General News

The phase 3 of WoW Mists of Pandaria Classic expansion will begin on December 9th, along with one of the best raids in the expansion, Throne of Thunder.

The difficulty of Throne of Thunder is undeniable, but the developers have stated that temporary buffs granted to various classes in patches 5.5.0 and 5.5.1 will be rolled back or reset (PvE only).

For players, these classes will be nerfed in Phase 3, meaning Throne of Thunder will require more consumables and WoW MoP Classic gold to conquer. Let's take a look at this major change.

Death Knight

Summon Gargoyle mechanics have been significantly changed. Gargoyles will now smoothly cast consecutive strikes without casting intervals. This removes Unholy specialization's skillful manipulation of stacking Haste to snap more strikes. Additionally, gargoyles will have a casting time of no less than 0.5 seconds and will disappear after a maximum of 26 strikes.

In the fight against Lei Shen, using Death Strike will grant a 3-second Residual Blood effect, which can be used as active mitigation to counter the fatal Strike mechanic. And Raise Ally will no longer consume Runic Power, significantly improving the usability of Battle Resurrect.

Shaman

The spell critical strike chance for Healing Tide Totem and Healing Stream Totem will now be calculated based on the casting shaman's Intellect.

Due to Elemental Shaman's overpowered performance in MoP Classic, all of its buffs have been reduced or rolled back in Phase 3. The damage bonus of Elemental Shaman's Lightning Bolt has been reduced from 20% to 5%. Chain Lightning bonus in Patch 5.5.1 has been removed, and Fulmination bonus has been restored to 0%.

Warlock

Fixed an issue where Warlock DoTs would refresh their duration when casting Fire and Brimstone, or Burning Ember when it affected a group of enemies. Its Affliction and Demonology damage bonuses have also been reduced.

Affliction:

• Corruption: Damage bonus reduced from +20% to 0%.
• Agony: Damage bonus reduced from +5% to 0%.
• Drain Soul: Damage bonus reduced from +50% to +25%.
• Drain Soul: DoT proc bonus reduced from +40% to +20%.
• Malefic Grasp: Damage bonus reduced from +50% to +25%.
• Malefic Grasp: DoT proc bonus reduced from +20% to +10%.

Demonology:

• Bane of Doom: Damage bonus reduced from +50% to +25%.
• Hellfire: Bonus reduced from +25% to +10%.
• Immolation Aura: Damage bonus reduced from +25% to +10%.
• Soul Fire: Damage bonus reduced from +20% to +10%.

Druid

• Balance: Moonkin Form damage bonus reduced from 25% to 10%.
• Force of Nature: Damage bonus reduced from 9.1% to 3.64%.
• Feral: Savage Roar's damage bonus has been reduced from 5% to 0%.
• Guardian: Bear Form's damage bonus has been reduced from 15% to 8%.
• Restoration: Meditation's mana regeneration from Spirit during combat has been increased from 50% to 55%.

Mage

• Arcane: Arcane Blast, Arcane Barrage, and Arcane Missiles' damage bonuses have all been reduced to 5% (previously 15%, 19%, and 15% respectively).
• Fire: Pyroblast's damage bonus has been reduced from 30% to 15%. Critical Mass's bonus multiplier has also been reduced from 1.5× back to 1.3×, which is the value in version 5.4.8.
• Frost: Frostbolt, Frostfire Bolt, Ice Lance, and other abilities have had their damage bonuses significantly reduced in version 5.5.1.

Since both Arcane and Frost Mage heavily rely on previous buffs, the nerfed Fire Mage may become the strongest.

Paladin

• Hand of Sacrifice: No longer triggers Global Cooldown to improve its utility.
• Templar's Verdict: Damage bonus increased from 20% to 27%.
• Seal of Insight: Attack speed bonus reduced from 10% to 5%.
• Protection: Grand Crusader proc chance changed to 12% (triggered by dodging, parrying, or using specific abilities), instead of the previous higher 30%. (Previously triggered by dodging/parrying)

Grand Crusader nerf will reduce the number of instant casts of Avenger's Shield, potentially slightly reducing Protection Paladin's output. Seal of Insight adjustment weakens Retribution Paladins.

Priest

• The previous healing reduction setting for Divine Hymn has been changed to reduce healing by 50%, further weakening its group healing ability.
• Renew duration increased from 12 seconds to 15 seconds, which also increases the direct healing of Rapid Renew.
• Damage bonus to Shadow Word: Pain reduced from 18% to 7%, while the overall damage bonus of Shadowform also decreased from 10% to 7%.
• Chakra cooldown reduced, and an issue with Chakra's incorrect scaling on some abilities fixed.
• Divine Hymn healing increased.
• Divine Star healing reduced by 15%.
• Prayer of Healing cast time reduced by 0.5 seconds.

Warrior

The trigger mechanism of the 4-piece Throne of Thunder tier set has been changed. For DPS warriors, it is now triggered by Recklessness instead of Skull Banner (this increases flexibility as Skull Banner is typically used as a raid burst ability).

The +2s duration bonus Fury provided to Enrage and Berserker Rage in 5.5.0 has been completely removed, returning to +0 seconds, essentially reverting to the original. Attack Power bonus (+11%) to Protection's Shield Barrier has been removed, reverting to 1.8 times the shield's AP as in 5.4.8, a significant nerf.

Hunter

Explosive Shot: bonus reduced to 0%.

Monk

Windwalker: Tigereye Brew base damage bonus reduced from 5% to 3.5%.

Some of these changes are already implemented in-game, with the remainder to be added after Phase 3 arrives. However, one thing is certain: you will feel that your character's tanking, healing, and DPS will decrease, or become closer to the difficulty of the original version. This requires you to be more cautious when facing the challenge of Throne of Thunder raid.

As an ARPG with a dark Gothic aesthetic and bloody visuals as its main art style, in addition to new playable content, the art design of new characters, scenes, and items is often a highlight of Diablo 4 updates.

Unfortunately, in recent seasons, Diablo 4 hasn't introduced enough noteworthy changes in these areas, except for Belial's return in Season 8, and the new boss Azmodan, who will appear in Season 11.

