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Hey. Hey you. Yes, you. The one playing Hollow Knight: Silksong. I just wanted to let you know, before you go any further, that you're missing a bench in Bilewater. Just in case that helps. If you're not to Bilewater yet, this PSA is still for you. You will get there, and you will want to know this. I am going to spoil what's in Bilewater in this piece, so if you don't want to know that information, leave and come back when you've gotten sufficiently angry at Bilewater. Is this the longest (and most disgusting) runback in the history of gaming? byu/Max_Joller inHollowKnight .reddit-embed-wrapper iframe { margin-left: 0 !important; } Bilewater is notorious. It is a massive, disgusting zone on the other side of the already frustrating Sinner's Road that you can stumble into fairly early on in Act 1 of Silksong, and which is required if you ever want to see the game's Act 3. There are many reasons why Bilewater is loathesome: it has many obnoxious enemy types that can ambush you and ruin your day, there are lots of spikes you can fall on and hurt yourself, and notably, it is full of maggot-infested water that will stop you from healing and regenerating silk. Bilewater is awful. But apart from the grub-water, one of the most standout horrors of Bilewater is its lack of benches. There's one bench way, way down at the bottom of Bilewater, in the Bell Beast station. At first, you might be tricked into thinking there is a second bench nearer the top lefthand side of the zone but, surprise! It's a trap. Not a bench at all. Down into the maggot water you fall. So...uh...is that it? Is the Bell Beast bench really the only bench in Bilewater? Do you really have to do the entire zone, and the long, agonizing run back up to its boss over rivers of maggot-infested goop, past piles of spikes and exploding bug enemies and those awful things that belch poison at you, all with no break? You don't. Be free. You're missing a bench in Bilewater. It is here: Posts from the silksong community on Reddit .reddit-embed-wrapper iframe { margin-left: 0 !important; } We have a detailed guide to getting through Bilewater here on IGN, which you should use to find this bench when the time comes. The short version is that the hidden Bilewater bench is located behind a breakable wall on the far right-hand side of a cavern, past a giant pool of maggot soup at the bottom of a pit. Break the wall and drop down through another pit, then break another wall on your left to find the secret bench. This one, mercifully, is safe, and will not unceremoniously dump you into a pool of misery when you try to sit down. This bench is much, much closer to Bilewater's boss, Groal, though it's still a bit of a trek up to him. Again, I recommend our walkthrough for help on surviving Bilewater, because it really is just a disgusting and difficult place. We've seen a lot of people suggest that the run back to Groal, even with the help of the hidden bench, is one of the worst runbacks in the Souls genre. We're curious if you agree, so we set up the poll above. Vote to let us know which of these bosses has the worst runback from safety to their arena every time you die and have to attempt fighting them again. Or let us know in the comments if there's a worse fight we haven't mentioned here. In addition to our Bilewater guide, we have a detailed Wiki to help you through every step of your journey in Pharloom, so check it out before, during, and after Bilewater. Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to [email protected]. View the full article

