Category: Games

Please enter your date of birth to view this video

By clicking ‘enter’, you agree to GameSpot’s
Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

enter

You’ll find all sorts of weapons in Cyberpunk 2077, whether you earn them from completing mercenary jobs, buy them from stores, or pry them from the hands of your cold, dead enemies. But hidden out in the world among all the standard (if high-tech) guns, clubs, and swords you can find in Night City are much rarer, special weapons with unique properties. These are Iconic weapons, which you can only find in some key places and stand well above the other equipment you’ll find on your journey to become a living legend.

Though Iconic weapons are some of the best in the game, they’re also easy to miss. We’ve compiled a list of some of the Iconic weapons you can find throughout your journey, running down what they can do, and more importantly, where you can find them. While you’re hunting for these, don’t forget to read our Cyberpunk 2077 review and check out our essential tips, romance guide, life path guide, and guide for making money quickly and easily in Night City.

Fenrir — Power Submachine Gun

One of the earliest and extremely useful Iconic guns you can come across is Fenrir, a submachine gun that sets people on fire. A lot of guns you’ll find will do thermal damage, but Fenrir has an increased chance to apply Burn to enemies, making for an extremely deadly gun. This is a great weapon to pick up early to help you get through some of the tough story fights you’ll face on your way through Act 1.

Where To Find It: Sacrum Profanum Side Job, near where you find the monk in the warehouse.

Kongou — Power Pistol

Power pistols are fairly standard weapons, but can be very useful if you have the right cyberware to get some added functionality out of them. Power pistols can ricochet their bullets off surfaces, which you can use to your advantage with the right mods. The cool thing about Kongou is that it bypasses the need for equipping certain cyberware augments–just using the gun allows you to see potential ricochets and use it to its full capabilities.

Where To Find It: Yorinobu’s penthouse on the nightstand during The Heist in Act 1.

Lizzie — Tech Pistol

Lizzie is a fast-firing pistol, and dumping tons of ammo on enemies quickly is part of what makes it great. It also fires an extra round per shot, and can be charged to fire a volley of shots all at once. Plus, the pistol does Thermal damage, with a low chance of inflicting Burn, and while that chance is pretty low, it puts out so much ammo that you’re almost definitely going to set lots of bad guys on fire.

Where To Find It: Judy’s den at Lizzie’s bar, when you return there in Act 2 before Automatic Love.

Cocktail Stick — Katana

One of the best early swords you can find is Cocktail Stick, and it has the added benefit of being bright pink, making it kind of hilarious as you use it to behead enemies. The sword itself doesn’t have too much in the way of additional perks, but it does have added chances for critical damage and to inflict Bleeding on enemies, so slice away.

Where To Find It: Clouds VIP area during the Automatic Love story quest in Act 2. Check the dressing room before reaching Woodman.

Widow Maker — Tech Precision Rifle

Tech rifles are already some of the more useful weapons in Cyberpunk 2077 thanks to their ability to charge up and shoot through walls and cover. Widow Maker is an even better version of your standard Tech rifle because it doesn’t just fire one shot through walls, but two. It also lays down Chemical damage and comes with a chance to poison enemies, just in case you don’t manage to headshot everyone with your first blast.

Where To Find It: On Nash in the Raffen Scav hideout, during the Ghost Town story mission.

Cottonmouth — One-Handed Club

Cottonmouth is one of the best blunt weapons you’ll come by in the early part of the game. It hits hard and comes with some serious added benefits: namely, it inflicts both Chemical and Electrical damage and comes with the chance to Poison and Shock enemies. That’s great for taking opponents down quickly, especially if you’re trying to avoid killing them, since Cottonmouth is a non-lethal weapon.

Where To Find It: On Finger’s bed during the Disasterpeace story mission in Act 2.

Scalpel — Katana

To start with, Scalpel is a slick sword thanks to the addition of Electrical damage with every blow. It gets the added benefit of an increased chance for critical damage, as well. You get the most out of the Scalpel katana when you’ve got the Sandevistan cyberware equipped, though. When it’s active, hits apply Bleeding and your chance to deal critical damage increases by 50%.

