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Donato Greenholt
Welcome to this new build guide for the swift Ghostflame Lich in Last Epoch 1.0. The primary objective of this build is to swiftly navigate through the Monolith to target farm various echo rewards efficiently such as the Uniques and Exalted Items, as well as to farm Exile Mages for experimental mods.
The main skill we’re using is Ghostflame, and it deals with fire and chronic damage to us while also draining our mana when we are channeling. For this setup, we’re looking to scale the initial hit of the Ghostflame, not the ailments from it, to one-shot enemies as we go.
To deal damage and be fast, we need a lot of points for the Ghostflame skill to grab all the damage multipliers. The great thing is that the skill has so many tags on it, scaling from a lot of different sources like fire, Necrotic damage over time, spell channeling, and movement.
With this build,we can get over 200% movement speed, and we can basically stay in Ghostflame all the time without having to worry that much about getting our mana drained.
With mana, finish with Ghostflame, and this will lower the overall cost of the skill. By also using Wandering Spirits and picking up the Infuse Soul passive, provide a 15% chance to gain 12 mana whenever a spirit expires. Then, we’re also using Transplant with a Pale Blood passive, which will give us 30 flat mana when we use Transplant.
Telf'un's Mirage is a small source as it also provides us 2 mana gains when we dodge while channeling potions is a huge part of this build as well. By using Divine Girdle with the experimental mod 'mana gained on potion use', we can grant us up to 40 flat mana whenever we use a potion. While on the subject of potions, it sits very well with all the other things we’re using for this build.
One of them is a Grimoire of Necrotic Elixirs, which will give us up to 40 Necrotic damage to melee attacks and spells. It also takes up to 4% less void, Necrotic, and poison damage for 4 seconds on potion use. Exsanguinous is another item which also will grant us up to 30% attack speed, cast speed, and movement speed if we have used a potion in the past 4 seconds. Some other gear you can choose depends on your amount of Last Epoch Gold.
Ghostflame: Wraith Form grants additional dodge rating per intelligence while channeling Ghostflame. Spectral Menace reduces the channel cost by up to 70%. Spirit Of Dread provides extra movement speed while channeling Ghostflame and converts it into a movement skill.
Doom Surge adds further movement speed. Fiery Desecration allows Ghostflame to deal damage in a full circle, albeit with an increased channel cost. It's beneficial if mana can be sustained. Domain Of Torment increases the damage multiplier. Disdain reduces damage taken while channeling the Ghostflame skill.
Atrocity provides an extra damage multiplier. The Decrepit Mortals release a curse on enemies for a short duration, causing them to take an additional 15% more damage over time. When triggers Banshee, enemies will also fear, and Ghostflame will deal more direct damage to them, up to 75%.
Reaper Form: Soul Shroud gives us armor per point of intelligence. Vile Shroud provides Necrotic resistance and poison resistance per point of intelligence. Soul for a Soul increases damage. Reaper's Curse adds additional increased damage. Death Comes Quickly grants the Swiftness buff upon killing an enemy.
These buffs will increase movement speed by 1% and can stack up to 10 times. With the Haunting, we have a chance to apply Mark for Death on enemies on hit. This is triggered by using Death Seal as it counts as a hit.
Transplant: Pale Blood gives us 30 mana when using Transplant. When hitting an enemy with Transplant, we gain mana per hit. Acolyte's Fervor grants the Haste and Frenzy buff upon using Transplant.
Squeamish applies fear on departure, while the other option applies fear on arrival. Fleeting Form provides extra cooldown recovery. Bone Armor grants the Bone Armor buff, providing extra armor, less damage taken, and increasing the duration of the Bone Armor.
Death Seal: This is another skill that we're using. This will seal our health, preventing us from going above the current value and deal damage to us. Moratorium increases the duration of Death Seal. Soul Stability prevents health loss from effects draining a percentage of current health.
The Quick and the Dead grants the Haste Buff upon releasing Death Seal. Doomcall amplifies the damage of Death Seal waves for each stack of Damned on us. Mortal Pulse triggers death waves every second while sealed. Tachycardia increases the frequency of death waves.
Desperate Shroud provides additional armor and stun avoidance per 10 missing health. Deadlock makes it so if our health is above 33% of your maximum health when we activate Death Seal, this will reduce it to 33% of our maximum health, making us able to stay on low life.
Wandering Spirits: Infusing Soul allows us to gain mana. We get a 15% chance to gain 12 mana per Spirit when they expire. Sheltering Spirit provides extra Ward and medium just for increased mana efficiency for the skill. Thin Veil ensures we get more spirits. Terrifying Presence ensures enemies near Spirits are also feared.
Drained Will makes Wandering Spirit also Shred resistance of nearby enemies. This helps with half of our damage from Ghostflame, as the skill is both fire and Necrotic-based. Sins of the Forgotten makes Wandering Spirit now also inflict enemies around them with the Damned ailment.
For the idols, you want to pick up mana efficiency with the Ghostflame. For the suffix, you could go with either resist, health, or Ward retention. The chance to apply fear is amazing, as we also get a 75% damage multiplier from the Ghostflame passive to feared enemies, and this will help to sustain that debuff when Death Seal is hitting enemies.
We also have 2 Grand Bone Idols with Ward per second when channeling Ghostflame and also with increased spell damage while on low life.
Next, for blessings, I recommend using Grand Echo of Solarum, Grand Light of the Moon, Grand Survival of Might, Grand Defiance of Yulia and Grand Patience of Herkir.
With Path of Exile 3.24 launching soon, here we’ll review everything we know so far about Necropolis League mechanics and rewards, as well as the implications of this League mechanic on what build and farming strategies you should be playing. If you want to get a head start when entering the league, be sure not to miss this guide. Let’s get started!
First, let's talk about everything we know so far about the league mechanics.
Necropolis is a crafting league that has many similarities to Bestiary, Harvest and Delve.
Before entering each area, you’ll see a UI pop-up, Lantern of Arimor. This UI will show you some Spirits, their associated monster modifiers, and each monster pack that can be spawned locally in the area.
Using this UI, you can move spirits onto any monster you want and assign modifiers to parts of those monsters. Lantern UI also displays detailed information about monster packs in the area, including key information such as pack density. It allows you to assign modifiers to monsters to diminish or reduce effects, or maximize bonuses from high-tier or beneficial modifiers.
It is worth noting that this league mechanism affects all zones, including league zones such as Heist Contracts and sub-zones such as Abyssal Depths.
What I really want to emphasize about this mechanic is that it is mandatory. You cannot opt out of this mechanism. Every area you enter has Haunted Spirits, which make monsters stronger and more dangerous. But you do want to make sure your build can handle these difficult spikes.
There are two types of Spirits you can find in Lantern: the more common Haunted Spirits and the rare Devoted Spirits.
Haunted Spirits come in various tiers. The higher the tier, the stronger the monster modifier, and provide better rewards for slain monsters haunted by those spirits. These better rewards come as increased chances for monsters to gain “Unresolved Anguish”.
This simply means that monsters will drop collectible corpses when slain, increasing the drop chance of Embers of The Allflame, and increasing the chance of getting Devoted Spirits for each haunted monster killed for future Lanterns.
It’s worth noting that all of this only applies to monsters that spawn locally in the area. Later, monsters spawned from the league mechanic will not be haunted, and in fact will not even appear on Lantern.
The second type is Devoted Spirits. Unlike Haunted Spirits, these Spirits grant modifiers with beneficial effects on the player. This can include Magic Find, increased XP, and monster spawning things like Lesser Shrines, Strongboxes, and Nameless Seers.
Your chance of gaining Devoted modifier increases based on the number and level of haunted spirits you killed in the previous area. This means that placing higher level, more difficult modifiers on a high density of monsters will result in more Devoted Spirits appearing in subsequent areas.
If you’re not interested in the crafting part of Necropolis, this could very well be a way to flesh out your map and get extra rewards. Not only are you likely to have highly profitable Devoted Spirits, but it’s worth noting that these modifiers may increase the monster’s item count and rarity. Whatever modifier you gain will allow you to expand your loot.
Next up is Ember of The Allflame. These are consumable items that drop haunted monsters, and can be used with Lantern UI to replace monster packs with different special monster packs. Most of these special monsters have additional items to drop, including some very exciting ones that drop tattoos!
It’s worth noting that these special monster packs will inherit the density of the monsters they replace, so you may want to use them on the densest monster packs available to maximize the number on the map.
The important thing about Embers of The Allflame is that at least some of them can only be dropped from specific content or even specific monsters. It’s possible these items will be linked to specific maps or content types, but that’s unclear at the moment, and it’s something we’ll have to figure out once the league goes live.
