Balancing News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

Since our last content update, players celebrated the Lunar New Year with Tong-Shi’s Renewal, slew allies in Howler Hunt, and devoured the Season 23 Battle Pass. This content update introduces changes to the Survivor’s Bane Event, 42 new Legendary items, Class Balance updates, and a new PvP mode: Tower War.

Stellar Blade will feature three different display modes when it launches this April on PlayStation 5, members of the development team confirmed.

Blizzard Developer Tom Ellis shared some interesting insight on Twitter covering the history of Sharding, Layering, and how layering issues are working on being resolved. Many players have been sharing negative experiences with layering during the Blood Moon Event in Stranglethorn Vale on Season of Discovery, hopefully a fix will be implemented soon.

Hello! Welcome to the 315th edition of the WoW Economy Weekly Wrap-up! This week we digest and discuss the blip in Token availability that happened in EU and what the implications of a world without Battlenet Balance would look like. We also have a great deep dive into some useful TSM operations and strings along with some tips for Waylaid Supplies in Season of Discovery. My name is Samadan and I'll be your guide through the World of Gold Making!

Sunday is here and there is another great selection of word groupings to solve for this popular daily game. is one of the best ways to start a morning and get your brain working for the rest of the day.

It can be hard to keep up with Don’t Nod. The French studio has established itself with an eclectic oeuvre of mid-budget games featuring a strong emphasis on storytelling, from its sci-fi debut Remember Me to its beloved teen drama Life Is Strange and its latest: Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden.

Our Class Writers have prepared Best in Slot Gear Guides for every Class and Role combination in Season of Discovery Phase 2, which features gear acquired from the new Phase 2 Level-Up Raid Gnomeregan. If you'd like to learn more about Gnomeregan or Phase 2, take a look at our guides below -- Phase 2 Overview Gnomeregan Overview Gnomeregan Loot Wowhead didn't publish Best in Slot Gear Guides sooner because we wanted to ensure we had all the data on the items and our Class Writers had the right amount of time for theorycrafting, simming, and discussions with the class communities. This way, we can publish the highest quality Best in Slot Gear Guides for Season of Discovery Phase 2! If you would like to leave a comment for Wowhead, be sure to reach out to . We will be reviewing this feedback for any opportunities for us to improve in the future, thank you!

Plenty has been said about Destiny 2‘s many, many ups and downs in the year of Lightfall. Even though Bungie hasn’t prepared the strongest of send-offs with the Season of the Wish, better updates are on the way, and Update 7.3.5, in particular, could be an interesting showpiece.

This past week, Blizzard revealed another round of Hero Talent Trees in a Sneak Peek at the upcoming War Within system. Our Balance Druid guide writer, Tettles, offers an early review of the Keeper of the Grove Druid Hero Talents that offer a confusing summoner fantasy accompanied by counterintuitive gameplay.

When Embracer Group’s $2 billion deal with Saudia Arabia’s Savvy Games Group fellow through last year, with a sudden need to balance its numbers, the company announced in June that it was initiating an internal restructuring program that would entail widespread layoffs, studio closures, and project cancellations.

A number of Ubisoft France employees are on strike today after the collapse of union negotiations with Ubisoft management, who have reportedly proposed a budget for wages "that would be lower than inflation for the second year in a row". The strikers are calling it a "badly balanced rewards system". Cheeky devils!

With today's weekly reset for the EU servers, players were surprised to see their ability to exchange WoW Tokens to Battle.net balance supposedly removed. This isn't a change announced by Blizzard, so it may be a bug. This change hasn't affected NA/OCE realms yet. While it is possible this is a bug with the WoWToken system, it is weird that this change is reflected in different places in the game's UI for European players. Without an official announcement from Blizzard, it is hard to know whether this is a change for the retail WoWToken. This may be a change, as the Wrath Classic WoWToken already behaves this way for every region, being able to be redeemed only for Game Time and not Battle.net Balance.

