Clearing Hollow Zero can be a rather difficult challenge if you're not approaching it ideally. The Agents you use matter in this mode, so rather than banging your head against a wall, here's a list of the best Agents for Hollow Zero.

Best Characters for Hollow Zero in Zenless Zone Zero

Hollow Zero in Zenless Zone Zero is an incredibly challenging mode, with Ether 12 being its most difficult, buffed version. This guide focuses on the best Agents for tackling Hollow Zero on the toughest difficulty, ensuring you have the survivability, damage, and utility needed to clear encounters efficiently.

Caeser

Caeser is best picked as the ultimate team player. She's a walking fortress with a knack for keeping everyone alive. Her shielding abilities are invaluable in Hollow Zero, where even the smallest mistake can mean instant defeat, especially against Elites. What truly sets her apart from the rest is her on-demand parry: no need to worry about Energy levels for it, though it is easier to land if Energy is used.

The cherry on top of all this versatility is her 1000 ATK buff for the active character. It only requires her shield to be active to earn, meaning it is a very low-maintenance buff you'll have most of the time, assuming you can keep the shield up and going. That extra firepower is exactly what you need to cut through the absurdly tanky enemies lurking in Ether 12.

Astra

Astra is the definition of a high-risk, high-reward powerhouse, except she turns the risk part way down. With insane CRIT DMG and ATK buffs activated through her Quick Assist buff, she transforms your entire team into a wrecking crew. But her value doesn't stop at just offense.

Her Ultimate ability provides healing, the only source of character healing in the game, making her practically integral to facing the hardest content. Combine that with her lightning-fast movement, courtesy of her EX and Dodge abilities, and you have a character who can dance circles around enemies while dishing ridiculous amounts of buffs and healing.

Miyabi

Miyabi is a katana-wielding storm of destruction, and Hollow Zero only amplifies her carnage. With her last two Basic Attacks offering built-in iframes and a parry, she’s virtually untouchable when played correctly.

Her insane movement speed makes her one of the safest picks for navigating the chaotic battlefield of Ether 12. Enemies barely have time to react before Miyabi slices through them, making her a perfect blend of speed, safety, and raw unadulterated damage.

Evelyn

If Miyabi is a storm, then Evelyn is an elegant yet deadly executioner. Her damage scales to absurd levels in Hollow Zero, thanks to her high multipliers, but what makes her truly terrifying is her near-infinite dodging ability. By skillfully chaining her EX Dodge and normal Dodge, Evelyn can stay invulnerable while laying down destruction.

She pairs exceptionally well with Astra, as her combat flow naturally triggers Chain Attacks. If you love an agile, relentless playstyle, Evelyn will not disappoint.

Burnice

Burnice brings the heat... literally. With some of the most on-demand iframes in the entire game, she’s as slippery as she is deadly. Whether you play her as a sustained DPS or a Disorder support DPS, her versatility ensures she never feels out of place.

Her ranged attacks allow her to stay safely away from danger while dishing out her highest-damage abilities, and her flamethrower’s Fire DoT (Disorder) turns enemies into walking torches. If you enjoy melting foes from a distance while laughing at their futile attempts to hit you, Burnice is the right choice for you.

Soldier 0 Anby

Fast, furious, and always at 100%, Soldier 0 Anby, also known as Silver Soldier Anby, is a relentless force of nature. Thanks to her Azure Flash and Star Mark mechanics, she has nearly on-demand iframes, allowing her to weave in and out of combat without missing a beat. Unlike other characters who require careful resource management, Anby operates at full power at all times, meaning her damage output is consistently top-tier. Her speed makes her perfect for chasing down elusive enemies in Hollow Zero, ensuring that nothing escapes her onslaught.

Ben

Ben is the underdog turned powerhouse in Hollow Zero, proving that defense can be just as deadly as offense. His parries, when properly built, hit like a truck, and with the Hollow Zero buffs, they become downright ridiculous.

Topping that off, he’s one of the only characters who can take full advantage of the many shield buffs in Hollow Zero without relying on an external shielding source. His parries are also forgiving, making him one of the safest characters to play while still delivering devastating counterattacks. If you like tanking hits, laughing, and then hitting back twice as hard, Ben is your bear.

Jane

Jane thrives in Hollow Zero thanks to the powerful buffs to Anomaly Proficiency found in this mode. As an Agent, she is the most evasive character in Zenless Zone Zero, boasting three dodges by default and gaining a fourth through a buff in Hollow Zero. Her damage is primarily concentrated in her Assault Disorder, making her an exceptional choice for teams built around maximizing this ability. With the right setup, Jane can exploit Hollow Zero’s mechanics to deal devastating damage while remaining nearly untouchable.

By utilizing these Agents, players can maximize their success in Hollow Zero Ether 12, ensuring they have the tools needed to overcome its extreme difficulty and emerge victorious.

The post Best Agents for Hollow Zero in Zenless Zone Zero appeared first on Destructoid.

The Battle Tower in Zenless Zone Zero demands survivability and high damage to push through its toughest fights. The right Agents can make all the difference, offering shields, healing, evasion, and sheer firepower. Here are the best Agents to dominate the Battle Tower and why they shine.

Best Characters for the Battle Tower in Zenless Zone Zero

The following characters are among your best choices for scaling the Battle Tower in Zenless Zone Zero. For clarity and visibility, this list assumes you're interested in reaching the highest floors of the tower (Floor 100+), so keep that in mind as you go through each character.

Caeser

Caeser is the epitome of durability and raw power in battle. With her nearly indestructible team shield, she offers the best survivability option in the game, ensuring your team stays strong no matter how tough the odds get. On top of that, her shield grants a hefty damage boost, making her not just a tank but a powerhouse in disguise.

Her on-demand parry is a lifesaver, especially when you're feeling the heat in high-pressure situations. Versatile and reliable, Caesar is perfect for just about any team composition, making her an essential pick for the Battle Tower.

Astra Yao

If there’s one thing Astra Yao brings, it’s utility in spades. With top-tier damage buffs and the game’s only healing ultimate, she’s the ultimate team support. Her buffs to Quick Assist reduce the after-swap hurtbox, which means quicker and safer swaps for your team: no more getting caught mid-transition (very annoying). But Astra doesn’t just heal; she keeps your team in the fight longer, ensuring you never run out of steam when things get heated.

She’s a healer and damage booster all wrapped into one. Perfect for those prolonged, drawn-out battles where staying alive is one half of the fight, and dishing out damage is the other.

Burnice

Burnice is a damage dealer with a flair for staying alive. She’s got some of the best iframes (invulnerability frames) in the game, making her a natural at dodging enemy attacks. Plus, her flamethrower attacks are a mix of destruction and defense, with iframes either at the start or end to keep her safe while she burns through enemies. Being a ranged character also gives her that extra edge.

She can react and strike from a distance without taking too much heat herself. Whether she's in an Anomaly support role or just dealing solid, consistent damage, Burnice keeps things scorching hot, and her ability to survive through it all makes her a tough contender for the Battle Tower.

Miyabi

When it comes to raw damage output, Miyabi is currently the best in class, and that's not likely to change anytime soon. She’s got an aggressive, in-your-face style with auto-parries and multiple iframes but right into the most basic aspects of her kit, so even when you're under fire, you can keep swinging with confidence.

Her blade mechanic is an offensive juggernaut, delivering significant damage and a high-level interrupt that cancels enemy attacks. Her interrupt even affects bosses which is very strong in the Battle Tower. Her ability to turn the tide of battle with offense is unparalleled, and with a bit of timing, Miyabi becomes an unstoppable force of damage. She is the storm that is approaching.

Yanagi

Yanagi is the ultimate counterplay DPS. With her nimble moveset and skill-based parry mechanic tied to her stance swap, she excels in evasion and striking back after the fact. If you’re good at landing those parries, Yanagi can keep a constant barrage of pressure on your enemies while keeping herself safe at the same time.

She’s got multiple iframes that ensure her survival, but it’s her ability to chain those parries and evasions into offense that makes her a real threat. If you’re looking for a high-skill, high-reward character who can keep the heat on your enemies, Yanagi is your go-to.

Evelyn

When it comes to dodging attacks and dealing out massive burst damage, Evelyn is the undisputed ace. With her infinite dodge mechanic making her one of the most slippery characters in the game, she can evade attack chains that other characters might struggle to do so. By chaining normal dodges and Special dodges together, she can avoid almost anything thrown her way.

She requires a bit of finesse to truly master, but once you get the hang of it, Evelyn becomes an elusive force that’s hard to catch. Pair her with Astra Yao, her best teammate, and you've got an almost unkillable duo, provided you've got the mechanical skill to make it so. Between her dodges and high damage, she's perfect for those who like to dance around the battlefield, delivering potent blows in between close calls.

Nicole

Nicole is all about shredding defense and letting your team go to town. With the strongest defense shred in Zenless Zone Zero, she’s invaluable when dealing with Battle Tower’s tanky, high-defense enemies.

Sure, keeping up her debuff might take some skill, but when you do, she opens the floodgates for your team to unleash major damage. And just to add some fun to her kit, her suction effect is perfect for crowd control, though it works best against weaker enemies. With Nicole on your team, you can slice through the toughest foes like butter, if you can manage her relatively short debuff durations.

Rina

Rina is the perfect support for PEN-focused teams, adding a much-needed PEN boost to her allies. Her ability to transfer her own PEN stat to her team, allowing them to bypass enemy defenses is vital for bringing down high-defense foes in the Battle Tower. At M1, Rina really shines, especially when paired with Agents like Yanagi, as they become a deadly combo that tears through defenses like a hot knife through butter. If you're all about breaking through defenses, Rina’s your secret weapon. Just make sure you have her and her teammates built with the PEN stat in mind.

With these Agents, you’re primed to conquer the Battle Tower with everything you need to succeed. Whether you’re looking for survivability, damage, or utility, there’s an Agent here who’s perfect for every situation. The further you climb, the more difficult the Battle Tower gets, so make sure you're prepared before you get climbing.

The post Best Agents for the Battle Tower in Zenless Zone Zero appeared first on Destructoid.

Monster Hunter Wilds is a brutal playground where monsters are bigger, meaner, and always ready to ruin your day. To survive, you need the best offensive skills to hit harder, crit more often, and take down threats fast. Let’s break down how to become an unstoppable hunter.

Strongest Offense Skills in Monster Hunter Wilds

In Monster Hunter Wilds, the best defense really is a good offense, largely due to the extensive impact the game's new Wound system adds. Attacking and destroying Wounds often result in the monsters toppling over like they just slipped on a banana peel... and this can happen over and over again. To best take advantage, here are the best Offense-orientated skills you should use in your build for maximum damage efficiency.

Attack Boost

Sometimes, simplicity is the spice of life, and you can't get more simple than using the Attack Boost skill. Attack Boost increases your raw attack power so your strikes do more damage. It even adds a critical boost at higher levels. More attack power directly translates into faster hunts, and faster hunts mean more loot carving. This genuine skill is a staple for any weapon, from the heaviest Greatsword to the fastest Dual Blades. If you want to see big numbers and shorter fights, Attack Boost is an obvious no-brainer.

Critical Eye

If Attack Boost is about raw damage output, then Critical Eye is all about careful precision. The skill is all about landing more critical hits by increasing your affinity. More affinity means more consistent damage spikes, which is great for weapons that thrive on fast attacks like the Dual Blades or Long Sword. But, don't underestimate it for big powerful blows from a Greatsword either, or else you'll miss getting your first four-digit damage number. If you love seeing those flashy critical hit effects lighting up the screen, Critical Eye is your ticket to a nonstop fireworks show. And believe me: it never gets old... ever.

Weakness Exploit

All Monsters have weak spots, and Weakness Exploit turns you into a precision hunter by rewarding you for hitting them. This skill gives a massive affinity boost when attacking a wounded or naturally weak monster zone. It’s basically the game telling you, “Hit here for bonus damage.” If you love dissecting your enemies piece by piece and maximizing your damage output. Even though it doesn't boost your raw damage, the sheer amount of additional Affinity you gain for getting a weak point makes it well worth the investment, especially for how much you gain per point invested.

Maximum Might

Maximum Might is an incredibly powerful skill provided you can take advantage of its unique activation requirement. It increases your Affinity when your stamina is full, making it perfect for weapons that hardly use stamina to perform a majority of their actions. Waiting for that perfectly charged strike and Bow users lining up the ultimate shot benefit massively from this. Weapons like the Dual Blades will struggle to make good use of Maximum Might, though, because of their Demon Mode mechanic requiring constant use of stamina to maintain. If you’re the type to attack with calculated precision rather than spam swings, Maximum Might ensures every hit counts.

Critical Boost

Hitting a critical hit is great, but you can always make it hit even harder with the right skill. That’s where Critical Boost comes in. This skill increases the damage multiplier for crits, which means if you’re stacking Critical Eye and/or Weakness Exploit, you’re going to be dishing out ridiculous damage. More crits, more pain, more monster parts to carve up. Best of all? Critical Boost can be obtained on decorations, making it fairly easy to slot into any build with the right slots.

Agitator

Monsters always get mad when they get smacked in the face, and Agitator makes sure you capitalize on their rage. When a monster is enraged, this skill boosts both your Attack Power and Affinity, meaning you hit harder and crit more when things get intense. With this skill, raging monsters are your friends. If you love diving headfirst into the thrill of the hunt, Agitator makes sure your counterattacks hit like a freight train.

Peak Performance

Similar to Maximum Might, Peak Performance is a powerful skill with a unique activation requirement. If you can keep your health bar full, Peak Performance rewards you with extra Attack Power, and its nothing to sneeze at higher levels. It’s like the game saying, “Stay healthy, stay deadly.” This is great for Hunting Horn users who support the team while staying in the fight, though, any DPS-focused build can make good use of Peak Performance to be worth investing in. Basically, stay in tip-top shape, and you’ll hit even harder.

Offensive Guard

Who said blocking is just for defense? Offensive Guard rewards you for landing successful perfect blocks by giving you a temporary Attack Power boost. Any weapon with the ability to Perfect Guard can use Offensive Guard to great value. However, I've personally found it best to use weapons that focus on guarding more than others, so consider the Sword and Shield, Lance, Gunlance, and Charge Blade. Play smart, time your blocks, and watch your damage skyrocket.

Flayer

New to Monster Hunter Wilds, the Flayer skill is all about maximizing damage through the Wound system. Every time you attack a monster, you increase the chances of creating Wounds: special spots where they take even more damage. Not only does this skill make it easier to wound enemies, but it also ensures your strikes hit harder when targeting those weakened areas. If you love weapons that thrive on relentless aggression, like Dual Blades or Switch Axes, Flayer turns you into a true monster slayer. And since shattered wounds often topple monsters, Flayer is perfect for hunters who desire to ensure monsters stay down once put down.

Resentment

Taking damage isn’t always a setback. Resentment boosts your attack power when you have recoverable (red) health, making it perfect for aggressive players who don’t mind trading blows. This is an especially good skill for those who take chip take during a guard, as Resentment activates no matter how much recoverable health you have. If you’re the type who gets knocked down and immediately swings back harder, this skill is made for you. Stay in the fight, keep the pressure up, and punish monsters for daring to hit you.

There’s no single right way to deal damage in Monster Hunter Wilds, but stacking the right skills together can turn you into an absolute damage-dealing menace. Whether you’re into raw power, crit stacking, or strategic playstyles, these offensive skills will ensure that when a monster sees you, it knows it's in for a bad time.

The post Best Offensive Skills in Monter Hunter Wilds appeared first on Destructoid.

The action RPG showdown is on! Zenless Zone Zero and Wuthering Waves bring fluid combat, rotational mechanics, and high-speed action, which are best-in-class in the market, but each executes them uniquely. But which reigns supreme? The answer isn’t so simple, but it may surprise you.

My Expertise in Both Games

Before we start throwing punches, let’s get one thing straight: I know both of these games like the back of my hand. I have completed all available endgame content in Wuthering Waves and Zenless Zone Zero with max scores. That means total clearing of Wuthering Waves’ Overdrive content, Holograms, Tower of Adversity, and Whimpering Waste (triple-S this season). For Zenless Zone Zero, this means surpassing floor 100 in Battle Tower (both versions) and flexing over 30,000 points on all Deadly Assault stages this season.

Needless to say, if there’s a challenge, I’ve conquered it. If there’s a mechanic, I’ve mastered it. So rest assured, this isn’t just speculation. This is a take from someone who has tested the limits of both combat systems.

Complexity vs. Control: A Matter of Approach

Wuthering Waves – The Freeform Fighter

Wuthering Waves thrives on flexibility. It lets you string together attacks, abilities, and swaps in a way that feels organic and open-ended. Want to animation cancel into a parry? Go for it. Chain ability after ability into a rapid-fire onslaught? Absolutely. The game encourages experimentation, rewarding those who push its combat to the limit.

