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Is Season 4 Loot Reborn what Diablo 4 needed to be a great ARPG? Or is it perhaps another lackluster attempt by the developers to save a bad game? Here we’ll look at the problems that have plagued D4 since its release. Then we’ll discuss how the game is doing now with Loot Reborn season.
So let’s start with the past. Usually I would install the game at the start of a season, level up one or two characters to level 50, sometimes even 70, and then immediately get bored with the game. The seasonal content and patch changes were so lackluster and the core endgame loop was non-existent.
Diablo 4 Season 3 didn’t even get me that far. I uninstalled the game at level 20! This situation was caused by many of the problems I had with the game before Season 4.
The first problem I encountered was the overly complex stats design. Diablo 4’s stats pool is bloated with a lot of useless affixes. I’m reminded of “Damage on Tuesdays” meme, which results in most gear drops being garbage.
Then its skill system is also very bland and basic. Most skill modifications actually come from Aspects in Diablo 4, not the skill system itself. As a result, the skill tree feels very bland, with only two choices per skill at most, and those choices rarely matter to how you play your build.
Paragon Board is also just boring and simple stat boosts that don’t offer any interesting choices.
The power and build diversity in Diablo 4 actually comes from legendary powers, aka Aspects. But the problem with Aspects is their scarcity. A really good Aspect can only be imprinted on gear once. This has made me accustomed to hoarding powers instead of using them freely in the game. I often finished my seasonal play through and never actually used that cool power because I was still waiting for the right parts to imprint it.
Also, despite the fact that these Aspects are very important and build-determining, the developers somehow managed to make the loot boring most of the time. I rarely get excited when Diablo 4 item drops. Because unique items tend to feel very bland, and Uber Uniques are so rare that you can play for hours without seeing one.
So in summary, the developers have retained the worst skill tree system in the genre, and in addition, boring loot and ability design prevents players from using said abilities. This is a recipe for disaster in ARPGs.
On top of that, Diablo 4’s gameplay is extremely boring. The game feels like the developers are constantly trying to prevent you from having fun in the game. You want to use some cool skills? Then let your mana-starve bottom out.
There’s also too much running around and too few monsters to fight, especially in the open world. Enemy density on the map is low. And then when you do find enemies, they either die quickly after a few hits, or if not, you’re left with deactivated skills or no mana left, using basic filler skills instead of having fun.
Many classes feel unsatisfying while leveling, as it takes a long time to start feeling the power fantasy coming and your character’s build becoming complete.
Its build variety and flexibility are also pretty bland for an ARPG. This is most noticeable with classes like Barbarian or Sorcerer. Most of their builds use the same support skills, like Shouts or Defensive abilities.
Finally, Diablo 4 has no endgame, aside from running Nightmare Dungeons repeatedly. That might be fine if the dungeons were actually fun, but their maps are often boring, require a lot of backtracking, and there’s a lot of downtime without fighting monsters. All of these issues have led to Diablo 4 being an extremely disappointing game since its release.
As hopes for a true Diablo game slowly faded, so did players’ excitement for each new season. After all, even diehard fans of the series have limited patience for their beloved game.
Now let’s turn our attention to the present. Season 4 is called Loot Reborn, and it’s a season filled with hope and anticipation, but also doubt and anxiety.
Fans of Diablo series have been wondering: will this game finally become a quality action-RPG worthy of Diablo name? Or will the developers continue to make lackluster attempts to fix symptoms rather than deal with underlying problems? So how good is this update?
Well, there are a lot of improvements to Loot Reborn. First, while not perfect, the stats system in the game is better than before. While some conditional stats are still there, overall, the game offers a more streamlined and straightforward pool of item stats than before. There’s less bloat, resulting in more items with actual value and the potential to upgrade your character.
In addition, the game’s stats customization and variety have been improved with the new mechanic, Tempering. Tempering adds extremely powerful stats to your gear, and the 100% damage boost to your character in particular is an absolutely game-changing buff.
The addition of Tempering makes loot more fun because it elevates the power fantasy and gives us the delightful fun we all crave.
But Tempering also brings a problem. Unique items are weak by comparison. This is because unique items can’t be tempered, which is frustrating, especially since Ancestral items only allow two Tempering stats on one item.
Another concern I have about Tempering is that while the system is fun, the stats from Tempering are ridiculous! This makes their importance disproportionate to anything else on the item. It reminds me of how powerful set items were in Diablo 3, where they increased the damage of certain abilities by 1000%, making sets a must-have for many builds.
Loot Reborn also improves the feel of the early leveling experience in Diablo 4. Thanks to the introduction of Iron Wolves, whose rewards are seasonal items in Loot Reborn, which give you nice Legendary and Unique items early on, making early leveling smoother and faster than before.
Leveling up your alts in particular is especially easy and fast, and this is because Tempering Manuals are available account-wide, which can give your alts a huge boost in stats. For example, you can put a few thousand Thorns on your set and make enemies one-shot kills.
There are now more ways to earn resources like mana, making leveling more fun than before. Unfortunately, early leveling isn’t smooth sailing for all classes. Some classes, like Necromancer, level up easily, while others still struggle to generate resources and end up relying on frequent casting of basic skills.
Overall, for leveling, I hope the developers can balance the flow of the game by balancing classes. As it stands, your leveling experience will be very different depending on the class and build you decide to use.
Now let’s talk about the flow of the game in Loot Reborn. It flows much better now, and the density of enemies has been greatly improved, both in the open world and in Nightmare Dungeons. On top of that, Helltides is now basically a continuous activity, and it also applies to World Tier 1 and 2. This makes the open world more interesting, diverse, and intense in both the endgame and leveling process.
Nightmare Dungeons seem to have a better design now, with less backtracking. Additionally, side events and Corrupted Shrine challenges are now worthwhile activities to do, offering a ton of Diablo 4 Gold and XP as rewards.
It’s worth noting that this season also saw a much-needed redesign of how Codex of Power works. Extracted legendary powers are finally no longer a onetime consumable item! Now, when you extract power from an item, it’s added to Codex of Power at the highest value you extracted, for you to use infinitely.
Honestly, this change might be my favorite part of the entire season. Unlimited use of extracted power promotes experimentation and actually using those powers! The game doesn’t make you question using those powers; it tells you that you can use it as you please.
Finally, the endgame in Season 4 feels better for one simple reason: it now exists as Pit.
Pit is similar to Greater Rifts in Diablo 3, with short instanced dungeons with theoretically infinite scaling. The goal of Pit is one thing: kill enemies.
But is Pit enough to make Diablo 4’s endgame interesting for years to come? I don’t think so. Adding features similar to what the series already had a few years ago doesn’t seem like an achievement worth celebrating. And Pit system is nowhere near as deep as the endgame in Path of Exile, or even as robust as the one in Last Epoch.
But the addition of Pits is certainly a step in the right direction. It adds something worth pursuing, especially for those who like to push their builds to the limit.
Pit also adds an element of variety to the endgame gameplay loop. As it stands, we essentially have three major activities in the endgame: Helltides, Nightmare Dungeons, and now Pit. So far, these are a good number of activities, but who knows how we’ll feel in a few weeks when we’re doing the same three repeatedly?
So is Diablo 4 now an ARPG worth playing in 2024? The answer is: kind of? Objectively speaking, it’s a better game now. But Diablo 4 isn’t the best in the industry in any way.
None of Loot Reborn’s changes sound particularly impressive if taken in isolation. Pit is not a revolutionary endgame system for ARPGs. Tempering and Masterworking don’t make loot in Diablo 4 the most fun in the genre. And the changes to how Legendary Powers work and the number of powers available don’t make build crafting the deepest on the market. They didn’t even address the flaws of the skill trees in Diablo 4.