The ultimate effect of Haunted Spirits is Unresolved Anguish. A certain percentage of haunted monsters will have this modifier, which makes them collectible corpses when killed.
These corpses have a crafting modifier and inherit the monster’s name, monster type, and monster level. In addition, the developers also stated that at least some monsters from Embers of The Allflame have exclusive crafts associated with them.
If this applies to all monsters, and popular crafts only come from specific monsters or maps, then much of the league’s strategy will revolve around trying to farm those specific crafts.
Finally, it’s time to talk about the crafting part of this crafting league, Exorcism Crafting.
The corpses you collect from slain, haunted monsters can be consumed in large quantities to create single items. Each corpse has a crafting modifier that affects the items created.
How it works is that you’ll travel to Necropolis Graveyard, bury any number of corpses, and then exorcise all of them, and the items you craft will gain all of their combined effects.
It is said that there are many graves, and if you are willing to invest more POE Currency, you can craft an incredibly powerful item.
However, this design is far from deterministic. You can’t even choose the item base of the item you’re crafting, only broad categories like “Shield” or “Boots.”
In order to get the item base you want, you will need to use corpse modifiers that affect the item base. One of the new corpse modifiers is called “Modifier Tier Rate”. This is a new way to make items have higher level affixes.
While this modifier allows you to gain higher-level affixes, it doesn’t actually ensure that you actually gain that affix. This means you need to combine Modifier Tier Rate with other modifiers to increase your chances of rolling that type of affix.
Another interesting use of Modifier Tier Rate is to use it on affix types you don’t want, to reduce the chance of getting that affix in your item. Using them in this way is like using a much weaker version of Fossil that prevents certain types of affixes from rolling on items.
So what farming strategy is best for Necropolis? Since the endgame got a huge overhaul in POE 3.24, with the addition of tier 17 maps and a massive scarab rework. Compared to previous leagues, it feels difficult to make any reliable predictions this time around.
However, I do believe we can glean some important insights from all this.
For one, the rewards associated with crafting don’t match other league mechanics. Only monsters local to the map will be haunted, which means other league mechanics spawning in monsters not only won’t give you any corpses to craft, they’ll even just slow you down.
Embers, on the other hand, seem to be designed specifically for players who want to ignore crafting elements and focus solely on farming drops. Embers and their rewards will probably increase as the number of items increases. So if you decide to focus on corpse collecting, you’ll need to find ways to maximize the number of local monsters on the map.
As far as taking advantage of league mechanics, most will just slow you down. The only league mechanic that has the potential to increase the number of local monsters on a map is Shrine, but I’m not 100% sure it actually works. However, some of the new Scarabs will definitely come into play and can add additional haunted monsters to your map.
Embers farming has two parts: farming Embers themselves, or using embers to farm the monsters they spawn in the map. The details of Embers drops are currently unclear, so it’s difficult to assess whether players focused on farming Embers will do both, or just one or the other.
But the goal is to grow more Embers as you use them, and maybe even over-maintain to sell the excess Embers! Because you are replacing monster packs with Embers, you need to make sure to always replace high-density monster packs.
You may even want to consider running a map with a less efficient layout and more monster packs overall in order to maximize the value you get from your expensive Embers.
Finally, let’s talk about the factors you need to consider when creating Necropolis league builds.
What I really want to emphasize here is that this league will be more rigorous than the standard league. This league mechanic is mandatory. It makes monsters stronger, and you can’t opt out. On top of that, this patch introduces a lot of new and challenging endgame content. Therefore, I highly recommend you play with proven meta builds.
Because this is a crafting league focused on crafting powerful rare items, builds that use a lot of unique items will be at a disadvantage here. They won’t be able to take full advantage of the powerful crafting options Necropolis offers.
As for the specific type of build you should be playing, you have to take a bit of a gamble here. The fact that corpses don’t scale with the loot-increasing effect of increasing difficulty means that a clear speed build that clears the map as quickly as possible at the expense of high-end power is probably the right choice.
However, we still don’t know much about how the endgame will play out. If the best corpses come from side content like Heist or Delve, then clear speed may not be king. But a full build is probably a safe bet.
That’s all for this guide. I’d also love to hear your thoughts on Necropolis. Are you going to focus on corpses or embers? Any thoughts on all the new Scarabs we’re receiving? See you next time!
After dedicating 100 hours to playing Enshrouded, I’ve compiled 15 advanced tips to optimize your gaming experience.
To begin with, unlocking everything and discovering new Enshrouded Items in the game will also unlock the recipes associated with them.
During my initial gameplay, I encountered difficulty finding Goo because I hadn’t crafted Bug Dust, despite having it unlocked as a recipe. I failed to make the connection between the two, so I highly recommend thoroughly exploring all craftsmen and crafting one of each item as a precaution.
While many enjoy leaping off an Arcane Tower, it can lead to unfortunate outcomes, such as carelessly tumbling off a mountainside into lava or plummeting to one’s demise.
To mitigate such mishaps, you can cancel various actions, like mid-air movement, by right-clicking just before reaching the ground. This technique can be incredibly beneficial in preventing accidents.
Some players relish navigating through intricate traps, but at times, it’s more practical to bypass them entirely. Whether by leaping onto a nearby ledge, circumventing obstacles, or devising alternative routes around a base, leveraging the environment’s features can simplify traversal.
Utilize terrain advantages and remember, you have multiple options for overcoming obstacles — whether by digging, flying, or dismantling structures — rather than solely relying on conventional methods like finding switches.
During the initial 20 hours of gameplay, I relied solely on wooden arrows as a Ranger due to their affordability and ease of resource acquisition. However, I reserved rarer arrows for encounters with bosses.
Yet, resources are plentiful in this game, making it a prudent choice to opt for arrows that deal 21 damage over those inflicting only eight, even if it requires slightly more resources. The significant increase in damage output justifies the additional preparation time, resulting in a smoother gaming experience.
Did you know that crafting a Lockpick on the go consumes double the resources? Hence, thorough preparation is essential.
Although metal scraps are relatively abundant, certain items prove more resource-efficient to craft. For instance, utilizing a spinning wheel instead of a hand spinner doubles the resource output, making it worthwhile to explore alternative crafting methods for frequently used resources or recipes.
While this method may be addressed in future updates, my experience with games like Skyrim has taught me a valuable lesson: with the right approach, you can ascend any mountain.
Whether through strategic jumping and rolling or utilizing double jumps, this technique can significantly reduce the time spent navigating mountainous terrain and expedite exploration efforts.
Certain skills are indispensable in this game and warrant careful consideration. I highly recommend acquiring the Double Jump skill, which not only aids in evading danger but also facilitates exploration.
Additionally, the Desert Stomach skill provides an extra food slot, significantly enhancing character buffs. Another valuable skill is Updraft, simplifying exploration and granting access to elevated areas with ease.
For solo players, investing in resource gathering skills proves highly advantageous, particularly for those inclined towards construction. On dedicated servers, it’s beneficial for each player to assume a specific role. I strongly advocate for tanks to select the Earth Aura skill, reducing damage by 10% for all players. It would be intriguing to explore potential synergies if this effect could be stacked among multiple players.
In cooperative gameplay, the Water Aura skill offers team members free healing, further augmented by pairing it with Waters of Life.
When embarking on exploration endeavors, it’s prudent to carry altars or the necessary resources for their construction. In later levels, certain biomes lack stone, crucial for building altars. Hence, if you intend to utilize teleportation points or return to base as needed, it’s essential to have these resources on hand.
For extended journeys where altars may not suffice, consider bringing a campfire along. Placing it in a sheltered area grants a short rested bonus, enhancing your travel experience.
Optimize your comfort level at your main base to capitalize on the rested bonus it offers. This bonus significantly boosts stamina and stamina regeneration.
With sufficient investment, you can enjoy an hour-long rested bonus, provided you avoid perishing during your travels, as death resets the bonus.
While swords and staves excel at striking multiple enemies simultaneously, arrows wielded by Rangers possess similar capabilities.
When ammunition is scarce, precise timing allows a single arrow to damage multiple adversaries. Positioning enemies closely before releasing the bow maximizes the efficacy of each shot.
To enhance your damage output, prioritize consuming meals tailored to your objectives rather than relying on basic foods, especially in later stages of the game.
Crafting hearty meals with significant buffs can substantially boost attributes.
For future base or farm development involving dirt roads, ensure efficient resource allocation by placing a few resource blocks and using a rake to spread them out. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by the extent of coverage, saving considerable resource-gathering efforts.
