Hi, players! Welcome to the latest Arcane Blood Storm build guide for Elden Ring, which will provide all the essential information, including crucial gear selections, spell preferences and much more. Join us on this epic adventure and make your mark in Lands Between.

Build Overview

You’re going to be stacking as many attack power boosts as you can with successive attacks, bleed in the vicinity, as well as critical strikes, and overall boosting the power of Stormcaller to become a Blade of Death, blending up your enemies while building up Blood Loss incredibly fast.

You can also add the Spiralhorn Shield because it has Blood Loss on it. So anytime somebody hits you, that’s going to help build up the Blood Loss. If you want to use this off-hand, using a shield will also allow you to break their stance while parrying and negate those critical hits.

Weapons

As for the weapon, we’re using the Vulgar Militia Saw. This is very easily farmed by some of the Vulgar Militia on the map in Caelid. You can get there very early by taking the portal behind the Third Church of Marika. You'll also get a ton of Elden Ring Runes from this early game, so this will probably be your first weapon, and you'll be able to carry it with you pretty much until the end of the game.

This combination stacks incredibly fast when utilizing the Ash of War: Stormcaller. This synergy is essential because it significantly enhances the weapon's effectiveness, decimating enemies with a powerful blend of physical damage. With a base damage value of 258 plus 291, a B Agility rating, and a significantly improved Arcane rating of D, it produces impressive results. Its scaling properties are pretty good, and with minimal stat investment, requiring only Strength 15 and Agility 30, it can be used even early in the game.

The Spiralhorn Shield adds an enjoyable dimension to your gameplay. With 45 Blood Loss, each time you're struck, your opponent will suffer from bleed build up. You can use it for parrying with the Ash of War, a technique and adds depth to the gameplay. If you appreciate parrying and desire additional Blood Loss build up, it's a worthwhile addition.

However, it's not optimal for straightforward physical damage blocking, as it only offers 61 physical damage negation. Among available shields, it's notably adept for parrying. Requiring Strength 8 and Dexterity 10, you can find this weapon in Liurnia of the Lakes.

To complete this weapon setup, we'll utilize the Ash of War: Stormcaller, obtainable in Stormveil Castle, located opposite the Secluded Cell Site of Grace, near a Teardrop Scarab.

Also Read: Elden Ring: What Kind Of Existence Is Miquella In The DLC? - A Personal Analysis

Armor

When it comes to our armor, the only thing you necessarily need is the White Mask. I wish that the effect that it had was on a different helmet, but sadly it’s not. The White Mask is going to provide you with a 10% damage boost anytime Blood Loss is in the vicinity, and we are going to be constantly getting Blood Loss, so this makes the most sense if you want to do the most damage.

Talismans

Moving on to our talismans, our talismans are going to be really outstanding and fun to use, allowing us to spike our damage incredibly high as we’re making our way through the Lands Between.

First, we’re using the Lord of Blood’s Exaltation, which is going to give you a 20% damage increase anytime Blood Loss is in the vicinity. This is also going to stack with the White Mask and one tear in our flask, allowing us to spike that attack power like crazy.

Next up, we have the Rotten Winged Sword Insignia. If you don’t have this, you can use the Millicent's Prosthesis, but the Rotten Wing Sword Insignia is going to increase the attack power of your skills greatly, giving you a 133% increase in your attack power, which is going to stack with the rest of our attack power items.

In slot number 3, we’re going to be putting the Dagger Talisman, which is going to increase those critical hits by 177%. This is going to be really nice, especially when we have our Spiralhorn Shield equipped, getting off those parries and getting those massive critical chunks of damage off.

If you don’t want to use the shield or focus on parries and critical attacks, then you can put Millicent’s Prosthesis if you’re in NG+, allowing you to have a crazy amount of attack power once your successive attacks and your Blood Loss get going.

Lastly, you can use the Shard of Alexander, which is going to increase the attack power of our skills greatly. This is going to give us a 15% increase to our Ash of War: Stormcaller, and that damage is only going to soar higher because each one of those rotations goes towards the success of attack talismans and eventually will cause Blood Loss, allowing everything to work well.

The Lord of Blood’s Exultation is going to be a dungeon boss kill reward in the Leyndell Catacombs within the capital. The Rotten Wing Sword Insignia is going to be one item you can get at the end of Millicent Questline.

Flask

For a Flask of Wondrous Physick, we are using the Thorny Cracked Tear and the Greenburst Crystal Tear.

The Thorny Cracked Tear is only to support our Ash of War: Stormcaller and all of our other successive attack and attack power boosting talismans. The Thorny Cracked Tear is going to boost your success of attack power by 20%, giving you a massive amount of damage on top of all the other attack powers that we’ve already been stacking with this build.

For the Greenburst Crystal Tear, this is going to boost your recovery speed by 15 per second for 3 minutes, so you’re definitely going to be recovering stamina a lot faster. Stormcaller does eat away your stamina very quickly. The Thorny Cracked Tear isn’t going to be found until the very end of the game in the Consecrated Snowfield after you kill the Erdtree Avatar right next to the Erdtree in the north.

If you want to grab the Greenburst Crystal Tear, you need to head east from Limgrave and go right to the Minor Erdtree. As soon as you get right next to the Smoldering Church, defeat that Erdtree Avatar and the Greenburst Crystal Tear will be yours.

Get ready for another new league as Path of Exile 3.24 Necropolis League release approaches. In this guide, we will explore defensive mechanics for the league start that will fortify your build and hasten your advancement.

At the start of the Necropolis League, there are several mechanics that can be used, which are usually strong in the early stages and provide significant assistance, particularly as you progress through the campaign and face increasingly challenging monsters.

Spell Suppression

Starting with spell suppression, the chance of Mastery to suppress spell damage is lucky. As soon as you allocate your first spell suppression wheel during leveling, you're going to want to immediately take this Mastery. What this Mastery does is that whenever you are hit by a spell, your chance to suppress spell damage will be rolled twice, choosing the favorable outcome.

• With the Entrench wheel taken, with just the notable and the small node allocated, you have a 177% chance to suppress spell damage, and with the Mastery taken, you have an effective chance of 31%.
• With the Full Instinct wheel taken near the top of the tree, you'll have a 22% chance to suppress damage, and with this Mastery taken, you'll have an effective chance of 39%.
• With the Full Inveterate wheel taken, which is the one that most Ranger builds will take, you'll have a 39% chance to suppress spell damage, and with the lucky Mastery allocated, this will improve to an effective chance of 63%.

You will find how much effective spell suppression chance is being gained by spending a single point on this Mastery, and this makes it such a powerful tool for early progression, especially at League start when your gear is typically lacking and you don't have access to leveling gear.

Elevore Helmet

Next, let's talk about a common unique POE Item - the Elevore helmet. This helmet also grants a large chunk of spell suppression chance and some Elemental ailment avoidance chance there. But most importantly, when you suppress spell damage, it can restore 100 to 200 points of life.

This is an incredibly powerful stat, especially if you can get a good roll on the amount of life recovered every time you successfully roll a chance to suppress an incoming spell hit. You'll recover life after taking the hit. This is instant recovery, so it's not prevented by map modifiers.

While this is not a very powerful tool against large spell hits, its effectiveness greatly improves in the leveling environment through early maps, where you often encounter packs of mobs that send a flurry of spells your way. It's dangerous to have too many spells hitting a character at once, and this is usually how you die in early maps.

This mod is going to save you a lot of the time as long as you have a decently high chance to suppress spell damage. This one pairs very well with the spell suppression Mastery. You can also continue to use it deep into progression if you have no interest in bossing.

Also Read: Path Of Exile 3.24: Some Significant QoL Improvements Are Coming To Necropolis League

Endurance Charge

Next is endurance charge generation. This isn't specific to any position in the tree or any type of build, but having stamina charges in your build will enhance your physical mitigation, which is usually one of the weakest parts of the league start build defensively.

You can get endurance charge generation into a build, especially early on, is to be on the lookout for Betrayal rings and amulets, which you can unveil for the minimum endurance charge modifier. When this mod is unveiled, it also has a slight chance to gain an endurance charge on kill, making it very useful while mapping.

Dread Banner Skill

Dread Banner is a reservation skill which provides an offensive aura that will lessen the accuracy of monsters near your character, improving the effectiveness of your evasion rating. This can be very useful early on, especially at the relatively low cost of 10% reservation.

Most of the builds that will be using Dread Banner defensively are unlikely to benefit from the impale chance portion of the skill. Because Dread Banner is an aura skill that affects you and your allies, you can actually support it with Generosity Support.

Generosity will prevent Dread Banner from applying its impale portion of the skill to you, but in return, it will grant a very substantial amount of aura effect to the defensive, less accuracy portion of the skill. Even better still is that Generosity has no cost and reservation multiplier.

With Dread Banner being a strength skill gem, it's often the case that you won't have the stats to level this gem up early on. But Dread Banner's less accuracy aura doesn't scale a huge amount with gem levels and is powerful even at Level 1, applying 15% less accuracy to nearby enemies.

A source of inflicting blind on monsters is also a great addition. Blind will also lessen a monster's accuracy, whilst having the bonus of also lessening a monster's evasion rating. So if you're an attack build, you gain the extra benefit. If you're not capped on hit chance, the Blind will lessen accuracy and evasion rating by 20%.

