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As you explore the oceans of Skull and Bones, you might find yourself struggling to catch up to targets or run away from pursuers. As such, it's important to keep your crew in good shape, whether you're sailing to the unknown or heading to your next battle. Here's our guide on how to restore and increase stamina in Skull and Bones.
How to restore and increase stamina in Skull and Bones
You can restore and increase stamina by lowering your sails, cooking and eating certain types of food, equipping particular ship furniture, or interacting with Pirate's Bonfires. We discuss each method in the sections below.
Lowering your ship's sails
Generally speaking, hoisting your sails to move at the fastest possible speeds will gradually deplete your stamina meter. This mechanic is denoted by the curved meter next to your ship's speed in the lower-right portion of the screen. If you're sailing at full speed (i.e. pressing the "W" key until the meter is in the green), you'll notice that your crew's stamina gets drained. However, if you lower your sails (i.e. pressing the "S" key), your ship will still be able to move around, while also replenishing stamina over time. Use this to your advantage in case you're simply sailing with the wind at your back or whenever you don't need to pursue another vessel.
Alternate between sailing at full or medium speeds to replenish your stamina. Food and meals that restore stamina
A lot of edible items in Skull and Bones help with stamina restoration. Take note that eating cooked meals is better than eating grilled entrees or raw ingredients. Still, here are some examples:
- Ingredients - These provide +25% stamina when consumed:
- Flour
- Raw Beef
- Raw Vegetables
- Raw Chicken
- Raw Fish
- Shark Meat
- Grilled Food - These restore 40 to 60% stamina when consumed:
- Grilled Coconut
- Grilled Shark
- Grilled Banana
- Grilled Beef
- Grilled Bread
- Grilled Chicken
- Grilled Durian
- Grilled Fish
- Grilled Mutton
- Grilled Crocodile
- Grilled Hippo
- Grilled Vegetables
- Cooked Meals - Lastly, cooked meals require different kinds of ingredients, but they also provide additional effects on top of stamina replenishment:
- Godrogodro - +30% stamina regen; +10% Repair Kit efficiency; -30% stamina consumption when trimming sails.
- Trondro Gasy - +30% stamina regen; +15% Repair Kit efficiency; -20% stamina consumption when bracing.
- Vary Be Menaka - +30% stamina regen; +10% Repair Kit efficiency; -30% stamina consumption when bracing.
- Ndizi na Nyama - +30% stamina regen; +20% brace mitigation; -30% stamina consumption when bracing.
- Ragout - +50% stamina regen; +30% brace mitigation; +10% crew-to-crew damage.
- Sate Kambing - +50% stamina regen; -20% stamina consumption when bracing; -30% stamina consumption when trimming sails.
- Bitterballen - +50% stamina regen; +20% brace mitigation; +15% crew-to-crew damage.
- Ron'akoho - +50% stamina regen; +15% crew-to-crew damage; -20% stamina consumption when trimming sails.
- Mchuzi wa Kuharibu - +50% stamina regen; +30% brace mitigation; -20% stamina consumption when bracing.
- Otak-otak - +50% stamina regen; +15% crew-to-crew damage; -20% stamina consumption when bracing.
Eating raw ingredients (left) or grilled food (right) grants extra stamina. Pirate Bonfire buffs
Another way to increase and restore stamina in Skull and Bones is through the buffs granted by Pirate Bonfires. These structures are found in outposts, which also serve as fast travel points. Interact with these to make your character throw green powder, which then ignites the structure. Doing so grants a 20-minute stamina boost after exiting combat within the outpost's area. Note that this buff also affects the rest of your group if you're in a party.
Pirate Bonfires provide a 20-minute buff. Stamina-related ship furniture
Last but not least, you also gain some stamina-related buffs from some ship furniture:
- War Drums - -50% stamina consumption while trimming sails in combat.
- Water Tank - -50% stamina consumption when bracing; +20% stamina recovery.
- Sterile Galley - +7% maximum stamina.
- Leather Rope Grips - -15% stamina consumption when trimming sails.
- Rum Pantry - +10% stamina recovery.
That's how you repair your ship in Skull and Bones. If you're just getting ready to start your adventure, you can check out our guides on how to repair your ship and how to complete the High Seas Heist quest.
- Ingredients - These provide +25% stamina when consumed:
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The world of Skull and Bones is fraught with dangers. As such, it's always a good idea to make sure your naval craft is in good condition. Otherwise, you might find yourself sunk to the depths of the ocean. Here's our guide on how to repair your ship in Skull and Bones.
How to repair your ship in Skull and Bones
You can repair your ship through various means, such as paying silver when at the docks, using a Repair Kit, shooting specific types of weaponry, equipping some ship furniture, and cooking/eating certain meals. We discuss each facet in the sections below.
Repairing your ship while docked
The simplest way to repair your ship in Skull and Bones involves paying a bit of silver whenever your ship is docked. The first dockyard you discover in the campaign is Sainte-Anne, which acts as your main pirate hub. Later, you might find other outposts in far-flung locations. Selecting the "Repair" option as you board your craft ensures that the hull's hit points (HP) are fully replenished.
Pony up some dough to instantly repair your ship. Crafting and buying Repair Kits
When you're exploring the high seas, your naval craft is bound to take a lot of damage, be it from the environment or due to enemy attacks. That's why it's important to bring some Repair Kits with you. Here's a quick summary:
- Repair Kit I - This heals for 6,000 HP. The blueprint can be purchased from the Carpenter NPC in Sainte-Anne, and crafting it requires 1x Metal Salvage and 1x Scavenged Wood.
- Repair Kit II - This heals for 18,000 HP. The blueprint can be purchased from various vendors, including the NPC in Vorona Falls, an outpost that's west of Sainte-Anne. To craft it, you need 3x Scavenged Wood and 3x Rusty Nail.
- Different tiers/types of Repair Kits can also be bought directly from vendors.
- Ensure that the Repair Kit is bound to the action wheel so that you can quickly use it when you're in trouble.
Food types that increase repair efficiency
Likewise, there are certain foods that don't necessarily repair your ship in Skull and Bones, but they do offer increased efficiency for the items that you use. Make sure you obtain the recipes, as well as the ingredients, so you can cook and eat these meals. Here are some examples:
- Godrogodro - +10% Repair Kit efficiency; +30% stamina regen; -30% stamina consumption when trimming sails.
- Vary Be Menaka - +10% Repair Kit efficiency; +30% stamina regen; -30% stamina consumption when you brace.
- Trondro Gasy - +15% Repair Kit efficiency; +30% stamina regen; -20% stamina consumption when you brace
Repair Kits can be crafted (left) or purchased from NPCs (right). Cannons that can heal
Funnily enough, Skull and Bones also allows you to repair ships by shooting them. This only applies to a select few weapon types, and only if you target allied players in your party. Equipping these variants, essentially, turns you into the group's healer/support role of sorts:
- Repair Long Gun - The Long Gun, as its name implies, has massive range. This variant lets you shoot a projectile that repairs an ally's ship from a distance.
- Repair Bombard - The Bombard specializes in AoE damage at short range. Instead of blasting explosive projectiles, it will rain down a restorative on allied ships within the affected radius.
Yes, this game has cannons that can heal. Equipping ship furniture
Last but not least, there are a few ship furniture items that affect your ship's survivability:
- Joinery Workshop - +10% repair amount from repair weapons.
- Double-planked Hull - +5% hull health.
- First Aid Station - +30% repair amount of repair weapons for ships with less than 33% hull health.
- Scrapper Station - +8,000 hull health after triggering a crew attack.
- Rigging Station - +1% hull health per second when your hull health is less than 20%.
That's how you repair your ship in Skull and Bones. If you're still trying to dip your feet in the water before taking the plunge, you can check out our guides on how to increase stamina and how to complete the High Seas Heist quest.
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Tech giant Nvidia hit an all-time high on the stock market on Monday, managing to briefly surpass even Amazon when it reached a market valuation of $1.83 trillion. The rally saw it temporarily become the fourth highest valued US-listed company behind Alphabet, Apple, and Microsoft, Bloomberg reports.
By market close, Nvidia had fallen back to 5th place again behind Amazon, with Nvidia closing at $1.78 trillion. Amazon was just ahead of it at $1.79 trillion. Nvidia has already increased its market value by around $600 billion in 2024 alone, seeing rapid growth when compared to last year.
While Nvidia is best known to gamers for its high-end graphics cards, the company's recent success has been largely due to the boom in AI computing, which has created high demand for Nvidia's chips. "Nvidia is just riding the first investment wave of the current AI boom with massive capital expenditures being deployed in data centers," Saxo Bank's Peter Garnry said of the rally.
Last year Nvidia announced its own suite of AI tools aimed at game development, which it dubbed the Avatar Cloud Engine, or ACE. The various tools are able to automate written dialogue, voice acting, and even facial animations.
Nvidia also unveiled its latest line of graphics cards at CES in January, the RTX 40 Super Series, which are available in stores now.
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After a report last week suggested Xbox could be looking into releasing its first-party games--traditionally exclusive to Xbox consoles--on rival consoles like the PS5 and Nintendo Switch, a subsequent report suggests the first two such games in line for a broader release have already been chosen.
A report from The Verge cites sources familiar with Microsoft's strategy, who claim Hi-Fi Rush and Pentiment are the first Xbox games destined for release on a rival console. Sea of Thieves, Xbox's online multiplayer pirate adventure may also be in line for a wider release sometime this year.
While the titles above are the only ones reported with more definitive timelines, other titles said to be in line for a release on non-Xbox consoles include Bethesda's 2023 epic Starfield, and the upcoming Indiana Jones and the Great Circle--though the latter would get at least a short period of exclusivity on Xbox. A seperate report suggested one of Xbox's classic exclusives, Gears of War, may also be in line to end up on other consoles.
