There are tons of great deals circulating on Amazon Prime Day, including some dynamite PC deals, some great Nintendo deals, and so much more.
If PC gaming is your style and you are a fan of gaming laptops or have always wanted to jump in (to experience the immaculate perfection of potent, portable gaming), I have more great news. You can save up to $600 on the Razer Blade 15 gaming laptops. Both the Advanced and Base models are on sale, and the deal applies to the 2020 model, so you’ll be set to play the latest games in style.
Before the deals, there is something important you should know. Right now, if you’re going to spend $40 on Amazon, you can save some cash and send yourself a $40 gift card and Amazon will send you $10 in Amazon credit within 24-48 hours.
Also, it’s important to note that you’ll need to have an active Amazon Prime account to score the steepest of discounts. You can sign up for Amazon Prime right here. Moreover, if you’ve never taken advantage of the free trial for Prime, pick up the 30-day trial right now and save money even without a subscription. You can even cancel your subscription before the first bill shows up, if you want to roll that way. If you’ve already used the free trial, you can subscribe for $12.99 a month, or $119 for a full year.
Brian Barnett writes wiki guides, deals posts, features, and much more for IGN. You can get your fix of Brian’s antics on Twitter and Instagram (@Ribnax).
Amazon Prime Day 2020 has officially begun. Today and tomorrow, October 13 and 14, you can find tons of deals from the online retailer on a wide variety of products, ranging from video games, movies, tabletop games, and much more. But if you’re big on Amazon’s varied ecosystem of electronics, you’ll be happy to know that many of their most popular devices have been marked down for the occasion.
With so many different deals available on Amazon’s plethora of devices, it can be a little overwhelming trying to find the best savings, so we’ve rounded up some of the best deals we’ve found so far. These deals cover a range of Amazon devices, including the retailer’s latest tablets, speakers, and Fire-enabled TVs.
If your current smart TV’s capabilities aren’t up to snuff, or if you want to add smart TV-style functionality to an older TV, then you ought to grab a Fire TV Stick. It supports 4K resolution streaming, hundreds of apps, and allows you to use Alexa voice commands. And for a more detailed analysis, check out our sister site CNET’s breakdown of the Fire TV Stick 4K. You can also look at our list of the best streaming devices.
The Fire HD 10 sports the largest display in Amazon’s tablet series yet. It’s also 30% faster than the previous iteration, with a 2.0 GHz octa-core processor and 2 GB of RAM. If you’ve not yet owned a tablet and are looking for something accessible, the Fire HD 10 is definitely a worthwhile choice.
If not a Fire HD 10 tablet for yourself, then consider one for your kids. With similar specs as the adult model, the Kids Edition is a great purchase to keep your children entertained and involved while you handle the daily grind. It comes packed with easy-to-use parental controls that can limit screen time, set educational goals and curfews, and manage content for up to four profiles. And the deal is only sweetened by a 2-year warranty in case of any unexpected breaks.
Having an Echo Dot is one thing, but getting one mounted on a Baby Yoda stand is another thing entirely. This bundle is clearly for the Baby Yoda fans out there, or really, just the novelty of it all. And at a slight discount, you can’t go wrong, mostly if you don’t already own an Echo Dot. If only Amazon created a unique Echo model where Alexa only works with Yoda statements, this package would be complete.
Having proper security in your home is never a bad investment. With the Ring Video Doorbell, you can keep appropriate tabs on who comes and goes by your doorstep, which is especially handy if you’re the type who mostly orders goods online. This particular bundle comes with the Ring Video Doorbell and an Echo Dot, which can work together to notify you of incoming visitors and allow you to speak to them. For more, check out CNET’s detailed breakdown of the Ring Video Doorbell 2.
Echo Studio is the most premium Alexa-enabled Echo device available right now. Its immersive sound is made possible with five built-in speakers that produce punchy bass, clear highs, and dynamic midrange. And with its advanced sensors, it automatically adapts to the acoustics of whichever rooms it’s placed to ensure optimal sound quality. For more, check out CNET’s detailed breakdown of Echo Studio.
If you’re looking for a Smart TV that’s equipped with all the capability and functionality offered by Amazon’s Fire TV Stick, then this Insignia brand 50-inch TV should be a proper fit. This particular model supports both 4K and HDR content. And with Alexa-enabled voice control, you can easily navigate to what you want to watch in seconds.
The eero mesh Wi-Fi system should meet the needs of larger households that struggle to maintain stable internet connection. This 3-pack, in particular, should ensure coverage in homes up to 5,000 square feet. If your home is slightly bigger or if you prefer a mesh system that supports higher internet speeds, there are pricier models available. Regardless, the convenience and control provided by the base model makes it a wonderful choice for those who need a solid and affordable solution for their Wi-Fi woes. Check out our CNET’s great breakdown of the eero mesh Wi-Fi system for more details.
