Month: September 2021

Sea of Thieves’ fourth season starts on September 23, and developer Rare has posted a new teaser trailer for what fans can expect from it. While season 3’s A Pirate’s Life was notable for its Pirates of the Caribbean crossover that brought Captain Jack Sparrow along for the ride, season 4 is teasing a trip to underwater locations.

Going under the waves has been a traditionally dangerous place to explore in Sea of Thieves, although the few times that players have been directed to those areas have resulted in some worthwhile treasure being discovered. Rare hasn’t spent too much time in the deep, although it looks like season 4 will change this.

As usual, there’ll be a new Plunder Pass to pick up, available once again as either a free version that hands out rewards or a more premium paid version that packs in more exclusive cosmetics, in-game currencies, and new coats of paint for your ship.

Three years after release, Sea of Thieves is bigger than ever. Developer Rare revealed that the game had reached 4.8 million active players in June, setting a new record for its busiest month ever. Sea of Thieves even crossed over with Borderlands in August’s Making Mayhem event, giving players a chance to earn Favor and Borderlands-themed items to outfit on their ship.

In addition to its ongoing work on Sea of Thieves, Rare is also working on a new IP called Everwild, although not much is known about that game yet.

Deathloop has many elements that are similar to previous Arkane Studios games, specifically its gameplay centered around supernatural abilities. In Deathloop, the items that convey these powers are called Slabs–equippable powers that are held by the most dangerous citizens of Blackreef. These Visionaries all have a different slab on them, with each one giving you an entirely new way to get around the island or engage with enemies. They also all feature numerous upgrades that can extend their abilities in creative ways, which begs the question: which ones should you get?

In short: all of them, really. Unlike Dishonored, Deathloop claws back the scope somewhat and limits slabs to just five variations. Considering you can only equip two of them at a time anyway, this isn’t too big of a deal, especially when you take into account how many upgrades each one has to enhance its effectiveness. Deathloop makes it clear where you can find each one, but if you need a comprehensive explanation of each one’s effect and potential upgrades, then look no further.

It’s worth noting that while all these slabs are specific to certain Visionaries, the invading Julianna will always carry one random slab with her when she invades your game. If you manage to take her down, you can pick up a new ability or upgrade without needing to hunt a specific character, which should incentivize you to at least try to defeat invaders most times they appear.

Don’t forget to check out our Deathloop beginner’s tips to help you survive as long as possible in Blackreef.

Shift Slab

This is arguably the most recognizable of the slabs in Deathloop, mimicking the Blink ability from Dishonored entirely. Shift allows you to teleport small distances in any direction, which makes it an incredibly versatile tool when making your way around Blackreef. It’s not just for getting around, either–smart uses of Shift can turn the tide in a hectic firefight, confusing your enemies and giving you a moment to take many of them out before they reconfigure their aim.

Visionary: Charlie Montague

Location: Updaam at noon

Upgrades:

• Airborne: You can hover mid-air when using Shift, letting you change direction.
• Dropkick: Kicking right after finishing Shift will produce a sonic boom that does area-of-effect damage.
• Reach: Your Shift will be able to reach further away.
• Swapper: Instantly swap positions with a targeted enemy.

Aether Slab

If teleporting around is effective for staying hidden, Aether is the perfect complement to it. Aether lets you become mostly invisible (enemies will detect you when you’re very close to them), letting you easily slink around areas without detection. Not only will it help you avoid Eternalists, but it will also bounce the laser of trip mines, letting you access restricted areas without needing to get close enough to disarm them or violently trigger them, thereby alerting everyone around you. Aether’s upgrades help you extend its effect while also allowing you to take out enemies and prevent them leaving an ethereal stain, which is perfect for fully stealthy play.

Visionary: Egor Sterling

Location: The Complex in the evening

Upgrades:

• Phase: Taking damage does not deactivate Aether.
• Ghost: Energy doesn’t drain while standing still.
• Erase: Enemies don’t leave an ethereal trace when killed while Aether is activated.
• Flicker: Attacking won’t deactivate Aether.

Nexus Slab

Borrowing again from Dishonored and its Domino power, the Nexus slab lets you link together multiple enemies and have them share fates. What that means is that if you kill one of the linked Eternalists all those linked with them die at the same time. It’s an incredibly powerful tool for both stealthy and all-out action gameplay, letting you take down groups of enemies with a single bullet. It also helps that the slab is used almost like a lobbed grenade, letting you link together enemies from quite a distance.

