Capcom is distributing a special Palamute to all Monster Hunter Rise players. The critter is named Wanogre, and it’s based on one of the Palamutes used by a member of the Monster Hunter Rise development team.
To add Wanogre to your party, you first need to speak to Senri the Mailman in Kamura Village and receive the Palamute from the Add-on Content option. After that, head to the Buddy Plaza in the eastern portion of the village, speak to Iori the Buddy Handler, and select Hire a Special Buddy to pick Wanogre up.
A special Palamute from the #MHRise Dev Team has joined the fray! đś Check in with Senri the Mailman, then Buddy Handler Iori to hire the one and only Wanogre! ⥠pic.twitter.com/1QrqtZgBSV
That isn’t the only new piece of content available now in Monster Hunter Rise. Capcom recently distributed another new Event Quest called An Icy Blade So Bright. This quest can similarly be claimed by speaking to Senri the Mailman and downloading it from the Add-on Content menu, and completing it will net you a stylish pair of shades.
More updates are on the way to Monster Hunter Rise over the next few weeks. According to Capcom’s content roadmap, Rise’s 3.2 update is slated to arrive before the end of this month. That patch will introduce the second Capcom Collab event as well as more DLC. The 3.3 update will follow sometime in August and will add the third Capcom Collab event.
The late Robin Williams was originally cast to voice Howard the Duck in Marvel and Lucasfilm’s movie of the same name, but he quit after a week due to voice syncing frustrations.
This news comes by way of The Hollywood Reporter, who learned of this casting revelation in an interview with Chip Zien, the person who was called in to voice Howard after Williams quit. THR also spoke with the actor who played Howard’s love interest in the film, Lea Thompson, about this film and the notoriety it quickly garnered upon release.
“What I was told was by the third day, Robin said, ‘I can’t do this. It is insane. I can’t get the rhythm of this. I am being confined. I am being handcuffed to match the flapping duck’s bill’,” Zien said. “So, on Memorial Day 1985, I got a call from my agent who said, ‘You have to get right to the airport! Robin Williams just quit and you’re now Howard the Duck. You need to get there tonight. There is a ticket waiting for you at the counter.’ I was incredibly excited.”
Diving further into why Williams quit, it wasn’t necessarily that the role was just voice over â it’s that the scenes featuring Howard had already been shot, meaning that Williams would need to voice the lines in such an exact way that they line up with the footage of the character that had already been shot. This hampered Williams’ famous improvisational style (see: Disney’s Aladdin) and the frustration became enough for the actor that he quit before the first week was done.
Zien went on to say that he had signed on for a total of three films. He was also set to work as a fill-in host on Entertainment Tonight, become the voice of AT&T, and receive the rights to talking Howard the Duck dolls. It was all overwhelming, he said.
However when Howard the Duck hit 1,554 theaters on August 1, 1986, it took in just $5 million in its first weekend. THR reports that the movie’s reported budget was more than $45 million, including marketing, and when all was said and done, the movie raked in just $16.2 million domestically and $37.9 million worldwide. It was technically Marvel’s first box office bomb.
Anyone familiar with the character likely knows that Howard the Duck is now officially a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, having a couple of scenes with actual voice lines by Seth Green (Guardians of the Galaxy 1 and 2) and others where the character makes quick-glance cameos (Avengers: Endgame, for example). THR spoke to Green about Howard the Duck, both as a 1986 movie and as a character that he now officially voices in the MCU.
He said becoming the new Howard the Duck was a months-long process that began with a phone call from Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn. Green voiced the character again in Guardians of the Galaxy 2 and will soon do so again in Disney’s upcoming animated series, What If…?, “which is really cool because it resulted in a scene between T’Challa and Howard,” Green says.
Disney Plus’ What If…? series is the final time the late Chadwick Boseman will play T’Challa and Black Panther.
Madden 22 ratings season is officially underway, with the Green Bay Packers’ Davante Adams revealed as its one and only 99 overall wide receiver â at least for now.
Adams returns to the 99 Club after another strong season that saw him reel in 115 receptions for 1374 yards and an NFL-high 18 touchdowns. His stats were enough to earn him a near-unanimous first team All-Pro selection, receiving 49 out of a possible 50 votes.
