Web Junkies

Final Destiny Raid Boss Defeated in a Row Without Team Dying or Using Guns

2017-05-15T09:41:00.000-07:00

There’s no doubt that Destiny‘s community is populated with some truly talented gamers, as they often go on to set extremely difficult self-imposed limitations on their playthroughs, with one intrepid Fireteam of Guardians having recently taken on the task of killing every single final raid boss in a row in a successive back-to-back order without stopping. While some might scoff at such a feat, what makes the accomplishment incredibly impressive is that the group did so during the challenge modes at 390 Light without the use of guns and without dying once.

As seen below in YouTuber and Redditor GladHeAteHer182’s video, the footage starts off with a preamble stating that it took the Guardians roughly 60 hours in total to achieve this, so it definitely was no walk in the park. Of course, doing so took a lot of planning on the Destiny players’ parts, with the likes of Samiam1192, Textbook1987, Sweatcicle, It is Spartan, IH O V A, Its GShark, I Indica I, Khosla03, xSolid, rowan, Dark, and Gladd all contributing ideas and strategies on how to complete such a task.

Since it took around 60 hours to do so and was a team challenge, GladHeAteHer182 mentions the fact that it was hard keeping the same squad intact the whole time, so replacements came in to take part in the action when needed. Additionally, since the group of Destiny fans decided to limit themselves by using no guns, Gladd also went on to mention that they didn’t use any of the relics to damage enemies or for any unnecessary offensive advantage. For example, the relic in Vault of Glass was only used to cleanse and not damage enemies or oracles, while Crota’s sword was only used to attack Crota, and Aksis cannons were only used to kill servitors, and not to damage Aksis or other enemies.

Bearing all of this in mind, GladHeAteHer182 and his crew’s playthrough must be seen to be believed, as the Guardians have certainly set the bar quite high for anyone else who is attempting to become Legend. Of course, with the squad having gone to such extremes to make the experience as difficult as possible, it’s obvious that they and other Destiny fans have come close to exhausting all that can be done in the current iteration of the action-RPG. With this being the case, it’s unquestionable that the community is hyped for the release of Destiny 2, as GameStop has already said its pre-order sales numbers are “amazing.”

Destiny is available now for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Source: Youtube

New Info About Pokémon GO's Upcoming Raids Suggests Two Possibilities

2017-05-14T18:29:00.002-07:00

This week, Pokémon GO received yet another mundane patch, but like with most of the game’s patches, the real story lies behind the scenes.

We are marching toward summer which means big changes to gym mechanics and the introduction of a new mystery activity called “raids.” Now in this latest update, there’s a new description of raids that includes a XP grant for an achievement called “defeat_raid_pokemon.” That’s a lot more information than we have previously, as some theorized previously a raid could be a rival team or faction raiding a gym, but here, it’s talking about beating a Pokémon specifically.

The folks at Silph Road who dug through this datamine for this information have one theory about what this could mean.

“It appears XP will be granted for defeating a raid Pokémon (possibly an offensive Pokemon attacking a Gym your 'mon is defending), as well as for feeding this Pokémon a berry.”

They still believe that raids may actually be gym-centric activities, given that this command is listed alongside the “feed your Pokémon a berry” mechanic that we’ve seen buried in past updates. Along with changes coming to push notifications, which should notify you the moment your gym/Pokémon is being attack, they think that “raids” could be some Pokémon attacking your gym and you have to “fortify” it by feeding your Pokémon berries. This is somewhat similar to a mechanic in Ingress, which is why they believe this might be the case.

That’s one theory, but I’m not sure if I believe it. I just can’t wrap my head around gym changes being linked to raids, not when now we know that raids involve defeating a Pokémon specifically. Random Pokémon don’t just wander around attacking gyms, that isn’t something that happens in the handheld games, and it would make little sense in Pokémon GO.

I do agree that the berry mechanic could be a defense aspect of gyms going forward, where if your gym is attacked, maybe that’s how you “reinforce” it. It would require active, not passive management of gyms to some degree, and it would likely help high level gyms to increase turnover, along with making Pokémon GO a more active game period. Previously, it was believed berry feeding would be required every few days to make Pokémon stay in a gym, but it might be this. Or it could be both.

But I think raids are going to be an entirely separate mechanic. When you think of “defeating a raid Pokémon,” what comes to mind the context of Pokémon GO? Literally the only thing I’m picturing is the original trailer with players banding together to simultaneously fight Mewtwo in Times Square. Further evidence that this is some kind of group activity are notifications in past updates which say things like “A raid is starting near you!” and the fact that Niantic has said that Legendary Pokémon are arriving this year, and this summer seems like a prime time for that to happen.

I don’t know if “raids” will be a purely Legendary mechanic. They may not need to be. I can see raids spawning say, and extra strong Dragonite or Gyarados or Charizard in the wild that players have to band together to take down (not necessarily to capture). It would be a different sort of fighting mechanic other than what we see in gyms, like taking down a raid boss in an MMO. However, with 11 Legendary Pokémon that need to arrive, I could also imagine there would be more than enough for raids to be a purely Legendary activity if Niantic wanted to go in that direction. What I have a hard time believing is that this is somehow connected to gyms. If it is, I think that’s a big waste of potential.

This new info suggests to me that raids will be an entirely new type of activity for the game, something Pokémon GO desperately needs, and it could also easily serve as a gateway mechanic for Legendaries, if that’s not its sole purpose already. Simultaneously, big changes to gyms and gym defense are probably also coming, which will also be helpful. I think they’re just separate issues.

We will hopefully know more soon, but my guess is that big new changes won’t kick off until June. Until then, we’ll just keep looking at data mines.

The First New Rift Boss in Years in Diablo 3

2017-05-14T11:40:00.003-07:00

Welcome Vesalius, the first new Rift Boss in a long time! While it seemed he was entirely unique at first, it later turned out, as most Rift Bosses, that he was based off an Adventure Mode boss (Vidian from the Sanctum of Blood, a new area). Both bosses are giant Enslaved Nightmares, new models coming with the Necromancer pack and showing up now on the beta, so we can hope there will be even more new additions once it goes live.

Streamer Zhanji first ran into the boss and his Necromancer's first encounter with Vesalius didn't go that great, considering the Frozen Pulse, Wormhole and Glowy Balls. So, let's take a look:

Source: Troupster.com.

Kingdom Hearts Character Relationship Chart

2017-05-14T08:14:00.000-07:00

With two main games (and a third one coming) and a number of well-received side-adventures to boot, the Kingdom Hearts series has cultivated an exceptionally large cast of beloved characters. Given that every major character is somehow linked to another, figuring out the relationships between all the main heroes and antagonists is nothing short of a monumental task for the average gamer. Luckily, a fan has made this task considerably easier by sharing a diagram that outlines all the relationships between every major character in the series.

In an attempt to shed make some sense on all the major character relationships, Reddit user Elfdemon has shared the official Kingdom Hearts character correlation diagram, which is found in the Kingdom Hearts Ultimania informational book. Featuring over 40 major protagonists and antagonists, the diagram helps shed some light on how everyone is associated with one another. Given how the overarching narrative of the series has expanded considerably over the years, this diagram will undoubtedly help make some sense of Kingdom Hearts’ somewhat convoluted story.

Having said that, though, the diagram may only scratch the surface of Kingdom Hearts’ confusing narrative for some as there were a number of fans in the Reddit thread that still couldn’t make sense of how all the character relationships worked. Some fans said that while they still love the games, the long gap between the second installment and the upcoming Kingdom Hearts 3, as well as all the prequels and sequels in between the two titles, have left them all a little lost.

Since this relationship diagram helps shed some light on Kingdom Hearts‘ characters, fans may want to reacquaint themselves with every hero and villain as Square Enix plans on showcasing some new footage from the long-awaited Kingdom Hearts 3 at some point this year. While little is known about the game, it won’t be a stretch to expect new characters to be introduced, which in turn will see the character relationship diagram be expanded further, or at the very least, be adjusted for the existing roster of characters.

It remains to be seen when Kingdom Hearts 3 will be released, as it is unlikely that the game will be launched in 2017. Nevertheless, this character relationship diagram will go a long way in helping fans get back up to speed on how every hero and villain are associated with each other.

Kingdom Hearts 3 is currently in production for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Source: Reddit

Watch Destiny's Golgoroth Beaten Within 60 Seconds

2017-05-14T07:48:00.001-07:00

As Destiny closes in on the end of its third year, players continue to find new and interesting ways to complete the game’s toughest challenges. Most recently, a group of Destiny players set a new time to beat for taking down Golgoroth, dispatching the King’s Fall raid boss in just 60 seconds.

The feat is impressive and worth a watch. As the video below shows, the team worked together impressively to quickly kill the various enemies entering the room, before systematically dropping Golgoroth.

In the description, the gamer who uploaded the video, DeMo x MeTaL z, provides a few details about the setup the team used in order to take Golgoroth down so quickly. The team of six consisted of two Nightstalker Hunters using Tether, two Gunslinger Hunters using Golden Gun, a Sunsinger Warlock with the Viking Funeral perk, and a Defender Titan using the Weapons of Light buff on their bubble. The team also used five Black Spindle sniper rifles to do massive damage to Golgoroth.

