BioWare has announced what players can expect to come to Anthem in the next 90 days. For the next three months, which BioWare is calling Act 1, Anthem is getting several freeplay events, cosmetics, missions, and quality of life improvements.For the rest of February, BioWare has three freeplay events planned for Anthem. The first, There Be Giants, is already live and it spawns four uniquely powerful titans in the world for you and your friends to hunt down and destroy. Both Outlaw Outrage and Shaper Surge are also scheduled for this month.March is when a lot more content starts to drop. Both There Be Giants and Outlaw Outrage will return to freeplay. However, two new events, both unnamed, will premiere as well. March also sees Anthem get the first phase of its Legendary Missions, and new item rewards for completing contracts. The Elysian Stronghold caches will start containing new cosmetics as well, allowing you to customize your Javelin's look in different ways.In April, seven new freeplay events come to Anthem, as do even more rewards for you to earn and an expanded progression system. The second phase of Legendary missions come out as well, along with a new Stronghold--titled The Sunken. Social play also gets an update, with weekly stronghold challenges, leaderboards, and guilds getting added to Anthem. More freeplay events, missions, and item rewards are planned for May in Anthem's biggest planned content drop this year--the Cataclysm. This massive event was first teased in Anthem's gameplay reveal at E3 2017.In our Anthem review, Kallie Plagge gave the game a 6/10, writing, "Anthem has good ideas, but it struggles significantly with the execution. It's a co-op game that works best with no one talking; it buries genuinely interesting character moments and puts its most incomprehensible story bits at the forefront; its combat is exciting until you get to the boss fights and find your wings have been clipped. Even the simple, exhilarating act of flying is frequently interrupted by the limitations of your javelin, and you never quite shake that feeling of disappointment--of knowing, throughout the good parts of Anthem, that you'll inevitably come crashing back down."Info from Gamespot.com

Anthem's multiplayer focus represents a fairly massive change of pace for BioWare, which is best known for its choice-driven, single-player role-playing games. The developer's newest game even reminds you that it's best played with other people whenever you switch from Public play to Private. That said, you're still probably going to get a better experience playing by yourself--at least initially.In Anthem, you'll experience the story via a repetitive cycle. You'll talk to some NPCs in Fort Tarsis, get your story mission, head out in your javelin, hear some more narrative details over your radio, complete the quest, and be forced back to Tarsis to talk to some more people and get your next story mission. It's actually not all that different from how you complete the story in Mass Effect: Andromeda or Dragon Age: Inquisition, aside from being forced back to your hub area upon completing a quest. In theory, experiencing Anthem's story piece by piece with your friends is a cool idea, but in practice it usually results with you missing crucial details.If you decide to play Anthem with others, you're going to find yourself regularly shushing your companions or muting them entirely lest they speak over an important conversation. You're probably also going to be yelling at them to wait for you. If your allies get too far ahead of you, the game informs you that you're being left behind and will teleport you so that you can catch up. Getting teleported throws you into one of Anthem's many loading screens, during which you can miss out on a portion of an important in-game conversation or cutscene. This means it's not in your best interest to explore Anthem's world while playing the story if you're with others. Journeying into a mysterious cave or reading a text log typically results in being left behind and missing out on story beats as a consequence.As said before, you also can't start your next story mission until you return to Fort Tarsis and speak to the NPC who has your next quest. However, plenty of other minor characters populate Fort Tarsis--some carry side quests, while others are just fun to talk to. Some of the stories you hear from the NPCs in Fort Tarsis represent the best bits of narrative in Anthem. But again, it's hard to hear them when you have friends chatting in your ear--especially if they're egging you on to hurry up and just unlock the next mission so you can all get back to taking down enemy hordes and soaring through the skies. Every part of Anthem's story just becomes so rushed when you're with others.Where playing with friends does help, though, is when you're ready to tackle the endgame content. Destroying a titan with devastating combos composed of various primers and detonators set up by a team of Ranger, Colossus, Interceptor, and Storm javelins or tackling one of the more lengthy Stronghold missions are some of Anthem's best instances of gameplay. Although there are moments of idle radio chatter between your freelancer and some NPCs during the endgame missions, none of