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Shadow of the Erdtree does a lot to mix up Elden Ring’s basic gameplay. One of the best additions is a new way to throw down against monsters with Hand-to-Hand martial arts, a new ******* category. While they seem like fist weapons at a glance, you’ll not regret trying them out. Hand-to-Hand martial arts are only available in the DLC expansion to Elden Ring, Shadow of the Erdtree. You cannot get this ******* type in base game. View the full article

The Golden Hippopotamus in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is a minor boss but a challenging ****** nonetheless. Found guarding the Legacy Dungeon of the Shadow Keep, you will need to defeat the ****** in order to gain access to the rest of the area. The great boss also comes in two phases, so prepare heavily for this ******. Two or three swipes from its jaws will leave you badly hurt and close to ****** even with high vigor at a character's soft and hard level caps. View the full article

The new Elden Ring DLC is brutally difficult, but has it ever occurred to you why? Well, it features a separate leveling system tied to Scadutree Blessings, so here’s everything you need to know about them to make your Land of Shadow experience easier. What is the Scadturee Blessing in Elden Ring? The Scadutree Blessing can be viewed and upgraded at a Site of Grace. Screenshot by Dot Esports Scadutree Blessings are one part of a broader mechanic called the Shadow Realm Blessing that aims to separate the DLC’s power scaling from the base game. The Shadow Realm Blessing also includes the Revered Spirit Ash Blessing that functions similarly to the Scadutree Blessing. View the full article

Entering the Finger Ruins of Rhia or Dheo in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree can be one of the most uncomfortable moments the game has to offer. And when you reach the center and can’t even ring the bell, it hurts even more. If you want to sound the Finger Ruins bell in Elden Ring, we can help you out. How to Sound the Bell in the Finger Ruins in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree Follow the path through Moorth Ruins if you want to get here fast. Screenshot by Dot Esports In order to sound the bell in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, you must first meet Count Ymir, a sorcerer in the Cathedral of Manus Metyr. He will grant you the *****-Laden Necklace, a powerful charm that lets you sound the Finger bells in Finger Ruins. Head down to the first ruin in the southeast of the map and head to the where the fingers form a circle and sound the bell there. Then, you’ll do the same with the next two ruins. View the full article

The Pocket 386 comes from the same company that put out the Book 8088 showcased here back in July 2023. This new retro laptop is powered by a 386 SX chip clocked at 40 MHz alongside 8 MB of DRAM, a user-replaceable VGA card, and a Yamaha audio card. Read Entire Article View the full article

Original Mario & Luigi developer AlphaDream doesn't exist anymore, but Nintendo won't say who is making the recently revealed Brothership. Earlier this week, Nintendo announced Mario & Luigi: Brothership, the first completely new entry in the spin-off RPG series in about nine years. It was a welcome way to open the Direct, particularly for someone like me who's a big fan of the series. But, there's one problem: AlphaDream, the original developer behind the games, was shut down back in 2019 after filing for bankruptcy. That leaves the question of who is actually developing this surprise sequel. Game File reached out to Nintendo to find out which team might be working on the RPG, and was met with a bit of a non-response "Some of the original developers who worked on the franchise are involved in the development of Mario & Luigi: Brothership. For more information about the developers, please stay tuned to the game credits at release." As noted by VGC, it isn't particularly clear who Nintendo might be talking about here, as numerous former AlphaDream staff members have worked with Nintendo in other capacities, with series director and producer Yoshihiko Maekawa even recently supervising the remake of Super Mario RPG. In recent years, Nintendo has become increasingly reticent to actually say who is making its games, often offering a similar line along the lines of "please stay tuned to the game credits at release." It's not particularly clear why Nintendo is opting to do this, and mostly just obfuscates the fact that specific teams make its games, and not the developer itself. Read more View the full article