Visionary: Harriet Morse

Location: Karl’s Bay in the morning

Upgrades:

• Influence: Enemies will create new connections as they walk around.
• Parasite: You gain health from damage dealt to linked enemies.
• Attraction: Nexus will home in on enemies.
• Protraction: Energy drains more slowly when enemies are linked.

Karnesis Slab

If Deathloop is one big power trip, then Karnesis is the cherry on top. It’s the Star Wars force push of Blackreef, allowing you to pick up and throw enemies, making high cliffs a new weapon you can use against unsuspecting Eternalists. With a few upgrades you can get a bit more flamboyant with your telekinetic flicks of your hand, letting you slam enemies down into the ground and push groups instead of just single targets. Sadly, this only works on human enemies and not items around the world, so keep that in mind.

Visionary: Aleksis Dorsey

Location: Updaam in the evening

Upgrades:

• Slam: Bring enemies down to earth with a powerful slam.
• Zone: Push multiple enemies at once.

Havoc Slab

If going loud is your preferred playstyle, then Havoc is going to be an irreplaceable slab in your inventory. It’s the only one that compliments big firefights wholeheartedly, buffing your damage and reducing the amount of damage you take in return. The upgrades only improve this, reducing the rate of energy drain and letting you extend the effect by dealing damage.

Visionary: Fia Zborowska

Location Fristad Rock at noon

Upgrades:

• Backlash: Release a powerful, damaging blast when Havoc ends.
• Withdrawal: Regain energy by dealing damage to enemies.
• Euphoria: The more damage you take, the more damage you deal.
• Bulwark: Taking damage no longer drains energy faster.

Which Slabs Should You Get First?

You can think of Deathloop’s slabs like the abilities in Mega Man: you can get them in any order, but that order might make certain future encounters easier or harder depending on your choice. Since you can only take two slabs into a district at a time, these decisions are far less persistent than in the Mega Man example, and become non-existent once you’ve infused each one, but there are some that you should focus on first.

Perhaps the easiest recommendation is Shift. This is an indispensable slab to have just so that you can explore each of Blackreef’s districts with more freedom, uncovering new entrances to important areas or shortcuts back the underground tunnels that link each area. It is a skill that you’ll find yourself missing when it’s not included in your loadout, since the breadth of movement freedom it provides transforms how you think about approaching every encounter ahead of you. If not your first choice, grab it early on, and then continue hunting it down for all the upgrades.

Another great slab to pick up early is Nexus, primarily because of how it compliments all styles of gameplay. Being able to link enemies together can make stealthy runs through districts quick and efficient, saving you both time and ammunition as you head for a Visionary. In the thick of a fight, it’s also easy enough to use on enemies directly in front of you, letting you wipe out scores of foes with just a handful of bullets. Influence is probably the best upgrade to get for Nexus too, letting already linked enemies create new connections as they move around areas, while Attraction helps during frantic firefights by taking care of aiming for you.

If you’re looking for even more on Deathloop, make sure to check out our 10 essential tips for getting started with Colt and the island of Blackreef. You can also dive into our 10/10 Deathloop review to find out why Arkane’s latest is one of its best, and a strong GOTY contender.

Electronic Arts recently delayed one of its biggest games this year, Battlefield 2042, but this is not a signal that the game is in trouble, according to principal software engineer Jim Hejl. Posting on Twitter, Hejl said there is no reason to worry about Battlefield 2042’s delay–the game just needs “a little longer on spin cycle,” Hejl said. The game is now slated for release on November 19 instead of October 22.

“Hey, I really appreciate all the support from the community regarding the new 2042 dates. It feels good that you trust us,” Hejl said. “And you should. It’s a solid game. This isn’t my first rodeo. It’s not a project in trouble. It just needs a little longer on spin cycle.”

Right now, Hejl is spending time working on adjusting Battlefield 2042’s terrain tessellation systems “for max performance without sacrificing anything visually.”

Hejl also spoke about how Battlefield 2042 is being developed on a 24-hour basis thanks to how the team has developers spread across the world working on it.