This is not Adams’ first stint in the 99 Club. After starting at 94 overall in Madden 21, Adams steadily climbed in the ratings, finally reaching 99 overall in December. He’s joined at the top of this year’s list by DeAndre Hopkins (98 overall), Tyreek Hill (98 overall), Stefon Diggs (97 overall), and Julio Jones, who rounds out the top five at 95 overall.
Madden 22’s ratings announcements officially commenced Sunday with various rookie reveals. New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones was among those who received their ratings, learning that he would start at 71 overall. ESPN’s reveals will continue through the end of the month.
Over the past few years, Madden’s ratings reveals have become a kind of unofficial holiday as EA has sought to leverage interest around the numbers by partnering with ESPN and partaking in various social media promotions. They serve as one measuring stick for how various players compare with one another, and offer a glimpse of how EA thinks their real-life teams might perform. Naturally, they spark plenty of debate among fans, who argue vigorously over whether a given player is overrated or underrated.
All of this suggests that this might be Adams’ last year in Wisconsin. And you know what? As a supporter of their rivals, the Minnesota Vikings, I couldn’t be happier.
Pierre-Loup Griffais, a designer working on the upcoming Steam Deck, has clarified his previous comments surrounding a ’30 FPS target’ for games running on the console.
In an interview with IGN, Griffais had previously said, “So far weâre looking pretty good, I think â everything thatâs been coming out this year has been running without issues, that weâve tried. I think this is largely a factor of industry trends. If people are still valuing high framerates and high resolutions on different platforms, I think that content will scale down to our 800p, 30hz target really well.”
The idea of a target of 30hz (another term for frames-per-second, in this context) had led to some members of the community feeling anxious about the hardware’s capabilities, assuming that Valve was pushing for games to run simply at 30FPS and no higher. However, in a recent tweet (below), Griffais reassured the community that the ’30 FPS target’ for the handheld console refers to “the floor of what we consider playable in our performance testing.”
The “30 FPS target” refers to the floor of what we consider playable in our performance testing; games we’ve tested and shown have consistently met and exceeded that bar so far. There will also be an optional built-in FPS limiter to fine-tune perf vs. battery life.
Griffais further reassured fans in the tweet, stating that, “games we’ve tested and shown have consistently met and exceeded that bar so far.” He added that there will also be “an optional built-in FPS limiter to fine-tune perf vs. battery life.” This feature will seemingly be useful for players who are hoping to get the most out of their console’s battery life in a single charge whilst also offering a better experience, performance-wise to those with an accessible charge point during play time.
Valve has said that the console’s fully-charged battery will have a life span of around 2-8 hours and that players can expect to play 4 hours of Portal 2 running at a resolution of 720p at 60FPS before needing to recharge their handheld. However, with the large span of games available on the console, this could vary vastly from game to game. IGN recently reported on the Steam Deck’s full range of specifications including battery, operating system and how it compares against the Nintendo Switch.
The Green Knight bills itself as an “epic fantasy adventure” which calls to mind some specific tropes–monsters, for one, and big fight scenes. Real Lord of the Rings stuff, which is actually rather appropriate given that author J.R.R. Tolkien was a huge fan of the medieval poem the movie is based on, and even produced his own translation. Still, if you’re going into The Green Knight expecting something like HBO’s Game of Thrones, you’re likely going to have the rug pulled out from under you in the first ten minutes or so of the movie.
The Green Knight is not another King Arthur style sword-and-board romp–thankfully, it is much, much better.
Directed by David Lowery (Pete’s Dragon) and starring Dev Patel, Alicia Vekander, Joel Edgerton, and Ralph Ineson, The Green Knight is, in a word, dense. It tells the story of a young would-be knight, Gawain (Patel), who dreams of the type of glory and honor a person can tell great stories about. Gawain is plucky but indecisive, unable to commit to any real heroism or romance. That is, until the court of King Arthur is interrupted one day by a mysterious and monstrous visitor–a giant, plant-like knight who offers up a game: Any knight who is brave enough may strike a blow against him, with one important caveat–one year later, on Christmas day, that knight must leave camelot and seek him out so that he may return the blow in kind. Eager to prove himself, Gawain accepts the challenge and, in his enthusiasm, beheads him. This does not kill the monster, however, and Gawain is left suddenly reckoning with the reality of what he’s done, and the fact that he’s now doomed to be beheaded in kind next year.
