In this guide, we’ll cover 5 rune farming tips in Elden Ring. These tips can help beginners master the basics of rune farming and make them more familiar with the rune farming methods of the land.

Since there isn’t a rune farming tutorial in the game, hopefully, this will give you an idea of some simple rune farming strategies to get you started by giving you some handy information to help you farm runes more easily. This way, your character will quickly become powerful and ready for Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, which launches on June 21st this year.

I want to preface this section by saying that some players consider rune farming or exploiting glitches or exploits to get runes quickly to be cheating, and you shouldn’t do it.

However, I think anyone who plays the game has the right to decide how they enjoy it. This includes rune farming strategies, using exploits in the game, and even purchasing $1 from third-party sellers. No one has the right to tell you how to have fun.

One of the easiest places to farm runes in Elden Ring is Gatefront Ruins. Gatefront Ruins is located in Limgrave, just north of Church of Elleh. It’s filled with relatively easy-to-kill enemies, and with a little more strategy and caution, you can make a tidy profit here.

I’ll show you the route I took on the outside to get you the most bang for your buck. While I’m at it, I’d like to point out that there are a few things to pick up here, the first of which is Limgrave West Map. You can find it in a large stone steel in the center of Gatefront Ruins, which is guarded by several Godrick Soldiers.

Another item you can pick up is Whetstone Knife, which allows you to equip and change Ash of War on your weapon. It’s in a chest south of Ruins. You can also get Ash of War Storm Stomp from here.

You can also pick up two weapons, Lordsworn’s Greatsword and Flail. However, you can find other options from the enemies there.

The primary goal here is to kill as many enemies as quickly as possible and then reset them by resting at Sites of Grace. As long as you want to get ahead on some of your attributes, you can do that as often as you want.

I will mention that before thinking about increasing damage stats like Strength or Dexterity, I always recommend increasing your Vigor stat to 20 or 25 for increased survivability.

Another decent rune farming area is located in Caelid. To get there, you’ll need torrents, and you’ll need to start at Sites of Grace, just north of Agheel Lake. You then need to head south across the bridge and then northeast to Mistwood Outskirts Sites of Grace.

You can open the map and view Glintstone on the map. You can pick up the map if you want, but be aware that there are 3 giant Runebears nearby, and they may kill you if provoked.

You can also go around them, pick up the map, and go east to Third Church of Marika. Activate Sites of Grace, grab Flask of Wondrous Physick, Sacred Tear, and Crimson Crystal Tear, go through the hole in the wall on the northwest side of the church, and head to the back of the church.

You will then be transported to a distant place in Caelid, known as Bestial Sanctum. Be careful to avoid the huge Black Blade Kindred Creature here and continue heading south. Next, cross the bridge to Lenne’s Rise and capture Sites of Grace.

Our major goal is to farm the enemy here, Silver Sphere. There are two spawning sites just west of Lenne’s Rise, one close to it and the other a little further on the road to the west.

Each Silver Sphere will grant you 1,952 runes. You then continue to Sites of Grace and rest to reset enemies and rinse and repeat.

The third rune farming strategy I want to talk about is Dragon. This strategy is suitable for novice to intermediate players.

First, you need a weapon that causes blood loss. The most accessible and available to any class without stat investment is Morning Star. It can be found in a chest inside a broken carriage a little south of Limgrave.

Next, you’ll reach Lenne’s Rise using the strategy I mentioned above. Then head to the back of Lenne’s Rise via torrent. Go to Spiritspring and collect Golden Runes near the coffin.

Then head southwest down the hill and directly south to Fort Faroth to activate Sites of Grace. The target you want to kill is a dragon named Greyoll. If you get in the right spot, not only will nothing attack you, but you’ll also be able to kill the dragon.

If you are a Scholar or a class with a Strength below 12, you will need to use Morning Star with two hands. Get on the torrent and run towards the dragon, attack with Morning Star to trigger the blood and repeat until there is only a little health left.

Next, this is where you make your decision. Either you can kill the dragon and get about 50,000 runes in one go. Or you can use a glitch to farm the dragon repeatedly, essentially giving you infinite runes.

If you want to exploit this, get on Torrent while it has a little health left, but aim Torrent next to Greyoll so you can still hit her. If you do it correctly, you’ll gain 50,000 runes, and Greyoll will still be alive. If you do it wrong, then she disappears. You get the rune, and you get 5 Dragon Hearts.

