Aidan O'Brien, Author at The Escapist https://www.escapistmagazine.com/author/aidan/ Everything fun Fri, 21 Jun 2024 16:41:39 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.5 https://www.escapistmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/cropped-escapist-favicon.jpg?fit=32%2C32 Aidan O'Brien, Author at The Escapist https://www.escapistmagazine.com/author/aidan/ 32 32 211000634 How to Get into Prospect Town in Elden Ring – Outer God Heirloom Location https://www.escapistmagazine.com/how-to-get-into-prospect-town-in-elden-ring-outer-god-heirloom-location/ https://www.escapistmagazine.com/how-to-get-into-prospect-town-in-elden-ring-outer-god-heirloom-location/#disqus_thread Fri, 21 Jun 2024 12:35:06 +0000 https://www.escapistmagazine.com/?p=239707 Prospect Town is in a reasonably isolated area near the Gravesite Plains in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree. Here’s how to get to Prospect Town in Elden Ring.

How to Access Prospect Town in Elden Ring

As a crumbling remnant of whatever settlement it formally used to be, Prospect Town is a sad sight. To get into Prospect Town, you will need to find the right part of the ruins to walk up, as the former main road has collapsed. This can be found on the flat area if you follow the ruins around to the left. You will find a long, collapsed wall that you can walk up and then jump across to gain entry to the town.

There are some resources to be found here, such as some Rada Fruit lying around, two Beast Blood, Sanguine plants, and Mushrooms. Mostly, you will want to visit here to get the Arcane-enhancing Outer God Heirloom.

Related: Where to Find the Gravesite Plain Map in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree

Be careful in Prospect Town, as there are a number of large, powerful, and hard-hitting enemies here. As you continue through the town, you will come to an area with seven of them, and you will need to be very careful. You can aggro the first three on their own if you approach them from the right, then back up as soon as they start to stand up. Take them all out, then worry about the others.

The second group will include an enemy who can do some ranged attacks, so be very mindful of him. He can stagger you badly if he hits you, and should that happen, the rest will easily swarm you. There is no Site of Grace here, so you want to be careful because you have no easy respawns.

How to Find the Outer God Heirloom in Elden Ring

Once the fighting is over, continue toward the ruined church-looking building on the left, then go inside. Here, you will find a chest that contains the Outer God Heirloom.

The Outer God Heirloom will raise your Arcane level.

A talisman engraved with the lore of an outer god. Raises arcane. The clan, who lost everything in the great fires, peered upon the corpse of their ancestor, normally an act of sanctity, and saw in its shadow a twisted deity. The clan had suffered such torment that the horrible thing was taken as an object of worship.

The Outer God Heirloom isn’t the only talisman nearby. You can also grab the Blade of Mercy talisman without much fuss.

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is available now.

]]>
https://www.escapistmagazine.com/how-to-get-into-prospect-town-in-elden-ring-outer-god-heirloom-location/feed/ 0 239707
The Need To Protect Both Shows Means Baki Hanma vs Kengan Ashura Pleases Nobody https://www.escapistmagazine.com/the-need-to-protect-both-shows-means-baki-hanma-vs-kengan-ashura-pleases-nobody/ https://www.escapistmagazine.com/the-need-to-protect-both-shows-means-baki-hanma-vs-kengan-ashura-pleases-nobody/#disqus_thread Fri, 14 Jun 2024 17:27:34 +0000 https://www.escapistmagazine.com/?p=235627 Baki Hanma vs Kengan Ashura should have been something a little bit special. Two popular manga turned anime with a focus on brutal martial arts action, physics-defying fights, with both sporting casts of characters that cover the gamut of superhuman physiology. It should have been a pretty easy win, on paper. Yes, there was the risk that all involved would feel the need to protect both shows and creative compromises carried out in a mutually respectful way might lead it to a bad place, but what were the odds?

I wasn’t overly concerned about this, truthfully. Baki Hanma had brought a prehistoric, dinosaur-punching murder machine to the present day to give the titular character a worthy scrap, and Kengan Ashura’s writers had the guts to stick their main character Ohma Tokita in a coma for most of a series just to give all the other characters room to breathe and develop. Both teams were happy to dive into the ridiculous and embrace creative problem-solving, but the approach to this crossover attempt seems to have gotten stuck in the mud.

Both franchises work because the shows, just like the manga they’re based on, can take their time building up to fights and developing their characters. It doesn’t really matter if a fighter wins or loses because they can learn a lot about themselves during their fight and still progress in their art and personality. Yes, it matters for the tournament they’re taking part in, but eating a loss doesn’t arrest the character’s development in any way. With Baki Hanma vs Kengan Ashura, we don’t have that time. There isn’t really a way to develop a history between the characters other than having them somewhat imply that they’ve heard of each other, because things needed to be wrapped up in a little over an hour of runtime.

The fights also don’t have the time to dive into the often deeply philosophical yet hugely enjoyable guff that Kengan Ashura in particular is prone to. Their different martial arts are often presented as diametrically opposed forces, entirely representative of the personality and worldview of the practitioner. In the Baki shows, they do a wonderful job of subtle character shifts mid-fight that still make sense within the logic of the show’s established universe. A great example of this is Katsumi’s mid-fight evolution against Pickle in Baki Hanma. Katsumi, a man obsessed with growing stronger, embraced the idea of weakening himself in his attempt to win.

