Month: November 2020

Ludwig Ahren and Jeremy Wang were bodyguards. They were sticking to their boss like glue, making sure nothing slipped past them. The Polus Outpost is a dangerous place and you never know what to expect from the lava-lined planet.

“The Don’s on the move, headed south right now,” Ahren said as they left an emergency meeting. His boss was out of sight seconds later. He scrambled to find her. “Oh…uh…we got a bit of an emergency here.”

He and Wang, better known by his Twitch handle DisguisedToast, searched far and wide for the missing Don; checking communications, O2, the office, and other buildings in the outpost. They had no luck. “Where’s the Don!?” Ahren screamed as he cycled through camera feeds of the outpost. “Just give me some sign of life.”

The mysterious disappearance was too much for Ahren as he rushed to vitals, only to see that the Don–the person he was supposed to protect–was dead. Ahren’s voice cracked as he screamed in anguish.

Ahren, DisguisedToast, and Lily “LilyPichu” Ki had been playing Among Us so much that they wanted to spice things up a bit. They took on silly characters to add another layer of wackiness to the create-your-own-murder-mystery game. They decided to do a little roleplay. “You guys let me die,” Ki whispered through her mic from the in-game beyond.

This is just one example of the type of scenes that get acted out in Among Us role-play where Twitch streamers and Among Us fans take on over-the-top, dramatic, and sometimes nonsensical roles to spice up their time on The Skeld and Polus. Some have used role-play as a way to build out the non-existent lore of Among Us while streamers, like Ludwig and DisguisedToast, use role-play as a way to entertain their viewers.

“Roleplaying makes winning less important.”

Twitch streamer Ludwig Ahren

Role-play is common in games. Streamers and others have gained a following by running bank heists and taking on unique character builds in games like Red Dead Redemption and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. You can browse through Twitch and find a number of streamers role-playing right now.

Among Us, due to both its major popularity and moldability, makes it a perfect candidate for role-play. It’s a party game that’s exciting to watch when people with big personalities play. Viewers have responded, watching 1.5 billion hours of Among Us on Twitch over the last few months, so it’s even better when those big personalities clash in ways we haven’t seen before.

Role-play is common in public lobbies, too. Some players pretend to be soldiers on a military base with impostors filling the spy-behind-enemy-lines role. Kill cooldown timers for the impostors are reduced to 10 seconds, because soldiers are experienced. Games tend to be over quickly, but they’re full of bloodshed. Others have taken on the roles of major figures from history–like Joseph Stalin–trying to court random players to their causes. Once courted, his followers will vote off whoever Stalin tells them to. But what happens when an impostor kills Stalin? What happens when the impostor is Stalin?

Among Us doesn’t have any official lore, so players have used these role-play scenarios to add depth to the game. Some of these role-players don’t even play the game when they role-play. They build context around the game’s crewmates, impostors, tasks, and levels, all by typing it out over Discord.

“His hair spiking up like a cat–he was caught off guard and did not like it,” wrote one role-player introducing his character, Gato, to another for the first time. “Great, fantastic,” his character muttered, wanting to be alone. Interactions in the cafeteria and medbay that take seconds in-game are drawn out to highlight every minor detail in the “Time Loop” role-play Discord server.

“The fact Among Us is so barebones gives us so much creative freedom,” the Discord’s founder tells GameSpot. They, along with other mods in the server, have created an original story built of the backdrop of The Skeld map. “There are infinite options to explore.”

“The Loop” attempts to recreate the short form nature of an Among Us match with a story centered around a time loop. The role-play resets every so often to the moment everyone arrives on the ship. Everyone’s memories are erased–letting players make tweaks to their characters with every loop.

“Originally my character was a very happy-go-lucky guy who was on the ship simply because it was his job,” said Gato’s role player, adding that The Loop helps him learn about his character, and change them, over time. “But now he’s more down-to-earth and a bit more cautious of others, who joined the mission because of his desire to go to space since childhood.”

