General News

As FC 26 draws to a close, leaks and discussions about FC 27 and future titles have become a focal point in the community. Here, we've combined online rumors, community leaks, and lead developer Andreas Wilsdorf's public response on social media platform X to summarize the most likely major changes and new features to come to FIFA 27 Career Mode.

Transfer Market Overhaul

According to long-standing leaks, the developers are undertaking a long-term, in-depth overhaul of Career Mode's Transfer Market, a move highly likely to be implemented in FUT 27 or its successors.

Firstly, this Transfer Market overhaul is very likely to introduce the long-awaited Buy Back Clause, Club Signing Competition, and a more flexible Negotiation system. Frankly, we hope these changes truly address the current imbalance between transfer fees and player salaries.

In addition, regarding player complaints about club budgets and funding logic, the developers confirmed that adjustments to the transfer budget are on the optimization agenda and will be gradually implemented over the next few years as part of a comprehensive financial system restructuring.

Dynamic Potential Rework

Next, another major improvement is the rework of the performance-based Dynamic Potential system. Thankfully, the player growth mechanism definitely needs improvement, as it is undoubtedly the most complained-about area in the community.

Under the current mechanism, AI club players almost always reach their potential ceiling, and their performance decline is extremely subtle. Therefore, there are reports that FC 27 plans to make Dynamic Potential more closely linked to a player's actual on-field performance and the league level they play in, making it harder for players to easily reach their peak and improving realism.

However, the implementation of this feature will rely on future expansions to Deeper Simulation feature. Afterwards, the player's selected player will retain complete on-field performance data, and this statistical data will directly trigger the rating upgrades or downgrades of external AI club players.

UI, Visual & Customization Adjustments 

Visual experience and personalization are also key aspects of optimizing Career Mode that the development team is focusing on.

In response to player feedback reminiscing about the vibrant menus of older versions and criticizing the current monotonous UI, FIFA 27 development team stated that because of the extremely time-consuming process of rebuilding UI within the engine, there will be no major changes to the layout in the short term. However, they predict that in FC 27, they will maintain the existing layout and incorporate more visual changes to respond to the community.

Furthermore, players will be able to edit the appearance of general players and Youth Academy players in the future, giving you more room to customize your team.

The only regret is that the development team has given a negative response to player requests for a player rating and AI player transfer editor. The team stated that their priority is to thoroughly fix the player development and AI transfer systems first, and then consider adding an editor as an enhancement to the experience. Therefore, players may not be able to receive an official editor in the short term.

Fixing Live Start Points Bugs 

Next, let's talk about a new feature introduced in recent years: Live Start Points. This was originally a key feature reflecting your players' actual league ranking, current player status, and injury status in Career Mode.

However, contrary to expectations, this feature has a serious logical flaw, as it disrupts the coach's ratings and expectations. For example, if you just take over Spurs, the system's goal is to lead the team to the top four, but in reality, they are clearly fighting relegation. So, even if you invest a lot of FC 27 coins to recruit and upgrade players to successfully avoid relegation, you will eventually be dismissed.

Fortunately, the development team has considered this an urgent matter. In FUT 27, club goals in Live Start Points will be dynamically updated based on the actual situation of the season. At the same time, the development team is also actively researching how to allow custom lineups in Live Start Points. Perhaps we can expect this feature to truly shine in FIFA 27!

Other Long-Term Plans

In addition to the above changes, the developers also mentioned some features that the community has been clamoring for, but which have a low probability of being implemented in FUT 27.

The first one we must mention is Online Career Mode, but despite the high demand, the developers declined to comment on it. Given that this feature involves the protection of the Ultimate Team mode's interests by upper management, and the need to hire an additional development team with experience in building online games, it is extremely difficult to launch in the short term.

Regarding Player Career Mode, given that the development focus for the past few years has been on Manager Career Mode, it's predicted that FC 27 won't see major changes, at most fixing the player manager function. However, a significant overhaul might be implemented in a future installment.

It's also worth mentioning that with Cranium AI facial creation technology having been in use for two years, it's highly likely that they will introduce the ability to directly generate players' real faces in the game from photos or scans in the near future. You might even see your own face appear on the field in FC 27 or a future version!

In short, based on current leaks, we reasonably predict that the Transfer Market in FIFA 27 Career Mode will undergo an epic overhaul, while Dynamic Potential will be deeply integrated with players' real post-match data, completely abandoning the boring setting of AI players with mindless max ratings. Of course, a series of potential adjustments are also underway; we'll have to wait for the latest FC 27 release this September to see the full picture!

In the early phase of PoE 2 Runes of Aldur League, currency holds greater value than it does later on because inflation tends to set in by the mid-to-late stages of almost every league. Therefore, establishing an efficient currency farming strategy early allows your build to come together faster than others, and lets you adopt high-efficiency farming methods sooner.

In PoE 2 Patch 0.5.0, Expeditions are one of the best farming strategies in the early game. It is profitable, and you can easily earn Divine Orbs even without Atlas passives or Tablets.

Why Choose Expedition?

In PoE 2 Patch 0.5.0, Expedition has been reworked alongside other systems and integrated with the new Runes of Aldur league mechanic. Since Expedition no longer appears on the passive tree, this means that aside from the small bonuses provided by Masters of the Atlas, there is no other way to increase Expedition's output.

Each Master of the Atlas has a node that enhances Expedition. For example:

• Eastern Knowledge: 10% chance to re-roll Verisium Remnants an additional time while keeping the rarest outcome.
• Refined Formula: Increases the radius of explosives and their placement range.
• Scarred Lands: Increases the number of Runic Monster Markers and Rare Expedition Monsters.