Baki Hanma vs Kengan Ashura just didn’t have enough runtime to lean into the strengths of either show, so I can’t help but feel like the overall format should have been changed. There wasn’t much room to do anything cool, which meant fights were rushed, and the way they ended was often somewhat disappointing.

The only fight we really got a clean end to was Saw Paing Yoroizuka vs Kaoru Hanayama. Saw Paing, a wild and brash fighter from Kengan Ashura who approaches fighting with raw intensity and sometimes questionable strategy, practically headbutts himself into defeat by repeatedly trying to break the enormous fists of Hanayama with his face. It was a fun fight and worked for both characters. Hanayama got the win, and Saw Paing’s loss was almost invited rather than forced upon him, which works for the brash youngster.

Up next was Raian Kure vs Jack Hanma. Raian won this after breaking out his Removal ability, which dissolves the subconscious limits the mind places on the body. While he put Jack down, it wasn’t for very long, and by then, the nature of the fight had already changed. By the time Kure vs Hanma ended, commentary from the other fighters watching had made it very clear that this fight was no longer about winning or losing for either of them but was about living or dying. Jack “lost” the fight, but neither he nor Kure killed the other, so while it was technically 1-1 between characters from the different shows, Jack was still protected. As fighters and martial artists, Kure had won purely on a technicality by that point because the rules and the stakes were set by the combatants and combatants alone. Endless martial arts animes have taught us this.

The main course was always going to be Ohma Tokita vs Baki Hanma, and they went at it, breaking out all manner of techniques largely equal in measure until they were interrupted by Pickle, and then Yuujiro Hanma, and THEN Gensai Kuroki. This was just not a satisfying resolution to what should have been the marquee event. I didn’t need Baki and Ohma to murder each other; hell, as a fan of both shows, I didn’t even need them to fight!

I’ve seen Baki and Ohma go head-to-head with the most brutal opponents in their own worlds, I’ve seen what they’re willing to do to win. There isn’t much to learn in a six-minute fight between the two. I wish the creators had come up with a more inventive way to have fun with the characters. I think pitting both of them as a team against a new, singular threat would have been intriguing. Perhaps some third party pays off Maximum Tournament organizer Tokugawa Mitsukuni and Kengan Ashura headhoncho Katahara Metsudo to lure in Baki and Ohma to face an experimental mechanical fighter. While they win, the robot learns from each encounter, uploads it’s findings upon destruction, and bounces into a new body that they have to take on. If you don’t think watching two heroes take on a singular, impressive martial arts threat is peak viewing, I strongly suggest you watch The Raid. It’ll change your life.

They could have also gone the hilarious route of not having the two fight at all and never have them realize the extent of the other’s power. The film opens with both jogging. Perhaps they could witness a crime and spend their time trying to find the perpetrator while doing absolutely insane feats of physicality that the other one never actually sees. Basically, I can’t help but feel that anything would have been better than what we got, which was essentially a stale advertisement for fans of one show who may not have seen the other.

It’s a shame, because a crossover like this is quite rare. Both shows are fun and interesting, and they deserved more than what they got. It’s hard to know exactly where the problems arose, but most things about the show just felt rushed, and it genuinely felt like the pressure to deliver something in the writers room meant nobody ever had time to figure out a fun way to explore both worlds without failing to live up to the standards of either of them.

Baki Hanma vs Kengan Ashura is available to watch now on Netflix.

]]>
https://www.escapistmagazine.com/the-need-to-protect-both-shows-means-baki-hanma-vs-kengan-ashura-pleases-nobody/feed/ 0 235627
Destiny 2’s Salvation’s Edge Raid Was Dominated by a New Strand Weapon https://www.escapistmagazine.com/destiny-2s-salvations-edge-raid-was-dominated-by-a-new-strand-weapon/ https://www.escapistmagazine.com/destiny-2s-salvations-edge-raid-was-dominated-by-a-new-strand-weapon/#disqus_thread Mon, 10 Jun 2024 19:14:47 +0000 https://www.escapistmagazine.com/?p=232718 Destiny 2’s new Raid arrived this past weekend, and it was a bit of a record-breaker. Salvation’s Edge turned out to be the longest Raid in Destiny history, cracking the roughly 18-hour record set by The Last Wish.

After over 19 hours of hard work, puzzle solving, and slaying countless enemies, Team Parabellum had beaten the Raid off-stream. Guardian’s Astro, bravo, DrakathShadow, Ham, Jake, and Tyraxe had kept their heads down, died about 1500 times between them, and gotten the job done. Bungie confirmed the win, and then everyone else was battling for second place.

One of the more interesting stories is what they were all battling with. While covering the World’s First Race, it was clear to me that class builds were pretty stagnant despite recent changes, buffs, and nerfs. With only three days to prepare, and with some of that time being spent offline due to server issues, it seems teams were sticking with what they knew best. Well of Radiance Warlock was a must, and Hunters were absolutely everywhere, still the preferred class of the Youtuber who needs flashy clips.

The surprise was the presence of a new gun in the mix. According to RaidHub, The Call was responsible for the most kills in Contest Mode. While heavily puzzle-focused, and designed to put contenders’ problem-solving skills to the test, Salvation’s Raid threw a lot of enemies at people. There was very little downtime when it came to murdering, and The Call racked up over 66 million kills, putting it ahead of every other weapon for sheer murder volume, according to RaidHub.