The setting of Among Us combined with the time loop narrative lets roleplayers dive into their roles for weeks on end while letting them experiment and try new things. It’s something that’s unique to roleplay, “The time loop gives more opportunities to establish characters in different lights,” said one player. “It’s really fun.”

The server even uses some of the mechanics from Among Us to shape how the story plays out. Scenes where a crewmate is killed by an impostor are held in private one-on-one messages–overseen by the server mods–so that no one else can see what happened in the leadup to the murder.

Role-playing has helped these Among Us fans grow closer to each other, even if a couple of them are trying to kill everyone else. Friendships between characters have evolved into friendships between role-players, even if their character doesn’t make it off the ship safely.

“It’s definitely made us closer.”

Among Us Discord Roleplayer

Both types of role-play, either acted or written on the fly, make each session more than just a game. It’s become a unique moment shared with friends, either intimately with a small group or in front of an audience of thousands.

Role-playing doesn’t make it easier to win in a match of Among Us–it actually might make it more difficult to build trust with other players. But you might be able to pull off an upset if you’re a good enough actor who can lie convincingly at a moment’s notice. But sometimes the role-play might work in your favor.

DisguisedToast, the Don, and everyone else on the outpost was dead. Only Ludwig and two other streamers, Sykkuno and Wenderful, were left. “Sykkuno you have one question to answer,” Ludwig said. “Do you think I would kill the Don?”

“Here’s why I don’t think you killed her,” Sykkuno replied. “She said ‘You guys let me die,’ which means you must’ve not killed her. She would’ve said something like ‘you betrayed me.'” Both Sykkuno and Luwig cast their votes for Wenderful (after some valid complaints about Ki talking after she died) and threw her into a pool of lava.

“Sykkuno, you son of a b****,” Ludwig muttered before the victory screen came up. “You’ve cracked it again.” Wenderful was the impostor. The Don was avenged.

Scenes like this transform Among Us from an exciting party game about deception into a canvas for performance. Once a player commits to a character the goal becomes less about winning and more about seeing a their character clash with the murder and lies that are central to this virtual version of Mafia.

“Role-playing makes winning less important,” Ludwig tells GameSpot. “But I’d go further and say winning is almost never the most important thing. Making sure everyone in the lobby is having fun and the viewers are entertained are more important than winning. Role-play is a way to achieve that.”

Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla takes players to England, Norway and even beyond, but while the world is stunningly rendered both on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, there’s a lot of secrets hiding within the virtual British Isles where most of the game takes place.

Even the names of in-game enemies Eivor takes on offer some hints to some peculiar parts of English history, and may potentially link the world to the future DLC, Wrath of the Druids.

You can check out the full review of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla right here

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In Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, you can find many different armor sets for Eivor, each of which provide different perks. In the following article, we list all of the different armor sets that you can find in Valhalla, and also let you know which will likely best work for your ideal playstyle. In total, there are nine armor sets in Valhalla. There are technically 10, but one is locked to a specific region of the game, so we’re not going to count that one (we’re also skipping over the armor sets in Valhalla’s in-game store).

Along with the information for where to find every armor set, we’ve listed each one’s unique perks as well. Every armor set comes with two perks. The first is applied provided you have at least two pieces of the armor set equipped, while the second is only applied if you have all five pieces equipped. To get the best out of your armor, it’s worth equipping all five pieces–especially since the second perk in most armor sets is the better of the two. But, this also means you can mix and match to combine the first perk of two different armor sets to further refine your ideal loadout. For more tips, check out GameSpot’s Assassin’s Creed Valhalla skills and abilities guide, settlement building and management guide, and hidden quests and secret discoveries guide.

Raven Clan Armor Set

Decent all-around armor set with no clear strengths or weaknesses

Perks:

• Increase Armor the lower your health
• Additional increase to Critical Chance

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The Raven Clan Armor will be the first armor set available for you to complete–you automatically acquire all the pieces just by playing the first few hours of the campaign. It’s also the only armor set that really doesn’t specialize in any way. So it’s not ideal for those looking to focus on one specific playstyle. Instead, its perks are geared towards overall survival and dealing more damage. Which, honestly, is never a bad thing. You could reasonably stick with this armor set for the full campaign and never go looking for anything else. But you’re probably better off transitioning to something else once you start discovering your ideal playstyle.

