Month: February 2021

From Pickle Rick to the Vat of Acid, Rick Sanchez has proven himself to be the smartest man in the Universe. And across every feasible dimension, there can be only one Rick who’s the ultimate Rick. So, looking back at all 4 seasons, here are the Rickest Moments so far in Rick and Morty.

Apex Legends Season 8: Mayhem introduces Fuse, aka the “Bombastic Explosives Expert.” The latest addition to the roster has officially joined the Apex Games, and he arrives along with the new 30-30 Repeater and several welcome changes to Kings Canyon, which is now back in the map rotation following its removal in Season 7. If you’re having trouble with Fuse’s abilities, you’ve come to the right place–we have a few tips and tricks for how to best utilize his explosive moveset.

Unlocking Fuse is an easy enough process–you just need to buy him. Head on over to the Legends tab while in Apex Legends’ in-game store and then click on his icon. Per usual, the new legend costs 12,000 Legend Tokens or 750 Apex Coins, whichever you prefer. Legend Tokens are earned by playing and leveling up while Apex Coins can only be bought with real-world money. Starting at level four, you earn 600 Legend Tokens every time you level up, so that’s 20 levels. 750 Apex Coins is about $8 USD.

Fuse’s General Overview

Alright, so now that you have Fuse, how do you use his skills effectively? Well, despite his laid-back attitude, there’s actually a bit of meticulous strategy to playing as Fuse. All of his abilities are based around doing as much explosive damage as quickly and efficiently as possible, but you won’t go very far if you just fire them off willy-nilly–especially while indoors as Fuse’s abilities will damage him if he’s caught in the blast radius. Though Fuse can be an excellent character for temporary area denial if you don’t have a Wattson or Caustic in your squad (both of whom offer a more effective solution), it’s not his strong suit. Fuse is at his absolute best when out in the open, spearheading his squad’s offensive efforts, especially when third-partying (which, for those not in the know, is the act of joining an ongoing fight between two other squads once they’ve both thinned each others’ numbers a little). Thanks to his abilities, Fuse can turn the tides in his squad’s favor when they’re launching ambushes or trying to fight off more than one enemy squad.

Fuse’s Abilities

Passive Ability: Grenadier – Stack an extra grenade per inventory slot. Fire grenades farther, faster, and more accurately.

Fuse is the only character who can stack two grenades per inventory slot, freeing up extra space for healing, ammo, or just way more grenades. But it’s the second aspect of his passive that is worth pointing you. Fuse flings grenades incredibly far and with pinpoint accuracy, adding them as a viable option for long-range combat.

Tactical Ability: Knuckle Cluster – Launch a cluster bomb that continuously expels airburst explosives on impact. (Cooldown time: 25 seconds)

Even if you haven’t looted grenades to take advantage of his passive, Fuse always has access to grenades thanks to his tactical ability. A direct hit from Knuckle Cluster will initially deal 10 damage with the four subsequent explosions doing 10 damage each for a combined total of 50 damage. If you don’t land a direct hit then the overall damage will depend on how many of the explosions hit the target.

Ultimate Ability: The Motherlode – Launch a bombardment that encircles a target area in a wall of flame. (Charge time: 120 seconds)

Fuse has an amazing ultimate ability–while it lacks the overall area of effect that Gibraltar and Bangalore have with their ultimate abilities, that’s a small tradeoff when you factor in that The Motherlode is a brutal trap. Those inside the ring of fire it creates will be forced to remain in place or risk taking damage. If they try to escape the circle, they’ll immediately take 35 damage and be slowed, taking an additional five ticks of 8 damage, for a total of 75 damage once all is said and done. And this ability has range–Fuse can fire it up to 200m away.

Tips To Play Fuse

Strengths & Weaknesses

• Fuse’s abilities excel at mid- to long-range, so weapons that can handle combat at both ranges are ideal complements–the 30-30 Repeater, G7-Scout, Hemlock, and Triple-Take are our personal favorites
• Wattson is a hard counter to Fuse as her Interception Pylon will intercept all thrown grenades, Knuckle Cluster, and The Motherlode–essentially cancelling out all of his abilities. If you spy a Wattson, you need to hit hard and fast before she has a chance to set up.
• Octane, Wraith, Pathfinder, and Horizon can soft counter Fuse by using their abilities to outrun or avoid his abilities, and Caustic and Bangalore can soft counter Fuse by using their abilities to blind him (to be most effective, all of Fuse’s abilities require you to have some idea of where an enemy is).
• Fuse is a hard counter for both Lifeline and Rampart. Knuckle Cluster can finish off targets being revived through Combat Revive or trying to heal with D.O.C. Heal Drone, and The Motherlode can easily trap targets who are huddled around D.O.C. or Lifeline’s Care Package. Rampart’s abilities don’t fare much better–Knuckle Cluster instantly destroys Amped Walls and can be easily stuck to a Rampart who’s prone while using her Emplaced Minigun, and The Motherlode can easily trap Rampart while she’s using Emplaced Minigun.
• Fuse is a soft counter for Revenant, as The Motherlode can trap targets using or returning to the simulacrum’s Death Totem. The Motherlode soft counters Loba as well by punishing squads that group around Black Market Boutique. Fuse is also a soft counter to Mirage, as a well placed Knuckle Cluster will damage Mirage and likely destroy all (or at least most) of his decoys if timed to go off just after he uses Life of the Party.
• Fuse benefits from having a Pathfinder or Octane on his squad, as either one can use their ultimate abilities to help him get to high ground and rain down destruction. Octane’s Jump Pad is also helpful for getting you over the flames and into the center of The Motherlode to finish off a squad you trapped (remember: you also take damage from your abilities so do not walk through the flames). Additionally, Fuse pairs up well with Bloodhound and Crypto, who can reveal enemy positions in order for him to better hit far-off targets with Grenadier and The Motherlode.