With today's weekly reset for the EU servers, players were surprised to see their ability to exchange WoW Tokens to Battle.net balance supposedly removed. This isn't a change announced by Blizzard, so it may be a bug. This change hasn't affected NA/OCE realms yet. While it is possible this is a bug with the WoWToken system, it is weird that this change is reflected in different places in the game's UI for European players. Without an official announcement from Blizzard, it is hard to know whether this is a change for the retail WoWToken. This may be a change, as the Wrath Classic WoWToken already behaves this way for every region, being able to be redeemed only for Game Time and not Battle.net Balance.

With the sun setting on Dragonflight and The War Within on the horizon, our Balance Druid Writer, Tettles, offers a retrospective highlighting Balance's journey in Dragonflight and shares their hopes for the spec's next evolution with a War Within Wishlist.

Today, we are looking at the DPS rankings during the week of February 8th for Phase 2 of Season of Discovery in Gnomeregan. For this analysis, we will use data provided by Warcraft Logs Gnomeregan statistics. Warcraft Logs' Gnomeregan Statistics

Today, we are looking at the DPS rankings during the week of February 6th for Wrath of the Lich King Classic in Icecrown Citadel. For this analysis, we will use data provided by Warcraft Logs Icecrown Citadel statistics. Warcraft Logs' Icecrown Citadel Statistics

Today, we are looking at the DPS balance on Amirdrassil during the week of February 6th. For this analysis, we will use data provided by Warcraft Logs Raid statistics for Dragonflight Season 3. Mythic Amirdrassil Statistics Page

Nature themed games have been a huge hit in recent months (years?) and yet another title is soon to hit store shelves, this time coming to us from Studio Libellud. As the above quote says, Harmonies is all about, well, harmony. Harmony in nature, between all elements of an ecosystem. It’s not the nitty gritty that keeps everything in balance, like the food chain, but the idilic view we have of nature as a whole. And I’m here for it, both in theme and mechanics.

With the sun setting on Dragonflight and The War Within on the horizon, our Discipline Priest Writer, AutomaticJak, offers a retrospective highlighting Discipline's journey in Dragonflight and shares their hopes for the spec's next evolution with a War Within Wishlist.

Deep space exploration, spaceship customization, and good ‘ol dude-bashing card games don’t seem like they go together, but after playing the demo for Breachway, I can confidently say this actually makes a perfect trio. 

Just under two weeks after its initial release, Tekken 8 is set to receive its first balance update. Patch 1.01.04 will drop on the 7th February, after server maintenance is carried out at 10:30 JST / 01:30 GMT / 02:30 CET / 17:30 PST until 16:00 JST / 07:00 GMT / 08:00 CET / 23:00 PST. Obviously, you won't be able to play online during this time — so make sure to get your Tekken fix in beforehand!

Wizards of the Coast has been teasing the next revision of the Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition ruleset since at least 2022. At the same time, it’s been working to temper fans’ expectations while managing multiple controversies — including, but not limited to, the OGL debacle, a particularly heinous round of holiday layoffs by its corporate owner, and a complicated recall of defective products. It also assured fans that the rules will be backward-compatible and player-focused, with lots of good guidance for novice Dungeon Masters. Also? They aren’t going to be complete until 2025.

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden MSRP $59.99 Score Details DT Recommended Product Pros

When it comes to your firepower in Helldivers 2, the weapons you procure during missions easily trounce whatever you’re deploying with. The only downside is that you can never count on which ones you will find, if any. Therefore, whatever you slot into your loadout needs to be able to keep up with the threats you’re likely to encounter. Most weapons tend to have a stronger utility when facing different enemy types, but there still exists a hierarchy of guns that simply outclass the others.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League dev Rocksteady has announced plans to create an entirely new leaderboard due to a Burn bug.

Over the years, simulation games have given us a taste of what it would be like to run hospitals, theme parks, zoos, and even whole cities, trying to balance the books while also making sure everyone stays happy. This new offering from Nokta Games takes that idea and gives it an all-new and more down-to-earth setting: a supermarket.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is starting its leaderboard over from scratch after identifying a bugged effect whose power was scaling infinitely.

A large number of PUBG content creators have been left unable to access ‘creator code’ payments owed to them for over four months, we’re told, but Krafton says that the situation will be resolved soon. 

The creator of one of Counter-Strike's most popular maps has a serious case of seller's remorse.