Armor And Energy Shield Mastery

The armor and energy shield Mastery is underrated. This one does have a prerequisite of having to use armor and energy shield gear pieces in your helmet, gloves, and boot slots. But this Mastery will provide 100% increased armor and energy shield from your equipped body armor.

This Mastery will vary based on the status of your body armor and any other increases to armor or energy shield that you have in your build. But defensively, this large increase early on can mean a lot more mitigation against physical hits, and also potentially a lot more guard from Molten Shell as well.

While Mastery requires you to equip armor and energy shields on your helmet, gloves, and boots, that doesn't mean you have to use hybrid armor and energy shield body armor. You can actually make use of a pure armor chest piece to gain a lot of armor from this Mastery, or a pure energy shield body armor to gain a large chunk of energy shield instead.

Flasks

Lastly, let's discuss flasks. This one is not really specific to League start, but making use of the defensive flasks like a Granite Flask or Jade flask as soon as you get it in the campaign is going to make you feel so much tankier.

The amount of armor or evasion it's granting at that stage of progression is just enormous compared to not just what you would normally have on your character at that point, but also against the average monster damage and accuracy rating. Make sure you upgrade your life flasks routinely too and grab a bleed removal mod as soon as possible.

I recommend making sure you have a bleed removal life flask by the midway point of Act 4, where some monsters in zones like the Grand Arena and the Belly of the Beast begin to regularly inflict dangerous bleeds with their attacks.

The endgame Ball Lightning build has had many variations and takes on it, but this version right here takes the crown. This Ball Lightning build, in my eyes, is truly immortal and can be used to destroy the Diablo 4 Abattoir of Zir and Tier 100 Nightmare Dungeons with ease in Diablo 4 Season 2. We truly have 100% uptime on our barriers, which means our health bar isn’t touched.

The best thing about this build is that it requires no Uber Uniques at all. That’s why I decided to create this version of the build in the first place. You can use the timestamps below to go through each section of the build in sequence. So let’s go over the crux of the build and how it works. Make sure you have enough Diablo 4 Gold that can help you a lot.

About Build

First, the main idea of this build is to have 100% uptime on our barriers, primarily coming from our Protection skill, which grants 30% of our Max Life as a barrier whenever we use a cooldown. We cycle through our defensive cooldowns: Ice Armor, Flame Shield, and Teleport. This not only provides the survival benefit these cooldowns offer but also generates a barrier constantly on top.

What makes this build different from many other Ball Lightning builds is the use of the Ice Blades Enchantment. The enchantment spawns additional Ice Blades whenever we use our cooldowns. Thanks to one of the Ice Blades modifiers, every time an ice blade hits an enemy, it reduces the cooldown of our other skills. With the constant spamming of cooldowns, including our ultimate ability, we generate multiple Ice Blades on the battlefield, cumulatively reducing our cooldowns significantly. Additionally, our key passive, Overflowing Energy, reduces our shock skill cooldowns when Crackling Energy hits an enemy.

These synergistic effects result in the Teleport cooldown consistently coming back every few seconds. Teleport is ideal to spam because it also provides an additional 30% damage reduction when used. To further enhance damage reduction, we aim to stack as much “damage reduction when injured” as possible. This stat is found on legs, boots, and amulet. Having it on all three items ensures a substantial amount of damage reduction. Additionally, we stack this with Vampiric Power Resilience, providing even more damage reduction when we operate with low health.

With all these damage reduction stats kicking in once we are in the injured health range, coupled with the infinite uptime on barriers, our health bar remains practically unaffected. Regarding Mana regeneration, due to our extensive cooldown usage, we primarily rely on Prodigy's Aspects to address our Mana issues. Crackling Energy also contributes significantly to Mana regeneration throughout our build.

Also Read: Diablo 4: How To Get A Bloodforged Sigil And Complete The Abattoir Of Zir?

Skill Tree

So, let’s go through the skill tree. We start off by putting 2 points into Firebolt, which we use as our second enchantment in this build. This allows us to burn enemies whenever we damage them. This is super important because we can then benefit from damage reduction and damage increase to burning enemies. In our Paragon board, one point goes into Devastation, allowing us to put 3 points into Elemental Dominance. We allocate one point into Potent Warding, one point into Flame Shield, and then 5 points into Teleport, alongside Enhanced and Shimmering Teleport.

We allocate 5 points into Teleport specifically to reduce its cooldown as much as possible, enabling us to spam it and maintain the 30% damage reduction alongside our barriers as much as possible. 3 points go into Glass Cannon, though if you’re struggling to survive, these points can be reallocated elsewhere. One point goes into Ice Armor, 3 points into Elemental Achievement, and one point into Ice Blades, with Enhanced and Summoned Ice Blades for that crucial cooldown reduction. One point goes into Align the Element, allowing us to put 3 points into Protection and 3 points into the Mana Shield.

For this build, Conjuration Mastery is not deemed crucial. Unstable Currents' uptime isn’t high enough for us to benefit significantly from the increased damage, and the focus of this build is survivability. 3 points go into Icy Veil, increasing the duration of our barriers, and one point into Inner Flame, unlocking Devouring Blaze for increased Critical Strike damage against burning enemies. Thanks to the Fireball Enchantment, this should be any enemy hit with Ball Lightning.

5 ranks of Ball Lightning itself, Enhanced and Wizard’s Ball Lightning, one rank of Static Discharge to unlock 3 ranks of Invigorating Conduit for additional Mana regeneration. Unstable Currents serve as our ultimate, along with Prime and Supreme Unstable Currents. One point goes into Coursing Current, enabling 3 points into Electrocution. Finally, Overflowing Energy, our key passive, reduces the Teleport cooldown and the ultimate ability cooldown.

Gear And Aspects

Let’s go over our gear. I’ll start with the amulet because that’s where the most important aspect goes. For the extra 50% benefit, Aspect of Disobedience should be placed here because that extra armor is going to really helps you survive. The amulet should also have damage reduction when injured and Mana cost reduction as mandatory stats. Other desirable stats include damage reduction stats, total armor, movement speed, and ranks to Mastery Skills.

For your helmet, you want total armor, maximum life, and cooldown reduction. I put the Everliving Warlord aspect here so we take less damage from vulnerable enemies, which we make our enemies through our vampiric powers. While no Uber Uniques are required for this build, the Harlequin Crest would be an amazing direct upgrade here if you have one.

For your chest piece, aim for total armor, damage reduction when close, other damage reduction stats, and maximum life. I put the Unwavering aspect here so we get our cooldowns back even faster. Gloves should have attack speed, Critical Strike chance, Critical Strike chance against injured enemies, and a fourth stat that doesn’t matter too much. I put the Gravitational Ball Lightning aspect here.

Pants should have damage reduction when injured, ranks of Ball Lightning, total armor, and another damage reduction stat. I put the Snowveiled aspect here to gain even more armor when we cast Ice Armor. For boots, look for damage reduction when injured, Mana cost reduction, ranks of Teleport, and movement speed. I put the Exploiter's aspect for more damage to Unstoppable enemies.

For rings, you absolutely want the Tal Rasha's ring, which you can obtain quickly from farming Varshan's for up to an additional 60% damage. The other ring should have Critical Strike chance, damage to close enemies, maximum life, and resource generation. I put the Prodigy's aspect here.

Your weapon should be a one-handed dagger with intrinsic damage to close enemies, damage to close enemies, Mastery Skill damage, and other useful stats like intellect and Critical Strike damage. For the focus, aim for Critical Strike chance, Mana cost reduction, resource generation, and cooldown reduction. I put the Conceited aspect here to deal more damage when we have a barrier up.

Vampiric Powers

In terms of our vampiric powers, we use Infection, which gives us another 15% damage boost through Tal Rasha's Ring. Ring resilience is mandatory for the build, providing even more damage reduction because we always have low health when we’re running around. We then run Pray on the Weak, which is how we apply vulnerability to our enemies. Accursed Touch is the vampiric curse we use, through which Pray on the Weak applies vulnerability. Ravenous gives us an attack speed bonus, significantly increasing the DPS of our Ball Lightning.

Paragon Board

Let’s go over our Paragon Board. In our first board, we put the Territorial Glyph. We then unlock the Elemental Summoner board and place the Enchanter Glyph here for both the damage increase and resistances it provides. I’ve also picked up Reservoir here as well.

Enchantment Master is our next board. Here, I put the Elementalist Glyph, which provides a 15% damage boost. Our next board is Burning Instinct, where we place our Tears of Blood (Abattoir of Zir) Glyph. You can see I’ve picked up all the stats around this glyph and the rare nodes that gain a bonus from the Tears of Blood Glyph. If you haven’t unlocked this yet, use the Exploit Glyph until you clear Tier One of Abattoir of Zir.

Next, I’ve got The Frigid Fate board, and we do pick up this legendary node for once. Here, I’ve socketed our Adept Glyph. Then go for the Ceaseless Conduit board, where I’ve used the Charge Glyph for a further 15% damage bonus.

Searing Heat is our next board, and I apply the Control Glyph here. Finally, I use the Static Surge board where I apply the Destruction Glyph.

In case you didn’t notice, Starfield is a pretty big game, probably the biggest that Bethesda has ever created. And that’s thanks in no small part to the 1,000 different planets that you can explore.

Here, we’re going to be looking at 10 of the most bizarre planets that people have found. Of course, if you have enough Starfield Credits, you can drive various ships to reach these planets.