The Echo Show 8 is a convenient screen you can place anywhere in your house or apartment that allows for a variety of uses. Whether it’s accessing a video call, watching movies, controlling other Amazon devices in your ecosystem, or displaying photos, the Echo Show 8 is a handy device that can complement any home. For a more detailed analysis, check out CNET’s breakdown of Echo Show 8.
In a world dominated by visual media, it can be easy to forget the importance of reading, making it all the more important to do so. Fortunately, the Kindle Paperwhite is a dedicated device that can help you focus on doing just that. If you’ve not bought a Kindle before, this model is a great place to start. The base 8GB model is perfect for text-only books. And with the thinnest, lightest design yet and waterproofing, you can take the Kindle Paperwhite just about anywhere to get your essential reading on.
Los Angeles Comic-Con is off for 2020. Comikaze Entertainment announced Tuesday that the show is cancelled for this year, but set a date for 2021. The event was originally scheduled for December 11-13, 2020, but con-goers can now mark their calendars for September 24-26, 2021.
“Last week on Oct. 7, Gov. Newsom finally gave an update on reopening plans for theme parks, which most people thought would precede event and convention guidelines,” Comikaze said in an official statement. “In his announcement, the Governor said he had decided not to provide reopening guidelines yet for theme parks, and by extension, events. Without guidelines, there is no way for LA County, the city, or event organizers like us to know if the plans and changes we made to be safe will be right, or enough. So with that new direction from the state, we are rescheduling.”
Comikaze says that all tickets purchased for the 2020 event are refundable, and any others will roll over to the 2021 event. The company also says that all talent booked for 2020 will appear at the 2021 show, including the just-announced appearances of Zachary Levi (Shazam!) and Tom Welling (Smallville). Con-goers who went in for the limited-edition Kevin Smith/Silent Bob Funko POP toy can also choose between picking it up at the warehouse, paying to have it shipped, or picking it up at Los Angeles Comic-Con in 2021.
While you wait for conventions to return, reminisce with us and check out some of our convention cosplay galleries from years past: LACC 2016, FanimeCon 2018, and PAX East 2019.
Click To Unmute
Size:
Want us to remember this setting for all your devices?
When you hear the words “free-to-play,” you probably think of very specific kinds of games: mobile time-killers, first-person shooters with loot boxes, MMORPGs. However, a story-driven, open-world action-RPG in a similar vein to Zelda: Breath of the Wild is probably not what springs to mind. But that’s exactly what Genshin Impact aims to be. It delivers a large, lore-filled, graphically lush world with nuanced combat, character-building, exploration mechanics, and co-op crossplay across multiple platforms at the most appealing price point possible–free! And while it succeeds admirably for the most part, it stumbles in a few key ways that remind you that there’s no such thing as a fully free-to-play game.
Genshin Impact makes a great first impression. The anime-inspired visuals are inviting and colorful, and the fully voiced, nicely choreographed cutscenes give the game the feel of a premium product. It also gets you going with the gameplay very quickly; thanks to solid control design, you’ll be running, swimming, climbing, dodging, gliding, fighting slimes, and slinging spells just a few minutes after the intro cutscenes wrap up. And once your first additional party member officially joins your posse, things start to get very interesting, as you’ll start to learn the ins and outs of the elemental interactions that make Genshin Impact unique.
Each character in Genshin Impact has one of seven elemental properties tied to them, which greatly affects what they can do for combat and exploration. While systems of strong and weak elements are extremely common in games, Genshin Impact takes things a step further, introducing unique and interesting ways for multiple elements to interact with objects and enemies. It starts with simple interactions: an object aligned with Dendro (nature) like a wood shield or structure burns with damaging flames when exposed to Pyro attacks, while pools of water can be frozen with Cryo element skills or used as a conduit for causing Electro damage in an area. Experimenting with other elemental combinations will yield more interesting results; setting an enemy on fire and following up with an Electro attack overloads them with energy and causes area damage, while using a windstorm can blow another source of elemental damage like Pyro or Hydro elsewhere while augmenting its strength.
You can swap between four active characters with a tap of the D-pad, giving you the ability to strategically chain attacks to great effect. The system makes party formation interesting: Do you double up on elements for bonuses or field a team of different elements, just in case you run across unexpected challenges and puzzles where they could be useful? It’s a fun and creative system that adds a lot of enjoyment to exploring Genshin Impact’s world, Teyvat.