But when you look at the big picture, when you put all of these additions and changes together, the improvement in the flow of the game and the increased fun it provides is pretty clear.
Loot Reborn is the biggest step the developers have taken since the release of Diablo 4, and it’s a step in the right direction. It moves their game toward better stats, loot, and tons of QOL changes. As a result, Season 4 is definitely the most fun I’ve had playing the game since the release of Diablo 4. What do you think? See you next time!
As many players enter the endgame in Diablo 4 Season 4, there's one major focus - acquiring Resplendent Sparks, the essential crafting material needed to create your chosen Uber Unique. To obtain these, you must defeat endgame bosses, which first requires gathering the necessary materials to summon them.
So in this guide, I'll cover how to acquire these boss summon materials in Season 4, the most efficient farming methods, and share useful tips and tricks to speed up the process.
Previously, boss materials in Diablo 4 were exclusively obtained through specific activities - Living Steel from Helltide, Varshan materials from Whispers, and Grotesque Debtors scattered across the world. However, in Season 4, that changes.
Now, every endgame activity offers the chance to obtain all types of boss materials, as they have random drop rates from all boss-type enemies, including regular Elites in rare instances. This abundance makes them more readily available than ever before.
In Season 4, the seasonal activity is known as Call of the Wolves, centered on the Iron Wolves seasonal quest line and reputation system. It offers substantial rewards in the form of boss materials, particularly in the later stages. If you haven't obtained these rewards yet and seek boss summoning materials, it's highly advisable to prioritize them.
It is important to emphasize that you can complete the Call of the Wolves for reputation multiple times with different characters. This allows you to accumulate a considerable amount of materials and even more guaranteed Resplendent Sparks. However, repeating reputation grinding for each character is very time-consuming.
Regarding the Iron Wolves reputation, let's delve into Helltide event. In Helltide, all chests yield at least 1 Living Steel for summoning Grigoire, with the Living Steel chest specifically providing 5. Throughout the Helltide event, numerous Elites spawn, each with their own drop chances for summoning materials.
Hellborn creatures emerge from events or when your threat meter fluctuates, offering a reasonably high chance of dropping boss materials. Interestingly, these Hellborn creatures tend to drop Lord Zir's materials more frequently than others.
Participating in Helltide as a group enhances efficiency since each member triggers their own threat meter, resulting in the simultaneous spawning of multiple Hellborn creatures and consequently greater material acquisition.
And the Blood Maiden enemy in Helltide, the big boss at the end of the altar summon activity, also has a pretty decent drop rate on various boss summoning materials. Helltide is essentially the prime location for specifically Living Steel but also just has a good drop rate on many different materials.
Moving on, we have the Whispers of the Dead. It seamlessly integrates with any other activity you wish to engage in. While it's widely recognized as the most lucrative source of Diablo 4 Gold at present, it also yields a significant amount of Varshan summoning materials from each whisper cache. Additionally, there's a chance to obtain materials for other bosses, making it a well-rounded option for material acquisition.
Next up, we have world bosses, which arguably serve as the premier source of these materials, albeit in small quantities since they cannot be farmed. These bosses operate on a three and a half-hour timer, but every kill on a world boss in World Tier 4 has yielded at least 1 boss summoning material. Remarkably, most of these drops have been Pincushioned Dolls, specifically for the Andariel fight.
In addition, a significant portion of upgraded boss materials have come from world bosses this season. For example, out of the 4 Stygian Stones I've naturally acquired, 3 were random drops from world bosses, with only one obtained from the Pit, where they are typically found.
Therefore, for those who are interested in tackling ladder bosses, it's imperative not to overlook world bosses, as they not only have a decent chance of dropping Stygian Stones but also upgraded ladder materials, considerably simplifying the process.
To say that these bosses are more challenging than their normal version. They boast significantly higher health pools, immense damage output, and a stacking debuff that exponentially increases damage taken upon being hit by their more telegraphed attacks. Stygian Stones, which are essential for challenging the torment versions of ladder bosses.
However, the rewards from torment versions of ladder bosses are 5 times greater than those of normal ladder bosses, albeit at 3 times the material cost. It's worth noting that I've had 2 Andariel's Visage drop naturally in Season 4, both from torment versions of Uber bosses, leading to speculation about the potentially higher drop rates of Tormented bosses.
Moving on to the endgame systems, Nightmare Dungeons offer another avenue for acquiring boss summoning materials. Once you've reached World Tier 4, and potentially even World Tier 3, Treasure Goblins become a consistent source, dropping a minimum of 2 boss summoning materials each time.
This presents a lucrative opportunity, although it's important to note that Treasure Goblins cannot be forced to spawn. You can only react when you spot them on your mini-map. Therefore, it's crucial to eliminate every Treasure Goblin encountered, not only in Nightmare Dungeons but also in other areas like Helltide.
The reason for highlighting Nightmare Dungeons specifically is because certain rooms within these dungeons have a low chance of spawning a significant number of Treasure Goblins simultaneously. When this occurs, swiftly dispatching the entire horde results in a windfall of free boss materials, among other rewards.
In addition to Treasure Goblins, boss summoning materials can also be obtained from the boss of each Nightmare Dungeon. Moreover, every completion of a Nightmare Dungeon guarantees some Distilled Fear, which is essential for the Beast in the Ice summoning.
Last, let's talk about how to acquire Stygian Stones, while world bosses initially seem to be the best source. These stones are primarily supposed to drop from the Pit of Artificers. While some players indicate that Stygian Stones become slightly more common after reaching at least Tier 70 or 80, their drop rates remain inconsistent.
Even at higher tiers, they remain relatively rare. Despite my extensive engagement with the activity up to Tier 70, I've only encountered 1 Stygian Stone. Therefore, I recommend against excessive farming of this activity solely for Stygian Stones due to their notably low drop rate.
It's worth mentioning a commonly known practice for solo players: seeking out boss rotations in the Trade Chat. These rotations involve groups where each player takes turns using their own materials to summon the boss, allowing you to benefit from four summons for the cost of one lot of your own materials if executed correctly.
This concludes today's guide, which covers various ways to obtain boss ladder summoning materials in Diablo 4 Season 4, as well as the most effective strategies that I know of. Hope you have a good gaming experience!
Grim Batol is a level 85 dungeon introduced in WOW Cataclysm Classic, available in normal and heroic 5-man versions.
Grim Batol is one of the most interesting dungeons in Cataclysm expansion. In this guide, we will provide you with all the information you need to complete this dungeon.
Grim Batol is a massive fortress that is home to Wildhammer Dwarves. In Cataclysm, it is occupied by an evil cult called Twilight’s Hammer. Under the watchful eye of Ogre Cho’gall, they continue to spread evil magic and cause destruction.
Starting at level 84, you can enter Grim Batol. Grim Batol is located at the westernmost end of Twilight Highlands, which itself is directly east of Wetlands. The instance itself is an old Dwarven fortress with a portal at the entrance, which can be reached by following the path to the west from the center of the area.
As a level 85 dungeon, it will most likely be one of the last instances that players conquer in the first part of the expansion.
As with most dungeons in Cataclysm, there are four bosses to conquer. We’ll talk about the tips you need to know to defeat these bosses.
General Umbriss is an interesting boss fight, mainly because players must learn the same skills to win. Initially, the tank needs to heal the damage-over-time effect of Bleeding Wound. If the healer can heal the tank to above 90% of health, it will also remove the debuff.
