Marvel Heroes is rapidly approaching its June 4 full release, with Founders access opening on May 28.

Lore: Isis, the Goddess of motherhood, fertility and magic, was one of the numerous pervasive gods in Egyptian mythology to crossover into later pantheons in the region. Adapted by the Greco-Roman world, she was worshipped as the ideal women, mother and wife. Like many of the old gods of the Nile region, the realms guarded by Isis changed dramatically over her reign.

Born of the union between Sky and Earth, Nut and Geb, Isis wed her brother Osiris. Their union bore Horus.

Isis’ most famous myth is not for the sibling union specifically, but for her life-giving properties. Set, the sister of both, plotted to kill Osiris by deception. The strategic Set had measured her brother the night before and offered an ornamented box to anyone that could fit inside. Osiris being the only capable, Set tested the fit by closing the lid, sealing Osiris inside. After placing himself in a now-coffin, Osiris and box was pitched into the Nile. The river didn’t do its task. Isis and Nephthys quickly found the box.

Disgusted at her inability to kill Osiris with deceit, she regressed to cutting his body into pieces spreading them across Egypt. After being unable to find the final piece, the phallus of Osiris, Isis created him a new one, then bore life into his reformed body. It’s at this time the couple canoodled to create Horus.

In-Game: Isis completely owns the Goddess of Magic label presented to her by Hi-Rez Studios. The Egyptian goddess is a ranged support mage with an Mp5/Hp5 support aura as part of her passive. Adding to one of the most amazing passives in SMITE today, she gains aura power with deaths in her area, powers up her basic attack with 25% of her magic power and hits in a small AoE with the third strike of her staff. Have an inkling of her desired itemization?

Isis is not an assassin mage alla He Bo or Anubis by any means. Players selecting the mid-ranged character should focus on acting as support, especially when laning, ticking away at nearby enemies, stunning and debuffing them for others to pick up kills. The most effective way to do so is by picking up cooldown reduction, magic power/Mp5 items and, naturally, speed for mobility to maximize her impressive pursuit and escape velocity.

Further reading:

• Isis on Wikipedia

• Egyptian Mythology on Wikipedia

Head over to SMITE: Demigods, Deities and Gods Explained for details on all of the playable characters.

Today, the company announced that the second expansion for DDO will be heading to servers near you on August 19. Originally announced way back in February, Shadowfell Conspiracy introduces two new Adventure Packs, Wheloon and Stormhorns, bringing a prison city and treacherous mountain passes to the Forgotten Realms.

Players that want Turbine to take their money early can allow the company to do so. If you crack that leather you’ll be rewarded with a collection of bonus items, from an extra character slot to a collection of cosmetic and companion characters.

Oh, and if you’re too excited to wait to head to Epic Level 28 Update 18: Disciplines of Shadow, rthe prequel to Shadowfell Conspiracy, went live today.

Check out the latest screenshots, including images of the pre-purchase items after the cut. The full list of pre-purchase items for Collector’s and Standard editions are keeping those images company behind that dangerous button.

Collector’s Edition:  $49.99

 Features all Shadowfell Conspiracy content, with all three Iconic Heroes including a pre-purchase exclusive Shadar-kai cosmetic costume, when it launches, plus immediate access to these items, including other pre-purchase exclusives:

• Bladeforged Paladin Iconic Hero (including additional character slot)- A powerful, offense-focused disciple of the Lord of Blades, Bladeforged Paladins take less damage from slashing weapons and gain a tactical advantage from slashing damage. These devout leaders can repair themselves and fellow constructs.  Their stronger Paladin Aura boosts effectiveness of nearby party members.
• Bladeforged Warrior Blue & Gold Cosmetic Costume (A pre-purchase exclusive)
• Bladeforged Warrior Gold Cosmetic Costume (A pre-purchase exclusive)
• Calico Tressym Creature Companion- A frisky, winged cat of your very own! Comes pre-trained with four tricks (A pre-purchase exclusive)
• Tawny Owlbear Creature Companion- Cuddly and ferocious! Comes pre-trained with four tricks. (A pre-purchase exclusive)
• Stormhorn Specs Cosmetic Goggles
• Mountaineers Cosmetic Goggles
• First expansion quest, ‘Shadow of a Doubt’ (Heroic level 15 only)
• 3 Character Slots
• Greater Tome of Epic Learning (1 per server): Permanently increases experience earned by a character in level 20 or above dungeons.  Provides +25% bonus to experience for first-time quest completions and +10% boost to other earned experience points.
• One +2 Skill Tome per character
• 2,000 Turbine Points

