Tag: eSports

Fuzzy critters, a free man, and everything else new in the Honkai Star Rail 1.6 update

HoYoverse announced the Honkai Star Rail 1.6 banners in the RPG’s latest livestream along with plenty about what to expect in the next update

[anyclip-media thumbnail=”undefined” playlistId=”undefined” content=”PHNjcmlwdCBzcmM9Imh0dHBzOi8vcGxheWVyLnBvcHRvay5jb20vYW55Y2xpcC13aWRnZXQvbHJlLXdpZGdldC9wcm9kL3YxL3NyYy9scmUuanMiIGRhdGEtYXI9IjE2OjkiIHB1Ym5hbWU9IjE5OTgiIHdpZGdldG5hbWU9IjAwMTZNMDAwMDJVMEIxa1FBRl9NODMzNSI+Cjwvc2NyaXB0Pg==”][/anyclip-media]

HoYoverse announced the Honkai Star Rail 1.6 banners in the RPG’s latest livestream along with plenty about what to expect in the next update – and there’s quite a bit. The next major story update is still over the horizon, but while we wait, HoYoverse is cooking up an animal nurture event – using the term “animal” loosely – and a new Echo of War boss fight, among other things. The battle system gets even more complex with the introduction of two characters who ignore enemy toughness, and two old favorites return for another round of banners.

Honkai Star Rail 1.6 goes live on Dec. 27, 2023, and lasts for the usual six weeks.

HoYoverse is stuffing Honkai Star Rail’s Dr Ratio in your mailbox for free

You can get Honkai Star Rail’s Dr Ratio for free in the version 1.6 update, and you don’t have to do anything to claim the 5-star character

[anyclip-media thumbnail=”undefined” playlistId=”undefined” content=”PHNjcmlwdCBzcmM9Imh0dHBzOi8vcGxheWVyLnBvcHRvay5jb20vYW55Y2xpcC13aWRnZXQvbHJlLXdpZGdldC9wcm9kL3YxL3NyYy9scmUuanMiIGRhdGEtYXI9IjE2OjkiIHB1Ym5hbWU9IjE5OTgiIHdpZGdldG5hbWU9IjAwMTZNMDAwMDJVMEIxa1FBRl9NODMzNSI+Cjwvc2NyaXB0Pg==”][/anyclip-media]

You can get Honkai Star Rail’s Dr Ratio for free in the version 1.6 update, and you don’t even have to do anything to claim the 5-star character. HoYoverse is sending him to every player’s in-game mailbox after the 1.6 update goes live on Dec. 27, 2023, and you only need to complete the Warp tutorial mission in Star Rail’s early hours to be eligible.

The in-game message containing Dr Ratio will remain available until Honkai Star Rail version 2.1, so you’ll have plenty of time to scoop him up.

HoYoverse made the announcement alongside a reminder that Honkai Star Rail won best mobile game at The Game Awards 2023, best game of 2023 in the Google Play Awards, and iPhone Game of the Year, and they even added a small in-game reason for Dr Ratio inserting himself into your life.

“The current arrangements for this Warp are pitiful! Zero points!” HoYoverse has the character saying in the announcement tweet. “The dissemination and sharing of knowledge, as well as truth, is imperative. I, in my esteemed capacity, demand that every trailblazer be given access to a proper education! With lessons delivered by me in person!”

This marks the first time HoYoverse made a 5-star character free in Star Rail, and it’s something the studio has never done in Genshin Impact either. It’s good news for anyone keen on saving some Stellar Jade, of course, and even better for new players or those who missed out on Welt and Imbibitor Lunae. The only other free or easily obtainable Imaginary character is Yukong, who operates in a support capacity – not something you can do much with against high-level enemies in the Forgotten Hall.

