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By most metrics, the four miniatures revealed so far for Armageddon, the Warhammer 40k 11th edition launch box set, are really very solid. Judged against the mainstay of Games Workshop's range, the two Orks and two Intercessors we've seen so far are perfectly solid. But they're not being judged against the mainstay of GW's range - they're up against the kits from Leviathan, the 10th edition launch set, a set of models so damn cool that the fandom still isn't over them. Is Armageddon doomed to linger in the shadow of its older sibling? Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: The new Defiler kit reminds me why I love Warhammer 40k Warhammer 40k's latest wave of pre-orders is full of big, stompy setpieces Big changes are coming for Warhammer 40k's mission mechanics View the full article

Big balance updates can often have long-reaching ramifications, and Dota 2 patch 7.41b is Valve's second follow-up to the massive overhaul that saw the removal of Facets from the MOBA. Since then we've seen the climax of the ESL One Birmingham tournament and had a little more time for the player base to figure out what's hot and what's not in the current meta. Among the changes, the new Dota 2 update delivers a much-needed nerf for Meepo, who has been particularly troublesome in the right hands of late. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Deadlock isn't a death sentence for Dota 2 - it's "a gateway," according to caster and ESL product manager 'Avo+' A huge new Dota 2 patch U-turns on one of Valve's biggest additions in years Valve is being sued by New York Attorney General Letitia James. The accusation: "promoting ******** gambling through videogames." View the full article

Astronaut Rabea Rogge has settled an argument we didn't know we needed to have - how do you roll a Dungeons and Dragons die in space? She proved her findings in an Instagram video posted on April 4, rolling an iridescent D20 with the literal planet Earth as a backdrop. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: D&D's new Pestilence Cleric turns the game's most evil rule into a superpower Add grit to your D&D games with this great-value $25 book bundle Villainous D&D subclasses revealed in the latest Unearthed Arcana View the full article

Packaging has shifted from a back-end afterthought to the center of Intel's manufacturing strategy as AI workloads push designers to stitch together many specialized dies into a single system. At its Rio Rancho, New Mexico, site – once home to a shuttered Fab 9 that sat idle for years –... Read Entire Article View the full article

Unless it's the end of the month, Arc Raiders patches are usually fairly slim affairs; a handful of bug fixes at best, keeping things ticking over until something ******* comes along. Today's patch does contain bug fixes, but they have me breathing a sigh of relief - and wondering just what the hell was happening by that Medical Research room in Stella. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Arc Raiders is at an all-time low price, but this deal is only available for 48 hours Arc Raiders crafting just got much faster: "Your time matters, we don't want you spending it clicking through menus" If you're sick of spawning in midway through an Arc Raiders game, Flashpoint's made it easier to get into fresh lobbies View the full article

Intel Serpent Lake could be the codename of one of the most important CPU launches in a long time. Following the announcement last year of Intel joining forces with Nvidia to produce CPUs with integrated Nvidia graphics, we're now starting to see rumors of the first products that could be born from this coupling of tech titans. And Titan really is the word, as the new CPU is rumored to be a variant of Intel's Titan Lake design. What makes this so significant is that it will mean that, for the first time, Nvidia will have its GPU technology packaged alongside regular CPUs used in gaming laptops, handhelds, and compact PCs. Previously, you either needed a separate Nvidia graphics card for a PC or an extra Nvidia GPU for laptops/handhelds, if you wanted access to Nvidia graphics tech. Meanwhile, AMD has long had CPUs that integrate both its CPU and GPU tech. However, it's no secret that AMD's GPU tech lags behind that of Nvidia, and that, despite having the best gaming CPU options for desktop right now, AMD's CPU tech still tends to fall behind Intel's when it comes to power consumption for mobile devices. That makes this Intel/Nvidia combo potentially hugely disruptive to the industry. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus review - the new sub-$200 gaming CPU go-to Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus review - a surprise new mid-range gaming CPU king This new Intel tech could instantly make your games load 37x faster with no downsides View the full article