Initial Steps

This farming strategy requires you to first enter an Atlas map. To begin, you need to complete Expedition questline:

1. Use a Logbook to uncover an area.
2. Defeat the deadly boss in that area to obtain another Logbook.
3. Repeat this four times, then challenge the pinnacle boss.

After completing the quest and defeating the pinnacle boss, deadly bosses no longer guarantee to appear in areas, nor do they drop Logbooks. At this point, you will need to obtain Logbooks from the currency market.

Grand Expeditions

Next, you should shift your focus to Grand Expeditions. They yield two to three times as many Verisium Remnants as regular Expeditions and can be completed more quickly. The drawback is that they cannot sustain map drops reliably. Telling a regular Expedition from a Grand one is simple, because the map icon for a Grand Expedition is surrounded by spikes.

In a Grand Expedition, your core target is Verisium Remnants, though you should not miss any PoE 2 currency, chests, or gold along the way. Verisium Remnants offer very generous rewards; you can obtain rare unique items, Runic Alloys, or even Divine Orbs from them.

To improve efficiency, first survey the entire area and check the rewards of each Verisium Remnant. Only complete those remnants that offer good rewards. If none of Verisium Remnants are worth running, place a single explosion and detonate it to clear the map, then move on to the next Atlas node.

Late-Game Returns

Map Selection

Moor of Fallen Skies map is essentially a large Verisium Remnant encounter where you can choose from up to 8 reward options. These include Divine Orbs, Alloys, Gems, and Aldur's Saga. Divine Orbs are a fairly safe choice, but if you are aiming for higher returns, Aldur's Saga is recommended.

Aldur's Saga

Aldur's Saga is very rare. Early in a league, you might not find it on the market at all. However, it is your top choice among Expedition rewards because Aldur's Saga can modify your Grand Expeditions.

Specifically, it adds a modifier that guarantees a minimum number of slots on Verisium Remnants within Grand Expeditions. For instance, Verisium Remnants in that map will have at least 5 slots, or 6 slots. On average, Aldur's Saga affects about three to 4 Grand Expeditions per area.

These modifiers are remarkably powerful. While the 7-slot version offers more rewards, it also requires longer combat. If your build is not yet strong enough, sticking to Verisium Remnants with 5 or 6 slots may be a safer approach.

However, using Aldur's Saga carries some risk. You might encounter a map with only one Grand Expedition, which essentially exchanges a rare item that could be worth multiple PoE 2 Divine Orbs later for a modest return. Nevertheless, even the lowest return yields loot worth at least 2 Divine Orbs.

The profitability of this strategy does not rely solely on Aldur's Saga. Sometimes the rewards may not include it at all, yet the other rewards are still generous enough.

How to Further Boost Returns?

Rare Monsters

This strategy does not require you to use Tablets, nor does it impose many demands on the map itself aside from Moor of Fallen Skies map. You can modestly increase the number of rare monsters and rarity bonuses, then focus on farming rare monsters; the returns may be even higher.

Verisium Remnant Slots

The more slots a Verisium Remnant has, the more waves of monsters you must defeat. The loot explosion from a 7- or 8-slot Verisium encounter is far larger than that of 5 or 6 slots. If you feel your build is strong enough, you can choose Verisium Remnants with more slots, leading to greater monster drops.

This is just a fairly rough farming strategy in PoE 2 Patch 0.5.0. In short, focus on Moor of Fallen Skies map and choose Aldur's Saga from the rewards. As your character gets better gear, you can take on more burden and increase the returns per farming session.

The start of a new week means you once again have 5 new Weekly Trial missions to tackle in ARC Raiders. If you find yourself hitting a rut and wondering what else there is to explore, these trials offer a great way to shake things up.

This week's trials follow the usual pattern, focusing primarily on dealing damage and scavenging for specific items. The specific objectives are as follows:

• Damage ground-based ARC enemies
• Deal melee damage to ARC enemies
• Damage Spotters
• Search Computers
• Open containers in Panorama Azzurro

Below, we provide a detailed guide for each specific mission.

Damage ground-based ARC enemies

Although Riven Tides map introduced a beach biome, ARC Raiders has not yet introduced any marine-dwelling ARC enemies. Consequently, all PvE enemies currently fall into just two categories: ground-crawling and flying, with the former making up the vast majority.

This mission requires you to deal damage to any type of ground-based ARC enemy; dealing a sufficient amount of damage will allow you to complete the mission with a three-star rating.

Since this objective applies to a wide variety of enemy types, you can easily combine this mission with other damage-dealing trials to maximize your efficiency.

Below is a list of all ground-based ARC enemies, along with their key characteristics and valuable loot drops:

Deal melee damage to ARC enemies

The key to achieving a high score on this objective lies in selecting the optimal targets: enemies that are too easy to kill, as well as drone-type enemies that constantly maintain their distance, will not yield truly effective progress toward your goal.

Generally speaking, it is recommended that you prioritize larger, slower-moving ARC units such as Bastion or Matriarch. Use your Snap Hook or other tools to climb onto them, then initiate a melee attack.

Damage Spotters

You will inevitably encounter Spotters while attempting to complete the first objective (eliminating Bombardier); therefore, these two objectives can be completed simultaneously.

The function of Spotters is to use lasers to help Bombardier pinpoint your location, thereby enabling it to strike you with greater precision.

This enemy cannot be permanently eliminated; after crashing, it will quickly respawn until you have successfully taken down Bombardier.

Spotters do not attack you directly; therefore, during standard combat, it is generally advisable to prioritize eliminating Bombardiers quickly to avoid unnecessary complications.

