Blizzard hosted a Diablo 4 Season 3 Midseason campfire discussion on February 29th, featuring Adam Fletcher, Adam Jackson, and Joe Piepiora. They provided a glimpse into the upcoming midseason content release.

Among the updates, we can expect the introduction of the Gauntlet leaderboard system, the return of Vampiric Powers, and various adjustments to classes including buffs and tweaks. Additionally, they elaborated on PTRs and shared insights regarding Season 4. This article serves as a concise overview of the key points discussed in the livestream. Without delay, let's delve into the details.

Commencing with Season 3, the Vampiric Powers are making a comeback. This thematic element constitutes the core of the season's mechanics.

During the questline involving Eris, players get bitten by a vampire, enabling them to acquire Vampiric Powers for character advancement. These powers are leveled up using Potent Blood and can be slotted into specific abilities to gain predefined benefits. However, the handling of these powers differs slightly this time around.

In Season 2, the Malignant Hearts mechanic from Season 1 was reintroduced through a unique ring. In Season 3, it takes the form of a legendary aspect:

Players can extract and place these aspects into any item in their character's inventory. 6 Vampiric Powers are returning:

The developers mentioned that these Vampiric Powers will function similarly to before, with the addition of a "kiss-curse" effect on certain abilities. This means that while they grant bonuses, they also impose minor penalties. For instance, using Metamorphosis will increase the cooldown rating of the evade ability.

Regarding this format, I'd like to share my thoughts. Instead of reintroducing Season 2 mechanics or any seasonal mechanics as aspects, it could have been an opportunity to implement a new player progression system. This could provide additional content to farm or grind for, enhancing character abilities. For example, a talent tree system or a new glyph format applied to the Paragon Board system could have been beneficial. With aspects, there's a risk of them conflicting with other aspects desired for a build, potentially leading to their underutilization.

Transitioning from Vampiric Powers, let's discuss snapshotting, an issue that many players have raised concerns about.

Snapshotting involves exploiting buffs gained from certain abilities while swapping out $1 mid-action to stack buffs and achieve exceptionally high damage output, essentially breaking the game. Blizzard has taken steps to address this by removing snapshotting mechanisms and plans to eliminate them entirely in the future.

To prevent snapshotting in the Gauntlet leaderboard system, Blizzard has implemented a restriction. Once players enter the Gauntlet, they cannot swap out equipped items, selected skills, or Paragon Board allocations. This measure aims to prevent abuse of snapshotting mechanics during Gauntlet runs.

Furthermore, they provided a demonstration of the Gauntlet leaderboard system, featuring three developers playing different classes—a Necromancer, Sorcerer, and Barbarian. Commentary was provided by two content creators known as Annacakelive and Macrobioboi. Each player had an 8-minute timer to accumulate the highest number of points. It was intriguing to observe their approaches and strategies with their respective classes.

Proof of Might was collected by defeating monsters or obtaining keys from mobs to unlock specific chests scattered throughout the dungeon. The layout, mobs, and pylon arrangements remain consistent each week, ensuring a level playing field for all players. However, these aspects change weekly, allowing players to continually attempt and improve their scores. Players can strategically manage their resources, such as pills, which multiply scores or reset monster respawns, to maximize their points.

The Gauntlet leaderboard system is set to a difficulty equivalent to level 70 rather than a level 100 nightmare dungeon. This decision broadens the scope for diverse abilities and builds, as lower-level enemies enable the utilization of less conventional but potentially effective skills. The dynamic nature of the Gauntlet introduces new possibilities and adds freshness to the gameplay experience.

Rewards in the Gauntlet include gear and cosmetics. Players can earn up to four caches per week based on their performance tier—Seal of the Blooded, Seal of the Steadfast, Seal of the Iron-Willed, and Seal of the Worthy. These caches contain gear with item levels of 925 and may include unique items. Additionally, players can earn cosmetic character portraits and, for the top 100, a trophy to adorn their mounts.