Gamers can see how the team used each of the characters’ special abilities to work together. In addition to the video above, the YouTuber provides three links to videos from other members of the team, giving Guardians multiple points of view of the accomplishment.

It’s impressive to see players still finding new and creative ways to play through Destiny, and new glitches and bugs that have been unknown for the better part of three years. It seems a fitting closing for a game that’s seen numerous ups and downs throughout its tenure as one of the most-played current-gen console games to date.

While some gamers continue to explore and experience the world of Destiny, others are looking forward anxiously to Destiny 2, which is set to release in September. There’s still little known about the upcoming sequel, but fortunately players will get a good look at the game during the live gameplay reveal next week.

When Destiny 2 releases, it’ll be interesting to see what feats players are able to accomplish, especially now that the game is coming to PC. While there are certainly many skilled players on console, having a mouse and keyboard generally makes it easier to be more precise with various gaming activities, especially shooting. And considering how fond Destiny players are of setting new speed records for activities in Destiny and discovering new ways to play the game, there will undoubtedly be many unique play throughs on PC this fall.

Destiny is currently available for PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. Not all activities are available on PS3 and Xbox 360.

Source: YouTube

Ingress Possibly Revealed How Pokemon GO's Promo Codes Work

2017-05-13T10:42:00.000-07:00

Niantic is releasing, and has released, a lot of content in Pokémon GO that is somewhat familiar to those of us who played Niantic’s previous game Ingress. I thought I would take a moment to do some speculation on these features to try to alleviate some uncertainty and confusion.

Keep in mind, this is speculation based on how things worked in Ingress. Given that Pokémon GO is a totally different game, I could be totally off base, so take this entire guide with a skeptical grain of salt.

Redemption Codes

I feel pretty confident about this, as it seems the mechanics are identical. Basically you will get an alphanumeric code to enter into the store, and you get stuff. Pretty easy. Of course, the mystery is how to get codes. In Ingress, there were three main ways:

1. Codes from Niantic Events

In Ingress there were events held all over the world on specific dates that had Niantic employees participate in various ways. These events would be huge (thousands of people running around playing the same game on their phone, it is A LOT of fun). When signing in for the event, or when dealing with specific event objectives, a Niantic employee or representative may hand you a card that will have a redemption code on it.

Does this mean Pokémon GO is going to get events? Who knows.

2. Products and hidden code

Niantic teamed up with a company that made “Hint Water”. The product was atrocious! It tasted like water had been filtered through a dirty gym sock that held the fruit it was supposed to taste like. However, when you opened the bottle, there was a code on the cap you could enter into your Ingress app and get stuff. I think after the codes were phased out from this product, it stopped selling…

I am not aware of any such product placement yet, but you may want to keep an eye out at merchants who are already partnered with Niantic and Pokémon GO.

3. Data Mined Codes

This one was a little bit more uncertain. Ingress had a few twitter accounts (@passcoder) that would tweet out redemption codes from time to time, and there were facebook pages and the like that did the same.

I have no idea where they got their codes from, and never had any luck with them.

Code Mechanics

So the alphanumeric codes I mentioned are just a random string of letters and numbers. Usually the string was pretty long. 8 to 12 characters at least. And they made no sense.

Every once in a while, you might see something that looked like a word associated with the game though (for instance xm734h4rst where XM is a major component of the game). If you got it from a product, then you’d pretty much be the only one with it (unless you also shared it with someone).

It did appear that each code had a “lifetime” associated with it. Meaning that once the code was entered/redeemed, other people could also redeem that code for a very short time.

At the events, teams would get together and to ensure maximum benefit to all, have everyone try to submit their code simultaneously. Another reward you could get was special badges (like Medals in Pokémon GO), so that may be another type of reward for participation in an event.

Hopefully that gives you a little something to go on in anticipation of codes getting released for Pokémon GO.

New Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age Video Shows Off “The Dalmasca Estersand” and “Streets of Rabanastre”

2017-05-13T06:38:00.002-07:00

Square Enix has gone live with two new sample videos, featuring gameplay footage and rearranged music from Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age.

Released as part of promoting the game’s original soundtrack release, the clips below treats viewers with a refreshing look at the blazing hot “Dalmasca Estersand” as well as the grand “Streets of Rabanastre”.

Check it out:

Streets of Rabanastre

The Dalmasca Estersand

Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age is set to release for PlayStation 4 on July 11 in North America and July 13 in Europe.

Nintendo Removes Pokemon Direct Trailers, Fueling Switch Port Rumors

2017-05-12T10:11:00.001-07:00

Nintendo has taken down several Pokemon Sun and Moon trailers, fueling the speculation that the Nintendo Switch is getting a port. Rumors of a Nintendo Switch port for the games have been growing for several months, with this version said to be called Pokemon Star.

Earlier today, fans discovered that Nintendo has removed the Pokemon Sun and Moon trailers that aired as part of Pokemon Direct in 2016. While it appears that the Nintendo UK YouTube channel still features content from last year’s presentation, the videos do not appear to be available on the Nintendo US or Nintendo Japan YouTube channels. The trailer for the game’s demo, along with footage released as part of E3 2016 can still be found.

Nintendo hasn’t commented on exactly why the footage has been removed from the two YouTube channels, and admittedly, if there is something wrong with the videos it seems unusual that the company has taken until now to fix it. As a result, many fans have begun to speculate that a reveal for Pokemon Star, the rumored Nintendo Switch port of Pokemon Sun and Moon, is imminent. After all, this video taken down does follow the recent discovery that the the official Pokemon website got a Pokemon Star related update.

Fans’ reasoning is that the Pokemon Direct footage and the “reveal” style of those trailers could confuse people after Pokemon Star is officially announced. Those who go looking for the reveal of the Nintendo Switch game may wind up watching the reveal for the original 3DS version of Pokemon Sun and Moon instead, with no mention of the new features or improvements that may be available in the Switch version. That’s mighty confusing and may be why this other footage has been taken down.

Moreover, fans point out that the reveals of Pokemon X and Y have not been removed and are still present on the YouTube channels. The reason for that, says a fan, is that “We never had an enhanced version of X & Y that could muddle the message. Typically they remove videos when things like that could happen.”

Or, the take downs of these videos could be nothing and fans are just jumping to conclusions. Things will likely be made clear during the Nintendo E3 2017 presentation, where the company plans to discuss upcoming Nintendo Switch games. If Pokemon Star is being made for the platform, the company will probably make its existence known here, revealing a release date and price for the highly rumored and highly anticipated game.

Pokemon Sun and Moon are now available for Nintendo 3DS.

Source: NeoGAF

For Honor: Shinobi and Centurion Movesets and Season Pass Outfits Revealed

2017-05-12T07:19:00.000-07:00

During the For Honor livestream today, a few of the game's developers showed the movesets and Season Pass outfits for both the Shinobi and Centurion. From first looks, the Shinobi has a massive amount of chains and mix-ups available, while the Centurion focuses more on uninterruptible attacks.

Season Pass Outfits

Both of these new cosmetics will only be available to For Honor players that have purchased the Season Pass. If you buy the Season Pass later, you'll be retroactively gifted these outfits for the Shinobi and Centurion as well as the original release cosmetics.

Shinobi

The Season Pass outfit for the Shinobi goes the opposite direction compared to the base model. From the class' trailers, the Shinobi wears simpler armor that is predominantly blue.

Centurion

The Season Pass outfit for the Centurion makes him look more like a Roman Legionnaire or an officer of the army.

Movesets

Shinobi

Looking at the Shinobi's moveset, the class will feature more mix-ups and creative combos than other For Honor classes.

For his melee ranged attacks, the Shinobi has one of the longest combos in For Honor and it even applies the bleed effect. Interestingly, the new class can activate "Super Sprint" which will allows him to move faster than other characters, but should drain stamina.

Looking at the "hero specific" section, the Shinobi can charge an attack with his Kusarigama to throw out the weapon as a ranged attack. This ability can lead to plenty of moveset options such as a grab, kick, or the Sickle Rain combo.

Of all the classes in For Honor, the new class definitely has the most loops, and the most complicated ones at that.

Furthermore, the Shinobi has the ability to dodge twice, once more than other characters. It can lead into a simple kick, a light attack, or a heavy attack.

Centurion

For Honor's Centurion seems to be all about breaking through his opponents' defenses.

Off of any chain, the Centurion is able to use his Imperial Might to finish the combo with an unblockable attack. What's more, the new class seems to have a similar leaping attack as the Peacekeeper's, though the Centurion's is a heavy attack.

As you can see, plenty of the Centurion's attacks are unblockable and you can even land guaranteed lights after a charged heavy. Interestingly, you can activate the jumping Eagle's Fury attack any time you stagger your opponent.

Overwatch Anniversary Event & GOTY Edition Leaked

2017-05-12T06:32:00.002-07:00

Oh, not again. Just as Overwatch's Uprising game mode was initially leaked via the Xbox store and caught by TrueAchievements.com, the Overwatch Anniversary event was outright confirmed thanks to a combination of datamining and the sheer fact that the event's loot boxes are now listed for purchase through the same outlet.