Huntsman Armor Set

For range-focused builds, with an emphasis on fighting in the open

Perks:

• Increase Ranged Damage when hitting enemies further than 20m away
• Additional increase to Speed

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One of the earliest armor sets you can come across, the Huntsman Armor is scattered across the kingdom of Mercia, with the bracers, pants, and torso located in Grantebridgescire, and the cloak and helmet found in Ledecestrescire.

The Huntsman Armor is one of the two range-focused armor sets, so this is ideal for those looking to exclusively use their bow and nothing else. However, you only get a benefit towards ranged combat with the first perk. So really, the Huntsman Armor is a set that you ideally want to combine with another set in order to get the best out of ranged combat. Your best bet is probably mixing the Huntsman Armor Set with the Draugr Armor Set in order to add the perk of poison damage to your arrows (but you’ll need to buy the Draugr Armor Set from the in-game store). If you do stick with this armor, unlock skills like Arrow Reinforcement, Bow Stun Finisher, and Charged Shot.

Hidden Ones’ Armor Set

For range-focused builds, with an emphasis on stealth

Perks:

• Increase Assassination Damage when crouched and undetected for 10 seconds
• Additional increase to Headshot Damage

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One of the best armor sets in the game, the Hidden Ones’ Armor Set is also one of the hardest to obtain. Each piece is found in a Hidden One Bureau, which are scattered throughout England. But since these bureaus are not marked on your map until you find them, this can be tricky. You want to specifically find the bureaus located in Ledecestrescire, Lunden, Essexe, Jorvik, and Glowecestrescire.

The Hidden Ones’ Armor is, ideally, the armor set you want to have for a ranged build in the endgame. Having the full set gets you that increased headshot damage with a bow regardless of how close you are to your target, allowing bows to excel even while indoors. The Hidden Ones’ Armor is also one of the best for stealth, giving you the option to use the hidden blade if you run out of arrows. Pair this armor set with abilities like Blinding Rush and Piercing Shot, as well as skills like Guided Arrow, Chain Assassination, and Stealth Recon to clear entire encampments without anyone being the wiser.

Magister’s Armor Set

For melee and range hybrid builds, with an emphasis on playing in the dark

Perks:

• Increase Melee Damage at night
• Additional increase to Ranged Damage

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Another early game armor set, the Magister’s Armor is scattered across two different kingdoms: Mercia and East Anglia. You’ll find the bracers, pants, and torso in Oxenefordscire, while the cloak and helmet are found in East Anglia.

This is perhaps the worst armor set in the game–which is a shame because it looks really cool. You only want to find this entire armor set if you’re a completionist. Otherwise, it’s worth skipping. Granted, if you’re not willing to pay for the Berserker Armor in the in-game store, then the Magister’s Armor is likely the first armor set you’ll find that boosts your melee damage. But it only does so at night, so unless you’re willing to constantly meditate to speed through every day so that you’re only playing during nighttime, it’s just not worth it. There are so many better armor sets for people looking to deal more melee damage.

Galloglach Armor Set

For melee-focused builds, with emphasis on defense

Perks:

• Increases Melee Resistance when hitting enemies with finishers
• Additional increase to Melee Damage

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The Galloglach Armor Set is a mid-game armor set located in Mercia and Wessex. You can find the bracers, pants, and torso in Lincolnscire, while the cloak and helmet are in Essexe.

In terms of the armor sets that are geared towards melee combat, the Galloglach Armor is pretty bad. Like the Magister’s Armor, you can skip this set. It’s one noteworthy benefit is tied to finishers, a special animation that doesn’t always occur when killing an enemy. Given how much this armor set depends on chance (or kiting a few enemies away from the overall group to do a finisher on one of them before engaging the main force), it’s just not worth it.