FPS fans have spent months obsessing about Battlefield 6 map sizes, so some players finally took the time to measure and compare nearly every map the series has seen in the last 15 years. The Battlefield map size breakdown is a collaborative effort organized by Reddit users ClaraTheRed and PENGUINonPC and includes multiplayer locations featured in Battlefield 3, Battlefield 4, Battlefield: Hardline, Battlefield 1, Battlefield 2042, and, of course, last month’s Battlefield 6. It comes not only with a side-by-side comparison for each game’s map, organized by game mode and player count, but also color-coded horizontal bar graphs, illustrating how EA’s approach to map sizes has changed through the years. Updated: Battlefield maps from BF3, BF4, BF:HL, BF1, BF2042 and BF6. A scale comparison byu/ClaraTheRed inBattlefield .reddit-embed-wrapper iframe { margin-left: 0 !important; } ClaraTheRed shared details about their analysis in a follow-up post, clarifying that they have “done nothing but work on this the entire weekend.” The more than 45 hours of work resulted in a six-game, 72-map breakdown that paints a clear picture: Battlefield 6 doesn’t quite reach the gargantuan size of some of the series’ biggest maps. ClaraTheRed points out that, while many of the relatively small Battlefield 6 maps, like Iberian Offensive or Siege of Cairo, are similar in size to maps seen in Battlefield 3 and 1, many of its larger maps rank among the medium-sized pool of maps studied. While games like Battlefield 3 and even Battlefield 2042 boast some of the most colossal maps the series has seen yet, Battlefield 6 falls short of offering even one map in the top 20. Even its largest map, Operation Firestorm, which itself is a downsized remake of the Battlefield 3 map of the same name, lands as the 32nd biggest map for total shared playable area and 22nd for total map area. These are numbers the Battlefield community is already latching onto, but there are a few notes to consider. The evaluation stops short of including every map in the series, for example, with 2018’s Battlefield V, which ClaraTheRed says was difficult to gather data for, being one omission. Battlefield titles have also been known to alter the play area mid-match thanks to features like Levolution and environmental hazards, which some portions of the study consider. Every game that is included also has the benefit of being a completed work, DLC included – Battlefield 6 launched less than one month ago. EA and Battlefield Studios have continued to push updates for its new Battlefield game in the weeks since its release, with Season 1 introducing a medium-sized map with Blackwell Fields last week, and another called Eastwood set to follow later this month. There’s also Battlefield REDSEC, a standalone offshoot with ties to the Battlefield 6 experience, which also launched last week. EA has proudly declared its map, Fort Lyndon, as the “biggest Battlefield map ever,” though much of the community has already placed it into a separate category thanks to its status as a battle royale map included with REDSEC, not Battlefield 6, specifically. Battlefield 6 fans who hopped in as early as the August beta tests have spent months clamoring for larger maps as EA and BF Studios continue to work on post-launch content. It’s a topic that has set the community on fire, as some work to defend Battlefield 6’s current offerings while others take to review-bombing to express their dissatisfaction with map sizes, among other things. “The two of us are not here to complain about map sizes in BF6 (although we do have our opinions on them),” ClaraTheRed clarifies, “but we're here to provide context and show that Battlefield maps throughout the last decade and a half have varied in size by a tremendous amount.” Battlefield 6 players will likely continue to break down new maps as future seasons roll out. Until then, you can see our collection of every multiplayer map Battlefield 6 has to offer. You can also learn about the hidden firing range room that players are investigating for secret Easter Eggs and hints at future content. Those looking to brush up on their online skills can also read our multiplayer tips and tricks guide. Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He's best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe). View the full article

"Every work of fiction speaks with many voices and is heard with many ears." That's not a quote from an academic textbook; it comes from Cole Wehrle, designer of some of the most prominent board games of the last decade. From the first moment I meet Wehrle, it's clear that he sees games as anything but frivolity. 'Fun' plays second lieutenant to the more pressing purpose of a Cole Wehrle board game: conversation. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Tactical diplomacy is king in this Star Trek inspired alternative to Warhammer 40k Hold onto hope in this Dystopian Christmas solo board game Board game about taxing the rich review bombed both ways View the full article

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Fortnite and The Simpsons have taken their recent crossover one step further by adding characters from the former into the beloved animated series and killing off one of the game's most notable mascots. Over the years, Fortnite has continued to partner with major pop culture franchises, and The Simpsons has proven to be an incredibly successful partnership. View the full article

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When the world was taken over by AI in ARC Raiders, they left behind their pesky error codes to troll us, too. Error codes are a constant in always-online games like ARC Raiders or just about anything else in 2025 or beyond, but that doesn't make them any less annoying. The ART00004 Network Timeout error code has been popping up a lot for players, as an example. Here's everything we know about the error code and how to fix it. What is ART00004 in ARC Raiders? Network Timeout error Screenshot by Destructoid The ART00004 error is a Network Timeout error code in ARC Raiders, meaning that the game had an issue connecting to the servers or network. Specifically, the error notes that "retrieving data from backend services time out" and asks you to "please try again later." For the most part, I've had ART00004 pop up and disappear just as quickly by clicking the RETRY button. It usually goes away, and I can get back to raiding, but if the issue persists for you, there may be a more underlying problem that's causing it to happen. There are a few steps you can take to try and fix the problem on your end: Restart your game: This is always the first step when having issues in any game. You may be shocked by how many problems are solved by simply starting the game over.Restart your internet connection: Since this is a network timeout problem, your own modem router could be the cause. Try resetting everything.Check official ARC Raiders channels: If nothing you do works, make sure to follow ARC Raiders and Embark Studios on relevant platforms, and also join the game's official Discord server, which is where the devs are especially responsive. The studio posts updates on ongoing connection or server issues with ARC Raiders here. Image via Embark Studios Hopefully, ART00004 goes away with one swift click. If not, there may be something else happening behind the scenes, and it's likely out of your hands until Embark pushes a fix. The post How to fix error ART00004 in ARC Raiders appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article

