Balancing News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

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.

Today, we are looking at the DPS rankings during the week of January 9th 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

Diablo 4 Season 3 will feature the Seneschal, a robotic companion that can join the fight or heal and defend you. That definitely sounds like the kind of thing that could add a whole lot of power to your build, but Blizzard says it's unlikely to nerf the Seneschal unless things get absolutely ridiculous.

The developers of an upcoming Stardew Valley-style League of Legends spin-off have said they know what life sim fans' expectations are, so they made sure to include the staples of the genre - farming and fishing. 

As we rapidly approach the release of Diablo 4's Season 3, changes to all the classes are expected to shake up the meta. This will very likely include nerfs to the overperforming builds such as Ball Lightning Sorcerer and HotA Barbarian. We're taking a look at why nerfing the outliers is a necessary evil, even when the developers of Diablo 4 know that no one likes power taken away from them. Season 3 Developer Update Livestream January 18th Diablo 4 Needs A PTR — Here's Why

Today, we are looking at the DPS rankings during the week of January 9th 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 Tarisland team continues to reveal some of the steps they are takingto course correct following extensive player feedback during closed beta. The latest update comes in the form of a YouTube video, where the devs responded to community questions over alleged pay to win, balance, PvE challenges, crafting, and more.

Embark Studios’ fast-paced first-person shooter, The Finals, is getting its first major Season One update later today (January 17), 1.5.0, which will also include the game’s first limited time mode. 

The Finals gets its big update 1.5 today, January 17, and it makes some significant changes.

Sanctuary needs you to answer its call for aid in Season 30: The Lords of Hell. Starting on January 12 at 5 p.m. PST/CET/KST, Nephalem can harness the power of The Lords of Hell Season Theme, which first debuted with Season 25. For an in-depth look at the now-permanent Rites of Sanctuary and Visions of Enmity themes, Class Balance, and more, take a gander below.

Diablo 4 season 3 starts Jan. 23, sending players deep beneath the desert sands of Kehjistan where they’ll face new mechanized menaces, including scorpion-like Constructs, deadly traps, and the demon Malphas. To balance the odds, players will get a mechanized ally of their own, known as a Seneschal, as part of Season of the Construct.

Our Class Guides are now updated for Patch 10.2.5! Find out the most recent information for your spec and how to improve your gameplay in dungeons and raids.

If you’ve played the epilogue for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, among all the farewells for the game was a brand new Pokemon: Pecharunt.

I had never played Persona 3 until almost exactly one year ago. I remember loading up its Switch rerelease during a long, cross-country plane ride and finally digging in after years of curiosity. I adore Persona 5 and love the vibe of 4, so I figured I knew what to expect when I started my save file. I was dead wrong. The vibrant, plucky world I’d grown accustomed to shattered the first time I watched one of my characters put a gun to their head and pull the trigger.

Before you reach the Metroidvania exploration of , you must beat the powerful leader of an invading Kushan army, General Uvishka. This boss is the first of many you'll face, but is one of the harder enemies to defeat due to Sargon's limited abilities. Uvishka serves as the first real challenge for players who are just beginning to understand the combat systems of the game.

Today, we are looking at the DPS balance on Amirdrassil during the last week of 10.2. For this analysis, we will use data provided by Warcraft Logs Raid statistics for Dragonflight Season 3. Mythic Amirdrassil Statistics Page

Voting has concluded and here are the winning Season 4 Tier Set bonuses and transmogs. Data was taken using the shown percentage and total votes for each region, showing only the winning transmog set and bonus for each class/spec.

Another day, another blowup over Overwatch 2 changes. In a recent blog discussing balance changes coming in Overwatch 2 Season 9, Blizzard revealed that all heroes will soon be given passive healing abilities. That certainly raised a lot of eyebrows, considering Overwatch already has an entire class of characters – the Support heroes – dedicated to healing. Blizzard claims the change is designed to reduce “damage spikes” during combat, although some may argue the cost of achieving that is too great.