them have any major impact on understanding or appreciating Anthem's story. By the time you've completed the story and unlocked most of Anthem's endgame content, you should be close to level 30 as well, which allows you to tackle the more challenging Grandmaster difficulties where you can find the best loot and weapons in the game.So if you're set on jumping into Anthem, consider playing through the campaign the first time on your own. Playing the game on Easy or Normal makes combat a breeze--even Hard isn't all that difficult solo, but you'll have to be more strategic with how you play. Once you've gotten through the story at your own pace, then invite your friends to join you in tackling any leftover side missions you haven't completed, or jump into the Grandmaster difficulties and start grinding freeplay world events and Strongholds for loot with your fellow freelancers. It's not the way BioWare wants you to play Anthem, but, for now, it's the best way.If you're still on the fence about picking up the game, check out our Anthem review. Kallie Plagge gave the game a 6/10, writing "Anthem has good ideas, but it struggles significantly with the execution" and remarking how it's "a co-op game that works best with no one talking."Info from Gamespot.com

While playing Anthem, keep track of what you and your team are doing in freeplay mode. The game will cap how much experience you earn for world events, so doing a bunch in a row isn't in your best interest.In Anthem, you stop earning experience for completing world events after completing your third in a session. You should be returning to Fort Tarsis on a regular basis regardless in order to turn in your loot, see what you've found, level up, and reconfigure your Javelin. However, if you and your friends realize that you've been playing long enough in freeplay to complete three events, just head back to Fort Tarsis to reset your counter before continuing to play. That way, you'll be able to keep gaining the experience bonuses that are unlocked for completing world events.BioWare has announced what's coming to Anthem in the three months post-launch. There isn't much planned for February and March outside of additional freeplay events, new cosmetics, and Legendary missions. However, April sees Anthem getting a new Stronghold called The Sunken, as well as a huge social play update that adds weekly Stronghold challenges, leaderboards, and guilds. In May, the Cataclysm, an event BioWare has long teased will affect Anthem in numerous ways, will begin in the game.If you've picked up Anthem and you're looking for more tips on how to play--given how little the game actually tells you--be sure to read through our guides. We've listed them below.Anthem GuidesAnthem Combo Guide: Tips for Javelin Primers, Detonators, And Special EffectsAnthem: Best Masterwork And Legendary Guns We've FoundAnthem: This Is The Most Important Thing The Game Doesn't Tell YouIn our Anthem review, Kallie Plagge gave the game a 6/10, writing, "Anthem has good ideas, but it struggles significantly with the execution. It's a co-op game that works best with no one talking; it buries genuinely interesting character moments and puts its most incomprehensible story bits at the forefront; its combat is exciting until you get to the boss fights and find your wings have been clipped. Even the simple, exhilarating act of flying is frequently interrupted by the limitations of your javelin, and you never quite shake that feeling of disappointment--of knowing, throughout the good parts of Anthem, that you'll inevitably come crashing back down."Info from Gamespot.com

We're in the final stretch of Fortnite Season 7, but before Season 8 officially arrives, developer Epic Games is giving players a slew of Overtime challenges to complete. Much like standard weekly challenges, these task players with different objectives to aim for while you play, from taking down opponents with specific weapons to visiting certain locations around the island, and completing them will net you XP and unlock new cosmetics.Most of the Overtime challenges are fairly straightforward, so they shouldn't pose too much of a problem, but there is at least one that may give you some trouble, particularly if you aren't too familiar with the island: visit seven different waterfalls. This can be fairly difficult if you don't know where to look, but we've put together a map to help you along.Complete this challenge and you'll earn 500 XP. More importantly, it'll put you one step closer to getting Season 8's Battle Pass for free; in an unexpected move, Epic is giving the pass away to players who finish all of Season 7's Overtime challenges. Each Battle Pass typically costs 950 V-Bucks (just under $10), so it's a good idea to complete as many challenges as you can and try to snag the pass without spending any money.Season 7 of Fortnite is scheduled to end of February 28, so you have until then to complete any remaining challenges. You can see the full list of Overtime challenges here; we also have tips and guides for the trickier objectives in our complete Season 7 challenges roundup, as well as a guide on how to unlock the Prisoner skin variants.With Season 8 just around the corner now, Epic is holding one more double XP weekend in Fortnite to help players level their Battle Pass up and unlock any remaining rewards, from February 22-24. You can get another look at all of the skins and other cosmetics up for grabs in our Season 7 Battle Pass rewards gallery.Info from Gamespot.com