The fourth rune farming strategy I want to talk about is Albunaurics and Birds. This rune farming strategy is suitable for intermediate to advanced players.

Albunaurics and Bird I’m talking about are both located in Mohgwyn Palace. The nearest Sites of Grace is Palace Approach Ledge Road. You need to either reach Consecrated Snowfield or complete Varre questline to reach Mohgwyn Palace.

Next choose Albunaurics or Bird. If you choose Albunaurics on the slopes, then you can attack them all at once or in large groups using your maximum range weapons or magic. Sacred Relic Sword excels in this regard. On your first playthrough, you can get around 70,00 runes per run, or 150,000 runes if you use Gold-Pickled Fowl Foot.

If you choose Bird, face the edge of the cliff, equip a bow, switch to first-person mode and shoot him to attract him and lure him off the cliff. On your first playthrough, you’ll get around 11,000 runes per run, or 26,896 runes if you use Gold-Pickled Fowl Foot. This is also by far the most efficient and fastest way to farm runes in Elden Ring.

Which brings me to the last strategy for farming runes, which is collecting Golden Runes. This strategy is suitable for beginners to experienced players. It depends on which Golden Runes you get from which coffins.

Golden Runes can be found in several locations across the land, but the most important way to find them is to look for cemeteries with coffins or sarcophagi inside. Every place with these will have Golden Runes, so keep your eyes open when exploring. There are quite a few of them, and the best part is that you can collect them as you go through torrents.

That’s it for today’s guide. I hope these tips help you farm as many runes as possible to get your character ready for the expansion coming in June!

The launch of WOW Classic SOD Phase 3 introduces a new level cap of 50, the new world events, and a host of improved content. As standard with each phase release, each class also has a new set of runes to discover.

In SOD Phase 3, Warlock has access to 6 new runes, which can be equipped on Bracer and Head gear to provide additional buffs to the character. So when players reach level 40 and above, they will desperately need tips to find the runes they need.

This guide covers all the new Warlock Runes introduced in Season of Discovery Phase 3, including details on each rune’s effects and how to obtain them. Let’s get started quickly!

First, Immolation Aura is an important rune for Warlock class known as masters of dark magic. It burns nearby enemies every 2 seconds and reduces all magic damage taken by 10% until canceled.

To obtain this rune, players need to find three Reagents scattered around Ashenvale on different types of demons. In this case, we will defeat them and ask for specific materials.

These demons are located within Emerald Portal in Ashenvale, also known as Bough Shadow. Here, you need to defeat Dreamyre Imp to get Dreamyre Fire, Emberspark Dreamsworn to get Dreamsworn Horn, and Dreamhunter Hound to get Dreamhunter Fang.

Once you have all three items, combine them to get your Immolation Aura Rune.

Unstable Affliction is a very easy to obtain Warlock Rune and is arguably one of the most powerful runes for Warlock. It may become the rune of choice for Affliction Warlock builds in the future.

To find it, all you need to do is build a Friendly reputation with Emerald Wardens. You can then buy it from any Quartermasters for 1 $1 and 60 Silver.

You can participate in Nightmare Incursions in different areas through four portals and complete tasks assigned by Field Captain NPC to gain the reputation of Emerald Wardens. Missions can include defeating enemies, gathering resources, or defeating bosses, some of which require teamwork.

I would like to remind you that these portals have specific level ranges and completing higher level missions alone is risky. Therefore, I would recommend you to just choose one that suits your level.

Currently, you can start in Duskwood at level 25, Ashenvale at level 40, and Feralas and Hinterlands at level 50.

To get Summon Felguard Rune for your Warlock in Phase 3, you first need an Explorer Imp. This is also Warlock companion introduced in Season of Discovery Phase 3.

Whenever you defeat certain mobs with Drain Soul, you have a chance to receive an Explorer’s Soul, which summons an Explorer Imp for you. You can use them to explore Fel Slivers, Fel Tears, Fel Scars, Fel Rifts, and Fel Cracks scattered around the map.

Note that you must keep exploring these until you get Summon Felguard Rune. Their exact locations vary, but here are a few that can currently be found:

Pandemic is an extremely powerful Warlock Rune for SOD Phase 3 endgame content. Its ability to make your damage critical cannot be underestimated.