After years of console wars hinging on the platform-exclusive games each company could bring to the table, this decision is set to be a massive change in strategy for Microsoft, if it comes to pass. The Verge links the decision to a slowdown in Game Pass subscriber numbers, while Microsoft's acquisitions of a number of major developers--including Activision-Blizzard and Bethesda--may also have contributed to the direction change.
As part of its bid to get the Activision-Blizzard purchase approved by antitrust regulators, Microsoft had to sign deals with Nintendo and Sony to guarantee that Call of Duty would remain available on its competitors' respective platforms.
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Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden has a very similar level structure to the 2018 God of War reboot, in that while it is technically an open world game, it's more of a Metroidvania. This means exploration is mostly through interconnected levels with branching paths, but there's usually only one route forward. From almost the very beginning of the game, you'll encounter paths blocked by destructible rocks that you seemingly can't get rid of. Here's what you need to know about breaking these rocks in Banishers.
How to break destructible walls in Banishers
The short but sweet answer is that you need to use Antea's Outburst ability to clear the rocks. These destructible walls are only blocking optional paths to begin with, so you don't need to fret about missing anything important, as you can backtrack later down the line because Outburst isn't available to you from the get-go. Antea's abilities are unlocked gradually throughout the story.
/api/image/scale_super/4258167-banishers-ghosts-of-new-eden-destructible-walls-outburst.jpg Outburst is unlocked during the quest Old Acquaintances when your objective is to simply "reach New Eden Town." You'll have a sub-objective to rest at shelter, at which point Red and Antea will discuss the events so far, including Kate and Deborah. For me, this occurred at the Mossy Watchtower campfire, which is in the swamp environment, shortly before the old fort. It took around eight hours, give or take, to reach this point.
This includes the Outburst skill tree which has plenty of helpful perks during combat, some of which are in our guide to the best skills in Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden. Whenever you find yourself surrounded by multiple enemies, switching to Antea and unleashing a fully charged Outburst is an excellent way to give yourself some breathing room and deal a lot of damage in one go.
Antea's Outburst skill When you do have Outburst at your disposal, you can head back through the areas you've previously explored. These will usually be hiding collectibles such as cursed chests, or enemies to defeat such as nests, elites, or even scourges. You'll also find the odd void breach for an additional challenge. If you want to 100% complete Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, make sure you fully explore these paths when you can.
Another blocker you'll encounter in Banishers is creeping ivy, but we also have a guide on that to help you learn how to get rid of it, as it is slightly more complex than the destructible walls. We've also covered which oath you should pledge and the Ben/Jacob decision you must make during The Flesh Is Weak Haunting Case early on in the game.
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Before too long in Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, you'll be sick of the sight of creeping ivy. These weeds crop up frequently, preventing you from exploring various paths in this RPG with a very similar level structure to 2018's God of War. Since it's a Metroidvania you can always backtrack and clear the creeping ivy later down the line, but much like the destructible rocks, you need to know exactly how to get rid of it if you want to explore all New Eden has to offer. Here's what you need to know about clearing creeping ivy in Banishers.
How to remove creeping ivy
To put it simply, you must unlock the Ensnare ability to get rid of creeping ivy in Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden. Until you get your hands on this ability though, creeping ivy is only ever in the way of optional routes, so it isn't mandatory and you can backtrack in future. As is the case with all of Antea's abilities, you need to progress through the main story until you unlock Ensnare.
Clearing ivy will open up many new pathways in Banishers. However, you will be playing for quite a while before Ensnare reveals itself. I finally got it after around 18 hours of playtime, after deciding on Fairefax Haskell's fate in The Harrows during The Inkwell quest. Your objective will be to simply rest at shelter, at which point Red and Antea will engage in conversation and Ensnare will unlock at the end of their chat.
When you do eventually unlock Ensnare, you'll also get your hands on the Ensnare skill tree, containing some of the best skills in Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden. In combat, Ensnare is Antea's only ranged ability, and while it doesn't deal much damage, it is a huge boon when you need to take a moment to heal or back off as it stops enemies firmly in their tracks for a short while. Dealing damage to them will speed up how quickly they free themselves though.
Unlock Ensnare to remove ivy. To remove creeping ivy with Ensnare, you must aim and fire it at the blue heart of the roots. Before you do though, follow the trailing roots and identify the glowing orange orbs, because these must be shot by Red with the rifle. As soon as you hit the blue one with Antea, you'll automatically switch back to Red and will have mere seconds to take out all of the orange orbs to make the creeping ivy disappear.
Typically, creeping ivy hides collectibles such as cursed chests, tough enemies including nests, elites, and scourges, and sometimes void breaches. Backtracking and solving all of the creeping ivy on the map is essential for 100% completion, and it becomes mandatory in a few late-game quests.
Make sure you also check out our Banishers guides, such as which oath you should pledge to Antea along with the decision for Ben and Jacob's fate in The Flesh Is Weak, the very first Haunting Case you'll encounter.
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A few hours into Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, you'll encounter Jacob Lynde, a young chap taking refuge in a makeshift shelter in the woods. Talk with him and he'll seem a little confused, explaining how his friend Ben has gone to hunt for game, and that he'd only slow the pair down if Jacob accompanied him. This is the first of many Haunting Cases you'll need to solve as Banishers and because it's the first, the decision you must make at the end on whether to blame Jacob, banish Ben, or ascend Ben, doesn't have its consequences fully explained. Here's what you need to know.
Banishers The Flesh Is Weak decision explained
At the end of every single Haunting Case, you must either blame a living settler, banish a ghost, or let a ghost ascend by using a release ritual. This essentially boils down to who you think is at fault for the situation, as there's always a reason the ghost is haunting the living settler(s) in question.
In this instance, after Red and Antea investigate where Ben was last seen and find his skeleton, you learn that Jacob actually killed Ben by pushing him off the edge of a cliff in a delirious state, as Ben wouldn't let him give up. Afterward, you also find out the rotting meat Jacob is eating is actually human meat, as Jacob has been carving Ben up with a knife to help him survive.
This particular quest has a very meaty decision to make at its end. It seems like a pretty simple case, right? Well, not quite. You must take into account the fact that Jacob was "driven to disarray by weeks of nightmare-riven sleep" and Ben was the hunter-gatherer of the two, so once Jacob was alone, he wasn't equipped to source food from anywhere else, especially since there was a lack of animals thanks to the curse from The Nightmare.
When you speak to the ghost of Ben, he also explains how he forgives Jacob as he is a "kind and godly man, pure and true always" and that he could never hate him. He also says he was considering killing Jacob before the opposite happened, as a last resort measure to survive. Ghost Ben did try to speak with Jacob too, but in his delirious state, he thought Ben was alive and offered him some of his food. Ben puts it succinctly when confronting Jacob at the end of the quest: "We both faced a choice, simple and awful: to kill, or to die."
Which brings us to the decision: blame Jacob Lynde, ascend Benedict Stoughton, or banish Benedict Stoughton? Blaming Jacob is the same as murdering him, but as explained in our guide on whether you should resurrect or ascend Antea - an oath you must pledge shortly after you make a decision on Ben and Jacob - you must blame Jacob if you want to resurrect Antea. However, if you want to ascend Antea, you can choose to either banish or ascend Ben.
Will you blame Jacob, or decide instead to either banish or ascend Ben? This Haunting Case is a fairly straightforward one, because, despite his delirium, the common consensus is that Jacob is in the wrong for committing murder. However, you will face plenty more decisions like this where what is right and wrong is much less obvious, and as a result, you may need to pick an outcome that won't sit right with you depending on the oath you pledge. Either way, The Flesh Is Weak is a warm-up Haunting Case for what comes next.
Make sure you also check out our guides on how to break destructible walls and how to clear creeping ivy so you know how to fully explore New Eden, and we also have a guide on the best Banishers skills when you unlock new skill points.
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Within the first few hours of Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, you have a very important--and difficult--decision to make. As Red, you must swear an oath to the now-deceased Antea on whether you will help her ascend peacefully into the afterlife, or resurrect her when her body has been retrieved from the meetinghouse. While the game does explain that resurrecting Antea requires sacrificing as many settlers as possible with a blame ritual, it isn't clear exactly what that means. Here's a spoiler-free explanation of which oath you should pick.
Banishers Ascend oath explained
If you choose to help Antea ascend, this means that when you eventually make it back to her body in the meetinghouse, Red will allow her to move on peacefully. This is, essentially, the easier option of the two.
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden has lots of optional side quests known as Haunting Cases. At the end of each of these, you must decide on the outcome for the people involved - usually one living settler and one ghost. For Antea to ascend, you may either "forcedly banish the ghost to oblivion" if you believe they are at fault and have done wrong, or you can ascend them with a release ritual. Either option contributes to Antea's ascent, but you cannot blame the living settler.
For Red and the player alike, this early decision may weigh heavily. Banishers Resurrection oath explained
If you choose to resurrect Antea, you are essentially committing to two things. Firstly, you must complete all optional Haunting Cases before finishing the game. Secondly, the outcome for all of these must be that you blame - and subsequently kill - a living settler in every single case, since the maximum number of possible living settlers must be sacrificed for the Lesser Palingenesis ritual to work.
If you decide to finish the story without having sacrificed the most settlers possible, you will find yourself with a bad ending. So this means that you must solve every Haunting Case in the game and finish each one by sacrificing a living settler to resurrect Antea at the end of it all.
So choosing to ascend Antea gives you much more freedom in how you approach the game and all of the side content, but it isn't the best outcome for Red and Antea themselves, nor do you get the best ending. Pledging to resurrect her requires lots of murder and the pair will often question their decision, and achieving that ending requires the completion of every Haunting Case, adding 10+ hours onto the already fairly lengthy playtime of 30 hours, give or take. But when it comes to the future of the loved-up Banishers, it's the option that makes the most sense, albeit in a selfish manner.
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Developer Grimorio of Games has announced a remake of Sword of the Necromancer called Sword of the Necromancer: Resurrection for PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. While news of a remake is hardly unusual in 2024, what sets this apart is the fact that Sword of the Necromancer was released just three years ago, in January 2021.