You can still spend Jade on Dr Ratio’s banner, if you want to try for extra copies of him, though you may want to store that Jade up for the 2.0 characters, Black Swan and Sparkle.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

Overwatch 2 Winter Wonderland is back with a StarCraft-inspired Widowmaker skin and fan-favorite modes

The Overwatch 2 Winter Wonderland celebrations are back, with four favorite modes, free skins, and a StarCraft-inspired Widowmaker outfit

[anyclip-media thumbnail=”undefined” playlistId=”undefined” content=”PHNjcmlwdCBzcmM9Imh0dHBzOi8vcGxheWVyLnBvcHRvay5jb20vYW55Y2xpcC13aWRnZXQvbHJlLXdpZGdldC9wcm9kL3YxL3NyYy9scmUuanMiIGRhdGEtYXI9IjE2OjkiIHB1Ym5hbWU9IjE5OTgiIHdpZGdldG5hbWU9IjAwMTZNMDAwMDJVMEIxa1FBRl9NODMzNSI+Cjwvc2NyaXB0Pg==”][/anyclip-media]

The Overwatch 2 Winter Wonderland celebrations are back, with four fan-favorite modes, free skins, and more. This year’s Overwatch 2 Winter Wonderland begins on Dec. 19, 2023, and runs for three weeks, with a new event appearing in the multiplayer game‘s Arcade section every week.

The modes might be familiar, but the Winter Fair Pass is a new addition to Blizzard’s winter festival. Playing matches in any mode earns you event tickets, which you can redeem in the event store for rewards. The Winter Fair Pass mirrors the usual battle pass in that there’s a free track – which costs 500 Overwatch Coins – and a paid track. The paid track includes more rewards, such as a StarCraft-inspired skin for Widowmaker, though you can still get a free legendary skin for Illari (Winter Jammies), Baptiste (Formalwear), or Cassidy (Formalwear) on the free track.

It takes nine matches to earn one ticket, though wins count as two matches, and you can earn tickets until Jan. 9, 2024. The in-game store will also feature fresh skins every week, and any tickets you have leftover after the event ends will convert to Overwatch Coins.

Winter Wonderland’s returning Arcade modes kicks things off with Mei’s Snowball Offensive, a 5v5 deathmatch-style mode where you only have Mei’s ice abilities and some very potent snowballs. After that is Yeti Hunt, a 5v1 mode where five Meis and one overpowered Winston face off to see who can capture whom.

Finally is Flash-Freeze Elimination. Heroes whose HP reaches zero get frozen in this mode, and if you play your cards right, you can unthaw them and get them back in the match. It’s a wild, hectic mode, and playing all three of these earns you extra XP for the Season 8 battle pass.

Speaking of the latest season, if you’re just diving back into Overwatch 2 for the holidays, check out the Overwatch 2 Season 8 patch notes to see what’s changed.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

Honkai Star Rail codes: All active codes for December 2023

Honkai Star Rail codes can let you get free Stellar Jade. Here’s a list of all currently working codes.

Honkai: Star Rail is the new free-to-play game by the developers of Genshin Impact. Like its predecessor, you’re going to need some hard-to-find currency if you want to try your luck at getting your hands on the new characters. You can spend real money on this currency if you want, but as it’s launch week, there are currently some codes out there that will give you free Stellar Jade.

We’ll give you the full list of Honkai Star Rail codes and how to redeem them.

The best Baldur’s Gate 3 Paladin build and Oath

our BG3 Paladin build guide explains how to get the most out of this versatile class

[anyclip-media thumbnail=”undefined” playlistId=”undefined” content=”PHNjcmlwdCBzcmM9Imh0dHBzOi8vcGxheWVyLnBvcHRvay5jb20vYW55Y2xpcC13aWRnZXQvbHJlLXdpZGdldC9wcm9kL3YxL3NyYy9scmUuanMiIGRhdGEtYXI9IjE2OjkiIHB1Ym5hbWU9IjE5OTgiIHdpZGdldG5hbWU9IjAwMTZNMDAwMDJVMEIxa1FBRl9NODMzNSI+Cjwvc2NyaXB0Pg==”][/anyclip-media]

The best Baldur’s Gate 3 Paladin build turns one of the most popular BG3 classes into an exceptional jack-of-all-trades. Paladins can withstand most attacks, support party members, distract enemies, and even take down the toughest foes. Navigating its subclasses is a little tricky, although if you end up as an Oathbreaker, it’s not exactly the end of the world. The Paladin is ideal for players of all skill levels, and our BG3 Paladin build guide explains how to get the most out of it.