It even confirms when the game mode will end, which gives us a pretty good idea for when it'll begin as well:

Celebrate Overwatch's anniversary with a batch of commemorative treats for your heroes during a new event: Overwatch® Anniversary! Kick off the celebration with a bang by picking up Anniversary Loot Boxes*. Every Loot Box contains up to four cosmetic items, including at least one Anniversary Skin, Spray, Highlight Intro, Emote, Victory Pose, Player Icon, or Voice Line. More than 100 Anniversary goodies are waiting for you! If your Anniversary Loot Box contains an item that is already in your collection, you will instead receive in-game Credits that you can use to acquire many customization options. *Anniversary Loot Boxes are available to purchase or earn in-game until June 5, 2017.

Overwatch events have generally been three weeks long, so we know when it starts too -- next week, and probably starting on the 16th.

There have been indirect confirmations to this as well. The Patch 1.11 PTR just closed, meaning that a new patch should be on its way soon (hopefully without that infinite dragonblade issue). Furthermore, the Overwatch social media account didn't outright dismiss or avoid discussions about anything related to the anniversary, and merely claimed that they couldn't talk timeframe yet.

The anniversary event is expected to include a brand-new legendary skin for Symmetra, and datamining has revealed a lot more other cosmetic content besides, as well as possibly a game mode.

In addition to that, it's been confirmed that we are indeed getting a 1 year anniversary themed event, and there's a Game of the Year edition on top of that!

This time it was the Xboxes fault that the news leaked, via site Trueachievements, who datamined info on the two components of the upcoming festivities. The GOTY edition is set to release on May 23rd, a day before the actual anniversary and seems to include the current Origins edition, as well as 10 anniversary loot boxes and possibly some more cosmetic items.

Requires Xbox Live Gold. Sold Separately. Get the game that's won more than 100 Game of the Year Awards! Clash on the battlefields of tomorrow and choose your hero from a diverse cast of soldiers, scientists, adventurers, and oddities. Bend time, defy physics, and unleash a dizzying array of extraordinary powers and weapons. Engage your enemies in iconic locations from around the globe in the ultimate team-based shooter. This download includes: • The full game. • 10 Bonus Loot Boxes with cosmetic goodies for your Overwatch heroes. • Origin Skins for 5 Overwatch heroes. • A Baby Winston Pet for adventures in World of WarCraft. • The Tracer Hero for battling it out in Heroes of the Storm. • And more!

Everything You Need to Know About the Upcoming Pokemon GO Gym Rework

2017-05-11T07:24:00.002-07:00

Pokémon GO Gym rework (update) is a set of meta shifting changes to Pokémon GO gyms, announced by John Hanke and planned for Spring of 2017.

Players data mining efforts in the previous months discovered a lot about the upcoming gym rework in Pokémon GO. This page documents everything that is currently known and the history of the upcoming gym update.

There is no official release date for the Pokémon GO gym rework.

Everything we know about the upcoming Gym rework

Through various instances of data mining and through Niantic’s official posts and statements, here’s everything we know about the upcoming Pokémon GO Gym rework.

Ready for raiding

Thanks to the magic of data mining, we now know that the following mechanics are part of the upcoming update:

Raid encounters will randomly take place in your local area
Pokémon will get hungry while fighting
Real time notifications will let you know that a raid is happening nearby

Note: The list of notifications is in the next section

These features were first discovered in the app’s network traffic and later confirmed in our 0.63.1 data mine:

.ACTIVITY_DEFEAT_RAID_POKEMON

.ACTIVITY_FEED_BERRY

.ACTIVITY_SEARCH_GYM

It’s not yet clear what effect will feeding your Pokémon have, but it is speculated that Pokémon hunger will be used to decay stagnant gyms. Interestingly, the “search gym” activity is also a mystery currently.

Real time notifications

Real time alerts (push notifications) will be used to notify players that a raid is taking place in their vicinity. Same technology is used to alert Trainers about the status of their Pokémon.

These messages were discovered so far:

Gym rework notifications
Notification	Variant
Nearby raid is starting	There’s a raid about to start near you!
	A raid’s going to start nearby!
	Nearby raid starting soon!
Pokémon won a battle	{0} defended the Gym!
	{0} was victorious in battle!
	{0} has triumphed over your opponents!
Pokémon lost a battle	{0} lost a battle!
	{0} was defeated in battle!
	{0} fainted at the Gym!
Gym removal	{0} has fought hard and returned!
	{0} is back after a hard battle!
	{0} was forced off the Gym!
Pokémon is hungry	{0} is hungry!
	{0} needs a pick-me-up!
	{0} wants a berry!

Limit for same species Pokémon in the gym

Together with the new raid features discovered in 0.63.1, one balance change was also found. Niantic is limiting the number of same-species Pokémon that can be deployed in a single gym.

In an effort to fight “pure-Blissey” gyms, players will soon be limited to have only 1 or two of the same Pokémon specie in a gym.

Destiny 2 Subclasses Clue May be Hidden in Hats

2017-05-11T04:06:00.000-07:00

While gamers await the official reveal of Destiny 2 gameplay on May 18th, it appears retailer Gamestop has offered new clues about the highly anticipated sequel thanks to a new line of merchandise. This week, Gamestop rolled out a new set of Destiny 2 hats that include unique symbols never before seen in Destiny, and many believe these are our first hints at the new subclasses.

There are three hats in total, each of which has an animal symbol, an icon representing one of the three Destiny classes (Hunter, Titan, Warlock), and a representation of the Traveler. For clarity’s sake, the Hunter hat features a snake, the Titan hat features a Lion, and the Warlock hat features an eagle. Some have pointed out that these three creatures make up the mythical Chimera, but what that could mean is anyone’s guess.

In truth, there is a lot of room for interpretation. It could be that Destiny 2 has done away with subclasses being element based and is now making them animal based, giving each class abilities that would match their respective “animal spirit.” There’s also the possibility that these symbols represent new factions, since the Tower has been destroyed and vendors like Future War Cult and Dead Orbit have potentially been done away with.

It’s even possible that these images were simply chosen because they look cool and in no way hint towards changes to Destiny 2. Bungie loves to use medieval imagery when designing Destiny armor, so perhaps these symbols fit in with that motif. Even if the symbols have nothing to do with new subclasses, though, there is a strong belief that Bungie will be revamping how abilities work in the sequel.

Whatever the case may be, Gamestop has offered up a new clue about Destiny 2 and the fan base is trying to make sense of what a set of symbols mean. It wouldn’t be the first time that Gamestop has offered up hints about Destiny 2 – the retailer did leak the first marketing materials for the sequel – and it may not be the last.

Those looking for official info, however, will have to wait until that Destiny 2 gameplay reveal on May 18th, where Bungie will show off footage and give select members of the media a chance to play the game on PS4 and PC.

Ghost Recon Wildlands PVP May be Objective Based and Include AI Soldiers

2017-05-11T03:15:00.001-07:00

Based on a compiled leak of Ghost Recon Wildlands PVP, the game mode seems to include AI opponents. JRavens, the player that datamined much of the PVP content, has found images of several maps for Wildlands multiplayer as well as a post-game statistic screen detailing one the PVP modes.

Game Mode and AI Opponents

Of course, Wildlands will track your contributions to the match through various categories such as kills or team support. More interestingly, NPCs and Resources are an important enough factor to be shown in the stats. Here's one of the post-game screens found in the datamine:

As in Titanfall's multiplayer, you will likely be able to kill enemy AI in both team deathmatch game modes and objective game modes to contribute small point gains for your team. Usually the value of an AI-kill compared to a player-kill would be much less, but still valuable when dealing with AI in groups.

More importantly, it seems at least one of Ghost Recon Wildlands' PVP game modes will center around resource collection, just like in the singleplayer campaign. You may have to fight over specific objective spawns to gather resources and whichever team claims the required amount first, wins.

Map

In classic multiplayer fashion, Ghost Recon Wildlands' PVP pits two teams against each other on separate sides of the map. At first glance, it's hard to tell how large the map actually is because there are no in-game screenshots to scale the terrain shown.

According to JRavens, the same map is used many different times, but with updated layouts and objectives. The image below shows a more tactical outline of the map. The blue highlighted areas denote different things such as player spawns, bridges, and more importantly, the objective locations for the speculated resource-oriented game mode.

Ghost Recon Wildlands PVP was announced on as the game was launched, but the feature has no release timeline set.

For Honor Shinobi and Centurion Executions and Emotes Leaked

2017-05-10T21:26:00.000-07:00

With Season Two of For Honor's Faction War coming up next week, all of the executions and emotes for the Shinobi and Centurion have leaked days early. Ubisoft has a trend of releasing some ridiculous emotes for every class in For Honor, and continues it with both new classes. The new animations for the Shinobi and Centurion have similar prices compared to the other classes, running you 4000 Steel each.

For Honor's Season Two, including the Shinobi, Centurion, new maps, and new gear rarity release on May 16 on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.

Shinobi

The Shinobi's executions are no less brutal than other For Honor classes, but have much more flair. That said, most of the Shinobi's executions will take longer to complete, which may lead to possible interrupts. You should know how dangerous it is leaving a revivable enemy on the ground.