Sword of the Necromancer: Resurrection is a 3D remake using the engine for upcoming action-RPG Sword of the Necromancer: Revenant. Resurrection is set to launch sometime in 2024, but before Revenant does. Those who complete Resurrection will also be able to unlock special bonuses in Revenant, such as being able to summon Resurrection's bosses to help out.
GalleryThe 3D remake will retain its original roguelike and dungeon-crawling structure but also has new features such as improved combos and an AI companion system. Since the original takes place in one dungeon and its mechanics will match those of Revenant's, Resurrection will compensate that by having a larger dungeon than the ones in Revenant. The dungeon will be separated by several "zones" with bosses at the end to match the "floors" in the original.
Resurrection will have local co-op play too, and contain new story sequences as well as both English and Japanese voiceovers.
The game follows Tama, a former rogue whose task was to escort the priestess Koko through a continental pilgrimage. However, Koko dies, and Tama carries her to the Necromancer's crypt, where a power to resurrect the dead supposedly lies deep in there. Tama ventures into the crypt in order to obtain the power and bring her back to life.
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A version of arguably the best feature on Xbox Series X|S is now available in a PC game. Mojang has announced the release of Quick Play, a new feature in the Java and Bedrock versions of Minecraft that allows you to rapidly jump back into the game.
As detailed on the official Minecraft website, Quick Play is automatically installed in the Minecraft Launcher. Your five most recent worlds will be available to select from the launcher, and picking one will launch you directly into it without interacting with any of the usual menus or screens you'd normally encounter before logging in.
The oldest world will be bumped off when all five slots are used, but you can keep specific worlds in Quick Play by pinning them. If a world is removed from Quick Play, you can still access it normally.
Players won't need to do anything to enable this feature, but it can be turned off by visiting the launcher's settings. All the data tied to Quick Play will be stored in the player's PCs and not anywhere else. If you decide to turn off this feature, it'll only delete the Quick Play data, but not the world.
For more Minecraft news, check out our story on how the latest update gives players the power of wind and how the latest DLC allows you to play as Godzilla.
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There are a couple of ways to go about ship combat in Skull and Bones. The easiest and most common method of combat you'll likely use is simply depleting a ship of all its health and sinking it, allowing you to collect its loot from the wreckage. However, there's a secondary way to collect loot from an enemy ship: board it.
Boarding an enemy ship can actually reward you with more loot than you would normally get by sinking it. There is sometimes hidden loot stowed away on ships that can only be earned by boarding it. Of course, boarding can take more time and effort than firing a few cannons into the side of an enemy's vessel, so there are pros and cons to each combat method.
Before you can make that decision, though, you need to know how to board an enemy ship effectively in Skull and Bones.
Boarding enemy ships in Skull and Bones
The process of boarding a ship is fairly simple once you understand what needs to be done. Follow the steps below to properly board an enemy ship:
- Deplete a ship of over half its HP by firing cannons into it, ramming it, etc.
- Get near the ship once half its HP is gone and position your ship on the starboard or port side.
- Aim in with your cannons like you're going to fire, but instead, look for an on-screen prompt that says "Crew Boarding."
- Press the required button next to the prompt (R on PC/Y on Xbox/Triangle on PS5).
- After you press the button, your ship will shoot out several ropes with hooks on the end of them.
- Successfully boarding the ship requires at least one of these hooks to latch onto the enemy's hull. You need to be close enough for the hooks to reach.
- If you latch onto the ship, a cutscene will play that shows your crew reeling in the ship. A reward menu will then appear that allows you to take some or all of the enemy ship's loot.
Press the necessary Crew Boarding button to start the boarding process. It will likely take you a few tries to get the boarding process down, as there are some nuances to learn. For example, the ropes your ship shoots out can only go a certain distance and you need to lead the ropes in the right direction if your ship is moving. Also, I only recommend boarding an enemy ship if you're in a one-on-one battle, as boarding with other enemy ships firing at you can significantly deplete your ship's HP.
Successfully boarding an enemy ship can reward you with valuable resources such as Bog Iron (used to make Cast Iron Ingots), Cogwheels, cannons, cannonballs, and different kinds of currency. Be careful you don't exceed your ship's inventory weight limit by taking all of those extra resources, though, as your crew's stamina will deplete much faster the more weight you're carrying.
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Microsoft's gaming top brass are expected to lay out their plans to publish some Xbox games on PlayStation and Nintendo platforms via a business update released this week as a podcast.
The podcast episode will be made available this Thursday, 15th February at 8pm UK time - that's 3pm Eastern or noon Pacific.
Microsoft gaming boss Phil Spencer, Xbox president Sarah Bond and head of Xbox game studios Matt Booty - the company's top Triforce of gaming division decision makers - will share "updates on the Xbox business", according to a post from the platform holder on X.
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Hey Xbox Insiders! We have a new Xbox Update Preview releasing to the Alpha ring today.
It’s important we note that some updates made to these preview OS builds include background improvements that ensure a quality and stable build for Xbox consoles. We will continue to post these release notes, even when the noticeable changes to the UI are minimal or behind the scenes, so you’re aware when updates are coming to your device.
Details can be found below!
System Update Details
- OS Version: XB_FLT_2403ZN\25398.3778.240208-2200
- Available: 2 p.m. PT – February 12, 2024
- Mandatory: 3 a.m. PT – February 13, 2024
New Features and Experiences
We have exciting news! Alpha users can expect something new coming to their Xbox Update Preview.
Installation (Xbox Series X|S)
We have made additional network optimizations to improve content downloads while games are running.
Fixes Included
Thanks to all the great feedback Xbox Insiders provide and the hard work of Xbox engineers, we are happy to announce the following fixes have been implemented with this build:
System
- Various updates to properly reflect local languages across the console.
- Note: Users participating in Preview may see “odd” text across the console. To learn more visit: What’s This? Learn More About Pseudo-Loc in Preview.
Known Issues
While known issues may have been listed in previous Xbox Insider Release Notes, they are not being ignored! However, it may take Xbox engineers more time to find a solution. If you experience any of these issues, we ask that you please follow any guidance provided and file feedback with Report a Problem.
Audio
- We have received reports of users experiencing intermittent issues with audio across the dashboard, games, and apps. If you have experienced issues, be sure you have the latest firmware updates for your TV and other equipment. If you’re unsure, you may need to contact the manufacturer for assistance.
- Note: If you continue to experience issues after applying the latest firmware updates, please submit feedback via Report a Problem immediately with the “Reproduce with advanced diagnostics” option, then select the category “Console experiences” and “Console Audio Output Issues”. Be sure to include as much information as possible:
- When did the issue start?
- Did you lose audio just in the game/app or system audio as well?
- Does changing the audio format resolve the issue? If yes, what was the format before and after?
- Does rebooting resolve the issue?
- What does your setup include? Equipment, layout, etc.
- And any additional information you can provide to reproduce the problem.
- Note: If you continue to experience issues after applying the latest firmware updates, please submit feedback via Report a Problem immediately with the “Reproduce with advanced diagnostics” option, then select the category “Console experiences” and “Console Audio Output Issues”. Be sure to include as much information as possible:
Networking
- We are investigating reports of an issue where the console may not connect to their network as expected on boot. If you experience this, be sure to report the issue via Report a Problem as soon as you’re able.
- Workaround: Wait a minute for the connection to establish. If your console still hasn’t connected, restart your Xbox from the Power Center or the guide. Learn more here: How to restart or power cycle your Xbox console.
As always, be sure to use Report a problem to keep us informed of any issues you encounter. We may not be able to respond to everyone, but the data we’ll gather is crucial to finding a resolution.
If you’re an Xbox Insider looking for support, please visit the community subreddit. Official Xbox staff, moderators, and fellow Xbox Insiders are there to help with your concerns.
When posting to the subreddit, please look through the most recent posts to see if your issue has already been posted or addressed. We always recommend adding to existing threads with the same issue before posting a new one. This helps us support you the best we can! Also, don’t forget to use “Report a Problem” before posting – the information shared in both places helps us understand your issue better.
Thank you to every Xbox Insider in the subreddit today and welcome to the community if you’re just joining us! We love that it has become such a friendly and community-driven hub of conversation and support.
For more information regarding the Xbox Insider Program follow us on Twitter. Keep an eye on future Xbox Insider Release Notes for more information regarding your Xbox Update Preview ring!
The post Xbox Insider Release Notes – Alpha (2403.240208-2200) appeared first on Xbox Wire.
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Hey Xbox Insiders! We have a new Xbox Update Preview releasing to the Alpha Skip-Ahead ring today.
It’s important we note that some updates made to these preview OS builds include background improvements that ensure a quality and stable build for Xbox consoles. We will continue to post these release notes, even when the noticeable changes to the UI are minimal or behind the scenes, so you’re aware when updates are coming to your device.
Details can be found below!
System Update Details
- OS Version: XB_FLT_2408GE\26054.1502.240208-2200
- Available: 2 p.m. PT – February 12, 2024
- Mandatory: 3 a.m. PT – February 13, 2024
New Features and Experiences
We have exciting news! Alpha Skip-Ahead users can expect something new coming to their Xbox Update Preview.
Installation (Xbox Series X|S)
We have made additional network optimizations to improve content downloads while games are running.
Fixes Included
Thanks to all the great feedback Xbox Insiders provide and the hard work of Xbox engineers, we are happy to announce the following fixes have been implemented with this build:
System
- Various updates to properly reflect local languages across the console.
- Note: Users participating in Preview may see “odd” text across the console. To learn more visit: What’s This? Learn More About Pseudo-Loc in Preview.
Known Issues
While known issues may have been listed in previous Xbox Insider Release Notes, they are not being ignored! However, it may take Xbox engineers more time to find a solution. If you experience any of these issues, we ask that you please follow any guidance provided and file feedback with Report a Problem.
