Category: Games

2021 is just around the corner, and Pokemon Go developer Niantic has now detailed the game’s first Community Day of the new year. The event will take place on January 16, and the featured monster this time around will be the Fighting-type Pokemon Machop.

Throughout the event, Machop will appear in the wild much more frequently than usual, and you’ll have a chance to encounter a Shiny Machop. The Fighting Pokemon will also be able to learn an event-exclusive move. If you can evolve Machoke (Machop’s evolved form) into Machamp up to two hours after January’s Community Day ends, it will know the Dark-type attack Payback.

In addition to increased Machop spawns, a few other bonuses will be available during January’s Community Day. First, you’ll earn triple the normal amount of Stardust for catching Pokemon during the event. Any Incense that you use will also remain active for three hours, and Niantic will be selling a special item bundle in Pokemon Go’s in-game shop that contains the following:

• 1 Elite Charged TM
• 4 Incense
• 4 Star Pieces
• 30 Ultra Balls

Like recent Community Days, next month’s event will run for six hours, from 11 AM to 5 PM local time. Niantic will also offer a Community Day-exclusive Special Research line revolving around Machop during the event. You’ll need to have a ticket to gain access to the Special Research. However, if you purchase a ticket for Pokemon Go’s Kanto Tour event by January 13, you’ll also receive tickets for January and February’s Community Day Research stories as a bonus. You can read more details on Pokemon Go’s official website.

In the meantime, Pokemon Go’s annual holiday event returns this week. From December 22-31, Ice Pokemon like Jynx, Snover, and the debuting Vanillite will appear in the wild more frequently, as will festive versions of Pikachu, Cubchoo, and Delibird. There will also be a variety of event-exclusive Field Research tasks to complete and holiday-themed avatar items in the Style Shop.

The awaited 1.5 update for Stardew Valley is coming soon, possibly even before the end of the year on PC, and indie developer Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone has outlined some of what we can expect from the big patch.

In a tweet, Barone highlighted a couple of key features for new farmers just starting out after the version 1.5 update goes live. Those include a new farm type, Beach Farm. According to an attached screenshot, sprinklers don’t work on a beach farm, but it’s great for foraging and fishing, and sometimes you’ll a supply crate will randomly wash up ashore. There will also be a new Advanced Game Options menu, which lets you toggle aspects like your community center bundles, mine rewards, and whether monsters will spawn on your farm.

Barone didn’t give any new timing on the update, but he said just recently that it could release on PC this year followed by consoles early next year. That suggests it’s very close to completion and could roll out anytime in roughly the next week for PC players.

The 1.5 update is aimed primarily at providing new endgame content for experienced farmers, but he hinted at new surprises for beginners too, and the beach farm option seems to be one. It will also feature split-screen cooperative play, and a mysterious new door has been intriguing players with the potential for secrets.

Stardew Valley was based on classic Harvest Moon games. So far it has sold more than 10 million copies.

While it may have been last season of Fortnite: Battle Royale that was Marvel-themed, that doesn’t mean the game’s connections to the franchise have ended. A small new set of challenges, dubbed Wakanda Forever, have been introduced to the game for the next three weeks, and completing them will earn you the Wakandan Salute emote–and the long-awaited Black Panther skin may finally be approaching its release.

The Wakanda Forever challenges are available for free, and there are only three total you’ll need to complete. Fortunately, this just involves playing the game–you won’t need to hunt down any unmarked locations or do anything unnatural. However, one of the three challenges is mislabeled: Despite saying you only need to play five Duo or Squad matches, you actually have to do this challenge with a friend, Epic clarified on Twitter; it’s working to update the in-game text now. Each of the three challenges has a corresponding XP reward, and once you finish all three, you’ll unlock the emote, which was popularized by 2018’s Black Panther movie. You just have to do all of this by January 12 at 4 PM PT / 7 PM ET.

Wakanda Forever Challenges

• Play Matches (10) — 10k XP
• Outlast opponents (500) — 20k XP
• Play Duo or Squad matches with a friend (5) — 20k XP

Coinciding with this, Epic’s ongoing Fortography event, where players submit their best Fortnite screenshots, will focus on the new emote. You can submit yours by tweeting with the #Fortography hashtag.

