Beautiful Spots in World of Warcraft

 

Somewhere you can stop and smell the (metaphorical) roses

Taking a break from farming feels so much better when you’re in a beautiful locale. Even embroiled in war, Azeroth still has pockets of these areas. It just goes to show that life still thrives even in a ravaged land. Some of these areas may not be accessible anymore, but that doesn’t mean they stopped being pretty. You don’t even have to buy WoW gold or anything just to admire the view.

Here are three beautiful places to relax in World of Warcraft.

Isle of Quel’Danas

Typically, any location where elves dwell ends up being eye candy. Silvermoon and the Eversong woods are also pretty, but Quel’Danas mixes the best of those locations into one. The island is home to the Sunwell, an artifact of power for the blood elves in Silvermoon.

The town, Sun’s Reach, is filled with the bright oranges of autumnal trees among the architectural marvels of the elves. It’s a look that fits its name, as the town is as light as sunlight. Even as you prepare for the raid on the Sunwell Plateau, it’s worth it to take a few minutes to admire the beautiful scenery of the isle.

Crystalsong Forest (and Dalaran)

As mentioned above, elves make locations prettier. They’re the cause of the Crystalsong Forest, a forest of purple crystallized trees that almost glow in the dark. Floating above it, at least during the war against the Lich King, the city of Dalaran hovers majestically.

Its purple spires coordinate with the forest below, making a pretty picture. Dalaran is a city of magi, not elves, though its architecture is also a thing to behold. Later, it moved to the Deadwind Pass in the Legion expansion. Still, the forest of crystal trees is a sight you don’t want to miss.

The Beach Behind Ahn’Qiraj

For those looking for a more private spot to relax, this beach behind Ahn’Qiraj is a perfect spot. There’s not much to do here but watch the Veiled Sea churn with waves. That means it’s not often visited by other people, and you can watch the sunset here without disturbance.

Sure, now that you and any other player has read this article, it may be more populated than usual. That only means more friends to enjoy the view with, don’t you think? A majority of players still prioritize leveling and strengthening their characters, so it shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

The Jade Forest (Shrine of Fellowship)

For those seeking a more normal sight, the Jade Forest in Pandaria is one to see. You’ll be surrounded by greenery and trees everywhere, which psychologically is a relaxing sight. Seeing it through a screen could diminish the effect, but what can we do?

One particular location of interest is the Shrine of Fellowship within the forest. Situated upon a peak, you’ll be able to see for miles and even past the forest. On the ground level, you can’t see much past the trees everywhere. The red shades of the structures on the shrine also make it stand out from all the green.

The Tirisfal Glades

For a darker version of the Jade Forest, the Tirisfal Glades fulfill that category. Elves once tried to settle here, which resulted in them moving away. The reason is that some of them went mad for some reason, and they decided to leave. Legend says that an Old God resides here and is the source of all the weird phenomena happening in the glade.

Whether that’s true or not, the forest here remains a beautiful, if eerie, place. Halloween or horror enthusiasts would love the atmosphere here, where it’s rather dreary, bleak, and a little lonely. It’s the kind of beauty that haunts you in more ways than one.

Bonus: Revendreth

Anyone who loves gothic architecture and dark elements would love to be in Revendreth. The Shadowlands area is filled with that kind of imagery. Also, the area’s storyline and leveling experience are the best out of all the areas in the Realm of the Dead. Ardenweald is a close second for its unique areas and mystical atmosphere.

However, Revendreth is better in the leveling and questing aspects, making the Venthyr Covenant a popular choice.

Conclusion

Saddle up those mounts (or get some WoW mounts for sale) and explore these beautiful areas. Forget about leveling and grinding for a moment and take a breather. Of course, with Azeroth being a big place, there are more unmentioned places to see and admire. Whether you’re there to take screenshots, share the view with another, or just be there to admire, these places are the best to do so.