These players built a creative solution to Lego Fortnite’s fast travel problem

These players found a clever solution to Lego Fortnite’s fast travel problem by building cars, planes, and flying fortresses

[anyclip-media thumbnail=”undefined” playlistId=”undefined” content=”PHNjcmlwdCBzcmM9Imh0dHBzOi8vcGxheWVyLnBvcHRvay5jb20vYW55Y2xpcC13aWRnZXQvbHJlLXdpZGdldC9wcm9kL3YxL3NyYy9scmUuanMiIGRhdGEtYXI9IjE2OjkiIHB1Ym5hbWU9IjE5OTgiIHdpZGdldG5hbWU9IjAwMTZNMDAwMDJVMEIxa1FBRl9NODMzNSI+Cjwvc2NyaXB0Pg==”][/anyclip-media]

Lego Fortnite fast travel isn’t a thing, both in the video game sense of instantly transporting yourself somewhere or in the normal sense of just moving kinda quickly. That makes moving around in Lego Fortnite’s vast open world a bit of a chore, but some clever players figured out a way to pick up the pace.

They built cars, planes, some flying fortresses, and one or two creations that probably don’t fit into any known category.

That’s all in the spirit of Lego, you might say, but the impressive part about this is that Lego Fortnite actually has pretty strict limits on what you can build and how it works. For starters, there are no blueprints for building cars or vehicles of any kind. Compounding the challenge is a quirk with Lego Fortnite blocks that means they don’t always function the way you might expect. If you slap some wheels on a basic block, they aren’t going to turn.

@youtube.zzynic

Fortnite Lego is so crazy!🤯 #fortniteclips #fortnitetips #fyp

♬ Married Life (From “Up”) – Gina Luciani

The foundation for these creations is dynamic – literally. It’s called the Dynamic Foundation block, named for how it interacts with other blocks in ways that most building materials in the game don’t. You can stick some balloons on it to create a floating platform or attach wheels to form a basic car.

YouTuber Zzyinc made what looks like a hybrid tank-car combo with a small hut on the front. Another creator just stuck some rockets on the foundation and went flying off into the sunset.

TikTok user Scuba tried using a thruster-balloon combination to make a large plane, though steering the flying contraption wasn’t the easiest task.

@glonavyscuba

Best Fortnite lego plane build for survival , can land and steer without wasting material #fortnitelego #lego #legoplane #legocar #legobuild #fortnite

♬ Ghosts – Ivan Ooze

Speaking of flying, my favorite creation has to be this one, from Reddit user Peruunaa. It’s a complex build with multiple platforms, several thrusters, and some clever use of switches to control propulsion.

Clankbloon v.1 (Steerable airship)
byu/Peruunaaa inLEGOfortnite

Lego Fortnite doesn’t have steering wheels, so they placed their plane’s thrusters and switches in a pattern that meant they could toggle them on and off to control the airship’s direction.

Most of the materials these creations require, including flexwood, only become available as you make a fair bit of progress in a survival run, so expect to spend a lot of time on your little Lego feet before you can start building contraptions like this yourself.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

HoYoverse teases Honkai Star Rail’s Black Swan and Sparkle

Honkai Star Rail 1.6 is just around the corner, but HoYoverse is already teasing the next round of Honkai Star Rail characters

[anyclip-media thumbnail=”undefined” playlistId=”undefined” content=”PHNjcmlwdCBzcmM9Imh0dHBzOi8vcGxheWVyLnBvcHRvay5jb20vYW55Y2xpcC13aWRnZXQvbHJlLXdpZGdldC9wcm9kL3YxL3NyYy9scmUuanMiIGRhdGEtYXI9IjE2OjkiIHB1Ym5hbWU9IjE5OTgiIHdpZGdldG5hbWU9IjAwMTZNMDAwMDJVMEIxa1FBRl9NODMzNSI+Cjwvc2NyaXB0Pg==”][/anyclip-media]

Honkai Star Rail 1.6 is just around the corner, but HoYoverse is already teasing the next round of Honkai Star Rail characters – Black Swan and Sparkle. There’s also a new 4-star character.

