Welcome to my guide for Diablo 4 Season 3, where I present an incredible Barbarian Build known as the Death Blow Overkill Barbarian.

To kick things off, it’s crucial to equip the Overkill - an Ancestral unique 2-handed mace for Barbarians. With its perfect stats including all stat strength, overpower damage, and berserking, the damage to berserking is particularly noteworthy. Whether you possess an Overkill and seek a build to maximize its potential or simply have a penchant for the Death Blow skill, this build is worth exploring.

Gear & Aspects

Starting with the Primal Bascinet of Might, prioritize Death Blow ranks and essential stats like total armor, maximum life, cooldown reduction, and employ basic skills for an Arsenal build.

Optimize the Juggernaut's Sovereign Mail chest for maximum health, resistances, and damage reduction.

Utilize Earthstriker Doom Gauntlets for their strength, attack speed, Critical Strike Chance, and Rend ranks, adaptable for core skills like Rend or Double Swing.

Choose Iron Blood Primal Chausses pants for Rend synergy or Protector for barrier utility, adjusting stats for defensive emphasis.

Equip Weapon Master's Doom Treads boots for movement speed and resistances.

Utilize Overkill 2-handed mace with rubies for overpower damage, complemented by Royal Boneblade of Inner Calm for stationary bonuses during key actions. Prioritize all-stat, strength, and relevant damage bonuses on weapons like Edgemaster's Skull and Steel and Demonblade of Encroaching Wrath.

Customize rings for Critical Strike Chance, overpower damage, and resource generation, considering options like Circle of Elements, or Ring of the Relentless Armsmaster based on individual preferences and synergy with companions. Then we have the Ring of Red Furor. This ring is amazing, and we spend 100 Fury by hitting Rend 3 times, which will proc our Encroaching Wrath, and then it will also proc this ring, and we’re guaranteed to have a Critical Strike.

Skill Tree

Due to the Critical Strike damage boost from this ring, prioritizing damage amplification seems logical. However, maintaining overpower bonuses via gems for Earthstriker remains essential, especially with the inclusion of Bone Breaker.

In the amulet slot, the Iron Warrior is indispensable for Iron Skin users, boasting exceptional attributes such as strength, damage reduction, cooldown reduction, and 2 ranks to Heavy Handed. While this amulet is nearly perfectly rolled, prioritizing 3 ranks to all Weapon Mastery skills over Heavy Handed would further enhance the effectiveness of Death Blow. So try to get the Weapon Mastery skills and Weapon Expertise. With our Weapon Expertise, we do 2-handed axe, because everything will be vulnerable all the time.

For skill allocation, prioritize placing dual wield on Lunging Strike with 2 points for enhancement. Maximize points in Rend for enhanced effectiveness, then choose between Violent for increased damage or Furious for maintaining Edge Master bonus uptime. Allocate 3 points each in Imposing Presence and Iron Skin for enhancement and tactical use respectively. Include Swiftness for mobility and Aggressive Resistance for defense.

Consider omitting Prolific Fury due to companion effectiveness. Maximize points in Pit Fighter and Death Blow, potentially reaching 18 points with appropriate gear. Enhance Death Blow for boosted boss damage and include Warrior's Death Blow for berserking synergy. Utilize enhanced Steel Grasp for vulnerability and Fighter's for additional berserking. Allocate points in Thick Skin for counter offensive.

Opt for the Trifecta setup, emphasizing Heavy Handed, Brute Force, and Wallop for mace usage and vulnerability exploitation. Maintain Furious Impulse for weapon swapping Fury gain, adaptable depending on companion utility. Lastly, incorporate Wrath of the Berserker, progressing from Prime to Supreme for enhanced performance.

For our key passive, you could take Unconstrained, or you could take Walking Arsenal. The choice is yours. But if you don’t want to worry about weapon swapping, then Unconstrained would also be amazing as well. And with the skills, make sure that your Rend is on your slashing weapon, make sure your Lunging Strike is on dual wield, and make sure your Death Blow is on your Overkill mace.

Paragon Board & Glyph

In the Paragon board, prioritize Exploit glyph on the starting board to ensure constant vulnerability, and consider Bone Breaker for Wrath, maximizing dexterity for critical strike synergy with Ring of Red Furor. Alternatively, opt for Territorial for consistent damage without reliance on crits.

Emphasize Might in the Carnage board to enhance damage during berserking and bolster damage reduction.

In the Decimator board, focus on acquiring strength nodes for increased damage output.

Utilize the Weapon Master glyph in the Weapon Master board or the starter board to optimize physical damage bonuses, ensuring its effectiveness in tandem with frequent Death Blows.