How To Best Use Grenadier

• Thanks to Grenadier, Fuse can pull off some incredible ricochets with Frag Grenades, as he fires them with enough force that they keep going a ways even after bouncing off a wall. You don’t even have to put your incredible geometry skills to good use either, as Fuse can see the path the grenade will take after the bounce.
• When using Loba’s Black Market Boutique, Fuse can steal two grenades of the same type at once, provided that two grenades of the same type are in the area. This is a great way to make sure you always have enough explosives to take full advantage of Grenadier.

How To Best Use Knuckle Cluster

• Knuckle Cluster is a great breaching tool for doors; use it to ensure no one is trying to ambush you–the cascading explosions will damage and likely clear out any targets lying in wait near the doorway.
• If an enemy is holding a door closed while healing, don’t bother kicking open the door when your tactical ability is ready to go–not only is Knuckle Cluster faster but you’ll likely down them with the subsequent explosions.
• When fired in an enclosed space, Knuckle Cluster is a great way to stave off an enemy’s advancement just long enough to pop a shield cell or begin your retreat, so if your team is on the back-pedal, fire your tactical–the enemy may still push through it, but at least you’ll know that they’ll have to take damage to do so.
• Like Rampart’s Amped Wall, a direct hit from Knuckle Cluster will instantly destroy Loba’s Black Market, Wattson’s Perimeter Security, Crypto’s Surveillance Drone, and Revenant’s Death Totem.
• Knuckle Cluster is surprisingly loud, so use it to mask the noise made when reviving a squadmate.

How To Best Use The Motherlode

• The Motherlode can only be fired upwards in an arc, so you should never use it while indoors unless your plan is to corner yourself alongside your enemies so that you can yell, “I’m not trapped in here with you, you’re all trapped in here with me!”
• The Motherlode pairs well with Horizon’s Black Hole–let her drag an enemy squad together so that you can trap them all at once. Or, conversely, fire The Motherlode first and then place Black Hole near the edges to drag enemy squads into the damaging flames. Either way, you can get some extra damage by firing your Knuckle Cluster into the mix or have Caustic toss in his Nox Gas Grenade or Gibraltar call in his Defensive Bombardment.
• Pay attention to the map to find ideal targets for The Motherlode. Squads (especially inexperienced ones) traditionally pack together when using Respawn Beacons, crafting at Replicators, or looting Care Packages–all of which are ideal scenarios for The Motherlode to trap them.
• The Motherlode doesn’t affect teammates, only enemies and yourself, so even if you can’t run through the flames in order to finish off a trapped squad, your allies can.

Firebase Z is the newest map in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War‘s Zombies mode. While the map is now live and available to play for all players, the upcoming Easter egg quest doesn’t go live until 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET / 5 PM GMT on Friday, February 5. For now, there are still some essential tasks you can get started on learning in the new Firebase Z map, including how to turn on the power and how to activate the Pack-A-Punch machine.

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Get a head start on these now so you can be prepared to tackle whatever the Easter egg quest has in store tomorrow, including a new way to unlock the RAI K-84 Firebase Z Wonder Weapon.

How to turn on the power

When you first drop into the map, your first objective is to talk to Ravenov. Follow the waypoint and you’ll find him shacked up in a corner area of the courtyard. Chat with Ravenov and he’ll tell you about the Pack-A-Punch machine, eventually directing you to a teleporter that’ll take you to Omega Base.

How to get to the teleporter

To get to the teleporter, you need to open up a door leading to an Equipment Storage area with stairs that’ll take you to the roof. Shoot up some zombies until you’ve collected 1,250 points and then cash those in to get the door open. Follow the waypoint up and you’ll hear some more radio chatter from Doctor Peck discussing turning the power on. But you can just ignore that and hop in to arrive at Omega Base.

How to activate the Aether Reactors

Once you arrive at Omega Base, your mission is to activate all three Aether Reactors at a total cost of 1,500 points–500 each.