However, to complete Weekly Trials with a three-star rating, you may choose to delay killing Bombardier in order to spawn more Spotters. To avoid being targeted by Bombardier, it is best to use the interior of buildings as your primary combat zone.

Search computers

To complete this mission, you must locate and interact with a sufficient number of computers across any of the game's maps; furthermore, you must successfully extract from the mission area for the objective to be considered complete.

Given the current state of the game, Departure Building within Spaceport map is the most efficient location for quickly finding many computers.

Open containers in Panorama Azzurro

Panorama Azzurro is one of the key POIs on Riven Tides map, specifically, a hotel complex. To locate and open the required number of containers in this area, it is recommended that you search every room on every floor of the building.

It is worth noting that during this process, you will also encounter various ground-based ARC enemies. Defeating these enemies will also contribute to the progress of the first objective in this week's trials.

That concludes our guide covering all the details for this week's challenges. Once again, the key to successfully completing this week's trials lies in tackling multiple objectives simultaneously! Good luck!

Upon its release on Steam, Forza Horizon 6 became the most successful launch in the series' history. Much of this achievement can be credited to the foundation laid by Forza Horizon 5.

Forza Horizon 5 already offered refined visuals and a vast selection of vehicles, so why would players choose FH6? The answer is not simply that the setting moved from Mexico to Japan – more importantly, Forza Horizon 6 introduces innovations across many aspects.

Car Meet Mode

Scattered across the map are various meet-up zones, including the famous Daikoku area. This location faithfully recreates the real-world Daikoku Parking Area meet-up scene in Yokohama, Japan, where street car gatherings take place at night. The developers have successfully captured that atmosphere in the game. The last time Forza Horizon series had a fully fleshed-out meet-up mode was in Forza Horizon 3 (In Australia).

Once you enter Car Meet Mode, you can park your own car and freely switch between camera views of all participants. Any player can stop their vehicle at any time and easily browse through others' cars.

You can directly download liveries from another player's car, or even acquire the exact vehicle they are showing off – just press the corresponding button to access the vehicle menu, where you can get a stock version, download designs, or report an inappropriate livery. Additionally, a cinematic camera mode provides beautifully framed shots from multiple angles, letting you admire your car.

Garage

The garage is a crucial part of every Forza Horizon title, yet FH5's garage falls short of FH6's in terms of features.

Not only can you visually customize your garage's decor, but you can also invite friends to tour your garage and appreciate your designs and displayed vehicles. At least when it comes to social interaction, FH6 does it better than its predecessor.

Auto Drive Mode

Forza Horizon 6's Auto Drive Mode is a highly convenient feature that did not exist in Forza Horizon 5. If you prefer not to drive manually, you can set a destination and let the game drive for you. Simply open the map, select a road you have not yet explored, and press the auto-drive shortcut.

At that point, you can take your hands off the wheel, and the vehicle will drive itself. You can even switch to the cinematic camera to enjoy the scenery along the way.Although minor collisions may occasionally occur, the car generally moves toward the target at a suitable speed.

Whenever you want to take over, you can regain control at any time. Once the destination is reached, the vehicle stops automatically; if you choose another unexplored segment, it will turn around and follow the correct route.

The Labs

The Labs is the in-game feature that allows players to build their own race tracks. While this function already existed in earlier Forza Horizon titles, Horizon 6 adds a collaborative building mode.

You can invite friends to build a track together in real time, much like constructing a house with friends in Terraria or ARK. Together, you can co-design a circuit and then race on it.

Setting: Japan

Setting Forza Horizon 6 in Japan is itself a highlight. The official team claims this is the densest map ever created for the entire Forza Horizon series, featuring substantial vertical elevation changes, diverse natural landscapes, suburban areas, bustling city streets, a dock district, and industrial zones.

The developers state that the in-game city scale is five times larger than that of its predecessor, and the overall map size surpasses any previous entry in the series, making it the largest map to date.

Seasons System

The seasons system has officially been brought back. Although Forza Horizon 5 also had seasonal changes, they were barely noticeable. In this new title, however, the four seasons are distinctly different – the contrast between summer and winter is obvious at a glance.

However, the mountain peaks are perpetually snow-covered, regardless of the in-game season. But the high mountains in autumn and the lowlands in spring present drastically different landscapes.

Random Vehicles

On various private driveways scattered across the map, you may find random vehicles equipped with unknown modifications. When you discover such a car, you can test-drive it for three minutes without any cost. If you like it, you can acquire that car along with all its existing upgrade parts – a feature not present in the previous game.

Moreover, the required Forza Horizon 6 credits are typically about 10% lower than the listed value at the official auto show. Although the savings are not huge, it is an enjoyable discovery mechanism: you might stumble upon a car you love and obtain it at a discounted rate.

Vehicle Updates and R Class

Horizon 6 introduces a large number of new cars, along with a broader range of vehicle customization upgrades. The car models themselves have been enhanced, and now you can equip mismatched rims on the front and rear wheels. Additionally, a new vehicle class – R class – has been added, sitting above the existing S2 class.

In fact, R class previously appeared in the very first Forza Horizon game; now it has returned, mainly for time attack cars and track-focused hypercars. Whereas FH5 offered only one proper time attack car, this new game provides a wide variety of such models.

Drag Race Light Synchronization

In earlier Forza Horizon games, the starting lights for drag races were not synchronized between different players. In Forza Horizon 6, however, the drag race lights are fully synchronized not only within your own convoy but also with other random players you are matched with.

Quality of Life Improvements

Forza Horizon 6 adds several enhancements that make the gaming experience more comfortable compared to its predecessor.