Brigandine Armor Set

For melee-focused builds, with an emphasis on crowd-control

Perks:

• Increase Armor when surrounded by more than 2 enemies
• Additional increase to Melee Damage

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Perhaps the best armor set for players with melee-focused builds and who don’t care for stealth or ranged combat, the Brigandine Armor Set is located in mid-campaign locations: the later areas of Mercia and early areas of Wessex. You can find the bracers, pants, and torso in Cent, while the cloak and helmet are hidden in Sciropescire.

The Brigandine Armor is perfect for players looking to just jump into the fray without the use of assassinations or bows to thin the herd. This makes it great if you want to use two-handed weapons that traditionally have wide swings and can deal with multiple enemies at once. So go ahead and ditch your shield for a two-handed weapon; you’re getting more armor when you’re surrounded anyway. If you really want the added protection of a shield, this armor pairs well with flails as well. Heavy Dual Wield, Parry Damage, Warrior Takedown, and Perfect Attack are all great skills to invest in with this armor set.

Mentor’s Armor Set

For hit-and-run builds

Perks:

• Increases Attack after Critical Hits
• Additional Increase to Speed

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The other armor set that gives you Assassin’s Creed’s trademark beaked hood, the Mentor’s Armor Set is much easier to find than the Hidden Ones’ Armor. However, the Mentor’s Armor is hidden in more endgame locations, with the pieces scattered among both Wessex and Northumbria. The bracers and torso are located in Suthsexe, the cloak and helmet in Snotinghamscire, and pants in Wincestre.

This armor set is for players who like to get in quick, deal some melee damage, and then get out of the fight to surprise attack again. Those who have found and enjoy equipping both Runes of Finesse (increase critical damage chance) and Runes of Perfection (increase critical damage) will love this armor set. Axes, claws, and light bows are geared towards doing critical damage, so this is not the armor set for you if you prefer to use other weapon types. Skills like Backstab, Sprint Attack, and Assassin’s Cantrip are what you want to unlock to get the most out of the Mentor’s Armor.

Thegn’s Armor Set

For critical damage-focused builds

Perks:

• Increase to Critical Chance when parrying
• Additional Increase to Critical Damage

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The pieces to the Thegn’s Armor Set are scattered all over England, so you probably won’t find all of them until later in the game. You can discover the bracers and torso in Eurviscire, the pants in Glowecestrescire, and the cloak and helmet in Wincestre.

This armor set is even more focused on dealing critical damage than the Mentor’s Armor–it’s all about dealing huge amounts of damage as quickly as possible, ending fights with a quick parry and a mighty follow-up. Unlike the light Mentor’s Armor, the Thegn’s Armor’s higher defense and heavier weight make it more ideal for extended fights as opposed to quick, hit-and-run tactics. This is the armor for players who want to dual wield axes and claws, relying exclusively on parrys for defense instead of shields or dodging. Because Eivor is a bit slower with this armor set, having abilities that help with crowd control, like Mark of Death and Man’s Best Friend, are ideal. Unlocking the Damage Parry skill is pretty handy too.

Thor’s Armor Set

For stun damage-focused builds

Perks:

• Increased Speed when stunning an enemy
• Additional increase to Stun

Here it is. The hardest armor set to earn in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. The pants, torso, and bracers are held by the three Daughters of Lerion, who are some of the hardest bosses in the game. You’ll find the two weaker ones in Grantebridgescire (Goneril is power level 90 and Regan is power level 110) while the strongest sister is in East Anglia (Cordelia is power level 340). Killing all three gets you their daggers, which allows you to unlock a tomb in East Anglia, where you can find the helmet. And then there’s the cloak–to claim it, you’ll have to track down and kill all 45 members of the Order of Ancients. Trust us, that takes a lot longer than you think.

The effort is worth it though, as Thor’s Armor Set is powerful. It’s ideal for players who like wielding shields or (obviously) hammers, as both are good for dealing stun damage. Rush & Bash is a pretty good ability to have for Thor’s Armor set, and you should also consider unlocking the Battleground Bolt and Sprint Bash skills.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity is finally out on Nintendo Switch and has much tougher battles than what you might have faced in the free eShop demo. To help you with some of the challenges that lie ahead, we’ve laid out some useful combat tips to elevate your skills.