Finally, prioritize Crusher in the Blood Rage board for overpower damage synergy with the main mace damage, emphasizing strength or Willpower allocation.

Seneschal Construct

Then with our construct, I recommend to use the Flash of Adrenaline, Duration Support, Tactical Support with Initiative Support, and then you put Tempest with Resource Support, Safeguard Support, and Fortify Support. The fortifies are up all the time. All these are my favorite for this construct.

Hi, Builders! I extend a warm welcome to explore my curated list featuring the top 3 budget builds for the Path of Exile 3.23 Affliction League. If you're interested in delving deeper into affordable and powerful builds, then come with me on this journey. Let's dive right in!

1. Arc Totems Hierophant

To start this topic, we have the most beginner-friendly of all, the Arc Totems Hierophant with the Templar class. On this build, we use many totems that cast the Arc skill for a fast and safe clear speed.

Budget: As for budget, you can get it by destroying early endgame maps with only around 35 chaos to comfortably advance to Yellow Maps, you need to invest around 90 chaos, and for easily completing your Atlas, I recommend investing around 3 divines. But you can totally do it. This build needs 3 mandatory unique items, but they are normally very cheap and easy to get.

Pros: The pros of this build is that this build is cheap and easy to complete. Using this build with almost no investment, you have a powerful, safe, and fast character that will be the perfect POE Currency farmer for this and future builds.

Cons: To all the cons, this build doesn’t have access to Evasion or Spell Suppression, but totem builds are very safe to play. Another issue is that some players might find this gameplay to be a little tedious.

Clear Speed: For clear speed, this build gets 9 out of 10. Arc is a good skill that chains to many enemies and easily clears big packs. This build counts with 4 totems casting this amazing skill.

Boss Damage: The boss damage deserves 9 out of 10. With the right debuffs and all 4 totems summoned, this build can take even big bosses down without any issue.

Survivability: For survivability, I’ll also give it 9 out of 10. As a totem build, you’ll always be far from the action while your totems do all the work. So if you know how to mind your position, you can easily complete high-tier maps with low-grade gear. Above all, this build still comes with high armor and high block chance.

2. Boneshatter Juggernaut

Next, we have this incredibly tanky Melee build, the Boneshatter Juggernaut with the Marauder class. This build is perfect for the Melee enthusiasts out there. Boneshatter hits enemies so hard that it hurts your own character, accumulating Trauma stacks. For each Trauma, you’re going to deal and take more damage. That’s why it’s important to gear both attack speed and armor to stack many Traumas and sustain their damage.

Budget: As for budget, this build is cheap. You can get it destroying early endgame maps with only around 60 chaos. To comfortably advance to Yellow Maps, I recommend investing around 120 chaos. And for easily completing your Atlas, I recommend investing around 4 Divine Orbs.

Pros: To reach the pros of this build, I would start off with its survivability. Even though you do damage to yourself, this build has so much armor that you won’t feel a thing. However, this build don't need to sacrifice speed or boss damage. It’s still super fast and can kill Guardians in just a few seconds.

Cons: To all the cons, the first thing that comes to mind is that you need to keep an eye on your Accuracy. This is because the keystone Precise Technique grants 40% more damage if your Accuracy is bigger than your Life.

Clear Speed: For clear speed, I’ll give it 9 out of 10. Boneshatter also creates a big pulse of damage when stunning enemies, meaning that a single blow can kill an entire pack of monsters. Other than that, you stack a lot of attack speed that causes your Leap Slam land to almost teleport you through the map.

Boss Damage: The boss damage is also great and deserves 9 out of 10. Using Boneshatter on bosses causes you to accumulate a lot of Trauma stacks and do huge amounts of damage.

Survivability: For survivability, this build is surely 10 out of 10, and I would even like to say 20 out of 10 if I could. This build achieves almost 200,000 armor and over 83% of all Elemental Resistances. All of that combined with the Juggernaut Ascendancy grants his character over 300,000 effective HP. It’s really crazy.

3. Summon Raging Spirits Guardian

The last build of our budget selection is the amazing Summon Raging Spirits Guardian also with the Templar class. As we all know, minion builds are among the best out there, and this one has the best cost-benefit. It’s a very simple and safe build for you to complete all content with little investment or effort. It's also a good choice for beginners.

Budget: As for budget, you can get it destroying by the early endgame maps with only around 60 chaos to comfortably advance to Yellow Maps. I recommend investing around 100 Chaos Orbs. And for easily completing RAS, I recommend investing around 4 divines.