Embark Studios dropped a mid-season update for The Finals this week, adding a new limited time event alongside the usual bug fixes and balance tweaks.

Portal para Dalaran interviewed combat design leads Jade Martin and Rodney Pare about the upcoming Frostfire Hero Talent tree. New Hero Talent Reveals — Priest, Hunter, Druid, Mage

Skull and Bones is a pirate game, so people will instantly assume that it has PvP, myself included. However, the game doesn’t tackle PvP the same as many had expected, so you can’t simply attack any other crew you see. So, how does PvP work?

We've uploaded all 4 new Hero Talent Trees onto Wowhead! Preview Dark Ranger Hunter, Frostfire Mage, Oracle Priest, and Keeper of the Grove Druid now. All Revealed Hero Talent Trees Note: All icons seen in the Talent Trees below are placeholders as Blizzard has not provided any.

Patch 28.4.1, launching today, brings bug fixes and balance changes to Hearthstone and Battlegrounds!

Qualcomm and its phone partners could be working in overdrive mode to bring flagships sporting the upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 much earlier to the market, with one tipster commenting that the first handset may undergo mass production by September. For the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, Qualcomm held its launch event in October, so it is possible that its successor could be unveiled earlier.

Don't worry, you don't need to know anything about Obsidian's massive CRPGs before you dive headlong into Avowed.

The idea of an Acer handheld gaming PC isn’t surprising given that all the big laptop makers are getting in on the action. However, comments made by the company suggest it might actually be on the cards, and that gives me hope for a new, cheaper Steam Deck rival. By that, I mean a portable Windows 11 rig that comes in at the same price as Valve’s machine, unlike most other alternatives with a similar agenda.

There was a time when Hi-Fi music systems used to be all the rage. Remember the bulky surround sound systems with a cassette and CD player offered by brands like Sony and Phillips? Good times. However, that market has now completely changed, and rarely does anyone have that much space to place four different speakers and a chunky amplifier alongside the TV. This need for a compact sound system has led to the popularity of soundbars. Why have big, bulky music systems in place when all you require is a soundbar and a subwoofer that provide a sound quality that is excellent? These devices fulfill most of the home entertainment needs, be it jamming with your friends on your favourite AC/DC, Journey, or U2 tracks, or watching the latest Christopher Nolan flick in a theatre-like experience at home. Soundbars can do it all. Nowadays, you don't need to shell out big bucks to purchase a decent sound system, as many brands offer great soundbars at an affordable price. Therein lies the problem. With so many options in the market, it can be a daunting task to pick the right one.

Obsidian Entertainment is hammering away at its fantasy-with-firearms roleplaying game Avowed, due this year, which the developers hope can surpass the "black-and-white" moral binary.

AMD's Radeon RX 6750 GRE GPU has been making highlights in China as Team Red implements "strict" price control measures to ensure a balanced supply.

Sunday is here and, as always, there is another great selection of word groupings to solve for this popular daily game. s is one of the best ways to start a morning right and get your brain working for the rest of the day.

Helskate already has mountains working in its favor, between its ultra-cool name and irresistible pitch that sees Hades and Tony Hawk have a baby. Not literally. I mean that Helskate is a skateboarding roguelike about slaying monsters and the best part is that it's coming real soon. 

Nexon's medieval fantasy brawler Warhaven is shutting down on April 5, 2024, just six months after it launched on Steam in Early Access.

Like every modern fighting game, Tekken 8 comes with an online mode that allows players to put their skills to the test against other players. Powered by rollback netcode, like other games such as Street Fighter 6 and Guilty Gear Strive, the new entry in the series provides a slightly more customizable online experience, offering players three different rollback settings. Only one of them, however, is the one to choose for the smoothest gameplay in ranked and quick matches.

Palworld revealed its early access roadmap yesterday, confirming that PvP is in the works. But there's a hitch. As players on the game's subreddit pointed out, there's already an item in the files that has "a low chance of success" at capturing another person's Pal. That means that when PvP arrives, battles could "devolve into stealing Pals back and forth".