This is all stuff from the poem, by the way, which is why it may sound a bit odd–we’re dealing with a 700+ year old, anonymously written morality tale.
With this inciting incident out of the way, the movie begins to free itself from its source material, offering new moments that are clearly inspired by, but not directly referenced in the poem. Plagued by everything from roadside bandits to encounters with ghosts and giants, Gawain’s journey to find the Green Knight’s home and make good on his end of the deal is anything but easy or linear. The movie takes an episodic approach to these moments, breaking the story up with ornately illustrated title cards that make the whole thing feel even more fairytale-like.
Between these title cards come lush, painterly scenes that linger–stretches of the movie progress quietly, without dialogue, as Patel trudges through forests or winds along on horseback. More than once, the camera sits in a static position waiting for him to catch up from a distance, giving you more than ample time to explore the foreground with your eyes for the most inscrutable details.
As these episodic encounters progress and things grow increasingly surreal, Lowery begins to ask for more and more participation from viewers. Like the source material, the movie is layered with metaphors and symbolism designed to ask questions that have no definitive answers. For example, as Gawain nears the end of his quest, he comes upon the castle home of an unnamed Lord and Lady–the Lady played by Alicia Vikander, who also plays Gawain’s sort-of girlfriend Essel back home in Camelot. This duplicate casting is never acknowledged onscreen, but the implications are abundant.
This is not the sort of movie that gives you any time to just “turn your brain off” and enjoy the ride. That said, Patel’s Gawain is definitely leading man eye candy so hopefully you won’t be too mad to engage deeply with every moment. Studio A24 has playfully released Tiger Beat-style promotional images of Sir Gawain and they are anything but false advertising. This is a great thing, given the movie’s penchant for silence and the fact that Gawain spends more than half of the runtime onscreen alone or nearly so. Patel’s performance is magnetic and harrowing, even when he’s spending whole scenes in complete silence.
The rest of the cast was not sleeping on the job, either. Vikander’s double role is responsible for most of the expository heavy lifting which she does with a sort of Shakespearean rhythm and gravitas. Ineson’s Green Knight is done, like most of the movie, entirely practically with prosthetics rather than VFX but he still manages to make a meal out of his scenes even under pounds of makeup. Even King Arthur (Sean Harris), arguably the most famous and widely adapted character in the canon of Camelot, feels entirely new and fresh, done up as an aging and sentimental monarch rather than a boyish hero.
Anyone willing to engage with and participate in The Green Knight will undoubtedly get a lot out of the experience–it is absolutely worth multiple viewings and long discussions with friends from multiple angles. Similarly, failure to actively tune in will likely result in a confusing and frustrating watch. It would be best to measure your expectations, and to go in with an open mind.
Apex Legends Emergence is right around the corner. Season 10 of Respawn’s battle royale introduces Seer as a new playable legend, makes substantial changes to World’s Edge, and implements major balancing changes to several weapons and characters. Caustic mains, rejoice! Emergence gives y’all a nice buff.
Below, we go over everything we currently know about Apex Legends Emergence. That includes the lore and abilities for Seer, the three maps coming to Arenas, the new Rampage LMG, and the return of Disruptor Ammo. That’s right–the bane of Season 2 has finally returned. All that and more is detailed below.
Apex Legends Emergence is scheduled to begin August 3, following the conclusion of the limited-time Thrillseekers event.
Patch Notes
Respawn has not yet released the patch notes for the Emergence update. If the studio sticks to the pattern of past seasons though, we can expect to get them the day before the new season starts–in this case, August 2.
New Legend: Seer
Season 10 introduces Apex Legends’ 18th playable character, Obi aka “Seer.” Seer is a recon character; his ability kit makes him more of a tracker like Bloodhound than the more scout-like Pathfinder, Crypto, and Valkyrie. He is geared towards hunting down enemy squads in close quarters.
Seer’s Abilities
Passive Ability: Heartseeker – While aiming down sights, Seer can hear the heartbeat of nearby legends, helping him discover their location.
Tactical Ability: Focus of Attention – Seer releases several minidrones and after a delay they mark all enemies in front of him, interrupting their use of healing items/revives and revealing their locations and health to Seer and his allies for eight seconds.