Leveling up in Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance can be difficult without Gospels and Grimoires, two incredibly rare items you can farm from Mitama enemies. With the changes made from the original game, both items now instantly level up Nahobino or the demons you recruit. This can help your team become much stronger without having to grind XP on low-level ****** enemies before the next big ******. View the full article

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree has done well critically, but Steam reviews are painting a different picture. After a long, long wait, Elden Ring's highly anticipated DLC Shadow of the Erdtree arrived, and critics were generally a big fan of it - our own James gave it full marks, and plenty of other reviews were equally strong. But despite all that critical praise, the DLC is currently sitting at a "Mixed" rating on Steam. There are plenty of positive reviews, but there are several users that are finding a lot of issues with it. One review notes that there are constant "micro-stuttering and frame drops" and suggests waiting for performance improvements before picking it up. Another reviewer also noted the DLC's performance issues, despite the base game working fine, with one particular ****** feeling "more like a slideshow." However, it wasn't just the performance issues that people had a problem with. Everyone knows that FromSoftware games are tough, that's kind of their whole thing, but a lot of players seem to be finding this particular bit of DLC just a little bit too hard. A player who left a lengthy negative review of the DLC wrote that the game's combat just doesn't work for the fast-paced boss fights that would fit better in something like Sekiro or Bloodborne, but Elden Ring's slow-paced Dark Souls style combat just doesn't work for it. Read more View the full article

The Smithscript Dagger in Elden Ring is a new ******* that came as part of the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. It scales with many different aspects and can fit into most builds. While it may not be as flashy as other new weapons, it is still a solid choice, particularly as a secondary *******. View the full article

For the second time in the last three days, today’s LoLdle quote is only three words long. Despite this, most League of Legends fans shouldn’t struggle to quickly solve this one if they focus on the key clue. Who says “Embrace the darkness” in LoL? The LoLdle quote for June 23 is “Embrace the darkness.” The League champion who says this is Nocturne. View the full article

In this episode, James discusses his time with Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, Adam goes back in time to Dragon: Age Origins, a preview of GreedFall II: The Dying World, plus, all the news out of Nintendo Direct, and more. View the full article

TimTheTatman recently shared a hilarious clip to demonstrate how his Elden Ring run is going so far. Trust me, it’s freaking bonkers. The famous Twitch streamer known for creating content centered around CoD Warzone took a turn to test his luck against the formidable foes of Elden Ring on June 18. View the full article

Have you ever wanted to be an unpaid, intern robotic journalist at a space newspaper? Of course you have, think the developers of Times and Galaxy, a raucous new indie that has you take to the hyperspace lanes in a flying newsroom to be a cub reporter on the eponymous news publication, or "holopaper" as they're calling it in the far future... Read more.View the full article

Amidst a plethora of collectibles that bestow bonuses and enchantments in the realm teeming with thrilling treasures, the mischievous SilverLit Energy Crystals reign supreme in Tarisland. This guide will cover the locations of all SilverLit Energy Crystals, so you can navigate Tarisland without the burden of searching for them yourself. View the full article

A Diablo 4 player has revealed a trick for Barbarian mains to gain ******* expertise faster. Each of the classes in Diablo 4 offers players a distinct style of play due to their abilities. Diablo 4's classes also have unique mechanics, which add a new layer of immersion to gameplay. View the full article

A Destiny 2 player has created an impressive Pale Heart-themed Titan and shared it with the community. The Titan build is inspired by a new location in the game's latest expansion, The Final Shape. The Destiny 2 community is now buzzing with excitement after the release of this major expansion, and the game, which is well-known for its rich lore, continues to inspire creativity among its players. View the full article

An Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree player has recently discovered a wholesome detail about the stone golems in the Ruined Forge Lava Intake: they **** their loyal lava blobs. The new Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree expansion is filled with several secrets and strange places, but most gamers would not expect to see such a shockingly cute moment in this bleak open-world game. View the full article