Centurion

Similar to the Shinobi's, the Centurion takes a lengthy time to finish his executions, though they're much more ferocious. Interestingly enough, one of the new Centurion executions alludes to the "Are you not entertained?" scene from the movie Gladiator.

Based on previous leaks, the new For Honor classes will cost a whopping 15,000 Steel each to recruit, a massive jump from the base characters' price. However, if you own the Season Pass you should unlock the Shinobi and Centurion for free and have access to them on May 16. Standard players will have to wait until May 23 to unlock them.

Alongside For Honor's new classes, two new maps will be available at the start of Season Two, Forge and Temple Garden. Both maps are similar in aesthetics and structure to the game's previous maps, but are closer tied to the new characters' themes.

Furthermore, a new rarity of gear will be available on May 16. Once you hit Reputation level five, you have a chance to scavenge Epic gear to continue improving your character's stats.

For Honor's Shinobi and Centurion will be released with Season Two of the Faction War on May 16, first for Season Pass owners.

Battle Bay Perks Guide: The Best Perks to Have to Rule the Sea!

2017-05-10T11:11:00.001-07:00

If you’ve been playing Battle Bay for any given amount of time, you’ve likely come across in-game Perks. If you’re wondering how Perks work in Battle Bay, or are simply wondering what Perks are available to you in the game, we’ve put together a comprehensive guide that should help get you up to speed!

Battle Bay - How to Choose and Activate Perks

In Battle Bay, you’re able to activate certain Perks which can help give you an advantage in a wide variety of situations. This can be a confusing process, as many available Perks don’t have a respective perk slot. In order to activate a Perk in Battle Bay, you’ll need to have both the Perk available to you, as well as an open Perk slot.

Additionally, you want to make sure the Perk you’re looking to activate has the ability to be equipped to the item of your choice, as many Perks can only be activated on specific items in Battle Bay. Now, when it comes down to which Perk you choose to equip, this can be done at your discretion.

The reason being that any Perk you activate and equip can later be removed from an item in Battle Bay without penalty. So, if you end up earning a better Perk later on in the game, or if you’re just looking to try a certain Perk out, feel free to experiment as much as you like. Especially considering how you’re unable to scrap Perks in Battle Bay, so you might as well use them.

As such, try to activate and equip your Perks to an item, as they’re otherwise useless to you in Battle Bay.

Battle Bay - Best Perks to Activate and Equip

Again, the Perks you choose to activate and equip in Battle Bay are left up to you, as you’re able to change them around depending on how you play the game. That said, you’ll want to prioritize Perks that increase stats such as damage and hit points, or those that increase the efficacy of your weapons in Battle Bay.

If you don’t currently have any of the aforementioned Perks available, you can still use whatever Perks you currently have, as any added bonus in Battle Bay is better than no bonus at all. To restate the information above, you can always swap out Perk once you earn something better.

So, if you earn a new Perk that gives you a better damage boost than the one you currently have equipped in Battle Bay, simply swap them out.

Battle Bay - How to Earn New Perks

You may be wondering to yourself, how can I earn new Perks in Battle Bay? The easiest way to earn new Perks in Battle Bay is to keep an eye on the Market. This is because there’s typically one or more Perks available for purchase via the use of Gold Coins.

You can also refresh the Market by watching an ad, by spending Pearls, or for free if you currently have a VIP subscription. It’s rumored that Perks could drop from Chests, though we’ve had a hard time finding concrete evidence to support this theory in Battle Bay.

Battle Bay - Full Perk List

Below, you’ll find a list of all currently known Perks in Battle Bay. Be sure to check back to see if we’ve added more, and use this list as a way to pick and choose the best Perks for you in Battle Bay!

Item Range: Increases range on all items in Battle Bay.

Ship Hitpoints: Adds extra hit points to a ship (works with all ships in Battle Bay).

Freeze Duration: Adds a varied amount of slow effect duration depending on Perk rarity in Battle Bay.

Torpedo Damage: Adds a varied amount of Torpedo damage depending on Perk rarity in Battle Bay.

Overboost Duration: Adds a varied speed increase (can only be used on Overboost) in Battle Bay.

Repairing Boost: Adds a varied amount of increased repair effect to all repairing items depending on rarity in Battle Bay.

Cannon Damage: Adds a varied amount of extra damage to all Cannons (can only be equipped on Cannons) in Battle Bay.

Shield Hit Points: Increases the hit points of all shields by the indicated Perk amount in Battle Bay.

Repairing Cooldown: Reduces the cooldown time to all repairing items by the indicated Perk amount in Battle Bay.

Again, be sure to check back to see an updated list of Perks in Battle Bay.

World of Warcraft 7.3 & Beyond: The Next Villain!

2017-05-10T08:29:00.000-07:00

I've been pondering for a while now about what's going to happen down the road past 7.3 and beyond, and tonight I thought I'd share a bit of a list of "bad guys (and gals)" who are still alive and who Blizzard might utilize in the future. This list has a little over a dozen baddies, some of which may be used in future patches (7.3+) or even entire expansions based around them.

[Spoiler Warning: There WILL be some spoilers from both the game, the Chronicles book, and other places, so if you don't mind that - read on!]

Anyways, without further warning, here are the baddies that we know are still alive and well (in some way), in no particular order:

1) Mal'Ganis

Why he is important: He was the personal jailor to the Lich King, and beckoned Arthas to chase him to Northrend during the WC3 campaign, leading Arthas to become the new Lich King.

Last seen: Summoned into our world by Gul'dan on the Broken Shore, in front of the Tomb of Sargeras.

Current whereabouts: Unknown.

Where he might show up: He is currently on Azeroth, but he may retreat back to Argus and we may have to deal with him there - or he may be disguised as another individual, as Nathrezim are tricky like that. We may see him before the expansion is up.

2) Lord Jaraxxus

Why he is important: It's everyone's favorite Eredar, Lord Jaraxxus from the Trial of Crusader raid in WotLK - "You face Jaraxxus!"

Last seen: Summoned into our world by Gul'dan on the Broken Shore, in front of the Tomb of Sargeras.

Current whereabouts: Unknown.

Where he might show up: Unsure, as I feel like he should have made an appearance by now. He could be plotting something further.

3) Sathrovarr the Corrupter

Why he is important: He was the Dreadlord responsible for possessing and corrupting Kalecgos in the Sunwell Plateau (in BC).

Last seen: Summoned into our world by Gul'dan on the Broken Shore, in front of the Tomb of Sargeras.

Current whereabouts: Unknown.

Where he might show up: Just as Jaraxxus, Sathrovarr should have showed up already and possibly confronted Kalecgos - but perhaps he is going to get "back" at Kalec by going after his love - Jaina Proudmoore. By possessing her. Turning her into a Dreadlord.

4) Kel'Thuzad

Why he's important: He formed the Cult of the Damned which was responsible for spreading the Plague throughout Lordaeron, and became one of the Lich King's most powerful agents, commanding Scourge from his necropolis, Naxxramas.

Last seen: His physical form was defeated in Naxxramas years ago, but his phylactery had not been destroyed.

Current whereabouts: Unknown, either still residing within his Phylactery, or brought back and plotting.

Where he might show up: Kel'Thuzad may not make an appearance this expansion, but if they are to have another undead/scourge themed expansion, Kel'Thuzad would have to show up - if not be the main villain.

5) Queen Azshara

Why she is important: She was responsible for bringing in the Legion the first time, and is ultimately responsible for the deaths of millions, as well as the resulting sundering of the world 10,000 years ago.

Last seen: While questing in Azsuna, players get captured by Naga and are rescued by Prince Farondis, who meets face-to-face with Queen Azshara herself, who forewarns that her "wrath" is coming. This is in reference to the last boss of the Eye of Azshara dungeon, literally named "Wrath of Azshara". However, during the dungeon, after you defeat King Deepbeard, with his dying breath he ominously warns: "You... haven't won... She... is almost here..."

Current whereabouts: Under the ocean, perhaps in Ny'alotha, the sleeping city.

Where she might show up: Quite possibly next expansion, if King Deepbeard's warning is accurate - Azshara herself seems to be on the way.

6) N'zoth

Why he is important: He is an Old God, responsible for twisting the former Night Elves under Azshara into Naga - so almost every Naga you see in game is under his command (some aren't).

Last seen: Not since the days of the Black Empire.

Current whereabouts: Largely unknown, although he may be residing in, or under, the sleeping city of Ny'alotha - although there is speculation that he may be under the Temple of Elune, on the Broken Shore, as according to the Warcraft Chronicle Vol 2, page 105:

"After vanquishing Sargeras' avatar, Guardian Aegwynn sought a place to bury the body so that its dark magic would not disturb the world. She settled on the sunken ruins of an ancient Night Elven temple (which we now know as The Temple of Elune) ------ which some legends say was built upon an even older structure of mysterious origins."

Where he may show up: Quite possibly next expansion, but most definitely tied/paired with Azshara in some way, as they are directly bonded with each other (he honestly might be banging her).

7) C'thun

Why he is important: Also another Old God, responsible for all the things in Silithus and everything to do with Silithid.