Where To Find It: Reward for completing the Big In Japan Side Job.

Tsumetogi — Katana

Tsumetogi isn’t too different from Scalpel, in that it’ll deal Electrical damage and potentially Shock enemies as you slice through enemies. The upside, though, is that Tsumetogi cuts the amount of Stamina it costs to swing your sword at enemies. It also gives you some slight resistance to Electrical damage, and increases your damage for “non-standard” attacks–which includes the strong attacks that are executed by holding down the attack button.

Where To Find It: Take it off the table in the room where you speak to the Tyger Claws bosses during the Pisces Side Job, as part of Judy’s story arc.

Overwatch — Power Sniper Rifle

It’s hard to come across a better sniper rifle than Overwatch. It does massive physical damage with each shot and comes with a custom silencer, making it easier to stay hidden while blasting away at enemies. It also has a relatively high critical damage chance and deals more than double damage for headshots. Overwatch is extremely powerful and can drop lots of enemies in just one shot.

Where To Find It: Reward for completing the Riders on the Storm Side Job in Panam’s story arc.

Tinker Bell — One-Handed Club

The story that goes with Tinker Bell is pretty upsetting, but it’s still a useful and powerful non-lethal weapon. It does massive Electrical damage and carries a big chance to inflict Shock on enemies, while also having a pretty good chance of landing critical damage, as well. Use a strong attack and you also get a chance to knock an enemy out in one shot.

Where To Find It: Located in The Hunt Side Job in River’s story arc. Look for it in the hidden room in Peter Pan’s farmhouse; you’ll need to find the switch in his bedroom to reach it.

Crash — Power Pistol

Crash combines the increased power of revolvers with the damage-dealing capabilities of a fully automatic weapon. It does high damage and has a really good chance for landing critical hits, but if you aim down the sights and hold down the fire button, Crash flips to full-auto and unloads ammo on your target. If you want a powerful and versatile handgun, this is a great one.

Where To Find It: Reward for completing River’s story arc, which starts with the I Fought The Law Side Job.

Malorian Arms 3516 — Power Pistol

You’ll use Johnny Silverhand’s pistol a few times during the main story of Cyberpunk 2077, which will show you how ridiculously powerful it is. You can eventually find the gun later and it’s worth hunting. It lays down huge damage, including extra Thermal damage, and reloads very quickly. It also sports four mod slots so you can trick it out even more.

Where To Find It: Loot it from Grayson during the Chippin’ In Side Job.

Apparition — Tech Pistol

Another useful Power pistol, Apparition is mostly a high-damage weapon that’ll show up later in the game. Though it doesn’t have any special elemental damage boosts, it does hit very hard with physical damage. The upshot is that Apparition monitors your health to give you boons when you get hurt. When your health is at critical, Apparition reloads faster, fires faster, and does more damage. If you charge up your shots with critical health, they’ll do double damage.

Where To Find It: Complete the Warpigs Side Job and loot it off a body. This one seems to only be available to characters on the Corpo life path.

When you start a new game in Cyberpunk 2077, you’re asked to pick one of three life paths: Street Kid, Corporate, and Nomad. The path you choose will have some effect on the stories you see, the characters you meet, and the conversations you might have. While your life path will inform your V’s backstory, it won’t drastically change the game–but there are a few key elements that the choice will alter, including the prologue and your path into Night City.

Here’s what you need to know about the three Cyberpunk 2077 life paths and how they’ll change your Night City experience. It’s worth noting that, after the prologue section, all three paths merge together with the game’s main story to take you on a similar journey. Your life path will change some of the details, however, and it’s important if you want to immerse yourself in V’s experience. Your life path choice will bring you some specific side quests related to your prologue.

We’ve also got some essential tips for Night City newcomers, a guide to help you make money in Cyberpunk 2077, a rundown of how romances work in the game, and our full Cyberpunk 2077 review–so check those out too.