Pros: When it comes to the pros of this build, it is accessibility, super cheap and easy to play, doesn’t need any mandatory unique POE Item. This build is for everyone. It also comes with great boss damage and survivability. Above all, it has 3 damage auras totally for free and a minion that takes 20% of the damage for you.

Cons: To let the cons start, saying the Raging Spirits have a short duration, and you need to keep resummoning them, which might reduce your speed a little. Other than that, this build also doesn’t have access to Evasion or Life.

Clear Speed: This build gets 8 out of 10 because you have to keep resummoning Raging Spirits. Even though the clear speed isn’t super fast, it’s perfectly fine for you to play.

Boss Damage: The boss damage is great, it’s a 9 out of 10. If you apply all the buffs and maintain the Summon Spirit, you will easily reach over 15 million DPS, more than enough to decimate all end-game bosses in seconds.

Survivability: For survivability, I’ll give it 10 out of 10. This is because we’re talking about a minion build where you just need to summon them and wait behind while they destroy and tank everything for you. You just need to mind your position, but with this build, even if they manage to reach you, you still have high armor and block chance, resting on an effective HP of over 14,000.

Diablo 4 extends far beyond its core storyline, yet these additional layers are only unveiled post-Lilith’s defeat. Blizzard has intricately woven numerous trials into the fabric of Sanctuary’s ongoing existence within the endgame, providing ample opportunities for Wanderers to delve into these quests and further fortify their characters.

Accompanied by the introduction of Vaults, Diablo 4 Season of the Construct beckons players to confront Malphas, a demon who has seized control of the ancient technology known as The Loom. However, adequate preparation is paramount before confronting this adversary, and there’s no superior method to enhance your prowess than by engaging in endgame activities, tackling World Bosses, and scouring for Unique Items.

If you don’t know what to do next after completing the primary campaign in Diablo 4 Season 3, here’s a comprehensive overview of the myriad activities available.

World Tiers

Upon finishing the primary narrative of Diablo 4 Season 3, one of the initial actions available is elevating Sanctuary’s world level.

In the endgame, players gain entry to two additional difficulty tiers:

World Level 3: Nightmare, which is suggested for characters between levels 50 and 70 World Level 4: Torment, which is suggested for characters at level 70 and beyond.

Adjusting World Tiers presents the chance to confront more formidable adversaries while also reaping rewards of superior quality and rarity, including Sacred & Ancestral items. If you want to easily defeat your opponents, then it is necessary to reasonably allocate some Diablo 4 Gold to your characters and weapons!

Nightmare Dungeons

Upon reaching World Level 3 in Diablo 4 Season 3, players will observe the emergence of Nightmare Sigils scattered across Sanctuary’s map.

These sigils serve as access points to Nightmare Dungeons, operating akin to keys. However, players lack control over which specific dungeon they unlock.

Consequently, Wanderers must conserve these sigils in their inventory until the corresponding location is revealed, although they can be salvaged once utilized.

To enter a Nightmare Dungeon, players must right-click on a Nightmare Sigil within their inventory, thereby marking the location on the map for easier navigation.

Upon completing these challenges, players will be rewarded with two loot pieces and encounter an altar for Glyph upgrades.

Paragon Boards

The Paragon Boards in Diablo 4 Season 3 are personalized passive skill trees, offering characters a means to refine their builds with various stats.

As players accrue experience beyond level 50, they’ll earn Paragon Points that can be invested in passive bonuses. It’s important to note that builds are restricted to allocating a maximum of 220 passives.

By utilizing Glyphs, Wanderers can enhance their Paragon Boards, unlocking additional abilities. It’s essential to remember that these boards are tailored to each class and are linked to specific characters.

Helltide Events

Upon completing every Act in Diablo 4 Season 3’s main storyline, players gain entry to Helltide areas.

These regions are imbued with the influence of Hell, resulting in stronger enemies and providing an opportunity for players to seek out crystals to unlock special reward caches.

In areas affected by a Helltide, meteors will descend as environmental hazards, elevating the monster level by two above the player’s level. Demons defeated during this event yield Aberrant Cinders, which can be utilized to unlock Tortured Chests scattered throughout the affected region.

Following the Season 3 update, Helltides are now accessible at all times, with only a 5-minute interval between occurrences. Players will encounter these events in World Tier 3: Nightmare difficulty and must confront Helltide Commanders to secure valuable loot.

Tree Of Whispers

In Act 5 of the Diablo 4 Season 3 campaign, Wanderers will encounter the Tree of Whisperers, situated in the northeast corner of Hawezar. It stands out unmistakably with its distinctive feature: talking heads suspended from its branches.