And there’s plenty to do here, too. Even though many areas of Teyvat haven’t been made available to explore yet, there’s still plenty to do and see. There are chests to find, teleportation spots to activate, all kinds of raw materials to accumulate, side quests to complete, and big baddies to try and slay. If you want to stop exploring and relax a little, you can try your hand at cooking food, forging weapons, and even conjuring up rare items through alchemy. If you’re feeling particularly adventurous, you can even explore certain dungeons with others online using co-op play–and, thanks to cross-platform compatibility, it’s easy to join up with others no matter what they’re playing on. Setting up elemental combos with a team of players is very satisfying indeed.
You’ll get more party characters, weapons, and loot as you play through the game normally, but there is a way to get some extra goodies: by opening up your wallet. [Editor’s note: Everything written here refers to version 1.0 of the game. As Genshin Impact is an ongoing games-as-a-service title, monetization methods and drop rates can change as the game evolves.] Genshin Impact’s monetization revolves primarily around “gacha,” a Japanese term referring to a loot box-style system. You spend in-game currency on a “wish” that will get you either a weapon or a new character, and buying 10 wishes at once guarantees a character or weapon of four-star or better rarity. While you can obtain said currency in-game for free in various ways, you can also buy it directly with real money. You can also use real money to buy upgrades like item sets or a Battle Pass that yields better rewards for your questing endeavors.
Besides utilizing a confusing currency conversion system (you buy Genesis Crystals, which you can convert to Primogems, which you then convert to Fates to spend on Wishes), the gacha can be very punishing. If you’re going for the top-tier gacha rewards, you’re either going to need to be really lucky or prepared to spend a lot of time and/or money. The drop rate for the coveted five-star characters is a mere 0.6%. Fortunately, every 10-wish roll comes with at least one four-star weapon or character, and these are more than sufficient to take on the game’s tougher challenges. It’s also possible to not spend at all–if you carefully save the Fate and Primogems you acquire in-game, you can still assemble a formidable team. With a 10-wish costing about $20-$30 (depending on how many Genesis Crystals you buy at once), opening your wallet to try for the best stuff can get very pricey very fast.
Despite this, Genshin Impact generally manages to dodge a lot of “pay-to-win” issues. Even if you get good characters and weapons, you still have to learn to use them well and gather materials to improve their abilities, which can only be achieved through gameplay, and the items you can buy aren’t an immediate gateway to becoming overpowered.
However, like many free-to-play titles, Genshin Impact is built around getting you to invest time in the game every day. You’ll need to explore to find hunting and harvesting spots for materials needed not only for crafting and cooking, but also upgrading your characters and weaponry and increasing your Adventurer’s Rank. The Adventurer’s Rank in particular can be rather frustrating, particularly early on. Many features like co-op play, certain regions of the map, special dungeons, and even the ability to start crucial story quests are gated behind certain rank numbers, which restricts your play in an otherwise open-world adventure. While plenty of activities in the game yield experience points for the Adventurer’s Rank, it can be tedious to spend time doing side quests and exploring areas you’re not particularly interested in to open up parts of the game that you do want to see.
Gallery
Another major issue is that, while Genshin Impact is certainly a very nice-looking game, its world doesn’t offer much that’s all that interesting to see. The landscapes, dungeons, and enemies are generic and samey, with little in the way of interesting areas or architecture to make the world feel distinct from many other anime-inspired fantasy environments. The character design has a similar problem; while the characters certainly aren’t unappealing, most of their designs don’t really stand out as being particularly striking or memorable.
One more important factor that might turn players off is that, because developer MiHoYo is located in mainland China, Genshin Impact is subject to rules imposed by the Chinese government regarding online chat, which means certain politically sensitive terms (like “Taiwan” and “Hong Kong”) are censored in conversation during co-op play. While this is an issue that affects all games from China, some players will understandably not be comfortable playing a game that’s subjected to such heavy government censorship.
Overall, Genshin Impact is a solid game hampered a bit by the restrictions its free-to-play model imposes. The overall production values are high, and the core gameplay is solid. In particular, the elemental interaction system is a ton of fun and gives the game a distinct personality. But while there’s a lot to do, having several chunks of Genshin Impact gated off until you’ve reached a higher rank is an obnoxious restriction for an open-world game to have–and once you finally do see what lies in those unexplored areas, it’s often a bit underwhelming. Still, it’s a solid start, and I’ll certainly be interested in seeing how Genshin Impact continues to evolve in future updates.
There’s a lot of things to look for when you’re getting a TV for gaming. It is 4K? Does it support 120HZ? And, if so, does it have an HDMI 2.1 port? What about audio? Does it support Dolby Atmos?
It can be overwhelming trying to figure out what’s the best setup for your gaming experience, but in this video we narrow down a few products in each category, like the LG CX OLED 4K TV, or the Sony HT-ST5000 soundbar. We also go over the difference of PlayStation 5’s Tempest 3D AudioTech, and Xbox Series X’s DTS:X audio capabilities, and what it means for your existing speakers of headset.