In another tweet, Hejl acknowledged that, like any other type of creative endeavor, some people might not love what DICE brings to the table with Battlefield 2042. “What we do is a creative endeavor. Not everything is gonna hit,” Hejl said.

Explaining the delay, DICE said developing Battlefield 2042 during the pandemic created “unforeseen challenges” for the developers. EA expected its developers to be able to come back to the office to work at the studio to finish and complete Battlefield 2042, but this was not possible, which contributed to the delay.

A multiplayer beta for Battlefield 2042 was slated for sometime in September, but it is apparently being delayed to early October.

Destiny 2’s Season of the Lost is already in its fourth week, but compared to previous seasonal events, it’ll be running for much longer than usual. Lasting for six months and leading directly in The Witch Queen expansion, the main attraction so far has been Astral Alignment and Shattered Realm activities that flesh the current narrative out, a revamped Trials of Osiris multiplayer mode, and the latest Exotic weapon quest.

Beyond that, Bungie has shared a few more details on what fans can expect for the rest of 2021. Destiny 2’s annual Halloween-themed event Festival of the Lost will return in October and run through November, while Grandmaster Nightfall strikes, and increased difficulty options in Astral Alignment and Shattered Realm, will be activated.

For the December to February period, the main event for those months will be the Bungie 30th Anniversary event that adds a new dungeon, sees the return of the fabled Gjallarhorn Exotic rocket launcher, a new six-player event, and more. Other seasonal events, such Destiny 2‘s The Dawning and Moments of Triumph, will roll out during this time frame as well.

The Dawning is essentially Destiny 2 given a Xmas makeover, while Moments of Triumph is a highlight reel of the game. Last year’s Moments of Triumph even gave players a chance to earn the MMXX title as a memento, as well as plenty of other themed gear.

For more on Destiny 2, you can catch up on the latest hotfix patch notes, as well as our interview with creative director Joe Blackburn on how Season 16 is going to be the next big boiling point for the game when The Witch Queen expansion launches.

After an extended hiatus, Destiny 2’s pinnacle PvP activity Trials of Osiris returned last week and featured multiple changes that were designed to reinvigorate the multiplayer mode. According to Bungie, those changes were well-received and resulted in 750,000 players taking part. Of that number, 120,000 Guardians were first-time-ever players and another 470,000 hadn’t played recently.

237,000 players went flawless, with 105,000 players earning that achievement for the first time ever in their Destiny 2 careers. Bungie added that over 2.8 million hours of Trials had been played during that weekend, eclipsing the highest prior single week total by 600,000 hours.

Even more changes are on the way, as Bungie detailed how it plans to tweak the matchmaking of Trials, something which Phil Hornshaw touched on in his article that detailed how players were using a loophole to gain an edge in the mode.

“We aren’t satisfied with the matchmaking experience for players after seven wins,” Bungie explained. “That area of matchmaking has a significantly higher rate of 5-0 games than we would like, so we are enabling a ‘flawless matchmaking’ pool. However, we want to make sure that there are enough flawless players to maintain good matchmaking times, so we are waiting until Friday afternoon to turn this on, and we will be watching player reactions and matchmaking analytics all weekend to make sure it is behaving properly.”

Players who have to endure one-sided losing streaks in a round should also expect to have a fairer time when matchmaking picks up on this, but Bungie warned that this system won’t allow itself to be exploited. If a player expects to throw several matches, wait for the matchmaking to throw them at lower-skilled players after they’ve reset their Trials passage card for a new chance at going flawless, it won’t work as this measure is temporary and will reset once a few wins are logged.

Lastly, quitter penalties that are used on the Glory playlists will be implemented in Trials, leading to 30-minute timeouts if a player quits out of too many games, with harsher penalties possibly on the horizon. As for next week’s Trials, the matchmaking counter on the Trials of Osiris lobby will be disabled and an issue preventing players from being able to Masterwork weapons from Saint-14’s rank rewards will be fixed.

In other Destiny 2 news, we recently sat down with creative director Joe Blackburn to discuss how season 16 will be another big step in the evolution of Destiny 2’s live content when The Witch Queen expansion launches. In the more immediate future, the latest hotfix for Destiny 2 fixes a number of issues across the game which includes ending the scourge of dancing Hunters using a Radiant Dance Machines exploit to earn instant Supers.