Lastly, the Hall of the Ancients showcases the top 10 players in each class category for the week. This serves as a platform for recognition and bragging rights, emphasizing the focus on displaying class proficiency and builds rather than solely farming gear.

Now, let's delve into the class buffs and changes. I won't delve into extensive details. Instead, I'll provide a general overview of the adjustments slated for patch 1.3.3.

Barbarians and Druids will see enhancements to their basic skills, particularly focusing on early-game resource generation. Specifically for Druids, improvements are planned for companions like wolves and Necromancer minions, along with movement speed upgrades for Necromancers.

Sorcerers will witness enhancements to certain paragon nodes, as well as adjustments to abilities like Incinerate and Conjuration. As for Rogues, there's a focus on refining ranged abilities, with changes made to skills such as Heartseeker and Barrage, alongside adjustments to specific aspects.

In addition to class adjustments, significant changes have been made to the Center Shell, which encompasses the entire seasonal mechanic in Season 3.

These adjustments include tweaks and some nerfs, likely implemented to maintain balance ahead of the introduction of the gauntlet leaderboard system. Modifications have been made to various aspects, including Tuning Stones, Poison Support, Bleeding Support, and Burning Support, with even the Governing Stone, like Tempest, receiving adjustments.

This next topic is closely related to class adjustments and enhancements.

The developers sought feedback from the Diablo 4 community regarding the focus on introducing new legendaries and unique items for various builds. Historically, at the onset of each season, every class would receive a new aspect or legendary item, along with a unique item, alongside alterations to abilities, potentially fostering new viable builds.

Now, the community was asked whether they favored continuing this approach. One drawback is that sometimes these additions render certain builds nonviable compared to top-performing ones. The proposed alternative is to concentrate on one or two classes, akin to the approach seen in Diablo 3. This would involve significant buffs to specific skills and abilities, accompanied by the introduction of legendaries or uniques tailored to enhance these builds. This strategy could inject more excitement into the game, providing players with more meaningful choices and fostering a sense of progression.

While specifics regarding the implementation timing were not provided, it's plausible that these changes could be introduced midway through the season. This approach could enhance the game's ongoing appeal, ensuring a steady stream of content throughout each season, rather than waiting until the season's conclusion to introduce new features.

Following the Q&A, the final segment of the campfire discussion centered on Season 4. The developers provided some insight into the direction they intend to take with it.

It appears that substantial changes are in store, reminiscent of Season 2's adjustments to vulnerability, critical damage, and overpower, but on a larger scale. Concerns about potential delays, particularly with the Gauntlet, seem to have been addressed, as everything appears to be progressing smoothly.

Season 4 promises to bring significant positive changes, with PTRs allowing players to preview and test the season before its official release. This serves as a sort of beta test for Season 4, enabling players to provide firsthand feedback and fostering better communication between the community and developers. This announcement has generated considerable anticipation among players.

For players who aren’t seasoned in ARPGs, Last Epoch may initially seem overwhelming. Even for those with ample experience, navigating the game’s Class and Masteries systems can be quite intricate.

However, all necessary information is readily available in-game. Players simply need to know where to find it. To ease the chaos of the first few hours of Last Epoch, let’s explore some of the mistakes we newbie players make early in the game and how to avoid them.

Engaging in this practice will significantly prolong your journey through the game.

To begin with, Last Epoch inundates players with an exceptionally high volume of drops. While this is a common occurrence in ARPGs like Diablo, Path of Exile, and to some extent, Lost Ark, Last Epoch seems to take it to another level entirely.

Players will frequently encounter new white, blue, yellow, or even unique items while traversing a single map in this game. Not only does this quickly fill their inventory, but it also becomes overwhelming. 

Therefore, the first recommended tip is not to fret too much about examining each individual item. Many of them will soon be surpassed as players level up and progress through the story. 

Moreover, these items seldom fetch more than a few $1 when sold, so it’s advisable not to pause every few seconds to scrutinize the stats of every new weapon or armor piece that drops.

Expanding on the topic of gear management in Last Epoch, one of the most valuable early-game recommendations is to not overlook the Loot Filter feature. 