However, this freedom comes with its own set of problems. The fluidity of combat can sometimes feel a little too loose, making certain high-intensity fights harder to control. Worse, most event activities strip away the need for skill expression due to just how ridiculously easy they are. You have so much power under your control with the intricate combat system, yet there's hardly anything to use it on when it comes to Wuthering Waves events.

Endgame-wise, let's talk about Whimpering Waste, for example. It is one of Wuthering Wave's latest endgame modes, but it's all about mass AoE fights, which means you can clear it by spamming attacks with enough DPS rather than outplaying your enemies. There is a strategy to it, as many of the enemies in the game mode have large health bars, but it still boils down to "Do I have the AoE DPS needed to clear waves quickly?". There's not much else beyond that, which is why the mode is so disappointing to not just me but also the community in-large.

Zenless Zone Zero – The Precision Brawler

On the flip side, Zenless Zone Zero is all about tight, controlled, momentum-based combat. Instead of overwhelming players with endless attack variations, Zenless Zone Zero refines its approach with timing-based dodges, tag-in combos, and a strong emphasis on synergy. Each character has a clear role, and executing a perfect counter or assist attack is as satisfying as landing a critical hit in a fighting game.

Rather than an open sandbox of mechanics, Zenless Zone Zero gives you structured tools and asks you to master them. And because the game’s enemies are balanced around this structured system, fights feel consistently challenging, which is a big advantage over Wuthering Waves, where absurdly powerful buffs can often undermine combat depth.

Early Game Combat: Wuthering Waves Starts Strong

If we’re talking about which game throws you into the action faster, then Wuthering Waves takes the lead. From the very start, it forces players to engage with mechanics like parries, dodges, and cancel animations, rewarding those who learn its intricacies early. You’re not just mashing buttons; you’re actively learning how to master the game.

By contrast, Zenless Zone Zero’s early game is a bit of a snoozefest. You can get by with basic attacks, and meaningful combat depth doesn’t kick in until much later. When you start encountering enemies that demand counterplay and synergy (the later half of the game), only then does Zenless Zone Zero start taking itself seriously. While this isn’t a deal-breaker, it does mean that Wuthering Waves provides a more engaging combat experience out of the gate.

The Great Parry Debate

Parries are a huge part of both combat systems, but they’re implemented very differently:

• Zenless Zone Zero uses Defensive Assists, which act as powerful parries that deflect attacks and play a big role in staggering enemies. However, they are finite, so you must rebuild them over time. They are also rather forgiving, hence the limitation.
• Wuthering Waves has a more skill-intensive parry system that requires precise timing but isn’t as strong as Zenless Zone Zero’s version. However, they can be done at any time, provided the enemy's attack can be parried in the first place.

Which one is better? Really, it depends on what you want. If you love a high-risk, high-reward system, Wuthering Waves has the edge. If you prefer a forgiving yet powerful parry that plays into structured team mechanics, Zenless Zone Zero wins.

High-Level Combat: Who Wins?

Now, let’s talk about real difficulty -- the kind that separates the casual players from the combat gurus.

While it is undeniable that Wuthering Waves has a higher skill ceiling and a more complex combat system, Zenless Zone Zero offers a more consistently rewarding challenge. The reason? Wuthering Waves rarely forces you to master its own mechanics.

• Whimpering Waste is just a mass AoE fest. If you don't have the DPS, you won't be clearing it.
• Tower of Adversity focuses more on rotational gameplay. Yes, some team comps get away from this, but the Intro Outro system in Wuthering Waves heavily encourages rotational play.
• Many combat events grant buffs that let players easily brute-force fights.

Meanwhile, Zenless Zone Zero consistently demands precision, proper team synergy, and mastery of its mechanics. Battle Tower floors get excruciatingly difficult the further up you go, forcing players to actively use all available tools to win. Because the game is built around controlled, skill-based execution, it ensures that every hard fight is actually challenging.

So Which Game Has the Best Combat?

While both games have incredible combat, Zenless Zone Zero currently holds the edge for one simple reason: its combat is consistently rewarding across endgame content. Wuthering Waves, for all its depth and creativity, often undermines itself with encounter design that doesn’t always demand high-level play and buffs that trivial any sense of combat accomplishment the moment you enter a fight. Until Kuro Games provides more skill-intensive endgame challenges, Wuthering Waves will remain a game with amazing combat mechanics but without enough opportunities to truly utilize them.

So, if you want a combat system that is satisfying where it matters most (the endgame), Zenless Zone Zero takes the crown. But if Wuthering Waves ever gets the skill-expression-focused high-level content it deserves, it will undoubtedly be the ultimate action RPG. For now, we’ll just have to see where the future takes it.

The post Zenless Zone Zero vs Wuthering Waves: Which one really has the better combat system? appeared first on Destructoid.

The early game in Zenless Zone Zero doesn't ask much of your teams, nor should it. The endgame, however, all but requires you to use the best teams available. Knowing what those are ahead of time ensures you know who to pull for and when.

How teams work in Zenless Zone Zero

Teams in Zenless Zone Zero are made up of three Agents plus a cuddly robot rabbit thing called a Bangboo. Each Agent plays one of the archetypal roles: Main DPS, Sub DPS, or Support. The difference is in how they play those roles. As of update 1.6, there are five built-in Agent types in ZZZ:

• Attack Agents, who are more traditional damage dealers. There are a few additional gimmicks with more recent options, but the basic rule is that if you hit an attack button, the Attack Agent will do some amount of damage.
• Anomaly Agents, who only deal a modest amount of damage with their attacks, instead get the majority of their output via Attribute Anomaly elemental damage effects. Most anomaly Agents also focus at least partly on causing Disorder damage, which occurs when two different Anomaly types interact when an enemy's Anomaly gauge fills. This causes the Anomaly effect and a Disorder, potentially doubling the damage received.
• Stun Agents, whose primary purpose is to build an enemy's Daze gauge until it reaches the Stun window, where the enemy cannot move and receives double damage. The best Stun Agents also apply debuffs and enable their damage dealers to, well, do more damage.
• Support Agents are party-wide buffers, healers, and general enablers. The best of them make an already great team composition better by giving it new tools or additional modifiers to its damage or combat style.
• Defense Agents focus on protecting their other party members via shields and buffing allies while that shield is active. The best of them play a hybrid role, protecting their party and giving top-tier damage and anti-interruption buffs.
• Bangboo are AI-controlled supportive units capable of applying different effects designed to synergize with specific team compositions.

The teams listed here are mostly made up of limited S-Rank characters, but we're not expecting you to have spent additional resources on their Cinema Mindscapes. All of them are, therefore, M0 and E0, meaning you've also not put any stock into their signature W-Engine, which can be the other resource sink.

One final note: almost all of these teams ask for Astra Yao as their Support, but Caesar is an excellent substitute, as are Lucy and Nicole.

Best premium team: Miyabi, Yanagi, Astra Yao

If you absolutely, positively must defeat every enemy in your current zipcode, accept no substitute from the meta Miyabi team. Miyabi's damage multipliers and the range and speed of her attacks are such that she can and has soloed the hardest content in the game. With teammates all but designed to improve her sky-high power ceiling, it's hard to think of what could be better.

Miyabi is the team's main DPS. She's an Anomaly Agent by designation, but her damage output outside of Attribute Anomaly effects is also absurd. If any member of Miyabi's team applies an Anomaly effect, she gains a stack of Fallen Frost. At six stacks, she can charge a huge attack that can disintegrate boss health bars. She also gains two stacks via her EX Special and three from her Ultimate. Most importantly, she gains Fallen Frost whenever an enemy is affected by Disorder.

Yanagi was already a powerful Anomaly DPS. However, her role in Miyabi's team is to ensure the captain of Section 6 has as many free Disorder activations as possible. Miyabi's EX Special can cause Disorders not once but twice, as the attack can cause a unique Polarity Disorder that activates separately from standard Disorders. More Disorder means more Fallen Frost for Miyabi and more heavy bursts of damage.

Astra Yao was immediately crowned the best Support unit in the game when she was released. Not only does she grant a massive attack boost to the entire team, but she also allows them to quick swap for free. In this team, that means Miyabi can get more attacks on target without having to spend resources, and both she and Yanagi can get a bit of extra EX Special energy without needing to be on-field for too long.

Agent Gulliver is the ideal Bangboo for this team, as having two Section 6 members on a team boosts its personal Anomaly buildup and increases Electric Anomaly buildup.

Best alternative premium team: Evelyn, Lighter, Astra Yao

Evelyn is one of the most technical characters in Zenless Zone Zero, requiring a lot of coordination within her team and her kit to function at her highest level. However, you don't need to optimize too much with her best team online.

Evelyn is the main DPS of the team, and even though she's an Attack Agent without the enormous area of effect attacks Miyabi can boast, she is a more functionally active character. Her attack mainly focuses on a single target by binding them to her with the Lunalux Garotte, but those attacks also have a large enough effect radius that any grouped enemies will take the pain.

Lighter is the premiere Stun Agent as of update 1.6, thanks to his top-tier Daze and his ability to reduce an enemy's Ice and Fire resistance while buffing his teammates' Fire and Ice damage. He can also extend the length of Stun windows. That his personal damage isn't terrible only adds to his appeal.

Astra Yao is one we've already talked about, but she deserves mention again for her Faction bonus with Evelyn, which allows Astra to activate her to attack and apply her ATK stat damage bonus more often. Additionally, because Evelyn's team has fewer invulnerability windows and counter options, Astra's Ultimate is even more valuable for the healing it provides.

Snap is the go-to Bangboo for this team, as it increases the damage team members can do to enemies while also providing some small but significant healing.

Best new premium team: Silver Soldier Anby, Pulchra or Trigger, Astra Yao

Silver Soldier Anby is a fantastic Attack main DPS who's simple to play and does top-tier damage without too many gimmicks or execution requirements. She's also the first DPS that uses the Aftershock mechanic, making her best Stun teammates units that can buff that damage type, hence the selections here.

Silver Soldier Anby is about as straightforward as DPS characters get among more recent Zenles Zone Zero characters. Hit enemies to apply the Silver Star mark, keep hitting them to charge it, and use your EX Special to spend that charge to do more damage. This mechanic makes S-Anby a bit more of a single-target specialist than Evelyn, but not enough to separate their capabilities for most players.

Pulchra and Trigger are both Aftershock-centric Stun units. Pulchra relies on her EX Special to apply a buff to Aftershock damage, and Trigger builds a gauge using a held Basic Attack that enables additional Aftershock effects. As an A-Rank, Pulchra is a bit less effective than Trigger at applying Daze, but she's also strong enough that if you're saving for another character down the line, you don't strictly need to pull for Trigger. If you do get Trigger, you'll provide Silver Soldier Anby with her best-in-slot partner.

Astra Yao is on Silver Soldier Anby's team for the same reason she's on any team: the damage buffs, Ultimate healing, and free quick swap attacks. In this case, the Quick Swaps are a good way to build additional Energy for both S-Anby and Pulchra. You are, however, probably better off keeping S-Anby on-field as much as possible to ensure she's charging her abilities as much as possible.

Plugboo is your S-Rank Bangboo of choice for the Silver Soldier Anby team, as you'll activate not only its passive Anomaly buildup ability but also its Chain Attack passive. S-Anby and her teammates aren't Anomaly units, of course, but having the additional Shock Anomaly damage is a nice bonus.

Best free-to-play team: Piper, Anby, Lucy

If you don't have any S-Ranks to build the above teams, a Piper-centric Anomaly team is a fine substitute until you do.

Piper has been the preeminent A-Rank DPS since the release of Zenless Zone Zero, outpacing many of the launch S-Rank characters. She's straightforward and satisfying to play, with most of her damage coming from her held EX Special spin-to-win attack. That same attack builds up a surprising amount of Physical Anomaly for an A-Rank and combined with the rest of her team, Piper can be a real menace.

Anby Demara, the A-Rank version, has also kept a relatively good pace with the other Stun units, though she's starting to feel the effects of powercreep. That's especially true with Pulchra in the lineup now. However, A-Rank Anby is a completely free unit that, like Piper, is easy to play. Her main Daze damage comes from her EX Special and the few combos she can build around it.

Lucy remains one of the most versatile Support units in the game alongside Nicole, and her A-Rank hasn't held her back much at all. Between the Fire Anomaly buildup, free quick swap with an attached Attack buff, and solid damage of her own, using Lucy as a substitute for Astra is a no-brainer. Of course, Astra has more to offer, as does Caesar, but if you don't have them, Lucy can elevate any team's capabilities handsomely.

Those are my picks for the best teams currently available in Zenless Zone Zero. The meta constantly changes, so expect these designations to change with it.

The post Best Team Comps in Zenless Zone Zero appeared first on Destructoid.

Looking for the best Sims 2 expansions? Although The Sims 2 is over 20 years old, it's a cherished title, with players flocking to the 25th Birthday Bundle release. If you're wondering which expansion to dive into first, we have all the best Sims 2 expansions ranked below.

8. The Sims 2: Pets

Although it’s at the bottom of the list, The Sims 2: Pets is by no means a bad expansion. It introduces over 30 breeds of cats, 72 breeds of dogs, birds, guinea pigs (known in-game as womrats), and skunks that can occasionally visit lots and get into mischief.

Crucially, if you’re a fan of the occult, the expansion also introduces werewolves into the game via the ‘Leader of the Pack’ NPC that can visit your lot and bite Sims. However, beyond the mechanics around adopting, breeding, and training pets, there isn't a huge amount of content to get to grips with.

Although many of us cannot comprehend a complete family without the addition of pets, it is just that — an addition. The Sims 2: Pets is a fantastic companion expansion to have if you have the extra cash to spend, but there isn't enough content to occupy you for long. At least, compared to the other expansions on this list.

7. The Sims 2: Bon Voyage

The Sims 2: Bon Voyage allows you to whisk your Sims away for a vacation at one of three possible destinations: Twikkii Island, Takemizu Village, and Three Lakes. Each offers a unique setting, holiday activities, and a secret vacation lot to discover once you locate the associated ancient map. If you’re lucky, you may even bump into a bigfoot and invite him home to live with you. You can live vicariously through your Sims and collect souvenirs, go on tours, or even purchase a vacation home and make your stay semi-permanent.

Playing through each of the three vacation spots is immensely fun, if a bit gimmicky. Whilst I love the idea of my Sims having a trip away, there isn't a whole lot of replayability value. After experiencing each destination once, there isn't a compelling reason to return.

6. The Sims 2: Nightlife

The Sims 2: Nightlife introduces many fundamentals to the game like restaurants, dates, a ‘Downtown’ neighborhood where Sims can go clubbing, and the ability to own cars. The pack also offers an attraction system where you can select ‘turn-ons’ and ‘turn-offs’ for your Sim. This system helps deepen Sim’s connections with one another and adds some realism to the game.

The Sims 2: Nightlife also includes a wealth of build mode items, vampires, and some of the franchise's most iconic NPCs like the Gypsy Matchmaker and Mrs Crumplebottom. You’ll often find Mrs Crumplebottom stalking through nightclubs attacking Sims with her handbag if they dare to flirt too brazenly in public. 

It’s hard to comprehend a time when The Sims 2 shipped without the ability to take Sims out for dates, as it feels like an essential gameplay feature. In a way, it feels as though The Sims 2: Nightlife should have been part of the base game experience, rather than an expansion.

5. The Sims 2: FreeTime

The main draw of The Sims 2: FreeTime is the 10 new hobbies and five new careers it adds to the base game. These hobbies come with an ‘Enthusiasm’ system which measures how much a Sim likes a particular hobby (note that this is different to skill level. A Sim may be skilled in Cooking, for example, but be less enthused about it).

Along with this, the expansion adds new hobby-related furniture, the Genie NPC, the BFF friendship milestone, and the ability to age up non-playable Sims when your main Sim has a birthday. This essentially means that your Sims can have childhood friends that age with them and continue their friendships into adult life.

The pack also has a ‘Lifetime Aspiration’ bar. The more consistently happy your Sims are over time, the more points they can trade in for rewards. As such, The Sims 2: FreeTime is a great expansion to delve into if you’ve exhausted the original Sim careers or hobbies and wish to simply have more things for your Sims to do.

4. The Sims 2: Apartment Life

Now we have werewolves and vampires, let's throw some witches into the mix, shall we? Unlike the other occult Sims, witches feel a tad more fleshed-out by the fact that you can slowly learn spells and choose to focus on good, neutral, or evil magics. I know occult Sims aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I had a fantastic time cursing my neighbor after they started a fight with my Sim. Be careful who you make an enemy of — especially if they're wandering around with green skin and a pointy hat.