Launching upward off a jungle floor and bursting through a thick canopy of trees, bobbing and weaving your way under a waterfall as you take in the lush landscape below you, is one of the highlights of Anthem. Flight, in these moments, is freeing, serene and exhilarating all at once. But you will eventually have to come back down to earth. When you don't have a means to cool down in the air, you have to interrupt your flight to cool off on the ground--or else your suit will overheat and send you careening downward much more violently. This is what Anthem is like as a whole: a game where promising moments are bookended by frustration, where good ideas are undone before they can be fully realized.It can take a while to warm up to Anthem in the first place. In its intro mission, you are a rookie Freelancer--a hero type who battles threats to humanity in mechanized combat suits called javelins. But that brief mission ends in failure, and after a two-year time skip, you're now an experienced Freelancer. As a result, everyone talks to you as if you know everything about the world, even though much of the game's space-fantasy jargon is explained only in codex entries. "Shapers," "Arcanists," to "silence" this or that "relic"--all the dialogue is structured as if you already know what all these things are, so there's not even an element of mystery to it. It's just hard to follow.The story and overall worldbuilding do a great disservice to the characters, which have elements of what you might think of as BioWare's pedigree. The main cast is well-acted and genuine, with complicated emotions and motivations that might have been interesting had they been given time to grow. Two characters are mad at you for the events of the tutorial, even though it's never quite clear why; that bad blood spills over into your relationship with your current partner-in-Freelancing, Owen, and there's enough believable awkwardness there to make you almost feel bad for him. But because the narrative is so poorly set up, the drama feels unearned, the "emotional" reveals robbed of their impact, and any connection you might have had to the characters just out of reach.Exacerbating all of this is Anthem's loot game core, which is simple on paper. After every mission, you return to your base of operations, Fort Tarsis, to talk to people, get new missions, and tinker with your javelins using the loot you picked up from the previous mission. Missions themselves almost universally involve some quick narrative setup followed by flying, completing routine tasks, and plenty of combat (with more brief plot-related stuff thrown in via radio chatter).But this general structure doesn't work well in practice. You're told up front that playing Anthem with others is the best way to play and that you'll get better rewards in a group, but this means asking your friends to be quiet every few minutes so you can hear a bit of dialogue or to wait patiently while you tweak your loadout. Playing solo is better if you want to take your time and talk to different characters, but doing so can make missions more difficult or tedious. Matchmaking with random people is the best option, since you'll have people with you for grindy parts but will leave you alone for the story--but even then, it's easy to lose track of what's going on, especially if someone in your team is ahead of you and triggering dialogue early.And no matter what, you'll have to return to Fort Tarsis after each expedition, which makes for choppy pacing in both the story and the gameplay. There's no way to change your loadout on the go and no way to just continue on to another mission right away, and there are currently a number of loading screens in between leaving and returning to Fort Tarsis. It's hard to really get into any kind of flow.When I finally took the time to talk to NPCs in between missions, I found endearing characters and brief but interesting bits of story spread between them. There's one girl who just loves animals no matter how dangerous, and she'll happily tell you all about them; there's the oldest man in Fort Tarsis, who admits to doing some shady things to earn that title; there's an old woman whose daughter has been missing for years and might just need some kindness. Though it took some patience to do it, I was glad I stopped to listen to them.Throughout all of this, combat is the main thing keeping Anthem afloat. There are four types of javelins--Ranger, Storm, Interceptor, and Colossus--that are essentially a soldier, mage, assassin, and tank, respectively. Each plays differently, with a different pool of abilities, and you aren't locked into the one you start with; you unlock them as you level up. That, combined with a handful of new weapons and abilities after each mission, means that you're almost always experimenting with new loadouts and playstyles.I initially picked the Ranger, thinking it would be a good all-around class while I was learning the basics. But the guns alone