Both of these bosses appeared in Diablo 3 and have a close relationship. So, in what capacity does Azmodan return in Diablo 4 Season 11, and how should you defeat him? We will answer these questions for you.

Azmodan Background Story Summary

As the latest installment in Diablo series, Diablo 4 doesn't provide much explanation of many characters from previous games through the storyline, so you only know what you can gain from them, but not their origins.

While this doesn't affect the gameplay itself, knowing more is always a good thing, so we will briefly introduce Azmodan based on Diablo 3 main story.

Azmodan is one of the seven Lesser Evils, second only to Prime Evils. After collaborating with Belial to overthrow Prime Evils, they turned against each other, and Azmodan invaded Sanctuary to gain more power.

In the story of Diablo 3, Azmodan was defeated by the protagonists and imprisoned in Black Soulstone. However, due to the presence of a traitor, Diablo was summoned again and eventually defeated and imprisoned in Black Soulstone.

Afterward, Diablo and the souls of other Lesser Evils merged in Black Soulstone until Black Soulstone was destroyed, at which point they separated - these demons would escape and bring new disasters.

What Are World Bosses?

Azmodan joins Diablo 4 Season 11 as a new world boss and will be added to the game's spawn and rotation schedule along with the three existing world bosses.

World bosses appear at their respective locations every 3.5 hours, and you have 15 minutes to fight them. If you exceed the time limit, the boss will escape, but if you win within the time limit, you have a chance to obtain rare items and other seasonal rewards.

To help you find these bosses in a timely manner, the system will notify you when they are about to appear after you unlock World Tier 3 in Diablo 4.

Here are other world bosses besides Azmodan and their locations:

• Ashava, the Pestilent: May appear in The Crucible (Fractured Peaks), Scosglen (Caen Adar), and other arenas.
• Avarice, the Gold Cursed: May appear in Seared Basin (Kehjistan), Saraan Caldera (Dry Steppes), and other arenas.
• Wandering Death: May appear in Fields of Desecration (Hawezar), and other arenas.

Azmodan In D4S11

After Season 11 is officially released, from the perspective of the world boss mechanism, you may unlock Azmodan encounter in the following locations:

• The Crucible (Fractured Peaks)
• Scosglen (Caen Adar)
• Saraan Caldera (Dry Steppes)
• Fields of Desecration (Hawezar)
• Seared Basin (Kehjistan)
• The Cauldron (Nahantu)

In addition, as one of Lesser Evils, Azmodan has three other "companions" in Sanctuary who will appear in different endgame events. Defeating these Lesser Evils will unlock Season 11 seasonal power, Divine Gifts.

The other three Lesser Evils and their locations are as follows:

• Duriel - Helltides
• Belial - Pit of Artificers
• Andariel - Kurast Undercity

Azmodan And Divine Gifts

Divine Gifts include Corrupted and Purified powers. After defeating each Lesser Evil, you will obtain the corresponding Corrupted Essences and immediately unlock their corrupted slot.

Note that unlocking the purified slot requires you to reach a specific reputation level. The level corresponding to Azmodan is Rank VI, and the essences you can obtain are Essence of Sin and Essence of Hellfire.

How To Defeat Azmodan?

This boss is proficient in dealing fire and spell damage, so close combat is not recommended. Instead, with gear that increases movement speed and mobility, you should always attack from a medium to long distance behind the boss during the fight.

The boss's skills that last throughout the entire battle mainly include constantly moving fire spikes and lava waves. The spikes move slowly but deal high damage, while the lava waves constantly expand, making them difficult to avoid.

When you reduce the boss's health to 80% through attacks, he will periodically release a lava breath attack; you can avoid this damage by dodging in time. When Azmodan's health drops to 60%, he will summon a group of Balrogs to attack you.

All the above skills are manageable, but the real challenge comes when Azmodan's health is reduced to about 5%, at which point he summons many meteors that move towards him. You need to constantly dodge while attacking the boss until he dies.

After winning the battle, you can expect to receive items such as Exquisite Blood and Tribute of Radiance as rewards. Furthermore, the first time you defeat Azmodan each week, you'll receive exclusive loot and unlock even more rewards!

Can This Boss Battle Be Completed Solo?

Although world bosses aren't typically considered difficult, as a new boss, Azmodan will undoubtedly be challenging enough to highlight his uniqueness and importance.

Also, as you know, the overall difficulty of Diablo 4 will be increased after Season 11's release, so completing this boss battle solo is very risky - but not impossible.

To do this, you should first complete leveling and acquire several good unique items. Secondly, if you're playing Necromancer class, be sure to try Golem builds!

After Season 11 begins, there may be some changes to the details of Azmodan boss battle. You just need to pay attention to these changes based on this guide to confidently handle the fight. Good luck!

When starting a new patch or league in Path of Exile 2, choosing the right build is crucial if you want to progress quickly. Generally, powerful builds are recommended, but sometimes novelty and new changes must also be considered.

Taking the upcoming Fate of the Vaal league, launching on December 12th, as an example, you can play the new Druid class, so builds related to it are not to be missed. Furthermore, various changes to combat mechanics mean that old builds may gain new vitality.

Based on the above, we will recommend three builds worth crafting and playing first in the new patch.

The Wyvern Form-Focused Build

If you're keeping up with the latest PoE 2 news, you'll know from livestreams and announcements that Druid can transform into three forms: wolf, bear, and wyvern, by using new weapon Animal Talismans.

The wyvern is the last and most unique form announced. Transforming into a flying dragon and spewing flames with Flame Breath skill will undoubtedly feel incredibly cool.

While this is only one type of attack in wyvern form, it's the most important because its actual attack speed is very fast, with a base attack speed of up to 800%, and you can continuously channel it for 4 seconds to deal 750% fire damage.

If you want to extend the channeling time of Flame Breath, you can do so by consuming six Rage per second. Additionally, when using this skill, for every energy charge consumed, you gain a 50% lightning damage bonus and a 50% reduction in Rage consumption speed.

This means that only three Rage per second are needed to achieve all the effects mentioned above, and since the base Rage limit is 30 points, this means you can gain an additional 10 seconds of channeling time with the help of energy charges.