Thinking about capturing gameplay to share with your friends? We got you. We also go over the right capture card for your game sharing needs, and set you up with where to go if you want to get a streaming setup with mics and webcams.
Apple first introduced its proprietary MagSafe series of magnetically attached power connectors with the original MacBook Pro in 2006 and, while it discontinued the MagSafe chargers following the 2017 MacBook Air, this technology is returning to the entire lineup of iPhone 12 smartphones.
Announced alongside the reveal of the iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Mini,iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max, MagSafe makes its comeback in a new way and will offer those who purchase any model of the iPhone 12 a quicker way to charge and the ability to add on accessories like a wallet to the back of their phone.
Since the iPhone 8 / X, iPhones have taken advantage of Qi wireless charging up to 7.5W, MagSafe will allow charging up to 15W. Furthermore, it is designed with a magnet array to ensure a perfect fit every time you need to charge.
The new MagSafe chargers look very similar to the chargers included with Apple Watch, and will connect to your iPhone 12 via magnets that are optimized for alignment and efficiency, and feature an E-shield that will allow for it safely to wirelessly charge an iPhone 12 with up to 15W, as previously mentioned.
The MagSafe system also features an Accessory Identification NFC that will let your iPhone 12 know what it’s being connected to it. Apple showed off some examples of MagSafe accessories, which you can see above, including Clear and Silicone Cases, the iPhone Leather Wallet, a Leather Sleeve, the MagSafe Duo charger that will let you charge an iPhone 12 and Apple Watch at once, and more.
Apple’s MagSafe cases will also attach to the iPhone 12 via the same magnets, which will provide a secure and easy fit, and will allow other MagSafe accessories to still connect to them. Additionally, the iPhone Leather Wallet is shielded so it’s safe for credit cards.
Third-parties will also be offering MagSafe accessories, including Belkin’s Car Mount and Multi-Charger Dock.
Apple’s online store has currently lists the MagSafe Charger at $39.99, the MagSafe Cases at $49.99, and the MagSafe Leather Wallet for $59.99. There is currently no listing for the other accessories mentioned. It’s important to note that the iPhone 12 comes packaged with a USB-C to Lightning Cable, so MagSafe technology will have to be purchased separately.
Apple’s MagSafe technology will see its return with the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro on October 23 and the iPhone 12 Pro Max and the iPhone 12 Mini on November 13. For more, check out everything announced at Apple’s iPhone 2020 event.
[poilib element=”accentDivider”]
Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].
Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.
From the roughly 20 hours of adventuring in Baldur’s Gate 3 at its Early Access launch, I can already tell you that this is probably the closest a story-focused RPG of this kind has come to emulating the experience of tabletop Dungeons & Dragons. The systems here allow me to do exactly the kind of clever but ridiculous things I would ask a human Dungeon Master if I can do. Rather than the simple “no” you would get from most RPGs when you ask if you can skip an entire quest by climbing around the backside of a mountain and sneaking into the bad guy’s lair, Baldur’s Gate 3 will tell you to roll for it. It’s an impressive start, but it’s definitely a very early early access game. There are just enough frustrating bugs and exposed areas of missing polish that a lot of people are going to be better off waiting until it’s finished before jumping in.
The flexible interactions between character abilities and the world allow each class the chance to shine in ways they normally wouldn’t. My elven wizard always had a spell prepared that triples a target’s jump distance. While this would be a very situational ability in most games, not really worth spending a spell slot on, in BG3 it can allow you to reach hidden treasure, gain a vantage point to rain down destruction with advantage, or even bypass obstacles entirely by taking to the rooftops. I ended up having to remind myself to take a few combat spells because I was so excited about all the interesting ways I could use the utility ones in combination. I like to play my wizards as sort of mystical Swiss army knives on the tabletop, not the glass artillery pieces they are in most digital RPGs, and I’m so thrilled to be able to do that here. Larian treats level design and environmental interaction as part of how you win battles and solve puzzles, and it works brilliantly in their envisioning of Faerûn.
And it’s a beautiful envisioning at that. The environments and characters look amazing, rendered in a saturated but realistic style that definitely evokes the 5th Edition D&D books. It made me think of what Dragon Age might have looked like today if it had stayed a bit more grounded like Origins instead of bringing in the more stylized, graphic novel-esque look of Dragon Age 2 and Inquisition. Outdoor areas are brimming with life, detail, and small stories to discover. Dungeons are appropriately gloomy and chock full of deadly traps and other surprises, even though most of the ones you’ll explore in Early Access were a bit too short for my liking.