Of course, the main draw of The Sims 2: Apartment Life is the ability to rent apartments and find roommates to help you out with the bills. This sort of gameplay is a fantastic basis for any rags-to-riches enthusiasts. Instead of launching into a 20-30k home, you start from the lower rungs of the property ladder. The expansion also introduces a social class system to determine the wealth of a neighborhood. From this, certain ‘Social Group Townies’ will populate areas, fitting into the following categories: Gearheads, Bohemians, Jocks, Techs, and Socialites. Each group has distinctive personality markers and serve to diversify and add some depth to bog-standard townies.

The Sims 2: Apartment Life adds a lot of content to the existing game and provides hours of entertainment, even if you only go through the apartment system once in a playthrough.

3. The Sims 2: Seasons

If you’re sick of being in perpetual spring, The Sims 2: Seasons can be just the thing to revitalize your gameplay. As the name would suggest, it brings all four seasons to the game and introduces dynamic weather. With this comes extreme temperatures and a new outerwear clothing category.

Although this is a feature that will tick over in the background, it instantly makes your Sim neighborhoods feel more alive. Perhaps more importantly, The Sims 2: Seasons brings with it fishing and gardening, which most players would deem essential pastimes. 

The Sims 2: Seasons additionally adds six new careers to the game: Adventurer, Education, Gamer, Law, Music and Journalism. It also adds Plant-sims and an adorable penguin NPC that can visit your lot during snowy weather. With added weather-based interactions like snowball fights, water balloon fights, bug catching, snow angels and much more, The Sims 2: Seasons is especially satisfying when playing as a family. I do wish, however, that we had more holiday-based gameplay, similar to the calendar and festivities that came with The Sims 4: Seasons.

2. The Sims 2: Open for Business

Although it may not be to everyone’s taste, one of my favourite things to do in any Sims game is run my own business and turn a small shop into an enterprise. I could spend hours upon hours within The Sims 2: Open for Business as it allows you to do just that. You can create a business at home or buy a lot and turn it into a shop, restaurant or even a pet store (if you also have The Sims 2: Pets installed).

With the business management mechanics, you can hire employees, set a dress code, pitch sales to buyers and run them up at a cash register. The better your performance, the more business perks you can buy to upgrade your shop.

If you don’t have an interest in running a business, this pack also introduces Servos (robot butlers that you can build and then program to cook, clean or repair objects) shopping districts, flower arranging, toy making, and a wealth of build mode items (over 120 new objects).

1. The Sims 2: University

When getting bang for your buck, The Sims 2: University is the best Sims 2 expansion. It was the first to introduce the Young Adult life stage to the game which, in turn, lengthens the amount of time you have with Sims before they move on. 

The Sims 2: University gives you a choice of three university neighborhoods: Sim State University, La Fiesta Tech and Académie Le Tour. At these, your Young Adult Sim can choose to live in dorms (which function similarly to apartments), private residences or Greek houses. Four new careers come with this pack and your student Sim can choose from eleven different majors. When graduating, depending on the major they chose, they can receive a boost up the corporate ladder and start in their chosen career ahead of other Sims. 

There is much to do when at university. You can join a sorority or fraternity, delve into the mysteries of the secret societies, join study groups, host parties, perform pranks and much more. The expansion also introduced zombies to the game via the new paranormal career. The Sims 2: University has hours of content available and with an entire new life stage, the replayability value of this pack is incredible. The chances are that most players with this pack will send their teens to university and will get different experiences each time.

The rounds up our list of all eight Sims 2 expansion packs ranked from worst to best. If you’re looking to spice up your gameplay, see our guide to all the ways to kill Sims in The Sims 2, all WooHoo locations, or our list of the best Sims 2 cheats and console commands.

The post Best Sims 2 expansion packs appeared first on Destructoid.

Aftershock is a brand new damage type introduced in Zenless Zone Zero 1.6, and it packs a punch if you know how to use it. Here's everything you need to know.

How to use Aftershock Damage in Zenless Zone Zero

Aftershock Damage cannot be applied by just any character or Agent in Zenless Zone Zero. It is a specialized type that currently only Silver Soldier Anby, Pulchra, and Trigger, three new characters recently introduced, can use. Aftershock has to be built into a character kit to be enabled, so no other previously released characters will ever have access to it.

Largely, Aftershock is damage that is most associated with follow-attack playstyles, but not always. This statement will be apparent when I go into the details behind how Anby and Pulchra use it.

Silver Soldier Anby

Silver Soldier Anby (just Anby from its point forward) makes use of Aftershock Damage when she uses her kit's main mechanic, Special Attack: Azure Flash. Every time her skill is used to consume White Thunder, the resulting damage dealt will be considered Aftershock Damage. When Anby lands three Azure Flashes on a target, the resulting Thunder Smite will deal major damage which is also considered Aftershock Damage.

Additionally, Anby buffs the Aftershock damage of her teammates, allowing her to be beneficial to future Aftershock-dealing Agents.

Pulchra

When Pulchra is in the Hunter's Gait state, which is achieved by using her EX Special or after an Evasion Assist, she can utilize her Special Attack: Rending Claw - Nightmare Shadow when a teammate lands a heavy attack with either an EX Special or normal Special. Note that this attack can only occur when Pulchra is off-field, and is a follow-up attack. The resulting damage for Pulchra's Nightmare Shadow is considered Aftershock.

Pulchra deals Aftershock damage but also buffs the Aftershock damage of her teammates when using Nightmare Shadow.

Trigger

Although not yet released, Trigger is playable during the 1.6 story and Silver Soldier Anby Agent questline, thus we already know her official kit. Like Pulchra, Trigger's Aftershock damage comes entirely from her being off-field. Her Aftershock abilities require a resource called Purge, which she gains by Basic Attacking in her Sniper Stance.

• Basic Attack: Harmonizing Shot - When off-field, Trigger will automatically attack enemies struck by Basic Attacks, Dodge Counters, Special Attacks, Dash Attacks or Quick Assists. This follow-up attack is considered entirely Aftershock Damage.
• Basic Attack: Harmonizing Shot (Tartarus) - A stronger version than the previously mentioned ability, Trigger will follow-up with Harmonizing Shot - Tartarus while she is off-field if her allies land an EX Special Attack, Assist Follow-up, or Ultimate.

How does Aftershock damage differ from Standard damage in Zenless Zone Zero?

In reality, Aftershock is not much different from Standard damage in Zenless Zone Zero. The key takeaway is that Aftershock is most associated with damage that follows another teammate's attack. This isn't always true, as with Anby, but it is the most common use case. While Aftershock could have easily been standard damage, the additional 'Aftershock' tag allows for future characters to specifically take advantage of it through unique mechanics tied to it, without messing up the balance of past characters.

The post What is Aftershock Damage in Zenless Zone Zero? appeared first on Destructoid.

Looking for the new Baldur's Gate 3 subclasses? Although patch 8 has a host of content to be excited about, arguably the most important is the 12 new subclasses. Below, we have a thorough breakdown of all 12 new subclasses in Baldur's Gate 3, their associated abilities, levels and more.

Bard: College of Glamour

The College of Glamour subclass is mainly useful for a support/utility role. They can grant temporary hit points and charm enemies that hit party members. Here are the following abilities you can unlock at certain levels:

Barbarian: Path of Giants

The Path of Giants subclass allows Barbarians to enlarge at will, maximizes their carrying capacity and allows them to throw objects or even people, at greater distances. Here are the abilities you can unlock:

Cleric: Death Domain

As the name would allude to, the Death Domain Cleric has access to certain necromancy spells and can access one of the most powerful Cantrips in the game, Toll the Dead, which uses a d12 damage dice when used on injured foes. Here is a breakdown of which domain spells and other abilities you can access as a Death Cleric:

Druid: Circle of Stars

The Circle of Stars Druid has long been one of the most powerful subclasses for Druids in DnD and now, Baldur’s Gate 3. These Druids have access to ‘Starry Forms’ that help them utilize special Bonus Actions. They can do so without needing to be in Wild Shape and can still access their full spell roster. Here are all the major subclass features you can unlock as a Circle of Stars Druid:

Paladin: Oath of the Crown

Oath of the Crown Paladins must abide by three major rules: law, loyalty and responsibility. Think of them as the ultimate lawful good alignment. They have a mixture of melee prowess and healing abilities. Here are the level perks you can obtain:

Fighter: Arcane Archer

The Arcane Archer uses archery-themed Combat Manoeuvres. The magic arrows that they use range in effect, with some applying elemental status effects and others blinding or even banishing foes. With a Fighter’s ability to use extra attacks, this subclass has great potential. Here are the features you can expect to unlock as you level up in this subclass:

Monk: Drunken Master

The Drunken Master Monk has the potential to make foes Drunk with hits and gain Advantage against them in the process. They can also sober them up and subsequently deal added damage. They also negate any negative side effects from being Drunk and, instead, have the potential to replenish Ki points from alcohol. If this subclass sounds both powerful and amusing, here are the features you can obtain at certain levels:

Ranger: Swarmkeeper

The main ability of the Swarmkeeper Ranger is the power to summon a swarm of bees, jellyfish or moths to deal damage to your enemies. The type of damage they deliver depends on the swarm type that you choose. These Rangers also get the following subclass features depending on level:

Rogue: Swashbuckler

The Swashbuckler Rogue is essentially as close to a pirate as you can get in Baldur’s Gate 3. This subclass allows you to use different dirty tricks in order to gain advantage against an opponent. It has a fantastic bonus action economy and grants the following features:

Sorcerer: Shadow Magic

The Shadow Magic Sorcerer excels at spells that blind enemies, have superior darkvision and can even use shadows to teleport themselves at higher levels. This subclass also grants a perk called ‘Strength of the Grave’ that operates in the same manner as ‘Relentless Endurance’ does for half-orcs (enables the character to drop to 1 HP instead of being Downed). This makes this subclass an instant option for anyone attempting an Honor Mode run. Here are all the traits available as a Shadow Magic Sorcerer:

Warlock: Hexblade

The main draw of a Hexblade Warlock is their ability to curse enemies (which reduces the Critical Hit requirement from 20 to 19) and their ability to bond with pact weapons. This transforms ordinary weaponry into magical weapons and gives them certain buffs. The Hexblade can also raise dead and has a healthy mixture of defensive and offensive spells. Here is a list of all the perks you can get with this subclass:

Wizard: Bladesinging

The Bladesinging Wizard is a fantastic option if you want to tank out your Wizard into something slightly melee-focused and more durable (compared to other Wizards, at least). This subclass grants added AC, proficiencies and even an extra attack. See below for all other Bladesinging subclass features:

That rounds up our guide to all patch 8 Baldur's Gate 3 subclasses. For more Baldur's Gate 3 tips and tricks, check out our guides to the best Shadowheart build, Wyll build, Lae'zel build, Astarion build and Karlach build.

The post All 12 new Baldur’s Gate 3 subclasses explained appeared first on Destructoid.

Silver Soldier Anby, also known as Soldier 0 Anby, is the newest addition to the Zenless Zone Zero roster, and she packs quite a punch. If you're pulling her, here's a guide to help you get her going in your comp.

Best Soldier 0 Anby Build in Zenless Zone Zero

Jumping right in, Soldier 0 Anby is an Electric Attack character with a big focus on a brand new damage type called Aftershock. She is a Main DPS and wants a ton of field time to perform her relatively basic gameplan. She is easy to play with a low ceiling, but there is still a lot of room for optimizing her simple gameplay loop. That gameplay loop makes up the entirety of her gameplan. For the sake of clarity, I will simply be referring to Soldier 0 Anby as 'Anby' for the rest of this build guide.

Soldier 0 Anby's Gameplan

Anby's most critical goal is to build up Silver Star Marks on enemies, then detonate them with her core ability, Special Attack: Azure Flash. When Anby lands any of her attacks on an enemy, a Silver Star Mark appears on them, but they're "empty." Silver Star Marks are "filled" when Anby continuously attacks that target. Silver Star Marks have three individual sections, and when one section is completely filled, Anby can unleash one Azure Flash on that target, dealing massive damage.

Azure Flash can only be used if there is a filled section on a Silver Star Mark, but it is in your best interest to hold off using Azure Flash until the entire Silver Star Mark is filled. This is because using Azure Flash three times in rapid succession will allow Anby to deal an extra instance of damage called Thunder Smite, which also deals considerable damage. This is the crux of her gameplan, but there is a bit of nuance you should be aware of.

One of the ways you can play with Anby is by overflowing Silver Star Marks with additional attacks once it is full. You never want to do this. The moment a Silver Star Mark is full, you want to initiate Azure Flash as soon as possible, as any other actions will result in wasted resources. There are a few effective ways to fill Silver Star Marks in Anby's kit:

How to fill Silver Star Marks

• Dodge Counter: Landing a Dodge Counter will fill half of a Silver Star Mark.
• Full Basic Attack String: A full Basic Attack string will nearly fill two sections of a Silver Star Mark. You will need to land one extra attack after the initial combo to fill, however.
• EX Special Attack: Sundering Bolt: Using the Hold version of Anby's Special will result in a completely filled Silver Star Mark on any enemies hit by the attack.
• Ultimate: Voidstrike: Landing Anby's Ultimate on enemies will completely fill their Silver Star Mark.

For the EX Special and Ultimate, make sure you're only using these on enemies with empty Silver Star Marks, or you'll waste resources. You never want to overcap as you're just losing DPS and overall damage doing so. At first, it will take a conscious effort not to overcap, but with practice in the training room, you'll be able to avoid these pitfalls easily.

Best Drive Disks for Soldier 0 Anby in Zenless Zone Zero

As a DPS, Anby has a few different viable options she can use for Drive Disks, though the newest set added in version 1.6 was made directly for her and is her BiS (Best in Slot):

• 4-piece Shadow Harmony - The Shadow Harmony set is by far Anby's best Drive Disk option as it boosts her Aftershock damage, which is her main damage type. Azure Flash and Thunder Smite are Anby's most damaging abilities, and both are considered Aftershock damage. This set also gives Anby free Crit stats, which she benefits from a lot.

Along with this set, Anby has several 2-piece options she can consider using:

• 2-piece Branch & Blade Song: This set gives Anby an additional 16% Crit Damage, which she scales extremely well on.
• 2-piece Woodpecker Electro: This set gives Anby an additional 8% Crit Rate, which is a benefit to Anby's naturally high Crit Damage stat.
• 2-piece Puffer Electro: Puffer Electro is always a strong set for any DPS character that has a large amount of PEN Ratio or has a support character that buffs the user with PEN Ratio. The set itself gives 8% PEN Ratio, and the more PEN Ratio a character has, the better.
• 2-piece Astral Voice: This set gives Anby an additional 10% ATK, which is always a good stat to have on a DPS character.
• 2-piece Swing Jazz: Though not ideal, you can use this set to give Anby an additional 20% Energy Regen, allowing her to use her EX Special more often, thus filling up a full Silver Star Mark. Anby really doesn't need this to fill marks consistently, but this set is an option if it has great sub-stats already.

Disk Drive Stats

For each numbered Disk in your Disk Drive set, these are the ideal stats to hunt for Anby:

• Disc 1 - HP

  • Substats: ATK%, CRIT RATE, CRIT DMG

• Disk 2 - ATK

  • Substats: ATK%, CRIT RATE, CRIT DMG

• Disk 3 - DEF

  • Substats: ATK%, CRIT RATE, CRIT DMG

• Disk 4 - CRIT RATE or CRIT DMG

  • Substats: ATK%, CRIT RATE, CRIT DMG

• Disk 5 - Electric DMG Bonus

  • Substats: ATK%, CRIT RATE, CRIT DMG

• Disk 6 - ATK%

  • Substats: CRIT RATE, CRIT DMG

Best W-Engines for Soldier 0 Anby in Zenless Zone Zero

As an Attack Agent, Anby has a few W-Engine options she can get solid mileage out of:

• Severed Innocence: This is Anby's BiS W-Engine, and it is custom-made with her in mind. It offers her a massive 78% CRIT DMG alone, which will be further buffed when Anby attacks a target with Basic, Special, and Aftershock attacks. This buff stacks up three times, giving her an extra 20% Electric Damage at three stacks.
• Heartstring Nocture: Evelyn's W-Engine is actually one of Anby's best alternative options, as it gives her a ton of CRIT DMG (50%) and a modest amount of CRIT RATE (24%) just by equipping it.
• Marcoto Desire: Anby's best F2P (Free to Play) option is the Marcato Desire, which gives Anby additional CRIT RATE while increasing her ATK%. It is really her only four-star option in Zenless Zone Zero.