Ultimate Ability: Exhibit – Seer throws out his heart chamber, which releases hundreds of mini drones that form a sphere. Enemies that move quickly or fire their weapons in the sphere are marked, revealing their location and footsteps to Seer and his allies. Enemies can destroy the heart chamber by shooting and destroying it, in a similar manner to stopping Crypto and Horizon’s ultimate abilities.
In terms of lore, Seer has a complicated history, one informed by an old folktale called “The Moth and the Flame.” Chapter 1 of the story details that a king and queen locked their daughter who was blind away in her room to protect her from the world, but when a man’s beautiful singing voice caught her attention, she fell in love with him. He, in turn, fell in love with her. Out of fear that the couple’s love would endanger their daughter, the king and queen jailed the man.
Chapter 2 then details how the princess would bring a candle to her window to signal her lover to come to her, but when he didn’t, she began to cry. Her candle attracted a moth, who flew into the fire, but he was saved when the princess’ tears extinguished the flame. The moth promised to help the princess find her love, but only under the condition that he could be reborn as her child to escape his curse of blindly following the light. The princess agreed.
Finally, in Chapter 3, the king and queen burned the young man at the stake to ensure their daughter would simply return to the safety of her room. The fire, however, attracted the attention of the moth, who blindly flew into the fire, leading the blind princess into the fire too. As time went on, this folktale would continue to be told, evolving into a prophecy that one day the cursed moth would be reborn as a human child, one who will blindly lead humanity to destruction.
As Seer was born with glowing eyes and to a mother with a moth tattoo and on a day when a fiery meteor destroyed his planet’s moon, those around him in his community believed him to be this foretold cursed child. He was shunned, but his father taught him about how to command minidrones and his mother gifted him with dance and an appreciation for art. Seer took their lessons and developed a mesmerizingly elegant but brutal fighting style that combined the two, earning him nine years of accolades in the underground arenas. His fame got him a place in the Apex Games.
Legend Changes: Buffs And Nerfs
Emergence introduces a number of buffs and nerfs to existing legends. Respawn is implementing buffs for Caustic, Horizon, and Fuse, and a nerf for Revenant.
Battle Royale Map Changes: World’s Edge Decimated
Hammond’s continued efforts to mine Talos for its natural resources will decimate World’s Edge at the start of Emergence. The lava crack caused by the Harvester lengthens, and the destruction extends to touch both the southern and northern parts of the map.
Sorting Factory is completely destroyed, falling into a sinkhole. The landmark will be replaced by a new point-of-interest (POI), Lava Syphon. The destruction causes a landslide to the nearby mountains, burying Train Yard in debris and transforming it into a new POI called Landslide.
Most of the changes can be seen in the north. Refinery will be completely wiped out, replaced by Climatizer, a significantly larger POI. Nearby, a new lava crack has opened up–though it won’t provide a heated updraft like the one that cuts through the middle of World’s Edge. Though it’s not a POI, a new giant dam will be constructed between Climatizer and Epicenter to prevent the lava from spilling into the rest of World’s Edge.
At both Climatizer and Lava Syphon, moving gondolas will be added to the map, providing movable cover for squads in a similar capacity to the train that once moved throughout World’s Edge in Seasons 3-5.
Arenas Map Changes: Hillside, Dome, Oasis
During Season 10, the Arenas maps based on existing Kings Canyon, World’s Edge, and Olympus landmarks are being rotated out. So no more playing Arenas on Artillery, Thermal Station, and Gardens.
In their place, three new landmark-based Arenas maps are rotating in: Kings Canyon’s Hillside, World’s Edge’s Dome, and Olympus’ Oasis. These three maps will exist in the Arenas playlist rotation alongside Phase Runner, Party Crasher, and Overflow.
New Weapon: Rampage LMG
Emergence adds the Rampage to ground loot, a brand-new heavy-ammo LMG. The Rampage sets itself apart from the other LMGs by being a slower but more powerful variation of the Spitfire, making it an ideal mid-range weapon. Similar to weapons like the 30-30 Repeater and Bocek Compound Bow, the Rampage doesn’t fire fast enough to be much of a threat at close-range.