According to the developers' recommended playstyle, choose the wyvern form and its fire-breathing skills, along with Ascendancy class Shaman, and then buy PoE 2 currency to further enhance the appropriate gear, and you will become an invincible Druid.

The Modified Pathfinder

Pathfinder is one of Ascendancy classes of the base class Ranger, specializing in damaging enemies through mechanisms such as poisons and flask throwing.

If you find the overall movement speed of Druid Wyvern fire-breathing build too slow, then a Pathfinder-based build is worth trying: this Ascendancy class can reduce the movement speed penalty by 50% by unlocking specific nodes.

In addition, patch 0.4.0 also brought several Ascendancy passive skill options to Pathfinder, allowing you to leverage the strengths of other classes, including:

• Path of the Warrior: Allows you to allocate initial Warrior passive skill points.
• Path of the Sorceress: Allows you to allocate initial Sorceress passive skill points.

Each option rewards you with 4 passive skill points. Based on this, if you want to make your Pathfinder builds more elemental, you can choose Sorceress passive skills; if you value attack power more, you can start with Warrior.

In fact, although the nodes and passive skills between different Ascendancy classes are not interchangeable, theoretically, all active skills are universal across all classes due to the skill gem mechanism.

Therefore, after determining your passive skill style, you can incorporate Druid's wyvern fire skill, Flame Breath, into your Pathfinder builds, converting your damage type from physical damage to fire damage.

More importantly, Pathfinder also received some additional bonuses through Patch 0.4.0, with damage, global defenses, and cost efficiency all increased by 5%.

To this end, you can first allocate some energy shield talent nodes, and then a bunch of attribute nodes to gain a large amount of energy shield.

At this point, you will find that you can combine reduced movement speed penalties and energy shields to craft fast and sturdy Pathfinder builds. This is theoretically possible, but it is difficult in practice and requires time to explore.

Titan Bear Build

After combining Pathfinder and Druid wyvern, another cross-class build type worth trying is Titan bear.

Titan is Warrior's Ascendancy class, specializing in overwhelming physical power. As one of Druid's transformation forms, the bear has a certain tank style, capable of knocking down and stunning enemies, similar to Titan.

In the changes brought by Patch The Last of Druids, Titan gained a new Ascendancy talent node, Mountain Splitter. It allows every third slam skill you cast that doesn't create a fissure to generate an additional aftershock on each side of the initial area.

Correspondingly, the previous Surprising Strength node has been removed, and Crushing Impacts now deals 25% increased damage to heavily stunned enemies.

The skills available to Druid's bear form, such as Maul, Furious Slam, and more, mostly emphasize heavy hits and effects like Warcries, which synergize well with Titan skills.

For example, you can continuously slam the ground, generating a series of aftershocks, while simultaneously gaining 50% of the small passive node effects through Titan's class characteristics, as well as other AoE attack nodes.

Overall, the three builds introduced here are essentially based on the new Druid class. Thanks to skill gems, the addition of this new class to Path of Exile 2 also brings many build crafting possibilities to other classes.

Whether you are interested in these three builds or want to try more uses of Druid form after the new league officially starts, it's all possible. We hope your exploration goes smoothly and you have fun!

The official requirements and rewards for ARC Raiders Expedition have been released. However, to gain the extra 5 skill points, you need items worth 5 million coins in your stash (including your own coins).

While participation in Expedition isn't mandatory for all players, it provides extra stash space and skill points, which players who want to experience it long-term definitely won't want to miss. The remaining challenge is accumulating enough coins before the window closes.

Expedition Requirements And Rewards

Expedition's start date has been slightly delayed; it begins on December 17th and closes on December 22nd. Only players level 20 and above can participate. Players who meet the level requirement can submit items during this period to fulfill the conditions and reset their level, inventory, blueprints, etc.

Players who successfully reset their progress will receive the following rewards:

• The Patchwork Raider outfit
• Scrappy Janitor Cap
• Expeditions Indicator icon
• Skill points (depending on Stash value)
• +12 Stash space

To maximize skill point rewards, you need to optimize your inventory, ensuring each slot contains high-value items, while low-value basic materials and common shields should be sold or dismantled.

PVE Farming Strategy

• Location: Buried City

If you don't want to engage in PvP, Buried City is the best map for you, as it's safe and yields between 70,000 and 100,000 ARC Raiders coins per run, and you only need to quickly loot a few resource-rich and safe indoor locations, then immediately evacuate via a nearby hatch or extraction point.

Loot Spots

Red Tower

Red Tower is located in the south of the map. You can enter from the top or bottom to check drawers and weapon cases, which may contain security breaches.

Santa Maria Houses

Santa Maria Houses are a few houses north of Red Tower. You can first clear the drawers and security breaches in the neighbor's attic, then enter Santa Maria Houses attic to loot drawers and find a third security breach. You can then descend from the attic to the rooms. There are many valuables on the tables, sofas, and drawers, while weapon cases are usually found in the yard.

Building Underneath The Bridge

You can enter rooms with breachable doors, which often contain valuables, blueprints, and weapons. You can also use Buried City Residential Master Key to open the door to a hidden building ,and the room contains weapons, valuables, grenades, blueprints, etc.

Key Tips

This route prioritizes efficiency. You can bring some adrenaline to speed up map traversal. Both solo and dual teams can find good loot at these locations.

You can plan your search route, but there's no need to stick to a fixed one. It's best to flexibly visit these hot loot spots based on your spawn point and the current battle situation. Also, ammo boxes may contain valuable items, so don't forget to search them. After each run, to maximize your profits, sell all your loot and don't hoard it.

PVP Farming Strategy

• Location: Stella Montis

Stella Montis has a high PVP density. How much loot you collect depends on your strategy and PVP ability, so the rewards fluctuate greatly. Generally, each run yields over 50,000 to 120,000 coins.

For skills, you can bring Broad Shoulders to increase carrying capacity and Loaded Arms to reduce weapon weight, allowing you to carry more loot.