Crossplay and Cross Save

This is a major advancement. In the previous game, if you switched from Xbox Game Pass to Steam or PlayStation 5, you had to start over from scratch – your progress was reset. Now, your game progress is shared across all platforms.

Wheel Rotation in First-Person View

When you enter the in-car camera view, the steering wheel's rotation range has been increased from 270 degrees to 540 degrees. As a result, your hands naturally cross each other during a turn, creating a much more realistic feel.

Free Fast Travel

In FH5, each fast travel required spending in-game currency, but FH6 has removed that requirement. As long as you have already explored a given road, you can open the map at any time and fast travel to any discovered location without any cost.

Forza Horizon 6 does many things better than FH5. Even if you do not care about these improvements, the scenery of Japan alone is worth experiencing.

Players, if you're still thinking that CoD Black Ops 7 Season 4 has been passively ignored because of the overwhelming hype surrounding Modern Warfare 4, then the two recently leaked Battle Pass artworks might completely change your expectations.

With only a few days left until the release of CoD Black Ops 7 Season 4, the official team has only released the opening animation and key artworks about Fortune's Keep map and the season theme, without launching a full-scale marketing campaign.

However, the development team has gradually revealed the core content of this season's Battle Pass through limited promotional materials and subsequent leaks.

Battle Pass Tier 1 and Base Operator Skins

One key artwork released by the official team confirms that Season 4 Battle Pass Tier 100 reward is an augmented soldier named Leon Rook. The character is dressed in a full-coverage helmet and tactical gear, giving him a very futuristic look.

Meanwhile, another artwork showcasing Fortune's Keep map features the same character, Leon Rook, in a completely different appearance. He's helmetless, wearing accessories resembling ammunition chains, and has a more rugged overall style. This look might be the initial unlock skin for Season 4 Battle Pass.

In addition, two other new Operators appear in the image. One is a female character wielding a brand new submachine gun, and the other is a character wearing a beanie holding an assault rifle.

It is currently unclear whether these two characters are entirely new Operators or variant skins of existing characters.

Classic Map Vertigo Remastered and More Returning Map Clues

The development team recently released important news overshadowed by Modern Warfare 4 hype, confirming the return of the classic map Vertigo in Season 4.

A full season trailer and roadmap are planned for release within the first 48 hours of the new season's launch, along with details on Multiplayer, Zombies Mode, and more.

Based on the leaked images, the remastered Vertigo map is taken from the only helipad area in Black Ops 2 featuring futuristic aircraft. The aircraft models in the image and the lighting effects we see are all in high definition to match the visual style of CoD Black Ops 7.

The image also shows a prone character in a brown jacket (identical to the female character in previous Fortune's Keep artwork), and two similar-looking Operators in white tactical futuristic gear, painted in orange and blue, respectively. None of these characters appear in the current version of the game.

Besides Vertigo, previously leaked documents also mentioned plans to remake several other classic maps, including Frequency, as well as Dig and Launch from Black Ops 1.

These maps are likely to be released in Season 4 mid-season update or in Season 5 and 6.

Battle Pass Artwork Leaked

A leaker commented on multiple CoD Black Ops news accounts, claiming to have obtained early preview images of Season 4 Battle Pass.

Although the images are somewhat blurry, AI enhancements reveal a similar Armory-style artwork to previous seasons.

Operator, the reward for reaching level 100, is prominently featured in the center of the image, and its appearance is largely consistent with the official key artwork.

On the left is a character with a realistic military style, holding a weapon blueprint that matches his skin color. We speculate that this skin may be a new look designed for an existing Operator in the game.

On the right is a new character wearing a mask, with tattoos or markings, and an overall yellow theme. His weapon blueprint also features a yellow theme.

These three Operators, along with the three already shown in the official artwork, mean that Season 4 Battle Pass will contain at least six different Operator skins.

BlackCell Version Battle Pass

In addition to the regular Battle Pass, the leaker also provided an artwork for a BlackCell version. After AI enhancement, the black and gold color scheme is clearly visible. Gold accents adorn the black background, which includes BlackCell logo.

The image shows three Operators, with an overall design that evokes a sense of jewelry or fortune, perfectly matching the theme of Fortunes Keep map released this season.

It's currently unclear whether these three BlackCell Operators are entirely new characters separate from the regular Battle Pass, or BlackCell variants of skins already available in the regular Battle Pass.

However, it's certain that BlackCell versions will typically come with additional animated skins, exclusive weapon blueprints, and more visually stunning effects. Further details await official BlackCell trailers or Battle Pass blog posts.

Further Promotion and Information Confirmation

Because of the marketing campaign for Modern Warfare 4 crowding out the promotional window originally intended for CoD Black Ops 7 Season 4, the official detailed disclosure of all season content has been postponed to Tuesday.

The official website may release a roadmap and Battle Pass blog at the same time, or they may be released gradually over two days.

Players can expect to see more scattered trailers starting today, with the full season update officially launching on Thursday, June 4th. At that time, the authenticity of all leaked Operator skins, map reworks, and BlackCell items will be finally verified.

Soon we'll be able to experience CoD Black Ops 7 Season 4, so get ready to shoot in Fortune's Keep!

Last Friday, MLB The Show 26 simultaneously released three new programs. A single weekend is clearly not enough to complete them all, especially Vintage Program, which features a reward path consisting of a whopping 20 items!

This program offers not only a large quantity of rewards but also a wide variety of types, from card packs and specific player cards to in-game XP, it has it all!

Below, we provide a comprehensive guide covering everything you need to know to complete Vintage Program, ensuring you don't miss out on this valuable source of rewards!