Upon completing the main story, players receive a Priority Quest guiding them to interact with the tree, who requests the gathering of Grim Favors obtained through various missions.

It’s important to note that each task yields a different amount of favors:

If you complete a dungeon, you will get 5 Grim Favors. If you clear a cellar, you will get 1 Grim Favor. If you complete an event, you will get 1 Grim Favor. If you harvest a zone, you will get 3 Grim Favors. If you kill an elite, you will get 1 Grim Favor. If you slay an enemy type, you will get 1 Grim Favor. If you finish a Ritual, you will get 3 Grim Favors. If you defeat a World Boss, you will get 5 Grim Favors.

The primary objective is to accumulate 10 Grim Favors, which can then be exchanged for reward bundles.

Codex Of Power

The Codex of Power in Diablo 4 Season 3 comprises a compilation of Legendary Aspects that players can imprint onto their Diablo 4 Items at The Occultists. These enhancements are applicable to both Rare & Legendary items.

While the Codex of Power becomes accessible early in the main storyline, acquiring all Aspects may necessitate Wanderers to continue playing even after completing it. This can be achieved by fully exploring every Dungeon within Diablo 4 Season 3's expansive map.

World Bosses

World Bosses are colossal demons that emerge throughout the expanse of Sanctuary's map.

Players may chance upon them randomly, but only after completing the campaign will they begin to receive notifications regarding World Boss appearances.

It's worth noting that this is the sole in-game method of receiving alerts about the impending arrival of these titanic adversaries, although enthusiasts have devised alternative tracking methods.

In Diablo 4, the 3 primary World Bosses are:

Ashava, The Pestilent Avarice, The Gold Cursed Wandering Death, Death Given Life

Each new season introduces fresh World Bosses for players to confront, presenting an opportunity to test their strength.

Here's a rundown of every World Boss featured during the Diablo 4 Season of the Construct:

Uber Malphas (added in Season 3) Lor Zir (added in Season 2) The Beast in the Ice (added in Season 2) Grigoire, The Galvanic Saint (added in Season 2) Uber Duriel (added in Season 2) Echo of Varshan (added in Season 1) Echo of Lilith (added in Season 1) Echo Of Lilith

Diablo 4 Season 3's Echo of Lilith stands as a Level 100 adversary, epitomizing the ultimate challenge within the game.

This formidable demon manifests in two phases within the Echo of Hatred and is exclusively accessible when playing at World Tier level 4.

Representing a heightened iteration of Lilith, the Echo of Lilith poses a significant escalation in difficulty. According to Joe Piepiora, Diablo 4's Associate Game Director, this encounter is described as a "pinnacle boss encounter."

Piepiora elucidates, "Players who attain level 100 will face an exceedingly challenging ordeal with this boss encounter. The expectation is that you leverage your class, comprehend your build intricately, and have optimized every facet to its fullest potential. Mastery of these elements will be key to potentially overcoming this formidable foe.

New Season Of The Construct Endgame Events

Diablo 4 Season 3 debuted Vaults and Nightmare Vaults, presenting players with a fresh variant of Dungeons essential for completing their seasonal journey and confronting the demon Malphas.

As they progress through Diablo 4 Season 3's storyline, players must focus on constructing and enhancing their Seneschal Companions by acquiring Tuning and Governing Stones. These Constructs will fight alongside them to thwart Malphas' allies.

Furthermore, players will encounter Arcane Tremors, localized events demanding confrontation with Constructs to access Obelisks and reap valuable rewards. While traversing Sanctuary, Wanderers will also stumble upon Braziers, a highly praised new PvP mechanic that requires activation to summon Heralds of Malphas and acquire rare materials.

The Group Finder has been released again today, coinciding with the Year of the Dragon event in New World Season 4. So I am going to provide a concise summary to help you know eveything about this system.

How It Works

The system primarily aims to facilitate group formation for low level mutations, tailored to new players. It offers greater flexibility compared to the OPR system. While M3 isn't included due to gear and gem requirements, the goal is to attract more players to M3 by simplifying group finding.

Although the old Lobby Finders system, their lack of Cross World functionality poses a significant drawback. A more balanced approach integrating Cross World features into the existing system would have been preferable.

Fuctions

Trading is disabled while you are in Cross World, so you can’t just influence other servers’ economies by trading through the Group Finder. And let’s dive a little bit more into what the Devs had to show us.

So, first of all, you have the activity finder system, where you can see all of the options, all of the activities, for the modes tab, there are the new screen which gathers all of any world’s instant content in one place for easy access, similar to Outpost Rush.

Any player from any world within the same region can be matched together to form a new instance. This means significantly less time spent finding groups and more time running Expeditions.