Similar to the Sentinel sniper rifle, the Rampage can be charged. But instead of using shield cells, the Rampage takes thermite grenades. Once charged, the Rampage fires much more quickly, making it a decent close-range threat. When charged, the Rampage can also easily destroy doors, similar to grenades.
New Playlist: Ranked Arenas
Ranked Arenas is coming to Apex Legends in Season 10. Similar to Ranked Trios and Trios, Ranked Arenas and Arenas will exist as wholly separate playlists. When Season 10 starts, you’ll have to play 10 Ranked Arenas matches to figure out where you’ll be placed.
Unlike Ranked Trios, there is no entry penalty to Ranked Arenas at the higher ranks. You don’t earn points based on how many kills and assists you get either. You simply gain points for winning and lose points for losing. Your Arenas rank will exist separately to your battle royale rank.
Battle Pass Rewards
Like previous seasons, Emergence adds a new battle pass that includes over 100 cosmetic rewards, including two legendary character skins and two legendary reactive weapon skins. This time around, Valkyrie and Horizon are getting the new legendary character skins, and the Volt SMG is getting the legendary reactive weapon skins.
The closed beta for Amazon’s New World is currently experiencing a rather successful stint on Steam, passing 200,000 concurrent players last weekend.
The MMORPG closed beta began on July 20 and has seemingly been popular with users on the platform. According to reports from SteamDB, New World has seen daily highs of around 180,000 concurrent players. The closed beta peaked on July 25 where the game amassed an impressive 200,856 concurrent players.
Crucible, a free-to-play multiplayer third-person shooter, was released by Amazon’s Relentless Studios in May 2020. The title saw an all-time high of 25,145 concurrent players before Amazon Games shut down servers in November 2020. Amazon Games said that the development team was “moving on to work on New World and other Amazon Games projects.”
Players hoping to gain access to the New World closed beta have a few options. Those interested can either sign up via the New World website for a chance to gain access, or pre-order the full game from Amazon or Steam. The New World closed beta will run until August 2, and the full game is set to release on August 31.
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Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.
The next big update for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is coming tomorrow, July 27, and now Ubisoft has released the full patch notes, including details on its file size and release timing. This is the patch that introduces level-scaling, but it also lays the groundwork for The Siege of Paris DLC, introduces new skills, and fixes lots of bugs and other issues.
Update 1.30 will be released on all platforms July 27 at 5 AM PT / 8 AM ET / 2 PM CEST / 10 PM AEST. In terms of the file size, it’s a big one, though the exact size depends on your platform. PS5 users have a 6.85 GB download, while Xbox Series X|S owners have a 23.79 GB install. Ubisoft did not explain why the file size gap is so substantial between the two next-gen systems.
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In terms of the new content, update 1.30 adds the foundation for The Siege of Paris expansion, which launches on August 12 (another download will be required on that day).
As for what you can play on the more immediate horizon, the 1.30 update for Valhalla adds the Sigrblot Festival, which is a limited-time event that runs July 29-August 19. It’s the game’s newest festival and gives players the opportunity to take on new quests and earn rewards like a new one-handed sword.
Perhaps more noteworthy is that the 1.30 update adds optional level-scaling to Valhalla for the first time. If you choose to play with level-scaling and choose the Constant option, you’ll find that enemies will be at least the same power level as you. You can turn off level-scaling completely, or you can put it on Default, which features enemies that are up to 30 power levels under yours–and this is how the game is “intended to be played,” Ubisoft said. There is also a Harder option where enemies are 20+ power levels above you, and a Nightmarish option where they are 50+ above you.
Another thing to note here is that boss fights are treated separately from the new level-scaling and they have their own set intended difficulty settings, Ubisoft said.
1.30 approaches
The 1.30 update also introduces new skills, including Light Fingered, which allows Eivor to automatically pick up loot without pressing a button. Another new skill is Heidrun Slam, which knocks enemies down with a knee slam. Then there is Wolf Warrior, which increases your damage when your health is lower. You can see descriptions for all the new skills below.
Finally, the patch addresses a lot of bugs and other issues and oddities with Valhalla across audio, graphics, UI, and more. In general, the new patch should offer improved performance and stability. You can see the full patch notes below, as written by Ubisoft and shared on the developer’s website.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla 1.30 Patch Notes
Sigrblot Festival
Sigrblot Festival is a new time-limited event from July 29-August 19.