Stella Montis's main resource points are distributed in the four corners of the map:

• Medical Research area on the west side has valuable loot throughout.
• Assembly Workshops on the north side have two room groups; clearing them out yields highly valuable items.
• In the southernmost Seed Vault, each seed is worth 100 coins; you can usually loot 60-70, worth approximately 6000-7000 coins.
• Security Room near the lobby is also rich in resources, but PvP often breaks out there.

Zero-risk Approach

You can enter using free loadout, then prioritize looting Seed Vault or nearby resource points, fill your inventory, and leave. Each run yields a stable 50,000 to 80,000 coins; even if you die, you only lose seeds, with virtually no risk.

High-risk, High-reward Approach

You can also enter with high-level gear and a big looting bag, looting high-level resource points and participating in PvP to plunder other players' equipment. Even a well-equipped level 5 Stitcher can earn you 10,000 to 18,000 coins.

This method can easily yield over 100,000 coins, but the risk of participating in PvP is extremely high because Stella Montis battleground is chaotic and requires excellent adaptability. You can sell all your items after evacuating and then re-enter, repeating this cycle to quickly accumulate wealth and PvP experience.

Matriarch/Queen Events

The last method is rather underhanded and unethical. If you're willing to be a rat, this method can also earn a lot of coins.

In raids containing Matriarchs and Queen events, all players enter with their best gear, so defeating them yields extremely high rewards. If you can successfully kill several teams each round, you can earn 200,000 to 300,000 ARC Raiders coins. While other player teams attack the boss, your team focuses on eliminating the remaining players. Ideally, when the boss is defeated, only one team remains on the map to deal with. Eliminating them allows you and your team to claim all the loot.

However, this requires precise control over the pace of eliminating other player teams. Too fast and you'll have to fight the boss yourself; too slow and other teams will take the loot. This method is highly unethical and will likely result in you being wanted by other players, so you had better not use the method.

You can run Buried City multiple times, and with your previous accumulation, reaching a stash value of 5 million coins before Expedition deadline shouldn't be too difficult.

Recently, the developers of ARC Raiders announced that they will not open the expedition project departure window as scheduled on December 15th, but will instead begin on December 17th and end on the 22nd, two days later than originally planned.

While slightly disappointing, this isn't entirely bad, as this brief delay actually gives players more preparation time until the window closes.

You will have six days to allow your raider to permanently leave The Rust Belt and embark on a new journey with the caravan you built in the expedition project, carrying some buffs and advantages.

Next, we want to delve deeper into the confirmed information about this expedition project window to understand what the actual expedition reset is like and what advantages we will gain. So, let's take a look.

How Does Expedition Work?

First, the expedition in ARC Raiders works similarly to Call of Duty's Prestige system. Players participating in the event have their current character progress reset, forcing them to create a new character when the next expedition project begins. However, this doesn't mean players will lose almost everything once the six-day window ends, and their efforts may not be worthwhile, as participating players will receive some permanent rewards that will make their next game journey easier.

What Buffs Does The Expedition Project Provide?

Now, suppose you're about to leave Speranza. When an expedition begins, all ARC Raiders items in your inventory are counted towards the expedition.

During an expedition, your raider can gain a maximum of 5 skill points. The exact number depends on the total value of your inventory and coins at the time of departure. In other words, the total value of all items in your inventory plus the total value of all your ARC Raiders coins is your total value when you leave the expedition.

An item worth 1 million coins can provide 1 additional skill point for your new raider. You can gain a maximum of 5 skill points, but this requires your stash and coins to be worth at least 5 million.

When you restart the game, everything related to your game progress will be reset, so your skill tree, level, stash, workshops, crafting abilities, and blueprints will be lost.

Notably, your initial tutorial after your first deployment in Speranza will be skipped, meaning all maps and potential workshop upgrades will be available immediately after your reset. While you'll still start from scratch, you'll gain these basics without any tedious steps.

Permanent Rewards

If you choose to reset Expedition, you'll also gain some permanent unlocks, mostly cosmetic, including:

• The Patchwork Raider outfit
• Scrappy Janitor Cap
• Expeditions Indicator icon
• Skill points (depending on stash value)
• +12 Stash space

These are decent upgrades that you can gradually accumulate as you continue participating in Expedition system.

Temporary Buffs

In addition, you will receive some temporary buffs:

• 10% Repair Buff
• 5% XP boost
• 6% more materials from Scrappy

Please note that while skill points, extra inventory space, and cosmetic items are permanently unlocked, these account-bound buffs will expire if you choose not to participate in the next expedition. In other words, if you stop participating in this system, you will no longer be able to obtain these temporary buffs.

The buff effects will increase over the next three expeditions, but can only be triggered once per expedition project window. Therefore, the stacking mentioned here means that the more times you participate in this system, the stronger these buff effects will become.

A reminder that the expedition window will open on December 17th and last until December 22nd. This is different from our initial expectations; you must register during this period. They have stated that the value of your inventory and coins will be calculated when the window closes, not when you register. Therefore, you can continue to scavenge for resources and try to accumulate 5 million coins before the window closes.

Of course, we know many players don't intend to participate in the expedition system, so if you choose not to reset, you can continue building caravans, and all progress will be retained, allowing you to keep working until the next window opens in a few months.

Why Reset Expedition Progress?

The main reason many players feel participating in expeditions isn't worthwhile is that each reset makes them feel like all their previous efforts have been wasted, making it completely unworthy of trying.

However, ARC Raiders development team has provided an explanation. They stated that progress wipes have always been difficult to balance in multiplayer online games, and a mandatory global wipe has some obvious benefits. Players who have invested a lot of time can relive their initial grind, and for a period of time, the game environment will be fairer.

The optional expedition project window is a solution proposed by the team to address some of the problems that mandatory wipes inevitably cause, especially reflecting their respect for the time players have invested in the game. They want to give players a choice.

The developers even stated that if you haven't completed as many tasks as you want, you can continue to loot, build, and expand your resource reserves. You can also participate in Expedition system and gain buffs, rewards, and bragging rights during the next possible Expedition window. However, it's unclear whether the permanent rewards offered in each Expedition window will be the same.