This is surprising because it’s interesting to see people who need to kill as much as possible as fast as possible put their faith in a new weapon that they haven’t had time to put through the rigorous testing the Destiny 2 community is known for. It is also not very surprising because The Call is an absolute murder machine.

It can be crafted, which means if you find enough special versions, you can figure out how to make it yourself. It has a perk pool from heaven, allowing you to build an excellent version that will back up almost any type of character build in the game.

It’s also a Sidearm that fires rockets, only the second one in the game, and it drops randomly from the new content so it is easy enough to get. The other rocket firing Sidearm is the Indebted Kindness, and that came in third place on our murder leaderboards. The Indebted Kindness is harder to get, being tied to a Dungeon, one of Destiny 2’s harder content types, and I would argue that it lacks The Call’s superb perk options.

The final factor is that The Call is a Kinetic weapon, and the Indebted Kindness is an Energy weapon. Some of the highest damage output strategies will require a different energy weapon, so The Call offered people the perfect chance to take all its minion-slaying might while still having an Energy and Power weapon that could put massive damage numbers into the bosses and tougher enemies.

I just find this level of detail in such a small thing fascinating. There are thousands of factors that go into trying to be the very first people to finish extremely tough content like Raids, and interesting things happen that you don’t quite expect. And so, a surprising new weapon won the faith of the very best Destiny players in the world, and they used it to slaughter their way to a fight with The Witness.

]]>
https://www.escapistmagazine.com/destiny-2s-salvations-edge-raid-was-dominated-by-a-new-strand-weapon/feed/ 0 232718
Who Won the Salvation’s Edge Raid World First Race in Destiny 2? https://www.escapistmagazine.com/who-winning-won-salvations-edge-world-first-race-destiny-2/ https://www.escapistmagazine.com/who-winning-won-salvations-edge-world-first-race-destiny-2/#disqus_thread Sat, 08 Jun 2024 06:18:43 +0000 https://www.escapistmagazine.com/?p=231194 It’s time, Guardian. For ten years, you have harnessed the awesome power of the Light and a little speck of Darkness to battle your enemies in Destiny 2. The Salvation’s Edge Raid will see the best players in the world take on the Bungie Raid design team in a battle of wits.

The World’s First Race in Destiny 2 sees dedicated teams from all around the world get up too early or stay up too late to take on Bungie’s premier challenge, a new Raid. Special rules apply, making it a tougher task than usual for the first 48 hours, and winners go down in history as being pretty okay at the game.