Season of Discovery's Phase 2 is just around the corner, so we decided to create a wishlist of runes and potential abilities we and the community would like to see introduced! Some of the list's entries would fill gaps in Classic's class design, while others would add tons of class fantasy and flavor. We have tried to include ideas for every specialization of every class — or just generally awesome class ability designs that have been introduced over the last two decades of World of Warcraft!

Ubisoft is testing out more changes toRainbow Six Siege in its Lab Test Server, and not everyone is happy about what’s in store. 

Sanctuary is oozing with maladies to be eradicated, wanderer—go forth and defend your home!

Artificial intelligence raises serious concerns for jobs but it will also create new positions, the head of Adecco, the world's biggest temporary staffing agency, told AFP. From meteorologists to lawyers and screenwriters, generative AI capable of creating content -- such as the chatbot ChatGPT -- could change the contours of many professions. But it will also create new positions, according to Denis Machuel, the chief executive of Zurich-based Adecco.

We've halfway through the voting duration and we're highlighting the current winning Tier Set bonuses and transmogs for Dragonflight Season 4. Data was taken on 1/12 at ~12:00PM PT and estimates the actual number of votes using the shown percentage and total votes for each region, showing only the winning transmog set and bonus for each class/spec. Want to see all the available options? Check out our other posts below. All Tier Set BonusesAll TIer Set Transmogs

In one of the wildest updates I've ever seen from a competitive shooter, Overwatch 2 is giving every hero in the game their own built-in healing as part of an effort to reduce the dominance of "team strategy and mechanics." 

Hello everyone… and happy 2024!!!

Community chat application company, Discord, has laid off 170 employees, or 17 percent of its staff, according to a new report from The Verge. Discord CEO Jason Citron cites overhiring, which has led to the company becoming «less efficient» in how it operates. The layoffs affected people across various departments. 

When the original Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl came out in 2021, it was a relatively bare-bones experience, but those bones were solid. Despite lacking many single-player modes, items, and even character voices, the core gameplay was good enough to keep the game afloat until it received refinements via online updates over the next two years. Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2, however, comes packaged with all those improvements and more. Developer Fair Play Labs has learned its lessons, and while the game isn't without its faults, it's a more-than-worthy follow-up.

The ground beneath Square Enix's Tetsuya Nomura's feet trembled. In his time since serving as character designer and visual director on Final Fantasy VII, his legend has grown substantially. In addition to working on nearly every acclaimed Final Fantasy game since Nomura also helped create the Kingdom Hearts series and has become a figurehead and luminary within the stacked ranks of Square Enix's stable of developers. But this 2015 trip to Los Angeles, California, was different.

More than six years after the original Persona 5 arrived on U.S. store shelves, the RPG is still spitting out successors and spin-offs that capitalize on how beloved that title is to this day. The 2020 update, Persona 5 Royal, is the best-received successor, but both 2021 Musou hybrid Persona 5 Strikers and the recently released turn-based strategy RPG Persona 5 Tactica gave players plenty to love.

What is it? An update to the classic action-roguelike with a few new elements in the mix.

The Ruby Sanctum is now live on Wrath of the Lich King Classic! You can view all of our Ruby Sanctum Guides below -- Ruby Sanctum Overview Ruby Sanctum Loot Ruby Sanctum AchievementsRuby Sanctum Boss Strategy Guides Halion

This weekend only, Sombra is changing up the rules for Quick Play. Enjoy Quick Play: Hacked – Quicker Play - a fun, new way to play with faster capture speeds, payloads, and respawn times.  Experience more team fights, more games, and new strategies. Here are the changes:

Next week’s free Epic Games Store title has seemingly leaked ahead of an official announcement on Thursday.