While configuring a Loot Filter might appear to be an excessive optimization for players with limited experience in MMORPGs or ARPGs, it’s practically indispensable in Last Epoch. Fortunately, setting it up is straightforward, and players can even utilize online resources to download and import custom Loot Filters into the game.

At the very least, it’s advisable to configure a Loot Filter that hides white-rarity equipment (and perhaps blue-rarity items as well). This simple adjustment can prevent players from succumbing to the temptation of inspecting every white or blue item on the ground, under the false impression that it may offer valuable benefits, such as a slight increase in Minion Health.

This next misconception is a common one among Last Epoch players, and it’s completely understandable. 

Crafting in MMORPGs and ARPGs is often associated with the late-game and can be quite perplexing initially (depending on the game). Consequently, many players instinctively overlook the Forge, Crafting, and Affix systems, assuming it’s best to save them for the end-game or maximum level.

Fortunately, Crafting in Last Epoch is straightforward (be sure to review the Forge section in the Game Guide) and is something players should fully embrace while leveling up. While much of the excitement in these games typically unfolds after reaching max level, there’s no reason players can’t enjoy the journey from level 1 to 100 by engaging with the Crafting systems along the way.

Runes of Shattering are another aspect of Last Epoch that often eludes players who are unfamiliar with these types of games or haven’t researched the game beforehand. 

Essentially, after purchasing these Runes, players can insert them into Equipment currently in the Forge and dismantle the Affixes on that item into a random number of Shards corresponding to those Affixes. These enhance the value of hoarding gear during the early stages.

While it’s not necessarily essential during the early to mid-game (prior to acquiring Class Mastery), there’s no harm in doing so for players who know which Affixes they’re aiming for in the late game. 

Admittedly, it’s more efficient to save them for use on late-game gear to obtain higher Tier Affix Shards or to use a Rune of Discovery to fill empty Affix slots before using a Rune of Shattering. However, players won’t face significant drawbacks by utilizing these Runes according to their preference.

One of the initial NPC Merchants players encounter in Last Epoch is the Gambler, and engaging with this merchant can be risky. 

The Gambler offers players the opportunity to spend gold on purchasing weapons, armor, accessories, and other items that come with random affixes applied to them upon purchase, essentially allowing players to use gold to ‘roll’ for items.

While there’s no way to entirely dissuade players from using this feature, it’s strongly advised to allocate funds elsewhere, such as investing in Runes of Shattering. Given that Last Epoch is an ARPG and enemies drop items abundantly, players can utilize filters to focus solely on the gear they desire. Therefore, squandering gold on the Gambler often proves to be a futile expenditure of time and resources.

Side quests play a crucial role in Last Epoch for several reasons. Not only do they facilitate the leveling process, enriching the maps with additional tasks and introducing players to various characters and concepts within the game world, but they also offer valuable rewards, such as Passive Points and Idol Slots.

Skipping sde quests means missing out on approximately 15 Passive Points, as well as restricting access to the game’s Idol System due to the absence of Slots. Therefore, it’s advisable for players to consult the Quest Tracker (accessible via the 'J' key on PC by default) or the Quests on the World Map to identify currently assigned side quests and their associated rewards. 

By doing so, players can prioritize completing side quests that offer Passive Point or Idol Slot rewards, while postponing or saving purely EXP-based side quests for later stages or after completing more significant objectives.

Lastly, although Last Epoch can feel overwhelming with its abundance of information, the game itself provides several tools to ease the learning curve. 

These systems are not only plentiful but also well-crafted. Players can access the Game Guide from the Escape Menu, which contains detailed entries on every mechanic within the game. 

Additionally, by holding the ‘Alt’ key while examining various elements, players can access additional information highlighted in blue text. This feature allows players to discern whether a Skill Modifier alters the damage type (and consequently its scaling), understand specific debuffs, and more. Utilizing these resources whenever the game feels overwhelming can greatly assist players in understanding its complexities.