Who Is Winning the Salvation’s Edge World First Race

  • 07:15 CT – a new 12 player mode called Excision has just gone live in the game!
  • 07:13 CT – Team Parabellum consisting of Tyraxe, Astro, bravo, DrakathShadow, Ham, and Jake appears to have wrapped it up. Love it when a team just comes out of nowhere and gets it done.
  • 07:10 CT – So, it looks like a player called Tyraxe is a member of the first team to finish it. Bungie are now verifying the finish.
  • 07:08 CT – Rumors abound that someone has finished the Raid, but it’s all very confusing right now. It appears a team may have completed who were not streaming.
  • 06:51 CT – And there we have it, the Salvation’s Edge Raid is now the longest Raid in Destiny 2 history, as far as I can tell. It has surpassed The Last Wish, and taken the crown.
  • 06:38 CT – Salt went black screen while I was making a sandwich (a man has gotta eat, folks) so it looks like he is also getting closer. Teams are obviously starting to figure things out, or just play the psychological game of wanting to look like they are.
  • 06:19 CT – Datta has also gone dark. Something is brewing!
  • 06:07 CT – All The Players has gone dark, which means they are making progress that they want to hide for fear of helping other players.
  • 06:02 CT – Pretty much down to the four groups and everyone else is hard stuck in the White Room puzzle. This final section is really interesting. The Witness hands keep spawning in, we have those terrifying bursts of energy bursting across the area. It’s very busy, and must be quite difficult to survive while also trying to gather new information each run. We also have a tweet from Bungie Help, below, for those who complete it.
  • 05:16 CT – Lots of streams coming back on with video now. It seems like Salt hoovered up enough viewers while showing his gameplay that everyone else started to worry. Winning World’s First is nice, but business is business!
  • 05:11 CT – WispGT is at the final encounter with The Witness and is both showing gameplay and audio.
  • 05:02 CT – All The Players is back showing his screen, but I don’t now how long that will be for.
  • 04:40 CT – I predict that we are gonna see teams get stuck on the boss fight for a couple of hours. There is little movement going yet, and it seems that Bungie will have given this guy a pretty evil Final Stand mechanic.
  • 04:30 CT – So more and more teams are starting to stack up at the Witness. Elysium, Math Class, Luminosity, Hard in the Paint are all there.
  • 03:53 CT – Saltagreppo is streaming gameplay, which is great. Looks to be the same four teams sin the final encounter. Or at least, I assume it is the final encounter.
  • 03:36 CT – A little note here, is that we ARE expecting a world state change and some new content to open when this is over. So, the fun begins for us normal folks when the contest is decided.
  • 03:34 CT – Salt and crew are now through. They are showing the traversal, but I have no idea if they will show the boss fight. If they are willing to trade the belts for subs, Salt could make his next 20 mortgage payments in subs.
  • 03:29 CT – So I guess we are just hanging out looking at blank screens now until someone wins, but I’ll keep y’all updated on who is making it through to the final encounter. ATP is there, Datto is there, and Rumomax is there. Those are the ones I can guarantee. Rumomax is at least showing the Witness’s healthbar.
  • 03:14 CT – Datto is actually showing some gameplay on Stream. GOAT.
  • 03:10 CT – Honestly, Datto getting his world first in this Raid would be very poetic, so hopefully it happens for him.
  • 03:08 CT – Datto and MC have just cleared the fourth! Gonna be ignoring the Gigz thing for now as I cannot tell what it happening on that stream and nobody else seems to know either.
  • 03:00 CT – Someone in ATP chat said that Gigz has made it to the final encounter now. He is currently on intermission, so I cannot confirm that just yet.
  • 02:54 CT – So far, still just ATP at the final, Datto and Math Class keep falling apart right at the end of the fourth encounter, but are doing great work. ATP getting kinda salty with people “watching” his stream. We can’t see the game, or hear comms, just wind and occasional gunfire. I understand it to a point, he and his folks are trying to win a race, but if he is going to hide what he can see from the world, then it feels like a good idea to just ignore chat, because it’s gonna get messy in there.
  • 02:38 CT – So about 8 hours ago, I said that Math Class always rallies, and it looks like they might be next to finish the fourth encounter and move on to what we currently assume is the final boss.
  • 02:26 CT – This is a clip of what ATP’s team saw after the encounter, so it really looks like they are in the fifth and final stage. It’s been an oddly structure Raid, more puzzle-focused than boss-focused. Which think somewhat suits the Witness, who has spent some of his “squad cards” in other Raids.
  • 02:21 CT – I honestly think the community will react better to another Salt win than it will if ATP wins without actually showing the gameplay live. I honestly have no idea how I feel about it. Yeah, it’s a bummer that the team in first is basically hiding 90% of their gameplay, but I understand the (sword) logic of it.
  • 02:16 CT – Incredible stuff, ATP is through! The fourth encounter is now down! After 14 hours the Raid progresses some more.
  • 02:00 CT – so it looks like All The Players is doing something to progress the puzzle room, but is basically broadcasting audio-only at points, so keep that in mind. He has just promised a 10 minute timeline to a completion, so lets see what happens.
  • 01:49 CT – I have just seen an absolutely incredible theory by Redditor Surca_Cirvive. He seems to think that this room is an extension of the idea that the Witness offers people what they want and has now trapped the players in an eternal Raid. The community has always wished for tougher and tougher Raids, and here we are. He thinks the room they are in is not the real encounter and that the flashes of the “other” room people can see is reality. They need to figure out HOW to turn away from the promise of the room in order to proceed. Super fun theory, Destiny fans are always so great at having fun with this stuff.
  • 01:46 CT – I’m not sure why I forgot to mention this before, but I have been using twitchtheater.tv to watch multiple streams at the same time, which is incredibly useful during these races.
  • 01:26 CT – So, getting myself up to speed, I’ve got Datto, Aztecross, Salt, Gladd, Newo, Boop, and Soto groups all working on the stall room in the fourth encounter. So, even people who got hardstuck on the first encounter have been able to make it here, but can they make any real progress?
  • 01:22 CT – Seeing some concerned reactions to the Raid length online, with people worrying about Bungie needing to step in from some folks on Reddit and Twitter. It’s an interesting sentiment as we are still only about 60% of the way to the longest first completion, which was, I believe, Last Wish at nearly 19 hours. We could very well be dealing with an instance of Bungie just deciding that if nobody finishes within the first 24 hours, that’s just the way it is.