Regarding the rake, there’s a current bug preventing its crafting for players above level five who haven’t done so already. In such cases, creating a new character, obtaining the necessary resources (likely spring twigs and stone), crafting a rake, and transferring it to the primary server temporarily is the workaround.
While resources replenish regularly, the absence of an option to disable respawning hampers gameplay difficulty.
To aid resource management, meticulously mark resource locations on your map for future reference, facilitating efficient retrieval.
To refresh resources and items swiftly, exit and relaunch the game or, if on a server, stop and restart it.
Although regarded as an exploit, this method enables players to exploit item acquisition by repeatedly entering and exiting the game. While not recommended, placing a Flame Altar near a gold chest or Flame Sanctum allows for resource farming or continual item rolling.
Given the game’s recent release to Early Access, its optimization remains incomplete, resulting in suboptimal enemy pathfinding.
However, this flaw presents strategic opportunities for players seeking to exploit enemy weaknesses. Whether confronting isolated soldiers or formidable bosses, evading their attacks using the Double Jump ability and engaging them from a distance can offer a tactical advantage.
You can swiftly equip a weapon by right-clicking it and selecting “Equip,” enabling seamless weapon transitions using the Q key. This eliminates the need for manual weapon swapping, allowing for rapid weapon changes during combat scenarios.
This method proves particularly advantageous for Rangers, facilitating quick bow shots followed by a swift transition to a sword and shield setup for close-range defense, potentially preserving one’s life by promptly raising the shield.
Last Epoch has been accessible as an early access title for an extensive period. Initially launched with a single-player focus, the game underwent significant updates that introduced online multiplayer functionality and a plethora of additional content. This includes intricate dungeons featuring unique mechanics and fresh endgame challenges.
Nearly 5 years following its initial Early Access debut, Last Epoch has transitioned into a complete game with its robust 1.0 patch. So is Last Epoch worth playing in 2024?
Understanding the allure of Last Epoch requires insight into the ARPG genre's fundamental appeal and current trajectory.
Despite its recent surge in popularity, the genre remains largely shaped by diverse yet influential IPs. Some titles prioritize providing players with an exhilarating power fantasy, enabling them to effortlessly decimate hordes of foes, while others emphasize meticulous gear selection and skill tree optimization before achieving such prowess. Naturally, this endeavor necessitates a substantial investment of Last Epoch Gold, thus it's essential to prepare an adequate amount beforehand.
In essence, ARPGs often inhabit a spectrum, ranging from offering an intense power trip to granting players extensive control over their character's development. Last Epoch finds its place comfortably amidst this spectrum, striking a balance between empowering players with fantastical abilities and allowing ample opportunities for intricate build customization. This middle-ground approach ensures players experience the best of both worlds within the genre.
The game presents abundant opportunities for indulging in power fantasies, particularly as you progress into the mid-game and witness the synergies between your various abilities intertwine. Concurrently, Last Epoch fosters an environment ripe for experimentation with these synergies, employing one of the most ingenious methods of build customization I've encountered in an ARPG.
As you advance through your journey within Last Epoch, acquiring new abilities mirrors the standard progression in any ARPG. However, what distinguishes the experience is the individualized skill tree accompanying each ability. This feature allows for meticulous tinkering with the functionality of your skills. For instance, with the Necromancer specialization, you might opt to delegate your killing to summoned minions. Further customization can be achieved by enabling Summon Skeleton to summon archers and mages. These customization options extend to various skeleton types, each endowed with unique abilities such as Fire Arrows for archers and a poison blast for mages, while regular skeleton warriors inflict bleeding with each strike.
Such extensive customization permeates every class, subclass, and ability. For example, the Sentinel class offers the flexibility to specialize as either a weapons expert, embodied by the Forge Guard, or delve into Dark Magic as the Void Knight. Conversely, the Rogue class provides options like the pet-centric Falconer, the archery-focused Marksman, or the stealth-oriented Blade Dancer. Similar diverse choices are available for the Mage and Primalist classes, significantly impacting your character's build based on your preferred playstyle.
However, any comprehensive discussion about ARPGs today necessitates an exploration of their endgame systems. Fortunately, Last Epoch offers several engaging options to explore.
The central aspect of endgame content is embodied in the Monolith of Fate. Unlocked upon completing the main storyline, the Monolith of Fate guides players through a sequence of procedurally generated zones. Each zone offers the opportunity for players to target specific equipment slots for desired loot. For instance, players may opt for a zone that rewards them with a weapon or one that offers a new pair of boots.
Another significant component of endgame content is the Arena, providing a competitive avenue for players. In the Arena, players confront endless waves of increasingly challenging enemies. Upon defeat, players earn placement on relevant leaderboards, showcasing their skills, class, and the number of waves survived. These leaderboards are further categorized into solo, group, softcore, and hardcore divisions.
However, among Last Epoch's most captivating features are its dungeons, which transcend mere cavernous pathways. Drawing inspiration from popular MMORPGs, these dungeons boast unique mechanics. Whether navigating light mechanics to impede the growth of perilous plant-based adversaries or traversing between distinct time periods within a single dungeon run, each dungeon promises distinctive rewards alongside the anticipated randomly generated loot.
Now, shifting gears to discuss time travel, let's delve into the narrative of Last Epoch. In terms of ARPG storylines, Last Epoch may not rank as the most captivating. However, it possesses a unique twist in the form of time manipulation.
As players progress through the narrative, they traverse various eras, including the Ancient, Ruined, and Imperial Eras. While the game incorporates intriguing attempts at environmental storytelling, particularly evident when revisiting locations across millennia, ultimately, the overarching plot simplifies to the pursuit of locating and defeating the primary antagonist.
Throughout the narrative, there are numerous enjoyable moments, as your actions contribute to significant events within the world of Eterra. Whether forging bonds with various NPCs or leading a campaign against an entire empire, these experiences add depth to the gameplay.
However, amidst these engaging moments, Last Epoch suffers from an excess of filler content. Players often find themselves traversing aimlessly through random zones, engaging in mindless combat until they must interact with an NPC to advance the storyline.
While the gameplay choices offer extensive customization and remain entertaining, certain decisions within the game's narrative introduce unnecessary padding. Nonetheless, the core gameplay maintains its enjoyment, particularly as players unlock advanced abilities that enhance the power fantasy characteristic of ARPGs.
In summary, Last Epoch strikes a balance among its peers in the ARPG genre, providing players with ample character customization while remaining accessible. Despite the meandering nature of its story, the endgame content proves enjoyable, with dungeons standing out as highlights within the game.
The Group Finder has been released again today, coinciding with the Year of the Dragon event in New World Season 4. So I am going to provide a concise summary to help you know eveything about this system.
The system primarily aims to facilitate group formation for low level mutations, tailored to new players. It offers greater flexibility compared to the OPR system. While M3 isn't included due to gear and gem requirements, the goal is to attract more players to M3 by simplifying group finding.
Although the old Lobby Finders system, their lack of Cross World functionality poses a significant drawback. A more balanced approach integrating Cross World features into the existing system would have been preferable.
Trading is disabled while you are in Cross World, so you can’t just influence other servers’ economies by trading through the Group Finder. And let’s dive a little bit more into what the Devs had to show us.
So, first of all, you have the activity finder system, where you can see all of the options, all of the activities, for the modes tab, there are the new screen which gathers all of any world’s instant content in one place for easy access, similar to Outpost Rush.
Any player from any world within the same region can be matched together to form a new instance. This means significantly less time spent finding groups and more time running Expeditions.
You also no longer need to build your own group by hand. These new activity screens finally allow you to view any Expedition entrance screen and Lobby Finder from a single list instead of the map, also very convenient.
You can also just random queue on the side here or select specific Expeditions. And what you also notice on the right side here is the allow in-progress joining, so participating in an Expedition that has already started.
They do also mention us that you can still build your own Expedition group and Expeditions manually and use the Lobby-based Group Finder if you prefer.
The next point here is how to play Cross World Expeditions. If you’re playing solo or in a group of 4 or less adventurers, you can enter the Cross World Expedition Group Finder in one of 2 ways: either you click random to enter a queue for every Expedition you can currently access, this is the quickest way to find a group and grants a bonus up in completion twice daily, or use the checkboxes on the left of each Expedition to make specific Expedition lists and then click the queue button.
There’s no daily bonus for this option, but you will have more control over the selected Expedition. This is what that selection would, for example, look like. Before you can enter the Expedition queue, you need to choose a role.