I’m here to provide you with my review of some mastery classes that you will play in the early game phase of the Last Epoch 1.0. If you’re are interested in exploring this topic, let’s delve into it together.

Preparing some $1 can improve your gaming experience and make it easy to get through the early stages of the game.

First, let's talk about the Bladedancer. It boasts remarkable speed, owing to Shift's significantly low cooldown. This allows you to swiftly navigate from one pack to another. Moreover, its AOE capabilities are impressive, effortlessly clearing groups of enemies with custom skills.

Bladedancer also excels in dealing substantial damage to bosses. In its current state, I consider Bladedancer to be among the top classes for leveling.

Shaman is a choice that stands out among classes. With an array of powerful skills, it can effortlessly clear and move swiftly. Its effectiveness doesn't rely on waiting for minions or other prerequisites.

Moreover, the Shaman inflicts significant damage on bosses, making it a formidable choice for early-game progression.

The Sorcerer is truly amazing at the moment. With its abundance of AOEs, you can effortlessly clear while on the move. The Teleport skill adds an extra layer of mobility, allowing you to swiftly navigate between fights and breeze through the campaign.

While there may be some minor mana issues, these are easily mitigated, especially as you progress and optimize your gear. Overall, the Sorcerer stands out as a top-tier build, capable of completing tasks quickly and efficiently.

The second class I've extensively played and want to discuss is the Lich. It's currently quite remarkable, particularly due to the minimal mana issues it faces. However, since you may need to pause briefly to defeat monsters and its movement spell isn't as effective compared to other options.

While Lich is highly versatile, there are still some limitations, especially if you opt for a version with fewer projectiles. Additionally, using the crit version might pose challenges, particularly during the leveling process.

Moving on, let's discuss the Necromancer class. I find the Necromancer to be incredibly impressive because minions can effectively carry you through the entire campaign. Necromancer can be compared with the Lich class because of its outstanding performance.

Minions effortlessly eliminate enemies for you. However, the Necromancer has some issues with movement, requiring a brief pause for minions to engage enemies, as they can be somewhat slow and not always tactically astute. Its overall performance remains exceptional, and it's a highly effective choice.

Delving into the Beastmaster, I find its potential intriguing. I believe the Beastmaster will shine brilliantly in the endgame, its journey to that point presents considerable challenges. The pace is sluggish, lacking the swift movement of other classes like the Necromancer.

Its minions, though faithful, pale in comparison to the Necromancer's army. Thus, the Beastmaster falls short in terms of speed and efficiency during the leveling process.

Let's delve into the Spellblade class. Spellblade presents a compelling magical archetype with the potential for considerable strength. However, it currently grapples with certain issues. Notably, when assuming the role of a Spellblade, one must engage enemies primarily through melee attacks.

This approach, particularly during the leveling process, can prove cumbersome and frustrating. Despite these challenges, Spellblade boasts high damage output and offers teleportation capabilities. Nevertheless, the inherent difficulty of consistently landing melee hits remains a significant concern.

The Druid occupies a unique position, blending elements of the Shaman's swiftness with the Beastmaster's versatility. While it requires less setup to become effective and boasts an impressive swarm form for clearing, its speed falls short of the Shaman's pace.

Its single-target damage output doesn't match that of the Shaman. The Druid offers a balanced progression path between the faster-paced Shaman and the more gradual Beastmaster.

Next, I delved into the Runemaster class, facing a challenging decision between it and the Sorcerer. Ultimately, I found the Runemaster to be exceptionally impressive. It boasts capabilities comparable to the Sorcerer, excelling in various scenarios.

With its array of AOEs, potent boss damage output, and swift mobility facilitated by teleportation, the Runemaster emerges as a formidable contender in all aspects of gameplay in Last Epoch.

The next class is going to be Marksman. Currently, Marksman is in a pretty special position. You can clear a lot with Marksman, but it still needs a few different bonuses to work properly. Both Multishot and the version of Rain of Arrows works well, but it just requires a little more setup.