Roll for Initiative
The turn-based combat is also well done, though. It feels faithful to the 5th Edition D&D rules, but also knows when to deviate to avoid being slavishly accurate to a fault. Many of the classic D&D-based games, including the first two Baldur’s Gates, did themselves a disservice trying to force the square peg of real-time fights into the round hole that is the d20 system: combat in tabletop D&D has always been turn-based, and this is how it should be. Initiative rolls to determine who goes first really matter. It’s much more comfortable to take stock of the situation and marshal your resources while contemplating how to control the environment. Sure, real-time combat can work, especially in games where you’re mainly controlling one character, but this type of game works so much better and feels so much more faithful to its tabletop inspiration with turns.
Since the Early Access build is restricted to only the first four or five character levels, it also highlights some of the issues with the system it’s borrowing from, though. Low-level characters have such small hitpoint pools and unimpressive saving throws that even fairly low-stakes combat encounters can turn deadly in a hurry if you roll poorly. Casters can only use their powers a couple times before having to take a long nap, and there isn’t much for melee characters to do most turns other than swing a sword. You don’t really get anything interesting to do with your once per turn bonus action until later, so it feels like a wasted resource. All of these are problems that would require rethinking some D&D basics to solve, and tend to go away on their own at higher levels. But especially replaying this build multiple times, they definitely got on my nerves.
There’s also nothing I could find to stop me from heading back to camp and resting after every single fight, though, which tilts the scales too far in the opposite direction. If I can fully heal and regain all of my spells whenever I want, Baldur’s Gate 3 loses the feeling of being on a long and dangerous adventure on which you must think carefully about your limited resources, which is a staple of D&D. Similar games like Pillars of Eternity have solved this by letting you carry a limited number of camping supplies that you have to go back to a major town to replenish. And the story here seems to present a reason why you should be in a hurry. But even when I was actively trying to waste time to see if anything bad ever actually happens, I was never punished. Maybe that will be different in the full release. But for now, it makes everything far too easy.
Company of Heroes
That said, Baldur’s Gate 3 has done an amazing job of grabbing my attention from the very beginning. One issue I had with Larian’s Divinity: Original Sin games (particularly the first one) is that they start out very slow and meandering before picking up steam. This adventure, on the other hand, is compelling from the first minute, and is so rich with exciting characters, locations, and plot developments along the way that I never got bored. The cast is dynamic and complex, with excellent voice acting and dialogue writing even for minor players.
Each of my companions was memorable, if not necessarily endearing. One in particular crossed a line I wasn’t willing to forgive, so I set them on fire. You’re absolutely allowed to do that, and life will go on, which is cool. From the dashing blademaster Wyll to the arrogant mage Gale, they each present the beginning of extensive, engrossing personal stories that I’m excited to see through to the end some day. Except for that one jerk. They just ended as more kindling on my campfire. Not sorry.
On the other hand, I was fairly disappointed that there are currently only six classes available in Baldur’s Gate 3’s Early Access version, and they’re (somewhat understandably) the most “basic” ones: Fighter, Wizard, Cleric, Rogue, Ranger, and Warlock. My favorite base D&D classes – Barbarian, Druid, Sorcerer, and Paladin – are nowhere to be found. I imagine more will be added as we get closer to the full release, but for the moment the options are pretty limited. To make up for this, though, the list of playable races is fairly extensive. Three different kinds of tiefling? Half-Drow? Larian has gone above and beyond the obvious here, especially since NPCs out in the world will absolutely react to your character’s background.
And unfortunately, Baldur’s Gate 3 is technically a bit of a mess at times. There are plenty of bugs, ranging from hilarious AI glitches to frustrating progression-blockers that make entire quests impossible to finish. Without spoiling a major story beat, at one point I killed a major character who was annoying me and their followers standing just outside the door never seemed to react to that fact. A character I met later swore to kill the deceased personally, and I couldn’t even tell them, “No sweat, I already handled it.” Some cutscenes still feel unfinished, with placeholder spell effects and missing lip sync. Tabbing out during a loading screen, even in borderless windowed mode, more often than not caused a soft lock or a crash to desktop. And leaving Baldur’s Gate 3 running in the background for any extended period of time caused my whole system to start chugging. Right now it’s in playable but fairly rough shape.
After a COVID-related delay, Amazon Prime Day 2020 is here at last. While Amazon itself is offering tons of deals on games and more, there are also other retailers hosting sales of their own during the 48-hour event. One of those is PC-focused online retailer Newegg; through its “FantasTech” and “Gametober” sales, you’ll be able to get discounts on parts for your gaming PC, pre-built gaming rigs, gaming laptops, external hard drives for PS4 and Xbox One, and more.
Quite a few next-gen games are coming to PC as well as PS5 and/or Xbox Series X/S, including Godfall and the highly anticipated Cyberpunk 2077. If you were unable to score a next-gen console preorder or prefer playing games on PC, now’s a great time to upgrade your hardware so you’re ready to run fall’s biggest games. Be sure to read our guide to building a gaming PC before you shop so you get the right components, too.