We’ve also found some exciting tech that will be extra useful for those who want to get deep into the intricacies of combat. So this will also be a guide containing some advanced tips from our resident Breath of the Wild expert Max Blumenthal, who has a knack for finding new combat tech, and has already pioneered a few Age of Calamity tricks!

If you have any more tips, post them in the comments below. We’re always looking for cool combat techniques to use in Hyrule Warriors, so don’t hesitate to call them out. Otherwise, read our full Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity review.

Use Stasis Correctly

If you’re throwing out Stasis willy-nilly and using its auto-animation, you’ve got to change your ways. While using Stasis to counter a Stasis-weak attack is a good and natural application of the ability, the most powerful part of Stasis is its potential to extend weak point duration and stun enemies for longer. You can capitalize on this by dashing after performing Stasis, allowing you to then freely do another action. While some weak points last a while for you to beat down an opponent, others last for only a second or two, which isn’t enough time to crack it. So use Stasis to extend that time.

This technique is crucial to extending combos, gaining more supermove meter, and restricting an enemy’s ability to fight back. Unfortunately, not every character can attack during Stasis–Daruk, for example, is unable to follow up with an attack. However, for characters who can, this technique is incredibly powerful. It can even be strung into enemy weak points you trigger with Sheikah Slate abilities, allowing you to force your way through an opponent’s weak point at any time.

As a rule, you’ll want to be hitting enemies after triggering this technique as much as possible to maximize your damage output, building towards that inevitable weak point smash. It comes in handy, especially against more formidable enemies who tend to be very tanky in harder difficulties. So do not underestimate this technique in a pinch!

How To Best Use Elemental Rods

Elemental Rods are essential to mastering Age of Calamity’s combat. These powerful magical weapons easily create weak points at any time if you’re having trouble creating an opening yourself, but the type of weak point and size of the blast depends on several things.

For one, it’s important to note that attacking elemental-based enemies with wands of the same element do no damage, so don’t hit an ice enemy with an Ice Rod.

Second, hitting enemies using an element it’s weak against (fire against ice, ice against fire, lightning against enemies soaked in water) automatically triggers a critical weak point. This powerful weak point attack creates a longer-lasting and more fragileweak point gauge.

Lastly, the power and size of the Elemental Rod blast will depend on the terrain you hit. You can see this when hovering your fire rod over grass as opposed to dirt. Using fire on grassy areas, lightning on metal or water, and ice on water will increase the blast range and force a critical weak point on enemies caught in the blast, even to those not ordinarily weak to them. So be sure to always pay attention to your surroundings and take advantage of the terrain you’re on!

Rely On Magnesis Cancel For A Quick Dodge Or Attack Cancel

Most characters aren’t able to use Magnesis if nothing metallic is around. And if there are metallic items around, you’ll perform a regular Magnesis attack, which is pretty underwhelming for most characters. So, you might be thinking: “Well, that’s weak, so what’s the point?”

But in actuality, Magnesis is arguably one of the more powerful techniques in the game because you can use it to cancel almost any action you do. It also gives you complete invincibility without using resources.

You can perform a Magnesis Cancel by pressing the R and B buttons when there are no metallic items within range. If a regular dodge isn’t quick enough to get you out of harm’s way, you can use Magnesis Cancel to more quickly dodge attacks or cancel out longer attack animations.

You’ll want to keep in mind that the effectiveness of Magnesis Cancel varies from character to character, as some, like Zelda, are unable to do this technique at all. In contrast, others like Impa can spam it quickly over and over. But when the situation is right, Magnesis Cancel can be very clutch. Some attacks, such as a Guardian’s lasers, have a blast hitbox that’s hard to dodge and can’t be parried with other characters, so keep this in your repertoire when up against deadly foes!

Impa is Broken (So Use Her!)

Usually, we’re not particularly eager to promote easy wins, but it’s hard to ignore when a character like Impa is 100% SSS tier on the tier list. She can perform near-endless combos on single enemies and crowds while stunning everyone around her. Her meter-gain is also incredibly fast when fighting against groups, which allows you to perform your special quite often.