While the rewards aren't numerous, this does create a unique experience, allowing players who genuinely want to reset their progress to receive cosmetic items as a reward after investing significant resources in completing the entire Expedition project.

As for temporary buffs, you can think of them as clear advantages. However, some may not see it that way, as these buffs only make your gameplay slightly easier; you ultimately start from scratch.

However, we don't yet know the specifics of Expedition project departure window, only that it's part of a major December update on the roadmap. Therefore, we can consider this the first step in a game update. It's expected to be a multi-step process, including balance adjustments, new content releases, and more. Let's look forward to the official opening of the window on December 17th!

While Diablo 4 Season 11 made some adjustments to the early game difficulty, your leveling speed will still be quite fast if you kill monsters quickly enough.

Evade Spiritborn build, after several seasons of testing, has proven to be excellent for both leveling and endgame performance, and may be one of the best Spiritborn builds.

Evade Spiritborn Gameplay And Advantages

The core mechanics of Evade Spiritborn build revolve around Eagle Hall ability. Your skill tree should primarily focus on enhancing various damage multipliers. Use Evade to trigger Accelerated Thunderspike effect, unleashing a barrage of feathers at monsters for massive damage.

Evade Spiritborn build has been a Tier S leveling build for several consecutive seasons. It boasts extremely fast movement speed and monster-clearing efficiency, and its gameplay is very simple, and you just need to keep using Evade, and the flying feathers will automatically clear the monsters on the screen.

Impact Of Season 11

A bug in PTR 2.5.0 allowed gear like Loyalty's Mantle to provide double damage bonuses with Eagle Hall, resulting in excessively high damage. If this bug had been fixed, the reachable level in The Pit would have decreased by 10 levels (about level 100). This bug has been fixed in the official patch.

However, the developers also announced a rebalancing of the difficulty of The Tower and The Pit, reducing it by approximately 5-10 levels. Therefore, the actual strength of Evade Spiritborn is not expected to change significantly compared to PTR 2.5.0.

Additionally, the developers announced a 60% reduction in boss health, which will significantly speed up boss fights for this build.

Evade Spiritborn Leveling Build

Gear

• Helm: Aspect of Might (Neo + Qax)
• Chest Armor: Aspect of Layered Wards (Cem + Gar)
• Gloves: Rebounding Aspect
• Pants: Aspect of Disobedience (Emerald + Emerald)
• Boots: Duelist's Aspect
• Amulet: Aspect of Unyielding Hits (Skull)
• Ring 1: Conceited Aspect (Skull)
• Ring 2: Aspect of the Moonrise (Skull)

In the early game, you can freely use your two-handed weapon slot, using any magic, rare, or legendary weapon, focusing primarily on its pure damage to avoid wasting resources on Aspect engravings due to frequent upgrades.

Skils

• Thunderspike: Enhanced Thunderspike and Accelerated Thunderspike
• Crushing Hand: Enhanced Crushing Hand and Advantageous Crushing Hand
• Toxic Skin: Enhanced Toxic Skin and Measured Toxic Skin
• Soar: Enhanced Soar and Replenishing Soar
• Ravager: Enhanced Ravager and Measured Ravager
• Armored Hide: Enhanced Armored Hide and Reinforced Armored Hide
• Primary Spirit: Eagle
• Secondary Spirit: Eagle

From level 1 to 14, you can use basic skills like Stinger, Quill Volley, or Crushing Hand to level up. However, when you reach level 15, you must reset your skills and switch to Evade Spiritborn build.

Evade Spiritborn skill build is relatively flexible, and the overall strength is not significantly affected. Even if you don't have enough skill points, it won't affect your damage much, because skills like Thunderspike and Crushing Hand are mainly used to trigger effects.

Starting with the seasonal quests, unlock the reputation board on Normal difficulty, then equip your pet. Once you reach level 15, switch to Hard difficulty and use Crushing Hand to farm Helltide. Then farm Helltide until the first hour ends, and your character should be around level 30-35.

Then, run Vessel of Hatred Campaign on Normal difficulty until you unlock Kurast Undercity and obtain Runes Cache. Last, depending on your character's strength, continue farming Helltide on Expert or Penitent difficulty until you reach level 50. After that, clear Strongholds on Normal difficulty.

Evade Spiritborn Endgame Build

Gear

• Helm: Loyalty's Mantle (Qax + Cem)
• Chest Armor: Jacinth Shell (Emerald and Emerald)
• Gloves: Fists of Fate
• Pants: Temerity (Emerald and Emerald)
• Boots: Duelist's Aspect
• Weapon: Wushe Nak Pa (Ohm + Bac)
• Amulet: Aspect of Redirected Force (Skull)
• Ring 1: Conceited Aspect
• Ring 2: Aspect of Unyielding Hits (Skull)

In the mid-game, you can Temper your gear to gain damage affixes and reforge other attributes. Then, progress through The Pit to level 10 to unlock Torment I difficulty.

This build doesn't require any specific Diablo 4 items for a smooth transition from early game to endgame content, and you only need 3 items to handle most of the endgame content. One is the core item Loyalty's Mantle obtained by defeating Gregor, and the other is the Wushe Nak Pa and Jacinth Shell obtained by defeating Lord Zir.

Skills

• Armored Hide: Enhanced Armored Hide and Reinforced Armored Hide
• Concussive Stomp: Enhanced Concussive Stomp
• Thunderspike: Enhanced Thunderspike and Accelerated Thunderspike
• Counterattack: Enhanced Counterattack and Reinforced Counterattack
• The Seeker: Harmonious Seeker and Exalted Seeker
• Rock Splitter: no

In endgame gameplay, you almost only need to frequently press the evade key, while other skills mostly provide buffs. For example, Armored Hide skill is only used to trigger Aspect of Unyielding Hits buff.

Spiritborn is one of the strongest classes in Season 11, and Evade Spiritborn is the most stable and safest choice. It can be strong from the start of the season to the end, without worrying about acquiring specific Diablo 4 items, and is arguably the best leveling build in the entire game. If you're not aiming for The Pit rankings, then this can be your best starting build for Season 11.