Additionally, Epic says it will release a new Fortnite trailer today, December 21, at 3:45 PM ET / 6:45 PM ET. It didn’t say what this will involve but teased there will be watch parties on Twitch with MsAshRocks, Xmiramira, Prospering, and BlackGirlGamers. Leaks have pointed to the prospect of a Black Panther skin being added to the game for months, and it’s possible this trailer could be related to the arrival of the new outfit.

Following the passing of Black Panther actor Chadwick Boseman earlier this year, Fortnite players congregated at the Black Panther statue in-game to pay their respects.

The Book of Boba Fett, a new Original Series, starring Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen and executive produced by Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni and Robert Rodriguez, set within the timeline of The Mandalorian, is coming to @DisneyPlus Dec. 2021. pic.twitter.com/YT2zbLufI8

— Star Wars (@starwars) December 21, 2020

Genshin Impact‘s big 1.2 update is arriving on December 23, bringing with it a huge new area, a host of new rewards and content, and some well-overdue quality-of-life updates. The update will bring two new 5-star characters across two banners–first, the sword-wielding Geo alchemist Albedo, and later in January the Cryo archer Ganyu.

Developer Mihoyo has now revealed the event banner for Albedo, showing that 4-star characters Bennett, Fischl and Sucrose will all be easier to obtain while wishing on the “Secretum Secretorum.” The new main character Albedo is a Geo sword user who seems to be designed for a support role.

Albedo’s story quest “Princeps Cretaceus Chapter” will launch at the same time as his banner and will be a pre-requisite for the Dragonspine-centered The Chalk Prince and the Dragon event. Accordingly, the story quest will temporarily be available to all players above AR20 without the need for a story key. After the event, the level requirement will be raised to AR40 and a story key will be required.

The event itself comes with some good news from Mihoyo–entering the event’s challenges will no longer require any of your precious original resin. All players can get the event-exclusive sword Festering Desire for free by participating. Like the previous Unreconciled Stars event, The Chalk Prince and the Dragon will have its own unique in-game currency and event shop to unlock rewards including primogems. The event will take place in four acts that will unlock between December 23 and December 31.

The new Dragonspine area also has a lot of new content that players will want to take part in even after the event is finished–including new daily commissions and world quests. One world quest will unlock a new recipe for Goulash, which will reduce the new temperature debuff Sheer Cold being introduced with Dragonspine. There are also new bosses in the area, as well as a new domain that will award the new cryo Blizzard Strayer and hydro Heart of Depth elemental artifact sets.

In quality-of-life updates, players will find they can now private message with friends and assign them nicknames. You’ll also be able to repeat a domain without exiting it after a successful clear, and co-op hosts will be able to end a session without kicking individual players. Mihoyo is also adding a handy new reward of one Acquaint Fate for every character ascension at level 20, 50, or 70, which can be redeemed for characters who have reached those levels prior to the update.

The new update also adds a bonus for returned players, so anyone who hasn’t logged in for over two weeks can jump back into the game for exclusive daily quests and bonuses.

Check out the full patch notes below for even more additions and changes. The 1.2 update will land on December 23, and players on PC can begin preloading the patch now from the game launcher. The game will go offline during the update, though players will get precious primogems in compensation for the downtime.

〓Update Time〓

Begins at 2020-12-23 06:00:00 (GMT+8) and will take about 5 hours

(Precise times are subject to change. Players may also experience disruption outside of this period.)

〓How to Update Game〓

PC: Close the game, re-open the launcher, and click Update.

iOS: Go to the App Store and tap Update.

Android: Open the game and follow the prompts to complete the update. (Or go to the Google Play Store and tap Update.)

PS4: Highlight Genshin Impact on the PS4 Home Screen > press the OPTIONS button > select Check for Update.

If you encounter any issues while installing the update, please contact Customer Service and we will help you solve your issue as soon as possible.

〓Compensation〓

Primogems ×300

(We will give a compensation of 60 Primogems for each hour the servers are down. If servers go back online sooner than scheduled, we will still give out the full compensation above.)