  • 01:15 CT – The puzzle room is still puzzling, and unlike me, these hungry Guardians will need to do everything they can to avoid fatigue. This room really has turned into the great equalizer, and it looks like there was no speed that teams could have gotten through the first encounters to give them any advantage here.
  • 17:56 CT – Newo, Salt and aTides are at encounter four, but almost zero progress appears to be made. Salt has been there for an hour and a half, and it is just an incredibly obtuse piece of game design. Not many clues on what to do, and not much feedback from the environment. This Raid is brutal so far, absolutely chewing up the teams in a way we haven’t seen for a while, and four encounters deep with just one boss so far.
  • 17:39 CT – the famous Math Class vibe is starting to kick in. It’s tough to be in the Raids trying this hard and not getting the progress. They nearly always do a huge rally, however.
  • 17:30 CT – Luminous are past the second stage! They are making their way through the Witness’ hideout to the third stage as I type.
  • 16:52 CT – More teams are getting through to Encounter 2 with Math Class in there, doing what they can. Salt is still in the white room for Encounter 4, struggling to figure out the mechanics. There is little in there that is similar to what has come before. aTides is still Encounter 3, and most folks are stuck on the first encounter. Starting to see why competition mode is 48 hours this time.
  • 16:33 CT – The fourth encounter is crazy looking. An almost pristine white room filled with a mix of creatures and what looks like statues of the players themselves?
  • 16:31 CT – And now Elysium has the third encounter in the bag. Who is willing to bet against them winning ANOTHER race?
  • 16:17 CT – a player called aTides is in the third encounter! It looks like they just had a triple disconnect, so hopefully that doesn’t mean any kind of server issues are starting up.
  • 16:05 CT – So this Raid is turning out to be a huge challenge. Not many teams are past the first encounter, a handful are making progress on the second, and only Salt is on the third encounter.
  • 15:36 CT – Salt said they would do it, and do it they did! Encounter 2 is down, so it’s deeper in the Raid. So far, Elysium in the lead and the only team through the boss.
  • 15:27 CT – this second encounter is absolutely brutal. You need tremendous healing and damage output, as well as incredible coordination to deal with the mechanics.
  • 15:14 CT – Salt and Elysium were so close to a clear, but decided to wipe and restart it. These guys make some incredibly tough calls.
  • 14:59 CT – Balance note: The changes to Well of Radiance do not seem to have dented its presence in Raids very much.
  • 14:55 CT – Salt, Roen, NAPAinter,Newo, and FreeBoop all look like ones to watch and are battling it out at encounter number two. This fight seems absolutely brutal. Just insane damage output requirements to pull this off.
  • 14:48 CT – Yeah, Salt and crew just put in a roughly 50% damage phase, so they are really starting to figure out what they want to do.
  • 14:44 CT – Salt got a good run, but they seemed to choose to wipe. It looks like they are figuring things out and new something wasn’t optimal.
  • 14:43 CT – NA Painter and his team are through and appear to have gotten a good damage run at the boss.
  • 14:34 CT – Roen and Hard in the Paint, winners of the Root of Nightmares race, are through to the second encounter.
  • 14:27 CT – Datto, Aztecross, Gothalion, GernarderJake, and just about every streamer you can think of are still on the first encounter. That is definitely a tough one.
  • 14:13 CT – So it looks like Salt and Newo are the two best folks to watch for the second encounter. There are a couple of more groups on it but the tactics appear to be coming together for these two. It’s in the very early stages of getting a plan together, but Newo appears to have worked out a stun mechanic.
  • 14:08 CT – Okay, there are a few more teams on this encounter now, and it looks like a timer is just counting down, and when that timer hits zero, it’s done; you are all dead. It looks like you get called into a slowly stacking-up fight against the boss, similar to the Oryx encounter in King’s Fall?
  • 13:59 CT – A Taniks reference in the Raid? Thanks Bungie!
  • 13:53 CT – The first boss fight is here, the Herald of Finality at the second encounter is officially the Salvation’s Edge Raid first boss fight. It will be interesting to see how much of this is locked behind mechanics, because Elysium is hard to beat in a straight up DPS race.
  • 13:49 CT – Outta the blue on this one, streamer Newo is through to the second encounter! Salt is very close to finishing the second, as is Luminous!
  • 13:38 CT – Oh my god! Salt’s team was about three seconds away from ending it, and they go wiped by the timer! That is heartbreaking, but almost guarantees them a completion next because that team is incredibly good at getting progress each time.
  • 13:31 CT – They were so close, but died very late in what appears to be the final rotation. Gutted for them.
  • 13:23 CT – It definitely looks like Salt’s crew are on the final rotation of the first encounter, so we’ll potentially see our first progression within the Raid.
  • 13:18 CT – Oh my. Looks like Salt and co are getting close.
  • 12:58 CT – Okay. Datto and Math Class are definitely making some progress and seem to have a bit more figured out than most. It is honestly tough to tell at this point, as all teams are secretive and don’t want to openly discuss mechanics too much. As far as I can tell, the plates on the floor can be activated in an unknown sequence to grant buffs, and those buffs then allow damage to be done to a massive Witness hand reaching down through the roof.
  • 12:41 CT – The teams have largely settled into the first room, figuring out the various mechanics. Damage seems really interesting, with players both taking and putting out plenty of damage and lots of enemies to contend with.
  • 12:33 CT – Datto’s team are really starting to put things together now. All the teams are being smart and talking about solutions off-mic already. You don’t want to give the game away to anyone watching.
  • 12:20 CT – Datto’s team is working on the theory that killing Champions is vital, and they appear to be correct. So, far, I would say his team is figuring stuff out a little faster than most, but Datto and crew always have a strong start before the fatigue starts to set in.
  • 12:16 CT – If you head to the Impasse and look at the massive monolith where the Witness is, and where the Raid is taking place, I don’t remember it glowing like that before. Huh!
  • 12:10 CT – Teams are facing their first challenge and need to figure out how to activate a bunch of arcane machines that seems to be connected in order to move forward. “Operate Inscrutable MAchinery” is the command, so let’s see how people do.
  • 12:06 CT – The Raid starts the way I really hoped it would, with a challenge to even figure out where to go. I have noticed people are already taking a lot of damage, so this could be a very interesting race.
  • 12:01 CT – People are loading in! It’s go time! The Raid begins with the Witness talking smack, so I am looking forward to some of the team clapping him pretty hard.
  • 11:53 CT – It is almost time. Lots of Raiders are getting ready to rumble. Many of them are taking short breaks, but we are just about to kick off. Things will be slow to start as people get through earlier encounters, but this will be a fun time.