Partake in new festivities and quests to receive exclusive festival rewards (including a one-handed sword!!)
Players must reach England and complete one of the first two narrative arcs (Grantebridgescire OR Ledecestrescire) and be at least Settlement Level 2 to participate in the Sigrblot Festival.
Level Scaling
We added a new menu option to the game to adjust NPC levels to your liking. You may choose from the following options:
Off = Scaling is turned off; enemies appear exactly as prescribed in the region description.
Default = Lower enemies are brought up to 30 power levels under the playerâs level (How the game is intended to be played).
Constant = Enemies will be at least the same power level of the player.
Harder = Enemies will be 20+ power levels above the player.
Nightmarish = Enemies will be 50+ power levels above the player.
Note: Boss encounters and game modes will not be impacted by this as they have their own intended difficulty settings.
Skill Tree Update
The Skill Tree has improved visibility for new skills added throughout the post-launch.
Weâve added an option that will auto-acquire all the skill nodes required to reach the currently highlighted node (if you have enough skill points available).
New Skills
RAVEN
⢠Light Fingered: Eivor will now automatically pick up nearby loot with a quick flick of the wrist (without having to press the interact button). ⢠Thrill of War: Gain adrenaline as long as you remain in conflict.
BEAR
⢠Heidrun Slam: Press R2 while sprinting to knock enemies back with a powerful knee slam. ⢠Idunn’s Heart: Passively regenerate recent health loss after a short delay.
WOLF
⢠Survival Instinct: When at less than a third of health, hold -> for partial healing (Exchange adrenaline for health). ⢠Wolf Warrior: Your damage increases the lower your health.
GAME IMPROVEMENTS
WRATH OF THE DRUIDS â EXPANSION 1
Addressed:
Priest’s body would be missing in Flann Over Ireland.
Cage cannot be opened to free the prisoners in Tuam caves.
Only minor runes inside chests in Ireland.
Shelf not movable in Cashelore.
Cutscene didnât start when sieging the church in The Scourging of Snakes.
Couldnât confirm kill on The Ash.
Missing sound and subtitles within Wrath of the Druids.
King’s Pass not collectible if the Raid is not also completed at the same time.
Couldnât collect the prison key in Courting the Kings.
Barid vanished in Flann Over Ireland.
Thorstein teleported back to the cave in the Snaring Thorstein.
Couldn’t progress when the Puca was killed in Into the Fog.
MAIN GAME
Quests, World Events, and Side Activities
Addressed:
Infinite Loading screens during various quests.
Couldnât complete War of the Collectors, Aelfredâs Jewels, Saint Faith, The Lost Drengir of Ragnar Lothbrok, Lamb Chops, Splitting Hares world events.
Faravid wouldnât get on the horse in This Son of Jorvik *This Son of Jorvik indeed*
Catching the fish with weapons wouldnât count towards quest objective in Bloody Path to Peace.
Couldnât fight Leofrith in Heavy is the Head.
Sigurd didnât follow Eivor in A Brotherâs Keeper. *More like A Brotherâs Leaver*
Objective didnât appear in Twists and Turns *this is how the turn tables*
Issues interacting with Petra in the settlement.
Eivor died upon arrival in Hordafylke in The Road to Valhalla.
Hunter House world event didnât trigger.
Hunter & Warlock NPCs missing for The Plight of the Warlock.
The Banshee world event couldnât be started or completed.
Couldnât progress in the Mistress of the Iron Wood world event.
Couldnât interact with the seer in Of Blood and Gods.
Reaching Hunwaldâs house didnât update the Homecoming quest objective.
The boss didnât take damage at the start of Extended Family.
Hunwald was un-interactable during the Salve for a Fresh Wound.
Map marker appeared out of bounds in Fiery Ambush.
Couldnât interact with Soma or Guthrum in Holy Day.
Players desynced at the start of the fight in King Killer.
Couldnât confirm kill in the Reaver of the South.
Couldnât complete The Lost Drengir of Ragnar Lothbrok.
Guthrum didnât move in Kingdomâs End.
Couldnât collect the key from a body during Pilgrimage to St. Albanes.