You also no longer need to build your own group by hand. These new activity screens finally allow you to view any Expedition entrance screen and Lobby Finder from a single list instead of the map, also very convenient.

Cross World Expeditions

You can also just random queue on the side here or select specific Expeditions. And what you also notice on the right side here is the allow in-progress joining, so participating in an Expedition that has already started.

They do also mention us that you can still build your own Expedition group and Expeditions manually and use the Lobby-based Group Finder if you prefer.

The next point here is how to play Cross World Expeditions. If you’re playing solo or in a group of 4 or less adventurers, you can enter the Cross World Expedition Group Finder in one of 2 ways: either you click random to enter a queue for every Expedition you can currently access, this is the quickest way to find a group and grants a bonus up in completion twice daily, or use the checkboxes on the left of each Expedition to make specific Expedition lists and then click the queue button.

There’s no daily bonus for this option, but you will have more control over the selected Expedition. This is what that selection would, for example, look like. Before you can enter the Expedition queue, you need to choose a role.

Expeditions Mechanics

We introduced group roles along with our Lobby-based Group Finder, but they were optional. Now, they are mandatory since Expeditions are designed around the classic Trinity of DPS, Tank, and Healer, and there is no group leader to enforce this balance in the new system.

This means that each Expedition must consist of 3 DPS, 1 Tank, and 1 Healer. Any player who signs up as a Tank, go Healer will receive an additional role bonus when finishing the Expedition. In order to sign up as a Tank, go Healer, you must pass a requirement check. These vary depending on the Expedition.

When entering a group, all players must choose a role. The role selection screen will display each player’s selection. They have the DPS with any weapon, you have the tank with any weapon with a Corleone gem, and then you have the healer with a Level 9 Life Staff and 220 Focus. This varies depending on the Expedition.

Rewards

In normal Expeditions, players receive Expedition bonus cash twice daily. Below Level 65, they obtain 50% XP of their current level upon completion, along with 3 ASO. At Level 65, they earn 125 gold and 2,500 Faction Tokens. Additionally, there's a roll bonus of 50 gold and 500 Faction Tokens, also available twice daily.

Mutated Expeditions offer more lucrative rewards: a daily mutator bonus of 150 gold and 10,000 Faction Tokens, a mutator roll bonus of 100 gold and 1,000 Faction Tokens, and a mutator carry bonus of 100 gold. Considering the potential rewards, especially the 350 gold and 11,000 Faction Tokens from a mutator run, it may be worthwhile depending on the speed and level of mutation.

As for improvements, adding M3 Cross World functionality to the old Group Finder system seems crucial. While the developers hinted at possible Cross World integration for different modes, like Arenas, the feasibility of such changes, particularly for modes like Wars, remains uncertain.

In this guide, we’ll cover how to defend every attack using unique Madden 24 strategies, blitzes, coverages, and disguises. If you want to learn the best defensive techniques, this guide is for you!

This game-changing defense is designed to create lightning-fast blitzes, lockdown coverages, and defensive disguises that force opponents into multiple interceptions. Without further ado, let’s get started.

Coaching Adjustments

We’ll be running Dollar 3-2 formation in Kansas City Chiefs Defensive Playbook.

For adjustments, first, press the right stick to make coaching adjustments, then make sure auto-flip is off. This will be used for our blitzes, as they need to come from the left side. Automatically aligns the base next turn to help disguise the defense. Then set the option defense to conservative and make sure everything else is set to default.

The next step is to select our audibles, this is very important because every time we snap we will audible to a new play. Press the left trigger to access sounds, then select from these three key plays: Cover 4 Drop, Overload 3 Seam, and FS Zone Blitz.

The last part is selecting DBL Safety Go for each snap, which rolls both safeties into the box and then pre-snaps. While the safeties remain in the box, you can audible any play you choose in the formation.

The safeties scrolled down will help disguise your defense, help play tighter coverage, and provide better run support. If you want to adjust the secondary pre-snap, adjust the player individually because if you adjust the entire secondary, the safeties will return to their original position outside the box.

Overload 3 Seam Play

The first gameplay we’re going to review is Overload 3 Seam. This will be your first choice because of its insane pressure and excellent coverage on the back end.

Please remember to select “DBL Safety Go” in the play calling menu first and then select “Overload 3 Seam” in the audibles pre snap so that the safeties are in the box.

To make adjustments, press left on D-pad and hold down the left analog stick, pinching D line. Then place the free outside blitzer in the left vertical hook and press Y or Triangle to shade your coverage, then press the right stick to get hard flat zones.