If you ever find more of these kinds of places, don’t be afraid to share them! Keep enjoying World of Warcraft, and don’t forget to stop and admire the view every once in a while.

Survive Raid in Escape from Tarkov

 At the start of your game, your stash will be given only a few starting items. On the equipment side of your inventory, you will have a secure container. Depending on which version of the game you purchased, your container will be 2x2, 2x3, or 3x3. Everything you put in this container will not be lost when you go into a raid. I recommend putting keys and medical tools in sicc case. Speaking of losing things, when you go into a PMC raid, you'll lose everything you carry with you if you die.

That is unless you secure your items, you will have the option to pre-load them in a raid. Securing your items means that if no one picks them up at the end of the raid, they will be returned to you about a day later. I recommend securing most of your equipment to minimize losses. To Escape from Tarkov, you have two options for a raid. A lucky scav junkbox is a container for the purpose of saving space within a player's inventory. This item offers 196 stock slots on a 14×14 grid and occupies 16 stock slots. Anything considered a barter item can be stored in it.

Before each foray into Escape from Tarkov, you have to make a decision: do you want to play the role of SCAV or PMC? The differences between these characters are significant, so it is worth knowing more about them before starting the game. This page contains all the differences between SCAV and PMC. You will also learn about the pros and cons of these combinations.

Getting into a raid in Escape from Tarkov is always risky. All the equipment you carry with you may disappear at once, forcing you to go back to the menu to treat your character and start over. But Scavs (short for Scavengers) is meant to give you another option.

SCAV RAIDS

When you raid as a member of your chosen faction, whatever you bring comes into play. However, if you choose to enter as a friendly scavenger, you will have a chance to escape with free equipment. You see, in Escape from Tarkov, the Scavs are basically the AI that terrifies you when you play as a PMC, but in this mode, you get a chance to run with the Russians.

When you play as a Scav, you will be pushed into a continuous raid at random times using random equipment, but you will not be attacked by other Scavs, unless you encounter them. You still have to beware of the players, but if you manage to escape, you will make huge profits while upgrading your arsenal.

Every time you have access to Scav, run Scav raid. I can't stress enough how important this is to you as a new player. Scavs, at least, always have a weapon with some ammo, which allows you to transfer the same gear to your bare PMC and give you a "free" PMC raid, as long as you survive the Scav raid first.

In addition, you can also get shields, helmets, headphones, and other expensive things like LAB's cards and keys. LABS cards generally cost between 150 and 200 thousand rubles, which can easily be enough money for two to three PMC loads, so if you spawn with it, it exhausts the extraction process.

MAKE USE OF OFFLINE RAIDS

If you want to get to grips with Tarkov’s gunplay or learn the methods of looting, your best bet is to try an offline raid. You can go completely alone without any Scavs just to get a good knowledge of the map or you can go in with Scavs and do a little shooting.

However, it goes without saying that the items you find in the offline raids will not be transferred to your stash.

How to Heal After Raid in Escape from Tarkov?

Before you begin to heal, you must know why it is so important to Escape from Tarkov. Unlike first-person shooter (FPS) titles, Escape from Tarkov is very realistic. Every injury is important and if left untreated it will cause problems.

Not only is it less HP that you will have to deal with when you are shot, but there are a lot of status effects as well. For example, bleeding, cuts, fractures, and pain will make the difference between winning a crossfire and being killed by enemy fire. Playing without healing will leave you at a disadvantage.

With that out of the way, let’s see what the healing process after a raid entails:

●       After a raid, a healing screen will pop up or you can open your stash.

●       Move to the “Health” tab at the top left of the screen.

●       From the menu, choose the relevant medical supplies for your injuries.

●       Select one, for example, a Medkit or Water.

●       When you select an item, there is a drop-down menu.

●       From the menu, select “Use.”

●       You can choose the quantity of the supplies you want to use by selecting a number.

●       Repeat for other injuries and status effects

This process is very similar to recovering during a raid. Both require you to open your inventory and choose a healing item.