We introduced group roles along with our Lobby-based Group Finder, but they were optional. Now, they are mandatory since Expeditions are designed around the classic Trinity of DPS, Tank, and Healer, and there is no group leader to enforce this balance in the new system.
This means that each Expedition must consist of 3 DPS, 1 Tank, and 1 Healer. Any player who signs up as a Tank, go Healer will receive an additional role bonus when finishing the Expedition. In order to sign up as a Tank, go Healer, you must pass a requirement check. These vary depending on the Expedition.
When entering a group, all players must choose a role. The role selection screen will display each player’s selection. They have the DPS with any weapon, you have the tank with any weapon with a Corleone gem, and then you have the healer with a Level 9 Life Staff and 220 Focus. This varies depending on the Expedition.
In normal Expeditions, players receive Expedition bonus cash twice daily. Below Level 65, they obtain 50% XP of their current level upon completion, along with 3 ASO. At Level 65, they earn 125 gold and 2,500 Faction Tokens. Additionally, there's a roll bonus of 50 gold and 500 Faction Tokens, also available twice daily.
Mutated Expeditions offer more lucrative rewards: a daily mutator bonus of 150 gold and 10,000 Faction Tokens, a mutator roll bonus of 100 gold and 1,000 Faction Tokens, and a mutator carry bonus of 100 gold. Considering the potential rewards, especially the 350 gold and 11,000 Faction Tokens from a mutator run, it may be worthwhile depending on the speed and level of mutation.
As for improvements, adding M3 Cross World functionality to the old Group Finder system seems crucial. While the developers hinted at possible Cross World integration for different modes, like Arenas, the feasibility of such changes, particularly for modes like Wars, remains uncertain.
The latest addition to the 4-star lineup in Genshin Impact 4.4 Update, Gaming, has the potential to be a formidable damage dealer, but there are several crucial aspects to understand about him.
Therefore, in this guide, I will demonstrate his capabilities at C0 and recommend optimal teams, weapons, and artifacts for him. Additionally, I will clarify the disparities between C0 and C6 Gaming and disclose some distinctive details about his character.
First, let’s examine Gaming’s potential for dealing damage.
I’ve outfitted him with the Mailed Flower claymore, although there are other viable free-to-play options. His artifact set consists of Hunter’s with ATK, Pyro DMG, and Crit Rate as the main stats.
Regarding his talents, all of them are at level 9. Now, let’s begin with his skill: by tapping it, he launches into the air, enabling a special plunge attack that inflicts 16,663 DMG in a small area of effect and generates 2 particles for him. Despite consuming 15% of his HP, his first passive skill replenishes a small amount of HP up to 4 times, sufficiently activating the Hunter’s 4-piece set bonus.
Essentially, to spam the skill, you need to activate his burst, initially dealing 23,530 DMG and restoring 30% HP to him. Subsequently, the adorable Suanni companion appears, and upon collision, the skill’s cooldown resets, allowing for its repeated use. Personally, I managed to execute 6 skill plunges over the 12-second duration of this burst.
In summary, this effectively transforms him into a 4-star Pyro Xiao, enabling the continuous use of his skill. Similar to Xiao, he also adopts a sleek new appearance that somewhat reminds me of the TRON movies.
An important point to highlight: if Gaming’s HP is not above 50% after executing the skill plunge, Suanni will not be resummoned. Nonetheless, despite being able to spam the skill, the generation of additional particles only occurs every other skill usage. Consequently, I typically end up accumulating 6 particles in total, which, honestly, isn’t a substantial amount, especially considering the burst’s cost of 60 energy.
But enough dwelling on those lackluster damage figures. Gaming truly shines when his damage is amplified through Melt or Vaporize reactions. With this Melt setup, he begins to hit significantly harder – reaching a critical hit of 175k from the burst, while several skill plunges deliver almost 150k damage. Even as the buffs start to diminish, he can still unleash potent plunges.
It’s worth noting that Mailed Flower finally activates its passive thanks to Gaming causing a reaction. Otherwise, his skill’s damage is classified as a Plunge Attack, thus not activating the passive during the initial part of the description.
Transitioning to a Vaporize setup, Xianyun, Fischl, and Bennett enables Gaming to land substantial critical hits. Although this team requires more effort to buff him, it’s satisfying to observe that even with a free-to-play claymore and a C0 build, Gaming can deliver significant damage.
You may also observe how he alternates between using skill plunges and regular plunges. This serves as an effective method to consistently deal Vaporize damage without having to wait for Suanni to return. However, this is only achievable with C6 Bennett, so it’s essential to bear this in mind.
In essence, he may initially seem underwhelming by himself, but with the appropriate buffs and teammates, you can achieve remarkable damage output. Additionally, his second passive grants a 20% increase in plunging skill damage. However, if his HP falls below 50%, he only receives a 20% bonus to incoming healing.
Nevertheless, I’ve noticed that he barely replenishes half of his energy after using the burst, even with the particles collected from skill spamming. While Mailed Flower is commendable, with this current setup, he only has 110% Energy Recharge. For the Abyss, I am considering switching to Energy Recharge Sands or an Energy Recharge weapon instead, as he must carry the team, heavily relying on his burst. However, perhaps his teammates can assist with this?
Upon conducting some testing, I've determined that Gaming's optimal team compositions currently revolve around 2 variations – Melt and Vaporize.
Starting with Vaporize teams – Bennett, alongside an Anemo and Hydro unit, serves as the core for Gaming. Additionally, ensuring the presence of a few Favonius weapons in the team is advisable, while Gaming should possess at least 140% Energy Recharge. However, this figure may vary depending on the enemies and the composition of the entire team.
Not surprisingly, my preferred Vaporize team thus far consists of C6 Bennett, Xianyun, and Fischl – this trio effectively empowers any unit, particularly a Claymore wielder, to deliver formidable plunging attacks. While one might assume that Xianyun could be redundant with Gaming, her second passive actually enhances his skill plunge attacks.
As demonstrated earlier, with a C6 Bennett, you can alternate between regular and skill plunges to capitalize on Vaporize reactions. However, it's also effective to solely utilize the skill plunge for Vaporize if you don't have or wish to activate C6 Bennett.
Moving on, there are also Melt compositions. Once again, Bennett's buff plays a crucial role in achieving significant damage, while an Anemo unit and Rosaria assist in triggering Melts for Gaming. I haven't found another Cryo unit proficient enough to apply Cryo quickly off-field, making Rosaria the top choice. Regarding Anemo units, as long as they can initiate Pyro Swirl, they suffice, although Kazuha and Sucrose are preferable due to their ability to group enemies and enhance the reliability of AoE attacks from the skill plunge.
Additionally, it's essential to monitor the enemy's Cryo aura, as there is a slight delay in how quickly Rosaria can apply it. Therefore, commit to the skill plunge animation only when the enemy is affected by Cryo, which may feel somewhat sluggish. However, once you become accustomed to the timing, it's manageable.
Now, let's explore how Gaming's performance improves with constellations.
Starting with C1, it's quite beneficial – upon reuniting with Suanni during his burst, he now restores 15% of his HP, aiding in maintaining critical stacks from the Hunter 4-set bonus, expediting Furina’s Fanfare point generation, and potentially triggering passives like Tidal Shadow if you're using it.
Moving on, C2 proves useful in teams where he receives continuous healing or can self-overheal. For instance, if he benefits from ongoing healing from characters like Xianyun or Kokomi, he gains a 20% ATK buff for 5 seconds.
C3 enhances his skill's plunge damage, providing a notable boost.
However, C4 stands out as the most significant constellation, particularly for addressing his energy issues. It restores 2 energy with each skill plunge attack upon hitting an opponent, despite the 0.2-second cooldown. This can potentially yield 10 to 12 extra energy per sequence, significantly alleviating his energy demands.
C5 amplifies his burst damage, yielding respectable results, although it doesn't match the impact of C3.
Finally, C6 marks his most substantial upgrade, granting his skill's plunge a 20% Critical Rate and 40% Critical Damage boost. Additionally, the skill's plunge attack radius is expanded, facilitating easier multi-enemy hits. Undoubtedly, this constellation offers a significant spike in Gaming's personal damage output, showcasing a stark contrast between C0 and C6.
Regrettably, miHoYo has maintained this approach toward new 4-star characters for quite some time. Considering additional constellations, C4 emerges as a solid stopping point, albeit acquiring it demands considerable Primogems unless luck favors you or you continue pulling for the featured 5-star.
Putting constellation considerations aside, let's proceed to discuss his optimal build.