One of the best ways to expand your collection in Pokémon Champions is to transfer your catches from Pokémon HOME. Doing so only allows you to save currencies required for recruitment, but you can also use the Pokémon in Champions. This guide will help you to complete all the steps required to transfer your Pokémon to Champions. Table of contentsHow to transfer your Pokémon from HOMEHow to use your Pokémon in ChampionsHow to transfer your Pokémon from HOME The first task begins with having the Pokémon HOME application on your mobile device. You'll also need to use the same Nintendo account on both the HOME application and the Champions app. Once this part has been sorted, our next bit of work is to transfer a Pokémon from HOME. To do so, open the HOME app and load it into the main screen. Then, go to Options, and you'll be able to send a Pokémon to visit Champions from your HOME app. Confirm your choice, and your selected Pokémon will be sent to your Champions app. How to use your Pokémon in Champions Screenshot by Destructoid Once the Pokémon has been transferred, the next bit of work has to be done in Champions. To accept the transfer, you'll need to go to the Recruit section. There, you'll find a dedicated set of options that allows you to accept all the Pokémon that you've transferred. Once accepted, you'll now find your monsters in the boxes. If your Pokémon has any moves that are not allowed in Pokémon Champions, you won't be able to use it in a battle. While some features like EVs carry over, you'll need to train the Pokémon separately in Champions. If you send it back, its training will not work in other games/HOME. However, it will retain its training if you choose to send it to Champions once again. The post How to transfer Pokémon from HOME and use them in Pokémon Champions appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article

Bungie says it's "expanding our telemetry and detection methods"View the full article