Life Path Choices

Street Kid

The Street Kid is a Night City local. They were born and raised in Heywood under the stark shadows of Night City’s neon-drenched skyline. They know the ins and outs of the city, like where to get weapons, drugs, and–most importantly–work.

The Street Kid path kicks off in the El Coyote Cojo, a dive bar located in Heywood that protagonist V frequents. Unfortunately, the bartender has found himself in a sticky financial situation with a local fixer named Kirk. V agrees to chat with Kirk to see if they can convince him to erase the bartender’s debt.

Kirk tells V that if they can steal a car from a specific Arasaka employee, he’ll cancel the debt. V sets off to do the job, but unfortunately, someone else also wants to get a hold of that car. Midway through the heist, V gets a gun shoved in their face by one Jackie Welles, a solo, or mercenary, who also has been assigned this particular job. But before either of them can make a getaway with the vehicle, the Night City Police ambush, detain, and beat on them both–although that’s because V knows one of the cops, and getting a little roughed up is better than going to jail. The story resolves with the bruised and battered V and Jackie bonding over the experience and becoming friends.

Starting out as a Street Kid gives you something of a relationship with some people in Night City, including local fixers, making you a known quantity early in the game. It also unlocks dialogue options related to gangs and the realities of being poor in the city, with V drawing on their experience growing up close to Night City’s criminal element.

Nomad

If the Street Kid is the Night City local, then the Nomad life path is that of an outsider. Most nomads roam the badlands, an area outside of Night City, in clans. However, V is a lone wolf. Their Nomad family is in shambles and V is trying to put their own life back together at the start of the game.

The Nomad path opens up in a backwater garage in the California desert as V is getting their car repaired. Before V can leave, a not-so-friendly sheriff shows up and questions V. Soon after, V meets up with a Solo named–you guessed it–Jackie Welles, in order to smuggle a package across the border into Night City. As you approach the border, Jackie starts to get cold feet. A border agent asks V to step out of the vehicle for an interview.

Of course, this doesn’t go as planned and Arasaka agents ambush V and Jackie. A fierce vehicular gunfight ensues, but V and Jackie ultimately escape and make it into Night City, where V begins their new life.

If you want to go into Night City for the first time with fresh eyes, the Nomad path is probably the one for you. It presents a V that is a bit warier of the city and its flash, and who has little or no prior experience with its gangs or corporations. This V also has a better sense of what life is like outside of Night City–and before long, the story will take you beyond its borders, where that knowledge will also be useful.

Corpo

Compared to the Street Kid and Nomad, the Corpo path almost seems a little too clinical to be cool at first glance. Corporations are, of course, the bad guys. But the journey of Corpo V, who begins by enjoying life in Night City’s upper crust, is actually pretty exciting.

The Corpo path begins with V throwing up in a bathroom sink in Arasaka tower, where they currently hold a job in counter-intelligence. V is on the phone to Jackie Welles, this time a lifelong friend, venting about problems with their job. Someone has leaked corporate intel, and everyone’s on edge.

From there, you meet up with your boss, Jenkins, who is infamous for being a cutthroat dude, and you watch him remotely massacre the European Space Council when you go to meet him in his office. He’s got some underhanded plans in the works to help him climb the corporate ladder and forces you to take part, giving you a wad of cash and ordering you to discreetly hire someone outside of the corporation to kill his boss, Abernathy.

V knows this is a bad idea, but equally bad is refusing to follow Jenkins’s orders, so V heads to a bar called Lizzie’s to meet Jackie and farm out the job. Unsurprisingly, Jackie thinks it’s a terrible idea and suggests cutting ties, but before V can make any decisions, some Arasaka employees appear. Abernathy has caught wind of the plan, and her goons hack into your cybernetics and wipe away all of V’s corporate perks–home, insurance, money. Jackie manages to talk the Arasaka guys out of killing V, but at this point, his Corpo life is over and he’s stuck rebuilding from the ground up.