Vintage Program duration

This program went live last Friday, May 29, alongside Old School Event and May Spotlight Drop 4. While the exact end date remains unconfirmed, most MLB 26 programs, with the exception of weekly updates, typically run for three to four weeks.

That said, we highly recommend setting aside enough time this week to complete Vintage Program as soon as possible. Since new events are likely to launch this coming Friday, delaying the completion of older programs will only increase your workload and pressure later on!

Vintage Program reward path

The program features a total of 20 rewards, requiring you to accumulate 100 XP to unlock them all. The path begins at 5 XP, with a new reward unlocking every time you earn an additional 5 XP. Below is a list of all rewards and the corresponding XP required to unlock them:

In addition to the fixed player card rewards, you also have the opportunity to pull other potentially powerful players from seven different types of packs.

Even if these packs don't yield exactly what you're looking for, the cumulative total of 8,000 Game XP awarded, once credited to your current active Inning Reward Path, will allow you to unlock even more MLB 26 stubs. These stubs can then be used to trade for additional packs or specfic players on the market.

It is also worth noting that if you manage to collect all 25 of Vintage Series cards (including the 5 players obtained through the reward path) by opening packs, you can unlock Vintage Ketel Marte by completing Vintage Collection.

• Ketel Marte
• Derek Jeter
• Chase Utley
• Matt Carpenter
• Larry Walker
• Gary Sánchez
• Joc Pederson
• Gleyber Torres
• Lou Gehrig
• Enrique Hernández
• Nolan Arenado
• Mitch Garver
• Michael Conforto
• Teoscar Hernández
• Terry Pendleton
• Xander Bogaerts
• Josh Bell
• Raul Ibanez
• Luis Arraez
• Fred McGriff
• Tyler O'Neill
• Andrew Benintendi
• Mike Yastrzemski
• Ryan McMahon
• Ubaldo Jiménez

How to earn the rewards?

You can earn Vintage Program XP by completing specific missions. The system provides you with 14 missions, offering a total of 150 XP upon completion. This means you don't need to complete every single objective; earning a minimum of 100 XP is sufficient.

Below is a list of all the missions and the corresponding XP rewards they offer:

It is worth noting that the first six missions are designed to commemorate career highlights of six specific reward players (including Ketel Marte).

The latter five missions serve to commemorate the launch of several significant new modes and events that have been introduced throughout the history of MLB The Show series.

Therefore, if you are a longtime fan who has witnessed the evolution of this game series, you are likely to feel a strong sense of nostalgia while progressing through Vintage Program.

These rewards are not merely tools to enhance your roster; they also serve as a fond tribute to the gaming moments of the past.

Optimal strategy for completion

First, keep in mind that missions offering higher XP rewards are not necessarily the most difficult to complete; do not let this misconception mislead you or slow down your progress toward unlocking rewards.

Second, you will notice that while some missions place no restrictions on the players you use, others specifically require certain players. Therefore, you should prioritize using the specific players designated by the latter type of missions.

By doing so, you can attempt to accumulate as many hits, strikeouts, or other required stats as possible within a single game, while also striving to win that game.

By repeating this process, you can complete a greater number of missions with fewer attempts, thereby maximizing your efficiency.

That concludes our overview of everything you need to know for this guide. I hope everything goes smoothly as you move forward with Vintage Program, and don't forget to complete the other two programs currently underway!

In WoW: Mists of Pandaria Phase 5, with the official opening of the mysterious Timeless Isle zone, a reputation faction purely built on player willpower - Emperor Shaohao - made its debut.

Unlike traditional reputations, Emperor Shaohao's reputation is primarily based on killing mobs on Timeless Isle. More importantly, it's a long journey entirely about vanity. Because advancing this faction's reputation rank doesn't provide any substantial gear buffs or additional Valor Points rewards, only cosmetic items that offer no improvement to a character's combat stats.

The sole motivation for countless players to relentlessly slaughter Yaungol in WoW Classic MoP Timeless Isle is to unlock the mount representing ultimate glory: Reins of the Heavenly Golden Cloud Serpent upon reaching Exalted reputation.

Acquiring this mount is no easy feat, as Emperor Shaohao is arguably one of the most time-consuming reputation-building attempts since WoW Classic MoP Phase 5. But are we doomed to endless, agonizing grind? Actually, mastering some techniques can significantly improve your Exalted progress!

Prerequisite: Unlock Legendary Cloak

Before venturing to Timeless Isle, a crucial prerequisite is that at least one character on your account has completed Legendary Cloak questline.

This is because accessing the core area of ​​northern Timeless Isle - Ordon Sanctuary - requires crossing a broken bridge. Without Legendary Cloak, you'll miss out on the area's high-value elite mobs.

Some players might try to exploit a bug by using a Warlock teleport or a two-person mount to cross the bridge, but this is extremely unreliable in Mists of Pandaria. Therefore, don't take chances; without the cloak, this reputation-building journey will be significantly less efficient.

Furthermore, this reputation is one of the few in MoP that doesn't provide a Grand Commendation reputation bonus for the entire character during Revered stage. This means your alts won't benefit from any reputation gained by others. Also, Emperor Shaohao doesn't have a corresponding tabard, so it doesn't contribute to reputation gain from running five-man dungeons. This means your entire reputation source will consist of a single daily quest and countless Yaungol corpses.

How to quickly gain reputation?

Currently, the requirements to reach the lesser Emperor Shaohao reputation levels are:

• Neutral: 0
• Friendly: 3,000
• Honored: 9,000
• Revered: 21,000
• Exalted: 42,000

A total of 42,000 rep is needed to go from Neutral to Exalted. With guild reputation bonuses, killing elite mobs here provides an average of about 22 rep per kill. Roughly calculated, you'll need to kill nearly 1,900 monsters.