One of the major criticisms of Crimson Desert I’ve seen since launch is that it does not let you create your own character. Instead, you’re locked into playing as Kliff, who himself has been criticized for a lack of personality, and two other even less fleshed out playable characters. Well, now, like so many other things with Pearl Abyss’ open world action adventure, there’s a mod for that. The simply titled Character Creator - Female mod, from Khione95, lets you build your own character by using the barber function in the game. It includes 98 face presets and 159 hair styles. A male version of the mod should be out soon. With this mod installed, you’re able to play Crimson Desert as a custom female character using the female human preset. Most armors have been adjusted to fit the female body, and planned features include more customization options, more customizable races (orc and goblin are in the works), and a full suite of female animations. This can be used in combination with Ev3n5taR’s Kliff Female Voice mod to create about as close to a custom female character Crimson Desert can have right now. The female voice mod uses as AI model to process all of Kliff's original dialogue and convert it into a female voice, which, based on the videos I’ve seen of it in action, is pretty rough around the edges, so this isn’t ideal. But modders being what they are, it will surely improve. Reaction to the female character creator mod has been positive, with some fans wondering still why Pearl Abyss didn’t use the well-received character creator from its MMO, ****** Desert Online. “The story just wasn't strong enough to justify not using BDOs unbelievable character creator,” one Crimson Desert fan said. “I just don't get it. Kudos to the modding community coming through.” “I'm still beyond confused why they didn't go the Cyberpunk route. Keep the same story, but allow us to edit the character. What's so hard about it?” another commented. One fan added: “They really dropped the ball with this one. It would have been so easy to be a 10/10 game.” “The part that confuses me the most isn’t that most of the interactions you have with NPCs that aren’t Greymanes, just call you ‘the Greymane,’ as if you were already a customizable character,” another pointed out. “The part that disappoints me the most is that most of us assumed the reason for a premade character was due to story and plot reasons,” another said. “The trade-off for that absolutely didn't pan out.” Added another fan: "There was no reason they shouldn't have launched this game with a character creator. Especially when we get a protagonist with the personality of a plank of wood." A lot of this disappointment taps into criticisms of Crimson Desert’s story. While some players are perfectly happy treating Crimson Desert as more of a sandbox game than a story-driven adventure, most agree that the actual plot, storyline, and characters leave a lot to be desired. Even Pearl Abyss CEO Heo Jin-young has admitted that Crimson Desert’s story could have been better, telling shareholders: "I sympathize to some extent with the disappointment users feel regarding the story. I think it would have been nice if we could have done a better job with it. The production team tried to make up for the shortcomings in the remaining time, but ultimately, we focused on strengthening the gameplay, which is what we do best." Last month, Alec Newman, the actor who plays Crimson Desert protagonist Kliff, revealed how the story and characters changed significantly during development. In an interview with Skill Up's Friends Per Second Podcast, Newman said he worked on Crimson Desert for five years, “recording various iterations of this character at various stages of development for ages.” For the first year-and-a-half of development, Crimson Desert was just a demo, as far as he knew. It wasn’t until nearly two years into recording that he was told that the work would begin in earnest. “I went, ‘What the hell do you mean? We've been doing this for ages!’ So it was, in terms of recording, the gift that really did keep on giving,” he said. This is in keeping with what we know of the development of Crimson Desert, which began life as an MMORPG prequel to ****** Desert Online. It eventually became a single-player open world action role-playing game, with the narrative coming into focus along the way. “With this project it was interesting because they kind of… I don't want to say they kept changing the goalpost, but we started off recording with cards of the different parts of Pywel,” Newman continued. “You know, various characters and, he's from this faction and he's from that faction. And I kept just saying, ‘Yes, but what is happening?’” Newman revealed that Kliff was called Macduff for quite a large chunk of his time spent recording for the game. And when Pearl Abyss settled on Kliff, Newman started ******** the story drum. “When Kliff stopped being Macduff, which was a considerable amount of time into the recording of this, once they settled on Kliff, I just kept pushing and pushing and pushing about story and character as much as I could,” he said. “I have to be honest, I felt the pressure of a certain type of developer with a certain type of game. I'm glad I fought for that stuff because, you can tell when you read the reviews for the game that's come out. You can tell when you speak to people. I spoke to some people today actually who are playing it and loving it. And whilst they love some of the voice acting and the characterization, the boon of this game is clearly the size of the open world. And the fact that you can pick up a cat. “That is to do with, I feel, the preferences of the developers and the people who wrote the scripts for these games, which kept changing. So at various stages it felt very much like making a TV series where they kept moving the focus. And in fact it's not a secret. If you look at the way that Crimson Desert came into being, they did move things around.” Newman continued by talking about what he called a “bridge point” in development. “After a while, you know, there's only so far you can go with him [Kliff] kind of being… not flat, but kind of stoic. Now, I know that as a Scotsman myself, I know what that means. But it's very very hard to play 150 hours with somebody who doesn't give anything away ever. So what's been rewarding is that as people have played through over a 100 hours, they've found bits of Kliff that do speak of something more emotional sometimes. “The whole Greymanes thing, after about two and a half years, they decided they really wanted that to resonate. This idea of family and trying to bring something back together. I think that's the main story strand of the game, or the only story strand of the game when you begin it. “And so that was the bridge point. I don't want to say they started panicking, but they were like, ‘Oh yeah, we really want this. We really want Kliff to care about his comrades.’ And I said, ‘Well, he does, but you haven't written that monologue.’ So we brought it in gradually and wherever we could, we attended to it. Wherever we were given something that could be slightly humorous, we tried to bring that out. “But I'll be honest, those moments were fewer than they could have been.” The big question now is, could Pearl Abyss actually add a character creator to Crimson Desert? It seems unlikely, given how the game is set up and even marketed. But it feels like nothing is off the table for the developers at Pearl Abyss, who have released game-changing updates at a remarkable pace since Crimson Desert's launch last month. Maybe DLC could give fans the chance to create a character of their own? We’ve got plenty more on Crimson Desert, including a story on how the NPCs are the stars of the show, and a hidden food consequence system that a modder has restored. We recommend you take a look at our guide to Things to Do First in Crimson Desert, plus Things Crimson Desert Doesn’t Tell You (we’ve got 28 and counting!). We’ve also got a guide to the Best Early Weapons we recommend picking up, the Best Skills to Get First (including a handy explainer of the skills system), and 34 Essential Tips and Tricks to help you succeed in Pywel. Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at *****@*****.tld. View the full article