With a Corpo background, V gets insights into how the rich and powerful of Night City live and work–and maybe more usefully, how corporations operate. You’ll get extra dialog options based on those insights when dealing with corporations and their employees, which often let V suss out the power struggles and corporate malfeasance happening in Night City in ways that help them complete jobs, or even save their life.

No matter which life path you choose, there are a lot of constants throughout Cyberpunk 2077–so while it’ll affect the game you play, you’re not going to have a hugely divergent experience choosing one over the others. That said, each of the paths have unique elements, and you’ll get the most out of your experience by embracing your V’s specific background. When you get opportunities to answer with knowledge that only a V with your background would have, you should definitely use it. And don’t forget what happens in your prologue, because elements of that story will come back into play at some point (if in small ways), and you’ll want to be ready.

PC players of Destiny 2 who have stuck with the game’s free-to-play version following the launch of Beyond Light might want to keep their phone on hand while playing from now on. A new security measure has been added to the game to prevent cheating as of Update 3.0.1, adding SMS verification to certain activities.

As Bungie explains in a help article, this applies only to “certain pinnacle level activities,” and players who have purchased a Destiny 2 expansion do not need to do this. Trials of Osiris, competitive Crucible matches, and the Iron Banner will be affected–all PvP activities.

Here are the steps necessary to activate and use SMS verification from Destiny 2 on PC:

1. Launch into an SMS restricted activity when playing on PC, and receive a pop-up requesting SMS verification
2. Click the “Verify Now” button. This will redirect players to Bungie.net
3. Sign into their Bungie.net profile
4. Enter their phone number in the space provided and request a verification code
5. Enter the verification code sent to their phone number

This might be a minor hassle, but hopefully it will have an impact on cheating and account theft on PC. Players with the expansions can also choose to opt-in for SMS verification, if they would like to do so.

If you’re a console Destiny 2 player who has managed to get their hands on a PS5 or Xbox Series X version, make sure you check the game out after this latest update–it’s a major upgrade.

Rocket League Season 2 is now live and it brings a host of changes to the game about supersonic acrobatic rocket-powered battle-cars. Season 2 adds a new battle car and arena, as well as player anthems.

The new battle car is the R3MX, unlocked in the first level of the Rocket Pass. The R3MX possesses the Hybrid hitbox, so it strikes the ball similarly to battle cars like the Venom and X-Devil. Meanwhile the new arena, Neon Fields, is a colorful field that reacts to the music being played during the match.

Really, music is the overall theme of Season 2. For example, several new goal explosions, battle car decals, wheels, and boosts in the Rocket Pass all relate to music. This theme most comes through in the brand-new player anthems. You can now assign yourself a player anthem, a song that will play when you score a goal, get an epic save, or earn MVP for a match.

For the full list of changes implemented in Season 2, check out the patch notes. We’ve listed them below.

Rocket League Season 2 Patch Notes

Season 2

• Live Now
  • Season 2 is live on all platforms
  • Season 2 Rocket Pass, featuring the new R3MX car, has begun
    • R3MX uses the Hybrid hitbox
• Tournaments
  • Season 2 Tournaments are now available
    • New Tournament Rewards and Titles have been added
  • Tournament player population cap has been significantly increased
    • We will continue to add more capacity and additional support per region over time
  • Changes and Updates
    • Previewing an item when a Tournament finishes will no longer hide a player’s Tournament Summary
    • The Tournaments card no longer says “Joinable” after the player has signed up
    • “Checking In…” message now has a clear time-out state
• Challenges
  • Stage 1 Challenges for Season 2 are now live
  • Players now need to complete 22 or more of 24 Challenges to earn the Season Challenge Reward
• Competitive
  • Season 2 Competitive has begun
  • 3v3 Standard: This season’s soft reset will be less aggressive than Season 1
    • Grand Champion and Supersonic Legend Ranks in 3v3 Standard will be slightly easier to reach
  • Rumble: Champion I and higher Ranks will be slightly tougher to reach