There is a Use All feature in Escape from Tarkov, but it won't take into account how much you actually need. For this reason, it is best to determine the exact amount of supplies you need to reach your maximum capacity.

 

Powerful Build for Nightblade in ESO

 

Wondering what are the powerful and best Nightblade Builds for ESO? With that in mind, here are some of the best Nightblade builds that Elder Scrolls Online.

1. Silencium

2. Bomb Magicka

3. Illusion Healer

4. Siphoner Tank

5. Solo Stamblade

6. Solo Magblade

With these best builds, you'll certainly have a great adventure. To be one of a kind adventurers in all of ESO, you need to have the necessary ESO items, and best gears, with that, you will need a lot of ESO coins also known as ESO gold which you can only obtain from the ESO market.

This infographic has been first published at Gamehitch

Path of Exile Expedition expansion out on July 28th

 Powerful items, intense combat and new character customization options await.

An Expedition awaits. What a joyous time to embark on an adventure, detonate explosives, and fight off hordes of undead Kalguur. To what end, you ask? Riches, glory, and power. Of course. Path of Exile’s latest expansion can be played July 28 and includes all the hallmarks of the best games in the action RPG genre – powerful items, intense combat and, of course, terrifying, everpresent death. 

In Expedition, you’ll assist Kalguuran traders in their efforts to recover the artifacts lost by their ancestors. Unable to fight the dangers of Wraeclast alone, they enlist your violent services to clear out their Expedition sites so that they may plunder the treasures buried below. You must strategically lay a series of explosives, detonate them, and then cull the deadly horde that rises from the earth. If you can manage this, ancient Kalguuran artifacts will be yours for the taking. Each of the Kalguuran traders provides a unique style of trade, offering the opportunity to deal, barter or gamble the artifacts in exchange for their tempting wares. 

You may also discover Logbooks which chronicle the whereabouts of many hidden treasures from their past. These Logbooks can be crafted to maximize their danger and level of rewards. Take them to Dannig, the Kalguuran leader, and he’ll give passage to these far-off locations. These sprawling Expedition sites expose an unfathomable horde of monsters once unearthed. These areas can also contain secret passages which lead to exotic treasures and formidable bosses. 

In addition to the tempting lure of hidden treasure in the Expedition League, you’ll also uncover 19 new ways to build your character. Path of Exile is all about customizing your gameplay to your heart’s desire and one of the fundamental building blocks of doing so is through skill and support gems. In this expansion, we wanted to really shake up Path of Exile’s metagame by providing a swathe of new options for character building. As such, we designed 19 new gems that are each themed around our Ascendancy Classes. 

One of our favourite gems from this lineup is the new Summon Reaper skill, it was designed for Necromancers and summons a powerful minion which performs powerful attacks that cause enemies to bleed, can be commanded to attack specific locations, and literally feeds off of your other minions. There’s also the Spectral Helix gem which was designed for the Ascendant. It throws out a ghostly copy of your weapon which spirals outward from your location, harming any enemies it passes through.

As an extension of our desire to shake up Path of Exile’s metagame, we’ve also made some massive balance changes. The Expedition is Path of Exile’s 30th expansion since its Closed Beta, and because every expansion introduces powerful new options for character building, players are now more powerful than ever. The balance changes in Expedition will help to restore the challenge that Path of Exile is known for. We’ve also reworked our flask system to encourage more thoughtful, interactive gameplay and provide interesting new ways for players to mitigate incoming damage. 

If you haven’t played before, if it’s been a while since you have, or you’re a regular pro, this is the perfect time to play Path of Exile. Not only is it free to play but right now the entire community is taking up the challenge of finding the new best gameplay strategies and you can be right there with them. In a game where knowledge is power, having a shakeup of this scale really levels the playing field. Each expansion introduces a fresh economy and competitive ladder for you to make your mark in. You can also complete challenges in exchange for exclusive cosmetic rewards! Did we mention it’s free? (No, really – no demo version, no pay to win. Just cosmetics, if you want.)