1. Earth

Despite the thousands of planets Starfield has on offer, our own planet Earth may be the most unique of all.

Despite being known as the blue planet, this version of Earth has fallen into some hard times. Sometime before the Settled Systems was established, Earth lost its atmosphere and was reduced to a great big bowl of dust shortly afterward.

Despite this sounding about as interesting as watching mud crab sunbathe, Earth still has a lot to offer. Scattered throughout its surface are many landmarks and Starfield Items that hearken back to a simpler time.

Some books, such as Oliver Twist, can give you clues on where they have already discovered the Pyramids of Giza, the London Shard, and the Empire State Building.

Visiting these locations will also grant the player a snow globe to keep as a souvenir, so don’t worry about your hard efforts going unrewarded.

2. Maal V

Found on the outskirts of the Settled Systems, Maal V is a beautiful planet that hosts all sorts of biomes. From overgrown swamplands to calm forests, Maal V is definitely not lacking in beauty, but it’s a diamond in the rough for sure.

And that’s mainly thanks to the planet’s inhabitants. Most of the alien species you’ll come across are going to have super high levels and don’t hesitate to turn you into a human granola bar. Stay clear of this planet if you’re anywhere below level 60, because these creatures will one-tap you all the way back to Oblivion.

Although the saying goes that fortune favors the bold, that does not apply to Maal V. The planet is absent in rare resources, making it a full errand to come here for exotic materials. But that doesn’t make the journey here useless.

Whether it’s for farming experience, testing weapons, or just establishing humanity’s dominance, the flat open landscape and abundance of enemy creatures make Maal V the perfect hunting zone.

3. Procyon III

Despite its heat, or lack thereof, Procyon III is a contender for the best planet to set up an outpost. The planet has plentiful amounts of Water, Copper, Argon, and Fluorine.

Procyon III may already sound like a diamond in the rough, but it doesn’t end there. The planet is also rich in Neon and Tetrafluorides, which are some of the rarest resources in the game.

And to top it all off, Procyon III is gorgeous to look at. Its snowy woodlands are perfect for a cozy base. And if you’re having a hard time finding it now, then don’t worry, as the main story will eventually take you there, anyway.

Overall, what you have is a planet that’s rich in resources, beautiful, and easy to find. It checks all the boxes for a perfect base. So, the next time you’re in the Procyon system, be sure to place a beacon on this planet.

4. Nesoi

If resources aren’t the main priority, but rather a place to hang up your suits and call home, then there’s really no place like Nesoi.

Named after the island goddesses in ancient Greek mythology, Nesoi is rather fittingly found in the Olympus system. With its large grasslands and flat terrain, Nesoi is the perfect place to set up an endgame base. And unlike other planets mentioned on this list, Nesoi’s temperatures are perfect for human conditions.

Best of all is its location. Thanks to the system it’s found in, Nesoi sits well within reach of each of the major cities. Although it’s not exactly ideal for a resource-gathering base, it still comes with a plethora of basic and rare resources, such as Iron and Uranium. And getting from place to place won’t cost as much fuel as the other planets mentioned.

So, if you’ve somehow finished this game and the new game plus and don’t know where to rest your weary heads, there’s no better place to call home than Nesoi.

5. Porrima System

Based on the real life star system with the same name, the Porrima System hosts a large selection of lush plants and points of interest. And with too many to choose from, it would be a shame just to pick one for this list. So, we’ll start with Porrima IV.

This planet is being heralded as one of the best places to set up a base in the game. And although the planet on its own is not a bad choice for an outpost, I don’t think it holds a candle to its moon, Porrima IV-d.

This moon is rich in exotic resources like Uranium, Plutonium and Neon, but that’s just us getting started. If you’re the gambling type, then you might want to set your eyes on the Red Mile, a CD establishment that hosts an arena like gauntlet for anyone brave enough.

If you are hoping to take a more innocent vacation, then this system has got you covered.

Paradiso is a picturesque beach resort found on the surface of Porrima II.

Also Read: Starfield: Top 8 Items You Must Have

6. Hyla II

If your time in Paradiso has left you with an acquired taste for tropical lakes, beaches, and palm trees, then Hyla II might be the planet for you.

Thanks to its warm temperature and high carbon levels, Hyla II is rich in flora and fauna, which makes it stand out against the majority of rocky and barren planets. It’s also rich in rare resources, making it a choice spot for an outpost.

But be warned, as Hyla II is as beautiful as it is dangerous. Carnivorous ant-like creatures prowl the planet’s lush swamps, waiting to hunt any unsuspecting ship captains they find. Even a view from air isn’t safe, since the planet’s orbit is known to solicit unexpected visits by the Crimson Fleet.

But like building your homestead in Skyrim, conquering Hyla II is worth the effort.

7. Eridani II

Found on the very edge of the Settled Systems, we have Eridani II, a midgame planet that’s rich in resources and beauty.

Eridani II has a very similar landscape to that of Earth. It did before Earth turned into a sampers. But I think Eridani II is much cooler. Because not only does this planet have the grasslands, mountains and beaches that Earth had to offer, but it’ll hold a special place in the hearts of Halo fans.

That’s because Eridani II is based on the real life Epsilon Eridani.. Those who are Halo savvy will know that that’s the planet reach from the Halo game of the same name.

So, although the alien life seems to all be friendly, don’t say I didn’t warn you if you stumble upon a covenant presence. And although any Easter Eggs are yet to be found, it wouldn’t feel out of place, especially considering who owns Bethesda now.

8. Sumati

With its peaceful lush forests and the abundance of resources, Sumati sounds almost too good to be true. It’s perfect for anyone who wants to get away from the hustle and bustle of city living and instead opt for an outpost in the great outdoors.

So, long as you land in an area marked as a coniferous forest, you’ll be met with beautiful blue trees as far as the eye can see, making it easy to build a hidden base away from prying eyes. And if homesteading isn’t up your alley, then you’re still in luck, because this planet is filled with valuable resources.

Wood, Water and various other valuable resources are plentiful on this planet. So if the die for views and rural living isn’t to your liking, then your visit to this planet will not be in vain.

Sumati is ultimately the perfect place to settle for the more introverted types that want to live out their days in the settled systems as a hermit, away from the noise of the city or people in general.

9. Triton

If larger-than-life mountains are what you’re after, then you don’t have to explore much further than our own solar system.

Triton is the largest and most interesting of Neptune’s 13 moons. Despite its superficial similarities to our own Moon, Triton holds its own when it comes to the massive peaks. Some of its mountains are capable of reaching.

Combine this with a relatively low gravitational pull and you have a recipe for endless fun. With the building mechanics, I’m sure you can create an obstacle course that would give the Red Mile a run for its money.

And thanks to its freezing temperatures, the planet has a distinct surface that makes it look like it’s been dusted with Colombian grade moon sugar.

So, although building a base here would be pretty cool, I wouldn’t recommend putting your nose near the ground.

10. Muphrid IV

If you’re looking for a starter base that doesn’t look like some rocky hell hole from Morrowind, then Muphrid IV might be the planet you’ve been looking for.

Located on the upper edge of the Settled Systems, Muphrid IV is not exactly outstanding when it comes to resources. Most of the items and materials you’ll find here are going to be the typical Iron, Aluminium and Argon.

But what this planet lacks in resources, it makes up for with stunning views over grassy highlands that make building a base of any size trivial. The local flora is also relatively peaceful.

There are a few territorial creatures to keep in mind, but most of them are just going to mind their own business as long as you do the same. What we’re left with is a calm planet that’s perfect for building the home base of your dreams.

Recently, I updated my Chain Lightning build with the new Tal Rasha’s Iridescent Loop. To give you a better idea of its performance, I’ll show how it compares to Ball Lightning build, and Charged Bolts build in this guide. This way you can decide which one to use to maximize your enjoyment of playing Lightning Sorcerer in Season 2.

With this guide, you’ll learn all the key synergies on how to gain unlimited mana, as well as how to build tanking abilities effectively. Without further ado, let’s get started!

CL, BL & CB Comparison

Before I begin, you need to know that the absolute numbers I show here, like how long it takes to kill an Uber Lilith, are based on my near-perfect quality gear, plus 6 glyphs maxed out at level 21 on Paragon board. Therefore, you may find that your experience differs significantly from the numbers listed here.

The endgame experience in Diablo 4 is highly dependent on the quality of equipment components and glyph level. I did some rough calculations with my current setup and all 6 glyphs at level 21 alone are actually 2.5x my damage. So I definitely recommend spending time running Nightmare Dungeons to farm Diablo 4 Gold and XP to level up glyphs quickly. This can increase our damage.

With the numbers I’ve shown, you can get a visual of the relative performance of the three builds to decide which one you’ll find the most fun with.

Because all Nightmare Dungeons games are similar in length, ranging from 2 minutes to 4 minutes. To defeat the same T100 boss, Ball Lightning build takes 7 seconds, Chain Lightning build takes 12 seconds, and Charged Bolts build takes 16 seconds.

To defeat Uber bosses like Uber Lilith, I wear Raiment of the Infinite and Tibault’s Will to increase my damage. Since I don’t need that much survivability, all three builds can skip all of Uber Lilith’s mechanics, changing her HP from 100 to 0 during the second phase.

Among them, Ball Lightning takes about 3 seconds to build, Chain Lightning takes about 7 seconds to build, and Charged Bolts takes about 11 seconds to build.