New Content

• New Arena: Neon Fields
  • Neon Fields has been added to the Online Playlists rotation, and can also be used in Private Matches and Free Play
  • The new Arena interacts with Rocket League Radio, and Player Anthems for all players in a match
• Player Anthems
  • Player Anthems are a new customization option that let you play your favorite music from the Rocket League soundtrack at key moments during a match. Players Anthems play when you:
    • Score a goal
    • Make an Epic Save
    • Earn MVP honors
  • To use a Player Anthem, go to Profile > Choose Player Anthem
  • Under Settings > Audio > Player Anthems, there are three choices:
    • Always On: Plays during matches and in Free Play
    • Matches Only: Only plays during matches
    • Off: Turns off your anthem and anthems from other players
  • Player Anthem volume is controlled by ‘Music – Gameplay’ under Settings > Audio
  • Five Player Anthems are now available to all players from the Rocket League Soundtrack Vol. 1:
    • “We Speak Chinese” by Mike Ault and Abandoned Carnival
    • “Love Thru The Night” (feat. Morgan Perry) by Mike Ault
    • “I Can Be” (feat. Crysta) by Mike Ault
    • “Flying Forever” (feat. Morgan Perry) by Mike Ault
    • “Angel Wings” (feat. Avianna Acid) by Mike Ault
• Season 1 Competitive Rewards
  • Season 1 Competitive has ended. Season Reward Items and Titles will be awarded for your highest Rank achieved during the season, and successful completion of the appropriate Season Reward Levels.
  • Season 1 Rewards are custom, non-tradeable, universal Decals
    • Bronze I or higher: S1 – Bronze
    • Silver I or higher: S1 – Silver
    • Gold I or higher: S1 – Gold
    • Platinum I or higher: S1 – Platinum
    • Diamond I or higher: S1 – Diamond
    • Champion I or higher: S1 – Champion
    • Grand Champion I or higher: S1 – Grand Champion
    • Supersonic Legend: S1 – Supersonic Legend
  • Grand Champion Titles (in Crimson text)
    • Competitive Grand Champion: S1 GRAND CHAMPION
    • Rumble Grand Champion: S1 RNG CHAMP
    • Hoops Grand Champion: S1 DUNK MASTER
    • Snow Day Grand Champion: S1 BLIZZARD WIZARD
    • Dropshot Grand Champion: S1 FLOOR DESTROYER
  • Supersonic Legend Titles (in Titanium White text)
    • Competitive: S1 SUPERSONIC LEGEND
    • Rumble: S1 RNGENIUS
    • Hoops: S1 LEGENDARY BALLER
    • Snow Day: S1 ICE TITAN
    • Dropshot: S1 TILE ANNIHILATOR

The wait is over: CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 is finally here. The RPG has released on Steam, and it’s already doing huge numbers.

According to Steam’s public data page, Cyberpunk 2077 peaked at more than 1 million concurrent players on December 9. That makes it Steam’s biggest game, exceeding Valve’s own free-to-play juggernaut Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

There have been some reports about issues and outages with Steam, but as always, your mileage may vary.

Cyberpunk 2077 officially releases on December 10, so it won’t be long until everyone everywhere can play the next game from the makers of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

Cyberpunk 2077 is a big and expansive game. To help you get started, GameSpot has put together some top tips to help you on your way:

GameSpot’s Cyberpunk 2077 review scored the game a 7/10. “The side quests and the characters they showcase are the shining beacon through the neon-soaked bleakness of Night City, and they give you room to explore the best the core RPG mechanics have to offer. These are what carried me through an otherwise disappointing experience,” reviewer Kallie Plagge said.

It was only a matter of time before someone did it. TC Helicon’s GoXLR has reigned supreme as the all-in-one audio interface and mixer for streamers since 2018, but a challenger has finally arisen with the Elgato Wave 3. Coming in at $159, it pairs a high-quality streaming microphone – co-designed with Lewitt – with a powerful software mixer, built-in compressor, and more. If you’re a content creator on a budget, the Wave 3 is a device you can’t afford to miss.