As players start revving up for Forza Horizon 6 next month, developer Playground Games has shared our best look yet at its full Japanese map. Forza Horizon 6 takes the Horizon Festival to "scenic and breathtaking" Japan from May 19 on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S. While we've seen plenty of snippets of the game and a handful of the 550 real-world cars you'll be using, this is the first time Playground has shared the full map, showing how we'll shift gears from the urban city sprawl out into the lush green countryside. "This is Horizon Japan! From the iconic downtown streets of Tokyo City all the way to the snowy Japanese Alps, Forza Horizon 6 introduces our most dense and vertical map yet," the team teased on social media alongside a distant but detailed map of the upcoming racing game. Fans have, of course, been busy zooming in to get a feel for the circuit, pointing out "fun" but devilishly difficult areas, with some expressing that it seems a little "small," particularly the city itself. That said, we don't have any kind of scale here, so it's impossible to know exactly how it'll size up to its predecessors. This one is gonna be fun [Hidden Content] — John Cranston (@pursuitofloot) April 8, 2026 Some fans are reminding people that Tokyo is supposed to be "four times the size of the city in Horizon 5," and another helpfully superimposed Forza Horizon 5's map over the new one, using the airports' runways to guesstimate the positioning and give us a better sense of size and scale. Comment byu/SupremeBlackGuy from discussionhttps://www.reddit.com/r/ForzaHorizon/comments/1sfni8z/fh6_full_map_revealed/ inForzaHorizon .reddit-embed-wrapper iframe { margin-left: 0 !important; } We also get to see Mt. Akina, the Nikko or Tsukuba circuit (no one's entirely sure which one it is!), and some really densely packed, intricate roads, plus a "circular" highway that appears to encircle the entire map. "This map looks incredible. I ain’t lying when I say that the devs did a near flawless job making Japan look like a toybox of biomes and driving joy," said one excited commenter on Reddit. "Tokyo City looks like a maze, we got plenty of snaking touges, the alpine biome up top is beautiful, the stadium looks like it will serve a similar purpose to FH5 (pretty nice carryon), dock area is fire, and tbh, I’m glad there’s still a fair amount of off-roading routes. "I get people are gonna have their hangups about seeing a new map for the first time, but perhaps, maybe, perchance, y’all are too quick to judge. I reckon that when people start driving around and seeing these places in detail, the true beauty of FH6 will be known." Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky. View the full article

There's a new placement mode for outposts and allView the full article

The Anchorpoint defunct safe puzzle has five clues hidden around the stationView the full article