Of course, this theory of relativity also applies to other Uber Bosses like Echo of Varshan and Uber Duriel.

Also, I tested the time it took to farm 600 Cinders in Helltides. Ball Lightning build took me about 17 minutes, Chain Lightning build and Charged Bolts build also took me about 15 minutes.

Also Read: How To Optimize Diablo 4 Ball Lightning Sorcerer With The New Tal Rasha’s Iridescent Loop?

Switch Between CL, BL & CB

Switching between the three builds is very easy.

We used Aspect of the Unbroken Tether on the gloves to build Chain Lightning. We use Gravitational Aspect on the gloves we build with Ball Lightning. And we used Staff of Lam Esen and Aspect of Piercing Static on the gloves when building Charged Bolts. All other gear components are the same.

In terms of skill trees, the differences between the 3 builds are also minimal. The major difference is that in Chain Lightning, we use 5 points to build Chain Lightning. For Ball Lightning build, we use 1 point in Chain Lightning and 1 point in Flame Shield. And we use 5 points in Charged Bolts to build Charged Bolts.

Also, we use Ball Lightning Enchantment for Chain Lightning build and Charged Bolts build. We use Chain Lightning Enchantment to build Ball Lightning.

For Vampiric Powers, we use Accursed Touch for Chain Lightning build and Charged Bolts build. We use Call Familiar to build Ball Lightning. Everything else is the same, with all three builds sharing the same Paragon Board.

Final Thoughts

All that said, personally, I prefer Chain Lightning build, and Charged Bolts build to Ball Lightning build.

If you like the visuals and sound effects, and are willing to spend more time on Nightmare Dungeons boss, I recommend using Charged Bolts build, but I don’t recommend using Charged Bolts build to farm Uber boss.

If you like targeting Uber Bosses to melt everything extremely fast and are okay with a pure melee combat style. Then your gear will need to be more survivable, and it will need more energy to avoid dying in advanced Nightmare Dungeons. I recommend using Ball Lightning build.

If you like the balanced experience between Charged Bolts build and Ball Lightning build, where you can farm Nightmare Dungeons and bosses at a decent rate while enjoying the ranged build, I recommend going with Chain Lightning build.

Tal Rasha Ring Build

I’m glad the developers introduced Tal Rasha’s Iridescent Loop, which makes it easier for Chain Lightning builds to get enough damage to run Nightmare Dungeons T100 and skip all of Uber Lilith’s mechanics.

While some may lament the lack of more innovative unique items like Omnipower, Tal Rasha’s Iridescent Loop is a powerful addition to any Lightning Sorcerer’s arsenal. Its potential for permanently multiplied damage increases, coupled with top-tier affixes, cannot be underestimated.

With the synergy of Tal Rasha Ring, whether it’s Chain Lightning or super strong builds like Charged Bolts and Ball Lightning, it creates more opportunities for map farming. What do you think of these three Lightning Sorcerers? Have a great day!

Lords of the Fallen gets another update that addresses some of the important issues the game has. But fundamentally, almost everything you can see in the patch notes is not what the game needs right now in my opinion.

So, here I want to talk about yet another Lords of the Fallen update (1.1.326) and this article will be both informative to keep you up to speed with all the new stuff. I’d also like to share my personal opinions on some of the changes and highlight what I think HexWorks should concentrate on instead.

Update Details

Lords of the Fallen Patch 1.1.326 is a big update.

We have lock-on overhaul, improved stability and improved performance. Some of the bosses now have buffed health pools and their damage output is higher. PVE is being re-balanced separately from PVP. Umbral ending is fixed, or so it seems, and then some.

Lock-on Overhaul

The first thing I’d like to talk about is lock-on overhaul. You now have a few options to choose from: precision, dynamic, proximity and legacy.

1. Precision will prioritise enemies that are closer to the centre of your screen with enemies around the borders ignored.
2. Dynamic will prioritise enemies that are closer to the centre of the screen but without limits, meaning you will still be able to lock-on to enemies farther from the centre.
3. Proximity will prioritise enemies that are nearest to the player.
4. Legacy, represents the original lock-on system from the game’s launch.

I’ve tested all of them and the closest ones to what I’d want to see in the game are dynamic and, it might sound weird but, Legacy. The proximity one is absolute dumpster fire in the situations where you are surrounded by melee enemies and have a few ranged mobs attacking you from afar and, let’s be honest, it’s not a rare occurrence in LOTF.

What, I think, would be a nice addition is an option to disable camera auto-centering when the system fails to lock onto something. This killed me more times than these ambushers. I say this thing should be optional because, as far as I know, camera auto-centering doesn’t bother those playing the game with M&K.

Also, regardless of the setting I go with, the camera angle seems to be different sometimes in certain situations and that makes fighting enemies so much harder because you can’t see them very well.

Bosses Buffed

Another crucial change is re-balanced bosses.

All non-main bosses have received a health boost ranging from 10% to 20%, depending on where the player is in the game. It’s less of a boost at the start and a higher boost towards the end.

On top of that, all non-main bosses have received an overall 10% boost to their damage output, with adjustments made on a case-by-case basis to ensure they provide the appropriate level of challenge.

Now, on paper, this doesn’t sound too good. In my opinion, more health and more damage doesn’t always mean more challenge. As a matter of fact, it almost never is more challenge, it’s more tedium and more annoyance at best.

A lot of people complained about bosses being too easy, but what they probably meant was “most of the bosses have 2-3 very well-telegraphed attacks that are very easy to predict”. That’s how I feel about most of them, anyway.

Like, the issue with bosses being too easy is a core issue and making them more spongy won’t change the fact. They will be the same bosses with the same 2-3 attacks, only it will take longer to beat them.

But in reality, it’s not all that bad. Tancred, for example, is buffed now. I enjoyed fighting with him so much. I’d say his health and damage output are both in the right place now (I’m talking about a first playthrough version of Tancred).

Tancred in NG+ was balanced with ass it feels like and is, actually, a great example of “big health doesn’t mean big challenge”. On my very first playthrough, it took me around 60 seconds to beat Tancred and 60 more to beat Reinhold the Immured (Tancred’s second phase) on my first try. I just went through him like a knife goes through butter and that made me extremely upset: I literally didn’t get to see his attacks because he didn’t get a chance to show them to me.

Tancred is such a cool-looking boss with a sick backstory. You may want to spend more time with him. Anyway, now on the first playthrough, he might feel just right to you.

I think every boss fight in LOTF is extremely built dependent. Some people (me, for example) struggled with Kinrangr boss on their first playthrough, but then melted through the Progeny within a minute like they were putting down giant ugly infants for years. And the other way around. What I mean is don’t get discouraged by the news of bosses being buffed, give it a try first.

Umbral Ending

Another important update is the fixed Umbral ending.

Some players couldn’t finish the game because they got blocked at the Umbral ending. Now, when you load the character that should have received the ending, you will see the credits directly, receive the proper achievements and the proper rewards. Then, you will get the prompt to move to NG+1, NG+0, or stay in the current world.

I can’t vouch for that because I’m yet to get the Umbral ending, but I’ve seen a lot of people saying that the issue is not fixed for them.

Also Read: Lords Of The Fallen: S Tier Strength Build - Gear, Stats, Rings & More

Performance & Stability

A lot of performance and stability changes came with the latest patch, but it’s incredibly hard for me to analyse them:

• Reduced the number of actors casting shadows
• Optimization involved deleting hidden meshes
• Complex shaders that used alpha masks
• Vertex-animated options

It feels like these reports are made for shareholders and not for men with ADHD wearing no pants reading through them. Bottom line is: performance is improved in Umbral and various locations in general. DLSS3 has been updated for those with 40 series cards, but the frame gen has not yet been activated by default.

To enable it, one needs to use this command - DLSSFG.

On my own behalf, I’d like to say that I haven’t noticed any changes in performance. It runs very well for me, for the most part, with very rare fps drops. Nothing’s changed much, but I guess there’s still work to be done to improve overall performance. As far as I know, some people with above average rigs are still experiencing issues.

PVP & PVE Balancing

Next, let’s talk about balancing. There’s PVE balancing and PVP balancing.

In the patch notes, you can find the exact spells and Lords of the Fallen Items that were tweaked or rebalanced. What’s really cool is that they are rebalancing PVE and PVP, separately. It’s something that took FromSoftware a lot of years to master and I think HexWorks are doing it the right way.

It’s extremely upsetting when your PVE build gets nerfed because somebody is abusing it in PVP and you don’t even play PVP. There are more changes to come, obviously, but spells, arrows and bolts do scale properly now in PVP. And according to the devs, using spells, ammo and various throwables is less OP now.

I know that it’s fine for some people, but for me, for everyone I know who owns the game and for most YouTubers I watch, multiplayer doesn’t work properly. It lags. There are tons of latency issues and rubberbanding and joining somebody to help them with a boss most of the time means making things worse for the host. You dodge an attack, then you lag, you die and they have to spend their healing item to resurrect you.

At this point, for me, it’s better to avoid multiplayer completely and just enjoy all the content solo. I know it might sound harsh, but I’m not saying all this to depreciate the work that has been done. I’m also in no position to tell the devs how to do their job. This is just my opinion and my feedback. I’d love multiplayer to work properly, and I’d love to see the game live on and flourish and I don’t mind waiting for a month or even a few months without any updates and then get properly working co-op and PVP.