The beloved Monopoly Go Cozy Comforts Album collection journey is drawing to a close. Since the album ends at the same time as Golden Blitz event, we're certain this will be the last Golden Blitz event of this album.

If you haven't yet collected all the stickers from Cozy Comforts Album, this is undoubtedly your last and best chance.

Below, I'll provide a detailed introduction to Golden Blitz event and its related content, allowing you to make the most of this opportunity and maximize your gains.

Golden Blitz Event

Monopoly Go is beloved by players worldwide for its fun event mechanics and rich content. Its numerous events and mini-games have attracted countless players, and among these fun events, Golden Blitz event stands out at the top.

Golden Blitz event is a limited-time special event designed to solve one of the game's biggest collection challenges: obtaining rare gold stickers. This event, where you can acquire your dream stickers simply through trading, has driven countless collectors wild.

The primary reason for the player frenzy is the rarity of gold stickers.

As is well known, Monopoly Go gold stickers are among the most coveted items for many players. They are not only difficult to obtain easily in the game, but also non-tradable. This characteristic often leaves players helpless and fuels the anticipation surrounding Golden Blitz event.

Furthermore, players are highly likely to obtain duplicate stickers in the game, making it even more difficult to collect the entire album.

While these duplicate stickers can be broken down to obtain stars, which can be used to redeem Stars Vaults, the chance of obtaining the exact sticker a player is missing through this method is extremely low. This is clearly not an ideal solution for players pursuing specific stickers.

To help players collect them more easily, and to balance game difficulty with player interest, Monopoly Go launched Golden Blitz event. It changed the game rules, allowing players to trade designated gold stickers with other players.

During each event, participants can exchange up to two designated gold stickers at a time, with a maximum of five trades per day.

This trading mechanism turns duplicate stickers into valuable assets, allowing players to exchange stickers to fill gaps in their albums.

Event Dates And Gold Stickers

Golden Blitz event will run from December 9th to December 10th, lasting 24 hours, similar to previous events.

It's important to note that, like all Golden Blitz events, this is a limited-time event. Furthermore, these designated stickers are only available for exchange during this event.

After the event ends, there will be no further opportunities to redeem them through this event. If you want to participate, be sure to mark your calendars to avoid missing out.

Following a fierce player vote, Monopoly Go Set 17 Frosty Fox and Set 22 To All A Goodnight have been selected as the designated Gold stickers for this event.

These two rare stickers from Cozy Comforts Album are not only aesthetically pleasing but also highly collectible, and have always been popular among players. If you happen to be missing these two stickers, don't hesitate to take action and exchange them with other players.

Why This Golden Blitz Event Is Not To Be Missed?

In my opinion, there are several reasons why this event is worth participating in for all players. The most important of these is that it's the best way to collect all the stickers in the Cozy Comforts Album.

For any player who wants to fulfill their collecting dreams, collecting all the stickers in the album is no easy task. The rarity of gold stickers and the possibility of obtaining duplicate stickers in the album both require players to invest a considerable amount of time and effort in Monopoly Go.

What's even more frustrating is that even with such effort, players may still fail to achieve their goals and end up disappointed with an incomplete album.

But Golden Blitz event makes collecting easy. Without relying on luck, directly trading with other players is the fastest way to collect all the stickers.

Furthermore, regardless of whether you ultimately manage to trade for the stickers you need, the trading mechanism in this event builds a bridge for communication and interaction with other players.

Because this event encourages close cooperation between players and fosters a win-win mentality, it will help you more easily gain close friends and partners in future cooperative events.

More importantly, with Cozy Comforts Album coming to an end, the chances of duplicate gold stickers being useful in the game are slim. This means many players will take this opportunity to exchange stickers they no longer need, giving you a greater chance to trade for the items you want.

From any perspective, this is an event not to be missed. Whether you're a casual player looking for an easy sticker collection or a dedicated collector, this event has something for you.

Don't miss this opportunity! Get ready to join the final frenzy of the Cozy Comforts Album anytime now.

ARC Raiders is arguably one of the best extraction games of the year, attracting a large player base. However, increased player numbers also mean fiercer competition.

With more frequent PvP events, this creates opportunities for rat players. You certainly don't want to be ambushed and killed near the extraction point while carrying a full load of loot. So let's look at how to deal with rats in the game.

How To Identify Rats?

While most players in ARC Raiders are friendly, they can turn into enemies at any time. Especially when playing solo, judging other players' intentions is crucial, so never easily trust strangers.

Observe Equipment

Shields

You can determine a player's shield level by the number of bulges on their back. The lowest value shield is green, followed by blue, while epic shields are usually purple. Since rats also die frequently, they won't be carrying high-value ARC Raiders items, making players with green shields the most suspicious.

Weapon

Similarly, players using basic weapons without attachments, such as Ferro, Rattler, and Kettle, may be using free kits and intend to steal loot from bosses or ambush you while you're looting.

Players wielding high-damage player weapons like Venator, Volcano, or even IL Toro should also be viewed with caution. Even if they don't attack immediately, they know how to efficiently eliminate other players.

Observe Behavior

Rats' equipment may not be precise, but their behavior is undeniable. Be wary of players lingering on the fringes of combat, away from the center of the firefight, and never put yourself in a position where you might be backstabbed.

Most rats tend to linger on the periphery of the battlefield, waiting for the perfect opportunity to ambush. These opportunities usually occur when you are distracted or vulnerable, and they frequently ambush you while you are dealing with ARC enemies or looting.

Therefore, you need to conduct a risk assessment and choose between being attacked by ARC enemies and being attacked by players. Generally, you should prioritize ARC enemies because their behavior is more predictable. However, even poorly equipped players are more threatening than most ARC enemies in the game, so even if they seem friendly, remain highly vigilant if their behavior is suspicious.

How To Avoid Being Ambushed By Rats?

Common Rat Spots

Each map has several excellent ambush locations, which are the most favored by rats.

Buried City

The corridors and numerous bunkers in the underground subway stations are perfect ambush points. The unique subway station at the southernmost end of the map has a multi-level structure with many excellent hiding spots. Many players use the zip line leading directly to the bottom, making them easy targets for rats. It is recommended to use the paths next to the zip line, systematically explore downwards, and check for traps or players along the way.