Time marches forward, and with it, gaming must also keep itself relevant. A few months back, we talked about how Nintendo was ending online support for two of its now-defunct consoles. A recent update from the company has since narrowed down exactly when that’s going to be happening.

Remember Diablo 2 and its infamously stingy inventory system? Years ago, the classic RPGtaught many of us how remarkably satisfying it feels when all of your loot clicks together just right. Enter Backpack Hero: a game that takes this very system and runs —nay, sprints with it.

How the hell did Palworld happen? In a recent blog post, Takuro Mizobe, the CEO and co-founder of the studio behind the latest mega-hit, provides some clarity. The answer isn’t what any gaming veteran would call “proper game development.” But maybe that’s the secret.

Today, we are looking at the DPS rankings during the week of January 16th for Phase 1 of Season of Discovery in Blackfathom Deeps. For this analysis, we will use data provided by Warcraft Logs Blackfathom Deeps statistics. Warcraft Logs' Blackfathom Deeps Statistics

Today, we are looking at the DPS rankings during the week of January 16th for Phase 4 of Wrath of the Lich King Classic in Icecrown Citadel. For this analysis, we will use data provided by Warcraft Logs Icecrown Citadel statistics. Warcraft Logs' Icecrown Citadel Statistics

The Finals has received a new patch which makes major balance changes to the Medium build and more.

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With the sun setting on Dragonflight and The War Within on the horizon, our Restoration Druid Writer, Voulk, offers a retrospective highlighting Restoration's journey in Dragonflight and shares their hopes for the spec's next evolution with a War Within Wishlist.

The Nintendo Wii U and 3DS online services will be terminated this April, but users will still be able to download purchased software and updates for their games.

The Finals developer Embark Studios has released update 1.5.5, which makes a number of significant balance changes.

Nintendo has now confirmed the specific date and time that online services will be shut down for 3DS and Wii U software, and there’s less than three months to go. 

Today, we are looking at the DPS balance on Amirdrassil during the first week of Patch 10.2.5. For this analysis, we will use data provided by Warcraft Logs Raid statistics for Dragonflight Season 3. Mythic Amirdrassil Statistics Page

It was revealed last year that Nintendo would finally be pulling the plug on both the 3DS and Wii U at some point this year, though it didn't specify a certain date. Unfortunately, it seems like we'll only have a few months left plying online with the 3DS and Wii U, as Nintendo has finally announced that all online play for both systems, as well as any functionality that uses online communication, will end on April 8 later this year.

Season 3 is here, which means new cosmetics! Become an arbiter of the Balance with the Death Legacy set! While we don't know for certain when thess packages will rotate out of stock, what we do know is that the shop refreshes happen daily at approximately 10 am PDT, so stay tuned — we may have new cosmetic options soon! Premium Currency in Diablo 4

Solid Snake from the Metal Gear franchise is now available in Fortnite.

Activision has released an update for Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 that makes significant balance changes to weapon customisation.

Prior to launch, Masayoshi Yokoyama, the head of Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, made bold claims about just how much time players would spend in Like a Dragon: InfiniteWealth.Yokoyama claimed that “if you attempt to clear everything, it may never end.” Obviously, that was hyperbole, but just how much content really is in the game? The series is known for its lengthy, narratively rich main campaigns, dozens of substories, and deep mini-games such as Dondoko Island. Now that we’ve had a chance to see the conclusion to Ichiban and friends’ latest adventures through the tropical island of Hawaii, we can fill you in on how many hours you can expect to put into this title.

With Season 3 and Patch 1.3 in just a few short hours, now is the perfect time to start planning your leveling build. Whether you're planning to level as quickly as possible, get some experience with what will ultimately be your endgame build during the leveling process, or try out something new in Season of the Construct, choosing the right build for your preferred playstyle is important.

We are now living in a fast-paced work environment which requires quick action and completion of multiple tasks virtually at once. While we are piled up with deadlines, urgent tasks, and other to-dos, scheduling meetings, tasks and communicating with others for meetings can get exhausting. Therefore, to make scheduling easy, we have found an AI-powered scheduling app called Clockwise which will enable users to effectively coordinate with teams with the help of AI scheduling and calendar automation. Know more about the Clockwise app and the ways it helps increase productivity among teams.