It has been just over seven months since the release of Diablo 4. In an incredible year for gaming, the launch of Blizzard's newest title has been a successful one according to critics around the globe, resulting in a Metacritic score of 86. Since its launch and overwhelmingly positive reception, Diablo 4's development road has been rocky for the game's community. Season 1 and its very first significant content Patch 1.1.0, which included a plethora of controversial nerfs, was met with waves of community criticism. Diablo 4's development team apologized and promised to do better — and the following patches, including Season 2's Patch 1.2.0, indeed showed promise with significant changes to defenses and underperforming classes. One of the latest content additions to the game, however, perfectly showcases one of the core issues of Diablo 4: The Abattoir of Zir, a seasonal endgame mode introduced with Patch 1.2.3 in early December of last year, was expected to pose a genuine challenge to those who have «done everything else» in Season 2. However, the new endgame content was released with many groundbreaking bugs and exploits, like conjurations counting towards monster progression or players being able to create infinite amounts of Sigil Dust. Most of these things have been fixed by now — but one burning question, which has come up after every single patch since Diablo 4's release, remains: Why in the High Heavens does Diablo 4 not have a Public Test Realm where players could test upcoming content and help Blizzard to increase the game's overall quality?

Marvel Snap’s first major balance patch of the New Year arrived this week and it could be one to significantly upend the game’s meta.

AMD and Nvidia are in a cat and mouse game. When one launches a new upscaling technology, the other follows. DLSS, then FSR. Frame Generation, then Frame Generation (AMD style). You get the idea. Traditionally we've come to expect Nvidia to lead and AMD to follow, but that's not how AMD's Aaron Steinman sees it.

With the arrival of the New Year a new Lost Ark monthly update has arrived. The January Update includes the Inferno mode of Brelshaza, the new Lai Lai Adventure Island, and a slew of quality of life and balance updates, along with additional new content.

Today, we are looking at the DPS rankings during the week of January 2nd 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

Today, we are looking at the DPS rankings during the week of January 2nd 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

Valve has revealed they will now accept games that use AI on their Steam platform, under specific conditions.

Discover the history of the Dragon Isles and meet a unique cast of characters, hear stories of old, and witness the iconography of a time before. Participate in Solo and Group activities within Traitor's Rest with an hourly Public Event, plenty of opportunity to explore, and earn cosmetic rewards like Battle Pets, Mounts, and a Transmog set.

Today, we are looking at the DPS balance on Amirdrassil during the week of January 2nd. For this analysis, we will use data provided by Warcraft Logs Raid statistics for Dragonflight Season 3. Mythic Amirdrassil Statistics Page

A new Baldur's Gate 3 hotfix is now live, introducing a variety of tweaks and fixes that improve the experience on all platforms.

A new box set format called 'Spearhead' has been revealed for Warhammer: Age of Sigmar, and it's got me thinking. What if this is the fantasy equivalent to 40K's Combat Patrol? And what if a new way to play based on Combat Patrol comes with it?

Larian Studios has kicked off 2024 with a beefy Baldur’s Gate 3 hotfix that tackles multiple bugs and blockers, and makes accessing trinkets much easier.

Lethal Company's latest patch brings all sorts of exciting new additions, but one sticks out above the rest. 

By Antonio G. Di Benedetto, a writer covering tech deals and The Verge’s Deals newsletter, buying guides, and gift guides. Previously, he spent 15 years in the photography industry.

Each spec has a poll on the official forums, asking players which Tier Set Bonus and transmog they want in Dragonflight Season 4!

The community has voiced their feedback regarding Diablo 4's itemization since day one, critiquing many aspects of its current iteration. In response, Blizzard has made itemization one of their major focuses to be fixed in the coming months. While those changes aren't expected until tentatively Season 4, we're taking a look at the problems that exist with itemization in Diablo 4 and contemplating a few possible solutions. Unique Items Tier List Diablo 4 Item Database

Blaupunkt, a well-established German audio brand, has recently introduced its latest innovation, the SBA01 Krisp Dolby Soundbar, showcasing a notable advancement in audio technology. The collaboration between Blaupunkt and Dolby is evident in the meticulous design and state-of-the-art features of the SBA01 Krisp, which incorporates the latest Dolby Audio technology to elevate the audio experience for users.