Best Mindscapes for Soldier 0 Anby in Zenless Zone Zero

At M0, Anby is already an extremely competent DPS who can easily clear all of the current content in Zenless Zone Zero. However, Anby's Mindscapes do provide large power spikes, particularly at M2, which is her best Mindscape. For your reference, here's a summary of each of her Mindscapes, and their value to her kit.

• Static Charge (M1): Anby's EX Special triggers the additional damage from White Thunder three times and doesn't consume White Thunder stacks. This is a strong M1 that provides Anby with a solid boost in damage. If you wanted to stop here, you could.
• Fail-Safe Protocol (M2): Boosts Anby's Crit Rate by 12%, and when she uses her Ultimate, she gains six stacks of a new buff called Thunder's Cry. When hitting an enemy with Azure Flash and activating the additional effect of White Thunder, it will consume a Thunder's Cry stack instead. This M2 is extremely powerful as it enables additional 'free' uses of Anby's Azure Flash, one of her strongest attacks. If you can get this Mindscape, it is well worth the damage investment.
• Past Glory (M3): Increases Basic Attack, Dodge, Assist, Special Attack, and Chain Attack scaling, boosting Anby's damage. Not worth getting alone, but it's a nice bonus if you continue past this Mindscape.
• Silver Reverb (M4): When Anby hits an enemy with a Silver Star Mark, she ignores 12% Electric RES. Solid, but honestly not worth the investment of reaching an M4 Mindscape.
• Director's Cut (M5): Provides all the same benefits of Past Glory (M3) a second time. Same as before, not worth it alone but a nice bonus.
• Prequel Protagonist (M6): When triggering six instances of White Thunder, Anby will generate a vortex that deals 1000% of Anby's Attack stat as Electric Damage. Generally speaking, this M6 is... strange. On the surface, it looks rather strong, but requiring six White Thunder casts before activating makes it a bit underwhelming due to the amount of time it takes to activate it. It's alright, but there are better M6 nodes out there for other characters.

Best Team Comps for Soldier 0 Anby in Zenless Zone Zero

Anby is a main DPS who wants to remain on-field, so she best fits in teams that support her ability to do just that.

Soldier 0 Anby / Caeser / Astra Yao

This is by far Anby's best team composition and focuses entirely on having Anby be the hypercarry for the team. Caeser provides Anby with a much-needed shield and a large ATK buff, while Astra provides an even larger ATK buff, both of which stack. The result is an Anby with a massive ATK stat and lots of damage.

Soldier 0 Anby / Qingyi / Astra Yao

This composition sees Anby played like a traditional Attack Agent, using Qingyi to provide the Stun effect for massive damage windows. Astra performs the same role of providing powerful buffs to both Qingyi and Anby.

Soldier 0 Anby / Nicole / Astra Yao

This team functions similarly to the first team on this list, only replacing Caeser with Nicole instead. Performance-wise, this team will perform worse than the Caeser variant if you can't maintain Nicole's power DEF shred debuff consistently. Astra Yao makes this easier to achieve while keeping to her main role of providing her powerful ATK buff.

Soldier 0 Anby / Pulchra / Astra Yao

This team continues to focus on supporting Anby, replacing Nicole and Caeser in their similar comps with the new Pulchra agent released in version 1.6 with Anby herself. Pulchra is the only other Agent in Zenless Zone Zero that uses Aftershock attacks, and thanks to her Additional Ability, Business Partner, she increases Anby's Aftershock damage by 30%, making her a valuable addition to her team.

Evelyn / Soldier 0 Anby / Astra Yao

This is the strangest comp on this list, but it functions well, thanks to how both Evelyn and Anby perform their gameplans. Astra Yao's buff makes swapping through Evelyn and Abby a breeze, allowing them both to perform at their best without missing a beat.

The post Best Soldier 0 Anby build in Zenless Zone Zero – Best Drive Discs, W-Engine, and team compositions appeared first on Destructoid.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 Patch 1.2 has finally landed, delivering a massive overhaul packed with crucial bug fixes and the long-awaited Barber update.

When KCD2 first arrived, longtime fans had wondered why the Barber feature was left out for launch. But now, that's all changed with the latest update, where Henry can get a fresh look from any barber in Zhelejov and Kuttenburg. There's even an option to give him a beard, from a goatee to a classic full beard.

I'd be curious to see what hairstyles the community comes up with through the new Steamworks modding support. There's already been a ton of creative mods floating around, and with the Barber Update in the mix, I'm sure we're about to get some seriously cool, fresh styles.

Besides the new hairstyles and mod support, there are many bug fixes to explore. I don't even know where to start, considering that patch notes are around 34 pages. But let's kick things off with the overall performance and stability upgrades. We're talking smoother frame rates and some much-needed fixes to Kuttenburg's occasionally glitchy marketplaces—things are about to get a lot more polished.

There are also platform-exclusive improvements for PlayStation 5, PC, Steam Deck, and Xbox Series X|S users. While the Steam Deck got a fix for its button prompts, the Xbox Series S will notice clearer visuals for in-game inventory icons.

Out of all the bug fixes, the one I'm most excited about has to be the feature that disables the tutorial while riding the horse. This is the prompt that always tells you not to 'hold W' while traveling. It got a tad annoying with its frequent appearance, so I'm happy to finally see it gone.

Given that the Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 Patch 1.2 is pretty hefty on bug fixes, you can bet that the new update will be significant. Some players have noted that it is about 55 GB to download, so you may need to check your storage space. However, it should be noted that the patch may take a while to appear, as some users have indicated that they have not seen it yet (myself included). Just give it some time, and it should eventually show up in your gaming queue.

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Brant is the newest five-star Resonator added to Wuthering Waves, and he offers a unique gameplay style not yet seen in the game. If you're pulling or are planning to pull Brant, here's a guide to get you started.

Best Brantbuild in Wuthering Waves

Brant is a Fusion Sub-DPS character and a Sword user in Wuthering Waves. Unique to his gameplay style, Brant focuses heavily on Mid-Air attacks, allowing him to avoid much of what an enemy is doing due to being constantly airborne. He also has supporting capabilities, able to heal and shield teammates while dishing out his damage.

Though he is considered a Sub-DPS, Brant has access to some of the highest personal damage of any other Sub-DPS. It is so high that a team built around Brant allows him to succeed as even a Main DPS fill-in.

Brant's ability to fill many roles makes him an extraordinary third pick on most teams in Wuthering Waves. With only slots available on any given team, his multi-role versatility allows for you to consolidate roles for other teammates, opening up new team possibilities with Brant's availability.

Brant's game plan

Brant's main goal is to fill up his Forte Meter as quickly as possible and deliver his powerful enhanced Resonance Skill, Returned from Ashes. This enables Brant to heal, shield, and dish out damage, all with the same mechanic. This enhanced Skill is reached by filling up his Forte.

Forte Circuit

Brant's Forte is Ocean Odyssey, which allows him to gain a unique Forte resource called Bravo. He can hold a total of 100 Bravo at any given time, which plays into the rest of his Forte's mechanics. Every time Brant reaches a 25 Bravo breakpoint, he applies healing to his entire party. Bravo is gained in a few different ways you'll want to make note of:

• From Basic Attacks
• From Intro Skill
• When using Resonance Skill

Of these methods, the most viable way of gaining Bravo is through using Basic Attacks on enemies that connect. Brant is a Basic ATK scaling character, so this works out for his playstyle.

Upon reaching 100 Bravo, Brant can use Returned from Ashes, which sees Brant sending a massive anchor crashing from the air to the ground, dealing massive damage to all that are hit by it. While damage is this mechanic's most important aspect, Returned from Ashes shields all of Brant's allies when cast.

Brant's final portion of his Forte another unique mechanic called Theatrical Moment. This allows Brant to gain ATK based on his Energy Regen stat. For every 1% of Energy Regen over 150%, Brant will gain an additional 12 ATK, up to a maximum of 1560.

Resonance Skill

Due to the mechanics of Brant's Forte, he has access to two different Resonance Skills.

The first is called Anchors Aweigh!, which launches him into the air with a backflip. It does minor damage and is generally not very useful. Brant can follow this Skill up by pressing the Skill button a second time to launch a special Plunging attack. If it hits, he can press Normal ATK to launch himself back into the air.

The second is one I've mentioned earlier. When Brant reaches 100 Bravo, his Anchors Aweigh! is replaced with Returned from Ashes, the most powerful ability in his arsenal. It does enormous damage and fills Brant's Concerto by half. It should be used as soon as possible if DPS is your concern with Brant.

Resonance Liberation

Brant's Liberation is called To the Horizon, and it plays a significant role in how you make use of Brant's Forte. When used, Brant will call upon an anchor to crash into the area, dealing decent damage and applying two unique but reminsant mechanics to him as buffs: Aflame and "My" Moment.

Aflame improves the rate at which Brant is able to gain Bravo, doubling its efficiency. You should always strive to have this active as much as possible, which is why Brant wants so much Energy Regen in the first place.

"My" Moment replaces Brant's Forte mechanic Theatrical Moment, rewarding Energy Regen stacking with much more ATK per 1%, as before. With "My" Moment active, the conversion becomes for every 1% Energy Regen over 150%, gain 20 ATK up to 2600.

As you can see, you need to make active use of Brant's Resonance Liberation for him to be viable for DPS.

Outro Buff

As Brant is a Sub-DPS by default, he comes with a powerful Outro buff that shouldn't be ignored for the rest of his kit. Brant's Outro Skill is called The Course is Set! and it buffs the incoming Resonator's Fusion DMG by 20% while simultaneously buffing the incoming Resonator's Skill DMG by 25%. Both effects last for 14 seconds or until the affected Resonator is switched out.

Best Echoes for Brant in Wuthering Waves

Because Brant requires such a significant amount of Energy Regen to function, he only has one Echo set option you should use. However, I will offer you a second option if the Energy Regen thresholds he needs cannot be met.

• 4-p Tidebreaker's Courage - This set provides Brant with an extra 10% Energy Regen and 15% ATK. If Brant has at least 250% total Energy Regen, he also gains a massive 30% Attribute DMG. This set is by far his best, only if you can reach 250% Energy Regen. Without it, you should use the second option on this list.
• 4-Piece Molten Rift - Provides Brant with unconditional Fusion damage buffs, which can all be activated with a single use of his Skill. This set is the next best option if you cannot get 250% Regen to activate Tidebreaker's Courage.

Best weapons for Brant in Wuthering Waves

Brant's incredibly steep Energy Regen requirements offer him only two real options you can consider, with one being several steps down from the other.

• Unflickering Valor - Brant's signature weapon, Unflickering Valor, gives him several powerful DPS buffs to most of his kit, but most importantly, its exceptionally high Energy Regen substat makes reaching Energy Regen requirements infinitely easier. This is, by far, his best option.
• Overtune - Brant's only four-star option, Overtune is the only weapon outside of his Signature that he has to help him reach his Energy Regen requirements.

Without using either one of the two weapons, Brant will struggle massively to reach Energy Regen breakpoints. So, with that in mind, if you cannot get one of these weapons, I strongly urge you to reconsider pulling Brant, as he is heavily reliant on Energy Regen to function.

Best team compositions for Brant in Wuthering Waves

Brant's Outro buff supports buffing Fusion and Skill damage, so characters that match one or both of those make solid teammates for him.

• Brant, Changli, Verina - This is Brant's strongest team composition, and it rewards and players a Dual DPS team. You'll be consistently swapping to and from Brant and Changli, performing their gameplans in unison for maximum effect. Verina is on the team to apply her massive ATK% buff and offer healing as necessary. Verina is interchangeable with Shorekeeper, depending on stat spread.
• Brant, Encore, Shorekeeper - This team functions similarly to the abovementioned, only using Encore instead of Changli. As Encore wants a bit more field time, you'll be doing less quickswapping and more hypercarrying using Encore as the team's main DPS. Shorekeeper is interchangeable with Verina.
• Brant, Sanhau, Verina - This team uses Brant as the hypercarry on his team, utilizing Sanhau's Basic ATK% Outro buff and lightning-fast Concerto to quickly generate Brant's Forte. As with before, Verina is interchangeable with Shorekeeper.

Best Sequences of Brant in Wuthering Waves

Brant is a largely complete character at S0. However, his Sequences grant him significantly increased power to his moment-to-moment gameplan. His best stopping point is, without a doubt, S3, and if you're interested in learning what all of his Sequences do, then here's a summary of each one and their values.

• By Currents and Winds (S1) - This Sequence makes Brant's Returned from Ashes apply a stagnation field when it is being cast, giving the ability potent CC (Crowd Control). Additionally, Brant gains up to 60% DMG when performing his Intro Skill or any attacks with flips associated with it. Overall, this is a strong Sequence that gives Brant additional utility and a lot of extra damage.
• For Smiles and Cheers (S2) - When Brant casts Returned from Ashes or does a mid-air attack, he gains a free 30% Crit Rate. This is already incredible, and I highly recommend you use a CRIT DMG 4-cost Echo if you obtain this Sequence. Additionally, Brant's Outro Skill causes the incoming Resonator to deal 440% of Brant's ATK as Basic Attack damage whenever they use their Resonance Skill. This can happen up to twice. This is a very strong Sequence, and you should get this if you can, as it is simply a lot of free team damage.
• Through Storms I sail (S3) - This is a simple one. It increases Returned from Ashes damage by 42%. This is a buff to Brant's most powerful ability in his kit. As far as Sequences go, this is the ideal stopping point.
• To Freedom I Sing (S4) - This Sequence focuses entirely on providing support to Brant's team. When Returned from Ashes is cast, the shield it applies is 20% stronger, and it provides healing to his teammates based on his Energy Regen stat. This Sequence is alright but far from necessary due to the lack of a damage boost.
• All the World's an Actor's Stage (S5) - When Brant deals Basic ATK DMG, he gains 15% Basic Damage for 15 seconds. Not bad, but it's very 'meh' if you stop here.
• All the World's a Captain's Carnevale (S6) - Brant's S6 is very simple but extremely powerful if you can obtain it. It boosts the DMG Multiplier of his mid-air attacks by 30%. More importantly, however, is that it makes Returned from Ashes explode twice, with the second explosion dealing 30% of the damage of the first.

The post Best Brant build in Wuthering Waves – weapons, echoes, team compositions, and sequences appeared first on Destructoid.

Looking for all Totem of Defiance locations in Avowed? The Totem of Defiance is split into seven pieces that you’ll need to collect around the Emerald Stair region of Avowed. This totem is ideal for a ranger build as it provides extra Constitution, Dexterity and critical hit damage. For all Totem of Defiance locations, see below.

How to complete the Totem of Defiance quest in Avowed

To activate the Totem of Defiance quest in Avowed, you can either pick up one of the Totem pieces right away or purchase the ‘Fragments of the Offering’ quest item from Lluisa Melcer at the Farmers’ Market, south of Fior mes Iverno. Alternatively, follow our guide for every Totem of Defiance piece location.

The Schemer’s Offering location

The Schemer’s Offering is the base of the idol and is located at the Shrine to Skaen (west beyond The Wildwoods). To find it, follow these steps:

• Start at the Delemgan Glade Beacon and walk towards the cave opening opposite.
• Go through the arch, up the stairs and push the button on the wall above to go through the next door.
• Continue past the bridge to the left.
• To the left of the hut, there will be several platforms. Climb up these and work your way up to the top of the shrine.
• Pick up the totem base from the altar.

Obsidian Prayer Beads location

Whilst you’re in the area after obtaining the Schemer’s Offering, you can also collect the next Totem piece from The Delemgan Glade. You will enter this area during the main quest ‘The Animancy Method,’ so you may wish to wait until then to get this Totem piece. I found that if I went straight to the heart of the area and spoke to the main NPC there, all of the enemies became pacified afterward, making traversal much easier. Follow these steps for the Obsidian Prayer Beads:

• Start at the Delemgan Glade Beacon and walk across the large bridge of tree roots.
• Turn right and walk around the main path.
• Turn right again, through an alcove of trees.
• Continue on this path, through the cave opening and past the sleeping bear and Sporling enemies.
• On this path, you’ll come across a large tree forming a bridge to a higher platform. Jump on it. (If you walk around the tree, there will be stones you can use to jump to it).
• Walk up the tree and turn left.
• Follow the ridge and jump onto the levelled section of the wall.
• There will be a body ahead next to the Totem piece.

Idol of Covert Plots location

The Idol of Covert Plots is located within the sealed chapel to the east of the Infested Camp. Follow these steps to get it:

• Start at the Plateau Junction Beacon (northwest of Tama’s Cabin).
• Travel downhill until you see the chapel in the distance.
• Take the higher trail above the chapel, as it will be locked from within.
• Follow the higher trail and take out any of the Sporling enemies that spawn here.
• Go towards the chapel roof; you’ll see a section you can platform across.
• Follow these platforms and land inside the chapel.
• Turn around and loot the Totem piece from the chapel altar.