Edmund was missing in Puppets and Prisoners.
Couldnât confirm kill against Gotafrid Fair-Robes & Nokkfylla Shine-Eye.
NPC with the coin didnât spawn or targets didnât appear for the arrow challenge in Firing the Arrow.
Stuck between Binding Fate and Of Blood and Gods. *A Binding Fate, indeed*
Black screen during Bakerâs Plaint.
Couldnât interact with Halfdan in War in the North.
Graphics, Audio, and Animation
Addressed:
Various graphics and lighting issues.
Various animation and clipping issues.
Various issues with missing SFX.
Various issues relating to Audio Menu Narration.
River Raids, Jomsvikings, Raids
Addressed:
Appropriate rewards not being provided after completing a Raid.
Rations not healing the proper amount of health for Jomsviking.
Mastery Challenge
Addressed:
Ability to access restricted areas in Mastery Challenge.
Guards could be unreachable in Mastery Challenge.
Player being detected from a stealth bush in the Wenlocan Raven trial.
Reduced the possibility of doubling Armor sets that were acquired from the Store after completing the Mastery Challenge onboarding quest.
Unlocked medals remaining after loading an older save game.
Trouble entering stealth mode in some bushes.
Gameplay, Combat, and AI
Addressed:
Fire weapons not setting NPCs or combustibles on fire.
Enemies not taking proper damage from level 2 Incendiary Powder Trap ability.
NPCs no longer attacking if they were ambushed by a snake. Snake 1, Human 0
Extended flail combo dealt more damage than intended.
Sickle Combo Attacks didn’t register properly.
Various issues with the Viking Salute ability.
Various issues causing the extended flail combo to do more damage than intended.
Ostara items missing following Title Update 1.2.2.1.
World
Addressed:
Instances where Eivor, NPCs, or the long ship would get stuck.
Instances with misplaced or floating objects or textures.
User Interface/HUD
Addressed:
Numerous UI/HUD issues.
Numerous localization issues.
Trouble exiting Photo mode using the ESC button.
Some icons not adapting for color-blind modes.
Silver Booster not applying correctly when looting low value items.
System
Benchmark is not functional when the game path contains non-ASCII symbols.
The Siege of Paris follows the Wrath of the Druids expansion and looks to cover the “most ambitious battle in Viking history” as Eivor and their warband attack the French capital. Alongside bringing back black box infiltration missions, it will also offer new weapons, abilities, skills, and gear.
As for Title Update 1.3.0, this will add numerous game improvements and new content, including level scaling. Players will be able to adjust the NPC levels to their liking, and the options available will be as follows;
Off = Scaling is turned off; enemies appear exactly as prescribed in the region description.
Default = Lower enemies are brought up to 30 power levels under the playerâs level (How the game is intended to be played).
Constant = Enemies will be at least the same power level of the player.
Harder = Enemies will be 20+ power levels above the player.
Nightmarish = Enemies will be 50+ power levels above the player.
Boss encounters and certain game modes will not be impacted by this as they have their own intended difficulty settings.
The update also adds the Sigrblot Festival – a limited time event that will run from July 29-August 19 and will include new festivities, quests, and rewards like a one-handed sword. Some new skills have also been added like Light Fingered, Thrill of War, Heidrun Slam, Idunn’s Heart, Survival Instinct, and Wolf Warrior.
The full list of skills and game improvements is as follows;
New Skills
RAVEN
Light Fingered: Eivor will now automatically pick up nearby loot with a quick flick of the wrist (without having to press the interact button).
Thrill of War: Gain adrenaline as long as you remain in conflict.
BEAR
Heidrun Slam: Press R2 while sprinting to knock enemies back with a powerful knee slam.
Idunn’s Heart: Passively regenerate recent health loss after a short delay.
WOLF
Survival Instinct: When at less than a third of health, hold -> for partial healing (Exchange adrenaline for health).
Wolf Warrior: Your damage increases the lower your health.
Game Improvements
Wrath of the Druids â Expansion 1
Priest’s body would be missing in Flann Over Ireland.
Cage cannot be opened to free the prisoners in Tuam caves.
Only minor runes inside chests in Ireland.
Shelf not movable in Cashelore.
Cutscene didnât start when sieging the church in The Scourging of Snakes.