Samsung, a global electronics giant renowned for its extensive product range, is poised to introduce its latest addition to the highly popular Galaxy A series of smartphones. Over the years, the Galaxy A series has earned recognition for striking a balance between compelling features and affordability. Notable predecessors in this series include the Galaxy A71, A51, A31, A21s, and A11, among others. These devices have consistently offered competitive specifications, modern aesthetics, and innovative features, making them suitable for a diverse range of budget segments and user preferences.

Sanctuary needs you to answer its call for aid in Season 30: The Lords of Hell. Starting on January 12 at 5 p.m. PST/CET/KST, Nephalem can harness the power of The Lords of Hell Season Theme, which first debuted with Season 25. For an in-depth look at the now-permanent Rites of Sanctuary and Visions of Enmity themes, Class Balance, and more, take a gander below.

Blizzard announced that the start date of Diablo 3's Season 30 will be January 12 at at 5 p.m. PST/CET/KST. «The Lords of Hell» is the first season to utilize the rotational season system, reintroducing the theme of Season 25.

CEO Sam Altman-led OpenAI said it's talking to dozens of publishers about striking deals to license their articles, a broader effort than was previously known as the startup looks for content to train its artificial intelligence models. 

Kiryu Kazuma and Kasuga Ichiban are two sides of the same Like a Dragon coin. Their personalities could not be more different — Kiryu, a world-weary lone wolf, and Kasuga, a Dragon Quest-loving golden retriever — but they live by a similar code of ethics and share a similar past, both locked up for crimes they didn't commit to help out their yakuza families. It was a bummer that Kiryu didn't stick around longer when he came around in Yakuza: Like a Dragon. The two men would sure as hell have a lot to talk about.

I've never really got on with mobas, the exception to the rule being Blizzard's excellent Heroes of the Storm. Inspired by Defense of the Ancients, the Warcraft 3 mod that birthed the entire genre, HotS was released in 2015 to a largely positive reception from critics and players. But despite the game's quality, and years of support from Blizzard, it never managed to reach that critical mass of players.

Square Enix president Takashi Kiryu says the company will be “aggressive” in using generative AI technology to create content, including in development and publishing. This not only means more investment in technologies but also a desire to use the tech for all kinds of development, and “create new forms of content” in a balance between product and marketing.

Last week, Path of Exile 2’s Game Director Jonathan Rogers sat for a livestreamedinterview with streamer Kripparrian, and the two discussed PoE2, what’s new, how they’re evolving and balancing combat, monster designs, adding WASD combat and much more. This comes as today, there is another live stream with Rogers and Mark Roberts happening today.

In December, Twitch relaxed its rules to allow for "artistic depictions of nudity" in streams—things like «content that ‘deliberately highlighted breasts, buttocks or pelvic region,’»—as long as it was labelled as containing «sexual themes.» Two days later, following «community concern,» it chickened out and walked the changes back: «Moving forward, depictions of real or fictional nudity won't be allowed on Twitch, regardless of the medium,» CEO Dan Clancy said.

Today, we are looking at the DPS rankings during the week of December 26th 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 December 26th 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

Today, we are looking at the DPS balance on Amirdrassil during the week of December 26th. For this analysis, we will use data provided by Warcraft Logs Raid statistics for Dragonflight Season 3. Mythic Amirdrassil Statistics Page

Selecting a team that has type advantages is key to victory over Team GO Rocket Leader Sierra in in January 2024. While Sierra's team remains the same as it did at the end of 2024, it is arguably the most balanced of all three Leaders this month.

A New Year’s letter by Square Enix CEO Takashi Kiryu indicates that the company will be focusing on making use of AI technology in its development of games. The letter—a yearly tradition for the company—talks about the company’s plans for the future. Among other things, the use of AI seems to be a key part of the company’s plans moving forward.