A dataminer has uncovered what they believe is a pivotal but unused cutscene hidden in Elden Ring's files — and it could shed new light on the game's lore. Lance McDonald, a content creator and dataminer famed for his behind-the-scenes work on the likes of P.T., Bloodborne, and Elden Ring, has discovered a secret scene thought to have been cut from the final version of the game. Warning! Spoilers for Elden Ring follow: "This is a look at a never-before-seen map file where a cutscene was filmed for Elden Ring, which showed Miquella planting the Haligtree, as well as the process through which, during earlier development and testing, this cutscene was intended to have been played," McDonald explained in the video description. "Finally, the similarly never-before-seen cutscene itself is shown." McDonald believes that not only has he discovered a cutscene showing Miquella planting a Haligtree, but he thinks he has the matching "unused lines of spoken dialog." "Without the intermediate cutscene file to connect these together, it's difficult to know for sure which of these are intended for playback during this specific video," he added, but did play the lines in the order they appear over the cutscene. You can watch it here. The lore behind Elden Ring is very much in the eye of the beholder, but it's thought the Haligtree was planted by Miquella in the hope it would overrun and replace the famed Erdtree, after which he would be able to rule the land. It seems to be in roughly the same location as where we take on Malenia, to whom the Haligtree sapling is dedicated... but it seemingly didn't grow. How do we know this? In the Haligtree Knight Armor's item description, it says: "Armour worn by knights sworn to the Haligtree. Its left breast is emblazoned with the crest of the Haligtree. Though watered with Miquella's own blood since it was a sapling, the Haligtree ultimately failed to grow into an Erdtree." As for why this could have been deleted? Given that it has both dialog and a fully rendered cutscene, we can only guess that it was either cut for length — which seems unlikely, given action-RPGs can be hundreds of hours long — or because director Hidetaka Miyazaki has proven time and time again that he'd rather hint at Elden Ring lore than fully spell it out for us, hiding clues throughout the game, sometimes in plain sight. "It blows my mind how we're finding big chunks of interesting cut content even four years after the game released," said one fan on McDonalds' video. Another simply wrote: "I swear From[soft] cuts the coolest things." "It's really heartbreaking to see this act of love, when you know how everything went wrong afterwards with Miquella, the Haligtree and the Order of abundance," added another. "Kind of like a nostalgic reminder of what could have been. Still, I'm not surprised they didn't include it, since the cutscene would have been too straightforward in its storytelling for FromSoft." "Wow, this made me realise how different Elden Ring once was. It seems like the story at one stage had a lot more coherence and detail," commented another fan. Perhaps Elden Ring fans will get a better sense of the story from the upcoming movie adaptation, which is directed by Elden Ring superfan Alex Garland (Ex Machina, Annihilation, Civil War). Last week, an Elden Ring fan appeared to give us a first look at the set, which appeared to include a game accurate statue of Marika. Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky. View the full article

Xbox is set to announce a special edition controller and headset to celebrate the release of Forza Horizon 6. That’s according to the ever-reliable Dealabs insider billbil-kun, who has a lengthy track record of correctly revealing upcoming hardware and software announcements, including Xbox controllers. According to the leaker, both the Xbox wireless controller and the wireless headset will be released on May 19, the same day as Forza Horizon 6. Read More... View the full article

The smartphone version will feature controls optimized for the platform, as well as all bonuses from the Deluxe Edition and Costume Packs originally released as DLC. View the full article

What is more charming and more odd than a forgotten spin-off? The ones that quietly slipped through the cracks while their ******* siblings took all the glory. Well, I'm here to shine the spotlight on one of those niche underdogs because CivCity: Rome (a spin-off of Sid Meier's Civilization series) has resurfaced as part of a new Humble Bundle, where you can grab 12 games for $8 / £7.24 - or just $0.66 / £0.48 each. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: With Humble Choice at almost half price, you can now get 8 Steam Deck-friendly games for just $1 each Bethesda, Epic, Microsoft, and Ubisoft unite in this new Humble Bundle with games under $3 each The Medium is just $3 in this new Humble Bundle, so don't miss your chance to grab this bargain View the full article

Assassin’s Creed Shadows has received a new update, which adds new features for the PS5 and Switch 2 versions of the game. The version 1.1.10 patch is available now on all formats, and adds PSSR 2 support for PlayStation 5 Pro players. PSSR 2 is the PS5 Pro’s latest AI upscaling model, and claims to provide better results than the previous version of PSSR. Read More... View the full article