There are plenty of things to love about Baldur's Gate 3, from the way its tactical battles never feel like filler to the best-in-class performances that bring its characters to life. But what marks it out from almost every other RPG, especially those that take 60+ hours to play, is its reactivity. Events and lines of dialogue are constantly referencing specific things you did and said earlier on, choices you made all the way back to the character creation screen, without ever making you feel like it's cheating by collapsing the possibilities down to a more manageable number... Read more.View the full article

A new Overwatch 2 Workshop game mode sees players get chased around by a horrific ******* cow. Those looking for a different kind of Overwatch 2 experience can try out the mode from the game's well-received custom modding tool. View the full article

An Elden Ring player has found an Ash of War called The Poison Flower Blooms Twice in the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, which appears to be a Sekiro: Shadows **** Twice Easter egg as it closely resembles the Senpou Leaping Kicks combat skill. While there are a few things that are considered to be a throwback to Sekiro in the base game, this is one of the first instances of such a discovery being made in Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. View the full article

Some fans are upset with the state of some of the Season 11 battle pass skins in Overwatch 2. The first Overwatch was released in 2016, and although there are clear differences between it and Overwatch 2, some aspects like skins have always remained important to players. It can be difficult to continuously produce new concepts for cosmetic features for nearly a decade's worth of content, but fans expect a clear standard out of a game that they can put so much time into. View the full article

Leveling up in Elden Ring can be deceptively complicated, with hidden hard and soft caps that can prevent players from making the most of their skill points. Whenever the player gathers a sufficient number of Runes, they're able to gain a level. The number of Runes required increases with each level, beginning at 673 for level two and soaring to 8,879,348 by the maximum level of 713. Each time the player character levels up in Elden Ring, they're permitted to put a single point into one of eight stats, also called Attributes. View the full article

Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC has only been out for a few days, and many players are already finding that their character — who became the Elden Lord of the Lands Between — is barely a match for the first chakram blade-wielding weirdo you can run into. These early punishing fights are merely a prelude for the raw aggression of the DLC bosses, who are able to turn you into a ******* smear on the ground with just a few attacks. Even worse, this difficulty ramp-up spares no one — regardless of your level, the weapons you wield, or the armor you equip. The key to salvation in the Realm of Shadow ***** within a brand new Shadow Realm Blessing system, but if you aren't paying attention you may just miss out on how it works. With a bit of exploring, you're likely to find at least one Scadutree Fragment, which gives a short tooltip: "Scadutree Fragments can be found across the realm of shadow. Consume these at sites of grace to bolster your Scadutree Blessing. The Scadutree Blessing bolsters the recipient's abilities to deal and negate damage, but has no influence outside the realm of shadow." [/url] It can be easy to overlook this tip in the thick of battle or when distracted by distant points of interest, but it's safe to say Shadow of the Erdtree may be underselling just how important your Scadutree Blessing really is. Simply put, it can quickly become the difference between victory and defeat in almost every encounter, and it's barely even comparable to Elden Ring's normal leveling system. The reason for this is because Shadow of the Erdtree has to account for a wide variety of players looking for a challenge in this DLC realm: Fights have to be difficult enough for a level 500 player on New Game+ 7, but also winnable for someone who just beat Mohg for the first time the other day. The solution: Make everything hit extremely hard, with incredibly high health pools, but introduce a new item to rapidly raise your own abilities to deal and negate damage. Using just one Scadutree Fragment to increase your Shadow Realm Blessing to Level 1 will raise your armaments damage AND your damage negation to all sources by around 5%, and there are many more fragments to find just in the first region alone. As a test case, let's use an early ****** many players are likely to get a rude awakening from: The Blackgaol Knight of the Nameless Western Mausoleum. His Greatsword of Solitude seems to hit ******* than the Radagon himself, and leave players wondering if any amount of leveling up can even the odds. For my level 162 character with 50 Vigor and 50 Strength, my Blasphemous Blade had 795 ******* power; and my armor and other stats were giving me 157 Defense Power with 44.355% physical damage negation as a multiplier. Facing down the Blackgaol Knight, my basic one-handed swing was only dealing 398 damage to his 525, which I was only able to meet with a jumping ******* that did 550. His did... a lot more. However, with just one Scadutree Blessing level, my ******* power was boosted to 834, and my physical damage negation to 47.004%. This increase had me dealing 416 while only taking 496 in return, which was roughly a 4.9% increase in damage given and 5.5% damage taken. Even if that sounds small — I then grabbed every Scadutree Fragment in the Gravesite Plain, raising my Scadutree Blessing to Level 4. Now my ******* power shot up to 954 and damage negation to 53.629%, which meant my hits were now doing 20% more damage that were hitting ******* than the Blackgaol Knight's, which was reduced by around 17.3%! As you can see from the table above, each blessing can increase your powers by a substantial amount, and with a maximum of 20 Scadutree Blessings that you can obtain over the course of the game, you'll be dealing a LOT more damage by the end than when you first entered the Realm of Shadow. But what about regular leveling? My table also includes spending enough Runes to put four points in Strength vs four Scadutree Blessings. At 50+ Strength, the returns barely resulted in a measly percent of damage increased, and the flat Defense Power increase instead of damage negation from all sources meant I was losing roughly the same amount of HP per hit. This is an important aspect to note, because it means since all players will be in and endgame setting, you can't overcome bosses just by spending runes. However, it's still worth adding a few points here and there anyway, especially to increase your HP pool with Vigor, add more stamina with Endurance, or hit a requirement to equip a new *******. So where can you find more Scadutree Fragments? You can check our guide to track down every last Scadutree Fragment, but if you prefer to explore on your own, here are some tips to keep in mind: Scadutree Fragments most often appear in front of statues of Marika, like those found in churches or soldier camps.You're also guaranteed to find one at every Cross of Miquella that the demigod has left behind marking their journey to important locations in the Shadow Realm.Certain areas like ruins or destroyed towns can sometimes include a Shadow Undead holding a sparkling ****. Rush them down before they run away and you can gain treasure that sometimes includes a Scadutree Fragment.Progression in Shadow of the Erdtree is rarely permanently gated by a boss. If you find yourself lacking power, try looking for alternate paths to new regions where you can find more Scadutree Fragments.Similar to these fragments, you can also find Revered Spirit Ash in front of large headless corpse altars or from Shadow Undead **** holders. The Revered Spirit Ash Blessing will increase the power of your Spirit Ash Summons similar to how the Scadutree Fragments boost your own. Once you feel strong enough to take on the toughest challenges, there's plenty more to do, and we have it all catalogued in our full Shadow of the Erdtree Guide. Important Things to Do FirstEssential Path WalkthoughEvery New ******* Type and LocationAll Map Fragment LocationsRevered Spirit Ash LocationsCharacter Questline Guides Brendan Graeber is a senior guides writer for IGN, and is still hard at work discovering every last secret in Elden Ring. You can find him on Twitter/X @Ragga_Fragga View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

A lead developer from Atlus's Studio Zero division has alleged that the company's next big JRPG, Metaphor: Refantazio, will be considerably ******* than the Persona games. As beloved as they may be, the latest mainline entries in the Persona franchise aren't exactly known for having brutally difficult turn-based combat; if anything, they've been made easier and more beginner-friendly over the years, which has disappointed some. Fortunately, it seems that players looking for a more challenging experience from Atlus will finally have their wishes granted with Metaphor: ReFantazio. View the full article

Call of Duty: ****** Ops 6 is set to feature a split-screen option that many players love and enjoy, but there's a catch which might frustrate fans of the split-screen gameplay in older games. Call of Duty: ****** Ops 6 is the latest installment in the famous first-person shooter series, set to launch on October 25, 2024, and developed by Treyarch and Raven Software. View the full article