〓Eligibility〓

All Travelers who have reached Adventure Rank 5 or above by 2020-12-23 06:00:00 (GMT+8),

We will issue compensation to all Travelers via in-game mail within 5 hours from the end of maintenance. Please log in to receive the mail by 2020-12-26 11:00:00 (GMT+8). The mail will be valid for 30 days, so don’t forget to claim the compensation before it expires.

〓Update Details〓

I. New Areas

New Area: Dragonspine

◇ New Area – Dragonspine: Travelers will be able to put their adventuring skills to the test in the Subzero Climate of the all-new Dragonspine area. Here, Travelers will discover a whole new exploration experience, filled with various puzzles as well as new quests and mechanisms awaiting at every turn.

◇ New Mechanics – Subzero Climate: Characters in Subzero Climate in Dragonspine will continuously accumulate Sheer Cold. When Sheer Cold reaches its limit, they will start losing HP.

New Feature of Dragonspine – Frostbearing Tree

◇ The ancient tree that should have slumbered forever under the ice and snow has sprouted scarlet sprouts anew. Offer the Crimson Agates scattered all over Dragonspine to this tree, and you may obtain just rewards in return…

◆ Level up the Frostbearing Tree to obtain rewards that include Acquaint Fate, Intertwined Fate, a wind glider, Weapon blueprints, and Gadget blueprints.

New Domain of Dragonspine – Peak in Vindagnyr

◆ Challenge the Domain to earn artifacts from the Blizzard Strayer, Heart of Depth, and other sets.

II. New Characters

5-Star Character “Kreideprinz” Albedo (Geo)

◇ Vision: Geo

◇ Weapon: Sword

◇ A genius known as the Kreideprinz, he is the Chief Alchemist and Captain of the Investigation Team of the Knights of Favonius.

5-Star Character “Plenilune Gaze” Ganyu (Cryo)

◇ Vision: Cryo

◇ Weapon: Bow

◇ The secretary at Yuehai Pavilion. The blood of the qilin, an illuminated beast, flows within her veins.

III. New Equipment

◇ New Weapons: Summit Shaper (5-Star Sword), Festering Desire (4-Star Sword), Snow-Tombed Starsilver (4-Star Claymore), Dragonspine Spear (4-Star Polearm), and Frostbearer (4-Star Catalyst)

◆ Take part in the event “The Chalk Prince and the Dragon” to claim the event-exclusive weapon Festering Desire (Sword).

◆ Explore the Dragonspine area and complete the corresponding quests to obtain the weapons Snow-Tombed Starsilver (Claymore) and Dragonspine Spear (Polearm) and their forging methods; make an offerings to the Frostbearing Tree to obtain the forging blueprint for Frostbearer (Catalyst).

◇ New Artifact Sets: Blizzard Strayer and Heart of Depth

◆ Challenge the brand new Domain of Blessing “Peak of Vindagnyr” in Dragonspine and obtain the artifact sets above.

IV. New Events (Version 1.2 Events No Longer Require Original Resin)

Version Main Event — “The Chalk Prince and the Dragon”

◆ Event Duration: After the Version 1.2 update – 2021-01-05 03:59:59 (Server time)

◆Event Rules: Original Resin is not required to enter this event. During the event, Travelers can obtain the 4-star sword Festering Desire for free. Complete various quests in Dragonspine to obtain Essences, which can be used to redeem items in the Event Shop.

◆ More events are coming soon. Stay tuned!

V. New Systems

“Stellar Reunion” Returnee Event: Return to Teyvat and obtain the sword Prototype Rancour!

After the Version 1.2 update, Travelers who meet the Returnee Eligibility conditions can activate the “Stellar Reunion” returnee event for the opportunity to get the 4-star weapon Prototype Rancour (Sword), Primogems, Fragile Resin, and other rewards.

◆Event Duration

For 14 days after the “Stellar Reunion” event is activated.

◆Returnee Eligibility

Must meet the following conditions:

-Adventure Rank 10 or above.

-At least 14 days since last game login.

-Over 45 days since last activating the “Stellar Reunion” event.