When the user plays the coverage linebacker as opposed to the blitzing linebacker, your job is to immediately hover over this A-gap, which will allow this A-Gap Blitz to move in freely for easy sacks while locking down coverage.

But after you hover, it’s important that you run back into coverage to defend this area with no defensive help.

Another way to set up coverage is to control the outside blitzer with the biggest threat in your attack, then press Y or Triangle and press the right stick to lower the coverage.

For blitz, pinch the line like we did before. Now that the offense is in a tight double formation, what I’m most worried about is the short-side receiver running the corner route.

On the far side, I’m not worried about corner routes because no receivers line up far enough to occupy the back third of any route. So this back third can easily match the corner kick you see here.

Back on the short side, if the receiver were to run the vertical and corner, the vertical would occupy the back third, which would leave the corner route open. That’s why I use the slot corner to guard the inside receiver. When the two inside receivers run corners, they are locked in and heavily guarded by the defense.

As a user in this setting, your job is to guard the middle of the field. Overload 3 Seam is very effective compared to a 5-wide offense with no running backs in the backfield.

Start by pinching D line to blitz and make sure to hover over this A gap. Then man the weak-side corner of the slot receiver and man the strong-side corner of the middle receiver.

As a user, if the inside receiver goes to the middle of the field or to the corner, follow him. Because of the tight coverage, this setup results in A-gap pressure, easy sacks and interceptions.

Cover 4 Drop Play

Now strategically, it’s important to mix your blitz and coverage calls. Once you’ve called Overload 3 Seam blitz multiple times, try pulling more players back into coverage by running a Cover 4 Drop.

Call DBL Safety Go to place safety items in the box, then audible to Cover 4 Drop pre-snap.

As a user, playing the same player and hovering in the same A-gap, so the play looks exactly like every other play will make your defense unpredictable and difficult to read.

In Cover 4 Drop, you can use it as a base or shade it for hard flat zones. Because if you blitz too often, your opponent will think he has to get rid of the ball quickly. If he does that, we’ll immediately set up zones to stop it, like you saw in this game.

Avoid Corner Routes

If you can block one of the most popular Flood Concept plays using Vertical route, Corner route, and a Flat route, you’ll be victorious in a ton of games.

What we’re going to do is something called “Double Mable” in Cover 4 Drop, which will block Flood Concepts and Corner Routes.

First, enter the zone drops in coaching adjustments. Then, place the flat on the 30 yards and the curl flat on the 5 yard. Afterwards, select DLB Safety Go so that the safeties roll into the box and audible to Cover 4 Drop.

If Bunch set is on the short side of the field, place the outside corner where Bunch formation is on the hard flat zones and individually back him up. This way, the corner will be 30 yards deep to defend the deep cut route on the outside.

On the lone receiver side, we will use a regular Cover 4. So when the offense gets the ball, you see the corner route extending directly to a 30-yard hard flat. The flat route extends directly to the 5 yard curl flat. The vertical route just enters the inner safe zone.

FS Zone Blitz Play

One of the best meta plays this year is vertical out of a trips set, where if you can’t stop it, players will spam you and kill you for the entire game quickly.

For this play through, we’ll be doing a FS Zone Blitz. We should note that in order to change the defensive look, please do not choose DBL Safety Go, but choose to play FS Zone Blitz. Make sure zone drop is off and you have the original coaching adjustments shown at the beginning.

In this play, the left safety will roll into the box instead of both safeties rolling down, and it consists of another A-Gap Blitz.

For this adjustment versus a trips set on the left side, you need to use the middle catcher to control the rolled down safety. Then turn the coverage down for light blue hard flats. Then pinch the line and make sure you’re using the linebacker in coverage and hover over the other A gap to optimize the blitz.

Your job is to guard the inside receiver, and if he runs down the middle of the field, on a corner route, or on a vertical route, you’ll be able to sneak under like a tight end and jump over the route for an easy interception.

Also note that we get a free rusher on this A-gap while all vertical routes are locked, as are the tight end’s crossing route and the hard flats defended by the running back.

If Trips set is on the right side, put the left rolled down safety in the middle third and the other safety in the middle receiver assignment. Then pull down the shadow, pinch D Line and hover over this A gap to blitz.

Your assignment as a user is the same, just to the opposite side. If he runs down the middle of the field, running a vertical route or a corner route, catch the inside receiver. This way, you’ll be able to lock down the most popular matchups and routes in Madden with your best formation.

The latest addition to the 4-star lineup in Genshin Impact 4.4 Update, Gaming, has the potential to be a formidable damage dealer, but there are several crucial aspects to understand about him. 