The best Shikai and Bankai in Paradox tend to be Legendary-leaning but there are some great Rares and Commons too. That said, it's not the case as in Type Soul where a Common moveset can dominate high-ELO PVP. Here's my Paradox Shikai and Bankai tier list and guide. Table of contentsParadox Soul Reaper Shikai & Bankai Tier ListS-Tier Shikai/BankaiA-Tier Shikai/BankaiB-Tier Shikai/BankaiC-Tier Shikai/BankaiD-Tier Shikai/BankaiParadox Overall Tier ListParadox Soul Reaper Shikai & Bankai Tier List Image by Destructoid Check out the ranking reasons below for a detailed overview of the best Shikai and Bankai in Paradox. This tier list generally focuses on PVP but I do make mentions of whether a moveset is also great for PVE. S and A-Tier are generally the best options with S being slightly more opressive. B-Tier is for situationally powerful options, C for very niche movesets and D for weaker ones. Check out the overall tier list below to see how Shikai/Bankai compare to Schrifts and Resurrections. S-Tier Shikai/BankaiS-Tier Shikai/BankaiRanking Reasons GravityLegendary• The most oppressive PVP Shikai in the game even though it's not the best one for PVE • First of the Weighted passive that keeps slowing you down is brutal and easier to apply in Bankai • The Shikai C pull is such a strong and unpredictable combo starter • Pretty much the best Shikai for 1v1 PVP that gets more teamfight pressure options in Bankai • Flower has an edge in PVE thoughA-Tier Shikai/BankaiA-Tier Shikai/BankaiRanking Reasons Flower Legendary• Just a moveset with high damage AOE moves that are excellent in a teamfight • It's a bit weaker than Gravity in PVP but better for PVE • The Bankai just makes you so strong in teamfights but you do lack a bit of mobility • It's even really good for duels thanks to the speed and defensive buffs from the passive Flower stacks • Overall the best Shikai/Bankai in terms of flexibility Rampage Legendary• Rampage has the best mobility and some of the highest CC amongst the SR options • Even though it's the weaker Legendary it's still stronger in most cases than Rares and Commons • Most of the power comes from Rampage's stuns which can set you up into combos and extenders • It's also really good in teamfights since you can move around so easily and perform high damage AOE slam attacks • Lastly, what keeps it competitive is that you ignore damage reduction with your passive in Bankai which is incredibly strong against Blut/Hierro and moreB-Tier Shikai/BankaiB-Tier Shikai/BankaiRanking Reasons Blood Rare• Blood is also a great combo tool with the grab and stacking bleed for high damage • It's even better now in the re-release due to the blood bar passive where your fifth move is enhanced • Great options include Carnage for a ton of bleed stacks and Leech in teamfights for a ton of heals • It also resets that move's cooldown for a free use after so if you learn Blood combos you'll be really strong in PVP/PVE • That said it requires much more setup than A-Tier and S-Tier to be good so B-Tier is perfect for it Wind Common• If you know how to combo well Wind can be extremely good since it can punish rolls with its passive • Basically, each hit reduces enemy dodge frames and it's even stronger in Bankai • This means you can dodge punish really well by following up • Combine the dodge frame reduction with your stuns and your combo potential can be quite brutal if played wellC-Tier Shikai/BankaiC-Tier Shikai/BankaiRanking Reasons Shadow Common• Shadow overall is not good for PVE but decent for PVP if you know how to use it • The problem is it's not that competitive since Z is easily punished and better off not being used and C does low damage • It's much better now with the teleporting passive in Bankai allowing you to keep up M1 pressure • I have to do some more playtesting with the shadow clones to see if it's drastically better than before • But for now the damage and combo potential just aren't worth B-Tier or higher Lightning Rare• Lightning is really for constantly applying pressure and good in PVE • You have good mobility options for chasing and your passive lightning strikes can help in a pinch • The problem I have is that the lightning strikes and the Bankai periodical lighting wave aren't that reliable • You can't really plan around them for a combo so it's much more akward to set up combos with Lightning than with other Shikai • That said, if you learn the timings and manage to sync your moves with the passive strikes, with a bit of luck Lightning can be quite oppressive • Still, I would keep it in C for now due to unreliabilityD-Tier Shikai/BankaiD-Tier Shikai/BankaiRanking Reasons Fire Common• Just low-range moves with not a lot of utility that don't combo well • The damage is okay thanks to the Burning passive and it's pretty okay in PVE • There's just not a lot of combo potential here which is a problem and the burn doesn't stackParadox Overall Tier List Image by Destructoid Soul Reaper Shikai/Bankai in Paradox tend to be more spread out on how good they are as opposed to Schrifts and Resurrections which are mostly all good. That said, overall, Shikai have three really strong options that are all ranked toward the top with Gravity arguably being the best PVP moveset in the game. Check out the other tier lists for a deeper analysis of Quincy Schrifts and Hollow Resurrections: Schrift Tier List (Coming Soon)Resurrection Tier List (Comin Soon) That's it for my Paradox Soul Reaper Shikai & Bankai tier list and guide. Check out our Paradox Codes for a bunch of free goodies. The post Paradox Shikai & Bankai Tier List [April 2026] appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article