An important skill that everyone in the group needs to know is Blitz. This causes General Umbriss to randomly select a player from the group to charge, then deal huge physical damage and knockback, both of which affect anyone within 6 yards of the attack location.
To avoid this, everyone needs to run out of range and avoid the attacks of the selected player. Selected players can do this as well, but they should wait as long as possible before doing so to avoid running in the same direction as everyone else.
Another problem is Ground Siege. This skill is also randomly targeted and causes Umbriss to use a directional ground attack that deals tremendous damage and stuns anyone in the cone for four seconds. However, it’s easy to avoid the attack, just keep an eye out.
Umbriss will also summon Troggs to assist him in the fight, but this is relatively easy to deal with on normal difficulty. You just need to make sure your Tank and DPS stay aggro to take down these enemies quickly.
Forgemaster Throngus is a cool fight for those who farm dungeons regularly, mainly because it’s extremely replayable. How the fight will play out depends mainly on which weapon the character chooses from the available weapons.
Regardless of which weapon is chosen, the only standard skill that players need to be aware of is Mighty Stomp. This causes the walls of Grim Batol to begin to collapse, and stones to fall around the player. But just stay out of the area of effect of these weapons and you’re ready.
Additionally, here are some things to note about each weapon:
Shield: This is the most comfortable choice. Throngus will use Personal Phalanx, which makes him face a random player and deploy a shield. This player’s task is to turn the boss’s back to the rest of the team. This will allow them to deal full damage, as damage dealt is reduced by 99% when facing a shield.
Meanwhile, Archers will fire Flaming Arrows from above, so keep an eye out for these and avoid them if possible.
Dual-Wield Swords: Disorienting Roar affects all players, slowing attack and casting speed by 150%. This can be dispelled or removed with skills, so make sure to use Dual-Wield weapons to keep your DPS high. Dual Blades and Thrash are powerful attacks that tanks must withstand, while healers must counter with healing.
Mace: Mace is arguably the scariest of all the choices, but it’s not particularly variable and is easy to deal with if you know what to do. The first of the two effects is a simple passive skill that slows the boss by 70% but increases damage by 200%.
The only active skill to watch out for is Impaling Slam, which causes Throngus to jump to a random target and deal heavy damage over time to the target hit. This is difficult to avoid, so most people will heal while being targeted.
Drahga Shadowburner is a two-phase fight that shouldn’t be too difficult for a well-prepared team. Therefore, it’s worth spending some WoW Cataclysm Classic Gold to upgrade your gear.
The first phase is relatively easy to control, with Shadowburner mainly using Burning Shadowbolt skill to deal damage, but this can be avoided by healing or interrupting.
The major problem the team needs to deal with is Invocation of Flame. The boss will create a portal that summons an Invoked Flaming Spirit.
First, don’t stand near the portal to avoid the fire damage it emits. Then, DPS should shift their targets to Spirit to quickly eliminate it before it can reach the player. If you do this, it will cast Supernova and deal heavy damage to players who are close to it, enough to kill them in one hit.
At 25% health, Shadowburner will summon his dragon mount, Valiona. As long as the tank has their back to the dragon, DPS class should find it relatively easy to burn the boss.
At 20% health, the dragon will abandon its master. At this point, it is already very weak and the player can easily kill Shadowburner.
The last boss in the dungeon is the toughest to deal with, and it is Commander of Grim Batol, Erudax.
The first of the two main mechanics that everyone in the group needs to be aware of is Binding Shadows, which will first root and damage the player, and then heal the boss for 3 times the amount of damage. When the boss is targeting you, just avoid it to negate its effects.
The other is Shadow Gale, which Erudax will summon a tremendous storm. When the cast begins, a circle will appear on the floor. This is basically the safe zone, and all players need to stand inside it to avoid being killed when the cast ends. The good news is that the boss takes double damage here, so be sure to keep attacking during Shadow Gale.
After Shadow Gale ends, Faceless Corruptor enters the room and begins casting Twilight Corruption on Alexstrasza’s Egg. You’ll need to kill them quickly before Corruptor spawns Twilight Hatchlings, as they’ll attack the player anyway afterwards.
Tanks and healers will need to be aware of Enfeebling Blow and its subsequent debuff, Feeble Body, which makes the victim vulnerable to 200% more damage for five seconds. This is a good time to put a cooldown on the tank to mitigate its worst effects. DPS just stay behind and avoids causing aggro while the tank is being bounced.
Finally, let’s talk about how different it will be to take on these bosses in Heroic Mode.
The fight with Umbriss in Heroic Mode is interesting, as it does add an important mechanic layer that players must be aware of. If Malignant Troggs are killed, they will cast Modgud’s Malice, increasing the boss’ damage and turning Skarydn Dwellers within eight yards into more Skardyn. This can get out of hand quickly, so move them out of the way before killing Troggs.
Additionally, Modgud’s Malady is a debuff that Troggs can cast that damages the player. On Heroic difficulty, this effect can stack up to ten times, enough to kill players quickly, so kill those Troggs as soon as possible.
On Heroic difficulty, Disorienting Roar is the one we need to focus on. It starts out by slowing spellcasting and attack speed by 150%, and that number is reduced by 50% every time the player successfully uses an attack skill.
Drahga remains largely unchanged on Heroic difficulty, hitting harder with the same skill set. But Valiona now has Devouring Flames, which shoots giant cones of dragon flame at random players. If possible, stay away from it. But if you can’t, stay as far away from the dragon as possible, as the further the player is from the source, the less damage the fire will do.
The fight in Erudax is much the same, except that it’s slightly harder in Heroic mode. The biggest difference is that the boss summons two Faceless Corruptors instead of one after casting Shadow Gale. But this won’t cause too much trouble for those with decent DPS.
These are all the tips you need to know to clear Grim Batol dungeon in normal and heroic mode. Give it a try!
Welcome, fellow gamers! I'm excited to show you the Bash Barbarian build for Diablo 4 Season 4! This build stands out as one of the most effective ways to take down Uber bosses or even Uber Lilith. In this guide, we'll delve into all the details of this build, along with strategies and tips you need to know. Let's get started!
First, let's break down the build starting with the Bash-focused strategy. We invest fully in the Bash skill for fortified generation when hitting stunned enemies. This core skill set forms the backbone of our offensive capabilities, particularly against non-boss foes.
Moving on, we bypass other enhancements and proceed to the defensive cluster. We prioritize Iron Skin and its enhancements, benefiting from a protective barrier and fortified generation upon activation. Additionally, Challenging Shout provides a taunt with damage reduction and increased maximum life while active.
We allocate points to key passives such as Imposing Presence for bonus maximum life, Martial Vigor for damage reduction from Elite enemies, and Outburst to facilitate the acquisition of Tough as Nails. The latter enhances Thorns damage and converts a portion of it into bleeding damage, effectively activating bleed effects upon taking damage.
In the Brawling cluster passives, Kick serves as a fury spender and applies vulnerability to bosses, while War Cry enhances damage output and activates Berserking. Passives like Booming Voice extend shout duration, Raid Leader provides healing during shout uptime, and Guttural Yell reduces enemy damage when using shouts.
Aggressive Resistance and Battle Fervor bolster our Berserking capabilities, providing damage reduction and extending Berserking duration upon damaging enemies with Kick. Pit Fighter in the Weapon Mastery enhances damage to nearby enemies, while the Thick Skin paves the way for Counteroffensive, granting bonus damage when health is above a certain threshold.
The Wrath of the Berserker ultimate skill and its enhancements amplify Berserk damage multipliers, ensuring consistent uptime through various triggers. Passives like Heavy Handed increase critical multiplier, Wallop boosts damage against stunned or vulnerable enemies, and Concussion adds a chance to stun enemies with budgeting weapons.