◆Event Details

The “Stellar Reunion” event comprises four parts:

● “Reunion Rewards”: During the event, returning Travelers can claim Primogems, Fragile Resin, and other rewards. Rewards can only be claimed once.

● “Passage of Time” Login Rewards: During the event, log in daily to claim Primogems, Fragile Resin, Hero’s Wit, Mystic Enhancement Ore, and other rewards.

● “Homeward Path” Quest Rewards: During the event, complete designated quests each day to claim rewards and accumulate points. When your accumulated points reach a designated value, you can claim the bonus reward Prototype Rancour (Sword). This bonus reward can only be claimed once! The quest list refreshes every day at 4:00 AM. Remember to claim your rewards in time!

● “Reunion Blessing” Double Drops: Returning Travelers receive three extra opportunities each day to gain double drops. These can be used to obtain double the rewards from Petrified Trees in Domains, Blossoms of Wealth, and Blossoms of Revelation using Original Resin. The amount of double drop opportunities refreshes every day at 4:00 AM. Remember to use the opportunities in time!

● After the event ends, event progress will be cleared and any unclaimed rewards will be lost. Remember to claim your rewards in time!

※ The refresh times above are based on the time of the server you play on.

VI. New Quests

1. New Story Quests

After the Version 1.2 update，Albedo’s Story Quest “Princeps Cretaceus Chapter: Act I” will be available.

◆ Ganyu’s Story Quest “Sinae Unicornis Chapter: Act I” will also become available at a later date.

2. New World Quests

◆ New World Quests in Dragonspine: “In the Mountains,” “The Festering Fang,” “The Great Mountain Survey,” “A Land Entombed,” “Lost in the Snow,” and “Ah, Fresh Meat!”

*By finishing “Ah, Fresh Meat!”, Travelers can obtain the recipe for Goulash. Eating this hearty dish slightly reduces the rate of Sheer Cold accumulation for all party members for a duration of time.

◆ New World Quest: “Return of the Jade Chamber?”

*The Story Quest “Fishing for Jade” will also become available at a later date.

3. New Commission Quests

◆ New Commission Quests in Dragonspine: “Floral Fresh,” “Fresh Flora,” “Emergency Supplies,” “Only Half-Frozen,” and “Eat It While It’s Hot”

VII. Other New Content

• Gameplay

1. New Monsters:

◆ Cryo Samachurl, Ice Shield Hilichurl Guard, Cryo Hilichurl Grenadier, Ice Shieldwall Mitachurl, Frostarm Lawachurl, Cryo Cicin Mage, Cryo Cicin, and Ruin Grader

2. New Animals: Snowboar, Cryo Crystalfly, and Snow Fox

3. New Recipes: Universal Peace, Jueyun Guoba, Sunshine Sprat, and Goulash

4. New Harvestable Resources and Materials: Starsilver and Chilled Meat

5. New Achievements “Challenger – Series III,” “Visitors on the Icy Mountain,” and more

6. New Namecard Styles: “Achievement: Challenger III,” “Achievement: Snowy Summit,” “Ganyu: Qilin,” “Albedo: Sun Blossom,” “Travel Notes: Chalk,” “Frostbearing: Ancient Tree,” and “Celebration: Hypostasis”

7. Spiral Abyss:

◆ Floor 9: Characters on the field will continuously accumulate Sheer Cold and will continually lose HP after Sheer Cold reaches its limit. There will also be a Ruin Brazier on the field. While the Ruin Brazier is activated, getting close to it will reduce Sheer Cold. Enemies will attack the Ruin Brazier on the field to stop it. After having stopped for a period of time, the Ruin Brazier will restart automatically.

◆ Floor 10: Characters on the field will continuously accumulate Sheer Cold and will continually lose HP after Sheer Cold reaches its limit. There will be a Warming Seelie on the field that will help reduce Sheer Cold for the surrounding characters.

◆ Floor 11: Your character will be periodically be inflicted with Engulfing Storm, which continuously drains your Elemental Energy until the inflicted Electro is removed. All party members deal increased Cryo DMG.

◆ Floor 12: All party members deal increased Geo DMG.