If you’re looking to start fresh, getting a pre-built PC is a great option. This one features an RTX 2060 Super graphics card–which, while not the most high-end option, will still perform well with most modern games at decent settings–plus a 1TB SSD. On top of that, you also get a keyboard and mouse along with it, making this a great all-around package for a brand-new, ready-to-go gaming rig at an excellent price.
If you’re instead in the market for individual parts to upgrade an existing PC, you can get a great deal on this RTX 2060 graphics card. It may not be the newest model, but it’ll run both current-gen and next-gen games well at a strong price point.
For a new graphics card on more of a budget, this ASRock Radeon RX 5500 is a good option. As a bonus, you can get both Godfall, which releases November 12 on PS5 and PC, and World of Warcraft as a free gift with your purchase.
If you’re in the market for a new processor, this mid-line Intel model is $70 off. The next model up, the i9, is several hundred dollars more expensive, so this is a great option–just note that it’s only compatible with Intel 300 series motherboards.
Games aren’t getting any smaller, and while standard hard-disk drives aren’t the top-end for gaming these days, 6TB is still a good amount of storage–especially for $161.
While NVMe M.2 SSDs are the new standard for the highest speeds and performance, SATA III SSDs like this one are still worthwhile and can get you more storage for your buck. Right now, you can get this one for $94 off.
This tenkeyless mechanical keyboard comes with Cherry MX low-profile switches and two sets of keycaps to choose from. It features customizable macros and LED colors and, because it lacks the number pad seen on full-size keyboards, it’s nice and compact. It comes in black and white, both priced at $100–but you can knock $5 off the price with the promo code above and then another $20 with a mail-in rebate.
If you’re in the market for more storage space for consoles or PC, this external drive gets you a ton of extra storage at a low price point. It’s compatible with PS5 and Xbox Series X/S for backwards-compatible games as well as storing and transferring next-gen games between the hard drive and console when you want to play them, so it’s a great option if you’re preparing for the next-gen consoles to arrive.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is a pretty dense game–from the start, it asks you to make a whole lot of choices about your character, ranging from your look to your race, your class, the kinds of abilities you want to take with you, and more. It can all be a little overwhelming, especially if you’re not familiar with Baldur’s Gate’s Dungeons & Dragons roots.
Though there are a lot of decisions to make right away, you can get by knowing the basics–Fighters are good at bashing, Rogues at sneaking, Rangers at sniping, Wizards at magic, Clerics at healing, and Warlocks at mixing magic with other fighting styles. From there, we’ve put together a guide that can help you make the right calls as to which races, cantrips, spells, and bonuses to pick to make a solid character build even early on.
Check out the rundown below for a few tips for each of your possible characters. These aren’t full build rundowns, but they will give you some working information to help you make decisions and focus your character to fit your style of play and get the most out of each class.
Fighter
For Fighters, Strength and Constitution are the stats that will matter most when sorting through your beginning attributes. When choosing a Fighter race, you can do worse than Githyanki, which gets a +2 Strength modifier, giving it increased damage. The Strength modifier is also going to get you into melee combat more effectively, as its Strength affects how far you can jump, which is a great tactic to get you in and out of combat.
You’ll get even better benefits by going for the Shield Dwarf. The dwarf gets a modifier of +2 Constitution, the stat that dictates health, in addition to the Strength modifier. So in combining both boosts, you create an effective front-line melee character who can also soak up a lot of damage. Be sure to keep your weapon preference in mind as you make your choice, as well. Dwarves favor axes and hammers, while Githyanki are better using swords.
Once you earn your first level-up, you’ll unlock the ability to start taking traits, allowing you to start to really build your Fighter around a role. Do you want to focus on protection, handling great weapons, or dual-wielding weapons? Knowing how to specialize your Fighter will help you make your decisions early. If you want to deal damage, dual-wielding can be useful, since it allows you to diversify your loadout between different weapon types and status effects. Fighters who need to tank a lot of damage to protect squishier allies should go down the protection route, while planning ahead to add some shield proficiencies. You’ll also get an action surge on your first level-up, which provides you an extra action every use–so be ready to score some double hits.
When you hit Level 3, you’ll get the choice between becoming either a Battle Master or an Eldritch Knight. Going the Eldritch Knight route basically makes you a battle mage, but with the current roster of characters, you’re already likely to have some spellcasters in your party–so you might want to keep your Fighter’s focus on melee.