Therefore, in this guide, I will demonstrate his capabilities at C0 and recommend optimal teams, weapons, and artifacts for him. Additionally, I will clarify the disparities between C0 and C6 Gaming and disclose some distinctive details about his character. 

Gaming Potential 

First, let’s examine Gaming’s potential for dealing damage.

I’ve outfitted him with the Mailed Flower claymore, although there are other viable free-to-play options. His artifact set consists of Hunter’s with ATK, Pyro DMG, and Crit Rate as the main stats.

Regarding his talents, all of them are at level 9. Now, let’s begin with his skill: by tapping it, he launches into the air, enabling a special plunge attack that inflicts 16,663 DMG in a small area of effect and generates 2 particles for him. Despite consuming 15% of his HP, his first passive skill replenishes a small amount of HP up to 4 times, sufficiently activating the Hunter’s 4-piece set bonus.

Essentially, to spam the skill, you need to activate his burst, initially dealing 23,530 DMG and restoring 30% HP to him. Subsequently, the adorable Suanni companion appears, and upon collision, the skill’s cooldown resets, allowing for its repeated use. Personally, I managed to execute 6 skill plunges over the 12-second duration of this burst.

In summary, this effectively transforms him into a 4-star Pyro Xiao, enabling the continuous use of his skill. Similar to Xiao, he also adopts a sleek new appearance that somewhat reminds me of the TRON movies.

An important point to highlight: if Gaming’s HP is not above 50% after executing the skill plunge, Suanni will not be resummoned. Nonetheless, despite being able to spam the skill, the generation of additional particles only occurs every other skill usage. Consequently, I typically end up accumulating 6 particles in total, which, honestly, isn’t a substantial amount, especially considering the burst’s cost of 60 energy.

But enough dwelling on those lackluster damage figures. Gaming truly shines when his damage is amplified through Melt or Vaporize reactions. With this Melt setup, he begins to hit significantly harder – reaching a critical hit of 175k from the burst, while several skill plunges deliver almost 150k damage. Even as the buffs start to diminish, he can still unleash potent plunges.

It’s worth noting that Mailed Flower finally activates its passive thanks to Gaming causing a reaction. Otherwise, his skill’s damage is classified as a Plunge Attack, thus not activating the passive during the initial part of the description.

Transitioning to a Vaporize setup, Xianyun, Fischl, and Bennett enables Gaming to land substantial critical hits. Although this team requires more effort to buff him, it’s satisfying to observe that even with a free-to-play claymore and a C0 build, Gaming can deliver significant damage.

You may also observe how he alternates between using skill plunges and regular plunges. This serves as an effective method to consistently deal Vaporize damage without having to wait for Suanni to return. However, this is only achievable with C6 Bennett, so it’s essential to bear this in mind.

In essence, he may initially seem underwhelming by himself, but with the appropriate buffs and teammates, you can achieve remarkable damage output. Additionally, his second passive grants a 20% increase in plunging skill damage. However, if his HP falls below 50%, he only receives a 20% bonus to incoming healing.

Nevertheless, I’ve noticed that he barely replenishes half of his energy after using the burst, even with the particles collected from skill spamming. While Mailed Flower is commendable, with this current setup, he only has 110% Energy Recharge. For the Abyss, I am considering switching to Energy Recharge Sands or an Energy Recharge weapon instead, as he must carry the team, heavily relying on his burst. However, perhaps his teammates can assist with this?

Team Comps

Upon conducting some testing, I've determined that Gaming's optimal team compositions currently revolve around 2 variations – Melt and Vaporize.

Starting with Vaporize teams – Bennett, alongside an Anemo and Hydro unit, serves as the core for Gaming. Additionally, ensuring the presence of a few Favonius weapons in the team is advisable, while Gaming should possess at least 140% Energy Recharge. However, this figure may vary depending on the enemies and the composition of the entire team.

Not surprisingly, my preferred Vaporize team thus far consists of C6 Bennett, Xianyun, and Fischl – this trio effectively empowers any unit, particularly a Claymore wielder, to deliver formidable plunging attacks. While one might assume that Xianyun could be redundant with Gaming, her second passive actually enhances his skill plunge attacks.

As demonstrated earlier, with a C6 Bennett, you can alternate between regular and skill plunges to capitalize on Vaporize reactions. However, it's also effective to solely utilize the skill plunge for Vaporize if you don't have or wish to activate C6 Bennett.

Moving on, there are also Melt compositions. Once again, Bennett's buff plays a crucial role in achieving significant damage, while an Anemo unit and Rosaria assist in triggering Melts for Gaming. I haven't found another Cryo unit proficient enough to apply Cryo quickly off-field, making Rosaria the top choice. Regarding Anemo units, as long as they can initiate Pyro Swirl, they suffice, although Kazuha and Sucrose are preferable due to their ability to group enemies and enhance the reliability of AoE attacks from the skill plunge.