While this is the first time HoYoverse publicly announced these characters, devoted Star Rail fans have known about them for months. Dataminers found evidence of these and many more characters planned for release during the Star Rail 2.0 series of updates set in Penacony, the Land of Dreams.

Black Swan is a 5-star Nihility character with wind as her element, but current leaks point to her working like a wind Pela instead of another Sampo. She’s meant to reduce enemy effect resistance and possibly defense, and her talent applies Fate Cards to enemies. These activate when foes take damage over time and trigger different effects depending on the circumstances, which seems similar to Dr Ratio’s talent, which triggers different kinds of follow-up attacks.

Despite her fireworks-themed name and appearance, Quantum is Sparkle’s element. She follows the Harmony path, and leaks suggest her kit resembles something like a turbo-charged Hanya and Bronya combo. Sparkle’s skill is meant to boost an ally’s attack and move their action forward, not unlike Bronya’s skill.

Her ultimate reportedly recovers four skill points, or, if your skill point meter is full, it adds two temporary points. It also grants a mask to all allies, which bumps up Sparkle’s talent power and increases a character’s damage when they use a skill point.

That sounds almost too good to be true, especially for skill point-hungry characters such as Imbibitor Lunae and Qingque, so I’d be surprised if that doesn’t change before launch.

Finally is Misha, a 4-star Destruction character with ice as his element whose kit centers on powering up when allies use more skill points – a perfect fit for Sparkle, in other words.

Given how HoYoverse’s character teases worked in the pass, it seems safe to assume Star Rail 2.0 will come after version 1.6 sometime in February 2024.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

The Midsommar studio is making Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding movie

Film studio A24, known for producing Midsommar and Everything Everywhere All At Once, is behind the upcoming Death Stranding movie

[anyclip-media thumbnail=”undefined” playlistId=”undefined” content=”PHNjcmlwdCBzcmM9Imh0dHBzOi8vcGxheWVyLnBvcHRvay5jb20vYW55Y2xpcC13aWRnZXQvbHJlLXdpZGdldC9wcm9kL3YxL3NyYy9scmUuanMiIGRhdGEtYXI9IjE2OjkiIHB1Ym5hbWU9IjE5OTgiIHdpZGdldG5hbWU9IjAwMTZNMDAwMDJVMEIxa1FBRl9NODMzNSI+Cjwvc2NyaXB0Pg==”][/anyclip-media]

Film studio A24, known for producing Midsommar and Everything Everywhere All At Once, is behind the upcoming Death Stranding movie. The news comes over a year after Deadline reported that Barbarian producer Alex Lebovici would produce the film adaptation of Kojima’s open-world game with Hammerstone Studios.

Whether Hammerstone is involved in some capacity remains unknown.

A24 made the announcement in a very Kojima-like manner – with a shirt and a cryptic tease. The studio announced a T-shirt that featured Death Stranding’s distinct style and then said in a Twitter post that A24 was working on the film with Kojima. After fans picked up on that little blurb, the studio released a short, official statement.

“The film promises to delve into the mysteries surrounding the apocalyptic event called the Death Stranding, which blurred the lines between life and death, and brought forth nightmarish creatures into a world on the brink of collapse,” A24 said.

Death Stranding the game takes place after that cataclysm and follows Sam Porter Bridges as he delivers parcels across the shattered nation and builds bridges in the process. Yes, it’s more than a little on the nose, but in a game with a villain called Die Hardman, that’s not really surprising.

“A24 was born into this world about 10 years ago, their presence is singular within the industry, they are like no other,” Kojima said in a separate statement that IGN obtained. “The films they are delivering to the world are high in quality and very innovative. I have been attracted to their creations and they have even inspired my own work. Their innovative approach to storytelling aligns with what Kojima Productions has been doing for the last eight years. Now, we are making a Death Stranding movie together.”

“There are a lot of ‘game adaptation films’ out there, but what we are creating is not just a direct translation of the game,” Kojima continued. “The intention is that our audience will not only be fans of the games, but our film will be for anyone who loves cinema. We are creating a Death Stranding universe that has never been seen before, achievable only through the medium of film.”