On the melee side, the Battle Master option excels with some really good passive bonuses. A solid approach is to swap out the Punishing Attacks bonus and take Riposte instead. Riposte grants you the ability to counter-attack, which can be super effective with two-weapon fighting styles. Meanwhile, the downside to Punishing Attack is that it has a chance to push enemies away. If you’re the tank for your team, you want the enemies near you, so the push isn’t optimal–plus you lose out on the opportunity for a reactionary attack if the enemy chooses to flee from you.
Ranger
When it comes to your Ranger racial choice, Wood Elf makes a strong option for their high Dexterity and fleet-of-foot abilities, but if you want to play a stealth sniper style, go with the lightfoot Halfling. They have high Dexterity, are inherently stealthy, and have the race ability of “Lucky,” which allows them to re-roll all 1s, which means critical fails will be an extremely rare sight for you.
Your first two big customizations as a Ranger are choosing your Favored Enemy and Natural Explorer specializations. These depend on what you’re expecting as a playstyle for your Ranger, but each comes with unique cantrips. The default Favored Enemy choice, Mage Breaker, is a recommended pick in most cases thanks to the True Strike cantrip and some experience in Arcana. Sanctified Stalker is also a good choice, because it allows the use of a fairly powerful Cleric cantrip, Sacred Flame.
As for Natural Explorer, choosing Beast Tamer gives you the most straightforward combat bonus in the ability to take on a familiar. These are pretty small and squishy allies, but can be a good distraction for enemies, as well as having some fairly decent status effects to inflict on enemies, such as poison or blindness.
As for your spells, the most useful is going to be Ensnaring Strike, which keeps enemies at a distance while you do damage. Another useful option is Speak With Animals–with all the story potential you get from that ability, it should be a no-brainer pick whenever you have the option.
Your first level-up should be focused on Archery, as the rest of the options are going to be handled much better by any party members you’re taking with you. For the second level-up and your subclass choice, the best ability to pick is Beast Master. This will allow you to summon large animal companions like bears into combat. That provides you with another damage dealer with its own unique ability, plus another entity on the battlefield to soak up damage for free, helping ensure your main party members stay healthy.
Warlock
For Warlocks, the primary stat to pay attention to is Charisma, as this is what they use to cast spells. Charisma is also super helpful when interacting with NPCs outside of combat–so if you’re a player who wants to focus on conversation interactions, this is a great class choice.
Tieflings and Half-Elves both have a +2 charisma stat, which make them great Warlock picks. Between the two, however, Half-Elf is a stronger option, as they also get an extra point to put into two other stats of you choice, which lets you further diversify your Warlock.
Unlike other magic users, you get fewer spell slots as a Warlock, so it’s worth thinking about how you want to engage on the battlefield so that you can utilize cantrips and basic weaponry to shore up your magical capabilities. Along that line of thinking, your Pact choice gives you two options. Opt for the Great Old One if you want battlefield control and disables; if you’d rather have more melee utility, then The Fiend will be a better choice.
As for cantrips, the only really essential one is Eldritch Blast. It’s basically going to be your bread and butter, and the more you level up, the more options you have to upgrade it. Dissonant Whispers and Hideous Laughter are both great options for burst damage and disabling enemies for a few turns.
At your first level-up, you’ll notice there are a lot of options that relate to things you already have. As mentioned, you’re going to be using Eldritch Blast a lot, so Agonizing Blast is a good get to upgrade its damage. As with the Ranger, snagging Beast Speech is a good choice, because talking to animals has never not been great. If you stuck with the race choices outlined above, the only one that you should avoid is Devil’s Sight, as you’ll already have that Elven dark vision.
As for your spell choices, that’ll depend on whether you’re going to focus on melee, ranged damage, or controlling the battlefield. Charm Person will help out here and there in battles against humanoids, but for an option that’s pretty much always usable, taking the Hex enchantment as a bonus action will make the rest of your attacks sting a little bit more.Level 3 grants access to the Pact of the Chain, a summoning ability that gets you either conjure imps or quasits. These are much more powerful, with much more potent poisons than your average familiars, while offering the benefits of adding more bodies to the battlefield to distract enemies and soak up damage that would otherwise fall on your core team.
For your final spell choice, go for either Misty Step, for keeping you on the high ground, or Shatter if you need a little area-of-effect damage. Again, when it comes to spells, it is really going to be down to how you’ve play your character, so try to make choices that will augment your current playstyle.
Rogue
Rogues feel like one of the classes that isn’t quite there yet when it comes to the abilities and options available to you, but if you’re playing one, then choosing Drow as your race is going to give you the most benefits. Rogues rely on Dexterity and Drows get a +2 Dexterity bonus, as well as decent weapon proficiencies. They’re also the absolute best at seeing in the dark, which is going to be great for all the skulking around in the shadows you’re likely to do.