[widget path=”global/article/imagegallery” parameters=”albumSlug=elgato-wave-3&captions=true”]

Design and Features

The Elgato Wave 3 is an unassuming microphone. It’s fairly small, coming in just over eight inches when mounted on its stand (six, if we’re looking at the microphone by itself) and trimmed almost entirely in black. It’s dwarfed by the other stream favorite mics, like the Blue Yeti or HyperX Quadcast, but a touch larger than the Audio-Technica AT2020. It’s also quite light at only 590g, so you won’t need a bulky boom arm to hold its weight. It inherits the rectangular look of Lewitt’s microphone line but thinner, which lends it an uncommon look in the streaming world. The overall design is sleek and seems made to blend right into the background on your face cam.

Despite its small size, it feels sturdy enough. The grill surrounding the capsule is a rigid metal with very little flex even when squeezed. The stand is also metal and accounts for more than half the weight of the whole package to stay in place on your desk. The mic body and control dial are plastic, though, which feels cheaper in the hand than many of its competitors. These aren’t dealbreakers, but for the price, I would have loved to see metal throughout like the Yeti or AT2020.

The Wave comes in two variants, the Wave 1 and Wave 3. The main visible difference between the two comes with the functions built into the clickable control dial. On the Wave 1, which retails for $139, it controls the headphone volume and mute function. The Wave 3, on the other hand, adds a capacitive mute button to the top of the microphone and additional controls to the central dial. Instead of muting it, clicking the dial can alternately control your volume, your input gain, or adjust the balance between your system level and sidetone. Underneath is a tiny line of LEDs that give a quick visual indicator of your levels and balance across these modes.

Under the hood, the Wave 3 uses a condenser capsule that’s been tuned for vocal capture. Condenser microphones are popular among streamers due to their wide frequency response and natural sound. They’re often used in professional recording studios for exactly this reason, but that natural sound comes at the expense of heightened sensitivity. Like all condenser mics, the Wave 3 easily picks up background noise, so that clacky mechanical keyboard will be the guest star on your stream if you’re not careful. The mic uses a tight cardioid polar pattern, which targets sounds in front of the capsule and deadens most sound from the back and sides. Off-axis rejection is about on par with the Yeti and Yeti X, if a touch better, but you’ll still want to use a noise gate to completely cut out background sounds.

The technical specs on the microphone are top-notch. The Wave 3 captures audio up to 24-bit, 96kHz, while much of the competition is stuck at half that, 48kHz. These figures indicate the resolution the microphone is able to record at, similar to how a monitor might be rated for 1080p or 4K. For most spoken word recordings, this isn’t a difference you’ll be able to hear (I wasn’t), but it demonstrates that Elgato is using high quality components.

What you won’t find here are multiple polar patterns. The Yeti and Quadcast are well known for having additional modes suited to interviews or hosting a two-person podcast. The Wave 3, on the other hand, records in exactly one direction. This may be a dealbreaker for some, but even as someone who does record different types of content, my mics stay in cardioid mode most of the time anyway. It’s also the mode single-person streamers should be using to sound their best, so it removes the potential for new streamers to get set up improperly. Given that most streamers will never use those other modes, it doesn’t feel like a meaningful omission, especially when compared to the additional features it does offer.

Elgato has taken a lot of the guesswork out of mastering the audio on your stream – and that’s before getting to the Wave’s mixing capabilities. Around the back is a headphone jack for zero-latency monitoring to keep track of your levels in real-time. There’s a built-in compressor Elgato calls ClipGuard, so if you get loud on your stream, it will automatically stop you from peaking and distorting your audio. It has a built-in pop filter that actually works and is enhanced by ClipGuard preventing distortions from your plosives. It even has a hardware-based low cut filter (turned on with the software) to cut down on any boominess in your voice. This can make you sound a bit thinner, so you’ll need to try it to see what sounds best for you.