Let's discuss his weapon choices. Serpent Spine stands out as one of the best options, particularly if refined, while Redhorn serves well as a stat stick. Verdict and Beacon, both excellent 5-star stat sticks, are viable alternatives, but R5 Serpent Spine often proves equally effective. Its damage output shines when Gaming can avoid enemy damage, as his skill's HP drain does not deplete the stacks, allowing him to unleash formidable damage with this claymore. However, given that it's a battle pass weapon, exercise caution before acquiring it solely for Gaming.
Wolf’s Gravestone pairs well with ER Sands, presenting another solid option. For vape teams, Rainslasher excels, thanks to its bonus damage from the passive and substantial Elemental Mastery boost from the substat. However, if you're struggling to keep his burst ready off-cooldown, Favonius Claymore becomes pivotal. Personally, I'll be equipping my C0 Gaming on my main account with this weapon until I acquire top-tier ER Sands or obtain ER substats, as seen with Serpent Spine.
Moreover, numerous F2P options are worth considering. Mailed Flower ranks among the top choices, followed by the Ultimate Overlord claymore, recently obtainable from an event. In the worst-case scenario, crafting Tidal Shadow also proves effective.
Moving on to artifact sets, the Hunter set unequivocally stands out as his best in slot. However, if unavailable, the Vermillion 4-set is a viable alternative, though its ATK buffing may not synergize optimally with Xianyun, as she prioritizes Critical DMG, EM, and Elemental DMG when boosting plunge attacks. Alternatively, the Crimson Witch 4-set can be utilized. Nevertheless, the Hunter 4-set remains the most versatile and optimal artifact loadout.
Finally, regarding stats, the substat priority is evident, with ATK Sands, Pyro Goblet, and Critical Rate or DMG Circlet being primary considerations. If facing challenges with burst readiness, Energy Recharge sands offer a solution. Conversely, swapping ATK sands for Elemental Mastery enhances Melt and Vape damage.
In my assessment, Gaming proves to be an enjoyable unit capable of delivering significant damage, albeit contingent upon robust support from teammates.
Undoubtedly, he assumes the role of primary damage dealer within teams, thus necessitating favorable stats and gear configurations. However, the considerable value unlocked by reaching C6 cannot be overstated. Additionally, C4 partially mitigates his energy concerns, resulting in a substantially different performance compared to C0. Therefore, it's imperative to consider these factors when evaluating other showcases.
In today’s guide, we’ll be focusing on the upcoming Season of Discovery Phase 2 and giving you some Rogue leveling tips. Learn how to prepare for the next phase and stay ahead of the competition with this guide!
We’ll start with profession. Ideally, it would be very convenient if you want to choose Skinning for leveling. It earns you extra WOW Classic SOD Gold and gives you something to do during the downtime before the next mob arrives. You’ll regain some health and energy while making a profit.
Personally, I would give up Skinning at the highest level and pursue Engineering. I have prepared all the materials for a quick upgrade for the second profession. I recommend you not to upgrade immediately after choosing Engineering because it will take some time to master these professions.
If you want to get ahead of other players and level up in a less competitive way, the profession you can take is First Aid. Since we don’t have a cure, First Aid is ideal for a quick cure while on the run. This way, you can maximize the time you spend killing mobs.
Cooking is also a suitable profession, but I would wait until the highest level to upgrade it.
For leveling, there are two viable builds, Combat build and Hemo build. I prefer Combat build because it’s easy to get started. And I prefer faster monster kill times to being a PVP winner.
Honestly, if you level up a little slower, Hemo build will do better. Because you will have more utility to protect yourself in PVP.
Let’s start with Combat Rogue, since that’s how most players will approach it.
First, we need to talk about the current runes, and we’ll start with Shadowstrike. It’s a great rune and one of the best ways to mark creatures in the game. Therefore, you need to get this rune quickly.
When you get Saber Slash, higher-level mobs will have a huge health scaling if you can kill them quickly. So eventually Saber Slash will get better around level 20 once we get Cheap Shot.
I think Saber Slash would be better for the leg slot, but the best is still Between the Eyes. And you have an optional Chest Rune, Blade Dance. I like using Rune of Quick Draw. It has a decent AoE damage output and, despite being slow, is especially useful in PVP.
And Rune of Deadly Brew will eventually give you more raw DPS. You don’t need to worry about that, and your poison will clear some of your back space. So if you don’t have any competing factions when leveling, I would go with Between the Eyes and Saber Slash, and Deadly Brew once you complete the runes.
Let’s review talents. First, you could invest two points in Improved Sinister Strike. You can then also invest two points into Remorseless Attacks for an additional 40% critical chance. Just remember that you need to land a critical hit on the target to trigger this talent.
Since I prefer to focus only on Combat Talent Tree, usually we’ll take Improved Gouge. Since we have Bleed and Deadly Poison, I recommend you only take the 3% extra dodge. This will make you better here and take less damage.
The next talent points will depend on the weapon you use. Besides a lot of swords, there are also some Maces that are easy to get. So you can choose Dual Wield Specialization or choose a specific Weapon Specialization based on your weapon. I would choose Aggression, and finally Weapon Expertise and Adrenaline Rush.
For Hemo builds, Rogue leveling requires more skill. Because you will have Weapon-swap Macro to use Ambush on the dagger and Stealth on the slow main hand weapon.
If you get two good daggers, as well as Mutilate, you can choose Saber Slash or even Mutilate, so you will need less weapon swapping. For the leg slot, Between the Eyes is still your best rune. For the chest, I would actually choose Quick Draw over Deadly Brew.
The talents here are all optional. You can choose any talent you like, but I recommend you choose some utility talents at the beginning so that your Stealth will be better.
When choosing a weapon, you’ll usually choose a slower weapon. This is because your skills, like Backstab, Sinister Strike, Saber Slash, Mutilate and more, all deal damage based on weapon damage, and your weapon damage is obtained by multiplying your DPS by your attack speed.
So more DPS on a weapon does not mean more weapon damage, which is the most important stat in these types. A good main hand dagger will have an attack speed of 1.8 and a good non main hand dagger will have an attack speed of 2.6.
When it comes to dealing with elites, there are going to be some problems if you can’t deal with them face to face. If Elite is dealing with too much damage, you can swap your runes for Just a Flesh Wound and Blade Dance.
All you have to do is kite the elite. You’ll reengage as it slows and bleeds, then your stun cools down and your energy regenerates. You will slowly eliminate dangerous monsters.
But if you plan to level mainly through dungeons, then I recommend you to use Backstab build. Because the normal build dies too quickly here, and you can’t increase the damage with Saber Slash and Poisons. If you want to focus on dungeon farming while leveling. I recommend balancing these abilities.
If I have good gear, I rarely use Slice and Dice because I usually kill the monster in three Sinister Strikes. But if my gear is a little low or the mob’s health is too high, I will definitely use my Slice and Dice at the beginning. It all depends on the mobs and how fast I kill them.
Overall, Melee Haste will significantly increase your damage whenever the fight lasts longer than a few seconds.
Another tip is that if you’re fighting mobs in Stealth and don’t use Shadowstrike, always use Pickpocketing. You’ll get some extra coins and an Iron Lockbox. These Lockboxes are cool because they contain the potions and powders required for Blind and Vanish, and disappear at level 26.
In the end, your rotation should look like this. The first step is to approach the mob. Step two, distract it if necessary. Make sure you are at 100 energy and have your dagger equipped, then approach the next tick. The third step is to pickpocket the poor NPC. You can use your Sinister Strikes to deal a little extra damage, and the monster will die at any time.
Leveling with Druid has never been better. In Diablo 4 Season 3, we managed to combine poison with lightning to create one of the best hybrid builds that lets you level with ease. This build has insane AOE damage, raining lightning from the sky continuously, all the while spreading poison, which infects the entire screen.
Unlike other early-level Druid builds, this one has absolutely no issue with Spirit, as we have 2 skills that instantly give us large chunks of spirit, again and again. There are absolutely no items or RNG aspects that are required for the build. Everything is obtained from the Codex or very early in the seasonal quest line.
If you have zero or low amounts of spirit, the first 2 skills you want to use are Blood Howl and Trample. Blood Howl provides you with 20% Health instantly, and then, thanks to Innate Blood Howl, you also gain a chunk of spirit. Trample is a great movement tool and good for burst damage, but thanks to Savage Trample, it now also provides a large amount of spirit on the cast.
The first attack you want to use in a pack of enemies is Rabies, which spreads poisoning damage to them. This season, we also have the Virulent Aspect, which is unlocked from the very first chapter of the season and will cause your Rabies cooldown to significantly lessen, which means you can use Rabies more often, and that is absolutely huge for that damage boost.