Idol of Secret Hatred location

The Idol of Secret Hatred is located within the Ancient Grotto, south of The Wildwoods. To grab this Totem piece for yourself, follow these steps:

• From the Low Forest Clearing Beacon, take the left-side of the forked path.
• Just before you reach the bridge, take the dirt path to the right.
• Continue straight ahead, past the mushroom enemies, and you’ll encounter the Ancient Grotto Beacon and the cave entrance into the Grotto.
• Go through the cave.
• Kill Old Nuna and take her bounty if you haven't already done so. 
• Dive into the pool of water to the right of the cave entrance.
• When you emerge, climb up the cave platform and then drop down into the cave chamber below.
• Continue right, and you’ll see a green-hued beacon. Next to it is a crawl space.
• Crawl forward, and you’ll enter a clearing containing a skeleton, book, ring, and the Totem piece.
• If you exit and take the path left, you’ll find an exit to the cave.

Effigy Necklace location

The Effigy Necklace is located a short distance away from the previous Totem piece, within Naku Tedek. However, you must play through the main questline to obtain this one, as its location is only accessible via the ‘Ancient Soil’ main quest. If you have progressed this far, follow these steps to retrieve the necklace:

• From the Ancient Grotto, travel past the Sporling camp and turn right on the main road to gain access to the main bridge into Naku Tedek.
• Go up the first, then the second set of stairs and into the temple itself.
• Enter the doorway behind the Adra.
• Travel down the spiral stairs and into the chamber beyond.
• Turn left, towards the set of stairs. There will be a sigil on the left side that Giatta can interact with (use the Spectral Jolt command).
• This will shock open the door at the top of the stairs. Proceed.
• Either cast a cold spell on the water or shoot the Eye of Rymrgand plant on the right–side wall. This will summon frozen platforms that you can use to get across the water to the tree on the other side.
• Once you’re across, climb up the tree and onto the ledge. Continue, and you’ll see the Effigy Necklace on top of a table.

Sacrificial Dagger location

The Sacrificial Dagger is located in the Abandoned Farms, directly north of Fior mes Iverno. Follow these steps to pick it up:

• Start at the Abandoned Farms Beacon.
• Follow the path upwards and around.
• Head towards the fourth building from the left.
• Walk towards the back of the building. There will be a boarded-up door, and the Dagger will be embedded in it, with a note pinned underneath.

Idol of Violent Rebellion location

The Idol of Violent Rebellion is located at the top of the Ranger Headquarters. To retrieve it, follow these steps:

• Spawn at the Rolling Crags Beacon, east of Fior mes Iverno.
• Head up the path towards the main building and jump onto the porch area to the right.
• Scale up the building using the various platforms and ledges. You can start by jumping on top of the pile of kegs and then onto the porch roof.
• Once you've made your way up to the top, the Idol piece will be on top of some boxes to the right of a large beacon.

How to use the Totem of Defiance in Avowed

Once you have all seven pieces of the Totem of Defiance, travel to a party camp and interact with your totem statue base to unite the pieces and activate it. The base is a cluster of rocks, usually to the left of where Kai stands. 

You can only have one Totem active at a time, so choose wisely. This Totem provides buffs that best support a Ranger build.

All Totem of Defiance buffs

Like other Totems in the game, the Totem of Defiance offers six buffs. These are:

• Furious Frenzy: Second Wind casts Flurry of Blows.
• The Slave’s Patience: +2 to Constitution and Dexterity.
• Hidden Hatred: Increases damage against unaware enemies by 25%.
• Kill the Master: Increases damage against ‘skull’ enemies.
• Bitter Thoughts: Critical Hits deal high Poison Accumulation.
• A Vengeful Victim: After taking damage from an enemy, your next attack within 10 seconds deals +20% of the original damage you received.

That rounds up our guide to all Totem of Defiance locations and buffs in Avowed. If you want to find the other Totems, see our guide to all Totem of Rightful Rulership locations or our Totem of Revelations rundown.

The post All Totem of Defiance locations and buffs in Avowed appeared first on Destructoid.

Phoebe, the latest 5-star character in Wuthering Waves Version 2.1, relies heavily on the Spectro Frazzle debuff, making her unviable without it. This design flaw limits teambuilding options, threatening the game's long-term character design philosophy, and it must be addressed before it’s too late.

The Spectro Frazzle dilemma

Phoebe's kit revolves entirely around Spectro Frazzle, to the point of absurdity. It is a debuff that must be applied to enemies for her to function effectively. Only Spectro Rover, one specific character, can apply this debuff consistently. Without it, Phoebe becomes dramatically weaker, bordering on useless. This rigid dependency forces players into a narrow, restrictive team composition.

But let's break this down even further. Most characters in Wuthering Waves have a level of flexibility built into their kits. They can function decently on their own but shine when placed in the right team composition or with the proper set of buffs. Phoebe, however, is an entirely different story. If the enemy does not have Spectro Frazzle applied, her abilities may as well not exist. She can't deal damage, she can't contribute meaningfully, and she becomes dead weight in a fight. This is the kind of design that kills excitement for a new character. No one wants to pull for a five-star unit only to realize they need to have another very specific character to make them work at all.

Creating the problem, selling the solution

This feeds into a troubling monetization strategy often seen in live service and gacha games: "Create the problem, sell the solution."

By introducing a character almost entirely dependent on a single mechanic, developers create artificial demand for future units that will "fix" the issue. If a future 5-star character is released with Spectro Frazzle application built into their kit, it would be easy to see how this was a deliberate move rather than an accidental oversight.

This is a slippery slope. If every future limited-time character is shackled to a single mechanic or unit, it will stifle the game's diversity and alienate players who enjoy flexibility in their gameplay experience. The beauty of Wuthering Waves has always been its mix-and-match potential. Phoebe's design works directly against that. To be clear, all players get Spectro Rover for free, and they apply Spectro Frazzle for Phoebe, but this isn't about that fact. This is about what this sort of design represents.

How to fix Phoebe (because she needs it)

Two clear solutions can fix Phoebe's overreliance on Specto Frazzle:

• Reduce her stance switch cooldown

If Phoebe could switch between her Absolution and Confession stances much faster than the 24-second cooldown she currently has built into her kit, this issue would practically disappear. By letting her apply her own Spectro Frazzle more frequently, she would no longer be forced to rely on specific teammates just to function, while maintaining the team aspect of having a teammate apply it for her if desired (reducing her need to stance swap). Instead, she could generate her own opportunities and actually feel like a self-sufficient character. This would make her gameplay loop far more enjoyable while preserving the unique mechanics of her kit.

Right now, her long cooldown locks her into a frustrating and clunky playstyle where she spends more time waiting than actually doing anything meaningful. Lowering that cooldown would allow her to shine without breaking the game, keeping her fun while avoiding the pitfall of restrictive team compositions.

• Reduce her reliance on Spectro Frazzle

If adjusting her cooldown isn't an option, another way to fix Phoebe is by making her entirely less reliant on Spectro Frazzle. Right now, the damage difference between hitting a target with or without it being applied is astronomical. Without it, she deals negligible damage, effectively making her unplayable without Spectro Rover.

She should still gain a bonus against Spectro Frazzled enemies, but not to the extent that she is completely worthless without it. By shrinking this damage spectrum, Phoebe could remain functional even when Spectro Frazzle is not present, allowing her to work in more team compositions without being utterly dependent on a single debuff.

Why this cannot become the norm

Phoebe's release represents a dangerous shift in character design philosophy that should not be allowed to continue. If future characters are designed with such rigid, singular dependencies, Wuthering Waves will suffer long-term. Players will feel boxed in and forced into specific, restrictive team compositions to make a character viable. That kind of game design is the opposite of fun.

Fortunately, Kuro Games has a reputation for listening to its player base. By raising awareness of this issue now, the community can voice concerns before this becomes an accepted norm.

A hard no to future Phoebes

Phoebe is fun, but her design philosophy is flawed. This isn’t about minor balancing issues; it is about maintaining the integrity of Wuthering Waves and ensuring that future characters are built on a foundation of strong, independent design. Kuro Games listens, but only if we, the players, make ourselves heard.

This absolutely cannot become the standard. If you care about team-building flexibility, character versatility, and fair design, now is the time to make your voice heard. When future surveys come out, take the time to fill them out and decry this design flaw. Make it crystal clear that this type of deliberately negative character-balancing is unacceptable. If you stay silent, you risk letting this issue fester and spread into future banners. This is the time to push back before the problem infests and infects.

Kuro Games can do better. And we should expect better. Speak up, take the surveys, and make sure this problem starts and stops with Phoebe.

The post The last thing Wuthering Waves needs is another Phoebe appeared first on Destructoid.

Looking for all Steel Resolve quest outcomes in Avowed? Steel Resolve is a sidequest in the Emerald Stair region of Avowed that sets you on the path to uncovering a traitor amongst the Ranger's ranks. Making a decision can be difficult, but we're here to be your crystal ball.

Peek into the future in this article with all the quest outcomes and rewards, depending on whether you decide to kill, spare, or work with Ranger Dorso.

Should you kill, spare, or work with Ranger Dorso?

It appears that Dorso has been working to undermine the Rangers and weaken them from within, thus paving the way for the Steel Garrote to take control of Emerald Stair. If you avoid attacking her straight away you can question her more about her motives. Here are the following outcomes depending on what you choose to do:

• Kill Ranger Dorso: You’ll get the following items from her body: 72 Copper Skeyt, Essence Potion, Lockpick, and an Exceptional Dagger. You can now report back to Ranger Acierno who will send a party to retrieve her body. You’ll receive XP and the ‘One Last Trick’ gun, a unique two-handed gun of exceptional quality with the ability to ricochet bullets.
• Spare her and tell her to leave: Dorso will run away. Upon returning to Ranger Acierno and informing her of Dorso’s betrayal she will thank you, organize a hunting party to bring her to justice, and award you with XP and the ‘One Last Trick’ gun. Make sure you’re honest about Dorso’s motivations as if you say you agree with her, you won’t get the weapon.
• Work with her: If you report back to Ranger Acierno, you have a few more options to choose from. These are listed below.
• Inform Acierno that the traitor is Ranger Dorso: If you do, you’re only option will be to lie and tell her that Dorso is dead. However, if you then reveal Dorso’s motivations, the Rangers will treat you with disdain moving forward, the quest will be complete and you’ll just receive XP. If you lie a second time and say you don’t know why she betrayed them, you’ll be awarded XP and the ‘One Last Trick’ gun.
• Tell Acierno that the traitor was Ranger Casagrada: The Rangers will believe you and Kai will disapprove. You’ll get XP and the ‘One Last Trick’ gun, detailed above.
• Tell Acierno that there wasn't a traitor after all: If you use the Dreamscourge as an excuse for the strange things happening, Acierno will believe you and the quest will be completed. You’ll get XP and the ‘One Last Trick’ gun.

Should you kill the Steel Garrote in Emerald Stair?

Crucially, if you question Ranger Dorso before making the above choices, you will find out that a cohort of Steel Garrote is holed up in a cave behind the waterfall opposite Dorso’s tent (map location pictured above). To get this intel speak to Dorso until you get the ‘Does the Ambassador know about your scheme, does Lodwyn?’ prompt. Then choose the following dialogue options:

• ‘So, you rolled out the welcome wagon for them to save your own hide?’
• ‘Where are the Steel Garrote now?’
• ‘I’ve been out of contact for a while on business for the emperor. I’d like to check in’. 

There are a few things you can do with this intel once acquired:

• Invade the cave and kill the Garrote: You’ll discover that they are a small raiding party sent to pave the way for the Steel Garrote to take control of Emerald Stair. You’ll get various weapons and treasure. Crucially, if you do this before the ‘Ancient Soil’ main quest, you’ll save Fior mes Inervo from burning.
• Ignore the Steel Garrote presence: After ‘Ancient Soil’ you’ll return to the city and find it under attack.
• Speak to Governor Ignasi at Fior mes Inervo: If you tell the governor that you encountered a squad of Steel Garrote he will pay 950 gold for the information (you need to have cleared the cave of enemies to get this dialogue option). If you also inform him about Ranger Dorso and choose the ‘(Rub your thumb and forefinger together.) Purely financial.’ dialogue option when asked why you’re providing the information, you’ll get an additional 550 gold.

Which is the best Steel Resolve outcome?

In order to get the most amount of treasure and XP from the Steel Resolve quest, you should Kill Ranger Dorso, be honest to Ranger Acierno, and wipe out the Steel Garrote cave. Then, report back to Governor Ignasi for additional gold. You can get even more gold if you speak to the Steel Garrote guard inside the cave and take his bribe before triggering combat (you can do so by attempting to lockpick the main door or by sneaking through the tunnel to the right of the guards and attacking the other members). 

That rounds up our guide on all Steel Resolve quest outcomes and what happens if you attack or side with Ranger Dorso. For more Avowed tips and tricks, see our guides to the best weapons, Unique Grimoires, and Unique Clothing sets in-game.

The post All Steel Resolve quest outcomes in Avowed appeared first on Destructoid.

Whimpering Wastes is a brand-new endgame mode introduced with Wuthering Waves version 2.1, and it is quite difficult if you're not using the best Resonators for the job. Here's a list of the best ones for you to use.

Best Characters for Whimpering Waste in Wuthering Waves

Many players in the Wuthering Waves community are finding Whimpering Wastes to be rather hard to complete, even if they could completely clear Tower of Adversity without much issue. This is because Whimpering Wastes prioritizes and tests your ability to handle large groups of enemies in a wave-based format, which contrasts Tower of Adversity's single-target focus.

Some characters that can clear ToA might have trouble dealing with the hardest stages of Whimpering Wastes. Still, if you bring the right characters for the job, you'll be able to clear no problem.

Camellya

Camellya has one of the easiest-to-access nukes in the game, allowing her to wipe out waves with minimal setup instantly. Even after her nuke, Camellya boasts considerable and constant AoE DPS, meaning she has virtually no downtime, which is something most Resonators on this list cannot claim. Her ability to sustain high damage output throughout an entire battle makes her an invaluable asset in Whimpering Wastes, ensuring that each wave of enemies is efficiently cleared before they can overwhelm the player.

Jiyan

Jiyan has high AoE DPS when using his Liberation, which also gives him incredible grouping power, making him a perfect fit for Whimpering Wastes. His Liberation ability allows him to pull enemies together, creating ideal conditions for devastating AoE attacks. His fast and fluid attack patterns make him one of the best choices for those looking to deal consistent and overwhelming AoE damage to waves of enemies without much downtime.

Roccia

Roccia has the best grouping ability in the game, making her an incredible asset for Whimpering Wastes. She excels at pulling enemies together, allowing AoE-focused characters to maximize their damage potential. In addition to her unparalleled grouping mechanics, Roccia also boasts significant AoE damage output, ensuring that enemies are not only gathered but also swiftly eliminated. Her utility makes her an indispensable choice for crowd control and battlefield management in Whimpering Wastes.

Verina

Verina is here due to her lightning-fast Concerto rotation, which allows her to enable Intro-based characters with ease. This makes her an essential support unit in Whimpering Wastes, where constant enemy waves require frequent rotations and quick access to high-damage skills. Verina’s support capabilities ensure that DPS characters can shine, while also providing sustain and buffs to the team. Her presence in a team significantly enhances its overall efficiency, making fights much smoother and reducing unnecessary downtime.

Yinlin

Yinlin does massive AoE damage consistently and is one of the few characters who gains more power the more enemies are on the field. Unlike many other characters whose damage remains static, Yinlin thrives in high-enemy-count situations, making her a natural fit for Whimpering Wastes' wave-based combat structure. Her off-field, mark-based attack patterns and unique scaling mechanics ensure that no enemy escapes unscathed, making her one of the top damage dealers for large-scale encounters.

Carlotta

Carlotta offers excellent crowd control, making it easier to keep enemies in check while maximizing damage output. While she doesn’t have the best standalone AoE, when paired with other strong DPS AoE characters like Changli, she becomes a valuable asset to any team tackling this mode. Her synergy with AoE-heavy teammates ensures that no enemy stands a chance, as she helps create openings for high-damage bursts while maintaining control over enemy positioning.

Yangyang

Yangyang has great AoE and grouping capabilities, making her a powerful choice for Whimpering Wastes. Her ability to manipulate enemy positions while dealing strong area damage ensures that waves of enemies are efficiently managed and eliminated. Additionally, she provides excellent battery support for other DPS characters, allowing them to use their Liberations more often. Yangyang also has a fast Concerto rotation, enabling Intro-based mechanics to activate much easier, making her an incredibly versatile pick for Whimpering Wastes.