aren't enough to make Anthem combat's exciting; I found a lot of the weapons, especially shotguns, to feel ineffectual. The Ranger's abilities are pretty straightforward, too--you get grenades and missiles and the like--which left me largely unimpressed with combat in the beginning. But then I unlocked the speedy Interceptor, whose gymnastic jumps and swift melee strikes are incredibly satisfying, and I started to get excited about trying new things in each successive mission.The Storm javelin became my favorite, though, because it both has interesting elemental abilities and can hover for minutes, not seconds, at a time before overheating. Its assortment of powers lends itself well to getting combos, which result in a satisfying explosion of sorts and a more chaotic battlefield. But more importantly, it's the only javelin that doesn't require frequent stops on the ground, and as a result it provides the most dynamic combat--you can go from shooting basic enemies in a hallway to floating above the battlefield, raining down lightning to wipe out five at once while scoping out the area for your team.Generally, all of the javelins can easily jet out of sticky situations in a pinch or briefly hover in the air to gain the upper hand, and combining movement with your abilities is consistently a good time. But when fighting titans and certain other bosses, there's a catch; a lot of them use fire attacks that overheat your suit and ground you instantly, robbing the fight of much of what makes combat interesting. You can still use your abilities, but they don't do much in these fights, and they fall flat compared to the often bombastic impact they have on regular enemies. This extends to the final fight, which is especially underwhelming.The endgame thus far is to complete high numbers of the various mission types, which amounts to repeating many individual missions. The draw is better gear, but without compelling high-level fights, you don't have anything to build toward with all that grinding. A post-credits cutscene has the most intriguing plot point in the game and serves as a preview of what might come later on--but right now it's just a promise, rather than a true incentive to keep going.It's worth noting that the early access period saw a number of technical hiccups. Dropped audio, server issues, long loading times, missions not registering as complete--I didn't have a single session without some sort of problem. A day-one patch aims to iron much of this out, but overall, the poor structure and pacing are a more frustrating problem.Anthem has good ideas, but it struggles significantly with the execution. It's a co-op game that works best with no one talking; it buries genuinely interesting character moments and puts its most incomprehensible story bits at the forefront; its combat is exciting until you get to the boss fights and find your wings have been clipped. Even the simple, exhilarating act of flying is frequently interrupted by the limitations of your javelin, and you never quite shake that feeling of disappointment--of knowing, throughout the good parts of Anthem, that you'll inevitably come crashing back down.Info from Gamespot.com

Rockstar has announced an update to Red Dead Online, the online multiplayer mode in Red Dead Redemption 2. The update is scheduled for next week on February 26, with some of the content--such as clothing and a new melee weapon--exclusive via PS4 early access. This content will come to Xbox One in time, though. For now, Red Dead Online still remains in beta.The update introduces a new in-game event called Fool's Gold in Free Roam. The event spawns a suit of golden armor, which can be worn. Doing so and killing players nets you points towards winning Fool's Gold. If you're not wearing the armor, you must track down and kill the person who is in order to claim it for yourself.New competitive fishing challenges will be added in the new update as well, as will three new Showdown modes: Up in Smoke, Spoils of War, and Plunder. A new race variation, called Target Races, is also included. In terms of weapons, the update adds the Evans Repeater rifle and the Rare Shotgun, both of which will be available via the Wheeler & Rawson Catalogue and local Gunsmiths. A variety of new clothes and emotes are also being added, allowing you customize your Red Dead Online character in new ways.In our Red Dead Redemption 2 review, Kallie Plagge gave the game a 9/10, writing, "While Red Dead Redemption was mostly focused on John Marston's story, Red Dead 2 is about the entire Van der Linde gang--as a community, as an idea, and as the death rattle of the Wild West. It is about Arthur, too, but as the lens through which you view the gang, his very personal, very messy story supports a larger tale. Some frustrating systems and a predictable mission structure end up serving that story well, though it does take patience to get through them and understand why. Red Dead Redemption 2 is an excellent prequel, but it's also an emotional, thought-provoking story in its own right, and it's a world that is hard to leave when it's done." Her impressions of the Red Dead Online beta, however, were not as positive.Red Dead Redemption 2 is available for Xbox One and PS4.Info from Gamespot.com