Unfortunately, I haven’t even seen them publicly acknowledging the poor state of the game’s multiplayer, the game’s main selling point for a lot of people.

What We Need

Anyway, on this note, here’s what I think the game desperately needs once the multiplayer is working the way it should:

I think that some sort of inventory sorting will be a very welcome addition. Towards the end of the game, you usually have so much loot. It’s really hard to find something specific.

Item chest is a must as well, but we know that it’s coming in the future.

Also, another QoL change to keep in mind: when purchasing consumables in bulk, you can’t see how much Lords of the Fallen Vigor you have because the screen blurs out. And if you are not sure, you have to cancel the purchase to check. Either let me see how much currency I’ve got or add a blocker that doesn’t let me select more items than I can afford.

Also, I can’t stress enough about how terrible the decision is to auto add shit to your quick bar. Why?

Multiplayer scaling is a bit weird too at the moment. I don’t know all the specifics, but sometimes you join somebody’s game and deal little to no damage to trash mobs in Pilgrim’s Perch and then you join another game and your damage in Pilgrim’s Pech is fine. It’s most likely host dependent. Maybe they are in their NG+8. But I’m not the one picking them.

What’s the point of me joining somebody’s game to assist and being unable to do so? PVP arena would be a very nice addition for people who want to heavily lean into PVP. I think a place where people could have fair duels will give the game some extra longevity, too.

Camera reset is another thing that should be optional in my opinion. Have you ever thought about how many times you actually press R3 or whatever your button is to reposition your camera? Exactly. When you are running sideways and trying to lock onto something dangerous, the last thing you need is your camera repositioned.

I’d also love to see some sort of an indicator to see where the other player is in co-op. Sprinting is such a big part of this game. Sometimes your co-op partner just runs off and it’s really hard to find them.

You get teleported to them anyway after a while and some might think that additional HUD is immersion-breaking, but having an option to turn it on and off at least would be a very welcome change for people with fucky eyes.

Also, am I the only one whose Vanguard armour looks like this? It’s especially weird when climbing ladders. Though, I’m more than happy to look like a broom for an n-amount of months if it would mean the multiplayer is fixed.

I will say it again: balancing the game, adjusting bosses’ difficulty, nerfing spells, etc. are welcome changes. And I appreciate all the work that the devs are putting into the game. I appreciate the amount and the consistency. Most importantly, I highly appreciate them listening to the community.

I also think that Saul Gascone - head of HexWorks is a pretty sick dude who genuinely likes and plays video games. But again, I think the issues with the multiplayer aspect can’t and shouldn’t be ignored.

Multiplayer is like lifeblood of soulslikes and it directly affects any of the game’s longevity. I’m not a businessman but “working multiplayer = more people playing = people don’t lose interest as fast = more sales = more money”. And it’s only logical to make the game run well first, squish all the bugs, etc and then start working on balancing it.

In World of Warcraft Dragonflight's newest patch, Guardians of the Dream, we will finally be traveling to the realm of the Emerald Dream, a plane of reality teeming with flourishing life.

In this realm, the protectors of nature are cultivating the new World Tree of Amirdrassil. And this World Tree is just one of many that have grown over the years.

Let's discuss the fascinating history behind these flourishing beacons of nature, which have close ties to the Dragon Aspects.

Nordrassil

One of the most ancient World Trees is Nordrassil, which means "Crown of the Heavens."

The tree was born 10,000 years ago when Alexstrasza placed a single acorn within the recently reborn Well of Eternity. The massive tree was then blessed by the Dragon Aspects. Alexstrasza blessed it with strength and vitality. Ysera bound the tree and the night elves to the Emerald Dream. And most importantly, Nozdormu blessed the tree to grant the Kaldorei immortality.

Nordrassil, and the forests around it, would be the night elves' main place of residence for the next 10,000 years.

During the Third War, there was a massive invasion by the Burning Legion, led by Archimonde the Defiler. The night elves had to team up with the Horde and the Alliance to defend the tree from the relentless onslaught of Scourge and demonic forces.

And tragically, at the end of the battle, Archimonde had reached the sacred tree. The demonic overlord had been planning for this moment for a millennia and had trained his herbalism skill to 300 in order to rip the tree from the earth and claim the endless energy of the Well of Eternity.

That was until Malfurion blew the Horn of Cenarius and placed a skull raid marker on Archimonde, sending his entire raid team of wisps who popped Bloodlust and blew all of their cooldowns and focused down Archimonde and banished him.

Unfortunately, this DPS check heavily damaged Nordrassil and disenchanted the Dragon Aspects' enchantments, which meant the night elves were now no longer immortal. This marked the end of the Third War, and shortly after, Malfurion took a very long nap, where he hung out in the Emerald Dream doing, Druid stuff.

Meanwhile, in our reality, the night elf Druids were led by a new leader, Fandral Staghelm, who wanted to grow a new World Tree so the night elves could regain their immortality.

Andrassil

The thing is, Fandral really didn't have the best track record when it came to growing World Trees.

Around 4,500 years ago, Fandral traveled to Northrend and discovered a concerning amount of saronite spreading across the region. This is a metal that is the literal blood of the Old God Yogg-Saron.

So, without the approval of the Cenarion Circle or Malfurion, Fandral took matters into his own hands and took branches from Nordrassil and planted them in Grizzly Hills, creating the World Tree of Andrassil, meaning "Crown of the Snow."

The tree was planted to stop the spread of saronite, and when the rest of the Druids found out that a new tree was created without their permission, they were rightfully upset. But there was no denying that Fandral's plan had worked, and the corruptive ore stopped spreading in the region, for a time.

Decades later, the humongous roots of the tree grew so long that they touched Yogg-Saron's prison, and since Andrassil wasn't blessed by the Dragon Aspects, it was susceptible to corruption.

And this corruption of the World Tree was the very first time the influence of the Old Gods found its way into the Emerald Dream, which led to the manifestation of the Emerald Nightmare. The Cenarion Circle realized that there was no way to spare the World Tree, and they would have to chop it down.

Shaladrassil

If they didn't, it would manifest into something like Shaladrassil, a World Tree in Val'sharah whose name is speculated to mean "Crown of Shadow" and was fully corrupted by the Nightmare.

So, in order to stop the spread of corruption, they chopped down Andrassil, leaving a giant stump in the middle of Grizzly Hills. And the former World Tree was renamed to Vordrassil, meaning "Broken Crown."

The point is, Fandral didn't have the best track record when it came to growing humungous trees. But somehow, he managed to convince the Circle of Ancients in Darkshore to make a new World Tree and regain their immortality.

The Ancients and the wise Druids joined together on an island off the coast of Kalimdor and funneled their Druidic energies together to grow a new massive World Tree that the Kaldorei could call home.

Teldrassil

This new World Tree was named Teldrassil, meaning "Crown of the Earth," and it became the new home of the night elves.

But when they asked the Dragons for their blessings, they said no. Nozdormu blessing them with immortality by altering the time waves was a big deal, and now they wanted him to do it again. The Time Lord thought they were pretty arrogant for asking that.

Despite this, Teldrassil was still a natural paradise, but after some time, the Kaldorei realized that something was wrong. There was corruption brewing within the tree, a corruption that was driving the furbolgs and grell mad, attracting satyrs, and causing giant turtles and sea monsters to beach themselves on the shores of Darkshore in an attempt to flee from the madness.

The source of this corruption is the main reason why low-level night elf players have to defeat animals that have been driven mad, turn satyrs into frogs, and also get lost in the maze that is that one furbolg den.

The root of the corruption was not discovered until Malfurion woke up and began his investigation. What he found is that, while the tree was growing, Fandral Staghelm was secretly convinced to attach a corrupted branch by the soon-to-be Nightmare Lord, Xavius, who was pretending to be Fandral's dead son.

Malfurion discovers this truth, cleanses Teldrassil of its corruption, and throws Fandral in a prison under Mount Hyjal. Fandral goes a bit bananas during his imprisonment and later becomes the leader of the corrupted Druids of the Flame, during the Cataclysm expansion, and is defeated in the Firelands raid.

But remember the Druids of the Flame. They're going to be important later on in our story.

So, after Teldrassil was cleansed of its corruption, Alexstrasza was impressed the tree had really survived this long without the blessing of the Aspects. And during the wedding of Malfurion Stormrage and Tyrande Whisperwind, Alexstrasza and Ysera would finally put their blessings on the tree, which caused the World Tree to flourish with life, and they all lived happily ever after.

Of course, we all know that a few years later, during the War of Thorns, the World Tree of Teldrassil was burnt to a husk by Sylvanas Windrunner and her Horde armies. And we can thank the Banshee Queen for continuing the legacy of Warcraft villains just really hating nature.

The souls of the night elves who lost their lives during the burning of Teldrassil were funneled directly into the cursed realm of the Maw in the Shadowlands. At this time, Tyrande was filled with the vengeance of the Night Warrior and goes on a killing spree to rescue the souls of her people.

Amirdrassil

Later on in Shadowlands, Elune and the Winter Queen bestowed Tyrande with the Sisters' Tear, which is filled with the souls of dead night elves and serves as the seed for the new World Tree of Amirdrassil.

This World Tree seed is then transported to the Emerald Dream for safekeeping, where it can grow peacefully and will later serve as the night elves' new home in Azeroth. But, of course, this is the World of Warcraft, where nothing is peaceful for long.