Last seen: A portion of his form slipped through the cracks of his prison cell, which players defeated back in AQ40.

Current whereabouts: Locked up in his cell, under Silithus. Unsure if he has internet access.

Where he may show up: It's quite possibly that next expansion, all the Old Gods are released from their cells, and we have to deal with all hell breaking loose on Azeroth.

8) Yogg'Saron

Why he is important: He's another Old God, and arguably the most active of the remaining 3, as he is responsible for many things: the Curse of Flesh, the Emerald Nightmare, corrupting Loken (who corrupted Helya), driving everyone in Ulduar mad, and his link to the Scourge may have been poorly expressed by Blizzard during WotLK, but he was bonded to the undead in many ways.

Last seen: A portion of his power slipped through the cracks of his prison into Ulduar, which had been defeated by players.

Current whereabouts: Locked back up in his cell.

Where he might show up: Just as with C'thun, Yogg'Saron may show up in an expansion in the near future, at full, or at least, recovering strength - alongside the other Old Gods.

9) Varimathras

Why he is important: Varimathras is a Dreadlord and was an agent of the Burning Legion, then betrayed his brothers and offered his life in service to Lady Sylvanas, whom he served for several years, residing beside her in the Undercity until WotLK.

**Last seen: Players who played during WotLK will remember the Wrathgate events and what followed after; Grand Apothecary Putress, who unleashed the New Plague on both factions and the Lich King, was under the command of Varimathras. Players then take part in a united Alliance/Horde "scenario" where you defeat, and kill, Varimathras in the Undercity (note: this is no longer available in-game).

Current whereabouts: Demons, of course, do not die, but return to the Twisting Nether where they are reformed. It's possible that Varimathras has not yet fully recovered, after we *really** beat the shit out of him*, so he may still be in the Twisting Nether, as he does not appear on the Broken Shore - and has not been seen since WotLK.

Where he might show up: Possibly Argus, if Blizzard remembers he exists. Unless he is still recovering, it's quite possible we would see him even further off into the future, alongside Mal'ganis (although, Mal'ganis might still be a little pissed off that Varimathras betrayed his brothers Detheroc and Balnazzar in WC3, which, wasn't that long ago).

10) God King Rastakhan

Why he is important: Rastakhan is the ruler of the Zandalari Trolls, who sits upon his golden throne in Zuldazar, the capital of Zandalar. The Zandalari Trolls are the most powerful tribe of Trolls, and thus, Rastakhan, being their God King, may be one of the most powerful Trolls alive (rip vol'jin).

Last seen: We only see him in-game as Lorewalker Cho tells us the story behind him and Zul (the troll prophet responsible for the Zandalari trolls being in Pandaria, on the Island of Thunder, and allying with the Mogu).

Current whereabouts: Rastakhan refused to leave his golden throne, even as we learned (through various texts in-game during MoP) that Zandalar was possibly sinking, or already at the bottom of the ocean. The fate of the island, as well as Rastakhan's, and the other Zandalari troll's, is currently unknown.

Where he might show up: As with Kul'Tiras, speculation has long held that Zandalar may make an appearance in WoW in the "Azshara expansion" (typically called South Seas expansion), and if Zandalar is not currently at the bottom of the ocean, Rastakhan should make an appearance as well, and he's probably not going to be very friendly toward us.

11) Void Lords

Why they are important: Void Lords are beings of pure shadow that dwell in the Void. They are the direct opposite of Light, which is to say, they are essentially pure Evil, and all indications seem to point to them being the final baddies to defeat.

Last seen: Ultimately, the void, or fragments of them, can be found nearly everywhere, such as Dimensius the All-Devouring, whom Xal'atath refers to, among others, as "fragments, shadows, the faintest of echoes". Other notable Void entities include Voidwalkers (that Warlocks summon), Voidcallers, Void Revenants (such as Nhallish in Shadowmoon Burial Grounds, and even some beings can be infected/fall victim to the Void, such as Naarus (who become Dark Naarus), or even player Shadow Priests, when using Voidform or Surrender to Madness (you guys really shouldn't be playing with that power). The most notable/famous Void beings are the Old Gods themselves.

Current whereabouts: Technically, the Void (or Shadow) exists wherever the Light is absent, but for all intents and purposes, we're focusing on the big baddies who exist within the Void.. where exactly that is, I have no idea.

Where they might show up: Again, this can be left up to speculation. Some believe, according to the Anduin comic, the final battle will take place in the distant future, with High King Anduin leading the forces of the Light, alongside Prophet Velen, to battle with the Void. Where this takes place is beyond me, but as Anduin/Velen and the Army of Light are on the Exodar, they may be travelling through the Great Dark to find the Voidiest-Voidy part of the endless Void, and just, I dunno.. stab the fuck out of the Void.

Below here is a list of "maybes", in that they aren't **currently villains but very well may become one in the future.**

1) Sylvanas Windrunner

Why she is important: She is the current Warchief of the Horde, connoisseur of Val'kyr, and Blizzard seems to be building up as a potential villain, with her recent antics in Stormheim and colonialist mindset.

Last seen: Attempting to subjugate Eyir with use of the Soulcage, trying to force the Val'kyr to obey her instead. She is thwarted by Uncle Greymane. And is pissed.

Current whereabouts: She is currently chilling in Undercity, but occasionally uses a cellphone whenever a Horde player nears a Warden Tower, and proceeds to yell at them to crush Greymane's forces.

Where she might show up: One can spend countless hours speculating on the future, and fate, of Sylvanas Windrunner, but in all likelihood, we may see her confront Alleria, her sister, if we should come across them on Argus (which we may, as Blizzard plans to update Turalyon's model, will return with source later). However, as far as the "villain" role goes, that's left up to interpretation and could be dealt over the next couple of expansions.

2) Wrathion

Why he is important: He is the ~last~ one of the two last remaining Black Dragons, and directly responsible for the Warlords of Draenor expansion, as he had his agent Kairozdormu free Garrosh and transport him to AU Draenor, ironically enough the vision which Wrathion had of the Legion returning to Azeroth, was kind of caused by him.

Last seen: Although many might not have seen him, he briefly made an appearance in WoD, during the Legendary Ring questline - players returning the Tomes of Chaos to Cordana Felsong will see Wrathion, in whelp-form, sitting on a Kirin Tor banner outside of Khadgar's tower - spying? - which he then, upon seeing the player, will quickly fly away to who-knows-where.

Current whereabouts: Unknown, although during the Legion Beta, Wrathion did make an appearance in Highmountain (during the Ebonhorn questline), but this has since been scrapped.

Where he might show up: At this point, we have no idea, although he may be brought in next expansion - oddly enough, for warning and trying to prepare us to unite against the Legion, Wrathion is conspicuously absent in, y'know, fighting the Legion.

3) Bolvar Fordragon, the New Lich King

Why he is important: Currently, he's the Jailor of the Damned, and current Commander of the Scourge, as well as player Death Knights. He's also kind of losing his shit since putting on the Helm of the Lich King.

Last seen: Player Death Knights are commanded, by Bolvar, to raise Tirion Fordring as the 4th and final Horseman. This plot fails, however, the morality of this command is questionable at worst, and practically a declaration of war onto all Paladin-kind.

Current whereabouts: Chillin' out on his throne.

Where he may show up: Blizzard may intend on putting the new Lich King up as a villain soon, if not in the next expansion, then certainly soon after. Whatever the case may be, Bolvar probably can't continue on much longer.

4) Jaina Proudmoore

Why she is important: Jaina was formerly the Leader of the Kirin Tor, until lots of things happened and she went crazy and racist (justifiably, though).

Last seen: She bailed on her position as Leader of the Kirin Tor when she was told the Horde would be taking up residency in her city.

Current whereabouts: Unknown, although speculation leads us to believe she may have gone back home to Kul'Tiras, an island nation southwest of Gilneas.

Where she may show up: It's long-been speculated that Kul'Tiras would become available/in-game once the "Azshara expansion" comes out, as oceans and islands and what not. This is further reinforced by a small 'easter egg' currently found in-game, in Azsuna - in the Sea Giant Arena, we get a glimpse of Zandalari Trolls and Kul'Tiras sailors, obviously shipwrecked. This may be hinting at Kul'Tiras being available soon (next expansion), and if Jaina has returned there, that's where we will find her.

5) Magatha Grimtotem

Why she is important: She killed Cairne. She's the leader of the Grimtotem, and currently allying with us (Shamans) for "her own reasons".

Last seen: Player Shamans help her and recruit her as a Champion for their Order Hall, as well as the Doomstone (powerful artifact), which players take away from her.

Current whereabouts: Standing 2 feet away from the Doomstone, unguarded.

Where she might show up: It's unlikely her story will be pursued further this expansion, as Blizzard does not seem keen on doing too much more Class-specific story quests (as per recent Q&A), at least not in 7.3 or 7.4, if they did one. Next expansion she may be more centralized as a villain.

6) Xal'atath, Blade of the Black Empire

Why she(?) is important: She's extremely ancient, dating back to the time of the Black Empire, and speculation believes she may be the remains of a forgotten Old God, or even the claw of Y'shaarj itself.