When it was confirmed that Season of the Construct would be launching on Tuesday, January 23rd, Diablo 4 players were somewhat confused. This is because shortly after the launch of Season 2, Global Community Development Director Adam Fletcher stated that the team would try to release future Seasons on Thursdays or Fridays instead. Season 3 Scroll of Escape Upgrades Echo of Lilith Bug Fix in Season 3 Fast forward three months to the beginning of Season 3, and we are still receiving a Tuesday release.

City of Heroes Homecoming, the officially licensed private City of Heroes server, has deployed it's first major update in almost a year to its beta server for testing.

Embark Studios released the first major game update for The Finals this week, adding a new solo limited time game mode and more.

The newest puzzle is available from the games section and today's answers shouldn't be too difficult for most fans of the word-grouping game. Unlike other days many of today's seem to make sense right away and most word groups don't seem to mix well with the other categories, making today's answers a bit easier than most.

In the fast-paced world we live in, staying connected is essential. Whether you're on the go, traveling, or simply facing a power outage, a reliable power bank can be a lifesaver. In this detailed exploration, we'll delve into the specifications and features of various power banks available on Amazon, ranging from Xiaomi MI Power Bank 3i to Spigen, URBN, and Ambrane offerings. So, without further ado, check this list of 5 best power banks.

With Season 3 and Patch 1.3 rapidly approaching, now is the perfect time to start planning your endgame build for Season of the Construct. Whether you're planning to climb to the highest tiers of Nightmare Dungeons and Vaults, farm Uber Bosses for that perfect drop, or knock out the latest Season Journey as quickly as possible, choosing the right build for your preferred playstyle has never been more important.

Dive into the action-packed desert battleground of Karakin map for an intense gaming thrill! In Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), Karakin is one of the smaller maps, similar in size to the Livik map, measuring only 2x2. However, unlike Livik's 52 players, Karakin hosts 64 players. One exciting feature of Karakin is the Black Zone, which can turn buildings into smoking ruins. If you hear the siren in the Black Zone, it's a sign to move quickly unless you want to face the prospect of being bombed. Here are some BGMI tips that can help you succeed.

Finally we have the long-awaited patch notes for Diablo 4 Season 3, so here are all the Version 1.3.0 updates! To release January 23, although the notes say the 24, there are tons of updates incoming.

During the recent Diablo 4 Season 3 Developer Update Livestream players were given a glimpse of the upcoming Unique items, seasonal Mechanic, and quality-of-life improvements coming in Season of the Construct. However, one of the biggest topics of discussion was the upcoming Class Balance changes and the philosophy behind how these changes will be handled in the future. As Blizzard said during the Livestream — stonks are up, so let's take a look at some buffs and nerfs! Diablo 4 Season 3 Overview Season of the Construct LaunchPlease note that these preliminary assessments are based solely on what was shared as a part of the recent Diablo 4 Season 3 Developer Update Livestream, and much of this can change once Season of the Construct Patch Notes go live on January 19th.

Headlines about the threats of artificial intelligence (AI) tend to be full of killer robots, or fears that when they're not on killing sprees, these same robots will be hoovering up human jobs. But a serious danger which gets surprisingly little media attention is the impact these new technologies are likely to have on freedom of expression.

The Season of the Construct Developer Update Livestream has concluded. In this article, we've summarized all of the new content, features, and quality-of-life improvements coming to Diablo 4 Season 3 which launches on January 23rd! Season of the Construct Reveal Blog Season of the Construct Launch Date

As part of the ESO 2024 Global Reveal livestream, Zenimax Online gave us a look at the upcoming Elder Scrolls Online expansion, Gold Road.

This upcoming indie takes the farming sim fun of Stardew Valley and combines it with the chaotic gameplay of Fall Guys. 

One of the best flight games is coming to Nintendo Switch later this year and it looks like it’s going to be a seriously impressive port.

The Tribe Must Survive, a "tribe-builder" with a survival roguelike twist, is the first management sim of its kind to really pique my curiosity in, well, I can't remember how long it's been, and it's launching into Steam Early Access on February 22. 

The year begins with more opportunities than ever to seek new adventures.