ARC Raiders developer Embark Studios has released another new patch for its hit extraction shooter, which arrives just one week after the release of the big Flashpoint update. The latest ARC Raidersupdate brings the title to version 1.23.0 with several improvements, adjustments, and fixes, and is available to download right now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. View the full article

Pokémon Champions is now available on Nintendo Switch consoles, and this guide will help you to decide on your first lineup. To get you up to pace with the ranked scene, the game provides you with six Pokémon for absolutely free. Let's look at all ten starting lineups that will be available when you begin your journey to the top. Pokémon Champions starter lineups explained Once you finish the tutorial battle, you'll be asked to pick your first recruit. The first pick doesn't cost any money, and there are some meta choices to consider. However, you should also pay attention to the remaining members of the lineup since they will be fighting for you. The starter lineups aren't random, and the table below has all the information you'll need for making your pick. You can only pick one, so make your choice carefully. Screenshot by Destructoid Starter ChoiceRemaining PokémonPikachuKingambit, Garchomp, Azumarill, Gyarados, GengarCharizardAzumarill, Steelix, Whimsicott, Gengar, DrampaTyranitarArcanine, Whimsicott, Drama, Aggron, SylveonArmarougeSteelix, Victreebel, Hydreigon, Hawlucha, ManectricLucarioSylveon, Manectric, Victreebel, Gyarados, FroslassPalafinGengar, Aggron, Bidreel, Sylveon, Hydreigon GardevoirHeracross, Drampa, Azumarill, Abomasnow, CorviknightAbsolFroslass, Corviknight, Garchomp, Arcanine, WhimsicottAltariaKingambit, Arcanine, Heracross, Hawlucha, VictreebelSnorlaxHawlucha, Whimsicott, Kingambit, Beedril, Hydreigon Pikachu is the best starter to pick if you're purely judging it on squad strength. The team you get with Pikachu is clearly the best. You can immediately add Dragonite to the team (applicable for all) to make your starter squad even more powerful. However, if you're looking to pick the best starter, there are some clear choices ahead of Pikachu in the meta. However, you'll want to tweak their teams with further additions to add more power. The post All sarter lineups in Pokémon Champions appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article

The long-awaited Xbox port of Hades 2 is accompanied by a day-one addition to Xbox Game Pass, but another roguelike will quickly follow it onto the service. Hades 2 had its initial release in September last year after a lengthy early-access *******, but will come to Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 on April 14. On that same day, Hades 2 will be added to Game Pass's April lineup. View the full article