Last seen: She was last in the possession of the Twilight's Hammer, being used in a ritual to reanimate Zakajz the Corrupter, an agent of Yogg'Saron.

Current whereabouts: She is in the hands of player Shadow Priests, and occasionally whispers sweet nothings to them.

Where she might show up: Although Blizzard has stated they plan to have us lose our artifact weapons after Legion, perhaps in some climactic sacrificial way (aka, Broxigar and the Axe of Cenarius), it's quite possible that Xal'atath would be used differently post-Legion, as she is incredibly knowledgeable and possibly of ill-intent. She is Void, and Void is not good.

That's all for this list. Some of these are not villains at the moment but may become one in the future (Sylvanas, Magatha, etc), so I've included them in this list. I can't think of anymore to add to this list and I'd like to keep this list relatively up-to-date for reference points as to who-the-hell-is-still-out-there-that-we-probably-maybe-have-to-fight, so if you think of anyone or if I've gotten something wrong in this post, please let me know down below and I will edit as needed.

Gym Raid, Real-time Alerts, New Sponsor and Anti Cheat Discovered in Latest Pokemon GO v0.63.1 Update

2017-05-10T07:53:00.000-07:00

The data mine of 0.63.1 APK is complete! Although Niantic tried to trick us with the change log for this update, we’ve managed to avoid any traps they’ve laid for us. The data mine is very exciting and contains spoilers for future updates. Manage your hype responsibly!

Update (9:47 AM UTC): minor text fixes for title, added “small changes” like memory management etc, typo fixes.

Table of contents:

Gym raids added to the APK
Raid encounters added
Pokémon feeding added
Max same Pokémon per Gym added
Anti-cheat mechanism added
New sponsor (NIA_OPS)
More redeemable codes support

We’re highlighting the most important changes here, but there was a full suite of other changes: better memory management, re-work of the news feature, a number of refactored features.

Let’s start with the important things!

Gym raids added to the APK

Prior to this release, a dump of network traffic showed that Gym raids are potentially coming. Now it’s official, as handling of raid related network requests for was added to the APK. Although this feature doesn’t look nearly finished in this release, this is what was added inside:

.ACTIVITY_DEFEAT_RAID_POKEMON

.ACTIVITY_FEED_BERRY

.ACTIVITY_SEARCH_GYM

Together with the network handling code, a new code supporting push notifications was also added. Push notifications will be used to notify you of a nearby raid:

.UNKNOWN_PLATFORM_CLIENT_ACTION

.REGISTER_PUSH_NOTIFICATION

.UNREGISTER_PUSH_NOTIFICATION

.UPDATE_NOTIFICATION_STATUS

.OPT_OUT_PUSH_NOTIFICATION_CATEGORY

There is also code mentioning a possible new map overlay, but the results of that were inconclusive. Moreover, we think that 0.63.1 is not the actual build that Niantic is working on, but one of the previous builds used for testing. Hence, this feature isn’t completely fleshed out.

In any case the new code confirms our earlier reports:

Raids are coming, it’s yet completely clear how they work
Feeding your Pokémon is soon to become a thing for Gyms, probably to “prevent stagnant gyms”
What “Search” means in this context is yet to be clarified

Limit for same-species Pokémon in a gym

In an effort to further reduce Gym stagnation and increase Gym diversity, Niantic has added a new setting for gyms – a limit to the number of same Pokémon that can be deployed at the gym.

This change directly counters “Blissey gyms”, which are stacked with 5 Blisseys that are impossible to take down. There is some speculation that this could be related to Legendary usage limits, but it’s purely speculation.

.get_MaxSamePokemonAtFort

.set_MaxSamePokemonAtFort

Anti-cheating tool handling

We’ve recently reported that Niantic has deployed a new anti-sniping tool on their backend. The 0.63.1 APK contains a new flag marking if an encounter was blocked by the anti-cheat tool.

Interestingly, PokéStop spins are not blocked by this tool:

ENCOUNTER_BLOCKED_BY_ANTICHEAT

New sponsor

Along with these changes, a new sponsor was added:

.NIA_OPS

NIA OPS stands for Niantic Operatives, so we’re unclear what this sponsorship means, probably something connected to upcoming events.

More support for redeemable codes

Nothing special here, but more code was added to handle redeemable codes:

.PasscodeBindings

.Niantic

.Platform

.Bindings

.Passcode

.Redeem

This is everything we found in this big data mine. Lots of interesting changes, we can’t wait for the next update to shed more light on the Gym rework.

Upcoming Assassin's Creed Origins In-Game Screenshot Leaked

2017-05-09T09:57:00.001-07:00

Not too long ago, it was rumored that the next Assassin’s Creed game is titled Origins, will feature naval combat, and will include settings such as Egypt, Greece, and beyond in an open world capacity. Although all of this information has yet to be confirmed by Ubisoft, it seems as if another bit of scuttlebutt regarding the forthcoming title has made its way online, as what appears to be a new screenshot depicting the succeeding installment in the action-adventure franchise has leaked on the web.

Thanks to a post today by a now deleted and absconded Reddit user, as seen in the screenshot below, Assassin’s Creed fans can get a gander at what might be the tentatively titled Origins‘ protagonist sailing on a small schooner into a port city. Additionally, should those with eagle eyes look a mite closer at the upper left-hand corner of the screenshot, a couple of objectives read to “Assassinate the Crocodile” and to “Follow Shadya to Khenut’s Villa,” intimating possible clues of the setting, as Khenut was an Egyptian Queen during the Fifth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom from 2375 to 2345 BC.

While Assassin’s Creed fans should certainly take the screenshot with skepticism, it’s worth mentioning that the imagery in the picture does sync up with other rumors currently floating around that the next game in the franchise will have elements similar to Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag, and will contain a large open world and two main characters. Plus, as mentioned by the original Reddit poster, it’s reiterated that the Black Flag team is working on the sequel, and will bring back modern day sections, while also using a revamped version of the Anvil Engine to create more seamless transitions through the world.

Should the above image be a fake, one has to admit that its creator did a very convincing job to make it look like an actual product from Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed team. In truth, though, it appears to be legitimate, especially if one compares the character in the picture to an earlier screenshot leak that depicts someone wearing the same pair of pants and wielding the same shield on his back.

Bearing all of this in mind, it will be interesting to see if this particular Assassin’s Creed rumor starts to take shape as the real deal. With Ubisoft having taken a break last year with the franchise’s typically annual release schedule to rest the series and focus on other endeavors, it seems as if the fan base is already eager for another entry, and this screenshot has barely whet their appetites, so hopefully the publisher and developer will have some news about the new game at E3 2017.

Assassin’s Creed: Origins is currently unconfirmed as an official project at this point in time.

Source: Reddit

Pro Tips on How to be the Best Captain in Battle Bay

2017-05-09T09:43:00.001-07:00

A new and brilliant battle area game starring boats has been launched by Rovio under the name of Battle Bay. Cheats and tips are clearly required in order to get the most out of this amazing game that seems to prove that Rovio is finally ready to get past the highly successful Angry Birds franchise and deliver something completely different, yet equally amazing. Yes, I love Battle Bay so far and I am sure I’m not the only one in this situation.

But ruling the seas, unlocking the best boats and getting the most out of this game is not extremely easy and that’s why I am here to help. Below you have some Battle Bay cheats and tips that will help you better understand the game’s mechanics, but also improve your game ASAP. So let’s not waste a single second and let’s check out below some Battle Bay tips and tricks!

Take waves into consideration

You might be great at aiming, but the waves can really mess up with your strategy. So make sure to pay attention to these and only shoot when you are sure that your projectile of choice won’t actually hit a wave and result in a wasted shot. It’s usually best to stay on top of the waves or at least wait until they pass before shooting.

Learn to aim while moving

Everybody loves a sitting duck and you don’t want to be one because you’ll get your ship destroyed in no time. One of the first things you have to learn is to aim and shoot while moving. Master this skill and your life in the game will be a lot easier and you will start getting those 3 star rewards at the end constantly.

Watch the ad bonus at the end

At the end of a battle, you have the option to watch an advertisement to increase your rewards by 20% and also get a Pearl (Premium currency). Take advantage of this offer – but do so when you have won the battle and you already have a nice reward. 20% out of 5,000 is a lot more than 20% out of 500! These ads won’t be available indefinitely so use them when they matter!

Upgrade your Inventory

One of the first things to spend your hard earned Pearls on is increasing your inventory limits. Pretty soon, you will have all sorts of items there and since you won’t know exactly what each does, it’s best to hoard them. So make sure you have enough inventory space in order to do so – and get that storage to at least 30 fast!

As an additional tip for managing the inventory – one that might not matter in most cases, I’d have to say to pay attention to have all the slots available for your ships filled. I spend a bit of time with no items equipped to my starting ship (because I had removed them)… so basically there were three inventory slots that I could’ve gained for free.

Also, a golden rule of thumb is that if you already have an item that’s of a higher rarity than another identical, you can always scrap the lower rarity one as it makes no sense keeping it. In other words, if you have a common and an uncommon cannon, go ahead and scrap the common one and use the pieces to upgrade the uncommon, for example.

