Month: September 2018

Use these tips for attacking, defending, and general strategy.

Going from 0 to 9.6 in 13 years may not sound like an astonishing rate of acceleration, but in the case of the Forza series (both Motorsport and Horizon) has done some super impressive things. Now that Forza Horizon 4 has added an all-time series high 9.6 to the series’ resume, let’s drive through Forza history to see how Playground Games and Microsoft raced past the competition. Which game was your favorite?

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Xbox announced deeper customizations with Avatars during the Inside Xbox live stream.

The focus was for avatars to become more inclusive, expressive, and creative for users to be able to further customize.

The new avatar system takes the old one to an entirely different level.

A photo booth will be available to take photos of your avatar with an adjustable camera to tilt, zoom and rotate. Customized background prints will be able to be a part of your photo, with the possibility of then using that image as your gamer pic.

Collaborations with Halo, Gears of War and other games will come out as well, along with plenty of new accessories.

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Many Pokemon fans were confounded this past weekend when a strange, unidentified Pokemon–now known as Meltan–began appearing in Pokemon Go right after the latest Community Day event. The monster could only be found in the wild for 30 minutes (though it has since been sporadically sighted in the game), and when captured, it would reveal itself to be a Ditto or another Pokemon, furthering the mystery of whether or not it was a deliberate tease on Niantic’s part. It turns out it was, and the unusual Pokemon now has a name. Here are all the details we have so far.

The Pokemon Company has confirmed that the strange, Ditto-like monster is a brand-new species of Pokemon called Meltan. In a new trailer the company shared, Professor Willow from Pokemon Go calls Professor Oak, the most prominent researcher from the main series, with news that Ditto masquerading as an unidentified Pokemon had been sighted recently. Oak says he recalls seeing the monster in ancient texts and that it’s a Mythical Pokemon known as Meltan.

Meltan is classified as the Hex Nut Pokemon. It is a pure Steel-type with a fluid, amorphous body made of liquid metal. According to the official Pokemon website, Meltan can use its arms and legs to corrode and absorb metal. It can also generate electricity, which it uses both in battle and as a source of energy. You can take a look at some images of it in the gallery above.

It’s unclear how players will be able to obtain Meltan, but as The Pokemon Company previously teased, you will need to connect Pokemon Go to the upcoming Let’s Go, Pikachu and Let’s Go, Eevee in order to obtain it in the Switch games. More details will undoubtedly be revealed closer to those games’ release.

Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu and Let’s Go, Eevee launch for Switch on November 16. As noted, the games feature connectivity with Pokemon Go. On top of being able to obtain Meltan, players will be able to transfer Gen 1 Pokemon they caught in the mobile game (plus their Alolan variants) over to the Switch RPGs. Nintendo is also releasing a Poke Ball-shaped controller called the Poke Ball Plus alongside the games on November 16; everyone who purchases one will receive the Mythical Pokemon Mew.

The release of Season 6 of Fortnite: Battle Royale is almost here. The new season of the massively popular battle royale game starts this Thursday on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, and mobile. Excitement for the launch is already high, and developer Epic Games is continuing to build on that by sharing more teaser images of what’s to come–here’s the latest.

The first teaser, which dropped on Monday, gave us a look at a strange llama DJ–presumably one of the cosmetics players will be able to get their hands on during Season 6. Tuesday’s teaser continues that trend, showing off an outlaw outfit that you’ll likely be able to obtain during the new season. Like the first image, this one is also set against the infamous purple cube that recently plunged into Loot Lake.

Whereas previous seasons of Fortnite have adhered to a general theme–Season 4, for instance, was loosely themed around movies–the purple cube seems to be the unifying element of Season 6. The mysterious object has been the subject of much intrigue since it first appeared on the island in August, following a massive lightning storm. Soon after it materialized, it began slowly rolling around the map until it ultimately sank in Loot Lake.

It’s still unclear what this development portends for Season 6, but it had an immediate effect on the environment. After plunging in, the entire lake turned purple and took on the same characteristics as the cube, propelling players into the air when they came in contact with the surface.

Epic continually refreshes various aspects of Fortnite’s map with each season, so there will almost certainly be more changes in store for the island once Season 6 rolls around. The new season begins on all platforms this Thursday, September 27.

Tuesday has arrived, which means the weekly reset in Destiny 2: Forsaken has taken place. As always, this marks a shift across the game, as standard challenges are reset (offering a new set of Powerful rewards) and other activities are shuffled to present you with something new to do. The Iron Banner has concluded and Lord Saladin is gone from the Tower, but this week marks the debut of a new Crucible mode.

Most significantly, there are reports of a Gambit boss dropping an item called Seething Heart. This is seemingly the start of a series of quest steps to get your hands on the Exotic Malfeasance, but for the time being that remains speculation. We’ll report back as we learn more, but for now, here’s everything to know about the latest weekly reset.

Breakthrough, The New Crucible Mode, Is Live

Bungie has launched a brand-new Crucible game type called Breakthrough. This is a mode that transforms partway through the match. Initially, two teams compete to control an area. The team that successfully does so gets their hands on the Breaker, which then has to be taken to the other team’s Vault to hack it (while that team attempts to defend). The hacking team has a certain amount of time to successfully pull off the hack, and if they don’t manage to complete it, they lose. It’s a best-of-three affair.

Breakthrough will be live for a week as the featured playlist (and is available to Forsaken owners for private matches), so you can easily jump in and take part in a match. With the weekly reset on October 2, Breakthrough will join the Competitive playlist. There are also new maps, including a PS4-exclusive one, to play the mode on.