Dam Battlegrounds

In the control tower, especially near the elevators leading to the top and locked doors, rats may ambush from the top, elevator shaft, or bottom. If you encounter this, use the ledges on the side of the elevator shaft or the roof above the main floor door to fight back.

Stella Montis

At Seed Vault extraction point, when you use a snap hook to reach the high points of the ductwork, you are very vulnerable to ambushes. Whether you are solo or in a squad, be extra careful at this extraction point.

The Blue Gate

Reinforced Reception window above the lobby often hides rats ready to ambush anyone entering. And the locker room on the right side of the underground safe zone is rich in loot and is also a notorious rat spot. They can climb onto the tops of lockers, door frames, and other small ledges to gain unexpected attack angles.

Spaceport

The small towers along Launch Towers wall are only accessible via a zipline from bottom to top. The tops offer ample cover, allowing players to easily hide and quickly eliminate rats.

Avoid The Rats

Sometimes you need to forgo your favorite loot spots or tempting opportunities, just like avoiding places where rats are common in real life. You also need to avoid high-risk extraction points. If many players are looting near certain extraction points, it's best to leave early to secure your loot.

Additionally, before map bugs like those in Stella Montis are fixed, it's best to avoid key points of interest with high-value items. If you encounter players at extraction points who are overly excited about your arrival, remain suspicious. Sometimes the best option is to watch them, slowly back away, move to another extraction point, or wait for player activity to subside before acting.

Specific Countermeasures

Tagging Grenades

Tagging grenades are an effective tool for countering hide holes. They mark ARCs and other players within their blast radius. You can craft them at the utility station using Electrical Components and Sensors. Carrying just one or two is effective for detecting suspicious locations.

Sound Control

The sounds of jogging, running, opening containers, breaching doors, and shooting in ARC Raiders travel incredibly far, and skilled rats are adept at pinpointing the source and location of these sounds. Therefore, when approaching a rat location, remember to maintain a low sound profile, scout first, then loot.

Take Corners Slowly

Raiders expect players to rush into seemingly safe areas, indicating they are unprepared, allowing rats to freely fire and ambush. Therefore, remember to turn corners slowly and carefully check your environment. This allows you to detect threats, gather information, and adjust your strategy before encountering enemies.

Rat players are a more threatening enemy than ARC, and with the start of the expedition, there may be even more rats on the map, so remember to stay vigilant and actively avoid potentially risky locations.

Fate of the Vaal is a brand new challenge league mechanic in Path of Exile 2 0.4.0, allowing all exiles to re-explore the fallen Vaal civilization and introducing Atziri, Queen of the Vaal, as a new pinnacle boss.

In the 0.4.0 patch, we return to Queen Atziri's palace, now a ruin, but in the darkness, crucial machinery still operates. Here, we have the opportunity to uncover the secret to saving Vaal race - a gateway to the past, allowing you to travel through time again and again, altering the temple and uncovering its secrets.

Next, we will detail PoE 2 Fate of the Vaal league mechanics. Don't miss this if you want to gain a significant advantage at the start of the league!

Vaal Ruins

In Fate of the Vaal, you will find ancient Vaal civilization ruins scattered throughout Wraeclast. These ruins seem to attract nearby creatures and have a strange influence on them.

After defeating them, the remaining Vaal seem to gain some power, but not enough to fully activate. Therefore, you need to find more of these arcane devices and sacrifice the monsters you encounter there to fully activate one of them.

However, because these devices are ancient and sometimes corrupted, when you activate them, you may sometimes see distorted ancient Vaal, and sometimes even trigger more powerful enemies. Ultimately, you will discover its true purpose: a portal to a lost temple deep underground, leading you to what was once the dwelling of Atziri, Queen of the Vaal.

Vaal Temple

What treasures are hidden within the temple? You're sure to want to know the answer.

At the portal exit, there is a control console. After activating it, you can see a map of the temple. The rooms here are not interconnected, and the layout is complex. This is where you might understand the purpose of the scattered ruins and devices throughout Wraeclast.

Temple Rooms & Upgrades

The temple's energy comes from sacrifices, and this energy can be used to modify the temple's structure itself. Each time you open the temple, you will receive six rooms that you can place to build your own dungeon.

Lay paths connecting the different areas and place rooms filled with precious loot alongside the paths. Once you've finished placing them, open the temple and explore your creation. Each room contains different challenges and rewards.

Please note that once you choose to enter a room, the door will only open after you win the battle, so choose carefully.

The placement of the rooms is crucial, as it determines the maximum reward you can obtain. For example, for Commander, you can place it next to a garrison of troops, allowing him to command the troops. As Commander's abilities improve, the garrison level will also increase, making the monsters stronger, but the rewards will also be more generous.

Different rooms have different upgrade requirements. However, you don't need to remember all the interactions, because when you select a room, the system will show which locations can upgrade other rooms and the specific impact of the upgrade on the temple.

After running the temple, some rooms will become unstable, so you will need to rebuild the temple. Since six rooms are added each time you return, this means the temple will grow larger and larger.

The above are the basic functions of the temple, but there is much more to it.

Once Doryani learns that you are going to Vaal, he will ask you to go back in time to try to stop Atziri from destroying Vaal.

As we mentioned earlier, the device at the entrance of the temple is a portal to the past, allowing you to travel back to a specific point in time, before Atziri caused the destruction of Vaal.

Atziri's palace is located on the other side of the temple, so you will need to significantly expand the temple to find her. However, her room can only be unlocked through a room you currently cannot access. You will need to visit the temple's architect to have him lay the path for you.

Once you are able to travel to the past, a whole new set of rooms will open up to you, containing extremely generous rewards.

Corruption Crafting

As you expand your temple, you will encounter various enemies, loot, and mechanics, and you can also unlock more crafting options while upgrading rooms.

Typically, a level one Chamber of Corruption room can only corrupt one item. But if you place it next to a room controlled by a Thaumaturge, and then place a Sacrificial Chamber room to provide soul energy, you can upgrade its level. And it's all worth it, because once the room is upgraded to level three, you'll receive very generous rewards.