With Envenom, you’ll deal much larger crits against enemies that are poisoned, and thanks to Neurotoxin, any poisoned enemies are slow, which is important because Nature’s Reach, another passive, causes you to deal double the damage bonus against slowed enemies.
Poison Creeper is another ability you want to pop early on, as it immobilizes enemies, meaning Nature’s Reach is active, and thanks to Brutal Poison Creeper, your Critical Strike Chance goes up by a whopping 20%. Now, you can use your Lightning Storm ability, which can cause massive crits.
With the combination of abilities and passive stacking, clearing out large enemy packs will be a breeze. Thanks to Enhanced Blood Howl, once you start killing enormous packs of enemies, Blood Howl’s cooldown will be significantly reduced, and then you should use Blood Howl to constantly get your spirit and health back whenever it’s off cooldown.
If Trample and Blood Howl are on cooldown and you need Spirit, then we can use our Wind Shear basic attack, which is the best basic attack for Druid because it causes enemies to become vulnerable and increases your movement speed, which makes Druid much more efficient at speed leveling.
To summarize, use your spirit generators, then pop Rabies and Poison Creeper whenever off cooldown, then spam Lightning Storm. Then, pop your spirit generators again whenever they’re off cooldown. And if they’re on cooldown, you need to chuck in a few Wind Shears for that spirit.
The same rotation applies to bosses. This build may not have the best single-target boss damage, but because of the constant healing, you’re not going to struggle at all. It’ll just take slightly longer than some of the other classes out there.
So, let’s go over the skill tree in more detail. The priority when you’re leveling is to unlock a new skill on the toolbar rather than upgrading an already existing ability, and some of the earlier passive packs we actually get later on as we’re leveling. So, put one point into Wind Shear, which is our main spirit generator, and then one point into Enhanced Wind Shear and Fierce Wind Shear.
1 point into Lightning Storm, 1 point into Enhanced Lightning Storm, and then 1 point into Primal Lightning Storm, so we can immobilize enemies and take advantage of the several damage boosts. This build provides. You’ll want to max out Lightning Storm to 5 out of 5 ranks pretty quickly, as it’s your main DPS option. Along with unlocking new skills, side by side, unlock Blood Howl, along with Enhanced and Innate Blood Howl as soon as possible, so you can get healing and spirit more efficiently.
Then go for Poison Creeper, alongside Enhanced and Brutal Poison Creeper. Once Lightning Storm is 5 out of 5, put 1 point into Rabies, then go and put 1 point into Trample, which will help with mobility and burst damage. 1 point into Enhanced Trample and Savage Trample so you can then have another ability which generates spirits.
Then go back and get Enhanced and Natural Rabies, which will make the skill much more efficient. Eventually, you’ll want to get Rabies to 5 out of 5. Now, the rest of the skill tree focuses on passives. Put 1 point into Neurotoxin, so you can put 3 points into Envenom, 3 points into Nature’s Reach for more damage against crowd-controlled enemies, 3 points into Defiance for more damage against elites, 3 points into Circle of Life for constant healing whenever you cast Lightning Storm or Wind Shear.
Thanks to Circle of Life, whenever we cast Lightning Storm, we gain back even more healing. So just combined with Blood Howl, you’ll never need to pop a potion. All this healing is great because it means we can use our key passive, Ursine Strength, and deal 25% increased damage whenever we have more than 80% Health, which seems to be nearly all the time, thanks to the constant healing.
Put 3 points into Natural Disaster, one point into Heart of the Wild, so you can put 3 points into Wild Impulses, and 3 points into Abundance. 3 points into Predatory Instinct for more Critical Strike chance, and finally, 1 point into Elemental Exposure and 1 point into Charged Atmosphere, so you can put 3 points into Electric Shock, which can further increase damage against immobilized enemies.
Let’s go over the aspects I recommend while leveling. Every single aspect comes from the codex or seasonal quest line early on, so you aren’t at the mercy of RNG. For offensive aspects, Edgemaster's Aspect is good at increasing damage based on how much spirit you have when you cast Lightning Storm. Aspect of Inner Calm boosts damage for each second you standstill, which is because you’re channeling Lightning Storm and getting constant healing, is very much possible.
Shepherd’s Aspect increases your damage by 6% for each companion. Poison Creeper is a companion, so that does count for that little boost. Nighthowler's Aspect boosts Critical Strike chance whenever you use Blood Howl. For Utility or resource aspects, the Virulent Aspect, as I mentioned before, is very good as it reduces Rabies cooldown as it spreads.
And then, Aspect of the Umbal is another one I’d recommend to maybe put on one of your rings, as it will boost spirit generation quite a bit, as we constantly slow or immobilize enemies with this build, which all counts as crowd control. There are no defensive aspects that are a requirement, but Aspect of Disobedience to boost armor and Aspect of Might for easy damage reduction are beneficial aspects. But trust me, you won’t need these because of the constant healing the build provides.
There’s not much to say for gear. You’re going to be constantly out leveling gear, so keep on replacing it. This especially applies to your weapon, which you want the highest GPS weapon for.
If you’re playing on the seasonal realm, you’ll have the Seneshcal Construct. There are obviously some very strong legendary and unique stones, but these are dropped much later on in the game, so you won’t encounter a lot of them early on while leveling.
Early on, for leveling, I found the Utility Aspects more useful. Reconstruct helps even more with healing and survivability, while Protect gives you a barrier on top to help with survivability. If you don’t have these, then an attacking skill with Poison support can help to poison more enemies and apply slow to them through Neurotoxin. You’ll deal more damage efficiently. Support boosts Critical Strike Chance even more, and Slowing support adds even more slow to the mix.
If you do have Arcing support alongside an attack, you can use Resource support. You can gain back massive amounts of spirit. Unfortunately, I don’t have this combo unlocked, but if you do, by chance, get these stones, do use them, as that will help your spirit generation a lot. Have a play around with the combinations. There are some useful ones, but don’t get caught up too much on this while leveling. Most of the power from this comes from the endgame.
So there you have it, my Poison Lightning Hybrid build for Level 1 to 50. It’s faster, stronger, and just better than all previous Druid leveling builds, and you’ll be level 50 in no time.
In this guide, I wanted to give you a list of Alchemy consumables I think will have some worth in WoW Classic Season of Discovery Phase 2. These are all items I think will be in high demand after Phase 2 release, as these are pretty much just the next set of consumables likely used for the raid and other content within the game.
These are unobtainable as of now. However, the recipes that aren’t trainer-bound are already up in the auction house, so you can stay ahead by buying them now.
Starting us off is the Elixir of Agility. This is the upgrade from our current agility Elixir, and it’s bound to be used heavily by all melee classes. You’ll acquire the recipe for this craft simply through your Alchemy trainer.
It becomes available at rank 185, about halfway to the next phase’s max profession rank of 225. You’ll need Stranglekelp and Goldthorn to craft this item. You can farm Stranglekelp very easily if you’re a Tauren and get the herbs. You can also farm Goldthorn as of right now.
Our next item is the Elixir of Greater Defense. This defensive Elixir is widely used by both PvP and PvE players, so this item is guaranteed to have high value, just like the Elixir of Defense does now. The recipe is acquired naturally by leveling your Alchemy. It becomes available at rank 195. For this craft, you need Icethorn and Goldthorn, items you can start stockpiling right away.
Next, we have Elixir of Fortitude. This item is arguably one of the more controversial items on this list, as there are other Elixirs more likely to be used. Not as much as the other items on the list, but it’ll almost certainly have some value like the others.
This is just obtained from your Alchemy trainer. You can start crafting this as early as rank 175. You will need the same materials as the Elixir of Greater Defense, which is Icethorn and Goldthorn.
Up next is an item I think will arguably have the highest sell rate out of any item on this list, and that is the Greater Mana Potion. The lesser variant, the one used in Phase 1, sells out simply because Mana is always in high demand for casters and healers. So it makes sense that the upgrade of that item will have high value and demand.
You’ll get this recipe from your trainer. You will need an Alchemy rank of 225 to craft this. However, that should be pretty easily attainable if you gather the materials now in your free time. You’ll need Goldthorn and currently ungatherable Khadgar's Whiskers. There are some on the auction house, but grinding it yourself when Phase 2 hits shouldn’t be too difficult.
Our next item is a bit different, as it’s a potion. Lesser Stone Shield Potion is a solid unused armor potion. It’s bound to be used by tanks and PvP players in Phase 2. You can acquire the recipe for this item through a quest in the Badlands. It’s a pretty easy quest, so you shouldn’t have to worry. You will need an Alchemy rank of 215 to craft this, and it’s pretty expensive to make as it needs both Goldthorn and Mithril Ore.