If you choose to clear Ordon Sanctuary in a group, a complete clear of all monsters will yield approximately 420 rep. In an ideal scenario with perfect team composition and no opposing or allied faction members competing for monsters, a highly efficient team would need approximately 8 hours of intensive grinding to reach Exalted.

Besides clearing Sanctuary, there are 6 quests on Timeless Isle related to Emperor Shaohao, each rewarding 250 rep, for a total of 1,500 rep. Utilizing these quests effectively can save you several rounds of monster grinding. They are:

1. The Last Emperor
2. Timeless Nutriment
3. Wayshrines of the Celestials
4. Path of the Mistwalker
5. Drive Back the Flame
6. The Archiereus of Flame

Therefore, it's recommended that you quickly complete the first three quests on the first day, and then consistently clear the daily quest Path of the Mistwalker. However, remember to save the quests Drive Back the Flame and The Archiereus of Flame. Once you've farmed 41,500 rep, return to camp to complete these quests. Those final 500 rep will save you from the tedious last run of Sanctuary. Give the long grind some hope!

Optimal Farming Route

Timeless Isle is divided into several areas, but the most efficient farming spot is undoubtedly Ordon Sanctuary.

After crossing the broken bridge into Sanctuary, the entire team can advance along the outer wall to the left. Clear Blazebound Chanter and Champion of the Black Flame along the way. Then bypass the arena and head straight into the inner hall where High Priest of Ordos resides. This loop provides approximately 420 rep.

However, if the monsters in Sanctuary haven't respawned yet, don't wait idly. Quickly lead your team down the mountain and kill Burning Berserker and Eternal Kilnmaster on The Blazing Way as a transition. Each Berserker provides 15 reputation points and refreshes extremely quickly.

Quartermaster Rewards

Emperor Shaohao's Quartermaster is Mistweaver Ku, who stands on the east side of Celestial Court. Note that all items offered by Mistweaver Ku require Timeless Coins to unlock. The ultimate goal, Reins of the Heavenly Golden Cloud Serpent, requires not only Exalted reputation but also at least 100,000 Timeless Coins.

Fortunately, while you're frantically Yaungoling in Ordon Sanctuary, every monster drops a considerable number of coins. As long as you restrain yourself and don't waste your coins on other transitional gear, by the time you reach Exalted reputation, you'll have accumulated just enough Timeless Coins to unlock this ultimate mount.

In short, Emperor Shaohao reputation in WoW Classic MoP Phase 5 is a progression system built on time and the blood of monsters. The gleaming Reins of the Heavenly Golden Cloud Serpent not only symbolize your conquest of the Timeless Isle but also signify your survival against the onslaught of those frenzied Yaungol! Happy hunting!

Monopoly Go Monopoly Ever After album is coming to an end, and its final event is a digging challenge called Sleeping Beauty Treasures.

This digging event is well worth participating in. Not only does it offer a Wild Sticker as the final reward, but any leftover pickaxe tokens will also be converted into dice after the event concludes. That means even if you don't use them all, you can still accumulate dice for the next album. So let's take a look at the specific rewards for Sleeping Beauty Treasures and some tips on how to complete it.

Date

Sleeping Beauty Treasure Dig Event lasts for a total of four days, with the following start and end times:

• Start time: May 30, 2026, at 4:00 PM Eastern Time.
• End time: June 3, 2026, at 1:00 PM Eastern Time.

Monopoly Go Monopoly Ever After album also ends on June 3rd. Some players may prefer to collect pickaxe tokens first and then start playing the event at the very last moment. That is a good strategy - just be sure not to miss the event window.

Sleeping Beauty Treasures Rewards

Here are Monopoly Go Sleeping Beauty Treasures event milestones:

Below is a complete list of all the rewards:

• Dice Rolls: 4,750
• Pickaxes: 24–56
• Yellow sticker pack: 1
• Pink sticker pack: 1
• Blue sticker pack: 1
• Purple sticker pack: 1
• Wild Sticker: 1
• Enchanted Book: 1
• Dragon Shield Skin: 1

The dice rewards from Sleeping Beauty Treasures event are quite generous - even if you don't complete everything, you can still earn a few hundred dice. The maximum number of pickaxe tokens you might need is 694, while the minimum is 282. Your luck will likely fall somewhere in between; for most players, finishing all twenty reward levels will require around 400 pickaxe tokens or so.

How to Get Pickaxe Tokens?

Banner Events and Tournaments

For most special events, banner events and tournaments are the best way to obtain pickaxe tokens. Each milestone typically offers between 100 and 200 pickaxe tokens. You don't have to collect every single token from each milestone; combined with other methods, you might even end up with some leftover pickaxe tokens.

Dig Event Milestone Rewards

The 3rd, 6th, and 10th milestones in the dig event itself also contain some pickaxe tokens along with Monopoly Go stickers. These are not difficult to achieve, so you can factor them in while you are stockpiling tokens.

Quick Wins and Free Gift

As with other events, during Sleeping Beauty Treasures, both Quick Wins and Free Gift will include some free pickaxe tokens.

How to Choose the Right Strategy?

Players perform very differently in banner events and tournaments. Below are specific suggestions for two typical types of players.

For Players Who Frequently Reach High Milestones

If you usually manage to advance far in banner events and tournaments - for example, consistently reaching milestone 15, 16, or even higher - then you should complete the digging event as early as possible.

Because once you finish the digging event early, the positions in banner events and tournaments that would have awarded pickaxe tokens will be replaced with other rewards. Near the end of Monopoly Ever After album, those rewards are often dice.