Standard Edition:  $29.99

Features all Shadowfell Conspiracy content, including the Purple Dragon Knight Iconic Hero, when it launches, plus immediate access  to these items, including other pre-purchase exclusives:

• Bladeforged Paladin Iconic Hero (including additional character slot)
• Bladeforged Warrior Gold Cosmetic Costume (A pre-purchase exclusive)
• Stormhorn Specs Cosmetic Goggles
• Calico Tressym Creature Companion (A pre-purchase exclusive)
• First expansion quest: ‘Shadow of a Doubt’
• 1 Character Slot
• Lesser Tome of Epic Learning (1 per server): Permanently increases experience earned by a character in level 20 or above dungeons.  Provides +15% bonus to experience for first-time quest completions and +5% boost to other earned experience points.
• One +1 Skill Tome per character
• 1,000 Turbine Points

The latest Devspeak video explains exactly what a Path is at length, using the already-revealed Explorer to titillate the audience. Then viewers are launched into a discussion about the other options for advanced character customization. The second trailer is more of a lore-based reveal of the Paths feature. It showcases the offbeat and hilarious writing and trailer ninja that’s become a staple to the WildStar community.

Just remember not to feel too special when using a Settlers structure. They’re not doing it to help you, but gain Path XP. The selfish jerks.

Both video reveals of Paths are after the cut followed by a collection of the latest screenshots for the upcoming NCSoft-published title.

Over the weekend a nasty exploit plagued the economy of Neverwinter. The action-oriented Dungeons & Dragons MMORPG saw its economy torn to shreds after a large-enough amount of players began using a recently-discovered exploit. The investigation itself took hours, resulting in numerous restarts, prolonged downtime and the possibility of full rollbacks. This is all due to the bug touching so much of the economy, including the RMT-based Astral Diamonds.

After mulling over the data, Cryptic Studios was forced to do a minor rollback of seven hours. Any progress made on May 19 from 8:20 EST until 3:20 EST was negated. But there’s a bit of a silver lining for all the troubles. Aside from the bans against the exploiters that is. A cat’s paw’s purse, as it may be.

Any character made before Tuesday, May 21 at 6:00 AM can login to receive the Caterday Survivor’s Pack. The pack contains a variety of goodies to ease the downtime and regain trust. Armor, health and even scrolls of teleportation and XP boosts.

Check your mailboxes for the “You Survived” message.

Lore: A giant wolf and son of Loki, Fenrir was prophesied to be the murderer of Odin. Should he have carried out the act of killing the All Father, monstrous beast would have began Ragnarök, the expected apocalypse of Norse mythology. The ensuing war would have seen the death of Thor, Tyr, Freyr, Heimdallr and Loki. Fenrir would have gained little but his own death at the hands of Víðarr, a son of Odin’s. The calamity would not have left the mortal realms safe. Various natural disasters and an ultimate flood would have made sure only two lone humans would survive.

Fenrir wasn’t just the beginning of the end. Loki’s furrier child was renowned for his strength. The great wolf broke numerous bounds as he continued to grow from the daily meals at Tyr’s hand. After two failed bounds, Leyding and Dromi, Odin had the crafty dwarves complete a third fetter, Gleipnir. The Aesir promised that if a bind could hold the great wolf he’d be freed for posing no threat. To be sure Fenrir wasn’t sandbagging his effort Tyr chose to place his hand in the beast’s mouth as a pledge that he was trying his hardest. Tyr’s loss of that hand marked Fenrir’s freedom and one of the best known tales of Norse mythology.

In-Game: Fenrir the Unbound lives up to his mythology by being designed as an incredibly powerful physical melee. Capable of chasing down his opponent with numerous jumps and his ultimate, Fenrir is a difficult character to run away from. Stacking a new meter, Runes, the great wolf needs to land his standard attack to maximize his damage and crowd control capabilities. The Unbound has two built in cleaves and an incredibly powerful physical lifesteal buff. These attributes make Fenrir have brutal sustainability in lane, lacking only mana.