Continuing on, we have Mighty Troll’s Blood Potion. The current variant of this item is still selling decently fast and for a decent price on the auction house, so this is bound to be a worthwhile farm. The recipe for this item is a rare world drop.
However, it is currently available at the auction house, but at a hefty price on my server. It’s going for a little over 15 SOD Gold, so I think it’s better to wait until Phase 2 to acquire this recipe, as it will plummet in value within just a few days. You need a rank of 180 in order to craft this item, and you’ll need Life Fruit and Bruiseweed, both of which are easily farmable now in Phase 1.
Up next is an item that is almost guaranteed to have value next phase, and that is Nature Protection Potion. The raid of the next phase is Naxxramas, and with the theme of the instance, there is guaranteed to be a lightning damage, and Nature Protection Potion negates that, just like Shadow Protection Potion does for Twilight Lord Kelris in BFD. This recipe is sold by Aventur in Torris, Feralas and Stranglethorn Vale.
However, it is also available on the auction house for a reasonable price, currently at around 90 silver. For this craft, you’ll need an Alchemy rank of 190 and Stranglekelp and Liferooth, both of which are easily farmed in Phase 1.
Now, this is the second controversial item on this list, as I’m not sure how valuable it truly will be, but I’m sure it’ll see some use, and that is Oil of Immolation. This item is just AOE in a bottle, so I’m almost certain it will see some value in the new raid and even, for instance, farming. This recipe is taught by your Alchemy trainer. You’ll need a rank of 205 to craft this, as well as Goldthorn and Firebloom, which are currently unobtainable.
Now, I decided to include one last bonus item, which will 100% have some value, but I’m unsure precisely how high of a value that is: Frost Oil. This item is used for quests, so I’m sure speed levelers will want to grab this quickly on a trip to the auction house, so when they stumble upon this quest in the Badlands, they’ll have it ready to hand in.
You can get this recipe from an Alchemy vendor named Bro'kin, and he’s located in a dangerous area in the Arathi Highlands. However, this recipe is also on the auction house, going for about 30 silver on my server. For this item, you need a rank of 200 Alchemy, Khadgar's Whiskers, and Wintersbite, which is currently unobtainable since you need 195 Herbalism to gather the nodes.
I hope you all enjoyed this list of ultimate consumables. I’m sure we’ll see some value in the next phase. You can start grinding a lot of these materials right now in Phase 1.
There are many different things we can prepare for Season of Discovery Phase 2, for example, a full Quest Log, materials, and so on.
Today, I've put together a guide with many different things you can farm that will begin a quest. This allows you to get even more experience so you can also get ahead of the competition and reach level 40 even quicker.
When you slay the final boss in the dungeon Wailing Caverns, located in Barrens, you can also loot the Glowing Shard. This can be looted by both factions.
At the Phase 2 launch day, you then want to head to Ratchet and begin the quest. Next, you need to speak to the Goblin located close to the Flight Master and ask for more information about the Glowing Shard. After that, you will have to head back to Wailing Caverns.
On top of the dungeon, there will be a small building. In here, you will find a Tauren. Both factions can speak to the Tauren. When you hand in the quest, you will also get a follow-up that will either tell you to head to the Nexus as an Alliance player or Thunder Bluff as an Horde player.
You should also head to Ashenvale and do the world PVP event. When you kill the different guards, you can also obtain the Warsong Outrider Mark, an item that will also begin a quest. This quest item you hand in at Ashenvale, and it will reward you with experience and also an item that will increase your damage and healing by 5% for 2 hours. This is pretty nice when you're also going to level up to 40.
When you slay the final encounter in BFD, you also have a chance to obtain this item. It begins a quest and will most likely not reward you with any experience. However, you will get a world buff that will last for 2 hours. So having this item in your inventory allows you to go to the Nexus or Thunder Bluff. Activate the item, and get a new world buff. But remember, you can only do it once, but it will provide a buff to anyone in those main cities.
In the southern part of Stranglethorn Vale, there are 3 pirate ships. On these ships, you can obtain a Cortello's Riddle, an item that begins a quest at level 35. But you can obtain this item no matter what level you are.
You can solo this if you play a class with a pet; else, it's way more efficient to find someone else and do it together. Then, one player could, for example, be standing on top of objects and prevent the monsters from hitting them. At the same time, you can then loot the riddle.
The reason why you want to focus on doing this is that it starts a big quest chain that will reward a lot of experience. At the end, you can also get yourself a 14-slot bag.
Another way to loot the riddle is simply to use defensive cooldowns. As a Rogue, I, for example, use Evasion. As a paladin, you could use a Bubble. Meanwhile, the other player in your party is going to loot the riddle.
Next, I'll show you Alliance and Horde-specific quests you can also prepare.
As an Alliance, you should head into Deadmines and slay the final boss. Here you can obtain a letter (called "An Unsent Letter") that will begin a quest. You hand in this quest in Stormwind City. There's also going to be a follow-up for the dungeon stargates.
In the southern part of Darkshore, there’s an area where you can loot a book (Book: The Powers Below). The drop chance is awful, and I would highly recommend you to do this with someone else. It took me more than 50 kills to obtain this. The good thing, however, is that it’s shared. So if it drops for someone in your party, then all of you will be able to loot it. Even though you loot this in Darkshore, then you hand it in in Ironforge. So the next time you go to Ironforge, you just hand it in.
An Old History Book is an item you can obtain from pretty much every single creature in Duskwood. It’s a low drop chance, but still something you should be farming and prioritize getting now.
As a Horde, you should head to Thousand Needles and look for the messenger. You will be able to obtain the Assassination Note that you also hand in in the very same zone.
It seems like Horde players have way more quests that can prepare like this, at least higher-level quests compared to the Alliance. An example could be in Ashenvale, where you accept The Ashenvale Hunt and complete this instantly. This allows you to pick up 3 items that begin the quest. One of these where you need to slay a bear. If you find it difficult to find the specific target, then you type “/tar” and the name of this NPC to make it even easier.
Then you could also add a mark to the target so you can see it even though it’s behind an object. Some of them can be a bit difficult to solo, so I would highly recommend you to form a party and look for other people who are also doing this quest. This is mainly because the final target you will also have to slay is level 31.
These quests are so important to do also because all three you hand in at the exact same location. So you’re going to end up with a lot of additional experience. Then you could find more experience in dungeons or maybe even do yet another thing.
This is to head to Desolace and kill these higher-level creatures. They’re going to be above level 30, so you should definitely form a party. It’s a low drop chance, but you can get this item that begins a quest, and it requires you to be level 25.
Chevreuse is the newest 4-Star Pyro Polearm user in Genshin Impact 4.3. Here we will discuss the 6 best team compositions for Chevreuse. Let’s start with what is probably her most popular team.
Raiden Shogun recently returned, so it makes sense that people would try them together. Chevreuse will act as a replacement for Viridescent Venerer by reducing the opponent’s Pyro and Electro Resistance. She will also use her passive attack to add damage to the team. Her healing also makes the team more comfortable.
I recommend going for Chevreuse to deal damage, because even at C0 she actually does a lot of damage in small bursts. I find this to be more beneficial to the team than the extra attack gained by building up her full health.
I gave her Staff of Homa. But if you don’t have it in your Genshin Impact Account, you can give her any item with critical hit or attack power. You can also craft a Rightful Reward in Fontaine for more healing or a Favonius Lance for energy.
For her Artifacts, I recommend the 2 piece set. Such as Crimson Witch and Golden Troupe, for damage or life and healing combinations to enhance her healing effects.
Kujou Sara is also on the banner, so you can use her instead of Xiangling to form a Raiden Hypercarry Team. But I don’t have Sara’s C6, so I’m not showing the team here. If you have her C6, I think this will be one of the strongest Raiden Hypercarry Teams in the game.
Yoimiya also has banners. Let’s take a look at Yoimiya team. Beidou’s Electric Shield will provide Yoimiya with some immunity to full attacks and add an extra layer of survivability on top of Chevreuse’s healing.
Since we do not have a complete therapist, these two will be combined to form a composite therapist. Beidou’s damage and Fischl’s C6 are both triggered by normal attacks, so this is a team with a lot of synergy.
Since both Fischl and Yoimiya are single target, Beidou also gives us some AOE coverage. So, you can replace her with Bennett. But I feel like it would make the team more versatile and I’d rather use Beidou since she’s one of my favorite characters in the game.