Finally, the key passive, Unconstrained, further augments damage gains while Berserking. In the technique slot, we prioritize vulnerable multipliers with the Two-Handed Axe Expertise, enhancing overall damage output in our current setup.
Next, let's discuss the gear setup. Prioritize strength, critical strike damage, and maximum life on weapons, with cooldown reduction ideally on your helmet and amulet. Aim for crit chance and attack speed on your amulet, and crit chance, attack speed, and either strength or maximum life on your rings.
Ensure you have ranks to Bash on your pants slot, prioritizing the Greater Affixes and Masterworking. On boots, focus on bonus ranks to Kick, movement speed, and a flex slot for strength or resistances based on your setup. Adjust your build as your armor cap shifts because of Tempering.
The Paingorger's Gauntlets are essential for non-boss content, enhancing Bash's natural cleave. Additionally, consider the Rage of Harrogath if you lack the Tyrael's Might chest armor, as it provides cooldown reduction when applying bleed through Thorns, physical crit chance, and damage reduction from bleeding enemies.
For two-handed weapons, prioritize Rapid Aspect for bonus basic skill attack speed on one and the Aspect of the Moonrise for bonus attack speed, damage with basic skills, and movement speed on the other. Consider dual-wielding for increased attack speed, although the two-handed version synergizes well for this build's purposes.
Aspect of Adaptability on your amulet increases bash damage, while the Edgemaster's Aspect boosts damage based on your full research bar, Aspect of Inner Calm offers a general damage increase multiplier, and Aspect of Elements rotates damage increases.
Bold Chieftain Aspect on your boots reduces cooldowns depending on nearby enemies. Defensive Aspects include Iron Warrior, which strengthens Iron Skin, and Aspect of Might, providing constant damage reduction because of the reliance on basic skills. Hectic Aspect on boots offers cooldown reductions for basic skill casts.
Let's take a look at the Paragon Board setup. On your Starter Board, we'll place the Exploit glyph for bonus damage to vulnerable enemies and vulnerable procs on first damage to enemies. We need to grab just enough Dexterity to activate the glyph. If you have less armor, consider going up through the rare armor node.
Switching to the Warbringer Board, we'll put the Territorial glyph for bonus damage to close enemies and damage reduction from them. Next, grab relevant rare and magic nodes, including extra all-element resist.
Move to the Carnage Board, insert the Ire glyph for bonus damage while Berserking and bonus damage reduction from Elites during Berserking. After, grab the necessary strength and other relevant nodes to maintain 40 damage while Berserking threshold. Proceed to the legendary node on the board, granting bonus attack speed for every critical strike while Berserking.
Then, acquiring the damage while Berserking rare and magic nodes. Attach the Decimator Board and travel down and right to the glyph socket. We'll place the Undaunted glyph for bonus damage while fortified and scaling damage reduction based on Fortify. Gather rare and magic nodes, ensuring enough Willpower to power the glyph.
Attach the Hemorrhage Board, moving down and left to reach the glyph socket. Insert the Might glyph for bonus effects to all magic nodes within range and an increased damage multiplier with two-handed weapons.
Finally, attach the Flawless technique node from the Blood Rage Board. Insert the Revenge glyph for bonus rare nodes within range and a stacking damage multiplier with Thorns damage.
Let's discuss how to effectively play the build in various scenarios such as Nightmare Dungeons, Pit runs, or facing Unber bosses. The approach is quite consistent across these situations. Begin by activating Wrath of the Berserker, followed by using Kick when your Fury is at its maximum.
Then, ensure you replenish your Fury to the maximum and use Kick again. Even without maximum Fury bonuses, this exhausts 200 Fury, the maximum for benefiting from Wrath of the Berserker's bonuses. After this sequence, utilize War Cry for the damage boost. If possible, employ Iron Skin before using the Challenging Shout to reduce its cooldown.
Otherwise, maintain a steady barrage of Bash attacks, with War Cry used whenever it's off cooldown. Keep an eye on the Berserk timer in your ability bar to determine whether an extra Kick is needed to prevent your bonuses from resetting. If you lose Berserk at any point, you must restart the process by activating Wrath of the Berserker once more.
Hello everyone! Meat Week Event is here again! Since this event is only open for a limited period of time, the most important thing to make the most of it is to get as many unique rewards as possible. It is also a good option to grind XP and earn extra Scrip. This guide will go through everything you need to know about Meat Week Event.
Every 15 to 20 minutes, you will get a Primal Cuts event. You can start the event by hitting a drum in the center. This will attract a group of animals to you. They appear in four waves, and you must kill the marked prime animals.
Note that Butcher’s Bounty Perk Card does not seem to give you more prime meat, but it does help increase other types of meat.
The waves will gradually become stronger over time, and the event ends when you defeat all enemies, or when the timer runs out. Successfully completing the event will give you prime meat that you can use later.
Since meat will rot, having a Refrigerated Backpack Mod or Good with Salt Perk will help you preserve them for longer. If you rank high enough on the scorebaord, Cryofridge will also be helpful to you.
The events that take place in areas where the enemies are stronger seem to give you more prime meat, while Mire seems to be the place that gives you the most meat. So pick the one you want and start collecting meat. If you’re fast enough, you can participate in both events at the same time.
The other half of Meat Week is Grahm’s Meat-Cook Event, which is all about advancing the progress bar in the upper right corner. There are three stages marked with icons here, and if you don’t reach the first stage, you fail. But if you want to get more valuable Fallout 76 items, it is very necessary to reach the later stages as soon as possible. Here, I will list the things you can do to advance the event.
You can find drums and the spits on the high platforms on both sides of the centre roast pit. They are passive activities, just like playing an instrument during One Violent Night. The unique thing is that they allow you to advance the progress bar before it appears.
They still give you progress during the event, and if all spits or drums are in use, you will get a reward. But it’s important that you get progress before the event officially starts. So if you happen to get there early enough, make sure to use them.
The roast pit in the center has spits and pots where you can place prime meat and donate it in stacks of five. For example, if you have 12, you’ll need two batches of five, but you won’t need the last two.
Each Meat-Cook Event has a maximum of 15. Each stack you deposit gives you a bonus of about 15 minutes. Stacking one stack makes you no longer hungry, and if you get hit, you have a chance to damage enemies with farts. Stacking two stacks does the same thing, and you get a 15-point bonus to your maximum health. Stacking a third stack increases it to a 30-point health bonus and a 5% XP bonus.
You also get 5 Legendary Scrips per stack, so you can get an extra 15 Scrips for each event. This is an extra little bonus for attending a Primal Cuts event.
Another thing you can do is feed Chally the Moo-Moo. You may have to attend at least one Meat-Cook Event to get the recipe, but you can make the recipe with vegetables before the event and give it to Chally when the event starts. Make sure to do these as soon as the progress bar appears, so you don’t forget.
You can also collect animal chunks and greens. You’ll find small animals like Opossums, Squirrels, and Chickens behind the shed. Regional loot doesn’t work here, so you’ll have to collect chunks individually. Put them in the shopping cart in the shed to advance progress.
Next to it you can see the container for greens. Bring them back to get more progress. If you want, you can also put submit wood in the pile next to the cooking pot.
You can also get progress for the event by cleaning up rotting meat, manure piles, and putting out fires around. Such as the scorchbeast poop you saw in Line in the Sand event. Be sure to prioritize this because they can actually slow down your progress if you leave them behind.
After the event, you will receive rewards based on your performance. You can get XP, Caps, Legendary weapons or armor, Meat Week apparel, Treasury Notes, and Unique plans.