The Raid will not start until 10 AM PT on June 7. When it does, I will be watching about 16 streams at once, keeping an eye on all the front runners and reporting what is happening here as best I can. Be sure to check back for a live blog on who is winning and some commentary on what is happening.

Until then, read all the Raid and Contest Mode details below because things are a little different this time.

Contest Mode Rules and Details

People who wish to compete in the Raid and lead a Fireteam will need to finish the Campaign and the Wild Card Exotic Quest.

Completion Criteria

  • We have changed the way we will track and recognize the World First completion of the raid. Fireteams will no longer be required to return to orbit to finish the race. The first fireteam to finish every encounter and loot the final chest will be declared World First and have their victory immortalized with Salvations’ Edge World First raid belts.

Disabled Items List

Here’s the list of armor, perks, and Fragments that will be disabled for the raid until server reset on June 11. Please ensure the builds you’re planning account for the following being disabled:

Armor

  • Lucky Pants

Perks

  • Cascade Point
  • Magnificent Howl

Fragments

  • Facet of Command
    • This will be re-enabled on June 9 after Contest Mode has ended.

Please note that players will not be prevented from equipping disabled Fragments or items with disabled perks, but the effects will not work when in the raid during the disabled time frames listed above. Additional entries may be added as we approach the raid launch. Please visit the Disabled Items List to get the most up-to-date list as you prepare for the raid.

]]>
https://www.escapistmagazine.com/who-winning-won-salvations-edge-world-first-race-destiny-2/feed/ 0 231194
How To Unlock All New Supers in Destiny 2 the Final Shape https://www.escapistmagazine.com/how-to-unlock-all-new-supers-in-destiny-2-the-final-shape/ https://www.escapistmagazine.com/how-to-unlock-all-new-supers-in-destiny-2-the-final-shape/#disqus_thread Thu, 06 Jun 2024 09:07:55 +0000 https://www.escapistmagazine.com/?p=230181 One of the most exciting things in Destiny 2, as regards buildcrafting, is the introduction of new Supers. Supers are your ultimate ability and will often define the purpose of a build. Thankfully, The Final Shape has given us some new ones to explore.

The Twilight Arsenal, Storm’s Edge, and Song of Flame all all the new supers you can get for the three classes, and they’ll give you plenty to consider when it comes to getting your new builds together. In this guide, we will show you how to unlock them, as well as a little extra information for those curious about Prismatic.

How to unlock The Final Shape Supers

To unlock these new Supers, you need to play through the campaign. The fifth mission, called Ascent, will introduce you to a massive flood of Light energy, which will unlock your new ability. I won’t drop any spoilers for the mission, but it’s a lot of fun and a nice memory for veteran Guardians.

As you play through the mission, you get access to your new Super, depending on your class. Warlocks will get Song of Flame, Hunters will get Storm’s Edge, and Titans will get Twilight Arsenal. The only way to unlock these Supers is via this mission, so if you are playing on more than one character, you’ll need to dive into the campaign multiple times.

As is traditional with Destiny introducing us to new powers, you will get to take on a horde of enemies with an extremely quick recharge time on your abilities and your brand-new Super, so make sure you take the time to enjoy the feeling of being overpowered.

How to unlock Prismatic Supers

Supers for your Prismatic class are a very different thing, but a note on them here will likely be helpful for newer players. You unlock Prismatic during the campaign, but many Supers for it will remain locked away. To get access to these, you will need to complete two missions that will be unlocked after the main campaign is complete.

You will need to complete these two missions as part of a bigger Exotic quest called Destined Heroes. The two sub-quests are called Lost in the Light and Found in the Dark, and completing them will give you access to your missing Prismatic supers. They are not tough quests, but they should provide you with a fun challenge as you seek to learn more about the history of some of your friends and unlock all supers for the Prismatic class.

]]>
https://www.escapistmagazine.com/how-to-unlock-all-new-supers-in-destiny-2-the-final-shape/feed/ 0 230181
The Best Solar Warlock Sunbracers Build in Destiny 2 The Final Shape https://www.escapistmagazine.com/the-best-solar-warlock-sunbracers-build-in-destiny-2/ https://www.escapistmagazine.com/the-best-solar-warlock-sunbracers-build-in-destiny-2/#disqus_thread Tue, 04 Jun 2024 16:47:18 +0000 https://www.escapistmagazine.com/?p=228991 In Destiny 2, you always want to chase down the next best builds for your class. Whether you want to lead the Nightfall in kills or always be around to resurrect your friends, the goal behind builds can be dramatically different.

For this build, we will be looking to do lots of damage with the Solar Warlock, taking advantage of the powerful Solar class and how easy it can be to activate the various effects you can cause when you embrace the power of the sun.

The Best Sunbracers Build in Destiny 2

Thanks to our Sunbracers, we will be looking to turn our Warlock into a floating angel of death. Dawnbreak will send firey arcs of doom at our enemies when we need it, and they’ll actually do good damage because we will be stacking effects to buff our damage output while also ensuring we can stay alive with easy healing. The real center of this build will be the brutal power of our Grenades, however.

For this build, use your powered melee to kill a weak enemy, then hop into the air and start throwing those never-ending grenades for six seconds. While airborne, thanks to our Aspect, Heat Rises, any kills with grenades while airborne will grant melee energy to repeat the cycle all over again. Stick close to friendly units to grant them as many buffs and heals as possible, and you will reap the rewards of incredibly fast ability recharge speeds.