One thing you should bear in mind as a Rogue is that you need to be getting behind enemies as much as possible to take advantage of sneak attacks. Your first level-up is going to help you there, as it will allow you to dash as a bonus action, giving you the opportunity to rush behind an enemy and still have the ability to plunge your daggers into their back.
If you want to mix things up come Level 3, you can add some spellcasting to your build by taking the Arcane Trickster option since you’re likely to have a spellcaster or two in the party already at this point. Though, you might be better off sticking with what you know and going for the Thief option, which will benefit your focus on stabbing spines. The Thief choice will also mean you take less fall damage if you’re knocked from your high ground hiding spot, but Fast Hands is the biggest bonus, as it gives you an extra bonus action. That can work out to an extra extra dash, and more opportunities to attack with your off-hand weapon. Just remember to stay mobile and keep some melee backup or take buffs from your mages, as you’re going to be a great damage dealer, but awfully squishy.
Wizard
With all the spells Wizards have as options, it’s tough to recommend too many specific choices, but there are a few decisions that can give you the best head start. You’re good with any race here, as unlike with the other classes, there are no races that get a bonus to intelligence, the stat Wizards use most often.
Human is a decent choice for your Wizard class thanks to a few other stat boosts, but the extra cantrip you get from choosing High Elf can be much more appealing. Elves are also immune from being charmed or put to sleep, which can help ensure you can keep your spellcaster slinging in battle. The extra dexterity bonus High Elves get, which is useful for dodging attacks, also never hurt a spellcaster.
For your slate of spells, you’re open to choosing those that might benefit the playstyle you’re expecting to go for. Magic Missile, however, is an extremely reliable and consistent damage dealer for the early game. Thunderwave is also pretty useful, as it can push away any enemies rushing in to strike you with melee weapons.
Your first level-up provides you the opportunity to basically choose between either dealing damage or protecting yourself. Evocation spells focus elemental energy into powerful attacks and enchantments, while Abjuration spells summon wards, banish enemies, and nullify magic.
Evocation means you’ll lose out on the Arcane Ward ability and have to be a bit more precious with your spell slots, but you do get the Sculpt Spells passive ability in the deal. That means your allies won’t take damage from all your spell-flinging, so you can fire away Burning Hands with a bit more reckless abandon.
At Level 3, you’ll get another 25 spells to choose from–so what you pick here is best based on the kinds of spells you’ve enjoyed so far, and which role you’re trying to fulfill on your team. It’s also worth noting that if there’s a spell you decide you want but haven’t chosen, you can always pay a handful of gold to learn it later, provided you find its respective scroll.
Cleric
One of the most important stats for clerics is Wisdom, and you’ll get your biggest racial bonus there as a Wood Elf. That’ll be very helpful in the early game as you start out with a powerful spell and cantrip combo with Guiding Bolt and Sacred Flame. The extra stats you get from the choice are best served in Constitution and Dexterity, especially if you’re going with the melee/shield build that is often common with clerics. If you’re a member of your party’s front line, these stats are going to serve in keeping you alive.
Your best bet as a Cleric in most cases is to focus on the Life Domain subclass, which will make you an extremely powerful healer and buff-dealer. It’s also a good choice if you favor Shadowheart as a party member–she’s a Cleric of the opposite school, so you’ll be covered with both sets of abilities.
The Cleric’s progression over both levels is pretty linear. Your focus should be on buffs, protection spells, and healing, as your other companions are going to be pretty lacking in those departments. By Level 3, you should be able to keep everyone topped up with health via Cure Wounds, Aid, Preserve Life, and Prayer of Healing. With the slots you have spare, take spells like Halt and Hold Person to keep foes at bay and give yourself a turn to dish out some heals.
Click To Unmute
Size:
Want us to remember this setting for all your devices?
Right now, Amazon Prime Day 2020 is in full swing, and there are already a ton of deals for games and hardware. In addition to several sales on games like The Last of Us: Part II, gaming hardware is also on the menu, and the company Razer has got an assortment of gear for Prime Day 2020. Currently, there are over two dozen Razer products on sale for Prime Day, and you can take advantage of these deals from now through October 14.
Recently, Razer unveiled a new suite of hardware at RazerCon 2020. The new products included a gaming chair, laptop, and more, all of which are scheduled for future releases in 2020 and beyond. To tide people over until then, the company has numerous products up for sale for Amazon Prime Day. The discounts for these headsets, mics, controllers, and other gaming PC peripherals are pretty steep. Some of these products are currently half off, so if you’re looking to upgrade your accessories, then give these deals a look.
If you haven’t been keeping up with what’s on sale for Amazon Prime Day 2020, then check out our full roundup of all the best gaming deals available right now. While Prime Day is getting much of the attention, other retailers like Best Buy, GameStop, Walmart, and Target are also having their own anti-Prime Day sales too.