Jianxin

Jianxin has great AoE and grouping capabilities, allowing her to control the battlefield while dealing consistent damage. Her ability to group enemies together makes it easier for other DPS characters to capitalize on their area attacks, making her an invaluable member of any team composition. Additionally, Jianxin provides some sustain with shields and healing, offering an extra layer of survivability that can help keep the team going through prolonged battles.

Xiangli Yao

Xiangli Yao pairs best with another DPS character to help him AoE down hordes of enemies via Quickswap rotations. He is at his best in this setup, despite being capable enough on his own. His ability to switch between attacks rapidly ensures that enemies are constantly pressured and defeated efficiently. When played optimally, he can chain devastating attacks with other characters, making him a highly flexible and reliable option for wave-based encounters.

Changli

Changli is one of the strongest AoE DPS Resonators in Whimpering Wastes, making her a must-have for clearing large groups of enemies quickly. She has multiple high-burst damage nukes that allow her to excel incredibly in this mode. Her high burst damage and strong synergy with characters like Carlotta make her an invaluable addition to any team composition focused on efficiency and damage output. With Changli in the lineup, you can expect some of the most consistent AoE damage in the game, allowing for rapid clears and smooth transitions between waves.

By using the right combination of these Resonators, you’ll have a much easier time clearing Whimpering Wastes in Wuthering Waves. Make sure to build your team strategically and take advantage of each character’s strengths to dominate this challenging mode.

The post Best Resonators for Whimpering Wastes in Wuthering Waves appeared first on Destructoid.

Wondering if you should tell the Grain Merchant about the stolen food in Avowed? Elder Offerings is a quest you can pick up in Emerald Stair that involves choosing between giving stolen food back or using it as an offering. Below, we'll go through all Elder Offerings quest outcomes in Avowed.

Speak with Governor Ignasi Vidarro

Although the quest log asks you to choose between telling the Grain Merchant and fulfilling Rossana’s request, there is actually another option you can choose. You can choose to approach Governor Ignasi at his home in Fior mes Iverno and select the following dialogue prompt:

'Did you know Elder Rossana has been leaving food out for the diseased?'

He will say he is aware of it but hasn't intervened yet as it isn't a crucial issue and respects the tradition of honoring the dead. You can then choose from the following dialogue options:

• You’re more open-minded than I expected: This closes the conversation and nothing happens.
• I just thought you should know: This closes the conversation and nothing happens.
• (Give him Rossana’s offerings) Your people need these more than the dead: The side quest is completed and you gain 550 gold. The governor says he will ensure the food goes to people in need but defends Rossana and says she means well. If you go back to Rossana a guard will be next to her and she will say "You followed your conscience for good or for ill".
• You don’t think what she’s doing is a problem? He will ask if what he thinks matters to you. If you follow up by saying 'Not Really' or 'Your people need help. The dead don’t.' he will concede to have a word with Rossana. If you return to Rossana you can inform her that you have told the governor what she has done. She doesn't seem troubled and says she will accept any punishment the governor deems necessary. You are free to carry on with the quest and choose to either place the offerings as planned or speak to the Grain Merchant.

Speak with the Grain Merchant

Approach Ilena the Grain Merchant in the Farmer’s Market southeast of Fior mes Iverno. If you speak with her and inform her that Elder Rossana stole the grain, you’ll have the following options:

• I got the stolen food back from Rossana: The envoy will return the stolen food and the quest will be completed. You won’t get a reward, just XP. If you return to Rossana she will be standing with a guard and lamenting that the angry dead will not rest.
• I’ll pay the cost of the missing food and we can be done with this: This will cost you 100 Copper Skeyt. Illena is grateful and says she can trade once someone from Dawnshore comes through the area but says the food would have been better. You can continue with the quest and place the offerings at the graves.
• I would be happy to compensate you for the lost food: This will cost you 100 Copper Skeyt and you’re free to continue the quest. The response is almost the same as the above option.
• Elder Rossana took the food to assuage the recently dead: Illena will empathize with the situation but will still need the food back. You will then have options 1 or 2 to choose from again.

Place the grain at the three burial sites

If you decide to visit all three graves and place the food as instructed by Rossana, once you return to her outside of Quilicci's House in Fior mes Iverno she will give you the 'Berath's Blessed Ward' Unique Trinket. This allows you to take 5% less damage from Vessels (Skeletons) and is worth 300 gold.

Additionally, your journey to the graves will take you past other quest locations such as Kai’s companion quest, ‘Battle Scars,’ and the ‘Missing Rangers’ quest. So, you can fulfill these on the way if you have yet to do so. The quest will launch hordes of Shadow and Vessel enemies on you, however, so don’t expect it to be an easy ride.

Which is the best Elder Offerings choice?

Whichever outcome you choose for Elder Offerings will mostly be down to personal preference. If you’re down on gold, grabbing the 550 from the Governor may be worth it to you. Personally, I prefer the option to fulfill the quest for Rossana. Her Unique Trinket will be missable otherwise and there are plenty of loot crates and other items of interest on the way to the three destinations. In particular, make sure you open the chest within the Truffle Farm and Logging Site (next to the coastal burial site). You’ll also get XP not only from fulfilling the quest but also through the enemies you kill during the quest so it's worth the trek.

That rounds up our guide to all Elder Offerings quest outcomes in Avowed. For more Avowed tips and tricks see our guides to all Unique Clothing in the game, unique weapons or our list of the best Unique Grimoires to collect.

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If you've ever played a game like Avowed, then you might assume that enemies will respawn in an area after some time has passed. Naturally, this is a reasonable assumption, but the answer to the question is slightly nuanced.

Will enemies respawn in Avowed?

To be upfront, the answer is 'No' in most cases, and 'Yes' very sparingly, specifically in that order. I know that sounds peculiar, but hear me out. There's a reason.

Throughout most of your adventure in Avowed enemies will not respawn once you've cleared out an area. Defining 'respawn' here for clarity, the enemies you've once killed in an area will not come back to life almost under any circumstances. This, unfortunately, leads to situations where when you're backtracking searching for loot or materials, you'll have nothing to fight. Thankfully, the majority of experience you gain for your character in Avowed comes from quest completions over killing monsters, so this is rarely an issue throughout the game.

There is a situation, however, that can cause some monsters to 'respawn' in an area, if the criteria are met, and only once. If you're a thorough explorer first who likes to prioritize that aspect over completing quests, like I am, then sometimes you'll find quest-made locations with enemies inside. Avowed generally does not place obstacles in your path of exploration, so you can often go inside these questing areas and kill all the enemies within it.

However, if you explore a quest area and kill all the enemies inside before you have the quest associated with the location, sometimes enemies will respawn (only once) for the area after you obtain it. This isn't always the case, mind you, but you can test this phenomenon yourself using the Nacib bounty quest in Dawnshore.

All you need to do is enter the Ruinous Cavern side area, west of Paradis, before grabbing the bounty quest from within the city. Slay the spiders outside then enter the cavern and kill all enemies in the first area. Before dropping down deeper, exit the cavern and pick up the Nacib bounty quest from the Bounty Board in Paradis. Then, return to the cavern again. You'll find spiders that you definitely killed prior, roaming near the entrance of the Ruinous Cavern once again.

Is this a true respawn? I'd say so, but it will only happen once in my experience, and rarely at that. So, it's safe to assume that most enemies will simply not come back once you've gutted them out of existence.

The post Do enemies respawn in Avowed? appeared first on Destructoid.

Magic in Avowed isn’t just about waving your hands since you need the right tools and knowledge to dabble. Grimoires hold powerful combinations of spells and you can learn, so here's how to master Essence weaving from these mystic tomes.

How to get spells from Grimiores in Avowed

Before you can even think about learning new spells, you first need to get your hands on a Grimoire. This is because you need to have seen a spell in a Grimiore to use it in any capacity. These mystical books serve as the foundation of magic in Avowed, containing various combinations of spells you can cast directly from them. Spells in these Grimoires can also be learned, granting you the benefit of being able to invoke magic without a Grimoire equipped.

Grimoires are found throughout the world of Eora, hidden in ancient ruins, guarded by formidable enemies, or sold by specialized vendors. If you’re serious about learning magic, exploring every corner of the world is a must.

Not all Grimoires are created equal, though. Some contain basic spells, perfect for newcomers, while others hold powerful advanced spells that instantly change the tide of battle. Keep an eye out for higher-tier, higher-quality Grimoires, as they can offer game-changing abilities.

Learning Magic from a Grimoire

Owning a Grimoire doesn’t mean you automatically know or can cast its spells. To actually use the magic within, you need to invest in the right talents. Tier 1 spells do not require talents to cast from a Grimiore, but if you want to invoke those spells without a Grimiore in hand, you will need to invest at least a point.

However, if you want to learn or use spells beyond the first tier, you'll need to invest Talent points in the Wizard tree, specifically in Grimiore Mastery. This talent comes in multiple tiers, correspondent to the tier of spells it unlocks, and allows you to cast advanced spells directly from a Grimiore that contains one.

With Grimiore Mastery Tier 1 allocated, for example, you can cast the Fireball spell from a Grimiore, without having learned the spell yourself. The opposite is also true. With Grimiore Mastery Tier 1 unlocked, you can now put a point into Fireball, thus, learning the spell. You will be able to invoke Fireball without a Grimoire equipped in this example.

If you have learned Fireball and still insist on casting it from a Grimiore you have equipped, it's not a waste of time. Casting a learned spell from a Grimiore will increase the level of the cast by one, meaning your Fireball, in the above example, will count as a 'Level 2' instead.

Grimoires and Magic Combinations

Every Grimoire you find will have different spell combos that you can utilize freely to define your playstyle.

Once you’ve learned a spell, practice makes perfect. Casting spells in combat will help you understand their strengths, weaknesses, and potential combos with other abilities. Experiment with different Grimoires and spell combinations to find a playstyle that suits your approach, whether that’s raining fire from a distance or using arcane shields to tank enemy attacks.

Mastering magic in Avowed is about more than just collecting powerful books. It’s about understanding, commitment, and investing in the right talents. By securing Grimoires, unlocking the necessary talents, and refining your spellcasting abilities, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a true master of the arcane. Just make sure you have enough Essence before you start blasting.

The post How to learn Spells from Grimoires in Avowed appeared first on Destructoid.

The Intimidating Feline Codpiece is one of the many Treasure Map quests you can solve during your adventures in Avowed. If you're not sure where you find this one, here's the solution for it.

How to solve the Intimidating Feline Codpiece Treasure Map in Avowed

Your treasure hunt begins right at the beginning of your adventure in Avowed. In Claviger’s Landing, the bustling beginner hub in the Dawnshore region, you'll meet various traders hawking their wares at every passerby, yourself included. Among those merchants, you'll find Lynna, a merchant with an eye for the unusual and the cryptic. Speak with her and gaze upon her wares. For a modest sum of coin, she will sell you the Intimidating Feline Codpiece Treasure Map, to get you started.

The map itself is a cryptic, hand-drawn sketch depicting a ravine flanked by towering cliffs, with a small arrow pointing to a cave entrance. While it might not look like much at first, this scrap of parchment will lead you to one of the early game's best armor pieces.

Once you have the map in hand, it’s time to decipher its clues. Your destination lies southeast of The Rise, northeast of the Yellowband Camp, where towering rock formations and eerie skeletal remains mark the entrance to a well-secluded cave.

The easiest way to confirm you’re in the right spot is to look for a moss-covered natural archway leading into a secluded path.

Beyond this, a barricaded cave entrance waits, where you'll find a chest and the reward to the treasure map inside.

Intimidating Feline Codpiece Treasure Map Rewards

inside the chest, you’ll find the Stelgaer’s Pride unique chestpiece. This sleek medium armor isn’t just for show as it comes with some powerful but specific perks that may be a great addition to your build. Its core stats are:

• 18% Damage Reduction
• 3 Additional Damage Reduction
• -35 Maximum Stamina
• -30 Maximum Essence

In general, Stelgaer's Pride is for builds that don't rely too heavily on Stamina or Essence to function. The damage reduction is typical of most armor of medium build, and the same can be said about the negatives as well. However, Stelgaer's Pride, being unique, has two additional perks that should not be overlooked:

• Bloodied Fury (Major Passive): Automatically casts the Barbaric Shout ability when you take a heavy hit, giving you a combat boost right when you need it.

  • Barbaric Shout - This is a tier two Fighter ability that interrupts smaller enemies and empowers you against large ones when cast. You'll also gain the 'Uninterruptable' buff, preventing your attacks from being interrupted while providing you additional Stun power.

• Lesser Relentless: Increases stamina regeneration by 5%, keeping you on your feet and moving just a bit longer.

Beyond the armor itself, the chest also contains extra coins and crafting materials, making this a worthwhile detour even if you're not planning to make use of this unique armor. Crafting materials are especially useful, as having an abundance of them means you'll never run into a scenario where you cannot upgrade build-critical gear.

The post Avowed Intimdating Feline Codpiece Treasure Map solution appeared first on Destructoid.

Looking for the Golden Flames location in Avowed? The Golden Flames are one of seven pieces needed to restore the Rightful Rulership Totem in Avowed. If you’re struggling to locate the flames and thus restore the totem and get some powerful, unique buffs, we have you covered with the Golden Flames location below.

Golden Flames location

The Golden Flames are located on Castol’s Folly, a small island northeast of Paradis which forms the setting for the ‘Precious Light’ sidequest. You’ll get the following clue from Sanza to help if you purchase the Fragment of the Scales Quest Item from his store in Paradis Hightown:

“Atop the isle of wicked outlaws, flicker golden flames of a glorious cause”. 

Specifically, you need to travel to the Golden Flames location by following these steps:

• Start at the Ondra’s Reach Beacon, on the south coast of Paradis.
• Make your way east and jump into the water when you see the remains of a capsized boat.
• Swim to Castol’s Folly, there should be a path straight ahead.
• Walk past the shipwreck and jump across the various wooden platforms.
• Continue up and around the path until you encounter a bandit camp.
• Defeat the enemies here.
• Continue up and around the various camps, turning left at the half-sunken house and Animancer’s Journal.
• Turn left at the sunken silo, towards the brazier.
• Platform to the next pathway.
• Round the corner and you’ll see a golden light on top of a blanket overlooking the island. This is where you can pick up the Golden Flames.

Now you’re one step further to completing the Totem of Rightful Rulership. To complete the set or to find out what to do once you get all the pieces, check out our list of All Totem of Rightful Rulership locations here. To power yourself up even more, check out our guide to all Unique clothing in Avowed and all crafting recipes in-game.

The post How to find the Golden Flames in Avowed appeared first on Destructoid.

Looking for all Unique Trinket locations in Avowed? Trinkets provide certain buffs to your character and can be very effective depending on your build. In total, we've discovered 15 Unique Trinkets to collect in Avowed. Here is a list of them all with info on where to find them and what they do.

All Unique Trinkets listed

There are three types of accessories you can equip in Avowed. These are Amulets, Rings and Trinkets. Unique Trinkets can vary in form and usually have the golden ‘Unique’ rarity tag next to their names in your inventory. You can equip them by clicking on the ‘Accessories’ tab in your inventory and assigning them to the slot just below your character’s boots (left-hand side).
If you wish to collect them all, here is a list of all Unique Trinkets and their locations in Avowed.

That rounds off our guide to all Unique Trinket locations in Avowed. If you wish to complete your ensemble, check out our guide to all Unique Clothing in the game, or see our list of all unique weapons to collect.

The post All Unique trinket locations in Avowed appeared first on Destructoid.

Phoebe strikes a unique balance between complexity and ease in Wuthering Waves, making her both fun and powerful to play. If you're pulling for her, learning how to set her up, optimize her kit, and master her mechanics will help you maximize her strengths.

Best Phoebe build in Wuthering Waves

Phoebe is a highly unique character in that she has two separate stance stances that actively determine her role. She is a Spectro Main DPS when in her Absolution stance, and a Spectro Sub-DPS when in her Confession stance. More on her stances shortly. Her weapon of choice is the Rectifier, and she is focused on dealing ranged damage.

Before we can dive into Phoebe's core game plan, you need to understand exactly how her rather complete kit works in conjunction with the Spectro Frazzle debuff.

Spectro Frazzle

Spectro Frazzle is a DoT (Damage over Time) status that stacks up 10 times, and a 'tick' will reduce that stack by one. Each 'tick' deals damage based on how many stacks are currently active on the target.

Phoebe's damage, as a Main DPS, is completely reliant on a target having at least one Spectro Frazzle stack applied to them. This is because Phoebe's most powerful DPS tool, Heavy Attack: Starflash, gains a walloping 256% DMG Amplification to targets afflicted with Spectro Frazzle, while she is in Absolution stance. This is the single most important aspect of Phoebe's kit, so remember it as I proceed. While in Confession stance, Phoebe's Heavy Attack: Starflash, instead, applies five Spectro Frazzle to all targets hit.