Besides that, there are quite a few plans for unique items and unique camp items, such as Meat Cleaver. This is a throwing weapon that does a ton of damage. If you haven’t tried throwing weapons yet, you might be surprised at how effective they are.
And of course, there’s Pepper Shaker, which is one of the major prizes of Meat Week Event. The only way to get this plan is through this event or by buying it from a player vendor. The chance of any single item dropping is about 1.6% per event.
So if you want everything, you should do as much Meat-Cook as you can. The event will last for about two weeks and will end on June 4, 2024, so you should have plenty of time to participate.
That’s it. Hopefully, this walkthrough made it a little easier for you. Good luck, and may RNG gods be with you.
Stash management poses a challenge in Fallout 76, but don't worry, you're not the only one facing this problem. Whether you're a seasoned player or a newcomer to Appalachia, handling your stash can become a shared struggle for all players at some stage of their gaming experience. So I'm here today to provide a guide for those looking for tips on managing stash effectively.
However, it's important to note that your shop and displays will still count towards your stash weight. Now, let's jump into the tips for effective stash management.
Always scrap your junk items instead of storing them as they are. Scrapping junk not only provides you with valuable crafting materials but also reduces their weight significantly. Besides, it's best to avoid bulking your junk altogether and store them as individual components.
Be mindful of the weight of decorative items in your camp, such as teddy bears and other decorations. These Fallout 76 Items may seem insignificant individually but can add up quickly, affecting your overall stash weight. Consider minimizing decorative items, especially those with substantial weight, to optimize your storage space.
Fallout 1st members can access to the Scrapbox, a separate storage container specifically for storing crafting materials. Unlike the standard stash box, the Scrapbox has no weight limit, allowing you to store unlimited materials without worrying about inventory weight constraints. Consider taking advantage of this feature if you have a Fallout 1st membership.
If you're not a Fallout 1st member but have access to a trial period or promotional offer, consider utilizing it to grind and store materials in the Scrapbox. Materials stored in the Scrapbox during the trial period will remain accessible even after the trial ends, providing you with extended storage capabilities.
Here's a significant stash management tip that may not be relevant in the early stages of the game, but becomes crucial as you progress beyond Level 50: manage your consumables effectively. As you accumulate chems and food items, they can quickly fill up your stash. Consider crafting or cooking them into higher-tier versions or selling excess items to vendors.
Additionally, investing in perks that reduce the weight of chems and food can significantly alleviate stash space issues. By utilizing perks like the Traveling Pharmacy and Thru-hiker, you can drastically reduce the weight of these items while they're in your inventory. Traveling Pharmacy reduces chem weight by 90%, while Thru-hiker reduces food and drink weight by the same percentage.
Additionally, if you have a backpack with mods like the Grocer's Backpack, you can further reduce the weight of chems and food. However, remember that these reductions do not stack with the Chemist perks, so choose the combination that works best for your play style.
Another stash management tip is to avoid storing power armor pieces individually in your stash. By keeping power armor pieces on the chassis, you're essentially consolidating their weight into a single, manageable item. This not only saves space in your stash, but also makes it easier to transport and manage your power armor.
When you examine your power armor in your Pip-Boy, you'll notice that the weight of the entire power armor frame is relatively low, often around 10 lbs. However, if you remove individual pieces, such as the chest or limbs, you'll find that each piece weighs significantly more.
If you have multiple sets of power armor or collect various pieces, consider using an empty power armor chassis for storage. Even if you're not a Fallout 1st member and don't have access to the Scrapbox, you can still utilize this method to optimize your stash space.
Of course, if you're a Fallout 1st member, you can take advantage of the Survival Tent feature to quickly access your stored power armor chassis whenever needed. This provides added convenience, especially when there's no stash box nearby.
Managing ammo can be challenging, especially for players who tend to hoard everything. When enemies are defeated, it's tempting to collect all available ammo, just in case. However, this can lead to significant stash weight issues.
Being a Fallout 1st member has its perks, allowing unlimited ammo storage without weight constraints. However, for non-members, managing excess ammo becomes essential. I recommend only picking up ammo you'll use. Selling unused ammo to other players is an option, but it can burden your stash until sold.
A crucial point: avoid hoarding Mini Nukes and Missiles unless you frequently use weapons like the Fat Man or Missile Launcher. These items weigh considerably and often end up unused in your inventory. Selling them may prove challenging, as they're not in high demand.
Here's another essential tip: only keep weapons you actually use! It's tempting to collect every weapon you come across, but they take up a significant amount of space. Sell these unused weapons for scrap or script. Weapons are relatively easy to find unless they're god roll legendries, so there's no need to clutter your stash with unused ones.
To help you identify which weapons you use frequently, consider renaming them. Organize them based on their legendary effects or their primary use. For example, you can label them with the Legendary roll followed by an abbreviation. This not only keeps everything organized but also saves time when scrapping or trading items. Renaming your armor pieces can also be beneficial for quick identification.
Diablo 4 has entered its fourth season, and this season is mainly focused on the setting of in-game items, the functions of some of which will greatly improve your experience of leveling up in the game. These settings can make it easy for you to reach level 100. Next, let’s take a look at what methods can be used to help you reach level 100 faster.
This guide can address all the different forms of content in your gameplay and allow you to solve the problem in the shortest time and with the simplest method. But it’s also important that you have complete control over what you run until you reach the highest level, because that’s where the fun of the game comes from.
In Diablo 4, experience points (or call it XP) can be gained from all missions by destroying enemies. However, in some missions under certain circumstances, XP gained in this mission will be much more than in regular missions. Here are some general upgrade methods:
Most of the general quests above aren’t the best way to level up, but they still depend on what you specifically want to play. If you want to know more about the story background of Diablo 4, you can participate in side missions or some battles. But if you want to upgrade quickly, besides researching Helltide and Dungeons, what I will tell you next is the unknown upgrade method.
You should understand all XP boosts before using this method. If you use all experience point boosts at the same time, you can reach the maximum level in less than 10 hours.
The earliest forms of this approach came from team rewards. Simply put, if you have a team and complete the mission content with them, you will receive rewards; but if you complete the mission with non-party players, you will receive half the experience points.
In addition to the party experience bonus mentioned above, you can also research Elixirs. Elixirs can obtain it during early game crafting or when destroying enemies. Elixirs can provide up to 5% bonus experience points for 30 minutes. Later in the game, Elixirs may be 8% effective. These perks will increase the speed at which you complete tasks in the game.
If you feel that making Elixirs is cumbersome, you can purchase Elixirs directly in the mall. Different types of Elixirs can provide different upgrade speeds.
The last and most important thing comes - season bonuses. If you open your battle pass or menu, you will see some rewards that have ended. Don’t be discouraged, you just need some Smoldering Ashes to apply the upgrade, so you’ll need to go through Season 4 Loot Reborn’s battle pass to get Smoldering Ashes first.
Once you have Smoldering Ashes around level 28, you can use it to expand your experience rewards for completing quests, up to the maximum.
As mentioned before, the best way to level up quickly is to research Helltide and Dungeons. Next, let us carefully analyze the upgrade methods of the two modes and find the method that suits you best!
If you want to skip the campaign and not wait there to level up, Helltide is the most efficient way to level up. You can reach level 60 or World Tier 3 or 4 in 3 hours. The major way to upgrade Helltide is to go to the Baneful Altars in the current Helltide area and use three Baneful Hearts to activate events to achieve the upgrade goal.
This method will generate hundreds of enemies, including a maiden boss that will drop a lot of valuable equipment. When you take out three Baneful Hearts, everyone in Helltide area will be activated and gather to clear all enemies as quickly as possible.