Exotic Weapons and Armor, Legendary Weapons

Armor/WeaponStrengths
Exotic Armor – SunbracersIncreases the duration of Solar Grenades. Solar melee kills grant unlimited Solar Grenade energy for a brief time.
Exotic Weapon – Dragon’s BreathRockets embed themselves in struck targets and periodically eject incendiary fuel that inflicts Scorch. The longer this weapon goes without firing, the more fuel the next rocket contains.
Legendary Weapons – Anything with IncandescentA weapon with Incandescent will help to spread Scorch among nearby enemies. If you are very lucky, you may have been able to grab a Luna’s Howl with Incandescent and Heal Clip in the Onslaught mode.

Super and Abilities

AbilityStrengths
Super – DaybreakFashion Solar Light into blades and smite your foes from the sky. Your Daybreak projectiles launch a streak of deadly flames on impact.
Class Ability – Phoenix DiveDive to the ground and create a burst of Solar Light that cures nearby allies. While Heat Rises is active, you gain restoration while diving and scorch targets upon landing.
Jump – Jump of choicePick the jump you like the most.
Melee – Incinerator SnapSnap your fingers to create a fan of burning sparks that explode and scorch targets.
Grenade – Solar GrenadeA grenade that creates a flare of Solar Light which continually damages and scorches targets trapped inside.

Aspects and Fragments

I doubt there will be any real surprises for veteran players here if I am honest.

Aspect/FragmentEffect
Aspect #1 – Touch of FlameGives enhanced functionality to your grenade. For Solar Grenade, it will increase the duration.
Aspect #2 – Heat RisesYou can fire weapons, melee, and throw grenades while gliding. Hold to consume your grenade, gaining Heat Rises and releasing a burst of healing energy that cures nearby allies. The strength of the burst is increased when a Healing Grenade is consumed. Final blows while airborne increase the duration of Heat Rises and grant melee energy.
Fragment #1 – Ember of EmpyreanIt will extend all solar buffs from restoration and radiant any time you get a kill with a solar weapon or ability. It will reduce Resiliance by 10, however.
Fragment #2 – Ember of TorchesPowered melee attacks against combatants make you and nearby allies radiant. Will reduce Discipline by 10.
Fragment #3 – Ember of BenevolanceApplying restoration, cure, or radiant to allies will increase your grenade, melee, and class ability regen for a short period. This means you want to stick with your team. Solo players can trade this out for something else.
Fragment #4 – Ember of AshesWill increase Scorch stacks by 50%, which is fantastic in conjunction with Dragon’s Breath.

Seasonal Artifact Mods

Most of these are really up to you, but there are a couple of essentials.

ModEffect
Elemental SiphonRapid final blows with a Kinetic weapon or a weapon matching your equipped Super create an elemental pickup that matches your equipped Super.
Radiant OrbsWhile you have a Solar or Prismatic subclass equipped, picking up an Orb of Power makes you radiant.
TransferenceGain increased grenade and melee damage while transcendent.
Weapon final blows while transcendent refund Light and Dark energy after Transcendence ends.

Armor Mods

There is a lot of synergy elsewhere in the build to keep abilities flowing, so a lot of this is actually about the Dragon’s Breath. You should be pumping out shots with that pretty often.

Armor PieceMod and Effect
HelmetHarmonic Siphon, Heavy Ammo Finder, Heavy Ammo Scout
ArmsImpact Induction, Heavy Handed, Fire Power
ChestHarmonic Reserves, resistances of choice
LegsSolar Surge x 2, Harmonic Scavenger
Class ItemBomber, Reaper, Time Dilation
]]>
https://www.escapistmagazine.com/the-best-solar-warlock-sunbracers-build-in-destiny-2/feed/ 0 228991
Destiny 2: How to get Red Death Reformed (and Catalyst) https://www.escapistmagazine.com/destiny-2-how-to-get-red-death-reformed-and-catalyst/ https://www.escapistmagazine.com/destiny-2-how-to-get-red-death-reformed-and-catalyst/#disqus_thread Tue, 04 Jun 2024 13:13:34 +0000 https://www.escapistmagazine.com/?p=228853 Red Death Reformed in Destiny 2 is the return of an amazing weapon from the original Destiny. This beastly Exotic Pulse Rifle is making a comeback as part of The Final Shape and has a solid chance at upsetting the meta for tougher content.

How to get Red Death Reformed

To get Red Death Reformed, you will need to get the Episode: Echoes season pass. The weapon is available at two different points in that season pass. For the free tier, you can get it at level 40, while the premium tier will get instant access to it the moment they purchase the season pass.

If you wish to purchase the season pass, make your way to Steam, the PlayStation Store, the Xbox Store, or anywhere else you like to purchase your Destiny content. You can pick up either The Final Shape with the Annual Pass, or the Annual Pass upgrade, or you can log in to the Eververse store in-game to get the individual season pass.

For the free-tier players, just finish missions, bounties, events, and any in-game activity to earn experience and level up your season pass, and you will hit level 40 in no time.

Why Red Death Reformed is so good

Red Death Reformed has a couple of seriously sweet perks:

  • Redemption: Final blows with this weapon cure you and increase reload speed; reloading after final blows cures nearby allies.
  • Inverse Relationship: When you deal damage with this weapon, it gains increased handling, takes reduced flinch, and movement speed is increased for a short time. When you have reduced health, this weapon deals additional damage.

So, the weapon can heal you and your allies, along with getting higher damage output while you take damage. It’s also Solar, and with Solar being a popular class due to the general ease of getting Radiant procs, that’s a great thing. The Hunter’s Journal Artifact for the Episode will also provide a mod that makes Pulse Rifles into Anti-Barrier weapons, another upside for the weapon.