I think Chevreuse brings more to this team than Kazuha’s buff and damage. And once you get her constellations, things only get better.
The next team is similar to the first, but without Bennett, Chevreuse is the only healer. Without Bennett’s attack buff, everyone on the team will deal less damage, but Fischl makes up for this by providing an additional source of damage. You can also use Yae Miko if you prefer.
Since we don’t have Bennett, you’ll probably be fighting for particles for Xiangling even with Raiden. So don’t be afraid to let one of them catch Favonius Lance.
The team may be a bit soft, but some Constellations from Chevreuse help that. If you’re good at dodging, she’ll be fine at C0.
One thing I love about Chevreuse is that, aside from her impressive performance in C0, most of the characters she works with are older characters that we have a lot of constellations with. It’s refreshing to see this instead of a character like Faruzan who wants a C6 newer unit.
Even though I said the first team is my favorite on the roster, this Razor team could challenge my favorite Chevreuse team.
Razor was my first DPS for a few days until I got Diluc, then Childe, whose design I always liked with a ghost wolf. I stopped using him because others felt more powerful. Then I didn’t use him again until Dendro was released.
Chevreuse gives us another way to use him. I think Razor’s Dendro team is better and still fun to use. Chevreuse has great synergy with this group.
Razor is going to play a lot of minutes, so you need someone like Chevreuse who only plays a lot of minutes. Since she deals damage in a small area and then her abilities are on cooldown for a while, she’s perfect for this.
It’s also worth noting that with C6 Bennett converting Razor’s Normal to Pyro, Chevreuse will allow him to deal more damage in both elements. It might even be worth trying a Pyro Goblet on him. If you have a good 4-Piece Lavawalker, this will also allow him to do a lot of damage here.
Another character who didn’t get much play was Yanfei. I’m glad to have a support that allows us to have another team that can use her.
There are a lot of nice Hydro characters here to pair with Yanfei. While this isn’t the strongest team, it clears everything in the game. However, you may still have difficulties with Spiral Abyss Floor 12.
It also has decent survivability. Yanfei gives himself a shield, then Chevreuse heals. Like the second team, it doesn’t serve as a dedicated defensive unit, but the defensive potential of a team made up of a few characters that themselves offer a bit of survivability.
This means you can have damage dealers and buffers on your team. Hopefully, Clorinde or Arlecchino can do that, but do a little more damage than Yanfei.
To be honest, this last team isn’t the best on the roster, but for those eager to play Cyno more, this is a way to bench Cyno.
Remember, he’s better with Dendro, and Raiden will be better with this team as well.
For a C0 score, I would give Chevreuse a 6.5. Her score may be higher, but her team will ultimately be deficient because of the two elements she handles.
Pyro only has one off-field damage dealer, which is actually quite good. And on-field DPS might be energy-hungry like Yanfei, weak like Yoimiya, and perform better in Mono Pyro Team like Klee.
Teams often end up with just Chevreuse, Xiangling, Bennett and Electro DPS on the field, with Raiden being the best choice. You could trade Bennett’s comfort level for Electros off-court role, but you’d lose a lot of the offense he brings to the team.
Once you get some Chevreuse Constellations, she gets better and her team becomes more interesting. These are the 6 teams that I think are the best for Chevreuse in Genshin Impact 4.3. What do you think of this roster? If you are interested, give it a try!
As of 2024, there are over 750 cars in Forza Horizon 5. But you may be wondering which ones are most important to own. So, I’ve put together this guide of the 10 Cars You Must Own in Forza Horizon 5! Let’s get into it!
We kick things off with the Ferrari 488 Pista.
This mid-engine RWD supercar is perfect for cruising. The balance is spot on, and there’s so much fun to be had with this thing, by throwing it into a corner, and power sliding out.
It’s an experience everyone needs to try, so it is therefore essential to have one in your garage.
In the number 9 spot, we have the Lotus Elise Series I Sport 190, specifically with an A-Class Road Racing handling build.
Because of A-Class Road Racing, while it may not be the best car overall, in fact far from it. At the tight twisty tracks, it’s one of, if not the best. Because it’s so light, and incredibly nimble with the short wheelbase. So, you can chuck it round the corners like no other decent A-Class car.
But more importantly, and the very reason it’s in this guide, is the fact that it’s so fun to drive. Being able to throw it into corners, and still get round, without heading straight into the shadow realm, is a truly satisfying feeling. And this is easily my personal favourite car to use for Online Racing.
In the number 8 spot, we have the Hoonigan Hoonicorn.
First things first, we need to pay out respects to the legend who made this car famous, Ken Block, who tragically passed away exactly a year ago.
The Hoonicorn was easily the most iconic car from his incredible career, and in Forza Horizon 5, it’s an absolute weapon to drive. As a Drift car, it’s obviously brilliant as that’s what it was made for.
For banking massive skill chains, it’s one of the best cars, as the multiplyer goes upto X8. And then, just as a car to Hoon around in, it’s a lot of fun.
Whichever of the two variations of the Hoonicorn you own, it doesn’t really matter, because both are identical. The main thing is you experience the madness of it.
Moving onto the number 7 spot, we have the BMW Isetta.
This thing is in this guide for one reason and one reason only. It’s the best car for Drifting. The angles it can hold through corners are quite honestly ridiculous, and perhaps a bit unrealistic.
But, it’s important to own one of these, so that you can tear up any Drift Zone with ease.
Moving onto the number 6 spot, it’s the Lamborghini Diablo GTR.
As a car for S2-Class Road Racing, if you toss on a power build, at the right tracks, it’s a very strong car. And in certain tracks, it’s the best. But that’s not why it’s in this guide. The reason why it’s in this guide is because it’s the best car for Drag Racing in the game.
I know a lot of you probably don’t care too much about Drag Racing, but even so, it’s still worth owning this car. Because owning a car with such superior acceleration will always come in handy for various Danger Signs, Speed Traps, and other activities.
At the number 5 spot, we have the Brabham BT62.
In the highly competitive realms of S2-Class Road Racing, where the best car swings from track to track, if you want the best chance of winning the Championships, you’re going to want to use the Brabham, because it’s the best all-round.
Its clear strength comes at the tracks without too many long straights, as its grip through corners is unmatched, and it feels like driving on rails.
While it’s straight line speed leaves it a bit to be desired, and you will suffer on the tracks full of long straights, it’s at least a very easy car to drive, so you should still be able to bring it home in a decent position.
While being very good for S2-Class Road Racing, it’s a joy to drive, and lots of fun to use.
Next, we have the International Scout 800A filling in the number 4 spot.
This thing is basically the king of any kind of off-road racing in A-Class or lower. Its strengths and weaknesses change from class to class.
But generally speaking, it’s just really good all-round. Particularly in B-Class, it’s just an absolute meta car, and a force to be reckoned with.
Coming in at number 3, we have the Hennessey Venom F5.
Along with the Koenigsegg Jesko, it’s very neck and neck, as to which is the fastest car in FH5. I think it’s just about the Koenigsegg, but it’s very close.
The reason I’ve put the Venom F5 in this guide instead of the Jesko, is because the Venom F5 gets upto speed quicker. So, it’s more useful than the Jesko for all the speed traps, and danger signs, where having a car with immense straight line speed comes in handy.
If you already have the Koenigsegg Jesko, you probably don’t need to own the Hennessey Venom F5. But it’s still very important to have one or the other, because there’s always times when you need to deploy speed in excess of 300mph, and the Hennessey Venom F5 is certainly the best car for that.
For the penultimate car in this guide, we have the Rimac Concept Two.
Now, you’re probably expecting it to be somewhat related to Drag Racing, as that’s what this thing is famous for. But you’d be completely wrong. Because with an Off-road tune, it’s a meta car for Off-road Speed Traps, Speed Zones, Danger Signs, and Trailblazers. It can even do alright at the Off-road Drift Zones.
So, for most PR Stunts off the asphalt roads, this will be the best car. If you’re wondering about the Rimac Nevera, that’s not quite as good, because it weighs a bit more than the Concept Two.
Finally, for the most important car to own, it’s the Lamborghini Sesto Elemento Forza Edition.
The grip, speed, acceleration, and everything about this thing is unreal. It’s comfortably the king of X-Class. And it makes such light work of speed zones, because it can carry so much speed through the corners.
Even on a lot of the Off-road Speed Zones, if you toss on an Off-road tune, it’s very decent. Driving this thing is an incredible experience, as you turn and it just grips.
And that’s all 10 of the Cars You Must Own. If you’re guilty of not owning any of these, be sure to sort it out right away.