For high-progression players, the number of dice you can obtain from subsequent rewards will be far greater than what you would get by saving your pickaxes for the final conversion.

For Players with Limited Dice

If you have few dice to begin with, making it difficult to complete banner events and tournaments, or if you don't have much time to play on weekdays, then it is more advantageous to wait until just before the event ends to finish it.

You should continue to collect pickaxes through daily 8-hour freebies and Quick Wins. Even if you play only occasionally, don't forget to claim the early pickaxe rewards from banner events and tournaments. Try to complete the first two milestones of Sleeping Beauty Treasures - they will reward you with a total of 150 dice. After that, you can save your pickaxes, and once the event ends, they will be converted into dice (at a ratio of roughly 3:1).

However, this strategy only applies to the mining event. In the partner event, any remaining tokens after the event ends will be converted into cash, not dice.

Hopefully, the information above helps you gain more dice and Wild Sticker from Monopoly Go Sleeping Beauty Treasures digging event, allowing you to successfully complete your album.

The simultaneous launch of Season 13 and Lord of Hatred expansion certainly allowed Diablo 4 to steal the spotlight this past May; however, this success was accompanied by a multitude of bugs and intermittent system crashes, sparking considerable dissatisfaction among players.

Fortunately, these issues appear poised to be resolved with the launch of Season 14 at the end of June. Yet, this upcoming season will also bring about significant shifts in the game's meta, including nerfs to the majority of classes.

As the new class introduced in Lord of Hatred, Warlock naturally garners a disproportionate amount of attention. In this analysis, we will examine the class's future prospects based on the recently released PTR 3.1.0 patch notes.

Warlock's current performance

Although Warlock initially captured the attention of most players upon its release, it quickly became apparent that its overall utility, as reflected in various class rankings, consistently hovered in the bottom half of the pack, frequently even landing in last place.

Typically, a new class in Diablo 4 is designed to be inherently stronger than existing legacy classes; this serves as an incentive for players to try it out.

Furthermore, a higher volume of players engaging with a new class allows the development team to gather a richer dataset, enabling them to make more precise and accurate adjustments to the class in subsequent updates.

However, whether due to a last-minute reduction in Warlock's intended power ceiling prior to launch, or perhaps unforeseen complications arising from its interactions with other game mechanics, the class's final implementation has proven to be far from ideal.

For instance, you may have noticed that Warlock feels remarkably clunky and awkward to play in practice.

More specifically, the builds that perform best in high-difficulty content often require a lengthy setup phase before their damage or defensive capabilities can reach their peak potential.

The tricky part is that these high-performance builds also demand a constant, high-frequency input of button commands, a requirement that leads to rapid player fatigue.

The moment your focus wavers or your execution falters, your character risks making a fatal error and being instantly killed.

Additionally, there are various issues regarding gear; for example, many Unique items provide such negligible stat bonuses that they are simply not worth equipping.

What changes does PTR 3.1.0 bring?

PTR is scheduled to officially go live on June 2nd and will run for a duration of one week. Most of the changes targeting Warlock are relatively minor; the most fundamental shift lies less in buffing weaker builds and more in significantly nerfing the currently dominant ones.

For instance, Command Valloch no longer passively grants as many Overpower stacks; furthermore, when actively triggered, the bonus it provides, which allows you to exceed the standard stack cap, has been drastically reduced compared to before.

Additionally, the resource cost for casting this skill has increased. Although its duration has been extended to compensate, the net effect is a slight decline in the overall power of Apocalypse builds, as their damage ceiling has been lowered.

Another change targeting Apocalypse builds is even more critical: a direct nerf to Survivor upgrade option associated with Apocalypse skill itself.

Previously, this upgrade ensured that any enemy surviving the initial Apocalypse strike would, for a short duration afterward, take an additional 100% bonus damage from all your subsequent attacks.

This meant that Apocalypse skill's own second-stage strike would often benefit from this bonus, and it was precisely this second strike that generated the staggering burst damage peaks characteristic of Apocalypse builds.

However, PTR has slashed this core burst damage component by a staggering 90%, a change likely to result in a substantial decline in the overall power of Apocalypse builds.

That said, this shift may indirectly lead to a slight boost in the power of other Warlock builds, serving as a form of indirect compensation, to ensure Warlock's overall performance doesn't suffer too severely in the aftermath.

3.1.0 PTR itself does include some buffs; for instance, two major skills, Fiend of Abaddon and Terror Swarm, have each received specific enhancements in certain areas.

These improvements make them more viable as ultimate skills, perhaps even more so than before, and certainly make it more worthwhile to construct dedicated builds centered around them.

Furthermore, another set of effects within Gloomwalker upgrade path has undergone some minor tweaks to provide you with a movement speed bonus.

As for Wall of Agony, the changes have effectively doubled its damage reduction effect while simultaneously reducing its cooldown to two-thirds of its original duration.

Finally, it is worth noting that in PTR environment, you will need to find a reliable method to ensure you can consistently apply Vulnerable status effect to enemies.

Due to changes to the rune system on PTR, Ceh (Spirit Wolves) Rune will no longer apply Vulnerable debuff, a mechanic that, until now, served as the primary method for most Warlock builds to consistently apply this critical status effect.

Summary

In short, Warlock builds that have been underperforming are expected to receive buffs in 3.1.0 PTR, while those deemed overly powerful will undergo minor nerfs.

However, these are merely adjustments to numerical balance; it remains unclear whether some of Warlock's existing fundamental flaws will be effectively addressed in Season 14.