Please note that growing enough Baneful Hearts requires unlocking Baneful Hearts seeds first. These seeds can be obtained by completing specific tasks in the game or by talking to the commander. Once you have a Baneful Hearts seed, you can plant it on the appropriate land and take advantage of related events to obtain more Baneful Hearts.
In addition, you can also obtain Aberrant Cinders by destroying enemies, and use Aberrant Cinders to open treasure chests to obtain more Diablo 4 Items and equipment. In Helltide region, you can find these treasure chests in specific locations.
In the opinion of some players, Helltide always levels up faster than regular dungeons, but once you touch Nightmare Dungeons, your level will rise faster. Unlike Helltide, which relies on its community to keep the event up and running, Nightmare Dungeons are entirely dependent on how many levels you can complete and how quickly you can complete it, giving you significantly more freedom.
You can have a fast and stable experience farm by using Sigils. If you can meet the following two requirements, you will receive higher experience points than Helltide:
These requirements are difficult to achieve, but if your game character is strong and flexible, you can easily do it.
Now the choice is up to you. Which one do you think is more suitable for you, Helltide or Dungeons?
They all have their own pros and cons, depending on you, and their rewards are different, regardless of experience points.
Helltide will give you more gear, and where events have 80% to 90% uptime, Helltide will also give you more experience points. In addition to this, you also get exclusive Helltide materials. This means that when you need these materials in other tasks, you still need to enter Helltide to obtain these special materials.
The special thing about Nightmare Dungeons is that it gives you some Glyph experience points. These Glyph experience points can be used to strengthen your game character’s Glyph on the Paragon Board in Nightmare Dungeons.
In Helltide, if you can defeat all enemies, you can get at least 925 pieces of power equipment. This way you can switch from Helltide to Nightmare Dungeons.
But if you’re around level 90, and you already have Profane Mindcage consumable that increases Helltide monster levels by ten levels for an hour, you can also get the same item-powered gear in Helltide.
In Helltide, you need to kill monsters every moment, but in Nightmare Dungeons, because the monsters are not as dense. It takes some time for you to go from one pack to another.
Based on the above, the different upgrade options you choose will depend on what type of content you prefer and how powerful and flexible your build is. In addition to Elixirs mentioned above, there are also some Boss Summons on sale in the mall. When necessary, you can purchase and summon Boss to help you get a better gaming experience. Happy gaming!
Elden Ring is a game that is so big and so expansive. Sometimes, it feels really easy to miss little details or hidden locations. I used to take pride in the fact that I explore every nook and cranny of these types of games.
Next I will introduce to you the three most missed locations in all of Elden Ring.
In addition, investing enough Elden Ring Runes in Elden Ring can help you explore secret locations more efficiently.
First up on the list, we have Sellia Hideaway. This place is essential if you’re looking to finish Sorceress Sellen’s questline as well as get Lusat set and Stars of Ruin spell. The reason this one is so easy to miss is because it’s actually hidden behind an Illusory Wall and even after you find this ucer wall. There’s many more inside in order to find the entrance and this Illusory Wall. You will first want to head to Church of Plague and then head north.
On your way to Illusory Wall, there is a Sorcery waiting to blast you with spells. He’s not too difficult, so you should be able to take him out pretty easily. There’ are also a few items you’ll want to pick up along the way.
As a side note, if you’re playing offline and you don’t have any signs from people showing you where to go, you can run around spamming Margit or Mohg’s shackle, which will reveal all the hidden Illusory Wall as well. Or you just roll around and start smacking things with your sword will have the same effect.
Once you are inside Hideaway or Cave, I’m going to probably call it Cave from now on. Once you’re inside Cave, there are a bunch of really unfriendly monsters. You’ve got Miners and Sorcerers which you’ll see in a lot of Caves throughout the game. But you also have those little snail things that hide and shoot you with magic at one point towards the end.
You actually just have a bunch of them fall in your head as you’re getting ready to approach the main boss in this Dungeon. They are terrible.
But the number one worst part about this whole place is Revenant . They just decided to put a Revenant in here to just mess up your whole day. It’s not fun. When exploring this Cave and all of its nooks and crannies, remember there’s about three Illusory Wall in here. I think three or four.
But as you’re exploring, you’ll come across a two kinds of ending zones, one is the final boss where you’ll fight three Putrid Crystalians. I’m going to fight with Crystalians.
You’ll fight three of those. They’re easy if you have a strike weapon, so just keep that in mind if you have a strike weapon they’re much easier to defeat as you can stagger them very quickly and give massive Critical Hits on them.
Secondly, you will come across a sealed door. It’s kind of big and blue and glowing if you are far enough in Sellen’s questline. You will be able to then interact with this door and through talk to Lusat. He’ll give you a spell. If you come back here once you finish the questline, he will not be here and you can pick up his armor, which gives you a lot of bonuses for star type spells.
But at the end of the day, this place sucks. I don’t like it. But it’s got a lot of good stuff. So I’d highly recommend checking it out.
It definitely would not be a FromSoftware game if there wasn’t a horrifying and scary monster that kills you, grabs you and takes you off to some far away place. Elden Ring is no different. If you remember, in Dark Souls 3, there were those dudes with the cages on their back. They stuff you in the cage and take you off to another location.
Bloodborne had those big hooded figures that love to just punch you, kick you, do all the horrible things to you and then they grab you and stuff you in their bag and take you off to just the most horrible place imaginable.
In Elden Ring, we have Abductor Virgins, these guys are real creepy looking they got sometimes big old Scythe hands, sometimes they have big old Blade hands but inevitably they have a bazillion hands that come out of their stomach and try to stuff you inside.
In order to reach a secret location in Volcano Manor as well as a cool tunnel that takes you to mount Gelmir much earlier in the game than you might have expected, you will need to be murdered to death by an Abductor Virgin and then taken away. To find this monstrosity, you’ll first want to head to Schoolhouse Classroom Site of grace in Raya Lucaria.
Now if you remember that gigantic wheel that you probably jumped on to go up to get to this location. Just jump back on that wheel except take it all the way down to the ground, where you will find an Abductor Virgin waiting to destroy you.
I am also just now realizing that underneath the face of these guys. They’re holding a baby like a weird ceramic or metal just statue of a baby. That’s terrifying.
One thing to note too about getting to this location is that you are going to want to not die by its big buzz saw hands, but let it grab you. Let it pull you inside of it, chomp you up and do its Dirty Deeds to you.
After your quick loading screen you will be teleported to Volcano Manor, where you will see a bunch of broken down Abductor Virgins, you’ll see a bunch of cages. There will be a lot of bats everywhere. Trying to scream at you and attack you, just make your way through picking up any items you might find along the way.
Eventually, you will come across another Site of Grace and once you are there, you can actually teleport out of here. If you do not want to be here anymore, don’t teleport out though, because then you will not have the lovely experience of seeing all that this hidden area has to offer.
One of them being more bats and a lava fill pathway to take you to the boss. Actually, it’s two bosses. Two Abductor Virgins that you get to fight, one of them using Ghiza’s Wheel hands, the other has the Scythe hands.
If you do manage to defeat them, you will be rewarded with a weapon. After that, head forward and you will see any other Site of Grace as well as a way out of this abomination of a Cave.
Welcome to mount Gelmir. Here, you’ll encounter the Great Dragon Placidusax, the secret boss in Elden Ring.
Now there are many secret bosses but this. I think is the one that everyone considers secret boss in Elden Ring. To get to this big dinker of a Dragonlord, you need to first head to Farum Azula.