So while you’re running through the campaign and preparing for early leveling and the early game phase by itself, I think Marksman should be somewhere in between. It can still be powerful, and it has Shift the same way as Bladedancer has it, so it will come online but later on.

Let's discuss the Paladin, a class currently positioned quite favorably. With its remarkable Shield Rush skill boasting an impressively low cooldown, the Paladin effortlessly traverses through hordes of enemies.

Additionally, the Javelin skill proves highly effective in dealing damage. Renowned as one of the strongest half-mill classes alongside the Bladedancer, the Paladin possesses all the necessary tools to navigate the early game effortlessly.

Void Knight presents a conundrum for many players. While I appreciate the unique character gimmick, its reliance on Damage Over Time zones poses challenges, especially when rushing through the campaign or seeking swift completion.

Although it may seem unfavorable at present, Void Knight holds promise for formidable strength in the endgame, offering a different gameplay experience once fully developed.

Forge Knight stands out as another intriguing class worth highlighting. Presently, Forge Knight holds a sturdy position in the latter stages of the early game. However, initiating as a Forge Knight can prove challenging. It necessitates around 30 to 40 passives to truly shine, delivering significant damage and functionality to the build.

This requirement adds complexity to the early game experience, making it more arduous than some other classes. While not as problematic as the Void Knight, Forge Knight still grapples with various issues.

Here, I want to review my favorite AFK spots when I’m in New World and want to rest or do other things, or in OPR/3v3 Arenas. This way I can come back every 15 to 20 minutes and collect easy gold and resources with minimal effort. Let’s get started now.

Whenever you have other things to do or just need a break from New World, but still want to earn some $1 at the same time. Then it can be very beneficial to stop your game and strategically place your character in a quiet area with a lot of resources.

In the long run, this allows you to accumulate large amounts of gold, Aptitude, and resources with little effort. But instead of being AFK for 20 minutes, run an OPR/3v3 Arenas and then collect all the resources between matches to make yourself super efficient.

If you want to really maximize your efficiency, you can create a second account on the same server and raise it to a high enough level to collect resources in one of these locations where you want. 

Then it stays there all the time and you just switch from the main node to the alternate node every 20 minutes or so, collect all the nodes, and then go back to the main node and transfer all the profits over.

This will even allow your alt to eventually reach level 65 and also open up more possibilities for additional gold crafting activities.

I’m going to categorize them all into areas that have a variety of different resources next to each other, and other areas that are more dedicated to specific types of top-tier ores.

For the first type of general area, one of my favorites is this little area in Cutlass Keys. A total of 4 Runewood Trees, 8 Wyrdwood Trees, 4 Wirefiber Plants, 10 Spinfiber and 9 Silkweed are generated in this area.

Also, there are some Cougars and Boars roaming the area, which you can eliminate as well. If you need some Thick Hide, there’s a lot of potential here for you to make some serious money with AFK.

If you want to shorten your AFK time and add some ores to your grind. You can even go around to Fort to the north and grab all Starmetal and Mythril from there, which can be done in about 2 to 4 minutes. There are a lot of decent chests out there, and the mobs are only level 40. So they are easy to deal with.

I also like that there is a Spirit Shrine here that is very close, so you can quickly run over and check it out.

Anyway, I sat here AFK for 30 minutes and got some loot. If I sell it and multiply that number by 2, that means I get 4,860 gold per hour for very little effort.

I didn’t even go to Fort to hunt for ores during this period to keep my AFK time as high as possible. Overall, this is a great place.

For the second general location, we will stay at Unbound Island. This small island is close to the fast travel point and has many Runewood Trees and Mythril. All of this is in a small circle where you can do a quick lap on your mount, grab all the resources, then AFK on some rocks for 20 minutes, then come back later to repeat the process.

Next, we’ll take a look at some AFK locations for those looking for specific ores.

We’ll start with Mythril Ore. Unbound Island, mentioned earlier in the general section, is a great place to farm Mythril Ore. Alternatively, you can camp outside the cave mentioned in the first general location and obtain the ore resource.