The Blood Hunter, an original D&D class developed by Matt Mercer specifically for Vin Diesel to play in a special episode of Critical Role, is available to play in Daggerheart. The Blood Hunter is a clear homage to the Witcher, a martial warrior with magical abilities that are viscerally connected to their blood - here's how it works. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Beloved DnD setting Drakkenheim comes to Daggerheart with new campaign book DnD rival Daggerheart gets even more accessible, as class packs Kickstarter Daggerheart review - The narrative tabletop RPG of my dreams View the full article

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Cities Skylines 2 can get stressful. Sometimes your citizens are unhappy, no matter how often you collect their garbage. Sometimes your carefully-planned train line is always delayed. And sometimes you're just down because the beautiful city you planned has turned into one massive parking lot. But at least nobody's dead, right? That's the first place where Microlandia, an indie city building game from solo dev Information Superhighway Games, is changing things. As well as introducing the concept of mass death to the genre if hospitals don't receive adequate funding, mass firings and smug landlords add to your people's woes. Read the rest of the story... View the full article

Find and activate all 12 Simpsons Hidden Gags in Fortnite to complete a milestone questView the full article

This flashy Corsair headset has some of the most stunning RGB lighting I've come across, and it just reached a new record-low price.View the full article

Dwarf Fortress has levelled up with the big Siege Update out now bringing with it a whole lot of trouble, which should spice things up a bit. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article

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I don't think there's any better feeling than scoring a booster box of a new expansion, but it feels even greater when you can get 24 booster packs (that's 288 cards) at a discount, saving those dollars for, er, probably other cards. If you're the same, well, good news! Right now, you can grab a pre-order deal on the upcoming Disney Lorcana Whispers in the Well booster box, increasing your chances of scoring those Enchanted Holos for your collection or decks. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: These $7 Disney Lorcana decks offer discounted entry to the beloved TCG Disney Lorcana defeats copyright claims after TCGs' two-year legal battle No one (stops) fights like Gaston's new Disney Lorcana card View the full article

Newly released extraction shooter ARC Raiders experienced some server outages during its first weekend, and will now compensate players for the inconvenience by distributing the game's premium currency, Raider Tokens. View the full article

If you're quick, you can grab this fantastic Asus gaming monitor for its lowest-ever price, netting you a 27-inch, 180Hz, 1440p panel for $110 lower than usual. This Asus ROG Strix XG27ACG display is packed with top tech that will ensure a fast response and great image quality, making it a great buy for gamers looking to step up from a budget display. If you're not a fan of white, worry not, as the same offer is available on both the XG27ACG-W shown here and the XG27ACG (******). Whichever color you get, though, both include the same key features that, on paper, make this Asus model one of the best gaming monitor buys available right now thanks to its hefty discount. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Asus is releasing a marshmallow keyboard and scented mouse, but I need to see s'more At $89.99, this 144Hz Asus gaming monitor is an absolute steal The Asus Xbox Ally X has just been tested with Bazzite, and it basically turns it into a supercharged Steam Deck View the full article

You can face some pretty terrifying foes in dungeon crawlers - hellish beasts, skeletal warriors, Greek gods, and more have all stood between you and a treasure trove of loot. But in Begraved, the newly revealed co-op game from a trio of Valheim devs, your main enemy has a name that will send shivers down any spine - the Taxman. Read the rest of the story... View the full article

Not sure what's going on when Shani the Trader asks you to find a Field Depots in Off The Radar? Here's what's to doView the full article

Springfield has come to FortniteView the full article