One thing is for sure: you’ll never have to worry about your audience not hearing you. Even though the mic sounds best within six inches of your mouth, there’s enough gain to be heard clearly from multiple feet away if you need to get up and move during your stream. Turning up the gain results in more ambient noise making its way into the mic, but there’s a remarkable amount of headroom if you need to walk away and want to continue talking. Just as importantly, the mic doesn’t begin to sound very thin until you’re a good two feet away. Positioned a bit over a foot away on my desk, I was impressed at how full my voice still sounded.

Still, unless you’re sound treating your room, you’ll get much better, much cleaner results with the mic close to your mouth and the included stand just isn’t tall enough for that. It only lends the mic an additional few inches of height and Elgato failed to include any kind of extension in the box. To use the mic to its fullest potential, you’re stuck buying an additional stand and that’s a shame.

Typical desk stand aside, there’s no question: on hardware alone, the Wave 3 is already a leading choice for streamers. When you pair it with the Wave Link software, it goes to a whole other level.

Wave Link Software

It’s clear that Elgato has paid close attention to the streaming market and how well-received T.C. Helicon’s GoXLR has been. If you’re not familiar, the GoXLR combines an audio interface, mixer, and effects processor all into one, making it easy to route and control different audio sources all from a single box. The GoXLR is great, but it’s not without its limitations. Price is a big one with the full-size model going for $499 and the scaled back Mini still going for $249 – and that’s without factoring in the cost of a microphone.

For all that, the audio routing and mixing functionality is incredible, and that’s exactly what the Wave Link software delivers. During the install process, the software creates multiple virtual audio devices that you can direct sound to from Windows. Then, inside Wave Link, those levels can be independently adjusted before being routed to a Stream Mix to output to your streaming app of choice.

This is game-changing for the quality of your stream. Instead of having to swap between windows or click around in your System Tray to adjust volume, everything is controlled from within the app. It allows you to add up to eight sound sources in addition to your voice and each can be run independently or as part of a channel group. If you have a Stream Deck, you can even add volume adjustment buttons to have physical control without ever leaving your game.

Wave Link also lets you keep a Local Mix just for your headphones, so what you hear in your headset can be different from what your audience hears. This is great if you filter out elements, like your teammates’ chat. In addition, every input has a volume slider for both mixes. Balancing out your needs as a creator with your needs as a gamer is fast and easy once you’ve arranged all of your sources into channels.

The app was reliable throughout my couple of weeks of testing, but I did run into one odd error. Even with my GoXLR completely disabled, it refused to identify my headphone mix as outputting from the Wave Link, even when it was. You can see this in the screenshot above where the label still reads TC-Helicon. A reinstall of the program cleared it up. Otherwise, Wave Link was rock solid.

Getting up and running with all of this does take some time and it can be confusing. Wave Link will create its different channels automatically, but actually routing sources to them isn’t exactly intuitive and the software doesn’t have any tutorial to teach you. Clicking the settings icon will open Windows’ own audio routing settings, and from there, you need to choose the Wave Link channel you’d like to use. The program pre-configures the most common choices (music, game, voice chat, browser), but what I was greeted with was a drop-down menu with ten different options to choose from, including all of the audio devices from my motherboard. Once they’re set, you can begin adjusting levels, and directing your streaming app toward your Stream Mix.

For all that setup, what you’re greeted with is an audio system, not just a microphone. Gone are the days of running extra programs like Voicemeeter Banana. Everything can now be handled between Wave Link and, in my case, OBS. The only thing Wave Link lacks that I would like to see added in is an equalizer to dial in its vocal capture.

Performance

I always test my microphones with sample recordings in Audacity to hear the raw, uncompressed audio before being sent out to a stream. The clarity was just fantastic. The Wave 3 has a crisp, natural sound and seemed to give my voice a bit more “bite” than my Yeti. Elgato didn’t share a frequency response graph, but the middle frequencies sound slightly elevated, which lent my vocals a bit more edge. It made the microphone sound slightly less warm while still being full-bodied, and enhanced my voice’s ability to cut through game audio because of this tuning.