Audio
- We have received reports of users experiencing intermittent issues with audio across the dashboard, games, and apps. If you have experienced issues, be sure you have the latest firmware updates for your TV and other equipment. If you’re unsure, you may need to contact the manufacturer for assistance.
- Note: If you continue to experience issues after applying the latest firmware updates, please submit feedback via Report a Problem immediately with the “Reproduce with advanced diagnostics” option, then select the category “Console experiences” and “Console Audio Output Issues”. Be sure to include as much information as possible:
- When did the issue start?
- Did you lose audio just in the game/app or system audio as well?
- Does changing the audio format resolve the issue? If yes, what was the format before and after?
- Does rebooting resolve the issue?
- What does your setup include? Equipment, layout, etc.
- And any additional information you can provide to reproduce the problem.
- Note: If you continue to experience issues after applying the latest firmware updates, please submit feedback via Report a Problem immediately with the “Reproduce with advanced diagnostics” option, then select the category “Console experiences” and “Console Audio Output Issues”. Be sure to include as much information as possible:
Games
- We are aware of certain titles experiencing unexpected graphical issues, and a fix is coming in a subsequent update.
Networking
- We are investigating reports of an issue where the console may not connect to their network as expected on boot. If you experience this, be sure to report the issue via Report a Problem as soon as you’re able.
- Workaround: Wait a minute for the connection to establish. If your console still hasn’t connected, restart your Xbox from the Power Center or the guide. Learn more here: How to restart or power cycle your Xbox console.
System
- We are aware some users have experienced unexpected errors navigating to Home or opening the guide, or the console remaining on the boot-up animation longer than expected. A fix is coming in a subsequent update.
- Workaround: Restart your console from the Power Center or the guide. If the issue persists, reset your console with the ‘keep my games & apps’ option. Learn more about these options here:
As always, be sure to use Report a problem to keep us informed of any issues you encounter. We may not be able to respond to everyone, but the data we’ll gather is crucial to finding a resolution.
If you’re an Xbox Insider looking for support, please visit the community subreddit. Official Xbox staff, moderators, and fellow Xbox Insiders are there to help with your concerns.
When posting to the subreddit, please look through the most recent posts to see if your issue has already been posted or addressed. We always recommend adding to existing threads with the same issue before posting a new one. This helps us support you the best we can! Also, don’t forget to use “Report a Problem” before posting – the information shared in both places helps us understand your issue better.
Thank you to every Xbox Insider in the subreddit today and welcome to the community if you’re just joining us! We love that it has become such a friendly and community-driven hub of conversation and support.
For more information regarding the Xbox Insider Program follow us on Twitter. Keep an eye on future Xbox Insider Release Notes for more information regarding your Xbox Update Preview ring!
The post Xbox Insider Release Notes – Alpha Skip-Ahead (2408.240208-2200) appeared first on Xbox Wire.
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Ahead of its release on February 13, Blizzard has released the full patch notes for Overwatch 2's Season 9: Champions. The patch brings an all-new co-op event, and both old and new skins to commemorate Valentine's Day. This update also includes an immense number of hero changes, including increases to Ultimate ability costs, passive health regeneration, and higher damage for melee attacks.
Season 9 of Overwatch will soft reset every player's Competitive rank and reintroduces placement matches to better determine your starting rank placement. After each match, there will be a clearer overview to help players understand rank changes and progression. There will also be a new rank above Grandmaster with the Champion rank and Jade weapon variants are introduced that can be purchased for 3,000 Competitive Points.
Season 9 will increase the health, armor, and shields of every character, with Ultimate ability costs increasing by 10% alongside passive health regeneration of 20 health per second after five seconds of not receiving damage. For more information on the exact health, armor, shield, character changes, and more, be sure to read the full patch notes below.
A new, three-player co-op, Cosmic Crisis, brings branching objectives, with the goal of making each mission feel distinct. You will be playing as Sigma, Roadhog, Soldier: 76, Mei, Torbjorn, Widowmaker, Lifeweaver, Moira, Ana, and Illari to discover the mysterious unknown, the reasoning as to why these characters have crash landed in the Antarctic Peninsula, and to unveil the traitor among the group involved.
With Valentine's Day this week, Overwatch 2 touts lovely and heart-themed skins with Rosahardt Reinhardt, Rose Lily Widowmaker, and Cherry Blossom Kiriko. Cupid Hanzo will be reintroduced alongside an all-new Reaper skin to celebrate the holiday. Fiend Orisa and Dark Fawn Lucio will be Legendary skins players can purchase from the in-game shop alongside new weapon skins with graffiti inspired by the game's Los Muertos gang in Dorado. A new collaboration event was teased for later this season; an earlier tease all but confirmed a Cowboy Bebop crossover is on the way this season.
Hero Mastery: Gauntlet is a new multiplayer mode, which will have you and your teammates fighting waves of enemies, upgrading and defending your defenses to survive the onslaught. Each experience will be ever-changing with different upgrades, enemy types, and objectives to complete.
Season 9 of Overwatch 2 starts February 13 and should be live at 11 AM PT / 2 PM ET. Be sure to check out our Overwatch 2 guides hub for tips, character playstyles, and more.
WELCOME TO SEASON 9: CHAMPIONS
Season 9 brings core gameplay updates, a reworked Competitive game mode, and a new Co-op event that will test the courage of even the bravest heroes as they face a dangerous threat of cosmic proportions.
NEW EVENT: COSMIC CRISIS
Face off against eldritch abominations in the twisted reality of Cosmic Crisis, a brand-new co-op mission. Work with three other players to repair your ship and escape the ruins of Ecopoint Antarctica while fighting off the monstrous Null Sector. But keep an eye out for your teammates… an ancient power lurks in the shadows, waiting for its chance to strike.
COMPETITIVE PLAY UPDATES
Developer Comments: With your feedback, we’ve made new improvements to Competitive Play that aim to provide more transparency into your progress after every match, plus we introduced a new skill tier and new Competitive Rewards to earn.
Skill Rank Reset
- Given the significant changes to our heroes and the addition of a new skill tier, this reset is designed to give all players a chance to climb higher than ever before.
- All roles in Role Queue and Open Queue in Competitive Play have been reset to Unranked.
Placement Matches
- Placements have been rebuilt from the ground up. Your predicted rank will be displayed after each placement match.
- You must complete 10 matches in a role to receive your Skill Rank for that role.
- Winning your placements will have a significant impact on your final rank.
Competitive Updates
- Competitive Updates have been reworked. Instead of requiring five wins or 15 losses to get a Competitive Update, updates now happen after every match.
- Going forward, the Competitive Updates page now hosts information about your ranks in Role Queue and Open Queue, as well as your progress toward Competitive Point rewards.
Skill Modifiers
- Modifiers now appear on the Competitive Progress page after each match.
- Skill modifiers provide information on how much a rank will gain or lose progress after a match, including win or loss streaks, rank instability, and match favorability.
New Skill Tier - Champion
- A new rank has been added above Grandmaster, called Champion, that is more exclusive than any other rank in Overwatch. Only an exceedingly small percentage of players will ever occupy this echelon of Competitive Play.
Versus Screen
- The range of ranks for players in a match of Competitive Play is now displayed on the same screen where both teams are shown with their name cards, player icons, and titles.
New Grouping Requirements
- Bronze through Diamond Players may group with other players within 2 Skill Tiers of their own Skill Rank.
- Master players may group with other players within 1 Skill Tier of their own Skill Rank.
- Grandmaster players may group with other players within 3 Skill Divisions of their own Skill Rank.
- Champion players may group with only one other player within 3 Skill Divisions of their own Skill Rank.
Art & UI Updates
- Skill Tier and Skill Division art for rank icons have been redesigned for improved readability.
- The Competitive Skill Tier legend has been redesigned to include updated and new relevant information.
Competitive Points
- Each win now grants 10 Competitive Points.
- Each draw now grants 5 Competitive Points.
- Each loss still grants 0 Competitive Points.
Competitive Progression
- Competitive Challenges that award additional Competitive Points at the end of the season have been replaced with a new Competitive Progression system.
- Every match grants progress toward your Competitive Progression meter, and after earning 30 you will receive an additional 100 Competitive Points.
- Wins award 3 progress toward your Competitive Progression meter. Draws and Losses award 1 progress.
Competitive Rewards
- Jade Weapon Variants have been introduced.
- Each Jade Weapon Variant costs 3000 Competitive Points to purchase.
- All players will start this season with a balance of 0 Competitive Points.
- All existing Competitive Points have been converted into a new currency, Legacy Competitive Points.
- Each Golden Weapon Variant now costs 3000 Legacy Competitive Points to purchase.
- At the end of a Competitive Year, any remaining balance of Competitive Points converts to Legacy Competitive Points.
Matchmaking Rating
- At the start of this season only, the internal Matchmaking Ratings for all players have been adjusted to push players closer to the normalized average (approximately at Gold 3).
- Matchmaking Ratings have been decayed. The higher the rank, the more it has been decayed.
- Most players will start at a lower skill rank and division than their most recent rank.
Competitive Challenges
- Competitive challenges removed. Rewards and progress for Competitive Play are now displayed on the Competitive Progress page and titles are rewarded at the end of the season.
GENERAL UPDATES
PLAYER PROGRESSION
- Added a new set of visual upgrades. Hero/Game Mode badge upgrades start at Level 500. Progression Level badge upgrades start at Level 2500.
- Wrecking Ball title rewards are renamed from “Champion” to “Champ” to align with Junker Queen’s usage of the title (and to avoid confusion with the new Champion rank).
- Adjusted amount needed to level up certain sub-badges for Mauga and Illari.
FRIEND ENDORSEMENTS
- The endorsement is only eligible if you’re in the match for a set duration.
- Endorsements are subject to the configured cooldown period of 12 hours.
- Endorsements are subject to cooldown even if you unfriend the recipient.
SETTINGS
- Added a feature for controller/keyboard users that remembers what you had focus when backing out of screens.
CROSSHAIR UPDATE
New Reticle Types have been added.