But it’s also a relatively easy rune to find. Your first task is to find two specific monsters in Feralas and loot their belongings. The items you need can be found in containers near the corpse. Among them, you can find Grimtotem Necklace on Dead Diseased Grimtotem Shaman, and Broken Woodpaw Staff on Dead Diseased Woodpaw Mystic.

Combine these two items to create a Diseased Nature Staff. Then, head to Woodpaw Camp near (72, 50) and use it on the nearby Diseased Forest Walker. Once it’s awakened, loot its Pandemic Rune.

Backdraft is a viable rune for any DPS and Tank Warlock. To obtain the runes, you need to interact with four Leyline Confluxes scattered across Azeroth.

You still need Explorer Imp, though, so you can get 4 Worldcore Fragments from their exploration. Backdraft Rune can only be obtained by collecting all four and combining them. These four Leyline Confluxes can be found at:

Just a reminder, in the last location you have to fight a level 47 elite. It’s immune to Arcane Damage, but that’s not a big problem for Warlock.

Vengeance is Head Rune added in SOD Phase 3. As a Warlock Tank, this is a very useful rune that provides temporary HP and makes your wings slowfall under Metamorphosis Form.

Players need to complete Wild Gods quest chain to unlock this rune. Everyone in your party will need to obtain Wild Gods from Shadowtooth Emissary in Emerald Sanctuary in Felwood. However, only one person needs to travel to Jintha’alor and farm Troll Elites.

Please note that one person in the party needs to have Wildwhisper Draught in order to travel to Razorfen Downs. Then you need to find Amnennar the Coldbringer and clean his room, drink Draught and accept his quest.

The quest requires you to go to three dungeons and claim Wild Offerings from Delirious Ancient using the items he gives you. When you see “You feel a shadowed presence” on the screen, use the item near the creature. You can only kill these souls once per lock, so many players reset the dungeon over and over. The three dungeon missions are:

Zul’Farrak: Defeat Gahz’rilla, clear the area, find the spider ghost, use Agamaggan’s Roar to spawn a level 52 elite, defeat it, and collect Wild Offering.

Maraudon: Defeat Princess Theradras, clear the area, and find the ghost in the upper-level water. Use Agamaggan’s Roar again to spawn a level 52 elite, defeat it, and collect Wild Offering.

Blackrock Depths: Kill Houndmaster Grebmar, High Interrogator Gerstahn, and complete Ring of Law. Find the basilisk ghost on Dark Iron Highway and use Agamaggan’s Roar to spawn a level 52 elite, defeat it to collect Wild Offering.

Finally, bring these Wild Offerings back to Shadowtooth Emissary to claim your new Vengeance Rune.

In any case, WOW Classic SOD Phase 3 has officially started, and we need to find the necessary runes as soon as possible to upgrade our Warlock gear so that we can be prepared before entering the new raid!

Do you want to be invincible in Last Epoch Arena? If so, then don’t miss this guide. Here you will find everything you need to know about Arena. Without any further ado, let’s dive right in!

First, you may be wondering, how do you actually get into the arena? To do this, you need to reach Champion’s Gate located here in Divine Era.

To find that waypoint, you just need to right-click on the arena key. This way, the map will automatically open at Champions’ Gate Waypoint, so you don’t have to manually search for it on the map. But the first time you want to reach the arena, you need to reach Champions’ Gate without teleporting to unlock the waypoint.

Champions’ Gate is actually a nice Hub-like town with Target Dummies inside that you can use to test your character’s DPS.

The next question we want to answer is: what is Arena and how does it actually play?

Arena is an endgame activity. It’s exactly what you’d expect: a closed area with waves of monsters spawning. Arenas have different layouts, with different visual themes, but they all essentially function in the same way.

There are four portals on the map from which mobs spawn. After entering the arena map, Shrines may spawn at the edge of the arena. So it’s usually best to start by moving a little from the center and see if there are any Shrines you can use.

Some arenas also have environmental hazards in the middle of the map. As you advance through the arena, monsters gain higher levels, health, and damage.

After every five waves of monsters, a few barrels will appear on the map, and you can destroy them to get $1 and loot. Keep an eye on them to avoid missing them like I did at first. At this time, stash and shop NPCs are also available, so you can store items to avoid full inventory.