Like most streaming mics, however, the desktop stand just doesn’t cut it. Thanks to the generous amount of gain, it’s usable if you have no other choice, but doing so requires you to let in extra noise from your surroundings. Elgato recommends keeping the mic “two fists” from your mouth (6-8 inches), but doing so with the included stand required me to hunch over and lean in. I didn’t waste time using the included adapter to mount it on a boom arm so I could sit comfortably and enjoy the crisp, thick sound the Wave 3 has to offer.

Needless to say, whether I was gaming live or chatting with friends over Discord, I came through crystal clear. A co-worker even remarked at how much better my microphone was than everyone else on a conference call. I even used it to record voiceover for a tech review on my personal YouTube channel and it worked perfectly. Even without the audio mixing, the Wave 3 would stand on its own as a great sounding vocal mic.

But it’s really when you add Wave Link into the equation that the value here comes into perspective. Between my computer gear, Stream Deck, lights, headphone setup, and decorations, I really don’t need another box on my desk. I’ve been a GoXLR user for about a year, but pairing the Wave 3 with my Stream Deck gives me almost all of that functionality without the added hardware. Even without, however, spending a few extra minutes making sure my levels are set with the software allows me to get close without even needing the Stream Deck.

Purchasing Guide

The Elgato Wave 3 has an MSRP of $159.99. It’s available on Amazon or direct from Elgato.

 

Sony released the list of November 2020’s top-selling PS5 and PS4 games for the US/Canada region, and the results are unsurprising. The PS5 launched in November to great fanfare, and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales was one of Sony’s next-generation console’s key launch titles. It proved to be a draw and landed at number one on the top-downloaded PS5 games for US/Canada.

Other big titles like Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, Demon’s Souls, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and NBA 2K21 Next Generation filled in the top ranks of the best-selling PS5 games. See the end of the article for a comprehensive list, as well as top-downloaded PS4 and free-to-play games. Check out PlayStation’s Blog for the top-downloaded PSVR games and DLC/expansions.

On the PS4 side, many of the same titles made the top-downloaded list. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War landed at number one instead of Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Grand Theft Auto V, a game launched in 2013, is still doing exceptionally well and was the seventh most downloaded game on the PS4.

In the free-to-play category, Rocket League and Rogue Company took first and second place respectively. Call of Duty: Warzone, Fortnite, and Genshin Impact rounded out the top five list. Rogue Company is a tactical shooter game released by First Watch Games and Hi-Rez Studios. Genshin Impact, the RPG and gacha hybrid, has had a few great months too, with character Zhongli receiving much Twitter love.

Top-Downloaded November 2020 PlayStation (US/Canada)

PS5

1. Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
2. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
3. Demon’s Souls
4. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
5. NBA 2K21 Next Generation
6. Sackboy: A Big Adventure
7. Godfall
8. Watch Dogs: Legion
9. Mortal Kombat 11
10. Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition
11. Borderlands 3
12. No Man’s Sky
13. The Pathless
14. DIRT 5
15. Maneater
16. WRC 9 FIA World Rally Championship
17. Planet Coaster
18. Overcooked! All You Can Eat
19. Observer: System Redux
20. Dead by Daylight: Special Edition

PS4

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
2. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
3. Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
4. Madden NFL 21
5. FIFA 21
6. NBA 2K21
7. Grand Theft Auto V
8. The Last of Us Part II
9. Ghost of Tsushima
10. Minecraft
11. Marvel’s Spider-Man: Game of the Year Edition
12. God of War
13. Watch Dogs: Legion
14. Red Dead Redemption 2
15. MLB The Show 20
16. Mortal Kombat 11
17. Marvel’s Avengers
18. STAR WARS: Squadrons
19. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege
20. Need for Speed Heat

Free-to-Play (PS4)

1. Rocket League
2. Rogue Company
3. Call of Duty: Warzone
4. Fortnite
5. Genshin Impact
6. Apex Legends
7. Bless Unleashed
8. Destiny 2
9. SMITE
10. Brawlhalla