Couldnât confirm kill on The Ash.
Missing sound and subtitles within Wrath of the Druids.
King’s Pass not collectible if the Raid is not also completed at the same time.
Couldnât collect the prison key in Courting the Kings.
Barid vanished in Flann Over Ireland.
Thorstein teleported back to the cave in the Snaring Thorstein.
Couldn’t progress when the Puca was killed in Into the Fog.
Main Game
Quests, World Events, and Side Activities
Infinite Loading screens during various quests.
Couldnât complete War of the Collectors, Aelfredâs Jewels, Saint Faith, The Lost Drengir of Ragnar Lothbrok, Lamb Chops, Splitting Hares world events.
Faravid wouldnât get on the horse in This Son of Jorvik *This Son of Jorvik indeed*
Catching the fish with weapons wouldnât count towards quest objective in Bloody Path to Peace.
Couldnât fight Leofrith in Heavy is the Head.
Sigurd didnât follow Eivor in A Brotherâs Keeper. *More like A Brotherâs Leaver*
Objective didnât appear in Twists and Turns *this is how the turn tables*
Issues interacting with Petra in the settlement.
Eivor died upon arrival in Hordafylke in The Road to Valhalla.
Hunter House world event didnât trigger.
Hunter & Warlock NPCs missing for The Plight of the Warlock.
The Banshee world event couldnât be started or completed.
Couldnât progress in the Mistress of the Iron Wood world event.
Couldnât interact with the seer in Of Blood and Gods.
Reaching Hunwaldâs house didnât update the Homecoming quest objective.
The boss didnât take damage at the start of Extended Family.
Hunwald was un-interactable during the Salve for a Fresh Wound.
Map marker appeared out of bounds in Fiery Ambush.
Couldnât interact with Soma or Guthrum in Holy Day.
Players desynced at the start of the fight in King Killer.
Couldnât confirm kill in the Reaver of the South.
Couldnât complete The Lost Drengir of Ragnar Lothbrok.
Guthrum didnât move in Kingdomâs End.
Couldnât collect the key from a body during Pilgrimage to St. Albanes.
Edmund was missing in Puppets and Prisoners.
Couldnât confirm kill against Gotafrid Fair-Robes & Nokkfylla Shine-Eye.
NPC with the coin didnât spawn or targets didnât appear for the arrow challenge in Firing the Arrow.
Stuck between Binding Fate and Of Blood and Gods. *A Binding Fate, indeed*
Black screen during Bakerâs Plaint.
Couldnât interact with Halfdan in War in the North.
Graphics, Audio, and Animation
Various graphics and lighting issues.
Various animation and clipping issues.
Various issues with missing SFX.
Various issues relating to Audio Menu Narration.
River Raids, Jomsvikings, Raids
Appropriate rewards not being provided after completing a Raid.
Rations not healing the proper amount of health for Jomsviking.
Mastery Challenge
Ability to access restricted areas in Mastery Challenge.
Guards could be unreachable in Mastery Challenge.
Player being detected from a stealth bush in the Wenlocan Raven trial.
Reduced the possibility of doubling Armor sets that were acquired from the Store after completing the Mastery Challenge onboarding quest.
Unlocked medals remaining after loading an older save game.
Trouble entering stealth mode in some bushes.
Gameplay, Combat, and AI
Fire weapons not setting NPCs or combustibles on fire.
Enemies not taking proper damage from level 2 Incendiary Powder Trap ability.
NPCs no longer attacking if they were ambushed by a snake. Snake 1, Human 0
Extended flail combo dealt more damage than intended.
Sickle Combo Attacks didn’t register properly.
Various issues with the Viking Salute ability.
Various issues causing the extended flail combo to do more damage than intended.
Ostara items missing following Title Update 1.2.2.1.
World
Instances where Eivor, NPCs, or the long ship would get stuck.
Instances with misplaced or floating objects or textures.
User Interface/HUD
Numerous UI/HUD issues.
Numerous localization issues.
Trouble exiting Photo mode using the ESC button.
Some icons not adapting for color-blind modes.
Silver Booster not applying correctly when looting low value items.
System
Benchmark is not functional when the game path contains non-ASCII symbols.
Performance and Stability
Improved performance and stability.
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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.