In the level three Corruption Chamber room, you'll find a mysterious item slot that allows you to corrupt items.

Normally, once an item is corrupted, it cannot be modified further, but this device allows you to corrupt the item again, adding new enchantments. However, be aware that there is a 50% chance that these items will be destroyed.

Crafting Currency

One more thing to add about these crafting mechanics: it doesn't force you to carry the items you want to craft in the game. If you don't have the items you want to craft in the temple room at the time, you can also choose to craft some PoE 2 currency items first, so you can craft them later or trade them on the market as needed.

Atziri Pinnacle Boss

Finally, in each challenge league, the developers introduce a new pinnacle boss to test the strength of the player's character. In Fate of the Vaal, players will have the opportunity to face Atziri at her peak.

After defeating this architect, you will gain the ability to place Royal Axis Chamber. Once connected to the temple, you can travel to this chamber and ultimately face Queen Atziri herself in a final battle. This will be a truly fierce fight.

Once you defeat Atziri boss, you will find another console that can be used to modify the temple. This console is special, allowing you to place new types of rooms with specific rewards. Some rooms drop specific unique items, special runes, and PoE 2 currency, as well as some other more niche crafting experiments.

In addition, you can also obtain a mysterious staff: Atziri's Rule. This staff increases the level of all your Corrupted Spell Skill Gems and allows you to exchange life for extra damage. It's worth noting that when using this staff, Mirrors of Refraction will constantly appear on the battlefield, and any projectiles fired at these mirrors will split into a Nova, dealing extra damage to enemies.

That's all for PoE 2 Patch 0.4.0 Fate of the Vaal league. This league mechanic is somewhat similar to the past time travel feature, where each player can explore past versions of the temple, challenge different room types, and earn unique rewards, allowing you to build your own path in both the past and the present.

Diablo 4 Campfire Chat not only announced the changes for Season 11, but also its release date. However, this date is unusual, being two days later than players had predicted.

This is clearly unusual, leading players to speculate that Season 11 might have some surprises in store to counter the challenge from its biggest rival, Path of Exile 2 patch 0.4.0.

Why Is The Release Date Unusual?

Season 11 Release Date

According to Diablo 4's usual practice, the end date of each season pass typically signifies the end of the season. Therefore, according to the original schedule, Season 10 would end on December 9th, which usually means that Season 11 would begin immediately afterward on the 9th.

However, the latest official patch notes and blog indicate that Season 11 will begin at the following times:

• 8:30 PM Pacific Standard Time (PT), Thursday, December 11th
• 11:30 PM Eastern Time (EST), Thursday, December 11th
• 4:30 AM Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), Friday, December 12th
• 5:30 AM Central European Time (CET), Friday, December 12th

The Unusual Reason

Official releases are rarely on Thursdays, and they typically release new seasons on Tuesdays. Furthermore, 8:30 PM EST is an unfavorable time for players worldwide, as it's close to midnight or nighttime in most regions.

This time also means that Diablo IV development team and engineers will probably need to work through the night to ensure a smooth season launch, resulting in additional overtime costs.

Furthermore, Diablo 4's official season updates deliberately avoid clashing with the seasons and leagues of other popular ARPGs.

This timing puts Season 11 very close to the release of its main competitor, Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.4.0. Patch 0.4.0 will be released on December 12th, bringing the new Druid class to Path of Exile series.

The Impact Of The Game Awards

The biggest reason for the two-day delay in Season 11's release is likely The Game Awards ceremony, also scheduled for December 11th, 2025. It's not just an awards ceremony, but also a platform for announcing major game news of the year.

The Game Awards will begin at approximately 7:30 PM Eastern Time / 4:30 PM Pacific Time, and Season 11 will be released a few hours after the awards ceremony.

The developers of Diablo IV have repeatedly hinted at revealing new content at The Game Awards, almost certainly the game's second expansion.

However, expansion announcements shouldn't affect season release dates. Therefore, this deliberate arrangement might suggest that Season 11 itself will include a surprise release linked to the expansion announcement. This content could be revealed at The Game Awards and released a few hours later with the season.

Speculation On The Surprise Release

New Class Paladin

Paladin is an extremely popular class in Diablo series, and its addition would greatly boost its popularity. Furthermore, some players have discovered that one of the cosmetic rewards for Season 11 Battle Pass closely resembles a flail, a classic Paladin weapon, and currently, there is no actual flail weapon type in the game. However, Season 11 already includes a major rework of core combat and stats systems, including elites, game difficulty, capstones, toughness, defense caps, and health potions.

Adding a completely new class without prior community testing or feedback on the public test server is extremely risky and logically illogical. Therefore, while the possibility of a new class is there, it is very small.

Expansion 2

So, is it possible that the official announcement of DLC 2 will be made directly? Generally, expansions, as paid content, require several months of promotion to introduce their features and attract players. It's unlikely they will be released without prior notice, and the official announcement has already stated that the expansion will be delayed until 2026. Therefore, the probability of announcing DLC 2 directly at TGA is very small.

However, Season 11 might release a brand new area connecting to the new expansion. After all, it's been over a year since the last DLC was released, and the official development of DLC 2 should be nearing completion, allowing them to promote it in-game beforehand.

The new area could serve as a prelude to the expansion. For it to be meaningful, the area would need to include side quests, new Diablo 4 items, main story clues, or new exclusive activities—which in itself constitutes a significant update.

While the specific content is unknown, Season 11 has a high probability of including unannounced surprise releases; otherwise, the seemingly illogical release timing of the season cannot be explained.

Other Clues

After the announcement of the first expansion, Vessel of Hatred, Diablo 4 added a free pet system. This proves that the developers have a history of adding free content alongside major announcements.

Furthermore, renowned game journalist Jez Cordon revealed that Diablo IV's content at The Game Awards goes far beyond just one expansion, indicating that there are even more surprises to come.

In any case, these hidden surprises have significantly increased the player community's anticipation for Season 11. What new content awaits us at 2025 TGA.