use it continuously. This is achieved by selecting the Eagle spirit in your spirit hall and using Thunder Spike every time. This makes your enemies vulnerable right away and thus ensures more damage. All you need for the build is the unique quarterstaff Sepazontec. Even after a nerf, the build is still extremely strong.
“Stop hitting yourself” is the motto of the Thorns build for Spiritborn. You use the power of the Gorilla to obtain plenty of shields and blocks while building up thorns. Additionally, you summon a spirit Jaguar and benefit from the attack speed and resource generation of the Jaguar. However, for the ultimate build, you need the right runeword, which allows you to use the decay of the Necromancer.
After several nerfs, the Heartseeker Rogue works a little differently in Season 6: You now enhance the base skill with the shard Verathiels and create area damage through the Punish passive. Essentially a very classic build with a main attack and several enhancements.
After Barbarians, Rogues now also have a “Spin2Win” build: Dance of Knives is one of the new skills from Season 6. You spin wildly in circles throwing knives at nearby enemies. With the right items, you have a high evasion chance during this time, providing solid defense, pull enemies close repeatedly, and compared to other builds, have nearly no resource problems. The build becomes truly powerful only with good gear.
The Minion Necromancer combines his army of undead with enormous shadow damage over time. Your skeleton mages, which become shadow mages in this build, engage in combat with your golem, while you support them in the background with skills. You use Corpse Tendrils to stun enemies and “Plague” to inflict shadow damage.
The ideal build if you want to sweep through demons personally as a Reaper. Reaper summons a spectral scythe and makes enemies vulnerable upon impact. Together with the new passive ability Affliction, you increase your damage dealt even further. The build works completely without uniques and can be easily constructed with the codex. Ideal for beginners.
The new ability Soul Rift does exactly what the name says: You tear the souls from your enemies and create essence with the right unique item. You spend this for a bone spirit that then provides more resource generation. Through a runeword, you can basically trigger Overwhelm continuously, which constitutes your main damage.
Despite several nerfs, still one of the strongest builds in the game: You shoot lightning spears that bounce off you and enemies, getting stronger as they do so. However, due to the nerfs and new possibilities, this build is likely the one that will drop out of the S-tier later on.
Your chain lightning bounces between you and a single enemy or multiple enemies, releasing crackling energy in the process. With each bounce, the lightning gets stronger. You let your lightning bounce while you run to the end of the dungeon.
For many seasons now, one of the favorites for many sorcerers: You let multiple ball lightnings hover around you and draw enemies in with the Robes of the Infinite. This way, you easily bind the enemies to you and fry them with your lightning balls.
In B-tier, you will find builds that are partially experimental or have weaknesses against certain content. Some of them are strong against mob groups but useless against bosses. The builds here are weaker than in higher tiers, but especially in cooperation with other players who can mitigate their weaknesses, they have great potential.
With builds in C-tier, you can still easily master the endgame, just not as far as with builds in higher tiers. The idea here is builds that are a bit more flexible and offer more choices without having to give up strength entirely. If you are just looking for pure fun and want to slay a few demons, you can go for these without any worries.
We generally advise against the builds in this tier. Based on the current state, you will not get very far with them, and it is usually not worth investing gold or time in them – unless you really want to play them. They might still be useful to reach the endgame, but afterward, they will struggle.