If you find yourself absorbed in the world of Wraeclast, you’ll be happy to know that we put out expansions every thirteen weeks. We hope to see you there on July 28.

SOURCE:  PS BLOG

FINAL FANTASY is Rising while World of Warcraft is Falling?

 

          FILE PHOTO. Chinese Theater during the premiere of "Warcraft" 

in Hollywood,  California. © AFP / VALERIE MACON

Blizzard thought they had a monopoly with World of Warcraft. But PR disasters and rebellious streamers have allowed Final Fantasy XIV to challenge them for the massively multiplayer online genre crown.

The world of Azeroth has survived many attempts to destroy it, but it may have finally met its match.

Blizzard's World of Warcraft has been the king of the massively multiplayer online (MMO) genre for almost two decades, but the head that wears the crown is starting to grow heavy.  According to Activision-Blizzard Q1 2021 financials, Blizzard has seen 29% of its overall active player base bleed away in the last three years.

Two million players have reportedly quit Blizzard's portfolio of games since the company released its Q4 2020 results.  And all this comes on the heels of a number of massive public relations disasters ‘Blizzardvision’ (as some players are calling it) have inflicted upon itself.

Blizzard, which used to be the ‘gold standard in the gaming industry, has seemingly been in a steady state of decline since being merged with Activision.  Everything from its disastrous reveal of Diablo: Immortal – a mobile game that created a huge fan backlash at Blizzcon – to its banning of top-tier Hearthstone player Blitzchung for endorsing Hong Kong's democracy movement, has tarnished the company's previously immaculate sheen.  In addition, reports of bad working conditions and massive layoffs has company morale at an all-time low.

But nothing has seemed to hurt Blizzard more than lackluster World of Warcraft expansions which are criticized by longtime players as “lazy” and “cash grabs.”  The game's recent expansion – Shadowlands – has rubbed numerous players up the wrong way.  Not just in terms of a lack of story, but Blizzard's focus on shifting the game to cater more to casual players and mobile users is starting to have a real negative effect on its hardcore player base.

However, nothing seems to have had a bigger impact than World of Warcraft's biggest streamer, Asmongold, jumping ship from WoW to Final Fantasy XIV.

Asmongold, who has over two million followers on Twitch and 689,000 subscribers on YouTube, inspired a mass exodus to the rival MMO as he began streaming the 11-year-old game from publisher Square Enix.  As former World of Warcraft lead developer Mark Kern said on Twitter:

Supposedly this is Blizzard leak about the current state of WoW.

It may not be legit, but the attitude described about monetization and how devs view gamers, and hate of streamers is true overall in AAA dev. https://t.co/tUmdG6EtLI

— Grummz (@Grummz) July 13, 2021

“So when Asmongold started dipping his toes into alternatives to WoW, interviewing Final Fantasy content creators and then, finally, playing it himself on stream, Blizzard was unaware or unbelieving of what was happening. THEY were the monopoly.

Even Asmongold was taken by shock at the sheer number of viewers his Final Fantasy stream attracted.  Even he had underestimated the number of dissatisfied and curious for alternative WoW gamers.”

It is important to note that in the streaming world, gamers are quick to hop on the next ‘hottest’ trend in order to get viewers to their stream.  And with Asmongold ‘striking gold’ with Final Fantasy XIV, the game has seen a massive influx of ‘WoW Refugees’.

So much so, that Final Fantasy XIV has begun breaking its concurrent player record on Steam.  However, its sudden popularity hasn't been without issue.  Many players are finding the game's servers continuously full, making it hard to log in and play the game.  Even Final Fantasy's European servers are packed, with the game's free trial shunting players into a “neverending queue.”

But the sudden rise in popularity of Final Fantasy XIV with the migration away from World of Warcraft signals one very important thing – ’Blizzardvision’ has taken World of Warcraft fans for granted, and players are starting to rebel.