Rockstar is rolling out a big update for Red Dead Redemption 2 next week. The developer is introducing a variety of new modes, clothing, weapons, and other features to the game's online component, Red Dead Online, as well as a new set of timed-exclusive content for those playing on PS4.First, PS4 players will have early access to Open Target Races before they go live on Xbox One. These are variants of the new Target Races coming in the update, and they have players competing in an open space to shoot the most targets while riding on horseback.Additionally, PS4 players will get early access to a handful of items. Chief among these is the Jawbone Knife, which Rockstar describes as "a unique melee weapon with a handle artfully carved from the remains of a slain animal's jaw." PS4 players will also be the first to get "a range of new clothing options," as well as three new emotes.The Red Dead Online update will roll out for both PS4 and Xbox One on February 26. Rockstar hasn't specified when Open Target Races and the Jawbone Knife and other items will arrive on Xbox One, but previous timed PS4 content remained exclusive to Sony's console for 30 days, so that will presumably be the case with this batch.In addition to the timed PS4 content, next week's update will add a new Free Roam event called Fool's Gold, which has players vying to wear a ridiculous-looking gold-plated suite of armor. There will also be new competitive fishing challenges, three new Showdown modes--Up in Smoke, Spoils of War, and Plunder--and a handful of weapons. You can read more details on Rockstar's website.Info from Gamespot.com

Ubisoft has announced it's teaming up with Atlas Entertainment to develop a TV series that adapts its upcoming pirate adventure game, Skull & Bones. In a rather surprising vote of confidence, Ubisoft is starting production on the show before Skull & Bones even releases."Ubisoft is known for creating innovative video games that combine immense worlds with rich narratives," Ubisoft director of development for television Danielle Kreinik told The Hollywood Reporter. Kreinik is scheduled to be executive producer on the new series alongside Ubisoft film and television head Jason Altman.The Skull & Bones TV series is described as a female-driven drama that takes place in the same setting and time period as the game: the Indian Ocean at the end of the golden age of piracy. Amanda Segal, who's previously been an executive producer for Person of Interest and The Mist, is scheduled to write the series' pilot episode.Skull & Bones isn't the first video game Ubisoft has adapted for other media. In 2016, Assassin's Creed got its own live-action movie starring Michael Fassbender. That same year, Ubisoft announced The Division would be getting a movie as well, which will star Jake Gyllenhaal and Jessica Chastain. The Division movie is being both written and directed by Oscar winner Stephen Gaghan, and Ubisoft has confirmed it is "well on the way." Ubisoft's Women's Film and Television Fellowship is creating additional adaptations as well, including Child of Light and Werewolves Within.Skull & Bones builds on what made Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag great, with its surprisingly deep ship-to-ship combat. One of Skull & Bones' modes, called The Hunting Grounds, is a PvPvE shared-open world competition "where every player encounter matters." In this mode, you sail the Indian Ocean and loot merchant ships, set up trade routes, or attack other vessels. You can team up with others to take on more formidable threats, or betray the players you encounter and steal away their treasure.Skull & Bones is scheduled to launch for Xbox One, PS4, and PC in 2019.Info from Gamespot.com

Bethesda has released another update for Fallout 76. This week's patch--version 1.0.6.0 across platforms--is now live on PS4, Xbox One, and PC, and it makes another assortment of gameplay tweaks and bug fixes to the online RPG.The new patch weighs in at approximately 4.5 GB on consoles and 3.5 GB on PC. Among other things, Bethesda has once again increased players' maximum stash size, this time to 800 pounds (up from 600). The developer has also made it easier to contest ownership of another player's Workshop; you can now do so from anywhere within its build area.Additionally, Bethesda has made a few adjustments to the game's Wanted system; now you must completely destroy objects either in another player's CAMP or Workshop to earn a Wanted status. The developer says this change "should reduce cases of accidental crime."Beyond that, Bethesda has increased the time between Scorchbeast Sonic Screams, giving players a slightly longer reprieve between attacks. Bethesda says it has been looking over "lots" of feedback regarding the monsters and plans to make further balance adjustments to them.Rounding out the update is another long list of bug fixes. You can read the full patch notes, courtesy of Bethesda's website, below.Bethesda still has many more updates planned for Fallout 76. Among other things, the studio is working on a more competitive Survival PvP mode that removes the restrictions currently around the game's PvP encounters. Bethesda hasn't said exactly when this mode will go live, but the studio