Also, if you’re playing with other players who die during your run, they can respawn during the break after every fifth wave. Once you complete ten waves, you can move on to the next arena map.

Now, this is where the differences between the two different types of arenas begin.

Fixed forty waves of enemies in Arena of Champions. After every ten waves, you can choose modifiers for loot, enemy damage, and health.

Since this arena type has 40 waves of enemies, you have three modifiers to choose from in waves 10, 20, and 30. After wave 40, the boss of the arena appears.

Currently, Champions are divided into three types: Sentinel, Rogue and Primalist-like Champion. You need to kill Champions to complete the arena, which will reward you with loot and unlock higher difficulty levels in Arena of Champions.

And then for the second type of arena in Last Epoch, Endless Arena. The arena is what you’d expect, with endless waves of enemies. After 90 waves, you will face one of the arena’s champions.

Of course, Arena Keys also come in two types. So you might be wondering what exactly is the difference between them?

Normal arenas can be used to access either arena type. Arena Key of Memory is only useful for Endless Arena, as it allows you to start from wave 100, or half divide the highest wave number you have reached (rounded to 10). For example, Arena Key of Memory will allow you to start at wave 110 if you reached wave 215 before.

Note that you can also use Arena Key of Memory at any level of Arena of Champions, but it will have no effect in this arena type. Since Arena Key of Memory has a much lower drop rate, using it for Arena of Champions will be a waste of keys.

Sadly, the loot rewards you can earn in Last Epoch Arena are rather lackluster. The amount of useful loot you get is very low. Considering the time it takes to get the loot, you’re better off running Monolith or dungeons in the high tier.

Enemy and arena design also often result in a slow and boring experience. Sometimes enemies will spawn quickly and reach you instantly, making the arena feel like a dynamic and fast-paced experience. But unfortunately, you’ll also encounter enemies that are painfully slow.

The biggest enemy here is Drowned Husk. They take a long time to move anywhere. So you’ll experience some unpleasant downtime in the arena.

It would actually be great if all arena maps were as simple as Arena of Champions map. It was so small that we could take out ten waves of enemies easily.

Arenas provide a large amount of XP, but unfortunately, the time required to complete them does not make them an effective way to level up your character.

Hence the number one reason to visit Arena: a change of pace. If you’re tired of running Monolith repeatedly, maybe jumping into the arena for a while will give you a unique experience.

You can then also use it to test your build. Since the arena has an endless mode with scaling difficulty, it’s a great place to test how strong your character build actually is.

In addition, the online arena mode also has a ranking list, and players with the highest number of passes can become famous in the Last Epoch community. So it adds this competitive aspect to the game.

The last reason to run an arena is for the unique loot drops like Penumbra, Omen of Thunder, and Vaion’s Chariot. These items can only be obtained through Arena. Keep in mind that each of them can be obtained from specific Arena Champions.

Finally, I’ll share with you my final tips for playing in the arena.

First, keep moving. There’s a lot of visual chaos in Last Epoch, especially the more flashy character builds. Sometimes, when there’s a lot going on the screen, you simply don’t see AOE highlights of enemy attacks. To avoid dying from this attack that you can’t see, you can constantly move around, making your character a really hard target to hit.

Also, remember to open the barrel with loot and collect it every fifth wave so you don’t lose it.

Be sure to check out Shrines and use them strategically. Remember, you can stack buffs in Shrines. For example, if I see four Shrines available, I will choose the reward from two of those Shrines at the start of the map and leave two for the sixth wave of enemies on that map.

Next tip, keep your character close to the center to avoid being idle for long periods of time while waiting for enemies to slowly crawl out of the portal on the other side of the map.

Note not to use Arena Key of Memory on Arena of Champions, as this key type is less common and does not bring any benefits to that arena type.

One final tip: know your enemy. Some enemies are particularly dangerous and attack very hard. Over time, you’ll learn which enemies to attack with burst skills or which enemies to use defense cooldowns against. Pay attention and remember to kill your enemies for future runs.

This concludes Last Epoch arena guide. Of course, you’ll also encounter arena nodes as you progress through Monolith. For these nodes, some tips here apply as well. I hope you found this guide useful. See you next time!

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 $1.

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 $1, 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 $1 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 $1, 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.