• System

1. Adds private chats with friends.

2. Adds function to edit friends’ names.

3. New Gadget: Kamera – When equipped, Travelers can take snapshots. Obtained via the World Quest “Snapshots.”

4. Adds camera height adjustment function and character expressions to the photo-taking system.

5. Adds Travel Log to the Archive system: Stories of all the completed Archon Quests and Story Quests can be reviewed in the Travel Log.

6. Adds character portraits to the Character Archive system.

7. Adds trackable map pins function to the Map.

8. Adds the option to repeat a Domain challenge from inside the Domain.

9. New character ascension reward: Travelers will be rewarded with 1 Acquaint Fate each time their character completes an ascension at Lv. 20, 50, or 70.

10. Adds element tutorial stage “Elemental Trial” to the domain “Temple of the Lion.” After completing the trial, Travelers can claim Weapon Enhancement Materials and Character EXP Materials.

11. Adds the new functions BP Animation Skip, Quest Story Auto-Play, and NPC Dialogue Auto-Play.

12. Adds new controller customization option in the Paimon Menu > Settings > Controls > Vibration.

13. Adds new weapon details display to the weapon event wish on the Wish screen. Travelers can view details about the 4-star and 5-star weapons with drop-rate boosts.

14. Adds a new BP Weekly Mission: Complete the Golden House challenge.

VIII. Adjustments & Optimizations

• System

1. Optimizes the Paimon’s Bargains page in the Shop: “Purchase with Primogems” has been moved to the last tab.

2. Optimizes the Domain and Ley Line Outcrop rewards system: Dropped items are directly added to the Inventory.

3. Optimizes Co-Op Mode:

◆ The host can disband the Co-Op team.

◆ In Co-Op Domains, guests and the host can both quit the Co-Op anytime without affecting other Travelers in the game.

• Other

1. Adjusted the order of voice-over entries in character profiles. (Only the displayed order was affected, not the unlock status.)

2. Standardizes the description of infusion effects for some characters or mechanics. (Actual effects remain unchanged.)

◆ Keqing’s Ascension Phase 1 Passive Talent “Thundering Penance”

Original Description:

Within 5s of recasting Stellar Restoration while a Lightning Stiletto is present, Keqing’s Normal, Charged and Plunging Attacks are converted to Electro DMG.

New Description:

After recasting Stellar Restoration while a Lightning Stiletto is present, Keqing’s weapon gains an Electro Infusion for 5s.

◆ Diluc’s Elemental Burst “Dawn”

Original Description:

Releases intense flames to knock nearby opponents back, dealing Pyro DMG. The flames then converge into the weapon, summoning a Phoenix that flies forward and deals massive Pyro DMG to all opponents in its path. The Phoenix explodes upon reaching its destination, causing a large amount of AoE Pyro DMG.

The searing flames that run down his blade cause Diluc’s Normal, Charged and Plunging Attacks to deal Pyro DMG.

New Description:

Releases intense flames to knock nearby opponents back, dealing Pyro DMG. The flames then converge into the weapon, summoning a Phoenix that flies forward and deals massive Pyro DMG to all opponents in its path. The Phoenix explodes upon reaching its destination, causing a large amount of AoE Pyro DMG.

The searing flames that run down his blade cause it to be infused with Pyro.

◆ Chongyun’s Elemental Skill “Spirit Blade: Chonghua’s Layered Frost”.

Original Description:

Chongyun strikes the ground with his greatsword, causing a Cryo explosion in a circular AoE in front of him that deals Cryo DMG.

After a short delay, the cold air created by the Cryo explosion will coalesce into a Chonghua Frost Field, within which all DMG done through Normal, Charged and Plunging Attacks by Sword, Greatsword and Polearm wielding Characters will be converted to Cryo DMG.

New Description:

Chongyun strikes the ground with his greatsword, causing a Cryo explosion in a circular AoE in front of him that deals Cryo DMG.

After a short delay, the cold air created by the Cryo explosion will coalesce into a Chonghua Frost Field, within which all Sword, Claymore and Polearm-wielding characters’ weapons will be infused with Cryo.