Once you have found the beside Great Bridge Site of Grace, turn around and head back down the elevator, you just came up. The reason I recommend doing this first is that this is the closest Site of Grace to this boss fight.
Once you get to the bottom of the elevator, I would recommend killing all Beastman waiting for you. You can run past if you want. But if you kill them, you won’t have them throwing things at you or shooting lightning at you. That could potentially throw off your jumping as you traverse a dangerous cliff area.
Like many areas I’ve talked about before, I completely missed this boss fight on my first playthrough and it wasn’t until watching videos after the fact that I was like, what the heck is Dragonlord Placidusax.
Turns out I just completely missed these Cliffs that you can jump off onto floating platforms. After traversing the shattered floating cliff side, you will find yourself on a much bigger portion of a wall. That has been shattered and is now floating. You’ll find a little groove that you can lie down in to do that.
After watching a very calm yet chilling Cutscene, you will get to fight Dragonlord Placidusax. Now my build was absolutely not set up for this guy, but your build actually set up for a boss fight.
This is one of the coolest boss fights in this game. It is so fun. It’s challenging. The atmosphere is awesome. The music is incredible if you’re able to kill Placidusax, you will be rewarded with a gazillion runes and the remembrance of Dragonlord.
You can take this remembrance back to Roundtable Hold and turn it in for either Dragon King’s Cragblade, which is an awesome heavy Thrusting Sword with one of the coolest weapon skills I’ve ever seen in a Souls game.
Or you can also get Placidusax ruin, which is a spell or basically a Dragon Incantation that allows you to just spew golden breath all over. It’s really cool. Go fight him.
So there you have it, those what I believe are probably the three most missed locations in all of Elden Ring. Like I said before.
I hope you won’t miss these hidden locations in the game.
With WoW Cataclysm Classic just around the corner, Deathwing burst forth and destroyed the world, bringing sweeping changes to Azeroth and many of WoW’s systems. Fast forward to today, and Deathwing is returning once again in WoW Cataclysm, launching on May 20.
A lot has happened since 2010, so let’s take a moment to revisit Cataclysm patches, review the story and some features introduced, and take a look at the brand new changes coming to Cataclysm Classic!
Patch 4.0.1 is Cataclysm system pre-patch, introducing several interfaces and system updates ahead of release.
Reforging was introduced, allowing players to assign some of an item’s secondary properties to different secondary properties, and Mastery was introduced, providing a new secondary property for you to consider!
Additionally, spells and abilities changed removing ranks, instead simply scaling with character level, and Spellbook UI was updated with it.
With ammo removed from the game, hunters have seen a number of quality of life improvements, especially as cloth, leather, and mail users see their armor become as durable as plate, which normalizes repair costs across classes. This avoids the problem of spending large amounts of WoW Cataclysm Classic Gold and still not getting satisfactory results, as was the case in the past.
Patch 4.0.3 brings us Shattering. Without warning, the corrupted Dragon Aspects Deathwing bursts from the stone heart of Deepholm, the realm of earth in Elemental Planes. Jagged cracks tear through the land, and raging waves crash against coastal areas.
From Thousand Needles to Blasted Lands, the surface of Azeroth is reshaped in a violent upheaval. Forced to defend their homes against Deathwing and his minions, both the Horde and the Alliance lived with the uneasy fear that the world as they knew it had changed forever.
Shattering saw the continents of Kalimdor and Eastern kingdoms reshaped, offering unique experiences in previously existing areas and new adventures in never before seen zones.
Two races were unlocked Goblins for Horde and Worgen for Alliance, and fresh race and class combinations accompanied them. Nine new dungeons were introduced:
Three new raids saw champions face down to some of the bigger threats and allies of Deathwing!
Blackwing Descent was the layer of the resurrected Nefarian, son of Deathwing, and the site of the heinous experiments he conducted in an attempt to create a new breed of chromatic dragons.
Bastion of Twilight was the primary fortress of Twilight Hammer. Cho’gall, the leader of the cult, dwelled here, as well as Sinestra, mother of Nefarian and Onyxia and creator of the first Twilight Dragons, reanimated and overseeing the creation of another Twilight clutch.
Throne of Four Winds was located inside Skywall, and was Al’Akir’s personal lair! With the barrier between Elemental Plane and Azeroth ruptured, his invasion needed to be stopped.
Patch 4.1 Rise of the Zandalari is the first major patch for WoW Cataclysm! The days where the great troll empire stretched across ancient Kalimdor, were long past. As Azeroth recovered from the destruction of Cataclysm, the world’s divided troll population faced a bleak future.
These dark times spurred the trolls of the Zandalar to drastic action. They began a bold crusade to save their race by unifying the trolls into a powerful empire.
With Zandalari’s aid, the fallen capitals of Gurubashi and Amani nations - Zul’Gurub and Zul’Aman began rebuilding, replenishing their forces for a bloody campaign to expand their territories.
Yet Vol’jin and his Darkspear trolls were not aligned with Zandalari. They vowed to work with the Horde and the Alliance to prevent the trolls from starting a new war in Azeroth. Soon Vol’jin was forced to act on his promise, for if Gurubashi and Amani were left to their own devices, the world would know the legendary strength and savagery of the ancient troll empires once again.
With the trolls attempting to rebuild and reunite, Zul’Aman and Zul’Gurub were reimagined, becoming heroic 5-player dungeons.
Guilds received some attention with the introduction of Guild Challenges that rewarded achievements and gold for completing various content in a guild group. Guild finder tool was also introduced, designed to help players find like-minded friends to tackle these new adventures with.
And a very helpful quality of life improvement also came with this patch. The ability to resurrect allies from raid or party frames, instead of having to locate a fallen companion’s body in the world.
Patch 4.2 Rage of the Firelands, was the second major patch of Cataclysm. Across the breadth of Azeroth, Horde and Alliance dealt crushing blows to Deathwing’s elemental minions and fanatic Twilight’s Hammer cultists.
As the elements continue to be in disarray, it seems that the noble shamanic order may finally be on the verge of collapse under the enormous weight on its shoulders. Even Thrall, for all his wisdom and skill, had grown aggravated by his failure to effectively communicate with Azeroth’s elements.
Recently, his calls were acknowledged, but the malevolent entity that responded had only intensified Thrall’s fears and doubts.
Patch 4.2 brought with it a new raid, Firelands. This molten hellscape in Elemental Plane was forged by Titans to house Ragnaros and his servants. Ragnaros’s invasion of Mount Hyjal could not go unanswered, as champions took the fight to his domain.
A new legendary item, Dragonwrath, Tarecgosa’s Rest could be obtained after completing a considerable questline. This two handed staff was incredibly powerful, and wielding it was a true testament to dedication!
A nice quality of life change, improved Durability Displays’s warnings, adjusting yellow to signify 20% durability as opposed to a durability of 5%. And access to a wealth of information and lore was added directly in-game with the introduction of Dungeon Journal.
Patch 4.3 Hour of Twilight was the third and final installment of cataclysm, and its largest content update since launch!
In the aftermath of Cataclysm, the warriors of Azeroth rose up against the forces of the mad black Dragon Aspect Deathwing. Thus far, the world’s defenders had shattered the power base of Twilight’s Hammer cult and defeated the raging elemental Lords Al’Akir and Ragnaros.
Yet despite these victories, as long as Deathwing was free to pursue his twisted goals, Azeroth would remain under threat. No one was more aware of this fact.
The great Dragon Aspects such as Nozdormu, Alexstrasza, Kalecgos, and Ysera. Together with the wise shaman Thrall, they devised a plan to vanquish Deathwing with a weapon of his own design: the infamous Dragon Soul.