- Square
- Box
- Line
- Triwing
- Falloff
New Reticle Dots have been added.
- Ring
- Square
- Triangle
- Cross
- Heart
New Reticle color options have been added.
- Brown
- Dark Red
- Light Red
- Light Purple
- Gray
- Teal
HERO UPDATES
GENERAL
Developer Comments: Season 9 features changes to the fundamentals of Overwatch 2 gameplay that affect every hero. We’ve heard the community feedback around some gameplay pain points, and these changes are in response to many of those.
Most damage-dealing projectile sizes have been increased by a new global modifier added to their base size.
- +0.05 meters for hitscan projectiles with a high rate of fire or spread (e.g., Tracer’s Pulse Pistols or Reaper’s Hellfire Shotguns).
- +0.08 meters for hitscan projectiles that are more precise (e.g., Cassidy’s Peacekeeper or Soldier:76’s Heavy Pulse Rifle).
- +0.05 meters for travel time projectiles that are shotguns or have a very high rate of fire (e.g., Roadhog’s Scrap Gun or Ramattra’s Void Accelerator).
- +0.10 meters for travel time projectile with a speed greater than 50 meters per second (e.g., Zenyatta’s Destruction Orb).
- +0.15 meters for travel time projectile with a speed less than or equal to 50 meters per second (e.g., Pharah’s Rocket Launcher).
- Very large projectiles with a base size greater than 0.5 meters have been excluded from these increases (e.g., Orisa’s Energy Javelin or Reinhardt’s Fire Strike).
Hero combined HP (base health/armor/shields) increased by 15-25%.
- 150-175 HP heroes increased by 25 HP.
- 200-300 HP heroes increased by 50 HP.
- 300+ HP (Tanks) increased by 75-100 HP.
- Each hero’s precise health increases are listed in their patch notes below.
Ultimate Charge
- All Ultimate ability costs increased by 10%.
Regenerative Passive for All Heroes
- All heroes now regenerate 20 health per second after 5 seconds of not taking damage.
Support Role Passive
- Now reduces the delay before regeneration begins by half (2.5 seconds).
Damage Role Passive
- Reload speed bonus on elimination has been removed.
- New role passive: Dealing damage reduces enemy healing received by 20% for 2 seconds.
Quick Melee
- Damage increased from 30 to 40.
TANK
D.Va
- Pilot health increased from 150 to 175.
- Mech armor increased from 300 to 375.
Self Destruct
- Explosion maximum damage increased from 900 to 1000.
- Inner explosion radius (range for maximum damage before falloff begins) increased from 4 to 6 meters.
Doomfist
- Health increased from 300 to 375.
Rocket Punch
- Max impact damage increased from 50 to 75.
- Max wall slam damage increased from 30 to 40.
Junker Queen
- Health increased from 300 to 375.
Rampage
- Wound damage over time increased from 60 to 90.
Mauga
- Health increased from 300 to 400.
Orisa
- Armor increased from 275 to 350.
Ramattra
- Health increased from 200 to 275.
Reinhardt
- Health increased from 200 to 250.
- Armor increased from 250 to 275.
Rocket Hammer
- Damage increased from 85 to 100.
Charge
- Wall impact damage increased from 225 to 275.
Roadhog
- Health increased from 550 to 650.
Sigma
- Shields increased from 200 to 275.
Winston
- Health increased from 200 to 225.
- Armor increased from 200 to 250.
Tesla Cannon
- Damage increased from 60 to 75 damage per second.
Primal Rage
- Punch damage increased from 40 to 50.
Wrecking Ball
- Armor increased from 100 to 175.
Zarya
- Health increased from 100 to 175.
Particle Cannon
- Primary fire beam width increased from 0.15 to 0.2 meters.
DAMAGE
Ashe
- Health increased from 200 to 250.
B.O.B.
- B.O.B.’s weapon damage increased from 14 to 17.
Bastion
- Health increased from 200 to 250.
Cassidy
- Health increased from 225 to 275.
Deadeye
- Initial damage rate increased from 130 to 150.
- Damage rate increased from 260 to 300.
Echo
- Health increased from 200 to 250.
Focusing Beam
- Width increased from 0.2 to 0.25 meters.
Duplicate
- Maximum combined health value increased from 300 to 350.
Genji
- Health increased from 200 to 250.
Dragonblade
Swing recovery decreased from 0.9 to 0.7 seconds.
Hanzo
- Health increased from 200 to 250.
Storm Arrows
- Damage increased from 65 to 75.
- Cooldown reduced from 10 to 8 seconds.
Junkrat
- Health increased from 200 to 250.
Frag Launcher
- Base projectile size reduced from 0.25 to 0.2 meters.
Mei
- Health increased from 250 to 300.
Pharah
- Health increased from 200 to 250.
Rocket Launcher
- Recovery reduced from 0.85 to 0.80 seconds.
- Projectile speed increased from 35 to 40 meters per second.
- Explosion self-damage reduced from 50% to 25%.
Jet Dash
- New Secondary Fire Ability.
- Provides a quick horizontal boost in the direction Pharah is moving.
- 8-second cooldown.
- Added a setting to activate Jet Dash on Double Jump instead.
Jump Jet
- Now restores 50% of Hover Jets fuel and can briefly overfill the maximum fuel amount.
- Vertical boost height reduced by 20%.
- Cooldown increased from 10 to 14 seconds.
Concussive Blast
- Cooldown decreased from 9 to 7 seconds.
- Explosion now deals 30 damage to enemy targets.
- Explosion radius reduced from 8 to 6 meters.
- Knockback reduced by 10%.
Barrage
- Now instantly refills Hover Jets fuel.
Hover Jets
- Speed boost increased from 20% to 40%.
- Now requires landing to recharge fuel.
- Can now be activated without fuel to slow your descent.
Developer Comments: Pharah has a significant update that empowers more individual plays and shifting her movement capabilities from high up in the air to more horizontal movement that can cover distance quickly.
Reaper
- Health increased from 250 to 300.
Sojourn
- Health increased from 200 to 250.
Railgun
- Secondary Fire base projectile size reduced from 0.1 to 0.07 meters.
Soldier: 76
- Health increased from 200 to 250.
Sombra
- Health increased from 200 to 250.
Symmetra
- Shields increased from 100 to 150.
Photon Projector
- Primary fire beam width increased from 0.2 to 0.25 meters.
Torbjörn
- Health increased from 200 to 250.
Tracer
- Health increased from 150 to 175.
Widowmaker
- Health increased from 175 to 200.
SUPPORT
Ana
- Health increased from 200 to 250.
Baptiste
- Health increased from 200 to 250.
Brigitte
- Health increased from 150 to 200.
Rocket Flail
- Damage increased from 35 to 45.
Illari
- Health increased from 200 to 250.
Kiriko
- Health increased from 200 to 250.
Kunai
- Base projectile size reduced from 0.18 to 0.15 meters.
Lifeweaver
- Health increased from 175 to 225.
Lúcio
- Health increased from 200 to 250.
Soundwave
- Damage increased from 25 to 35.
- Knockback increased 12%.
- Movement lockout duration increased from 0.3 to 0.45 seconds.
Mercy
- Health increased from 200 to 250.
Guardian Angel
- Active duration on jump/crouch cancel reduced from 1.5 to 1 second.
Sympathetic Recovery passive
- Health recovered increased from 25% to 40% of healing dealt.
Moira
- Health increased from 200 to 250.
Biotic Grasp
- Secondary fire damage increased from 50 to 65 damage per second.
- Secondary fire target acquisition radius increased from 0.6 to 0.7 meters.
Zenyatta
- Health increased from 75 to 100.
- Shields increased from 150 to 175.
MAP UPDATES
JUNKERTOWN UPDATE
- New nighttime lighting theme.
- New building near the first point to provide more cover & block long sightlines.
- Added a water tower near the first point to block sightlines from upper choke positions.
- Added more vehicles near the cliff to provide additional cover & block long sightlines.
- Reduced the cliffside path to tighten the space and reduce the overall footprint of the area.
- Removed a small health pack on the second area balcony that was easy for defenders to overuse.
- Added vertical beam at second choke point to promote movement out of the upper floor & make the choke easier to defend.
- Widened and added cover in a hallway in the third area to make close quarter fights easier to maneuver.
Developer Comments: We’ve added more cover—including new structures—to help counter some of the long sightlines around the first checkpoint. Additional changes in the third area allow attackers to push through certain chokes more easily.
BUG FIXES
GENERAL
- Fixed an issue with some shadows that could appear jagged when on any setting below Ultra.
- Fixed a bug that prevented your skin from changing when using the Change Skin option in Hero Select if you had a Loadout selected.
- Fixed a bug with Golden Weapons being marked as unspecified and not being purchasable.
- Fixed a bug with some callouts for pushing the payload playing at incorrect moments.
- Fixed an issue with Wall Climb failing in some situations.
- Additional bug fixes for general stability and performance.
MAPS
Antarctic Peninsula
- Fixed lighting in some areas of the map.
King’s Row
- Fixed areas of the map that were missing collision.
Midtown
- Fixed some locations that could cause some heroes to become stuck
Shambali Monastery
- Fixed a location of the map that displayed incorrect textures.
HEROES
Doomfist
- Fixed a bug with Meteor Strike that could result in Doomfist getting inside the environment.
- Fixed a bug that sometimes prevented Seismic Slam’s damage from going through turrets.
- Fixed a bug that could prevent Doomfist from acquiring Overhealth in some cases.
- Fixed a bug where Rocket Punch left a small window of time open to use abilities.
Echo
- Fixed an interaction when Duplicating Bastion that prevented the Duplicated Configuration: Artillery’s shots from landing if Duplicate ended before they landed.
Lifeweaver
- Fixed a bug that prevented Tree of Life from healing Reaper when in Wraith form.
Lúcio
- Amp it Up now goes on cooldown if interrupted by stun during its cast time or when dying while it’s active.