◆ Bennett’s Lv. 6 Constellation “Fire Ventures with Me”

Original Description:

Sword, Claymore, or Polearm-wielding characters inside Fantastic Voyage’s radius gain a 15% Pyro DMG Bonus. Normal, Charged, and Plunging Attacks now do Pyro DMG.

New Description:

Sword, Claymore, or Polearm-wielding characters inside Fantastic Voyage’s radius gain a 15% Pyro DMG Bonus and their weapons are infused with Pyro.

◆ Tartaglia’s Elemental Skill “Foul Legacy: Raging Tide”

Original Description:

…In this Stance, Tartaglia’s Normal and Charged Attacks change as follows:…

New Description:

…Tartaglia’s Normal and Charged Attacks are converted to Hydro DMG that cannot be overridden by any other elemental infusion and change as follows:…

3. Updates the description of Ningguang’s Passive Talent “Trove of Marvelous Treasures” by adding Starsilver to the list of displayed ore veins. The new description reads: “Displays the location of nearby ore veins (Iron Ore, White Iron Ore, Crystal Ore, Magical Crystal Ore, and Starsilver) on the mini-map.”

4. Adjusts the Exploration Progress for “Galesong Hill,” “Windwail Highland,” “Bishui Plains,” and “Lisha.” Travelers that already had a certain amount of Exploration Progress at these locations will obtain a slight increase in their Exploration Progress. Those who have already reached 100% in Exploration Progress will not be affected.

5. Adjusts the daily rotation criteria of Domain of Forgery and Domain of Mastery: From Monday to Saturday, rewards will not change, and dropped items will rotate among the three types each day. On Sundays, the drop type will no longer be random. Instead, all three types of drops will now be available for Travelers to select for their challenges. (For example, in the Domain of Mastery “Forsaken Rift,” Monday and Thursday drops will be Talent Level-Up Materials of the Freedom type. On Tuesdays and Fridays, Resistance-type materials will be dropped. On Wednesdays and Saturdays, Ballad-type materials will be dropped. On Sundays, Travelers can select which of the three types of materials will be dropped during the challenges.)

Destiny 2‘s big Beyond Light update may have started the process of retiring much of the game’s old content, but Bungie is also bringing back some old favorites–starting with the original Destiny raid, Vault of Glass. In a new interview with Polygon, assistant game director Joe Blackburn has explained how he’s working to make sure the new version of Vault of Glass plays just how you remember, despite the differences between Destiny and the current version of Destiny 2.

Blackburn said that the goal of the re-release is to make running Vault of Glass in Destiny 2 feel the same as it did when players got into it for the very first time. He explains why this means that some tweaks are necessary, rather than including the original version of the raid as a straight port.

“The guardians have become significantly stronger in this amount of time,” Blackburn explains, saying that the raid team went back into the original raid to see how it played, before deciding that “we would smoke this with Destiny 2 weapons and armor mods.”

With so many new weapons, Exotics, Supers, and gameplay changes implemented in the three years the Destiny sequel has been out–not to mention three years of the original Destiny before that–a vanilla Destiny raid would be likely to bore current Destiny 2 players.

“We definitely are going to make changes to make it feel challenging, like it felt before,” Blackburn promised. “But we don’t want to go too far, and make it feel like it’s a different raid.”

Vault of Glass has previously been given a facelift for the penultimate Destiny patch, though Blackburn says that players should expect more dramatic changes from this update. “There were some slight mechanical tweaks, there were some slight sandbox tweaks, but it was like, ‘Oh, yeah, this is still the Oracles encounter, this is still the Templar encounter.'”

The challenge for Blackburn’s team lies in changing the raid enough to keep it exciting, while still having it feel like the original Vault of Glass in the end–but players can rest assured that Bungie intends to do right by the original raid. Blackburn also confirmed that original Vault of Glass loot will be available from the raid, with those weapons being redesigned according to a similar ethos. But again, Bungie wants to ensure those guns still feel similar to how they used to.

Vault of Glass will be added to Destiny 2 at some point in 2021, though Bungie hasn’t specified when. Players can also look forward to transmog, which will finally be added to the game along with Season 14.