Thrall and the noble aspects would call upon Horde and Alliance to help them retrieve the artifact - No longer in existence - from the distant past. Those brave enough to face the challenge would embark on a perilous journey from Azeroth’s apocalyptic End Time to Dragon Soul’s point of origin during the catastrophic War of the ancients. If the heroes succeeded, an even more harrowing battle awaited them in their present.
Hour of Twilight brought three new dungeons:
End Time saw heroes visit potential futures that would come to exist should Deathwing prevail, pitting them against visages of corrupted heroes of Azeroth and ultimately facing down a tormented version of those Nozdormu, called Murozond, who created Infinite Dragonflight and shattered the time ways in an attempt to subvert his own mortality.
Well of Eternity flung heroes back 10,000 years in time, just before Sundering to assist Illidan and Tyrande in battling Burning Legion. As Azshara attempted to bring Sargeras himself to Azeroth. Hour of Twilight saw heroes prepare for the last battle with Deathwing, and fight alongside Thrall to bring Dragon Soul to Wyrmrest Temple.
The final Raid, Dragon Soul, continued to the fight in the besieged temple through Last of Deathwing’s lieutenants and ultimately onto Destroyer himself. As Thrall, Dragon Aspects and the champions of Azeroth attempted to end Cataclysm once and for all.
A new legendary pair of daggers called Fangs of the Father could be obtained by rogues after completing a multi-quest chain that concluded with the defeat of Deathwing.
And Raid Fighter tool was introduced, offering a quick way for players to form a group for a specifically tuned version of Dragon Soul Raid.
With all these epic storylines, legendary items, dungeons, raids, Cataclysm era was densely packed.
But perhaps one of the greatest systems introduced in all of Cataclysm, perhaps one of the greatest systems introduced in all of WoW came with patch 4.3 - Transmogrification.
This new cosmetic system allows players to customize their gear like never before by copying the appearance of one item onto another. Gone were the days of mismatched armor and feeling like you had to choose stats over aesthetics!
In Cataclysm Classic, the core story and experiences will remain, but a few things have gotten some changes.
Firstly, things are going to be faster. An increased content cadence will condense the entire expansion into about one year, while an expanded pre-patch means the action starts sooner.
As of the pre-patch going live, the shattering has come to Azeroth. Kezan and Gilneas starter zones are now available, and Goblins and Worgen are unlocked and can be leveled up to 80.
Also, Transmogrification is unlocked, as are account wide collections. New class and race combos are unlocked, along with class updates like talents and spells. Archeology and Reforging are also unlocked. Accelerated leveling from 1 to 80 is in place, which will help you roll alts in this faster environment. And flying is unlocked in the newly reshaped Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdoms.
At launch, several more iconic features from Cataclysm will come online. Five zones will be unlocked. Mountain Hyjal, Vash’jir, Twilight Highlands, Uldum, and Deepholm will all be available for 80 through 85 questing.
And the 9 dungeons we explored earlier that were part of patch 4.0.3 will all be unlocked, along with a new heroic Dungeon system. Tol Barad world PVP zone that pits Horde against Alliance for the control of three objectives will also unlock at launch, as will everyone’s favorite fairgrounds Darkmoon Island.
After launch Throne of the Four Winds, Blackwing Descent, and Bastion of Twilight will make their appearance and a new flexible Raid Lock System, which allows players to do both the 10 and 25 player versions of raids in the same week. Plus, additional content updates will continue to roll out as the expansion unfolds.
That’s it for my review of all the major WoW Cataclysm Classic patches released so far. Anyway, the new expansion is coming soon, so let’s wait and see!
Elden Ring is a game that is filled with so many incredible weapons: shields, spells armors, items and so much more. That I often don’t know what to do with them. I sometimes come across a weapon like Bloodhound’s Fang super early on.
That's just so wildly overpowered with so many Elden Ring Runes invested in the game. I also come across items where they seem completely useless. And then every so often you come across a weapon or a shield or something else. It’s weird.and it doesn’t make sense and I don’t know how anyone had the creativity to come up with it.
There are six of the weirdest weapons and shields that you can find in Elden Ring.
For those of you who have played the Old Hunter’s DLC and Bloodborne. I’m sure you are very familiar with the Whirligig Saw. It’s one of the best strength weapons in the game. If not the best, well, they have brought a version of that into Elden Ring while it might not be as overpowered.
It is still just weird. It is called Ghiza’s wheel, and it requires 28 points of Strength and 18 points of Dexterity to use. It has a unique skill called Spinning Wheel. Basically, you just grab it and charge up Death Spin Blade. You can also apply Bleed very quickly to all enemies in front of you. Now this is a very good boss killing skill, but this weapon also just dishes out a ton of damage. If you have any sort of inclination to play like you did in Bloodborne, I would highly recommend going and getting this weapon.
If you’re ever trying to get out of work for the day saying you got bit by a snake, is usually a good idea. Now if you don’t live in an area with snakes, that’s not going to work. But you can try it if you want Coil Shield is a really weird Shield. It’s made out of a snake. It’s a Strength and Dexterity Scaling Shield and has 72 Poison build up. Its unique skill called Viper Bite, basically shoots the snake out in front of you, biting the enemies in front of you.
And again causing Poison build up. It’s a really good Shield to use if you’re trying to do any sort of Poison build. It’s great for stacking poison on bosses that are not immune to it. And it’s just goofy and weird and makes a great addition to any kind of Troll PVP build you might be trying to put together.
I don’t know about you, but I have never personally crafted a weapon in the forms of the heads of my dead wife and two kids. But if you have, you would have something in common with Necromancer Garris when he crafted the family Heads. This is a flail. That is a Strength, Dexterity and Intelligence Scaling weapon with a really weird look. It also has a unique skill called Familial Rancor. This is an ability where you can run near people. You raise it up in the air, the heads kind of spay out in three different directions and start shooting out dark magics. It’s really creepy. I don’t like it. I don’t like using this weapon, but it’s really weird.
Envoy’s Horn is the weapon for you. It’s a faith Dexterity and Strength Scaling Hammer and it shoots bubbles at your enemies. The special ability, the special skill that this weapon gives you, is the ability to blow bubbles at your enemies. SpongeBob would be so proud.
Visage Shield is an absolute Beast of an item in Elden Ring, and I mean that in more ways than one. It requires 24 pounds to carry. It requires 44 Strength to wield properly, and it also has a hideous grotesque figure of a giant head with lots of flames spouts and teeth just shooting out in different gross directions. But if you want to use this super weird weapon, you will be rewarded with a super cool and unique ability called Tongues of Fire.
This is where you basically hold the shield in front of you and spew flames on all of your enemies. It’s great for crowd control. It’s great for AOE killing. It’s also really good for just smacking people. If you run out of FP, just start smacking. This thing brings the pain.
I don’t think it should be any surprise to you all when I tell you that the ringed finger is the number one weirdest weapon on my list. And it’s for many, many different reasons. One is a giant finger that you just hit people with.
Secondly, because of the skill that it has called Claw Flick, where the finger just inflates to enormous proportions and then you just flick everything in front of you. This is a weird weapon. I don’t understand why it’s in the game, obviously. There’s lore reasons and stuff like that, but a man who thought of just putting a giant finger in the game.
I mean, come on, I’ve been invaded by someone dual wielding these before. And I think I’ve died every time more just because I’m freaked out and weirded out by them more so than anything. This is a weird weapon. It’s number one on the list.
If you want to use it, you can get it real early on in the game. That’s a weird weapon.
The above are the weird weapons in my mind. Which weapons do you think are surprising to you?