However, when you want to get a lot of Mythril, another excellent area to camp in is Brimstone Sands. It’s close to a fast travel point and has five Mythril Veins, so a lot of Mythril Ores will spawn. There are also some Sandstone Blocks around here, which will only increase your profits if you head here. Be sure to grab two Elite Chests along the way, though, for a chance to easily earn some Scarabs.

Another really cool place to farm Mythril Ore is Mourningdale. Since the fast travel point is far away, it takes a while to reach it. But because of this, there’s usually no one here, and it’s a great place to get Mythril Ore, and there’s some Orichalcum in there, too. So in the long run, sitting here will give you a ton of benefits when you run here from fast travel.

If you want to focus on farming Orichalcum, there are plenty of great AFK locations here too.

First, there is an area in Brimstone Sands that you can combine with monster grinding to get Ancient Glob of Ectoplasm, which can make you a lot of money.

There’s also a bunch of Orichalcum and Starmetal Veins in there, but if you combine that with monster grinding, it’s not too AFK. One thing to note is that there are often many people farming here, so be prepared to grab ores.

I dare say that the best AFK place to farm Orichalcum has ended at Edengrove. There are large numbers of Orichalcum and Starmetal on the cliffs of Edengrove. But be warned, this is a very popular place, so you have to be lucky to get it.

But if you’re on a less popular server or go during off-peak hours, you can manage to get the spot yourself. You can run up and down the edge of the cliff and then come back and repeat the process when they spawn again.

Finally, if you prefer farming Starmetal Ore, there’s a nice AFK location here as well. But in most cases, it’s usually cheaper than Orichalcum or Mythril. So if you really need it, it’s better to sell the other two and buy Starmetal on Trade Post.

But the location I chose was Cutlass Keys in Rothoard Hollow cave on the outskirts of the capital. It’s a quick trip from the city and contains many Starmetal Ores, as well as some Gold and Silver Ores.

Note that there are some pirates in there, but they are very low level so they are easy to deal with.

When you’re done mining, you can jump onto the rock and wait for the vein to regenerate. Since this is a low-rise area, no one usually camps in the area.

All in all, this guide covers the best places to farm resources in AFK so that you can get a lot of gold with very little effort. Not only will you get tons of loot if you do this, you’ll also get tons of Aptitude Crates and skill line upgrade materials from them, which will only increase your profits.

Also, if you’re not on a low-popular server and you find some locations occupied when you go there to try it, try grinding during off-peak hours, it will help a lot. Good luck!

Today, I'll guide you through every aspect of the Blood Moon event for WoW Season of Discovery Phase 2, including its mechanics, recommended team compositions, boss locations, effective combat tips, and methods to obtain special buffs. You can follow these to enhance coin earnings in enemy encounters.

Whether you’re a seasoned player or new to the game, this guide will help you farm efficiently and achieve your goals during the Blood Moon event. So let's get started!

The Blood Moon event is an exciting open-world PVP event in Stranglethorn Vale that allows you to earn top PVP and PVE gear. Additionally, it offers coveted mounts such as Reins of the Golden Sabercat and Whistle of the Mottled Blood Raptor. These treasures can be acquired with blood coins earned through event participation.

This event happens every 3 hours and lasts only 30 minutes. You can use add-ons like Nova World Buffs to alert you whenever this event is upcoming, to prepare your groups ahead of time. To participate, all you need to do is show up in Stranglethorn Vale and start fighting. During this event, everyone and everything is hostile towards you, including your own faction and NPCs within neutral zones like Booty Bay.

Your teammates are the only non-hostile players, making building a strong group crucial for maximizing coin yields. While there's flexibility in composition, I suggest including at least one dedicated Healer, one ranged damage dealer, and one melee damage dealer.

The rest of the positions can be adjusted, but keep in mind that crowd control is very effective in WoW Classic as there are no diminishing returns, leaving the opponent vulnerable without a counterattack.

Then let's discuss how currency collection and exchanges work. I know it sounds simple, but there are actually a few key details about the system that, when understood, will give you advantages and are critical to this farming strategy.