The one thing worth looking forward to is that Season 14 will introduce new class-specific mechanics and gameplay updates, potentially offering certain Warlock builds new avenues to surpass their performance levels from the previous season.

If your hands-on experience with PTR leaves you feeling that Warlock hasn't actually improved, it is likely that more players will opt for other classes in Season 14. A newly introduced class falling out of favor so quickly would not be a positive sign.

Therefore, we hope that Diablo 4 will take player feedback on 3.1.0 PTR into account to implement further optimizations for Warlock before Season 14 officially launches, thereby ensuring the class has a more meaningful and substantial role to play!

To get a more comprehensive feel for Warlock's revamped gameplay during PTR, we recommend that you buy Diablo 4 items from IGGM whenever needed.

This ensures you can enter the fray as a Warlock equipped with sufficiently powerful gear, allowing you to thoroughly test the efficacy of the changes without having to waste precious time crafting gear yourself!

Players, the long-awaited Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.0 is finally here! Release day data shows a massive influx of players eagerly awaiting it, even breaking Steam's second-highest concurrent player count record! So how has the much-anticipated PoE 2 Patch 0.5.0 performed since its release?

On its first day, thanks to a free weekend event, PoE 2 Patch 0.5.0 peaked at 407,000 concurrent players on Steam. This figure is significantly higher than previous patches like 0.4.0 and 0.3.0, which also featured free weekend events.

And this doesn't even include the large number of players on consoles and standalone clients. PoE 2 Patch 0.5.0 is truly attracting more attention than previous patches.

Key Issue Fixes and Server Stability

While some players experienced severe lag issues and varying degrees of download and login problems on Steam, standalone clients, and consoles during the initial release of Patch 0.5.0, the development team responded quickly and pushed out a patch on Saturday morning local time. Afterward, server operation became much more stable.

Meanwhile, the development team also made batch fixes for a series of issues related to Atlas progression, Atlas Skill Tree, and boss battles in the endgame content. The development team worked almost non-stop throughout the night to provide the best experience for all players.

Class and Skill Distribution Overview

Looking at the high-level character statistics exposed to the API on the first day, Martial Artist led by a wide margin with 23%, Spirit Walker at 14%, Deadeye at 12%, and Tactician at only 5%.

Meanwhile, Ritualist, Pathfinder, and Invoker each accounted for only 0.5%, with even Acolyte of Chayula higher than these classes. This extreme distribution is quite surprising.

In terms of skill usage, Twister leads with 14%, followed by Herald of Ice, Ice Shot, Snipe, and Ice-Tipped Arrows. Storm Wave accounts for 8%.

Patch 0.5.0's skill meta presents a very interesting mixed landscape.

The Exhilarating Experience of Martial Artist

If you chose Martial Artist in single-player mode, you must experience the transformative effect of Fists of Stone.

Fists of Stone converts glove attributes into extremely powerful attack bonuses. Combined with Falling Thunder and Siphoning Strike, it allows you to dominate the battlefield.

After unlocking the first Bell node, because bells are always attackable and spawn much faster than expected, you'll almost never lack energy when facing bosses or clearing mobs, making the entire campaign very smooth.

The Powerful Performance of Companions and Minions

According to feedback from players on the first day, the performance of Companions and Minions was equally astonishing.

Some players in Act 3, using only a monkey follower, could stand still and watch their follower slaughter enemies. Some even claimed to have one-shotted the boss Doryani with their monkey follower.

Therefore, in Patch 0.5.0, players who were previously hesitant about Companions and Minions system can now boldly try Spirit Walker or similar pet builds.

Movement Speed Bug Fixed

Since Patch 0.1.0, a bug has existed in the game allowing players to maintain full movement speed while casting a channeled skill by very briefly tapping the skill button, without triggering the slow penalty.

This bugged technique became extremely powerful in Patch 0.5.0 when combined with Martial Artist's Hollow Focus.

The development team released a patch within hours of Patch 0.5.0's release to fix this, significantly weakening builds relying on this technique.

Runes of Aldur League: Generous Rewards and Questline

The new league mechanic isn't as complicated as many expected, and the rewards are incredibly generous.

It consistently drops lesser and greater Jeweller's Orbs, Spirit Gems, and a plethora of unique equipment, ensuring players are never short of gems and PoE2 currency.

However, many players are wondering why they can't add Runic Wards to their armor. This is because they haven't completed the league questline that spans Acts 1 through 4.

The questline will gradually unlock different crafting tables and crafting features, while Runes of Aldur League introduces entirely new areas in each Act and deeply integrates the story background with PoE 2 campaign. Its engaging content is sure to impress players.

Act 3 Map Optimizations

Addressing the previously complained-about length of Act 3, the development team has made significant improvements.

For example, Matlan Waterways are now a straight path, and Azak Bog is conveniently located there.

Act 3 also adds many hidden details, such as the ability to obtain a bound Ruby Ring by freezing Molten Lava in the forging area via a rune slot.

Players still complaining about Act 3's length may not have fully experienced these improvements. In fact, Act 3 doesn't need to be shortened further; instead, more boss fights should be added.

Hopefully, this forward-thinking map optimization approach will continue when Acts 5 and 6 are added in future Patch 1.0.

Predictions for Mageblood Legendary Gear

Many players' previous predictions about Mageblood have now proven entirely correct. The item's effect is to apply the Flask buff from PoE 1 to the character, but the value needs to be randomly rolled using Divine Orbs.

This mechanism makes the Mageblood extremely powerful, potentially making it the second most valuable item in PoE 2 after Mirror of Kalandra.

In conclusion, PoE 2 Patch 0.5.0 has received generally positive reviews, and there are certainly more noteworthy features to come.