It’s hard to believe that Super Mario Bros Wonder came out several months ago. The title was one of the last “big games” to be released in 2024, and it made quite an impact when it was released. That was largely due to the power of the “Wonder Effect,” which blew everyone away, thanks to the creativity of the Nintendo team in making these “modified levels” as fun as possible. The team even noted that they “took their time” developing the title to have a fresh feel and be something gamers couldn’t help but keep playing.

Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar has said the NYT-OpenAI-Microsoft case is important and interesting one, and represents the broader issue of the nature of a relationship between those scraping internet and monetising from it versus the copyrighted content on the internet. Last Wednesday, New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft over copyright infringement, alleging that millions of its articles were used without consent to train chatbots and AI models, which now compete with it.

 Data-driven hiring ways, inclusive and diversity-focused practices and nearly double-digit salary hikes are likely to leave their stamp on the human resource landscape in 2024 as companies continue to scout for the right talent amid economic uncertainties. Over the last few years, the expectations of candidates and employers have changed dramatically. Employees want workplace flexibility, a greater emphasis on diversity, and impartial hiring processes, while companies are eager to provide fair, engaging and streamlined candidate experiences to attract and retain top talent, according to experts.

In just a few hours from now, the clock will strike 12 and the world will welcome the year 2024. It is an occasion to celebrate with friends and family and to prepare your New Year's resolutions. But if you are away from your loved ones, it is also the time to reach out to them to wish them well for the year ahead. However, you cannot send the same ‘Happy New Year 2024' message you share with your elders and family with your friends. It requires you to come up with different creative messages. If you are struggling with this, don't worry. We asked the three prominent AI chatbots — OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google Bard, and Microsoft Copilot — and they gave us some really good suggestions. Let us check them out.

Coming in at number eight is Dead Space. This full PS5 remake kicked off 2023 with its January release, and honestly, we haven't stopped thinking about it since. With The Callisto Protocol launching just a month prior and sharing a lot of the same DNA, EA Motive wiped our memory of Johnny Protocol as it thrust us into a dark, terrifying, yet wildly enchanting world.

Our individual Game of the Year articles allow our lovely team of writers to share their own personal PS5 and PS4 picks for 2023. Today, it's the turn of contributor Henry Stockdale.

This past week, Blizzard revealed new Hero Talent Trees in a First Look at the new system coming with the The War Within expansion. Our Blood DK guide writer, Mandl, offers an early review of the San'layn Hero Talents for Blood that while powerful does repurpose a major defensive ability, a dangerous prospect for a tank spec.

Diablo IV was discussed thoroughly by franchise General Manager Rod Fergusson (formerly head of the Gears of War franchise at The Coalition) in a recent interview with the YouTube channel Electric Playground Network.

iPhone 15 price cut: Have you been planning to buy an Apple iPhone 15, but waiting for a substantial discount to be announced? Well, it is happening now! Apple's cutting-edge iPhone 15 was launched just a few months ago at the Wonderlust event on September 12 and the great news is that its price has dropped substantially on Amazon. So, if you are an iPhone fan waiting for an opportunity like this to come since launch, you should have a very close look at the deal. Check here to know more about this exciting iPhone 15 price cut offer.

Turn-based strategy game Rising Lords will release on January 18, 2024 after nearly three years in Early Access. The hybrid of PC turn-based strategy with more traditional board game and card game design focuses around strategically expanding a medieval fiefdom's economy while raising armies to defend yourself against—or conquer—your neighbors.

Today, we are looking at the DPS rankings during the week of December 19th 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 December 19th 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 general reception surrounding Diablo 4 has had many ups and downs in its first six months since release. Currently, Diablo 4 is in a far better state than it was earlier this year. Evidently, the developers learned some valuable insights on carefully tuning this massive action RPG to meet community expectations.  In an interview with the Electronic Playground Network, Diablo general manager Rod Fergusson took some time to reflect on the first six months of Diablo 4. He also talked about the rough patches -- both the actual patches and the resulting community backlash -- and stated that upcoming updates would instead go for more thoughtful changes. According to Fergusson, a big lesson that Blizzard learned is that sometimes it's OK for things to "feel" broken to keep the fun.