Whenever you or a group member kills an enemy player, you gain a stacking buff called Blood for the Blood Loa. A single kill from anyone on your team awards the group 5 stacks of blood. This blood buff can stack up to 255 times and can be exchanged for blood coins at any Blood Altar indicated by the red flags on your map by simply walking up and touching one.

Be careful when you have stacks, because if you die, you will lose a percentage of your total stacks, which means the higher the amount of stacks that you have, the more you will lose when you die. However, once you exchange the blood buffs for blood coins at an altar, they are yours forever.

By doing so, not only are you going to have more frequent turn-ins and lose less coins from death, but these areas on the map are typically hotspots for PVP encounters, which means this is where you will have the most opportunities to kill enemies, giving you more chances to farm more blood stacks.

There’s one more thing you need to know about speeding up your collection of coins. Let’s talk about Kha'damu, the big Elite boss that spawns in a variety of areas in Stranglethorn Vale. He is unkillable. However, there is one extremely beneficial thing about this NPC. Kha'damu will grant players 1 of 2 buffs, depending on their proximity to him. He will grant you either the Kill, Maim, Bleed buff when you’re near him or the Feast of Blood buff if you’re very close to him.

These buffs are insanely great for farming coins because they significantly increase the amount of blood you attain for each kill, so it’s highly encouraged to fight around him as much as possible during the event. The best place to farm blood coins is at the Blood Altar that is near Kha'damu.

Then, you get the bonus benefit of the buff granting you more stacks per kill. You get the ability to frequently exchange your blood for $1 so that you do not bleed your earnings, and there will also be a ton of opportunities to slap up some enemies and kill them to collect more blood coins.

Now, let’s talk a little about winning more encounters. There’s so much power in numbers. When your team is scattered or on staggered respawns, your odds of winning encounters are going to go way down, so stay grouped up and regroup often. We typically like to mark each other at the beginning of the event to make it easy to find each other during the chaos. I also call for frequent regrouping if we notice staggered respawns, usually we like to regroup outside of all the chaos so everyone can come together before jumping back into the fight.

The last thing is to make sure you’re not diving deep into encounters that are extremely crowded. Let your reigns deal with that to chip off some free blood and be like vultures circling around and stay on the outside. It’s best to choose encounters that are smaller, making them more manageable, but always be on the lookout for encounters that are advantageous to you in terms of numbers.

When entering an encounter, always focus a Healer and the squishy players first. If you have crowd control, make sure you’re using it constantly and especially when entering the encounter. Make sure you use the crowd control to give you an early advantage and get early kills to increase your odds.

Most players in FC 24 want to learn advanced offensive techniques, which they consider being the most important, but most of them ignore executing the basics. Without mastering these basics, you won’t be able to improve your game.

In this guide, we’ll show you 4 important basic aspects that make an attack incredibly powerful, before moving on to the advanced stuff.

When we talk about a high-performing offense, safety comes first. This means understanding the value of possession and not giving it away easily. If you’re not careful with the ball or passing it forward, you can easily lose possession and the attack will be over before it even begins. This is why you need to safely cover the ball before you start moving.

Your touch on the ball is most important. Always aim to control the ball away from your opponent, especially when you are under pressure. Turning your back briefly to your opponent after each touch of the dribble can be an immense help.

Remember to always watch for defenders coming towards you. Safely dodging them will add another dimension to your attacks. Of course, spending $1 to buy a suitable player will make your attack more effective.

Let me show you an example of scoring a goal just by using the safety rule concept I just explained. When I’m attacking my opponent, he’s constantly putting pressure on me, and turning my back to my opponent allows me to stay safely away from him.

When he selects a new defender, I keep possession and quickly understand their intentions so I can keep the ball from continuing the offense.

Just be careful and try not to run too much. Keeping the ball at my feet with the left stick just to keep the ball safely away from my opponent every contact so I can go through it and then I score.

As you saw in the previous example, once you have the ball safely, you need to find available space to pass or dribble.