Never before has World of Warcraft faced such a backlash.  Now, the real question is – can the game survive?  According to Mark Kern, the answer is most likely ‘no’: 

The transition from WoW to Final Fantasy XIV has nothing to do with which is the better game.

It has everything to do with how one company has treated their fan base, because they thought they had an invincible monopoly.

— Grummz (@Grummz) July 19, 2021

“The transition from WoW to Final Fantasy XIV has nothing to do with which is the better game.  It has everything to do with how one company has treated their fan base, because they thought they had an invincible monopoly.”

No matter which way one looks at it, World of Warcraft, and Blizzard, are in a fight for their very survival.

Like this story? Share it with a friend! 

SOURCE: World of Warcraft is dying...and it's being killed by Final Fantasy

Beginner's Guide to World of Warships

 What you need to know before the battle.

World of Warships may be a free-to-play game, but it’s one with incredible depth. It definitely caught us by surprise and took several hours of trial and error to really figure out what we were doing, and what we should be focusing on.

We’d like to help you to avoid some of the rookie mistakes that we made, helping you unlock the ships that you love and jump right into the action. We’ll cover just about everything that you can find on the Port screen, as well as walk you through what needs to happen when you start clicking around.

Navigating the Home Screen

Once you’re logged into World of Warships, take a few moments to browse through the options and see what you can and can’t do.

Options: In the top left corner you’ll see an icon of a gear. This is where you’ll want to tinker with your video settings to match your PC’s abilities, and where you’ll almost certainly want to dial back the sound.

Port: Below the gear icon in the top left corner of the screen you’ll see another of an anchor. If you click on this icon, you can choose which port you want to see for your home screen. Personally, we’re a fan of New York, but you can set whatever speaks to you the most.

Navigation Menu: Near the top of the screen you’ll see some menu options near the middle. These are Port, Module, Tech Tree, and Profile. We’ll get into a couple of these more in-depth, but for now, you can click through and see what each has to offer. Port is the screen you’re on now, and Profile will give you some details of your time in-game. The other two, Module and Tech Tree, we’ll speak about specifically.

Contacts and Channels: If you turn your attention to the bottom left portion of the screen you’ll see an icon with three dots. Clicking on this is where you can search for and add players to your contact list, allowing you to team up with them in the game’s various modes.

Create Division: Near the top of the screen, close to the big button that says Battle, is the Create Division option. This is basically your squad function, allowing you to team up with people who are on your contact list to form a team. Each time you launch a game, everyone in your division will be on the same team.

Slots: At the bottom of the screen you will see some slots that ships are in, as well as a listing for how many additional slots you have. You can even buy more, but it’s not really necessary for your average player. Essentially, you can only have so many ships active at one time. As you start to unlock new, better versions of your favorite vessels, right-click on the older ships that you don’t use and dismiss them.

Random and Co-Op Battles: To the right of the Battle button at the top is the option to choose if you want a Co-Op Battle (yourself and human teammates against AI), or if you’d rather go into a Random Battle, with a random game mode. We’d suggest playing a few rounds of the former to get the feel for things but switch to the Random Battles as soon as you can. You won’t reach your potential playing against AI.

Tech Tree - Choosing the Right Fleet

It’s not just about choosing the right ship, but also the right country. When you first launch the game, take a look at the Tech Tree near the top. When you open it, you can choose which country’s fleet you want to browse through. Do this and you’ll quickly realize that Japan and the U.S.A. have the most options, with the U.S.S.R. and Germany lagging way behind.

Our suggestion to new players would be to focus on playing as either the American or Japanese factions, giving yourself the opportunity to unlock more ships. At the time this article was posted there weren’t even any Battleships or Aircraft Carriers for the U.S.S.R. or Germany, which might be a big deterrent for players who wish to try those roles.