Now, the primal incarnate Fyrakk has teamed up with the Druids of the Flame to corrupt this new World Tree with Primal Fire and consume all of Azeroth in Living Flame.

Of course, we can't let that happen. So, in Patch 10.2, Guardians of the Dream, the heroes of Azeroth must finally delve into the mysterious realm of the Emerald Dream and stop it from being burned to ash. If you want to better face the challenges, then use WoW Dragonflight Gold to equip your characters!

And trust me, it's going to take more than a few buckets of water to deal with the impending doom raging across the Dream.

Dragonflight story is taking a huge leap forward with the release of patch 10.2: Guardians of the Dream, which goes live on November 7.

There’s a lot of new content coming, including a brand new area in Emerald Dream with three public events to attend, and the chance to make friends with new factions and earn Renown.

Season 3 of Dragonflight introduces a new nine-boss raid with a special Legendary axe, a whole new rotation of dungeons for Mythic+ Keystones, PVP updates, and adjustments to how the gear-upgrading system works. Then there are dragonriding updates, class reworks, balance and tuning changes, and more. So, let’s do through everything coming in patch 10.2: Guardians of the Dream.

Emerald Dream

We are finally entering Emerald Dream. The new area is a small part of Dream, surrounding the blooming World Tree of Amirdrassil.

World Tree is about to enter the mortal realm, and we need to ensure we protect it from the invading forces of Fyrakk and Druids of Flame. They don’t just want to burn down another World Tree. They want to corrupt it, twist it, and use it for their own plots.

We need to gather our forces, repel Fyrakk’s army, and defend Heart of Amirdrassil. We will also have a new World Boss.

You can find Aurostor the Hibernator in Emerald Dream area. Furbolg Wild God was not happy that his usual sleep schedule was disrupted. If you can survive his sleep-deprived attacks, you’ll have a chance to earn some shiny new gear rewards. You can also earn a lot of WOW Dragonflight Gold by selling some duplicate equipment.

Public Events

Also, there are three new Public Events to take part in, which influence each other. This starts with Superbloom event.

Superbloom Event

You’ll need to escort a Wandering Ancient around the tree, fend off enemies and help promote growth in the area. The more you contribute, the better the final bloom will be. So you’ll want everyone involved to maximize your returns.

Emerald Frenzy Event

Completing Superbloom will activate Emerald Frenzy event, and part of Dream will enter an overdrive state, producing waves of frenzied fauna and flora. The more you kill, the more materials and WOW Dragonflight Gold you get. So it’s a big old gold farming exercise.

Emerald Bounty Event

These two events provide you with Seeds and Emerald Dewdrops. You can plant seeds in special soil to start Emerald Bounty event. Players can then contribute Dewdrops to increase the size of Emerald Bounty, which will lead to better rewards.

There will also be plenty of rare items to hunt down in this area. They can reward you with various goodies, including Emerald Bounty gear seeds, and other materials important to your progress in the area.

New Faction

New areas also bring us new factions to win Favor. Dream Wardens are Dream’s resident protectors. They need our help to fight back the invading forces and return Dream to its once peaceful state.

We can progress on the renown track to unlock new ways to interact with Emerald Dream areas. For example, getting different seeds or special abilities for Public Events. You can get Crests and Flightstones, as well as tons of cosmetics, like Mounts, Dragonriding Customizations, and Pets.

New Raid Boss

Patch 10.2 brings us into Season 3 of Dragonflight, bringing all-new content and rewards, starting with a new nine-boss raid: Amirdrassil, Dream’s Hope. Primal Incarnate of Fire, Fyrakk seeks to corrupt the core of this new World Tree and take its power for himself.

We need to break through Dream’s various defenses and conquer Fyrakk’s invading fiery forces to clear out Primal Incarnate himself. And stopping Fyrakk is the only way to avoid setting the world in flames.

There is another legendary weapon waiting at the end of this raid. If you can take down Primal Incarnate, you’ll probably walk away with his Legendary Two-Handed Axe, Fyr’alath, Dream Render. This would make a great addition to any Force user’s weapons collection.

Mythic+ System

As for Mythic+ system, Season 3 will bring a whole new rotation of dungeons to explore. We’ll be delving back into Waycrest Manor, Atal’Dazar, Darkheart Thicket, Black Rook Hold, Throne of the Tides, and Everbloom dungeons. The two wings of Dawn of the Infinite megadungeon also join the roster to give us eight different Mythic+ dungeons to master.

PVP Updates

They also have updates for the new PVP season. PVP gear and progression will now use Flightstones and Crests upgrading system, so that’s in line with every other endgame content type.

There’s also a new Brawl called Battleground Blitz. It’s a solo-queue Battleground Brawl with smaller teams and a faster pace.

New Tier Sets And Bonuses

And of course, a new season brings us all new tier sets and bonuses to change up how your class or spec works, provide additional effects to certain talents or passives, and gives you several new outstanding trans-mog sets to collect.

A very important change regarding tier sets is that Revival Catalyst timeline has been adjusted quite dramatically. Season 3 Catalyst will be available in the very first week, giving you faster access to those important tier set pieces and bonuses.

Also Read: WoW Dragonflight 10.2: A Survival Guide For Guardians Of The Dream

Season Mastery Achievement

Season Mastery achievement will also be returning, giving you access to a Heroic item-level tier piece of your choice for completing a major milestone achievement. You can clear the new raid on Heroic mode, get up to 2,000 Mythic+ score, or reach Challenger 2 or above in Rated PVP.

In addition to that, the last boss of Amirdrassil raid will also drop Omnitokens, just like Sarkareth did in Season 2. With these three options combined, everyone will have more options for obtaining their new tier set in Season 3.

Overall gear progression will be changing as well. The fragments for Crests have been removed, so you only have to worry about collecting and using the actual Crests now, and your Crests will be moved to the currency tab, saving you precious bag space.

It has extended Heroic and Myth upgrade tracks to allow you to upgrade your gear even further than before, and will have the option to trade up Crests after you reach an appropriate item level. This cracks open the overall gearing potential of every player.

And as a bonus quality-of-life addition, if you ever cap on Crests, completing additional content of the same level will automatically reward the next tier down of Crests, so you can focus on playing the game.

Great Vault

And then Great Vault will also see some changes heading into the next season. You will only need two, four, and seven boss kills to fill up the raid reward row.

Then the dungeon row is becoming more accessible, with Heroic Dungeon, Mythic 0 Dungeon, and even Timewalking Dungeon runs all counting towards the dungeon reward row. So, getting some loot from your weekly vault will be easier than ever before.

Dragonriding

There are also plenty of Dragonriding updates to look forward to. The Emerald Dream zone will have new Dragon Glyphs for you to seek out and collect, and there are three new dragonriding talents to spend them on.

Second Wind allows you to generate 1 vigor on demand, and you can have up to three charges.

Wind’s Respite causes Aerial Halt to allow you to hover momentarily, so you can plan your next move without falling out of the sky.

Swift Skimming lets you benefit from Ground Skimming while Thrill of the Skies is active, giving you even more vigor regeneration.

We’ll have a new dragonriding drake model, Flourishing Whimsydrake, which we’ll get very early in our Emerald Dream adventures. And of course, there are loads of new customization options to get your hands on for the new Faerie Dragon, as well as the other drake models we’ve collected so far.

Dragonriding Cup events are also expanding to include other continents, with Outland, Northrend, Pandaria, and Broken Isles Cup Events joining the roster. So we’ll be able to race on almost any continent while these events are active.

And there’s even a new achievement coming in 10.2 that allows you to use the old style of flying and all of your old flying mounts in Dragon Isles. By completing Dragonflight Pathfinder achievement, you will choose which flying style you want to use to get around Dragon Isles.

Class Or Specialization Reworks

Patch 10.2 has several large classes or specialization reworks as well. All three Rogue specs will see significant changes to their talent trees, with new passives and abilities to look forward to.

Demon Hunters will also see large changes to their talent tree, in how various spells and abilities interact with each other.

And the last big rework is for Discipline Priest, to make this spec more accessible and give it some shiny new tools.

There are some big changes also coming for Druids, Monks, Shamans, and Demonology Warlocks, with smaller balance-tuning changes for many other classes and specs as well. And then there are also new customization options for Blood Elves, new Moonkin Druid forms and appearances, user-interface and quality-of-life updates, and so much more.

With so much new content packed into this patch, there’s something for everyone in Guardians of the Dream. That’s all for WOW Dragonflight Patch 10.2. Good luck and have fun. As always, see you next time.

I’m a gamer who loves Souls-Like games, looter games, and anything involving build-making games! Here, let’s play the recently launched Souls-Like game: Lords of the Fallen.

But we’ll skip over the old trinity of elements from Souls-Like games, lore, map, and art. Here, we choose to focus solely on combat. Now let’s dig a little deeper.

Boss Battles vs Map Exploration

So how do we analyze combat? I won’t talk about the game as it is now, but how it was designed and what the limits of it could be based on the design philosophy. History has taught me that updates can make a vast difference. So I think it’s smarter to focus on that potential.

In short, in a typical Souls-Like game, we want boss battles to be a real challenge and map exploration to be more fun and relaxing. But their roles in LOTF are reversed.