Aether Reactor locations

• Reactor One – Military Command
• Reactor Two – Mission Control
• Reactor Three – Data Center

Each Aether Reactor is marked with waypoints on the map, so head to whichever one you and your crew want to start with first. Know that each area will be locked with some gates, so grind away at the spawning zombies until you have enough points to open the way to them all.

Activating an Aether Reactor is simple. Approach it and fork over the points needed to turn it on. Once you’ve done that, your next job is to defend the Collector points found in the immediate vicinity from a few waves of zombies. If you’re having trouble keeping track of which collector is being attacked, look out for when each one’s respective “Protect” waypoints flash red, which indicates when they’re being damaged. Unload on the invading undead long enough and eventually the Collectors will charge fully, thus activating the Aether Reactor.

Repeat this process with the rest of the Aether Reactors and you’ll have successfully turned on the power. With that objective finished, head back to the teleporter.

How to activate the Pack-A-Punch

Now that you’re back at the starting courtyard area, return to Ravenov and interact with the Pack-A-Punch machine to turn it on. You can now upgrade the firepower of your weapons, which will be a must to successfully complete Firebase Z’s Easter egg.

The first upgrade will cost you 5,000 points, with subsequent ones coming in at 15,000 and 30,000 points. Be sure to come back when your currently equipped weapon isn’t quite cutting it against the undead hordes.

How to complete Firebase Z’s Easter egg

The Firebase Z Easter Egg isn’t live yet, so we don’t yet know how to complete it. Be sure to check back later, as we’ll be updating this guide with all the information you need to know.

How to unlock the RAI K-84 Wonder Weapon

The RAI K-84 is the big new Zombies mode weapon added alongside the Firebase Z map. You can technically unlock it now; for more details, read our guide on how to unlock the RAI K-84. We’ll update this guide when we learn how to unlock the RAI K-84 in tandem with the Easter egg.

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Ahead of Mass Effect: Legendary Edition’s May release, developer BioWare keeps teasing us with comparison shots of just how much the upcoming remaster reimagines the appearance of certain characters and places. The studio has now tweeted a side-by-side for how protagonist Shepard’s appearance changes.

The comparison in question specifically looks at the default appearance of the character in the original Mass Effect. As you would think, the change for the default female version of the character is a far more drastic change, as there was no iconic female option until Mass Effect 3.

BioWare said that implementing iconic female Shepard into Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 was one of the first things the studio did for the remaster. “We’ve done another pass on her where we’ve done everything from slightly modifying some larger forms of her face or adding some medium and fine details like wrinkles and pores and specular breakup,” environment and character artist Kevin Meek said.

Beyond this, BioWare has retroactively added Mass Effect 3’s improvements to the character creator back into the first two games with this remaster, allowing you to put together your ideal Shepard right from the get-go. Additionally, the developer has added brand-new options that weren’t previously in the original trilogy, including more Black hairstyles.

Mass Effect: Legendary Edition will launch for Xbox One, PS4, and PC. The remaster will support faster loading speeds when played via backwards compatibility on Xbox Series X|S and PS5.

Chadwick Boseman has posthumously made SAG Award nomination history by receiving a total of four nominations on Thursday. No other actor has earned that many in a single year in the movie categories.

Boseman actually has the further distinction of competing against himself in the outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture category–which the actor is up for both as Stormin’ Norman in Spike Lee’s Netflix jungle thriller Da 5 Bloods and also Levee in Netflix’s blues pioneer biopic Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Following Boseman’s death in August from colon cancer, Ma Rainey’s release on Netflix in December meant it was the actor’s final film.

Additionally, Boseman was nominated as Levee for the outstanding performance by a male actor in a leading role category. He was again nominated for Stormin’ Norman in the outstanding performance by a male actor in a supporting role.

Boseman’s fame took on a noticeably more potent trajectory following his performance as the titular hero in 2018’s Black Panther. The actor’s death had cast some doubts on that Marvel franchise’s future, but some overdue clarity has come about recently with the announcements that Black Panther 2 will not have a digitally recreated Boseman, his role will not be recast, and the intriguing related news that a Black Panther spin-off is in the works at Disney+.

The SAG Awards will be simulcast on April 4, 2021 on TNT and TBS at 9 PM ET / 6 PM PT.

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The joy of Hitman comes from a mastery of its levels. Learning their layouts, planning the perfect hit, or adapting to a changing situation. But what do you do once you’ve mastered Hitman? You make it harder for yourself.

In this video, Jean-Luc Seipke talks about how the experience of playing Hitman 3 can significantly change when you disable key HUD features such as Mission Story Guidance and Instincts Mode. Both are great tools for helping out players but Jean-Luc argues that without them you’re forced to act more cautiously and creatively, creating a more thrilling Hitman experience. And of course just for fun he also tries the game without any HUD just to see what it’s like.

If you enjoy this video, why not check out 47 Ways To Hit Men In Hitman 3, which offers up a humorous look at just how ridiculous the kills can get in Hitman. You can also check out our full review of Hitman 3 by Phil Hornshaw right here on YouTube or at GameSpot.com.

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