Fenrir players should focus on massacring opponents and making sure they can’t escape. Physical power, attack speed and movement speed will make the only quadrupedal character in SMITE a terror on the battlefield. Aggressive players can add in cooldown reduction once they get a handle on MP5. In a pinch, Fenrir can be built as a secondary tank thanks to rapid health regeneration, including his native lifesteal.

Further reading:

• Fenrir on Wikipedia
• Norse Mythology on Wikipedia
• Poetic Edda by Snorri Sturluson
• Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson

Head over to SMITE: Demigods, Deities and Gods Explained for details on all of the playable characters.

First shown in the recent PAX East interview, Gazillion Entertainment will not be using simple stills or quest dialog to inform the masses of the original story. Included in certain zone introductions and throughout the complex storylines will be ‘Motion Comics.’ The first of these episodes can be found after the cut.

Episode One of “Chronicles of Doom” features the beginning of Doctor Doom’s rise to power, the beginning lore of Marvel Heroes. Check out the 2+ minute trailer after the cut.

This review of the

Before diving into the review proper, it’s important to note that Blizzard is releasing this book in a new fashion. Knaak’s latest work in the World of Warcraft universe will trickle out over the next few months in five installments. Each ringing up at $1.99, effectively costing more for those that purchase the full set. The serialized eBook is currently scheduled to wrap up in mid June. As such, this review will be concise.

Review of Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5.

Dawn of the Aspect has been a struggle to read through. The delayed releases of the individual parts of the eBook has endangered the novel further in my eyes. Rather than continuing reading to reach the next interesting plot point or gloss over additional unnecessary and repetitive detail, one has been left waiting weeks to see anything move forward. It’s been slow going during the first two installments, comprising of 10 chapters.

It’s finally begun to move forward. Progress. In the third installment Knaak tosses his characters into colossal battles with uncertain outcomes. These fledgling sentient beings are met with unfathomable choices and ones of grey moral scope. Readers are left wondering whether these “visions” Kalecgos is having are true historic accounts incapable of change or if the former blue Aspect is somehow playing a role in the eventual outcome. It remains shocking to the audience that such defining events in Azerothian lore haven’t been spoken of by the living Aspects. That notion is the very hook Knaak is attempting to use to his creative advantage.

It started off slow indeed. Boring even. The foundation was laid, but it remained crooked for 10 chapters. Now it’s looking up. Supporting characters, including Jaina and a certain watcher, are keeping each timeline moving. The plot is hitting its crescendo. And Kalecgos is continuing to slip.

Dawn of the Aspects – Part IV comes out May 20.

Interested in exploring Warcraft’s recent lore further?

Blizzard has released a torrent of Warcraft novelizations as WoW has gained in popularity. Most directly related to Dawn of the Aspects are Jaina Proudmoore: Tide of War and The Shattering – Prelude to Cataclysm both by Christie Golden.

Knaak, as the master of WoW dragonkind, has dabbled with them since he began working with Blizzard. Pick up Day of the Dragon, Night of the Dragon or the unfinished Dragons of Outland. Knaak penned the War of the Ancients trilogy as his freshman entry into the Warcraft universe, years ahead of WoW’s release.

Check out all of the novelizations of Blizzard products in the our Extensive Extended Universe rundown.

In some people’s minds it’s still a bit of work, but the cross-promotional tool is become more and more common in the F2P genre. Developers open up easy avenues of revenue that are opt in for the player base. Players get in-game currency to pimp out their characters. Don’t mind giving up some details and a few moments of time, then by all means dive right in.

Personally, I’ve always been weary of these. Perhaps even cynical. I believe it dilutes the brand, as the developer does not control what’s being advertised, nor the Terms of Service that its players agree to. It also opens up additional support costs, as players that have issues (incorrectly) seek help from the developer. In fact, Hi-Rez is already seeing some issues.

Economically for the gamer, you’re putting all sorts of time and effort into very little return. Makes sense for those without cash flows (or credit cards). For the rest of us, farming Favor and money is far more time efficient.

Playing a bit like Zac of League of Legends fame, Batman’s arch nemesis isn’t a one-trick pony. Gaslight Joker features many support capabilities, including a healing debuff and fear. In addition, the trickster can be built to produce a substantial amount of damage in his own right.

The reveal trailer after the cut markets Gaslight Joker as a high sustain tank. Yet one can easily see that Gaslight Joker can seemingly be built in a variety of ways, depending on need. Now if only I could get in the closed beta to see if my suspicions are correct.