Tech Tree - How to Unlock New Ships

Take a look at the Tech Tree, focusing on the U.S.A. You’ll see that your starting ship is going to be the Erie (a Cruiser), and the only ship you can unlock from there is the Chester (another Cruiser). Once you get the Chester, you can choose which direction to go. You can continue on with the Cruisers and unlock St. Louis, then your first Battleship, the South Carolina. However, you could also head into the Destroyer class, unlocking the Sampson.

If you hover over the next ship you want to unlock, you’ll see that it has two values. One is a Research Price and the other is a Purchase Price. The first is unlocked using Ship XP. If you want to see how much of that you have, look at your current unlocked ship in that Tech Tree. Once you have the XP you can research your next ship, and then use your Exchange Credits to unlock it. If you’re confused about which ships you can unlock and in what order, look for the arrows that connect one ship to another. It’s a pretty simple and straightforward system.

Modules - Customizing Your Ship

If you open up the Modules section from your Port screen you’ll see your currently equipped ship and the different customization options for it. Like unlocking a new ship, each of these requires that you meet the Research Price and the Purchase Price, which once again use Ship XP and Exchange Credits.

It's not really worth it to buy upgrades for the ships you are using when you first start playing the game. Instead, wait until you get a ship that you really enjoy, with better statistics, and then work on ranking that up. If you find that you really love Destroyers, find one or two that you keep returning to and put your hard-earned rewards into making it better.

When you’re ready and you’ve got everything sorted out on the home (Port) screen, jump into a battle by yourself, or with your friends. The matchmaking in World of Warships is actually fantastic, so you’ll have no trouble finding a good game with equally skilled (or unskilled) players.

Source: usgamer.net

Path of Exile: Ultimatum Expansion Available Now on Xbox

Greetings, Exile! What brings you here? If it’s a love of deep hack-n-slash games that are free on Xbox then we’ve got some news you’d like to hear! We’ve just launched our April expansion, Path of Exile: Ultimatum which you can play for free right now. 

In Ultimatum, you’ll meet the Trialmaster, a Vaal emissary of an entity known only as Chaos. The Vaal is Wraeclast’s most ancient civilization, known for their blood sacrifices, lost temples, and four-breasted queen, Atziri (yeah, you read that right – she’s a badass though). 

In Ultimatum, you will be tempted by an offering you can earn by completing the Trialmaster’s challenge. If you’re successful, the Trialmaster will present you with an ultimatum – leave now with what you have or risk it all for even greater rewards. You will have to make risky decisions, being thrown into increasingly difficult combat as the Trialmaster continues to up the stakes. 

Alongside the Ultimatum League, we’ve also introduced eight new gems that offer powerful ways to destroy your enemies at the cost of your blood. We’ve also massively revamped Path of Exile’s reward systems to make sure your hard work pays off. We hope to see you there! You can learn more about everything this expansion has to offer at https://www.pathofexile.com/ultimatum.

.

But there’s more! We’ve got more Action RPG goodness to share. Alongside our reveal of Ultimatum, we also provided a first look at our upcoming sequel Path of Exile 2 since it was first announced at ExileCon in 2019. 

In our Livestream, we showcased a glimpse of Path of Exile 2‘s second act filled with the rich environments of the Vastiri Desert. We also showcased an updated gameplay demonstration that focused on how Path of Exile 2‘s combat is that of a true next-generation Action RPG: visceral, responsive, and powerful. We haven’t announced a launch date for Path of Exile 2 yet but we’ll continue to reveal its secrets alongside our quarterly expansions for Path of Exile. Find out more about Path of Exile 2

 at pathofexile.com/poe2.

Path of Exile

Grinding Gear Games

☆☆☆☆☆ 311

★★★★★

Get it now

XBOX ONE X ENHANCED

Earn devastating skills and valuable items as you fight your way through the dark continent of Wraeclast. With unrivaled character customization, Path of Exile is an award-winning online Action RPG created by hardcore gamers, for hardcore gamers.

Source: News.xbox.com