In the future, it’s possible that other characters may have hidden potential that will place them as high on the tier list as Impa, but she’s currently pretty dominant. And with abilities unlocked in the endgame, she becomes even more of an absolute monster. If you’re having a hard time with this game, you can lean on this Sheikah pain train to carry you through a rough mission.

Menu Slowdown Can Help Practice Parrying or Dodging

This technique can help in a pinch if you’re having a rough time parrying or dodging. By alternating the Sheikah Slate and Elemental Rod menus, you can put yourself in a perpetual state of slowdown, giving you a much more accurate window to dodge and parry attacks. Some enemy attacks have strange animations that are challenging to time a parry or dodge against, so if you need a second to watch for the counter-attack tell, you can use this little trick to help nail the timing.

Other Assorted Tips

As coined by Max, the Urbosa Float Cancel is a secret combat trick that can be executed while airborne and attacking. By tapping your ZR charge, your attack count will be reset, allowing you to continue attacking in the air. This flying Urbosa trick will continue to headshot most enemies while being out of their range and still doing damage. It’s possible to get hit by high attacks, but this technique typically dodges most ground attacks while continually dishing out damage from above.

Max has also found a unique technique for Revali, which he’s named Rune Sliding. By doing your C4 combo (Y-button x4 + X-button) in the air and timing a Sheikah Slate ability perfectly, you can slide along the ground at breakneck speeds. Depending on your rune of choice, some slides last longer than others, but whichever one you choose, the utility changes with your swift movement, and during the length of the animation, you are entirely invincible. This technique can be handy for approaching pesky ranged enemies or running away from a fight.

If you need a visual aid to better understand how these techniques are performed, watch the video version of this guide, which is embedded above.

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Black Panther 2 is reportedly set to begin shooting in Atlanta in July 2021, after being temporarily sidelined after the tragic and unexpected death of actor Chadwick Boseman, according to sources that spoke with The Hollywood Reporter. The movie was originally scheduled to begin filming in March before the delays.

In addition to the new production date, Narcos: Mexico star Tenoch Huerta is said to be joining the film as an unidentified antagonist. He will star alongside returning cast members from the first Black Panther, including Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Lupita Nyong’o, and Angela Bassett.

THR’s sources also implied that Wright’s character, Shuri, the younger sister of T’Challa, could potentially see a much larger role in the upcoming film. This would be consistent with Shuri’s trajectory in the comics, where she has taken over the Black Panther mantle in her brother’s stead several times.

There are no updates to offer about recasting the role of T’Challa, but Marvel Studios executive producer Victoria Alonso has already confirmed that there are no plans to digitally recreate or otherwise manufacture a VFX version of Chadwick Boseman to use in the film. “There is only one Chadwick, and he is no longer with us,” Alonso said.

While 2020 may have heralded a full-stop for Marvel Studios productions and represented the first year since 2009 where the company released no movies, 2021 is shaping up to look like a very busy year. The first of the much-delayed Disney+ MCU TV shows, WandaVision, will be hitting the platform on January 15, while Black Widow will finally hit theaters on May 7 after being pushed back for a full year.

Black Panther 2 is scheduled for release in 2022.

In The Mandalorian Season 2 Episode 4, Mando (Pedro Pascal) and The Child aka Baby Yoda return to Nevarro and are reunited with their friends Greef Carga (Carl Weathers) and Cara Dune (Gina Carano) for a new side quest. Mando teams up with Greef and Cara to take down an Imperial base, while The Child goes to school and steals macarons. We also learn that the remaining Imperial forces and especially Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) are after The Child to use his Midi-cholrian filled blood for some nefarious purpose involving experimentation.

As usual, the episode was also filled with many Star Wars Easter eggs and references. Among them are a hidden tribute to IG-11, a returning character from Chapter 1, a hologram of Dr. Pershing, scout troopers on speeder bikes, and cliffhanger involving Dark Troopers!