Month: April 2021

Riot Games has released the full patch notes for Valorant’s 2.08 update, with the biggest addition being a brand-new map that turns 5v5 into fun in the sun.

Breeze is the new map coming in the 2.08 update, billed as being “set on a remote island distinguished by its bright, playful, and colorful environment, with wide open spaces and opportunities for long range encounters.” Breeze will debut in an Unrated (Valorant’s version of unranked or casual play) queue where only the new map will be playable for two weeks.

Other changes coming to Valorant in the 2.08 update include Coach slots in Tournament matches–which allow a player to choose a team and observe it in a live match–as well as a new warning system for first-time offenders of the Valorant Code of Conduct.

The full patch notes as written by Riot Games are available below.

MAP UPDATES

BREEZE

• Introducing the newest map, Breeze, to the Valorant map pool. Breeze is set on a remote island distinguished by its bright, playful, and colorful environment, with wide open spaces and opportunities for long range encounters.
  • Breeze will launch alongside a Breeze-only Unrated queue that will remain active for two weeks.
  • More details on this queue can be found in the Competitive Updates section below.

COMPETITIVE UPDATES

• Added a Breeze-only Unrated queue for those who want to grind our new map
  • Breeze will also be available in the standard queues for Deathmatch, Spike Rush, and Escalation as well as Custom games.
  • This queue will only be active for two weeks. During this two week period, Breeze will not be available in the standard Unrated or Competitive queues. Following this period, the Breeze-only queue will be disabled and Breeze will then become available in the existing Unrated and Competitive queues.
• Reminder! This is the last Act to work for your Episode 2 Rank Reward, awarded after the end of Act III.

GAME SYSTEM UPDATES

• Coach slots have been added to Tournament Mode Custom Games
  • We’re very excited to introduce Coach slots to Tournament Mode games! This is only the beginning of our work on Coaches, and while functionality will be limited to start, we have plans to expand the capabilities available to coaches during a match. We look forward to evolving the role of coaches and working on this feature in partnership with coaches from the VCT ecosystem.
• Coach slots Current Functionality:
  • Coaches can spectate Tournament Mode games and are locked to observing the team chosen in the custom game lobby.
  • Coaches cannot use Map Pings, Team Chat, or Voice Chat in-game.
  • Coaches can use All Chat and Party Chat to allow for cases where they may need to communicate with a Tournament Moderator.
  • Coaches can pause a match in cases where that functionality is allowed to players.

QUALITY OF LIFE

HRTF

• We’ve heard your requests (and where they came from)! Weapon drop sounds have been added to HRTF.

SOCIAL UPDATES

• Reporter Feedback has been added into the game
• Those of you who make reports against disruptive players that get actioned on will now be notified.
• Thanks for helping make Valorant a better place for everyone and keep those reports coming 🙂
• Warnings are now enabled for first-offenders who need to be reminded of the in-game code of conduct. No excuses for bad behavior now!
• Wild Rift players will now appear on the social panel

BUGS

AGENTS

• Fixed Killjoy’s Turret and Alarmbot icons disappearing when disabled
• Fixed Astra and Brimstone’s smokes from blocking flashes even when you are not fully inside them
• Fixed Viper’s Toxic Screen going longer than intended when it passed through the teleporter on Bind
• Fixed Viper’s Poison Cloud pickup distance being 200 instead of the intended 400
• Improved performance of Astra’s Nebula VFX on low settings

MODES

• Fixed a bug where, in Spike Rush, picking up the weapon upgrade orb with the Operator equipped would cause you to lose your Operator and receive nothing to replace it
• Now, you will keep your Operator, and will be granted a random secondary slot weapon.

COMPETITIVE

• Fixed a bug that was causing rank icons to disappear in Match History
• Fixed a bug that was causing Act Rank badges to show up on map loading screens in non-competitive modes

GTFO developer 10 Chambers Collective has revealed the fifth major update (aka Rundown #5), titled “Rebirth,” for its popular four-player PvE survival horror first-person shooter. The developer calls Rebirth the biggest GTFO update yet, as it will add new levels, scenarios, and boosters.

“Rebirth sets players farther down into The Complex into an area called Floodways — a new environment that substitutes a dark and cold industrial aesthetic for one where nature has sought to reclaim the domain,” 10 Chambers said. “Further expanding the lore of GTFO, within Floodways are clues as to why players are trapped in The Complex and imprisoned by The Warden.” See more in the trailer above, and in the screenshot gallery below.

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Boosts are new to GTFO; they’re rewards earned in-game that will offer temporary buffs to skills, allowing for things like better weapon handling (which we take to mean less recoil when firing) and speedier terminal hacking.

GTFO is available on Steam Early Access now. Check out our GTFO Early Access review to learn more of what we thought about its initial release.

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Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s Executive Editor of Previews. Follow him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan, catch him on Unlocked, and drop-ship him Taylor Ham sandwiches from New Jersey whenever possible.

May is just around the corner, and Pokemon Go developer Niantic has a variety of events lined up for the popular mobile game next month. In addition to the Luminous Legends event, which will introduce Xerneas (and, later, Yveltal) to the game, Pokemon Go players have new Pokemon spotlight hours and more to look forward to over the next few weeks. Here’s a rundown of all the biggest events happening in Pokemon Go in May 2021.

May 2021 Research Breakthrough Encounter: Galarian Ponyta

Niantic is rolling out a new batch of Field Research tasks and rewards starting May 1, along with a new Research Breakthrough encounter. Each time you achieve a Research Breakthrough this month, you’ll earn a chance to catch Galarian Ponyta.