Ascendant Challenge

The Ascendant Challenge has moved locations once again. Once you’ve grabbed the weekly bounty from Petra, you can use a Tincture of Queensfoil to gain a buff that will allow you to see and access the Taken portal. This week’s portal is located in Harbinger’s Seclude; you can see where to go and what to do in our Ascendant Challenge guide. A piece of Powerful gear is up for grabs by completing the bounty. Just be prepared for some platforming.

Spider Bounty — Wanted: Gravetide Summoner

Spider’s set of bounties have rotated, but the one you should care about most is the most expensive. For five Ghost Fragments, you can pick up Wanted: Gravetide Summoner, which is worth doing because it offers Powerful gear, unlike Spider’s other bounties. The corresponding Adventure for this bounty can be found on Titan.

Nightfall

Among the Nightfall Strike options this week are the following: The Corrupted, The Inverted Spire, and Strange Terrain. All three carry the same 540 Power level recommendation. Most notable among these is The Corrupted, which was added to the game after Forsaken’s launch, once the DLC’s Raid was beaten for the first time.

Eververse

The selection of items and bounties available from Tess at Eververse has changed again. Of course, you’ll want the Rise of the Challenge bounty, which provides you with a Prismatic Facet for completing any challenge (the Facet is used to activate the Prismatic Matrix, netting you a cosmetic reward). Among the weekly bounties, the most lucrative–in terms of Bright Dust earned based on the Eververse Bouty Notes spent–is Heroism in Battle, which has you complete five Strikes within a week.

As for the lineup of items available with the Prismatic Matrix, which rotates each week, there are two Exotics and a handful of items up for grabs–all 10 are from Forsaken. Here’s the full list:

• All Mine — Exotic emote
• Sneak Attack — Exotic weapon ornament for The Colony
• Loaded Dice — Legendary weapon ornament for Hazard of the Cast
• Denial Dance — Legendary emote
• Swiftsong — Legendary Sparrow
• Spectral Circuit Shell — Legendary Ghost Shell
• Cordial Diamond Shell — Legendary Ghost Shell
• Battle-Shrike — Legendary Sparrow
• Beastly Projection — Rare Ghost Projection
• Lucky Shot — Rare Emote

Petra

Unfortunately, Bungie has continued to move Petra around. She’s no longer located next to the Dreaming City’s Landing Zone, having moved to a new spot in Rheasilvia. She’ll as always offer a piece of Powerful gear for completing two of her weekly bounties, of which you have several choices.

Among them is a new mission, Dark Monastery, that continues the story that’s developed since Forsaken’s Raid was first beaten. You’ll also notice some visual differences in the Dreaming City, with Taken Blight balls filling in the sky in some spots.

Clan Bounties

Three new weekly bounties from Hawthorne are now available. These run the gamut and unfortunately don’t overlap at all–you’ll be taking part in Escalation Protocol, the Blind Well, and Adventures. All three offer Legendary gear and clan XP, although the one involving Escalation Protocol nets you the most experience points.

• Mutual Escalation — complete five waves of Escalation Protocol with clanmates
• Draw From the Well — Tier II and Tier III completions with clanmates
• Band of Adventurers — complete three Adventures with clanmates

Vanguard Strikes

The weekly challenge for Strikes calls on you to complete a Strike using the same element of subclass as one of your team members–Void would be a wise choice, as you’ll see below. You’ll have to do this three times to earn a Powerful gear reward. The modifiers for this week are as follows:

• Void Singe — increases Void damage
• Glass — recovery is twice as fast but health and shields are halved
• Heavyweight — more Power ammo, Power weapons do more damage

Daily Heroic Story Missions

Another set of five story missions are available for you to choose from for daily Heroics. Completing any three of these during the week will net you a Powerful gear reward. The modifiers are the same as the Vanguard Strikes outlined above–Void Singe, Glass, and Heavyweight. Here are your choices and the recommended Power levels:

• Combustion — 280
• Looped — 280
• The Gateway — 310
• Deep Storage — 310
• Off-World Recovery — 360

Gambit

The weekly bounty you can pick up from The Drifter right now is Do It. This tasks you with earning a total of 12 points–you start out with zero and earn three for each win, but a loss will cost you one. The reward is 75 Infamy rank points along with a piece of Powerful gear.

Flashpoint

The Flashpoint isn’t tied directly to the weekly reset, as it rotates more than once a week. As of this writing, you’ll find it on Io; simply complete any activities, like Public Events, Lost Sectors, and Heroic Adventures to build the completion meter and earn a piece of Powerful gear.

During today’s Inside Xbox livestream, Phil Spencer announced that mouse and keyboard support is coming to Xbox One.

https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/09/25/xbox-keyboard-and-mouse-support-on-the-way

It will be on Xbox Preview in October, and will be initially tested on Warframe. The idea behind mouse and keyboard support will be as a tool for developers, so they can choose how they want the control style integrated, if they want it integrated at all.

More information on mouse and keyboard support will be coming during the returning XO18 fan event in Mexico City on November 10. There is currently no news when this feature will be rolling out for all developers and gamers, but expect news along these lines during XO18, and for more on the exclusive Microsoft and Razer partnership for mouse and keyboard support.

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The next generation of Nvidia graphics cards are here, and the good news is they live up to the hype. Don’t believe me? Check out our Nvidia RTX 2080 review or our Nvidia RTX 2080 Ti review to see what we thought, as well as look over those 4K benchmarks, possibly with your mouth agape. They’re real good cards, is what I’m saying. However, they’re also hard to come by.

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Find out where this week’s Ascendant Challenge is in Destiny 2: Forsaken, as well as how to complete it.