Map exploration, especially the battles encountered during exploration, is designed to test your combat ability. They are designed to be difficult. That’s why you see so many enemies on narrow roads.

Also, in NG+, all Vestiges, the campfires in the game, disappear, so you can only farm your own Vestiges. But every new one deletes the last planted Vestiges. So effectively, you can only teleport between your base and a single location. This also just goes to back up my statement that the developers wanted to make exploration more challenging.

As for how to handle these challenges, your personal skills are not a priority. We encourage you to focus more on gear synergy or builds, as well as general strategy. Such as we should kill which enemy in the team first. These are more helpful than improving your own skills.

If you accept this design, you can continue playing LOTF. Otherwise, I suggest you move on to other games.

In other games, if you don’t use the combat mechanics to their full potential, you can still at least play through the game normally to experience the story and maps. But in LOTF, every play style other than the “official” play style is going to be a complete disaster.

Sadly, the developers never explained their design decisions in the game. So I’m here to tell you the truth. I’m not saying this game is bad. It’s fun as long as you play it the “right” way.

Combat Mechanics

Next, I’m going to break down all the combat mechanics in this game to further support my argument. I won’t talk about the build or RPG elements, as you can easily find guides on some insane builds, such as Radiance Posture build or Crossbow build.

Player Mechanics

Here, I divide the combat mechanics into player mechanics and enemy mechanics, each containing four mechanics.

Basic Movesets

The first set of player mechanics are Basic Movesets, which include traditional Light attacks, Heavy attacks, and Charged attacks, as well as kick attack and a special attack. It’s a bit like martial arts, but much simpler and doesn’t consume anything except stamina.

What’s special here is that LOTF is very generous with impact. This is a hidden value that describes the stagger animation of enemies hit by your attacks. In other games, I would just expect heavy weapons to knock down enemies. But in LOTF, even some Light weapons can do it with the help of special attacks, like Flail of Wisdom.

Ranged Attack

Then we perform Ranged Attack, which is divided into physical attacks and magic attacks. The former requires Ammunition and the latter requires Mana.

However, they are not consumable items that you need to farm or purchase with Lords of the Fallen Vigor. They are a resource that needs to be consumed, just like your health or stamina. They’ll even replenish your energy every time you take a break. So, it’s clear that this is your tool to overcome challenging exploration battles.

Lamp

Lamp is a strange design. On the one hand, something closely related it to exploration. You need to use it to teleport to Umbral, a parallel realm of your world, where you can search for hidden paths or treasures. On the other hand, it is also a combat tool, but that discussion will be in the enemies section.

Free Combo

Finally, you can do a free combo in LOTF. You can combine almost every move together. It does not limit this to Light attacks and Heavy attacks.

You can also change your stance. That said, you can even employ some ranged attacks in a combo if you’re holding the weapon in one or two hands during the combo.

But we know combos aren’t very useful in Souls-Like games. The reason is simple: the enemies have powerful super armor, which doesn’t give you an environment to actually perform combos.

But LOTF still gives you this ability. I think this is a tool that gives you a tool to handle challenging exploration combat. During exploration, you won’t encounter so many elites or bosses with super armor, but mostly mobs. Here, you can use Free Combo to clear enemies quickly.

Enemy Mechanics

Next, let’s look at enemy mechanics.

Basic Interaction

First, the basic interaction between enemy and player. Usually in Souls-Like games, this means you need to memorize and recognize every attack from your enemy so that you know how to dodge each one.

The good news is that the enemy animations are really simple. You can easily memorize every attack. But it’s really boring.

Also Read: Lords Of The Fallen Update 1.1.224 Patch Notes! - NG+ Vestiges & Progression

Impact & Poise

If this disappoints you about the enemy design, let me show you something more. LOTF has a very good Impact and Poise design. Many enemies fit your typical image of hard-to-stagger elites, and you can actually stagger these elites by knocking down regular enemy attacks. Even some bosses can be knocked unconscious easily.

Again, the developers have been very generous with Impact’s design. I have to admit, this design is a huge plus for my impression of this game. This makes it more fun to play.

Posture

In addition, there is a posture mechanism. Every attack and perfect defense can stack posture, ultimately leading to the chance of a fatal attack.

However, this Posture mechanic is specifically designed for players with Posture-focused builds. If you equip a lot of posture equipment to increase your posture damage, breaking posture for fatal attacks will be frequent. But without the equipment, you can actually ignore the fact that such a mechanic exists in the game.

Therefore, posture mechanic cannot make combat more interesting. Now it’s just part of the build design.

Soulflay Attack

Finally, we have a Soulflay Attack. With your Lamp, you can strip your enemies of their souls. This creates a huge staggered window that interrupts any attack in progress and allows you to execute the attack. But it’s too simple and therefore boring.

Final Thoughts

I think my argument is further strengthened by analyzing all the mechanisms. It’s clear that the developers want to make exploration combat more difficult while making the overall combat more about build design than individual skill. While the boss fight isn’t necessarily bad, it’s clear that the developers didn’t have enough time to deal with it.

While Impact design makes things more interesting, the simple action design, highly restricted posture mechanics, and simple Soulflay Attack fail to add much to the boss fights.

Personally, using a build to overwhelm a boss would at least make things more interesting. So if it already addicted you to this game, please consider my advice.

Overall, LOTF is a good game if you like a bit of challenge along the way and prefer build-focused combat to skill-focused combat.

Today, we’re looking at a build by Cptn_Garbage. This Tornado Shot Lightning Warp abomination is possibly the fastest build we’ve ever seen in Path of Exile 3.22.

Just a disclaimer before we get started: The version of this build we’re demonstrating today is expensive. So, before making this build, you need to prepare a large amount of POE Currency in advance.

We’re talking multi-mirror territory. Cptn_Garbage teamed up with Crouching_Tuna to take this cool idea to its absolute extreme. So, buyer beware.

How Does It Work?

With that said, it all begins with a very cheap unique.

Asenath’s Mark is a low level helmet with a big secret. The mod “trigger a socketed spell when you attack with a bow, with a 0.3 second cooldown “allows you to trigger a Socketed Spell when you attack with a Bow.

So the first step is to put Lightning Warp into our helm - when we attack, we’ll teleport.

The second step is to speed up Lightning Warp. We can do this by simply getting all the reduced duration we can. Eventually, it’s possible to reduce the duration down to 0 so that the teleport is instant.

But take a look at the mod mentioned above again. It has a cooldown, which limits our teleports to only around 3 per second, no matter how fast we attack. But did you know it’s possible to lower this cooldown to almost nothing?

There’s usually only one stat that can do the job: Increased Cooldown Recovery Rate. However, this stat is very rare, scattered in awkward places on the tree for certain types of skills and on niche POE Items.

But there’s another solution. Asenath’s Mark imposes a cooldown on our Lightning Warp. Since it is a movement skill, we can use a much more abundant stat to reduce that cooldown: Cooldown Recovery of movement skills.

So the third step is to stack 204% cooldown recovery of travel skills. We’ll talk about where we get that number from later.

The fourth and final step is our attack speed. Not only do we want a high attack speed, but it also has to be a very specific number. 10.1 attacks per second, to be exact. If this is off, the timing of our teleports and our attacks will be desynchronised and the build will feel awkward.

So to summarise: We’re attacking, which triggers Lightning Warp, which has no duration and a tiny cooldown, and we’re teleporting where we attacked. Repeat and we have a true zoomer.

Offence

How are we reaching these specific numbers? And what about damage?

Well, damage is straightforward enough. You just have to make an insane bow - Storm Twine Synthesised Spine Bow. We’re also investing in all the usual elemental damage sources a Tornado Shot build might grab.

Cptn_Garbage notes that Crit chance and multiplier are especially important for such builds.

Projectile speed is also key to making this work. The projectiles that fling out from Tornado Shot disappear after a certain amount of time. With more projectile speed, they fly further before disappearing, giving us more coverage for clearing packs.

Furthermore, faster projectiles means that we’re able to actually shoot and clear ahead of us instead of outpacing our own arrows. If our arrows are too slow, we risk getting annihilated by whatever pack we warp into. Of course, our crazy high attack speed is great for damage too.

To name just a few of our attack speed sources, we’re using Onslaught, Blood Rage, Frenzy Charges, and high tier mods all over our gear.

Cptn_Garbage is also using the mod “4% Increased Action Speed” on our boots for Action Speed. He notes that this mod is especially important. Action Speed affects the animation speed of everything our character does. It therefore has a multiplicative effect on our attack speed.

By rerolling this percentage - changing it even just by one percent, we can fine tune our attack speed to hit that exact number we need. At this high level of build optimisation, there’s a lot of fiddly details like that.

All of them are important to get this build functioning correctly. We won’t go into them all here, but one example is our mana costs. It’s important that we get our Lightning Warp cost to zero, otherwise we’ll chunk our mana very quickly. Our Tornado Shot mana cost is 1, because we still need to spend some mana to gain Inspiration charges. Fiddly, but very cool.

Earlier, I mentioned Cooldown Recovery of Travel Skills and how it’s the only way Cptn_Garbage is making Lightning Warp work. So how on Wraeclast are we getting 204% of it?

There’s a decent amount on the tree, such as “10% increased Cooldown Recovery Rate of Movement Skill”. We also get a lot from the Watcher’s Eye jewel (i.e. 49% increased cooldown recovery rate of movement skill used while affected by Haste).