Upgrade your inventory

There are a lot of things in Battle Bay and all of them can be upgraded. Start with the obvious ones: inventory materials. Be extremely selective when doing that, though, because the materials required for upgrades are not too easy to get, so if you waste them on upgrading items you don’t use, you won’t get far.

My suggestion is to try a few or several games with different types of weapons and see which one fits your style the best, then focus on upgrading that primary weapon. For example, one extremely popular choice now is the Mortar, but I personally enjoy playing with the Cannon more. See what works for you and upgrade that weapon. Have in mind, though, an extremely important thing: the less common the weapon, the better it is. So don’t waste your time upgrading your common weapon, because you’ll get at least an uncommon version of it really soon.

Train your captains

There are 10 captains that you can unlock in Battle Bay and each offers great bonuses. It also seems that the bonuses are cumulative since you can’t activate one captain. In other words, all the active perks from all the captains are used in the game, meaning that you have to be extremely careful to continuously unlock new ones.

We’ll have an in-depth guide on what to focus on and what to unlock first, as there are different options for each captain, but the golden rule of thumb is to read all the descriptions of all the perks you can unlock and work on those that will help your game the most.

How to win battles

Winning each game in Battle Bay depends on multiple factors, but you can play an important role and help your team more or even win the game for them. In order to do so, here are a few extra things to consider:

– stay with the team: if you play the solitary warrior game, you have the biggest chances to get destroyed instantly. So stick close to your teammates (but not too close) and help them take out enemies fast

– focus on taking out enemies one at a time: this is extremely important because one less enemy means less damage you and your enemies will take. Try taking out the low health enemies first – but in the end, all it matters is to take them out one at a time

– don’t forget to switch weapons: you can bring into battle up to three different weapons or combinations of weapons and items, so don’t forget to switch between them and use them all. After using one item, you’ll have to wait a bit before being allowed to use another, but the waiting time is less than what the weapon itself requires for recharging.

– look at your opponent’s weapon: in many cases, simply by looking at the direction the cannon on your opponent’s ship is facing will help you anticipate if they’re aiming at you and trying to attack or they’re looking elsewhere and might be an easy target for you to continuously shoot at.

Consider getting VIP

Getting the monthly VIP package helps a ton, especially early on in the game. It’s a good idea, therefore, to try and invest in a package as fast as possible in order to cruise through the game at better speeds.

So these would be for now our Battle Bay tips and tricks. Make sure to check back often because we’ll have even more content related to the game and more in-depth guides for you.

Pokemon GO's Evolution Item Drop Rate Increased!

2017-05-09T09:22:00.001-07:00

According to a growing number of reports on reddit and our official Twitter page, a lot of trainers received three evolution items on their 7th day, with some reporting the same increase on random PokéStop spins.

We’ve pulled the latest GAME_MASTER file from our device and it shows the file was updated on May 09, indicating a new server side build went live on Niantic’s servers!

The timestamp of the new build is Tuesday May 09, 2017 03:00:34 (am, UTC)!

According to our research and the change in the GAME_MASTER file, the reports are correct. This change was applied a few hours ago, probably end of workday in Niantic’s San Francisco office.

What is the GAME_MASTER file?

The GAME_MASTER (GM in the rest of the article) is a configuration file for Pokémon GO. It’s downloaded from the Pokémon GO servers and saved onto your Android or iPhone device.

Previous research

Previously, our research showed that Evolution Items have a 0.03% chance of dropping per PokéStop spin. It seems that these chances are no longer relevant, as the increase in drop rates (if permanent) is significant enough to invalidate that research.

This is how item drops looked like before this change:

Item	Drops	% of Drops
Balls	15324	64.66%
Pokéball	11462	48.36%
Greatball	3302	13.93%
Ultraball	560	2.36%
Potions	3744	15.80%
Potion	2321	9.79%
Super Potion	968	4.08%
Hyper Potion	388	1.64%
Max Potion	67	0.28%
Berries	3395	14.32%
Razz Berry	1810	7.64%
Nanab Berry	833	3.51%
Pinap Berry	752	3.17%
Evolution items	33	0.14%
Sun Stone	8	0.03%
King’s Rock	6	0.03%
Dragon Scale	4	0.02%
Upgrade	6	0.03%
Metal Coat	9	0.04%
Other	1205	5.08%
Revive	935	3.94%
Max Revive	74	0.31%
Egg (not correct % due to egg cap!!)	196	0.83%

We will be collecting data to figure out the drop rates soon, so stay tuned.

Destiny Players Discover a Gamebreaking Glitch for Titans

2017-05-09T06:11:00.001-07:00

Although the developers at Bungie have likely shifted focus almost completely to Destiny 2, a new glitch has surfaced in the first game that will need attention. Players have discovered that it is possible for a Striker Titan to get its Shoulder Charge ability off without ever building the necessary momentum.

It’s unclear whether the glitch was unlocked in Destiny or if it was there all along, but this weekend several players began to point it out. And with it, a player can go from a quick sprint to a one-hit kill melee with only a few button presses. Rest assured we won’t explain exactly how to do the instant shoulder charge glitch; this post is more of a heads-up to those playing Crucible this weekend.

Well this is game breaking. Shoulder charge from an almost standing position. pic.twitter.com/gDTkyTHQrA
— NTT == Entity != Nut (@A_DVS_NTT) May 7, 2017

Granted, the glitch is not something that will be very useful in the Crucible, but it could cause problems under the right circumstances. If a player were hiding around a corner, for example, they could pop an unsuspecting player with the shoulder charge and there would be nothing they could do about it. But since the glitch isn’t an actual, instant shoulder charge – the player still needs to sprint a bit – it may not be very game-breaking.

From our perspective, what makes the shoulder charge ability so deadly is that it can be triggered as the Titan flies by from any angle. They may not be as agile as Hunters, but Titans are fast and when one can one-hit kill a player with a shoulder charge that isn’t always easy to contend with. However, a player standing still on the ground and then instantly shoulder charging is likely never to kill anyone.

Nevertheless, this is a glitch and players can expect Destiny developer Bungie will address the issue and have it fixed eventually. How quickly that will be is unclear, but it might be better to get the glitch out of the game before next week’s Iron Banner, as there will be even more players in The Crucible.

As we said, it may not seem like a problem at first glance, but the instant shoulder glitch may unveil larger exploits in the game. If nothing else, expect Bungie to confirm it’s aware of the glitch and how the devs plan to address it.

How a Copy of The Elder Scrolls Saves This Gamer’s Life

2017-05-09T05:46:00.002-07:00

A couple of nights ago, Imgur user Velorok was minding his own business, playing Prey at his desk, when a bullet came blasting through the drywall in his apartment. The bullet could have hit Velorok, but luckily for him, it was stopped by a copy of The Elder Scrolls anthology. Velorok documented the traumatic event in his Imgur gallery, which you can see in its entirety by clicking here.

Velorok’s copy of The Elder Scrolls anthology was sitting on his desk, to the left of his monitor. The bullet ripped through the anthology’s box, and was stopped in-between two Morrowind expansions. His copies of Morrowind and its two expansions were destroyed by the bullet. Velorok thinks his copy of Oblivion would have also been destroyed, had it not been for the fact that the disc was safely in his PC’s disc drive at the time of the shooting.

At the time of this writing, it’s unknown exactly where the bullet came from, but Velorok surmises that it came from the neighboring apartment, which is housed by people that apparently fight on a regular basis. It’s unclear if any of his neighbors were hurt during the ordeal or not, but hopefully the only thing damaged was Velorok’s wall and his copy of The Elder Scrolls anthology box set.

In the meantime, Bethesda caught wind of Velorok’s story and according to his latest update in the gallery, contacted him about what happened. We’re not sure exactly what Bethesda said to Velorok, but it seems likely that the company is going to replace his copy of The Elder Scrolls anthology, or perhaps do something even more special for him. After all, it’s pretty good press for The Elder Scrolls brand that a copy of the anthology literally saved someone’s life.

The Best Ship in Battle Bay [Guide]

2017-05-09T05:28:00.000-07:00

The brilliant Battle Bay has been released globally and everybody loves playing it right now, myself included. There are five ships you can play as at the moment: Shooter, Speeder, Enforcer, Defender and Fixer. So you might be wondering which one is the best option for you. We’re here to help you make that decision with a complete guide to the Battle Bay ships: details on each type of ship and which one to pick.

What’s the best ship in Battle Bay – Shooter, Speeder, Enforcer, Defender or Fixer?

Before answering this question based on my own experience, I think it’s best to check out each Ship with its stats without any equipped weapons and talk a bit about each one.

Battle Bay Shooter Ship

This is the starting ship and I consider it decent and suitable for those who want to go all in into battle and equip multiple weapons. As you can see, it has two weapon slots and one slot for passive effect items, which I would consider decent for those who can easily navigate between weapons and fire their shots constantly.

I don’t really like the attributes of the Shooter though, especially the ship’s agility and the turret’s agility. These are extremely important when it comes to turning your ship and aiming, and the mediocre numbers don’t help out a lot. Otherwise, the ship is pretty fast – the second fastest in the game – but you lose a bit when it comes to steering and aiming.