Mauga
- Fixed a bug with the burning applied by Mauga not being removed when picking up a health pack.
Orisa
- Terra Surge now correctly pulls in and damages enemies that are on uneven slopes/collision, as long as Orisa has a direct line of sight, they will get pulled/damaged.
Roadhog
- Fixed a bug with Roadhog’s model becoming distorted with some skins during the Heroic Highlight intro.
- Fixed a bug with Pig Pen displaying a Junkrat icon when pinged.
Sombra
- Fixed an interaction that prevented Hack from being interrupted by Rocket Punch or Shield Bash.
- Fixed a bug where Sombra would enter Stealth while escorting the robot in some situations.
Torbjörn
- Fixed a bug with disabling the Interact Cancel Deploy Turret setting causing you to only destroy a deployed turret and not toss out a new one when the ability is used.
Winston
- Fixed a bug with Primal Rage that interrupted the ability to attack if the Ultimate was initiated while Jumping and using Melee at the same time.
Zenyatta
- Golden weapon tint should now properly be reflected on all skins.
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From the very beginning of Skull and Bones, you'll be able to hunt, cook, and eat all of the food you could want. Your primary source of food, at least in the early game, are sharks and fish, both of which are located all across the map. Hunting down these aquatic creatures isn't too easy, though, as you need to do all of the work yourself.
Outside of just eating their flesh, sharks and fish can also provide some valuable crafting resources, giving you even more reason to take them down. If you want to see how to hunt your dinner with complete precision in Skull and Bones, take a look at the guide below.
Hunting sharks and fish in Skull and Bones
The two most common sea enemies you'll find while sailing your ship in Skull and Bones are sharks and fish. While sailing back and forth between your first couple of objectives, you'll likely be attacked by a shark or two, which might seem like big trouble, but it's not. Sharks are relatively harmless even if they decide to attack your ship.
Fortunately, there's an easy way to deal with the beasts along with the less menacing fish that hop out of the water. To hunt a shark or fish, all you need to do is press the aim button when sailing your ship. If you're in the starting raft you get for free, then you'll aim with a spear, which you have an unlimited amount of in Skull and Bones. If you're on any other ship, like the one you get in Sainte-Anne, then you'll shoot your regular cannonballs.
The aim button brings up a crosshair that shows you where you'll throw a spear/shoot a cannonball. When you're ready to release the ammunition into the body of a shark or fish, let go of the aim button. To deal more damage with a spear, you can hold the aim button longer.
Prey can become predator in Skull and Bones. If you aim correctly, then the shark will take significant Hp damage while any fish you hit will die instantly. It takes roughly three spear shots and one or two cannonballs to kill a shark. With spears, you can keep firing away until you hit the beast enough to kill them, but you only have a limited amount of cannonballs. The shark's HP bar shows how close you are to killing them.
Whenever you kill a shark or fish, blood will appear in the water, letting you know they're dead. You can sail toward this pool of blood to loot the remains of the creature(s) you just killed. If you kill a shark, you'll receive Shark Meat and Shark Skin, while fishes give you Fish Meat. You can then take the meat to a Cookery and cook food to give you and your crew extra stamina for a short duration. There are Cookery spots all over Sainte-Anne and any other settlement in Skull and Bones.
Shark: It's what's for dinner. Hunting other animals in Skull and Bones
There are some other creatures that you'll see in the water along your travels in Skull and Bones. One of the more prevalent ones is a crocodile, which drops Crocodile Meat, Crocodile Skin, and Crocodile Teeth when killed. Crocodiles are found near the shorelines across the map and they're slightly easier to kill than sharks, as they can't move as quickly.
If you need food, I recommend taking your ship and sailing around the low-level areas of Skull and Bones. While sailing, take out your spyglass and look at the shorelines for any aquatic enemies that might be sticking their bodies out of the water. While you can use your starting raft to save cannonball ammunition, hunting with cannons is a far safer option, as your bigger ships have much more HP.
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Last week, amid rumors about Xbox exclusives coming to other platforms, Phil Spencer announced an event that would detail the future of Xbox. While we're no closer to knowing the exact details of the event, we now know the "where" and "when": the announcement will happen on the official Xbox podcast this Thursday, February 15. The episode will be posted at 12 PM Pacific/3 PM Eastern
Please join us for a special edition of the Official Xbox Podcast.
— Xbox (@Xbox) February 12, 2024
Hear from Phil Spencer, Sarah Bond and Matt Booty as they share updates on the Xbox business. pic.twitter.com/TxwWJVUbgxThe podcast in question will feature more than just Xbox head Phil Spencer, however. Sarah Bond and Matt Booty, the Presidents of Xbox and Xbox Game studios, respectively, will also give updates on the future of the brand.
There are a few likely candidates for discussion. The most recent is the report that Xbox exclusives would begin coming to other platforms, including Hi-Fi Rush, Starfield, and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. Speculation around this news has taken many different directions, with some even theorizing that the loss of exclusivity implies Xbox might stop making consoles altogether. A report from earlier today, however, says that this isn't the case.
The other topic on the table is the company's most recent round of mass layoffs, where over 1900 employees were let go from the company, and a Blizzard survival game years into development was canceled. While Blizzard and Microsoft have since asserted that the layoffs would have happened with or without their notorious merger, the FTC filed a complaint. Either for gamers, employees, or the regulatory bodies of the world, it's a viable point of discussion.
When the podcast is posted on Thursday, you'll be able to listen to it on Xbox's YouTube channel right here.
What do you think the future of Xbox looks like? Let us know in the comments!
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Last week, Xbox head Phil Spencer announced a “Future of Xbox” event, which we now know is taking place on Thursday, February 15. Speculation has run rampant about what the event entails amid rumors that several first-party Xbox title are making their way to other platforms, with some believing this event will confirm those reports. On the extreme end, others believe Spencer may announce the end of Xbox as a console platform altogether. According to one report, that may not be the case.
Inverse journalist Shannon Liao reported in her weekly gaming newsletter that Spencer held a company town hall last Tuesday and told employees there are no plans to stop making Xbox consoles. Furthermore, it was stated that “Xboxes would continue to be part of a strategy that involves multiple kinds of devices.” Microsoft did not respond to Liao’s request for comment.
Over the last several weeks, reports have emerged that Microsoft has either considered or is outright planning to bring titles such as Hi-Fi Rush and Sea of Thieves to PlayStation and/or Switch. Starfield has also been rumored for a PS5 launch. Most recently, The Verge reported that Microsoft has considered bringing Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, slated to launch this year for Xbox and PC, to PS5 after a short exclusivity window.
These reports have led some to believe that Xbox is considering a major change in first-party and platform strategy, with some even suggesting it may abandon console development and focus solely on software. This speculation is seemingly what led Spencer to post his response on X announcing the Future of Xbox event. The internal town hall would then have taken place the next day after his tweet, likely to clear the air with concerned employees.
Please join us for a special edition of the Official Xbox Podcast.
— Xbox (@Xbox) February 12, 2024
Hear from Phil Spencer, Sarah Bond and Matt Booty as they share updates on the Xbox business. pic.twitter.com/TxwWJVUbgxWhatever the case, all should, hopefully, be made clear when the Future of Xbox event, which takes the form of the Official Xbox Podcast, airs this Thursday at 12 p.m. PT/3 p.m. ET. The event will be streamed on YouTube and other networks.
[Source: Shannon Liao]
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If you're one of the many, many people who are looking forward to Final Fantasy VII Rebirth on February 29, you're likely looking to go into the game unspoiled. If that's the case, be careful on social media for the next two weeks, as reports indicate that spoilers are beginning to appear across multiple apps.
Per Kotaku, users on Reddit, Tiktok, and X (formerly Twitter) are reporting FF7 Rebirth spoilers are beginning, and they include "screenshots, clips, and descriptions" of leaked materials. The leaks have yet to be confirmed as real, but those worried about potentially spoiling the game for themselves.
The alleged leaks come one week after a PlayStation State Of Play dedicated entirely to the upcoming game aired on PlayStation's social media accounts. The presentation revealed that the new game will end at the same point as the original game's Disc 1, as well as a shadow drop of a single-player demo with both Cloud and Sephiroth playable.
There are multiple steps you can take to protect yourself should you be wary of spoilers, which include muting certain keywords or phrases–"Final Fantasy VII Rebirth," "FFVIIR," or the names of the game's characters are good examples. However, if you're looking for a more definitive option, deleting the named social media apps from your mobile device until the game's release would suffice.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will launch exclusively on PlayStation 5 on February 29.
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Microsoft will share "updates on the Xbox business" on February 15, the company has confirmed, in the wake of ongoing rumors and reports of Xbox shifting strategy to release games on competing platforms.
The event will take place this Thursday as a podcast featuring Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer and other Xbox executives including Sarah Bond and Matt Booty. The podcast will air on YouTube and everywhere else podcasts are available at 12 PM PT / 3 PM ET.
Bond is Xbox's new president and Booty is the Head of Xbox Game Studios, so, together with Spencer, this should make for a good panel to speak to the economic and creative considerations at play in this situation.
Please join us for a special edition of the Official Xbox Podcast.
— Xbox (@Xbox) February 12, 2024
Hear from Phil Spencer, Sarah Bond and Matt Booty as they share updates on the Xbox business. pic.twitter.com/TxwWJVUbgxIt recently came to light that Microsoft might be shifting focus and executing on a new strategy to bring some of its first-party games and franchises to rival platforms from Sony and Nintendo. Microsoft has not commented on these reports as of yet, so the podcast interview will surely be one to tune in for.
Microsoft has been saying for years that it wants to make its games available to more people, in more places, and on more devices, and releasing some games on PlayStation and Nintendo could be a way to do that.
Reports have suggested that Microsoft is considering bringing Gears of War, Starfield, Hi-Fi Rush, Sea of Thieves, and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle to PlayStation. Some have wondered if Microsoft could leave the hardware business with PS5 outselling Xbox 2:1, but Microsoft has reportedly assured its staff that this won't be the case.