Whatever your goals are, find the next space and recognize what your underlying goals are. If you have a legitimate passing target in front of you, make sure you turn yourself toward them and pass the ball in their direction.

If you apply the safety concept and control the ball in a way that works in your favor, then you can look for the next target that will keep you going as a chain. Finding the right space can lead you directly to the goal.

However, the term free space is not always available because the opposing defense may cover it. Here, you don’t need to force the pass, but dribble further or make a side pass.

This also helps if you have multiple targets to pass to. Because then we can take a breath and analyze which player is free and has a better chance of moving forward.

Combining the facts about your chances with your opponent’s defensive behavior allows you to act accordingly. So you either go to an available teammate or you dribble into the open space.

Let’s look at an example of how I use the available space in my build. When I receive the ball, I apply safety rules, turn my back on the opponent, and analyze how to move forward as quickly as possible.

The space on the underside seemed good, and I passed her immediately. But the opponent presses up high, so I have to be careful. There’s an open spot in the middle and I’ll immediately make two passes there while avoiding the defender as the ball travels.

I looked at the pitch again and saw freedom again in the second half and passed the ball to my full-back so he could explore there.

Now all my passing targets are covered, but my fullbacks are free. So I decided to take advantage and sprint forward to the available space to one side. The midfielder moves wide to cover me and he leaves a space open. This creates a new free space for me which I have to exploit, control the ball safely away from the opponent and pass it towards the middle.

I then pass the ball to my wing-back again, who is free on the wing, creating a perfect passing angle for my striker.

We arrive at the two-on-one situation by exploring the concept of free space. The opponent may stay somewhere between the forwards to prevent the pass. So this will allow the running forward to open up another free base in space. This time I ran forward, used my speed to get past my opponent and pass the ball inside to score.

In the example, we see players active in attack and receiving the ball in the right spaces, but we still see a lot of players not moving, they are just waiting.

If your players are too obvious on offense, this can cause problems for you because you won’t be able to find anywhere to pass the ball. That’s why you need to create a movement with yourself to create space.

We can accomplish this in a variety of ways. The easiest way to move a player into free space is to use L1/LB button to send them forward, point them with the left analog stick, and tap L1/LB.

If you want your current player to start running, you can use the 1-2 pass. Hold L1/LB button to pass after your player has passed the ball and he will sprint forward into space.

Let me show you how I use this example. When I got the ball back, I saw free space on the wing. To explore there, I need to create a movement from behind. So I’m going to play a perfect pass with Zidane, let him run, and prepare to pass to his side.

I dribble forward and play a through ball so he can get it in behind the defense and score.

However, running forward is not the only way to use space. Sometimes our players are too far apart from each other, in which case the space in between disappears. Point your target with the left analog stick again and tap R1/RB button. This will make the distance shorter and allow you to fill the free space closer to you.

Finally, we need to think outside the box. You can’t always do the same thing to a guy because they’ll start to get defensive. So you need to anticipate their defensive moves, learn their tendencies, and outwit them. Let me give you a few late-game examples.

Because the defender was very aggressive towards me. Therefore, I will move my players forward into open space in a 1-2 pass and analyze the position.

If I cover the ball well enough and watch the defender move, I can potentially break through the defense. Because he moved the wing back, he would cover like crazy with the centre-back and then run towards my winger.

So I turned around and got out of there and observed what was going on. Because of this move, the opponent created more space in the back.

So, with two passes, I explored the space where I had an advantage in an almost one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper. When he’s trying to run back as fast as he can and get the goalie two or three steps forward, he’s definitely going in the same direction as the defender. That’s why I roll the ball calmly and create a clever angle.

Since I knew his next move, I needed something to stop him. I walked right up to the goalie, forced him out, then immediately changed the direction of the ball and passed it to my teammate, who could finish this simple shot.

For the offensive fundamentals we just used, especially those that allow you to change direction quickly, will be a key tool in defeating your opponent. You can perform many tricks with them, and while defeating your opponents, you can mentally destroy them.