Pokémon Champions is now out on Nintendo Switch devices, and you finally battle your friends to find out who is the best. While friendly battles certainly have some limitations in the current build, the game still covers the basics pretty well. Let's first look at how to set up a friendly battle with your buddy. Table of contentsHow to add friends in Pokémon ChampionsHow to battle your friend in Pokémon ChampionsDoes Pokémon Champions have local PvPHow to add friends in Pokémon Champions To battle with your friend, you'll first need to add them to the game. To do so, open the sub-menu from the home screen. Then, you'll need to view your user ID by pressing the X button on your Switch console. Copy the ID and send it to your friend. Alternatively, you can enter the ID of your buddy. Screenshot by Destructoid Once you enter the code, you'll be able to send a friend request. You can then battle the other person with your chosen team. How to battle your friend in Pokémon Champions When it comes to friendly battles, you'll need to create a room in Private Battles. Once done, you can set the rules of battles and finalize the room creation. Once you're in the lobby, press the X button, and you'll find the room ID. Screenshot by Destructoid Send the room ID to your friends, who can join by entering the code. Once you're all in the same lobby, you can then start to create matches that will take place between all of you. All matches will follow the lobby rules, so make sure to share them with your buddies to avoid any unwanted tensions. You can also battle with other players in the same fashion, even if they're not your friends in the game. Screenshot by Destructoid Does Pokémon Champions have local PvP There's absolutely no way to play offline PvP games in Pokémon Champions with your friends. Pokémon Champions also requires a persistent internet connection at all times, and the only option for friendlies is via the private room routes. While there's casual play, I haven't managed to find a way to make a pre-made team in duos with your friend to take on other players. That could change in the future with updates from TPC. For the time being, the only option in duos is to matchmake with strangers. The post How to battle your friends in Pokémon Champions appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article

You get to pick your first friend in Pokémon Champions as soon as you finish the introductory battle mission, and it's much more expansive than you would imagine. While the traditional games have us begin with one of the three regional starters, things are slightly different in this one. Let's look at all the beginner choices, followed by who you should pick. Table of contentsAll starter choices in Pokémon ChampionsWho should you pickAll starter choices in Pokémon Champions There are ten different choices to pick from your first draw, and you can select any one that you may like. The table below has a list of all of them, along with their types. Screenshot by Destructoid PokémonTypeCharizardFire, FlyingTyranitarRock, GyranitarArmarougeFire, PsychicPalafinWaterPikachuElectricLucarioFighting, SteelGardevoirPsychic, FairyAbsolDarkAltariaDragon, FlyingSnorlaxNormalWho should you pick None of the ten picks is either game-breaking or they are completely useless. If you love any of the 10, you can go with that one. If you want to mix-max, however, here are my top three recommendations. Gardevoir: Having a Pokémon that's Fairy and Psychic can be a wonderful combination out of the boat. It also offers four moves that belong to four different element types. This allows you to hit the weakness of a specific Pokémon that you'll find in the battle. While it's not the tankiest of options, Gardevoir has an amazing Speed stat, which almost always means a first attack.Charizard: Having a Charizard with the Blaze ability for free is a great choice. It also offers Dragon-type attack moves from the start, which will be helpful in those early battles. Charizard, just like Gardevoir, has a great Speed stat, which is complemented well by its Attack.Tyranitar: This is one of the two choices you can pick from the Dark type. It also offers Rock, Dragon, and Fire-type moves from the get-go, which is one of the best combinations to have in my books. Tyranitar also comes with the Sand Stream ability, which is also pretty useful to have in my books. This is a really solid, no-nonsense pick that has more strengths than weaknesses. The post Best starter choices in Pokémon Champions: Who should you pick first appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article

The Honmoon will protect the kingdom of CookieRun. Devsisters today launched their KPop ****** Hunters x CookieRun: Kingdom collaboration, a limited-time series of in-game activations that bring the world of KPop ****** Hunters into the hit mobile RPG. .memberful-global-teaser-content p:last-child{ -webkit-mask-image: linear-gradient(180deg, #000 0%, transparent); mask-image: linear-gradient(180deg, #000 0%, transparent); } Read This Article for Free Get instant access by joining the GB MAX Access tier — it’s free to sign up and unlock premium content like The BIG Show.Join Now to Start ReadingAlready a member? Sign in The post KPop ****** Hunters teams up with CookieRun: Kingdom appeared first on GamesBeat. View the full article

We have just shipped an updated Steam Deck Client to the Preview/Beta channel. Steam Input Improved controller setting behavior when a controller is disconnected. View the full article