Developing...
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Apex Legends Season 20: Breakout launches Tuesday, February 13, and developer Respawn Entertainment has just released patch notes for what it's calling the biggest update since the game's 2019 launch.
From major changes to the crafting system to the removal of EVO Shields and reintroduction of mid-season splits in Ranked Mode, Season 20 has a lot going on. Keep reading for a breakdown of the biggest changes coming to the game when Season 20 goes live.
One interesting feature coming to the game this season is the addition of "Breakout Rewards." Every two weeks for the entirety of the season, a new Legend will become playable, even if they haven't been unlocked yet. During this time, a series of challenges will become available for players to complete, and those who do will permanently unlock the Legend, free of charge. But even if you've already unlocked every Legend, these challenges are still worth doing, as players who complete all challenges will earn additional rewards like the Top Tier reactive Flatline weapon skin (Legendary) and the Runaway Renegade Wraith Legend skin (Legendary).
As for maps, Olympus, Storm Point, and World's Edge will be in rotation this season. Mixtape Mode is also getting a new map called Thunderdome. Meant to be a reworked version of the now-destroyed Kings Canyon POI, the Thunderdome map includes an arena with a reactive crowd that cheers when players perform well and a massive Predator skull structure that shoots fire from the hole where its nose should be.
Another new feature players will likely be glad to see is the addition of Performance mode, a setting that allows PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S owners to play the game at 120 FPS.
Ranked Mode will see the reintroduction of mid-season splits, the removal of Provisional Matches and Promo Trials, and quite a few other changes, including widened Ranked tier widths and a new, extremely detailed post-match breakdown screen that will show players exactly how they gained (or lost) Ranked Points (RP). For more information on Ranked Mode changes, check out our Apex Legends Season 20 feature breakdown.
Crafting is getting entirely reworked this season, with players only able to craft one item per Replicator. On the bright side, weapons will no longer be trapped in the Replicator each season, meaning more weapons will be accessible via the standard loot pool.
The EVA-8 shotgun will be replacing the Prowler SMG as the seasonal Care Package weapon, while the Devotion, Mastiff, R-301, RE-45, and 30-30 Repeater will all be getting the gold weapon treatment this season.
Despite entering the Care Package, the EVA-8's damage has been reduced to 6 from 7, but its rate of fire has been increased to 3 (previously 2.4). Recoil has been reduced, Hammerpoint Rounds now dish out 20% increased damage to unshielded enemies, and the gold Shotgun Bolt now reloads 2 shells when players are sliding as opposed to one.
Meanwhile, the Hemlock's damage has been reduced to 20 from 21, hipfire spread is increasing, and spread delay has been increased to .28 from .21. The L-STAR also no longer supports barrel mods as an attachment.
Lastly, the 1x Digital Threat sight can no longer be equipped to any SMGs, and its spawn rate has been reduced by 20%.
In addition to the new Legend Upgrades system--which sees over 100 new Legend perks added to the game--some individual Legends are also being reworked in Season 20.
Bigger Legends like Caustic, Gibraltar, Revenant, and others are being revamped to feel less sluggish when running, though all Legends have the same running speed, and this will remain the case in Season 20.
Ballistic's Sling weapons will now have all Common-tier attachments while equipped, and the newest Legend--Season 19's Conduit--is getting reworked as well. Her Radiant Transfer tactical ability's cooldown time has been increased from 21 seconds to 26 seconds, and its temporary shield generation rate has decreased from 20HP/s to 15HP/s. Her Energy Barricade's mines now persist for only 45 seconds (down from 60 seconds) and have had their hitpoints reduced from 250 to 200. Lastly, the distance at which mines are removed when deployed too close to one another has been increased by 100%.
Mad Maggie's Wrecking Ball is seeing some major changes this season, too. It will no longer be destroyed from hitting a single enemy, instead triggering an explosion and continuing to bounce, allowing for a second explosion from an additional enemy hit. Additionally, as of Season 20, the Wrecking Ball will continue to bounce through devices it hits and destroys. But players on the receiving end of the Wrecking Ball will likely be happy to learn that once the new season starts, they can no longer be hit by the Wrecking Ball for 2 seconds after the initial hit, and can only be affected by its shellshock and knockback effects once.
But there are loads of other updates and changes coming to Apex this season, so be sure to check out the Season 20 patch notes, which are listed in full below.
Apex Legends Season 20: Breakout launches Tuesday, February 13. For more information on the new season, take a look at our behind-the-scenes chat with Apex Legends lead writer Ashley Reed.
PATCH NOTES
- Added Tags: a 3-4 character piece of flair ahead of players’ usernames that appear everywhere usernames do
- Clubs are being retired—check out the Highlights blog for more details
- Events moved into a dedicated tab in the Lobby (out of Seasonal tab)
BALANCE UPDATES
Crafting 2.0
- Crafting Rotation is no more, all weapons and loot are back on the floor
- Crafting options reduced to Shield Battery, Medkit, Ammo, and Player Banners
- Inventory can now be accessed from the Crafting menu
- Rampart’s Big Maude
- All paintball weapons are now free, dispense time increased
- Increased variety of weapons, but gold kitted weapons no longer offered
- One free weapon per player, per match (Loba can steal a second with Black Market)
- Replicators
- Each individual Replicator is now single-use per player, per match
- Every game will start with 12 spawned
- Decreased interaction time with instant printing
- Printed items left alone will auto-eject from the Replicator after some time
Care Package Weapon Rotation
- EVA-8 enters the Care Package
- Prowler returns to the floor
Gold Weapons Rotation
- R-301, RE-45, Mastiff, Devotion, 30-30
WEAPONS & ATTACHMENTS
30-30
- Base damage reduced to 39 (was 42)
- Ammo capacity
- Base capacity unchanged (6)
- White Magazine reduced to 7 (was 8)
- Blue Magazine reduced to 8 (was 10)
- Purple & Gold Magazine reduced to 10 (was 12)
- Skullpiercer headshot multiplier reduced to 2.0 (was 2.1)
- Dual Loader removed as an integrated Hop-Up, now only loads 1 shell per reload
- Marksman Stock reload speed bonus normalized to match other sniper weapons
- Reloading 3 shells in a row now increases reload speed by 20% for the remainder of the reload
EVA-8 [Care Package]
- Damage reduced to 6 (was 7)
- Fire rate increased to 3 (was 2.4)
- Recoil reduced to better match the much faster fire rate
- Hammer Points: 20% damage increase against flesh (+1 damage)
- Gold Shotgun Bolt: shells reloaded on slide increased to 2 (was 1)
- Note: this change only affects the Care Package EVA-8
Hemlock
- Damage reduced to 20 (was 21)
- Hipfire spread increased
- Spread delay increased to 0.28 (was 0.21)
L-Star
- Can no longer equip Barrel Attachments
Prowler [Floor]
- Reverted to non-Care Package version
- Damage decreased to 15 (was 16)
- Select Fire Hop-Up removed
- Burst delay increased to 0.28 (was 0.24)
- Spread delay increased to 0.28 (was 0.15)
R-99
- ADS vertical and horizontal recoil increased
R-301
- Hipfire spread reduced
SMG Ballistics
- Projectile gravity increased across all SMGs
- Projectile launch speed reduced across most SMGs (Prowler unchanged)
1x Digital Threat
- Can no longer be equipped to SMGs
- Spawn rates reduced by 20%
Laser Sights
- Spread multipliers reduced
- White Laser Sight adjusted to x0.9 (was x0.8)
- Blue Laser Sight adjusted to x0.8 (was x0.6)
- Purple Laser Sight adjusted to x0.7 (was x0.4)
LEGENDS
Heavy-Rig Legends (Gibraltar, Caustic, Pathfinder, Newcastle, Revenant)
- Now use medium-rig first-person movement animations
- Actual game speeds have not changed, these Legends will feel less sluggish when running
Support Legends
- Extended Supply Bin contents have been improved (see below)
Ballistic
- Sling: Sling Weapons now have all White attachments while equipped
- Tempest: effect radius for ally range has been increased to 90m (was 13m)
Bloodhound
- Tracker: Raven scan’s Ult Charge is now gated behind the Hunting Ravens upgrade
Catalyst
- Dark Veil:
- lifetime decreased to 15s (was 25s)
- length decreased to 40m (was 55m)
Conduit
- Radiant Flash
- Cooldown increased to 26s (was 21s)
- Temporary Shield generation rate decreased to 15HP/s (was 20HP/s)
- Temporary Shield generation time increased to 9s (was 8s)
- Energy Barricade
- Mine duration reduced to 45s (was 60s)
- Mine HP reduced to 200HP (was 250HP)
- The distance at which mines are removed when deployed too close to one another has been increased by ~100%
Crypto
- Surveillance Drone
- Speed of drone recall has been increased slightly
- Transitions going in and out of drone are now faster
Horizon
- Gravity Lift: cooldown increased to 25s (was 20s)
Lifeline
- In modes with Upgrade Cores enabled, Lifeline's Care Package now has a 50/50 chance to drop an extra piece of smart equipment (vs. large consumable) instead of an Armor
Mad Maggie
- Wrecking Ball
- Will no longer be destroyed on first enemy hit
- Instead, the Wrecking Ball will trigger an explosion then keep going, allowing for a second explosion to trigger later
- The same player cannot be hit again by the ball for 2s after first impact
- Players can only be affected by the shellshock and knockback effects once
- Will now bounce through devices it hits and destroys
- Will no longer be destroyed on first enemy hit
Octane
- Jump Pad: audio falloff of double-jump has been adjusted to be slightly less audible from long distances
Pathfinder
- Insider Knowledge
- Scanning Care Packages now awards 50% Ult Charge (was 100%) and 15s Ult Cooldown (was 10s)
- This also applies to Ring Console or Survey Beacon scans
MAPS
Map Updates
- The Apex Games Museum on World’s Edge has an all-new exhibit that honors the history of the Outlands and the origin of the Games. Filled with interactive kiosks, artwork and red carpet flair, the museum has many interesting tidbits of information, community artwork and even some easter eggs.