Absolution Stance

Absolution is Phoebe's Main DPS stance, and the one she will be in for a majority of her on-field time. Phoebe can choose to enter Absolution Stance every 24 seconds by holding Heavy Attack, which allows her to cast Heavy Attack: Starflash four times. You want all four Starflashes to land while your target has Spectro Frazzle on them. Otherwise, Phoebe's damage will be quite poor and underwhelming. In summary:

• Hold Heavy Attack to enter Absolution Stance
• Basic Attack until you can use Heavy Attack: Starflash
• Use Heavy Attack: Starflash on enemies with Spectro Frazzle
• Heavy Attack: Starflash can be used four times
• Heavy Attack: Starflash deals 254% more damage to Spectro Frazzle targets

Confession Stance

Confession is Phoebe's Sub-DPS stance and the one that Phoebe will not be in for most rotations. Phoebe can choose to enter Confession stance every 24 seconds by holding Skill, which allows Phoebe's Heavy Attack: Starflash can be cast two times, with each one applying five stacks of Spectro Frazzle on targets hit. Confession stance Starflashes do not deal much damage, as a result, as the point is the Spectro Frazzle application. You want to land both Starflashes so that the target(s) have the maximum amount of Spectro Frazzle stacks, which is 10. In summary:

• Hold Skill to enter Confession Stance
• Basic Attack until you can use Heavy Attack: Starflash
• Heavy Attack: Starflash can used twice
• Heavy Attack: Starflash applies five stacks of Spectro Frazzle each.

Forte Circuit

Now that you understand Spectro Frazzle and Phoebe's two stances, it's time to talk about her two Forte Circuit mechanics: Divine Voice and Prayer.

Prayer is what determines when Phoebe is allowed to enter one of her two stances. Prayer fills up over time, and when it is full, Phoebe can enter either Absolution or Confession stance. When you invoke one of her stances, it takes 24 seconds before Prayer fills back up to full, thus allowing you the option of entering one stance once more.

Divine Voice is the second part of her Forte, and it determines how many times Phoebe can cast Heavy Attack: Starflash when in Absolution or Confession stance. Phoebe can only gain Divine Voice while:

• While she is in a Stance
• Following her third Basic ATK in a string

Only after both criteria above are met will Phoebe be able to cast Heavy Attack: Starflash.

Resonance Skill

Phoebe's Resonance Skill places a large yellow circle on the ground nearby or at a target's location. This circle will cause enemies inside to stagnate for two seconds, preventing all movement entirely. Note that enemies moving in and out of the circle will not cause the stagnation effect. For enemies to be affected by stagnate, they must have been within the circle's AoE at the moment of the cast. Stagnate works on bosses.

When Phoebe attacks from outside of the circle and hits it, her attacks bounce off the circle's inner edges, dealing bonus damage and grouping enemies toward the center. When Phoebe attacks from within the circle, her basic attacks deal more damage to all enemies, and her attacks and gain significantly increased AoE. Ideally, Phoebe should be within her circle as much as possible for maximum DPS when attacking.

Using her Resonance Skill again following a previous cast (within 10 seconds) will allow Phoebe to teleport to the center of the circle. During the initial cast animation until the teleportation animation ends, Phoebe is impervious to all damage.

Resonance Liberation

Phoebe's Resonance Liberation is nothing complex. She invokes a massive Spectro nuke in a big AoE around herself that deals a bunch of damage. However, the stance Phoebe is in when casting it does dramatically change its effects.

• Absolution Stance - Deals 255% more Damage
• Confession Stance - Applies eight stacks of Spectro Frazzle to all targets hit.

You will want to be in Absolution Stance in a majority of cases before you use Phoebe's Resonance Liberation for maximum damage.

Absolution vs Confession Stance

Phoebe requires Spectro Frazzle to deal significant damage in Absolution stance, but she cannot apply Spectro Frazzle unless she is in Confession Stance. This means that Phoebe must open in Confession stance and, after 24 seconds, enter Absolution stance to deal her damage. This is not efficient.

Instead, have Phoebe in Absolution Stance at all times and pair with a teammate who can apply Spectro Frazzle. Phoebe should be paired with Spectro Rover, so that she can function effectively. This will likely change as new Resonators are released. However, Phoebe will always need a teammate who can apply Spectro Frazzle to function as a main DPS. Future characters likely will give her Confession stance a use case, but for now, just use Absolution stance.

In Summary

Phoebe's overall rotation is as follows:

• Intro Skill
• Enter Absolution Stance
• Cast Resonance Skill
• Basic ATK to gain Divine Voice
• Cast Heavy Attack: Starflash four times
• Resonance Liberation
• Outro

This is Phoebe's very standard rotation every time she is thrown into the field, and what you want to adhere to as much as possible. However, if, for any reason, your enemy does not have Spectro Frazzle applied, do not continue the rotation until they do. I must stress that Phoebe's damage is extremely poor if Spectro Frazzle is not applied to the enemy(s) she is attacking and is not worth the rotation time or Forte wasted.

Best Echoes for Phoebe in Wuthering Waves

Due to Phoebe's reliance on Spectro Frazzle, she only has one Echo set you should use, which is tailor-made for her.

• 5-Piece Eternal Radiance - This Echo set gives Phoebe a free 20% increase to Crit RATE and a 15% increase to Spectro DMG for 15 seconds, so long as her target(s) have at least one stack of Spectro Frazzle applied to them. Naturally, Phoebe should always be attacking targets with Spectro Frazzle, making this set's bonus effectively permanent.

Best Weapons of Phoebe in Wuthering Waves

As a Rectifier user, Phoebe is blessed with two viable options in terms of weapon choice.

• Luminous Hymn - As her signature weapon, Luminous Hymn is tailor-made for Phoebe's focus on Spectro Frazzle, granting her significant damage boosts to most of her kit and even allowing her to amplify the damage of Spectro Frazzle when casting her Outro. It is her BiS (Best in Slot) weapon.
• Stringmaster - Phoebe can also make extremely good use of the effects Stringmaster provides, thanks to its incredible universal buffs.

Best Team Compositions for Phoebe in Wuthering Waves

Spectro Frazzle being such a paramount part of Phoebe's game plan means that her team compositions must fit around the constant supply and application of this debuff. However, since Phoebe gains so much damage from a target suffering from Spectro Frazzle, she does not need Outro buffs from other characters to perform well. This allows her to use unique dual DPS team comps instead of your standard Sub-DPS/Support setup. Spectro Rover, however, is non-negotiable thanks to their ability to apply Spectro Frazzle.

Phoebe, Spectro Rover, Verina

This is one of Phoebe's strongest team comps, and it is also very inexpensive to get functioning. Phoebe is thrown out onto the field after Verina has activated her ATK % buff, and Spectro Rover has applied several stacks (ideally 10) of Spectro Frazzle. Once Phoebe is on the field, she needs to cast all four of her Starflash nukes for maximum damage. Then, simply repeat the cycle until the fight is over.

Phoebe, Spectro Rover, Any DPS

This team functions identically to the above-mentioned composition, replacing Verina's support capabilities with simply more DPS instead. Since Phoebe is not sensitive to sub-DPS buffs that require her to stay on the field, she can very easily play in quick-swap comps with any other DPS without losing much of anything. Currently, Phoebe is the only DPS character in Wuthering Waves with this unique benefit.

Best Sequences for Phoebe in Wuthering Waves

Phoebe's Sequences are a rather mixed bag in terms of value effectiveness. Early on, her Sequences are quite strong, adding a lot of power to her kit. However, her later Sequences focus less on damage and more on giving her strong utility, which is not really necessary in Wuthering Waves' game state. However, if you're interested in pulling a few dupes for Phoebe, here's what each one does, and their values.

• Warm Light and Bedside Wishes (S1) - In both stances, it dramatically boosts the DMG of her Resonance Liberation. Additionally, while in Confession stance, Resonance Liberation applies 10 stacks of Spectro Frazzle to all enemies hit. This is decently strong but nothing game-breaking.
• A Boat Adrift in Tears (S2) - Dramatically boosts the potency of Phoebe's Outro effects in both of her stances, more than doubling the effects. This is very strong because Phoebe uses her Outro often thanks to her fast Concerto generation.

• Daisy Wreaths and Dreams (S3) - In Absolution stance, makes her Starflash attack deal 91% increased damage per cast. This is a huge DPS increase. In Confession stance, her Starflash will deal 249% increased DMG, which is even more insane thanks to the implication it offers. This effectively allows Phoebe to deal reasonably high amounts of damage without Spectro Frazzle on her targets, as long as she is in her Confession stance. This is Phoebe's best stopping point and arguably her best Sequence overall.

• Ringing Bells on Wings Aloft (S4) - Phoebe's Basic attacks will now reduce Spectro resistance of her enemies by 10% for 30 seconds. This is pretty good, but not so much that it's worth investing further into Phoebe unless you enjoy her playstyle. It also futureproofs her for any Spectro DPS.

• Prayer to the Distant Light (S5) - When casting Phoebe's Intro Skill, she gains 12% Spectro DMG for 15 seconds. This is Phoebe's weakest Sequence and is not worth going for unless you're going for her S6.
• Whispering Chirps in Silence (S6) - There's a bit of jargon in this one, but to get to the point: her S6 causes her Resonance Skill's stagnation effect to last double the time, and every time she casts her Resonance Skill, she gets to cast a free Starflash without using any of her resources. She also gains a free 10% ATK bonus for 20 seconds. This does improve her damage quite a bit, but when compared to other S6 characters, it is rather lackluster. However, the stagnation effect is incredibly powerful, so this S6 is more about the utility than the damage.

The post Best Phoebe build in Wuthering Waves – weapons, echoes, team compositions, and sequences appeared first on Destructoid.

The Ranger class in Avowed is the most versatile at the start of the game. They can make good use of any one-handed weapons, shields, arbalests, pistols, and bows. If you're looking to play a Ranger, here are the best early weapons to get your hands on.

Best early-game weapons for Rangers in Avowed

Last Light of Day

If you fancy wielding one-handed swords to slay your foes with, the Last Light of Day is undoubtedly the best one you're going to find early on. This flaming longsword deals massive damage, with a portion of it being Fire damage, allowing you to ignite foes quite easily with just a few swings. On top of this, it comes with Fine quality, giving it higher stats than any basic longsword you'll find. By enchanting, you can further empower the blade's ability to restore your health or increase its stun power from parrying attacks. It is the best longsword you will find during your time in Dawnshore.

To get the Last Light of Day, you'll need to pull it off the corpse of a crazed Oracle hiding in the Eothasian Temple, north of Paradis. Seek the Pilgrim's Path, and you'll be on your way to finding him. Trust me, you won't miss him. Just make sure you find a way to make him a corpse, or you won't get this sword from him.

Caeroc's Pride

If you'd prefer to wield firearms from a distance rather than swing around a fancy sword, you should consider wielding Caeroc's Pride instead. This unique pistol comes fully loaded with shock rounds that explode on impact, making it capable of dealing significant AoE damage. It also applies high Shock Accumulation to any enemy hit by it.

Enchanting this unique pistol allows you to amplify its ability to apply Shock Accumulation by also affecting nearby enemies with it. All this combined makes Caeroc's Pride the best pistol you'll find in the early game.

To get your hands on Caeroc's Pride, you'll need to kill Tempestuous Luandi, one of the several bounty targets available to you from the bounty board in Paradis. Taking her bounty will give you a pinpoint marker of her location. However, if you're interested in that, you can still find her roaming around the Ship Graveyard, southeast of Shantytown, just outside of Paradis itself. Be careful when you approach her, as she will wield this powerful pistol against you herself.

The Disappointer

This Pistol, when you first acquire it, will look rather disappointing, as the name of it suggests. While it has the powerful Bleeding Lash effect, which allows you to apply Bleed Accumulation on targets you hit, it also comes with a -10% Damage nerf. What in the world? Why use this, you ask? Well, it turns out if you invest in this disappointing firearm by enchanting it, you can turn that -10% Damage into a walloping +10% instead, making it the second strongest pistol you'll find in Dawnshore.

Unlike the other two weapons on this list, you can acquire The Disappointer without shedding blood. It is purchased from a Merchant in Paradis Hightown, just north of the Philosophers' Alley marker on the map. The entire Paradis Hightown area is automatically uncovered when you arrive, so you should have no problem at all finding him. Just come with some coin ready to spend.

Sheathed in Summer

If you prefer the sneaky approach to combat, then I urge you to consider getting your hands on Sheathed in Summer. This flaming dagger attacks very fast and deals considerable Fire damage per hit. It also gets a hefty bonus to Fire Accumulation if you land all your attacks in a single dagger-swinging combo. There is no better dagger you can acquire early on in Avowed, so if you like dagger combat, this is the perfect weapon for you.

Sheathed in Summar must be picked ripe from the corpse of Octav the Firebrand, another bounty target you can activate from the bounty board in Paradis. He is found in the heart of the Godless Ruins, northwest of Paradis itself. Octav the Firebrand will come at you swinging this dagger around, so tread carefully.

Wind and Wave

You probably didn't expect to see a shield on this list, but it is classified as a weapon in Avowed, and for good reason. Wind and Wave is primarily for defense, but just by having it equipped, you'll gain a significant 10% Move Speed boost at all times, allowing you to duck and weave throughout combat that much easier.

This shield also provides you with significant Frost Accumulation resistance. Being Frozen in Avowed is a death sentence, especially on higher difficulties, so this shield is quite good. Lastly, it can be wielded with any of the other weapons on this list. Quite good indeed.

Unlike every other weapon on this list, Wind and Wave is found within a hidden chest near the riverline northeast of the Western Paragrun Wall Beacon. Teleport there first and head directly northeast until you find this particular portion of the Old Pargrun Wall.

From here, dive underwater and look for a cave entrance right on the river bank.

Swim through this entrance, and you'll find the hidden chest with Wind and Wave waiting for you inside.

The post Avowed: best early weapons for Ranger appeared first on Destructoid.

One of the most paramount, fundamental methods to considerably increase the power of your character in Avowed is to upgrade your weapons and armor. Gear upgrades like these make a dramatic difference, especially on the game's hardest difficulty. So here's a step-by-step guide on the process, for your reference.

How to upgrade your Gear in Avowed

Upgrading your gear is rather simplistic. The first thing you want to do is travel to your Party Camp. This is your main base of operations throughout Avowed, and it's also the only place where you can perform enchantments and enhance your gear.

Once you've made it to your Party Camp, head over to your camp's Workbench and interact with it when you get close.

Here, you'll see all the gear on your character that can be upgraded. You'll need the correct materials to upgrade your gear, with different materials being necessary for different pieces of gear.

Gear Quality Tiers

All upgradable gear in Avowed is separated into Quality Tiers, of which there are five. These are the following:

• Common (Tier 1) - White
• Fine (Tier 2) - Blue
• Exceptional (Tier 3)- Purple
• Superb (Tier 4) - Red
• Legendary (Tier 5) - Legendary

When upgraded enough (three times per tier), gear will move up to the next quality tier, changing its appearance and providing you with significantly better stats. Additionally, as your equipment rises through these tiers, the material requirements will become much harder to come by as high-end upgrades require rarer drops.

For this reason, I highly recommend you focus on a few pieces of gear initially, so you have enough power to deal with anything Avowed throws at you early on. This is especially recommended if you're playing on a difficulty like Path of the Damned.

How to reach your Party Camp in Avowed

Reaching your Party Camp is really easy, but might trip you up in the early game. In order to travel to it, you need to find an Adra Waystone. These look like giant green crystals, often with purple smoke emanating from them. They can often be found near main roads or just off said roads near important points of interest.

By walking up and interacting with these crystals, you'll be prompted with the option to travel to your Party Camp. Once unlocked, you can travel to your Party Camp from any location via your Map. As a little bonus, when you travel to your Party Camp, you can interact with the Adra Waystone and you'll be prompted with the option to return the exact location you traveled from.

Where to get Upgrade Materials in Avowed

If you're missing a material or three for an upgrade, don't worry. Most materials, early on, are pretty commonly found just by exploring and looting everything you find. In particular, when you're near something lootable nearby, you'll hear a faint glittering sound if you're listening carefully enough. Lootboxes and Chests very often have an assortment of upgrade materials in them, so make sure you're actively hunting them down as you proceed.

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Playing the Wizard class in Avowed is all about invoking devastating AoE (Area of Effect) nukes, casting swarms of magical missiles, and erecting powerful shields to unmake enemies and protect themselves. However, to even consider doing these things with your Wizard, you'll need the signature weapon, the Arcane Grimoire.