Whether that means Kojima Productions envisions multiple Death Stranding adaptations or just one that ties into the game world – and Death Stranding 2 – remains to be seen.

A24 and Kojima Productions didn’t say when production begins or when they anticipate the Death Stranding movie to release.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

Bethesda promises hefty new Starfield updates every six weeks

Bethesda is working on some big Starfield updates ahead of the space game’s bigger DLC expansions, including new ways to travel

[anyclip-media thumbnail=”undefined” playlistId=”undefined” content=”PHNjcmlwdCBzcmM9Imh0dHBzOi8vcGxheWVyLnBvcHRvay5jb20vYW55Y2xpcC13aWRnZXQvbHJlLXdpZGdldC9wcm9kL3YxL3NyYy9scmUuanMiIGRhdGEtYXI9IjE2OjkiIHB1Ym5hbWU9IjE5OTgiIHdpZGdldG5hbWU9IjAwMTZNMDAwMDJVMEIxa1FBRl9NODMzNSI+Cjwvc2NyaXB0Pg==”][/anyclip-media]

Bethesda is working on some big Starfield updates ahead of the space game’s bigger DLC expansions, including new ways to travel and, finally, add city maps. The news comes from a post Bethesda made on the Starfield Reddit, where the studio also promised mod support – a feature players have hoped for since Starfield launched in September 2023.

“We’re also hard at work on many of new features you asked for, from city maps, to mod support, to all new ways of traveling (stay tuned!),” Bethesda said. “These will be rolling out with a regular cadence of fixes and updates we expect to have roughly every six weeks. If something can be done in a smaller hotfix in between,, and we feel it’s safe, we’ll get one of those out as well. Safe is the key here. We do take a lot of time to test even the smallest change in a game this large and dynamic.”

Comment
byu/Turbostrider27 from discussion
inStarfield

A previous hotfix introduced an issue that caused an asteroid to follow players around, which is a problem, but not as big as the Starfield glitch that uprooted entire cities.

Meanwhile, Bethesda’s studio design director Emil Pagliarulo took to Twitter to complain about players who were dissatisfied with Starfield and said they don’t understand how game development works.

“I don’t complain about games on social for two main reasons: 1.) I know how hard it is to make games, and have too much respect for my fellow devs,” Pagliarulo said. “2.) I work for a game studio, and it would be uncool and unprofessional for me to do so. But sometimes I want to. Oh boy.”

“Part of me really gets it. When you’re a consumer and spend money on things, that gives you the right to complain about those things. I spend a LOT of money on games every year, and sometimes it takes a lot for me not to scream into the internet’s collective consciousness.”

The thread continues for another 13 posts.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

The best Epic Games Store holiday sale deals you’ve got to check out

We’ve rounded up the best Epic Games Store holiday sale deals and discounts, including Spider-Man, Death Stranding, Dying Light 2, and more

[anyclip-media thumbnail=”undefined” playlistId=”undefined” content=”PHNjcmlwdCBzcmM9Imh0dHBzOi8vcGxheWVyLnBvcHRvay5jb20vYW55Y2xpcC13aWRnZXQvbHJlLXdpZGdldC9wcm9kL3YxL3NyYy9scmUuanMiIGRhdGEtYXI9IjE2OjkiIHB1Ym5hbWU9IjE5OTgiIHdpZGdldG5hbWU9IjAwMTZNMDAwMDJVMEIxa1FBRl9NODMzNSI+Cjwvc2NyaXB0Pg==”][/anyclip-media]

The 2023 Epic Games holiday sale is here, and there’s a lot of pretty sweet deals to go around on video games of all kinds. Remedy Games is offering discounts on all its hit games, including the recently-released Alan Wake 2. NIS America dropped the price of several games, including the hit Trails RPG series, Square Enix’s underrated gem of a sequel to The World Ends With You, Death Stranding, and a whole lot more. 

The Epic Games holiday sale lasts until Jan. 10, 2024, so you’ve got a bit of time to plan what you’d like to get, and Epic is running its usual coupon deal as well, where you can get 33 percent off most games over $15.