- Special celebration dressing in the form of flags, banners, and even the return of our larger than life Legend balloons can be found on every map. This year features an all-new cast designed with the Breakout aesthetic in mind.
- Tridents, jump balloons, gravity cannons, loot bins and more have a fresh look to compliment the theme of the season.
Thunderdome
Feel the energy as the crowd comes alive in our first custom Mixtape map!
- Immerse yourself in the action of a focused 3-lane multiplayer map, designed for fast-paced gameplay
- Playable for all mixtape game modes: Team Deathmatch, Gun Run, and Control
- Get hyped listening to the cheers from the crowd in the arena stands
MODES
- Mixtape
- Updated Loadouts to reflect Weapon Meta changes
- Gun Run: removed Charge Rifle, added Kraber
- NEW LTM: Straight Shot—check out the collection event blog for more details
- Players spawn above a random POI and skydive in, no Jumpmaster
- Weapons spawn kitted at different rarities, streamlining loot
- Reduced Lobby to 30 players and shorter rounds
- Requeue with your party directly from the death screen
RANKED
Check out our Breakout Highlights blog for more details on Ranked Reloaded.
- Level requirement now 20 (was 50)
- Entry cost will return: 20 RP per Tier starting at Silver
- Player Rankings now visible
- Promotional Trials have been removed
- Provisional Matches have been removed
- Ranked Tier RP requirements will have some increases
- RP value will be used to matchmake. For full-stack premades, the highest RP value in the squad will be used.
- Splits are returning
- Start at 1 RP at the beginning of the Season, split will drop ranking by 6 divisions
- Updated Bonuses
- Challenger Bonus: earn a 50% bonus on a elimination of a higher ranked player that was contributed to
- Top 5 Streak Bonus: for maintaining a placement streak of 5th or better, earn up to a maximum of a 40 RP bonus
- 2 match streak: +10 RP
- 3 match streak: +20 RP
- 4 match streak: +30 RP
- 5+ match streak: +40 RP
WORLD SYSTEMS
Extended Supply Bins
- Extended Supply Bins now give Smart Gear
- Players can find gear upgrades for Knockdown Shields, Helmets, and Backpacks in the hidden shelf
- Small chance of granting purple gear if a player on the squad has white gear or none at all
- Small chance of granting gold gear if the entire squad has purple gear
- More reliably gives Heat Shields & MRBs when needed
- Increased likelihood of getting Med Kit over Syringes
Ring Exploit Prevention
- Players spending too much time outside the Ring will be warned, then eliminated
BUG FIXES
- Double-clicking in the Melee Tab now equips items
- Firing Range dummies no longer clip through damaged doors
- Heat Shields and Legend Ult items can no longer be placed on Tridents
- In-match Challenge display now lists all 5 challenges
- Player created pings can once again be removed
- Players will no longer teleport into the building overlooking the fight night ring via Trident
- Valkyrie can no longer get under the turbine on Olympus
- Voiceline while picking up enemy Banner Cards no longer indicates it is a squadmate
AUDIO
- Most in-game dialogue is now synchronized between clients
- Squad members can now be muted while spectating
GRAPHICS
- DX12 (PC) fixed several causes of crashes
LEGENDS
- Ash Ult, Rampart Tac/Ult, Wattson Tac/Ult, and Loba Ult can no longer be placed out of bounds
- Conduit’s Tac now appears for observers
- Mad Maggie’s Ult now destroys Gibby’s Tac
- Mirage decoys that are destroyed by Catalyst’s Piercing Spikes no longer keep the trap active nor make hit sounds briefly after dying
QUALITY OF LIFE
- Destructible Legend abilities have consistent damage feedback
- Objects which previously showed red (flesh) damage numbers will now show as gray and the damage numbers will indicate if the object is destroyed
- Increased visibility for gray damage numbers
- Firing Range: Nessie was inspired after watching some centuries old videos and wanted to change things up a bit. The yellow and purple polka-dots look quite dashing.
- Gun Run: changed the Victory notification for the winning team to say “You Are the Champion” instead of “<Team> is the Champion”
- Per Optic ADS Sensitivity: added an option for Seer Passive which controls how quickly you can turn while unarmed and using Heart Seeker
- Performance Mode aim assist has been tuned to feel similar to 60Hz mode
- Added advanced haptics and adaptive triggers support for PlayStation and PC consoles
- If you encounter an issue, please ensure to connect the controller via USB and complete any updates
Navigation
- Event Tab: dedicated tab appears when there is an active Event (previously under the Seasonal Tab)
- Death Menu: added a Squad Tab where you can access your groups information, report, and mute VoIP/pings while you’re dead
- Legends Tab: selected Legend will not reset to featured one when your cursor is not over a Legend
- Melee Tab: Death Box icon is now clickable
- Store Tab: new subtab containing offers that were previously in Featured, Specials, Seasonal, and more with improved navigational flow and presentation
GRAPHICS
- General GPU rendering optimizations for FX
- Improved Low Res FX rendering quality
- Improved Volumetric Lighting
- Optimized FX after stepping through a Catalyst wall for better GPU performance
- Optimized FX when taking damage from Fuse's ultimate for better GPU performance
- PS5 and Xbox SX/S improved CPU graphics performance with parallelization of rendering workloads
LIVEAPI UPDATES AND UPCOMING CHANGES
We are adding new gameplay event messages to LiveAPI supporting Legend Upgrades and EVO Level changes alongside improvements and bug fixes based on ongoing feedback. The schema of all events alongside technical documentation can be found in the LiveAPI folder of the game installation.
In order to better support LiveAPI 2.0, we will retire the existing file-based output in favor of the WebSockets connection interface. The file-based output will be turned off by default in a future patch and entirely removed from LiveAPI by Q3 2024. Developers should begin migrating their apps to the WebSockets interface in order to avoid disruptions.
- Added Tags: a 3-4 character piece of flair ahead of players’ usernames that appear everywhere usernames do
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Developer Sandlot and publisher D3Publisher have announced that Earth Defense Force 6 has been delayed and will now release in the West in Summer 2024 instead of its original Spring 2024 window.
The reason for the delay was that both parties "have decided to extend the launch window to add finishing touches and finalize preparations for its western launch." However, the Asian version is still set to launch on March 14 for PS4 and PS5. The western launch will also include a PC port.
Earth Defense Force 6 is set three years after the events of Earth Defense Force 5. Humanity spent that time rebuilding society while also eliminating any remaining alien forces. However, a mysterious ring-shaped ship appears in the sky, and now the Earth Defense Force has to protect the planet from a new kind of threat.
Its gameplay consists of shooting various giant bugs including ants, spiders, and wasps as they try to invade the planet. This specific genre has gotten a recent spotlight due to the success of Helldivers 2. Earth Defense Force has been around for longer, however. The first game debuted in 2003 as Monster Attack before switching its name to Global Defense Force and then eventually sticking with Earth Defense Force.
Earth Defense Force 6 was first released in Japan in 2022, and the next upcoming game in the series is a spin-off called Earth Defense Force: World Brothers 2, set to launch sometime in 2024.
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The Thaumaturge will now launch slightly later than planned, on 4th March, despite work on the game being complete.
Writing on social media today, publisher 11 Bit Studios said it had actively chosen to delay the game due to "February's busy launch period".
"The game is complete, but we want to give it space so it can be enjoyed the way we believe it deserves," the publisher wrote in a post on X. "See you in 1905 Warsaw and thank you for your patience!"
Skull and Bones - How To Complete High Seas Heist
in Gaming News & Releases Feeds
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Skull and Bones has numerous missions for you to undertake, some of which take you to far-flung corners of the world. One early-game objective even tasks you with sinking an enemy vessel, before looking for buried treasure. Here's our guide on how to complete High Seas Heist in Skull and Bones.
How to complete High Seas Heist in Skull and Bones
You can complete High Seas Heist by destroying a Compagnie Royale ship known as the Royal Louis, followed by uncovering two buried treasure chests in specific locations.
Note that this quest comes from John Scurlock, the pirate lord of the Sainte-Anne hub. It takes place after the Brokered Ground mission where you gather information from the Sea Peoples. In any case, we've got all the details for you in the sections below.
How to find and sink the Royal Louis
You can find the Royal Louis ship by heading to the Islands of the Moon, which is further northwest of Sainte-Anne. During our playthrough, this location was extremely foggy, which greatly hampered visibility. As of the time of this writing, we can't confirm if this was just due to dynamic weather effects or if it's scripted as part of the mission.
Regardless, once you spot the Royal Louis, do everything you can to deal as much damage as possible. That's because it will circle around the islands and call on other Compagnie Royale vessels nearby. From fighting a one-on-one naval battle, you might end up facing numerous foes.
Where to find the Royal Burial Ground
Once you've managed to sink the Royale Louis, loot your rewards and get ready to sail southward. Here's what you need to do:
Caradec's Buried Treasure location #1
The next step in the High Seas Heist quest in Skull and Bones involves looking for buried treasure. Based on the first clue, we need to find a tree that has an hourglass-like marking. Simply head up the sloping path from where you disembarked. You should spot the tree in the clearing, and a glowing beam will appear to denote the area where you can dig.
Caradec's Buried Treasure location #2
Now, you have to find a triangular rock with some sort of circular symbol (i.e. it looks a bit like a turtle). From the area with the first chest, head back down to the beach. There's a small cove between where your boat is docked and where several NPCs are camped. You should notice the peculiar rock in this location.
The beam of light should then appear, which would allow you to dig for the buried treasure. Once you've opened it, you'll receive your rewards. You may then return to John Scurlock back at Sainte-Anne for the next segment of the main quest.
That's how you complete High Seas Heist in Skull and Bones. If you're just testing the waters, you can check out our guides on how to repair your ship and how to increase stamina.
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