But largely, we’re getting it from the Badge of the Brotherhood. This provides 10% Cooldown Recovery for every Frenzy Charge, of which we have eight.

Also Read: How To Accumulate More Currency In The Late POE 3.22 League Through Beast Farming In White Map?

Defence

So, obviously, we’re pretty fast. Not getting hit is going to be our main defence. But Wraeclast is cruel and surprising.

It’s still important to have our usual defences - some life, armour, resists. With our complex Tornado Warp setup, it’s going to be hard to find space for defensive mods on items and the tree.

Fortunately, money can solve most problems. This version of the build uses Mageblood. This pricey belt constantly applies the effects of our four utility flasks, which serve as a good bulk of our defence.

Cptn_Garbage is also using Ancestral Vision. With enough investment in Spell Suppression and other sources of ailment avoidance, this jewel lets us avoid elemental ailments entirely.

There’s also a very convenient interaction with Arctic Armour here. This spell creates an icy barrier around us that reduces the damage we take as long as we’re standing still.

Fortunately for us, teleportation does not count as movement for the purposes of this spell. So, the damage reduction we get from Arctic Armour has almost permanent uptime.

Conclusion

While this isn’t exactly the tankiest build, it will survive most threats we encounter in passing. And I really do mean in passing.

Cptn_Garbage actually devised this build back in Metamorph. It’s been a closely guarded secret as he’s improved it over time. They even outline a budget version, which, by the way, still won’t be cheap or easy to make.

But the joy of this build speaks for itself. It’s powerful, hilarious, and possibly too fast to control. The best way to play is just max out the opacity of your minimap and use the overlay to navigate.

Diablo 4 Season 2 leveling is so amazing that I am having a blast all the time.

This guide will walk through my best Vampiric Powers in early game, my actual leveling experience in Season 2, and my key preparations to beat the Capstone Dungeon and enter World Tier 3 at Level 34. Let’s get it started!

Best Vampiric Powers In Early Game

First, I spent around one hour playing with the seasonal Vampiric Power system.

In conclusion, it is always best to start with the Seasonal Quest in order to unlock the Vampiric Power system right away and choose to unlock new Vampiric Powers from the 3 selections to get access to the ones we need as soon as possible.

My best Vampiric Power recommendations for Sorcerer in the early game are:

• Domination, which instantly kills injured non Elites and chain explosions. Look at how fast monsters are wiped.
• Infection, which adds good extra damage.
• Hemomancy, which is a powerful full screen AOE that triggers the Lightning Explosions so easily. It is also a great source for health regeneration that saved my life a couple of times.
• Anticipation, which enables us to have almost 0 Cooldown Ultimates with the help of overflowing energy and Resilience to largely improve our survivability.

With Disobedience, I can tank Level 50 at Level 35 without a problem. I used some major powers that require 6 Pacts in the beginning. But whenever I updated my gear, I lost the major powers pretty easily. So, I recommend to use these minor powers in the early game that upgrading gear won’t lose Vampiric Powers.

Also, the Blood Harvest Event is too amazing. I got lots of early game legendaries by opening those chests. The keys to open the chests are pretty easy to farm, too.

Farming in the Blood Harvest area also completes whisper quests. We get one million Diablo 4 Gold by just completing one round of whispers. I am never short of gold to do anything in the game.

While the Blood Harvest Event gives us tons of gear upgrades, the XP farming speed in the area is not ideal. I recommend going back to the Domhainne Tunnel to farm XP fast, after completing one round of whispers, so that we get both XP and gear upgrades lightning fast.

The Blood Harvest area will change after one hour and we can do the quests again. Farming in the area also gives us lots of Potent Blood that I already unlocked more than half of the Vampiric Powers at level 34.

Leveling Through Oneshot Everything

I have to say that my leveling experience is just too good.

My Domhainne Tunnel run in Season 1 was around 4 mins and it got halved to around 2 mins in Season 2. To be honest, even just farming this tunnel doesn’t get me bored because I am continuously leveling up so fast.

Also Read: Diablo 4: Season 2 Endgame Boss Guide - Grigoire, Varshan, Lord Zir & Ice Beast

World Tier 3 Prep & Run

I tried to challenge the World Tier 3 Capstone Dungeon early, but to my surprise, I was able to beat at Level 34 without any Elixir.

The main difference is that I used Ice Blades Enchantment plus 3 Ranks Conjuration Mastery for a 12% damage boost, as I have on average 4 concurrent Conjurations when the Ultimate is active.

I also put 3 ranks to Glass Cannon as I have Resilience to largely improve my survivability. And I recommend to get Aspect of Disobedience on Amulet and Aspect of Control on a Two-Handed Weapon. Putting Disobedience on Amulet makes us super tanky when we have max Disobedience Stacks.

The skill point progression from level 35 to level 50 can be found under the skill tab with the leveling path turned on. I was expecting to pass the dungeon at around level 40.

But I was super lucky that I got a drop of a close to max value Disobedience on amulet and got a good two-handed weapon that has 420 item power with Intelligence and Core Skill Damage stats that I imprinted an Aspect of Control for 200% effect.

Skill Gear & Vampiric Power

With all that, passing the dungeon is still not easy. The final boss alone took me around 4 mins to beat.

When we are at around Level 42, we will have around 500 item power gear. It would usually be a good time to try the Capstone Dungeon with the skill tree plus the aspects.

Ending

I’m loving the leveling experience and it’s so much fun. I highly recommend giving Season 2 a shot and I can’t wait to level up more and try out the endgame bosses.

If you are curious about the mechanics of these new endgame bosses in Season 2 and what unique items they will drop, you can just click on the link that appears above.

For many fans and experts in American football, passing is the core of the game. For those of you looking to do this and be successful in Madden 24, you may be looking for a reliable Madden 24 Passing guide. Improve your game and produce the results you want by getting some helpful tips.

Successfully passing the ball in Madden 24 requires precision and correct timing to execute the throw. The margin for error when passing is small, especially when you crank up the difficulty and play online. And a pass that’s too late or too soft at one point can result in a costly interception or fumble.

With Madden 24 officially on sale, fans are already excited about the new modes it has to offer, from Franchise to Superstar and more. As players start to delve deeper into their passing game, some may try to improve their passing skills. Here we’ll help you become an all-around better passer in Madden 24.

Throw Type

The best part about passing in Madden 24 is how you throw the ball and the types of throws you can make. Over the years, Madden has continued to incorporate this reality into the game. This allows fans to complete bullet passes, lob passes, and touch passes.

Also, fans have full control over the ball’s position using the left stick and can pitch the ball to a location of their choosing. Whether it’s on the receiver’s shoulders or in front of them.

As you become more familiar with each throw type, it’s important to start using them accordingly during every game you play. Every route and window for a receiver will be different. It takes some type of throw to get your receiver to catch the ball. While some of these levels may be a little difficult to master, learning and mastering them will go a long way in Madden 24.

Develop Pocket Awareness

As you start throwing the ball more and more in Madden 24, you will begin to realize that your success depends heavily on your pocket protection of the offensive line. The better the protection, the more time you have to throw it into your chosen receiver.

It can take time for a receiver to complete a route, or sometimes it can take them some time to get away from the opposing cornerback guarding them.

But right now, we’re investing more Madden 24 Coins in our quarterbacks to improve their athleticism significantly. If your offensive line isn’t that strong or gives way to a tough pass rusher. Then it’s easy to use the quarterback’s speed to crawl out of the pocket to complete the throw or jump and run.

In short, developing pocket awareness is crucial. That way, you can tell when you can throw the ball out of the pocket and when you need to roll out and potentially run with the ball.

Learning Playbook

It’s easier said than done to find a playbook and get familiar with it, but don’t be shy about trying it. Every NFL playbook is unique, and some are better suited to passing plays than others. Therefore, a good way to get a handle on your preferred playbook is to consider Head Coach or Offensive Coordinator behind the playbook, as well as the team’s quarterback.

For example, Kansas City Chiefs have a variety of passing options in their playbook. The same goes for Aaron Rodgers’ New York Jets and Joe Burrow’s Cincinnati Bengals. But that doesn’t mean you have to limit yourself to these playbooks, especially if they don’t fit your style.

Also Read: You Can Use This Glitch To Score A Touchdown In Every Play Of Madden 24!

When you play Madden 24, it’s all about feeling the game you love. Because when crunch time comes in the game and you need to hit a big shot, having these back-pocket plays is critical to your success. And it all starts with how comfortable you are with the playbook.

Read Data & Calculate Passing Time

A really key part of your growth as a passer in Madden 24 is how well you’re able to read data and time passes. When pitching in Madden 24, timing is very important. A key step to mastering this is how you understand the defense’s strategy and how they cover your receivers on every down.

When you’re faced with a zone coverage scheme, it’s important for you to exploit the gaps and holes between defenders that you can manipulate. If it’s more of a man-based situation, you may need to wait for your perimeter players to get away from their defenders before they can get open. If it’s a blitz, be prepared to spin the ball.

When you better understand the different defensive plays a team can throw at you, you’ll have a better understanding of when to throw the ball and what opportunities are available to you.

Timing is key in the rapid opening and closing of windows in Madden 24. Route windows will come and go, and it’s important to catch them when they pop up.

These are 4 tips you need to pay attention to achieve the perfect pass in Madden 24. Follow this guide and you’ll be a great passer in Madden 24!