Fortunately, Wizards have access to several powerful Grimores that are pretty easy to obtain in the early game, and you'll definitely want to know about them to get a leg up on the enemy.

Best Early Game Grimoires for Wizard in Avowed

A Grimoire is more than just a fancy book in Avowed. All Grimoires come with unique stats and an assortment of spells that you can cast, even if you haven't learned them yet. Most of the top-tier early-game Grimoires grant you a big bang for your time since they're not difficult to get.

Common Grimoire of Elements

Believe it or not, the Common Grimoire of Elements is one of the best ones you can use in the early game for a few reasons. It comes with four universal useful spells that do not require any point investments to gain access to.

• Fan of Flames
• Chill Blades
• Jolting Touch
• Arcane Veil

Three of these spells get you basic access to all three elements and their accompanying status effects. More importantly, though, they allow you to solve all possible elemental puzzles in the early game and allow you to break through specific obstructions as needed. No matter what build you're going for, you can always use this Grimoire for puzzle-solving reasons alone.

The most important of the spells is not the elemental ones, but the pure Essence one: Arcane Veil. Arcane Veil is an extraordinary basic spell that grants you a massive 50% Damage Reduction shield while it is active. At level two it deflects Gun and Arrow projectiles, which means it stops one of the most deadly damage types in the game entirely. I cannot state enough how ridiculously strong Arcane Veil is, and to have access to it on a Grimoire without investing a point into it makes this Grimiore one of the best ones to have for early game.

Anextili's Grimoire

While not as universal as the Grimoire of Elements, this unique Grimoire is highly valuable early thanks to the defensive spells it offers you with little cost.

• Fan of Flames
• Arcane Veil
• Grimoire Snap
• Missile Salvo

I've already spoken at length about the strength of having Arcane Veil in a Grimoire. Instead, I want to highlight Grimoire Snap as the second useful defense spell inscribed. Grimoire Snap is an incredible 'keep away' tool when enemies get way too close for comfort. Casting it closes your Grimoire while admitting a powerful shockwave around you, scattering nearby foes. This is quite for Wizards, especially if you want to keep your enemies at bay while invoking. Just keep in mind that you need Level 5 and the Wizard talent: Grimiore Mastery I to make use of it.

Missile Salvo is not really an early-game spell, so I won't get into detail about it.

Beothel's Grimoire

Last but certainly not least, Beothel's Grimoire is a unique one that grants you access to a distinctive combination of spells that you won't find in any other early-game Grimoire, along with one incredibly familiar one. They are the following:

• Corrosive Siphon
• Arcane Veil
• Parasitic Staff
• Blizzard

Right off the bat, access to Arcane Veil makes this Grimoire a top-tier pick. However, Corrosive Siphon gives you access to a siphon life type of heal that also applies Poison accumulation to the target affected. Healing outside of food items and potions is highly scarce in Avowed, so this spell is a huge deal to have. Best of all, it is a basic spell so every build can use it.

Then there's Parasitic Staff which has the incredibly useful function of restoring Essence (Avowed's Mana resource) every time you strike an enemy with it. Casting this spell summons a staff in your hands, and every time you swing and connect, you'll restore Essence to yourself. Considering the Essence cost of spells, Parasitic Staff has incredible synergy with the Wizard class.

Finally, Blizzard is a potent Ice element AoE nuke that will freeze enemies that stay within for too long. It's a very strong spell that's given as a freebie in this stellar Grimoire.

Where to find early game Grimoires in Avowed

Common Grimoires of Elements are found literally everywhere, all over Dawnshore, the first area. As its name implies, they are quite common, found often as loot in chests, or randomly sitting on desks and tables in various locations. If you're exploring Dawnshore, you are guaranteed to find several of them.

Anextili's Grimoire can be found next to the skeletal body of the crazed Pyromancer who blows himself up when you get near him, just South of Breath's Gateway.

His body is up on a hill overlooking the campsite present. Look for a flag on a nearby cliff. If you haven't been to this location yet, be prepared for a large fight, as you'll find a whole camp of enemies waiting for you.

Beothel's Grimoire can be found within the confines of Paradais itself, purchased from a Merchant named Merylin, directly West of the Eastern Paradise Gate Beacon.

Come prepared with a coin purse as this mystic tome will cost you 5,850 currency to purchase. It is unique, after all.

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Version 2.1 of Wuthering Waves introduces Echo Control, a rather useful new mechanic that lets you turn even the most hostile Echoes into temporary allies, with a few catches. With the right know-how, you can manipulate battles, solve Echo-related puzzles, uncover secrets, and shift the tide in your favor to gain a true tactical advantage.

How to Unlock the Ability to Control Echoes in Wuthering Waves

Before you can start bending Echoes to your will, you’ll need the Clearance Module: a special gadget handed to you by Zani during the opening moments of the Version 2.1 main story quest. No Clearance Module means no control, so if you haven’t progressed far enough, it’s time to push forward in the story.

The catch here is that not all Echoes can be controlled. Only those radiating a golden aura are fair game. If an Echo lacks that shimmering gold glow, its will cannot be dominated by any means. Any attempt to control an Echo without this aura will simply result in it attacking you.

Once you’ve got the Clearance Device, you can temporarily turn these golden-aura Echoes into allies. As long as you remain somewhat near, they will fight alongside you, giving you an edge in battle, and they can even help solve puzzles in the new Vault Underground zone added with 2.1.

Why Should You Control an Echo in Wuthering Waves?

The Vault Underground zone is where you'll be doing the majority of your Echo Controlling as it features puzzles that require Echo assistance to solve. If you want to advance through it and reach full completion of the area, you’ll need to make use of this mechanic constantly.

Specifically, the Echo Challenge: Dancer Hacking puzzle requires you to use Echo Control to control a Dancer and use it to reach the other side of the room while navigating obstacles in its wake. You'll be doing this one a few times during your exploration of the vault, so be on the lookout for them.

Then, there is the combat aspect of Echo Control. Sometimes, a hectic fight can get overwhelming, and a little self-prescribed backup can go a long way toward shifting the tide in your favor. Instead of facing every single enemy head-on, why not have a nearby Echo do some of the heavy lifting for you? Controlled Echoes can serve as extra damage dealers, distractions, or even shields, giving you the breathing room you need to turn the tide of a tasking battle.

Echo Control gives you more flexibility and strategic depth in Wuthering Waves. Upgrade your Clearance Device to take command of more Echoes at a time, and use this mechanic to dominate both puzzles and fights within Vault Underground with style.

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Wuthering Waves 2.1 drops you into a brand-new zone filled with fresh challenges, hidden secrets, and surprises waiting to be uncovered. At the heart of it all is the Clearance Level system: your key to bypassing security restrictions, unlocking powerful rewards, and fully exploring the mysterious new Underground Vault area and its many dangers.

What is Clearance Level in Wuthering Waves?

Clearance Level determines how much access you have to different sections of the vault and how much security hates your guts. When you first enter the new Underground Vault added in Wuthering Waves 2.1, you’ll start with limited access and face restrictions on a constant basis. However, as you progress through the area, you'll get the opportunity to upgrade your Clearance Level, which will allow you to open new pathways, uncover unique puzzles, and stake your claim to previous inaccessible rewards.

The Upgrade Process

To increase your Clearance Level, you’ll need to interact with specific objects located in the vault’s Security Rooms. These objects look sort of like kiosks, and they tend to stand out from everything else near them.

The Security Rooms themselves are not immediately accessible, but they become available to you as you advance through the main story quest in Vault Underground, the new Version 2.1 zone. Here’s a step-by-step breakdown:

• Follow the Main Story – The Security Rooms that contain clearance upgrades are typically unlocked through story progression. You can't miss them.
• Interact with Security Consoles – Inside of Security Rooms, you'll find consoles or devices that allow you to boost your clearance when activated. These do not require any materials from you, only that you've already obtained your Clearance Module from Zani, earlier in the main story.
• Utilize the Echo Train – As your clearance rises, more areas of the vault will become accessible via the Echo Train, unlocking even deeper mysteries. Finishing the main story will also unlock new activities in the Underground Vautl, which you'll need a proper Clearance Level for.

With every Clearance Level gained, you’ll gain access to new puzzles, challenges, and previously unreachable areas, all full of rewards (Asterites) for the taking.

The post How to Upgrade Clearance Level in Wuthering Waves appeared first on Destructoid.

Depending on which difficulty you're playing on in Avowed, your early selection of attributes can make or break your gameplay. Regardless of your preference, some stats are just flat-out more important than others early on, so here's a breakdown of which ones you should initially focus on.

Best early Stats in Avowed

Avowed is set within the same universe as the Pillars of Eternity series, and the stats available reflect this, meaning they function similarly here, and certain ones hold the highest value for your character in the early game.

• Might - Putting Attribute points into Might will increase your Damage and Carry Capacity. Both aspects increase in effectiveness as you add more points. For clarity, despite Might being a traditionally 'Physical' stat in most RPGs, in Avowed (and Pillars of Eternity), this stat's Damage increase refers to all damage types, including spells.
• Constitution - When putting points into Constitution, your character will gain increased Maximum Health and boosted Poison/Bleed Resistance. The extra resistances are nice, but the main value of this stat is that Health increase. The more points you put here, the bulkier you'll be in terms of overall hit points.
• Dexterity - Investing Attribute points into Dexterity improves your Attack Speed and Action Speed. Attack Speed means you will simply swing or fire your weapon faster. Action Speed refers to everything else surrounding Attack Speed, such as reloading a gun, casting a spell, or drawing a blade.

• Perception - Placing points into Perception rewards your character with an increased Critical Hit Chance and a boost to your Maximum Range. Critical Hit Chance is self-explanatory, providing you with a chance to deal additional damage on a hit. Maximum Range refers to how far a ranged attack will fly before disappearing into the nether. It also reduces Damage Fall off of ranged attacks hitting a target at a distance. Maximum Range also works on spells.
• Intellect - Investing points into Intellect will provide your character with an increased Essence Pool and increase your Elemental Resistances. Essence is the equivalent of Mana in the Pillers of Eternity universe, which naturally includes Avowed.
• Resolve - The most unusual stat of them all, investing in Resolve increases your character's Maximum Stamina while improving your Second Wind Efficiency. Stamina determines how much you perform tasking actions such as attacking. Second Wind Efficiency relates to how much health you will get back should you trigger the Second Wind effect, which occurs after you die once in combat.

While every stat in Avowed is powerful, Constitution is the most valuable in the early game. Why? No amount of damage boosting will matter if you cannot survive a hit or two. This is especially true on the game's hardest difficulty, Path of the Damned, as enemy attacks that land are often fatal without Constitution investment. I highly recommend investing at least five to seven points into Constitution before branching off to making your build with the other stats.

Your damage can be increased through speeding up attack animations, upgrading your gear, and enchanting your weapons, but Health is not so easily obtained, which is why the value of the Constitution is sky-high.

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Path of Exile 2 is a game where you can go from building a god-tier character to accidentally turning your best gear into a cursed, unusable relic with a single click, all thanks to the chaotic beauty of Vaal Orbs.

These mysterious little orbs can either skyrocket your item to greatness or plunge it into the abyss, so let's unravel what they actually do, when to use them, and why they’re the ultimate gamble for any weary gear-chaser.

What do Vaal Orbs do in Path of Exile 2?

Vaal Orbs are a unique type of currency item in Path of Exile 2 that can be used to apply a powerful enhancement to your items. When used on an item, a Vaal Orb can modify that item in a random, unpredictable way.

Unlike other currency items in the game that apply specific modifications (like the Chaos Orb, which re-rolls item affixes), Vaal Orbs bring a sense of risk and excitement with every use. Either way, when a Vaal Orb is used on an item, that item is almost always permanently Corrupted.

How Do Vaal Orbs Work?

To use a Vaal Orb, right-click it and apply it to an item you want to enhance. This can be done to almost any item in your inventory, but it’s crucial to understand what Vaal Orbs do before using them recklessly. Here's what could happen:

• Corruption - Using a Vaal Orb will always Corrupt the target item. This means the item is altered in some way, either positively or negatively, while preventing you from ever altering it again in any way. Some possible outcomes include adding an extra affix, upgrading the tier of an affix, or granting an entirely new ability, such as a bonus to critical hit chance or a new socket.

• No Changes - Sometimes, you might use a Vaal Orb on an item, and it will result in no visible changes. This is part of the randomness and risk factor associated with these Orbs. Even when no changes occur, the item will still be Corrupted in the process.

• Negative outcomes - The more you play with Vaal Orbs, the more you’ll realize that things can go wrong. In some cases, an affix might be removed entirely, and the item could lose its power. Let me be clear: this outcome can completely ruin an item, and there's nothing you can do about it.

• Unique bonuses - Some Vaal Orbs add completely new properties to items. For example, some armor pieces may gain specific stats or resistance modifiers that weren’t previously available. These bonuses can significantly improve your build or add a much-needed utility to your character. This outcome is also the reason why many players use Vaal Orbs in the first place: for a chance the most powerful gear in the game.

When should you use a Vaal Orb?

One of the most exciting aspects of using Vaal Orbs is the high-risk, high-reward factor. But knowing when to apply a Vaal Orb is crucial to ensuring it’s worth the gamble. You should use a Vaal Orb on an item after you’ve already done all possible enhancements to it through other methods, like using the standard crafting system. Vaal Orbs should be your last step, as they carry the risk of permanently locking in a modifier and corrupting your item. A prematurely corrupted item is of no use to anyone, so tread lightly before deciding to use one.

Consider the following scenarios before using a Vaal Orb on your item:

• Endgame gear - If you’re at the endgame and have a piece of gear that’s already been crafted or enhanced as much as possible, this is when you might want to take the plunge and use a Vaal Orb. While Vaal Orbs can weaken already strong items, using one at this juncture could lead to an item that is impossibly stronger than what you started with. If you hope to push your item to its maximum potential, consider using a Vaal Orb here.
• Items with high potential - If you’re working with an item that has already shown to have high potential, whether it's rare or unique, using a Vaal Orb can push it to even greater heights. However, don’t do this with an item you're not ready to part with, as corruption means you won’t be able to alter the item again.
• Items you’re willing to sacrifice - If you’re experimenting with a piece of gear that you aren’t heavily attached to and want to see if the Vaal Orb can turn it into something truly great, you should absolutely use a Vaal Orb on it. Just know that you may lose something valuable in the process.

Only use Vaal Orbs when you're ready to risk it all for a chance at something extraordinary. They’re designed to add that excitement and uncertainty to the crafting process. The reward could be a game-changing item, but the risk is real, and you could end up with a worthless piece of gear.

The post What are Vaal Orbs in Path of Exile 2? appeared first on Destructoid.

Enchanting weapons in Avowed is a simple yet powerful method to enhance their effectiveness, but there are a few key aspects to consider before diving in.

Avowed Weapon Enchanting Guide: How to Upgrade Your Gear

Enchanting in Avowed only works on Unique Weapons. These come with powerful buffs, called Enchantments, already attached to them. Enchanting allows you to take that potent Enchantment and either improve it or replace it with a different one altogether, assuming you have the necessary materials in your possession.

Enchanting is done at the Enchanting Station located within your Party Camp. Interacting it with a bring-up a list of Unique weapons on your character, along with a second list depicting those weapons' active Enchantments. By selecting a Unique weapon in the list, you'll be given the option to improve its Enchantment or Augment it into a different one using the Enchantment materials you have.

How to access your Party Camp in Avowed

Since the Enchanting Station can only be found in your Party Camp, you must get there first. Your Party Camp is always accessible via interacting with Adra Waystones in the overworld. These look like giant green crystals that glow with a trailing purple hue.

By interacting with an Adra Waystone, either through the World Map or directly, you'll be prompted to set up your Party Camp, and then you'll have immediate access to the Enchanting Station from there. If you interact with a Waystone through your World Map, you'll additionally be prompted to Fast Travel there before setting up the Party Camp.

Your Party Camp is full of helpful things, besides the Enchanting Station, and various other benefits that will make your adventuring in The Living Lands much easier. These include an Equipment Stash for storing gear, a Workbench for upgrading gear, and even a Camp Tent for messing with cosmetics for your companions. Good stuff.

What are Enchanting Materials in Avowed?

Enchanting Materials are mostly comprised of common materials you find when you kill monsters and loot various locations throughout the game. Chances are, you already have several Enchanting Materials if you've been exploring Avowed's overworld in any meaningful capacity.

All Enchantments require different combinations of Enchanting Materials. Think of this like a reagent requirement list for crafting an item, where the more basic an Enchant is, the easier it will be to find the materials for it. Avowed has many different types of Enchanting Materials, so it may take some time to find and get what you need for a specific Enchant.

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