Battle Bay Speeder Ship

This seems to be the exact opposite of the Shooter: extremely agile and easy to control, the Speeder is fast and easy to use. As a downside compared to the previous vehicle, it can only equip a single weapon, plus a control item and a passive item one. Not exactly the best setup for offensive players, but not bad either.

I am not really a big fan of the Speeder: despite the fact that it’s fast and rarely you need more than one weapon to cause mass destruction in the game, its turret agility does not impress, so it’s a bit more difficult to aim. Overall, I consider it a decent choice, but not the best.

Battle Bay Enforcer Ship

The Enforcer is one of the more massive, impressive ships in Rovio’s Battle Bay. It has decent health, solid speed and it also has impressive stats when it comes to the ship and turret agility. It’s actually the best when it comes to aiming and steering (with just the Speeder beating it when it comes to steering).

In terms of slots, you start with just one weapon slot, one control item slot and one passive booster. Having a bit of variety helps in my opinion and I believe you can still have great results even without equipping two weapons.

Battle Bay Defender Ship

A truly impressive ship with a ton of health and very difficult to destroy. As a downside, it’s extremely slow when it comes to overall speed or the ease of aiming or steering. I would consider this monster one to be used by the more experienced players who really know what they’re doing.

The defender is actually great on offense: it has two weapon slots (starting with two points for each weapon, meaning that you can equip more advanced weapons without upgrading), and one passive item slot. This can be a beast in the right hands.

Battle Bay Fixer Ship

The fixer is a really interesting type of ship that’s suitable for those who are willing to play to help the team. This is the only ship that can equip items that heal itself or help heal teammates. And this can prove to be a huge advantage in tight battles.

It’s also agile and fast – the second best when it comes to speed and agility. It can only equip one weapon and one passive booster, plus the healing item and it can really turn the tides in battle if played by an experienced player.

Which is the best ship in Battle Bay?

This is, of course, a matter of personal opinion and style of play. I personally am enjoying a great spell of success and prefer the Enforcer because it’s the easiest Ship in the game: you can aim easily, you can control it easier and I am almost always the one that deals the most damage in battle. Great, fun, easy to play.

However, lately as I’ve experimented playing this ship a bit more, I am starting to become a big fan of the Fixer as well. This is almost as easy to maneuver as the Enforcer, but it can really help teammates in battle with the right item equipped (I prefer the Repair Pulse). I believe that in the higher stages of the game, this ship really makes a difference.

So this would be our guide to Ships in Battle Bay and my take on the best one to choose as your Doom-bringer. What do you think though? Which is the best ship in the game?

Ghost Recon Wildlands PVP Classes and Weapons Leaked

2017-05-09T01:29:00.000-07:00

Before release, Ubisoft shared very few details about Ghost Recon Wildlands multiplayer PVP mode, though information surrounding the mode's classes and weapons ended up leaking anyway. There will be a total of five classes available in Wildlands' PVP: Assault, Engineer, Scout, Sniper, and Support.

Each class features a unique ability as well as different gear loadouts and armor levels. Furthermore, there are filenames under Tools and Equipment headers which may allow you to change the standard ability listed in the loadouts.

You can find the loadout mock-ups below.

Assault

The Assault class will utilize assault rifles as their primary weapon and carries a larger pool of grenades compared to most other classes. Wearing level two armor with no drawbacks to stamina or speed, Assault looks to be the most adaptable class in Ghost Recon Wildlands' PVP.

Assault also features the Scanner ability which may allow you to scan for opponents or enemy tech within range.

Engineer

Wildlands' Engineer class allows you to lay out traps for the enemy team. With four mines at your disposal, you can lock down a specific path all on your own. From the loadout image, the Engineer will use a variety of submachine guns and have the Drone ability. You'll likely be able to use the Drone as a tool to gather information on other players' positions and possibly mark them like you can in the campaign.

Scout

Scout looks to be the quickest class available in the PVP mode. Because you'll be wearing level one armor, you'll have increased movement and increased stamina. Just like the Engineer, Scouts will use submachine guns, though the Scout's SMGs will be silenced.

As with the Assault class, Scouts will also use the Scanner ability.

Sniper

Snipers in Ghost Recon Wildlands' PVP modes will do just that, snipe. The class will have no armor value, but will wear a ghillie suit to disguise themselves with the environment. Similarly, the Sniper class features the Jammer ability which will likely counter the use of Drones or Scanners so that they're position is not revealed through enemy tech.

Of course, the Sniper class will have a number of sniper rifles available to them to kill opponents from afar.

Support

The heaviest class of all is the Support class. Wearing the highest level armor of all Wildlands classes, the Support will take the least damage, but will move slower and will not be able to move as far as others.

Support has two mines to use and the Jammer ability, but their overarching purpose will be to suppress opponents with their light machine guns.

Tools and Equipment

There were other tools and equipment listed in the game's files which may allow you to change the abilities you can use in-game. There were no descriptions, but most of the names are straightforward.

Tools:

Aim Assist
Booster
Disruptor
Jammer
Scanner

Equipment:

Ammo Pack
Camera Sensor
Claymore
Placed Turret
Radar Jammer
Taser Mine

In addition to the PVP classes, the weapons included in the coming game mode have also been revealed. The multiplayer game mode will feature many different classes of weapons such as: assault rifles, carbines, bullpups, DMRs, sniper rifles, shotguns, LMGs, SAWs, CMGs, SMGs, and PDRs.

Here are all the weapons found through the Ghost Recon Wildlands PVP datamine:

Assault Rifles, Carbines, and Bullpups

Generally the assault rifles, carbines, and bullpups are likely to be exclusive for the Assault class. However, some of the bullpups such as the VSS Vintorez, SRSA1, and RFB might be available to the Sniper class.

Assault Rifles:

ACR
AK47
SCAR H
CM901
TAR21
R5RGP
M16

Carbines:

G36C
ADCOR
F2000
SG552

Bullpups:

SRSA1
VSS Vintorez
RFB
AUG A3

DMRs and Sniper Rifles

Most of the following weapons are assumed to be under the Sniper class, though the Assault class may be able to use some of the designated marksman rifles found in the files.

DMRs:

MK14
SKS
G28
M110

Sniper Rifles:

MSR
Mosin Nagant
DSR1
Dragunov
L115A3
M40A5
GM6 Lynx

Shotguns

The shotguns found in Ghost Recon Wildlands' PVP are most likely to be utilized by the Engineer or Support classes. Scouts might be able to use them as well, but their kits looks to be a more silent approach.

Shotguns:

M590A1
SPAS12
KSG
M4 Super 90

LMGs and SAWs

As seen in the leaked class overviews, the light machine guns and squad action weapons are exclusive to the Support class.

LMGs:

MG4
121
PKP
Stoner
MK48
PKM
M60

SAWs:

RPK74
ARES16
L86A2
Type 95

CMGs, SMGs, and PDRs

The Colt machine guns, submachine guns, and personal defense machine guns can be used by both the Engineer and Scout classes. If they are available as secondary weapons, then we may see them in the hands of all other classes, though it's unlikely.

CMGs:

MP7A1
P2000
VBR PDW
45T

SMGs:

P90
CZ Scorpion EVO
PP19
Vector 45
UMP 45
MP5SD
FMG9
L22A2

PDRs:

PDRC
PDW
G36K
FAMAS
AKS74U
SR3M

Handguns

Each of the handguns found in the game's files should be available to all classes in Ghost Recon Wildlands' PVP game mode.

Handguns:

M1911
FN Five Seven
C75
Boar
Defender
MP412
GSH18
KARD
OTS-33

All of the weapons listed above were found in Wildlands' game files, but they may not all be present on the multiplayer game mode's release.

Ghost Recon Wildlands PVP does not yet have a release date.

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds Full Guide on Timing and Damage (Zones, Damage charts and Grenades!)

2017-05-07T09:22:00.001-07:00

Time of each zone:

When you get out of the plane you have 5 minutes until the blue zone starts, and another 5 minutes until the blue zone catches up to the white one.

To die in the first zone you have to stay there for 2 minutes and 46 seconds.

The second zone starts: 3mins 30secs, Closes in completely: 2mins 22secs.

The third zone starts: 2mins 30secs, Closes in completely: 1min 30secs.

The fourth zone starts: 2 minutes, Closes in completely: 1min 30secs.

The fifth zone starts: 2 minutes, Closes in completely: 1 minute.

^Keep in mind that the time is calculated after the previous blue zone closes^

Movement time according to the map:

Running time of a single white square (100x100 meters)

Here's a sheet that shows the running differences:

Running time of a single yellow square (1000х1000 meters)

Here's a sheet that shows the running differences:

ALL RUNNING STATS WERE TAKEN FROM: HERE[forums.tiny-spaceship.com]

Damage Charts:

Grenades:
Smoke grenade:
Time before explosion: 3.85
Duration: 50 seconds

Stun grenade:
Time before explosion: 3.32 seconds
The opponent will be blinded for 4.30 seconds

Frag:
Time before explosion: 3.15 seconds

Molotov cocktail:
Duration: 20 seconds