Additionally, it's essential to monitor the enemy's Cryo aura, as there is a slight delay in how quickly Rosaria can apply it. Therefore, commit to the skill plunge animation only when the enemy is affected by Cryo, which may feel somewhat sluggish. However, once you become accustomed to the timing, it's manageable.

Constellations Power

Now, let's explore how Gaming's performance improves with constellations.

Starting with C1, it's quite beneficial – upon reuniting with Suanni during his burst, he now restores 15% of his HP, aiding in maintaining critical stacks from the Hunter 4-set bonus, expediting Furina’s Fanfare point generation, and potentially triggering passives like Tidal Shadow if you're using it.

Moving on, C2 proves useful in teams where he receives continuous healing or can self-overheal. For instance, if he benefits from ongoing healing from characters like Xianyun or Kokomi, he gains a 20% ATK buff for 5 seconds.

C3 enhances his skill's plunge damage, providing a notable boost.

However, C4 stands out as the most significant constellation, particularly for addressing his energy issues. It restores 2 energy with each skill plunge attack upon hitting an opponent, despite the 0.2-second cooldown. This can potentially yield 10 to 12 extra energy per sequence, significantly alleviating his energy demands.

C5 amplifies his burst damage, yielding respectable results, although it doesn't match the impact of C3.

Finally, C6 marks his most substantial upgrade, granting his skill's plunge a 20% Critical Rate and 40% Critical Damage boost. Additionally, the skill's plunge attack radius is expanded, facilitating easier multi-enemy hits. Undoubtedly, this constellation offers a significant spike in Gaming's personal damage output, showcasing a stark contrast between C0 and C6.

Regrettably, miHoYo has maintained this approach toward new 4-star characters for quite some time. Considering additional constellations, C4 emerges as a solid stopping point, albeit acquiring it demands considerable Primogems unless luck favors you or you continue pulling for the featured 5-star.

Best Build

Putting constellation considerations aside, let's proceed to discuss his optimal build.

Let's discuss his weapon choices. Serpent Spine stands out as one of the best options, particularly if refined, while Redhorn serves well as a stat stick. Verdict and Beacon, both excellent 5-star stat sticks, are viable alternatives, but R5 Serpent Spine often proves equally effective. Its damage output shines when Gaming can avoid enemy damage, as his skill's HP drain does not deplete the stacks, allowing him to unleash formidable damage with this claymore. However, given that it's a battle pass weapon, exercise caution before acquiring it solely for Gaming.

Wolf’s Gravestone pairs well with ER Sands, presenting another solid option. For vape teams, Rainslasher excels, thanks to its bonus damage from the passive and substantial Elemental Mastery boost from the substat. However, if you're struggling to keep his burst ready off-cooldown, Favonius Claymore becomes pivotal. Personally, I'll be equipping my C0 Gaming on my main account with this weapon until I acquire top-tier ER Sands or obtain ER substats, as seen with Serpent Spine.

Moreover, numerous F2P options are worth considering. Mailed Flower ranks among the top choices, followed by the Ultimate Overlord claymore, recently obtainable from an event. In the worst-case scenario, crafting Tidal Shadow also proves effective.

Moving on to artifact sets, the Hunter set unequivocally stands out as his best in slot. However, if unavailable, the Vermillion 4-set is a viable alternative, though its ATK buffing may not synergize optimally with Xianyun, as she prioritizes Critical DMG, EM, and Elemental DMG when boosting plunge attacks. Alternatively, the Crimson Witch 4-set can be utilized. Nevertheless, the Hunter 4-set remains the most versatile and optimal artifact loadout.

Finally, regarding stats, the substat priority is evident, with ATK Sands, Pyro Goblet, and Critical Rate or DMG Circlet being primary considerations. If facing challenges with burst readiness, Energy Recharge sands offer a solution. Conversely, swapping ATK sands for Elemental Mastery enhances Melt and Vape damage.

Initial Thoughts

In my assessment, Gaming proves to be an enjoyable unit capable of delivering significant damage, albeit contingent upon robust support from teammates.

Undoubtedly, he assumes the role of primary damage dealer within teams, thus necessitating favorable stats and gear configurations. However, the considerable value unlocked by reaching C6 cannot be overstated. Additionally, C4 partially mitigates his energy concerns, resulting in a substantially different performance compared to C0. Therefore, it's imperative to consider these factors when evaluating other showcases.