Also, The Final Shape will see a general 20% buff to damage from Pulse Rifles and an additional 15% buff to the damage they do to “red bar” or basic enemies. This will nicely balance out the general 10% reduction that all Exotic weapons will see to “red bars.”

How to get the Red Death Reformed Catalyst

To get the Red Dead Reformed Catalyst, you will need to exercise some patience. This will not be available until Act 2 of Echoes episode, and will then be available by continuing to rank up the season pass. You will need to hit rank 145 to get it, and will not be able to do so until Act 2 begins in the middle of June.

]]>
https://www.escapistmagazine.com/destiny-2-how-to-get-red-death-reformed-and-catalyst/feed/ 0 228853
Disaster Strikes for Bungie as The Final Shape Leaks, With Huge Spoilers https://www.escapistmagazine.com/disaster-strikes-for-bungie-as-the-final-shape-leaks-with-huge-spoilers/ https://www.escapistmagazine.com/disaster-strikes-for-bungie-as-the-final-shape-leaks-with-huge-spoilers/#disqus_thread Thu, 30 May 2024 12:28:43 +0000 https://www.escapistmagazine.com/?p=226383 What should have been a stressful but glorious week until the release of The Final Shape has turned into a nightmare for Destiny 2 developer Bungie. In what has surely been one of the most terrible mistakes of recent times, the DLC leaked early via Sony and was seemingly completely available and playable for at least a couple of hours this morning via PlayStation 5.

Players were able to access everything from story missions to raid mechanics, and now enormous spoilers are doing the rounds. A word of warning: if you are going to be trying to keep things spoiler-free between now and June 4, you will need to dodge social media like the plague.

Worst of all, personally, are the raid mechanics leaking. This has a terrible knock-on effect on the World’s First Race for the upcoming new Raid on June 7. “New Raid Day” has been one of the best times for the Destiny 2 community for the last ten years, and now that is pretty much out the window as diving into the leaks and learning the mechanics instead of figuring them out on the fly with your team will be a must for people looking to compete for the coveted title of World’s First.

This one has hit Reddit like a meteorite, so avoid the subreddits at all times if you are trying to keep your mind free of spoilers. I checked r/RaidSecrets, which is one of the very best Destiny sub-communities out there, but I haven’t actually seen any details there yet.

I am also seeing reports from Reddit that the Elden Ring DLC has leaked, but cannot confirm that at this time. If that is the case, this is clearly a huge backend failure from Sony and is crushing for the affected dev teams. Bungie really seemed to have been putting everything together in a great way, winning back a community that had started to move on due to the perceived issues around the game over recent releases. Hopefully, this will not have a major impact on the release, as the Destiny saga deserves a solid sendoff.

]]>
https://www.escapistmagazine.com/disaster-strikes-for-bungie-as-the-final-shape-leaks-with-huge-spoilers/feed/ 0 226383
Destiny 2’s Latest Trailer Shows Just How Badly the Witness Wants To Hurt Us https://www.escapistmagazine.com/destiny-2-latest-trailer-shows-just-how-badly-the-witness-wants-to-hurt-us/ https://www.escapistmagazine.com/destiny-2-latest-trailer-shows-just-how-badly-the-witness-wants-to-hurt-us/#disqus_thread Tue, 28 May 2024 17:23:02 +0000 https://www.escapistmagazine.com/?p=225126 Folks who have been playing Destiny 2 for a while will be aware that the Big Bad is coming. With The Final Shape, we will finally get to go to war with The Witness, the weird, smoke-headed enemy who has emerged after a decade as our most terrifying threat.

After leading the Pyramid ships to our solar system, hiding entire planets behind black clouds of nothingness, and slicing a hole in The Traveller, it turns out that The Witness has been holding itself in check. Rather than simply snap its fingers and wipe us out, it has chosen to draw out our pain. The why, it seems, is simple. The Witness really, really hates us.

The Witness is not just one being but is a coalescence of an entire race, fused together through the power of the Darkness. What drove them to do it was the touch of The Traveller. After finding it on their world, it gifted them a golden age before abandoning them to confusion and loss. Seeing only chaos and dysfunction in their savior, they sought meaning in the madness of existence. This would lead them to the Veil, the Darkness, and the search for the Final Shape, a cosmic reorganization that would bring order to everything.

Despite these lofty goals, The Witness cannot overcome its hatred for Guardians, for humanity, and for the favor that it now sees The Traveller bestow upon us. In the trailer, we hear that The Witness tries to show us what it thinks we want most, an attempt to distract and destroy, to pray upon our weakness. If it can make us betray The Traveller, it is one more wound in a fight that it wants to drag out as long as possible. For The Witness, victory is assured; it sees no reason to rush to that destination when it can enjoy the suffering it inflicts upon us.

It’s a pretty good way to resolve the issue of why The Witness has opted not to just turn us off like a light switch, given the scale of its power. It also has me unimaginably hyped for the upcoming release of The Final Shape, and I cannot wait to dive in on June 4th. Then, just three days later, we can jump into the newest Raid. We are truly being spoiled.

]]>
https://www.escapistmagazine.com/destiny-2-latest-trailer-shows-just-how-badly-the-witness-wants-to-hurt-us/feed/ 0 225126