Legendary Raid Schedule

Incarnate Forme Tornadus, Thundurus, and Landorus will remain in Raids for a few more days, and once they’re gone, two Gen 6 Legendaries will make their debut in the game. The Life Pokemon Xerneas will appear as a Raid boss during the first half of the month, while its counterpart, the Destruction Pokemon Yveltal, will arrive in the second half.

• April 27 – May 4: Incarnate Forme Tornadus, Thundurus, and Landorus
• May 4-18: Xerneas
• May 18 – June 1: Yveltal

Mega Raid Schedule

Niantic is also shaking up the Mega Raid boss rotation in May. Mega Charizard Y is returning to Raids at the beginning of the month, while Mega Houndoom, Mega Ampharos, and a “surprise” Mega-Evolved Pokemon will be available beginning May 15.

• April 20 – May 4: Mega Venusaur, Mega Lopunny, and Mega Abomasnow
• May 4-15: Mega Venusaur, Mega Charizard Y, and Mega Lopunny
• May 15 – June 1: Mega Ampharos, Mega Houndoom, and a “surprise” Pokemon

May Pokemon Spotlight Hours

Niantic is spotlighting a different Pokemon and bonus for one hour every Tuesday evening, from 6-7 PM local time. You can see May’s full Spotlight Hour schedule below.

Date	Spotlight Pokemon	Special Bonus
May 4	Cottonee	2x catch Candy
May 11	Dratini	2x transfer Candy
May 18	Alolan Rattata	2x evolution XP
May 25	Marill	2x catch Stardust

May 2021 Community Day

Pokemon Go’s May Community Day is set for Saturday, May 15. Niantic still hasn’t announced this month’s featured Pokemon and bonuses, but the studio did confirm that the event will run from 11 AM to 5 PM local time.

Luminous Legends X

Niantic is kicking May off with the Luminous Legends X event. That runs from May 4-17 and introduces the Legendary Pokemon Xerneas to the game, along with the other Gen 6 Pokemon Spritzee, Swirlix, and Goomy. Xerneas will be appearing in five-star Raids throughout the event, while the other three monsters will appear in the wild alongside other Dragon and Fairy types. Niantic is also introducing a new item called the Rainy Lure Module, which will attract Pokemon that like rainy weather and allow Sliggoo (Goomy’s evolved form) to evolve into Goodra.

Luminous Legends Y

Following Luminous Legends X, Niantic is holding a Luminous Legends Y event from May 18-31. That will introduce the Pokemon Y mascot monster, Yveltal, to five-star Raids. Few other details have been announced thus far, but Niantic teases there will be increased spawns of Dark-type Pokemon, as well as increased Team Go Rocket activity.

Capcom has revealed several new monsters being added to Monster Hunter Rise as part of the game’s first free update, available from today. They include powerful Elder Dragons and Apex variants of two of the series’ most popular beasts.

Elder Dragons Kushala Daora, Teostra, and Chameleos form the trio of highly powerful foes coming as part of the update. They are joined by Apex Diablos and Apex Rathalos. Additionally, Apex monsters already available in Rise can now be hunted outside of Rampage quests. Magnamalo has also been added to the Rampage quest rotation.

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The update also allows players to forge layered armour, and the max hunter rank will be unlocked when players fulfill all the required conditions. New event quests will also be released following the launch of the update, and these can be played offline once they have been downloaded.

Finally, new premium cosmetic DLC is available for purchase, containing new voice options, sticker sets, gestures, layered armour for buddies, and “more”.

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Monster Hunter Rise is not the only game Capcom had announcements for; a handful of new details on Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin have also been revealed. The turn-based battle system from the original game has been overhauled, and now correct weapon types, elements, and skills will be an important part of defeating enemy monsters. Like in the main series, this combat system will allow specific body parts to be broken. Unlike traditional Monster Hunter games, though, players can team up with their own ‘Monstie’ to perform powerful Double Attacks and Kinship Attacks.

For Monster Hunter players on Switch looking for an end to their current adventures, Monster Hunter Rise will also finally get a proper ending in May.

If you’ve yet to check out Capcom’s latest game in its beloved series, check out our Monster Hunter Rise review.

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Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK News and Entertainment Writer. 

Amazon runs a Deal of the Day every 24 hours, just like clockwork. Oftentimes, the items featured in the sale are uninspired things you probably wouldn’t be interested in. Today is different. Today’s Deal of the Day is all about board games. You can save up to 45% off a wide swath of games, including The Resistance: Avalon, Dragonwood, Photosynthesis, Exit: The Game, and many more.

So if your gaming nights could use an infusion of new games to try, you might as well stock up while they’re cheap. Like all Deals of the Day, these discounts go away at midnight. If you see something you like, grab it while it’s on sale. You can find some of our picks below, or you can check out all the games on sale here.

Board Games on Sale

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Chris Reed is a commerce editor and deals expert at IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @_chrislreed.

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Although our lives look like they may start trending back to normal eventually, exercising on our own still looks like the way to go in the near future. For those of you who want to get a good upper body workout but don’t want your place to look like a gym, the Bowflex SelectTech dumbbells might fit the bill.

Bowflex SelectTech 552 Adjustable Dumbbells for $349

Because these dumbbells are adjustable, you don’t need a rack of individual weights lying around. Each dumbbell can be adjusted from 2.5 pounds all the way to 52.5 pounds. They’re finally back in stock on Amazon. They do sell out quickly but they seem to be constantly restocked, so check back if you currently see them unavailable. Amazon is the most reliable place to get these dumbbells to you quickly. You can also order them from Bowflex directly, but the wait time is currently about 10 weeks.

• Get it on Amazon for $349