plans to release it in beta sometime in March.Fallout 76 Feb. 19 Update Patch NotesTable of Contents [hide]Fallout 76 Feb. 19 Update Patch NotesGENERALBALANCE AND DESIGNC.A.M.P., CRAFTING, AND WORKSHOPSENEMIESPVPSOUNDUSER INTERFACEBUG FIXESGENERALServer Maintenance: As we work on world servers that have been running for a long time and hitting some lag issues, we’ll be performing maintenance on those servers more frequently. You may receive an in-game message alerting you to this maintenance when it occurs, and you may be asked to join another world. This should improve the play experience for everyone during your adventures in Appalachia.BALANCE AND DESIGNPower Armor: The amount of springs required to craft and repair level 25, 35, and 45 Excavator Power Armor Legs has been significantly reduced.Weapons: Flare Guns have been removed from the legendary weapon list, as they can’t benefit from legendary mods.C.A.M.P., CRAFTING, AND WORKSHOPSStash Limit: The storage limit for the stash has been increased from 600 to 800 pounds. Dev Note: We’ve been reading your feedback that the current stash limit of 600 lbs could use an additional increase, and after some investigation found that we could offer some more storage space in the Stash.C.A.M.P. Placement: If a player’s current C.A.M.P. location is occupied upon joining a world, a message will now display which gives them option to stay in the current world or attempt to join a new one. If the player chooses to find another world, they will be removed from the current world and matchmaking will attempt to place them in a new one.This process can be repeated if the player’s C.A.M.P. location happens to also be occupied in the new world.Workshops: Players no longer need to interact with claimed Workshops directly to contest ownership, and Workshops can now be contested and captured from anywhere within the build area. Dev Note: The ability to contest a claimed Workshop is intended and encouraged behavior as part of Workshop design. This change should prevent situations where a Workshop owner could prevent others from attempting to contest it without becoming Wanted by destroying something or picking a lock to reach the Workshop.ENEMIESScorchbeasts: Increased the timer between successive Sonic Scream volleys to 10 seconds for Scorchbeasts and the Scorchbeast Queen in order to reduce the frequency of these attacks. Dev Note: This change should help players have some more time to react between Sonic Scream volleys. We’ve also been reading lots of feedback about Scorchbeasts in general that the community has been sharing, and we’re looking into further improvements and balance changes we can bring to them in the future.PVPWanted: Damaging a C.A.M.P. or workshop object created by another player no longer causes the attacker to become Wanted. The object must now be completely destroyed by the attacker in order to flag them as Wanted. Dev Note: We’ve received feedback from players who felt that it was too easy to become Wanted accidentally by damaging others’ C.A.M.P. and Workshop objects. We agree and made this change to help limit cases where a stray bullet could result in a bounty on your head.SOUNDSound Effects: Pulling the pin on a grenade to prime it before throwing now play audible sound effects for nearby players.Map: Sound effects now play when placing or moving custom Map markers.USER INTERFACEPlayer Icons: Hovering over a player’s name on the Map will now display their current player icon.Player Icons: Hovering over an owned Workshop on the Map will now display the current owner’s player icon.Turrets: Viewing a Turret placed by another player in their C.A.M.P. or at a Workshop will now display the owner’s name and player icon in the Turret’s nameplate.Voice Chat: The color of Voice Chat speaker icons on player nameplates now update based on that player’s current status: Neutral players display a pale-yellow icon, Allies display gold, and Hostile and Wanted display red.BUG FIXESPERFORMANCE AND STABILITYLoading: Addressed an issue that could cause controls to lock up if the player opened the Pip-Boy immediately after encountering a loading screen.Loading: Fixed an issue that could cause the player to encounter an infinite loading screen if they quit to the main menu immediately after joining a world.Loading: Fixed an issue on PC that could result in an infinite loading screen if multiple players on a team joined a world simultaneously.Loading: Fixed an issue that could cause a player to encounter an infinite loading screen due to an inventory discrepancy.Performance: Addressed an issue that could cause hitching while scrapping items.Performance: Attempting to craft many items at very high speed will now result in a delay of up to 1 second between subsequent crafting attempts after the first few. This was done to help improve server performance and should not affect normal crafting.Performance: Addressed an issue that could impact server performance when scrapping a large number of items in rapid succession.Performance: Addressed an issue that could cause reduced framerates when many players were firing weapons simultaneously in the same area.Stability: Addressed a crash that could occur when interacting with a Power Armor Station while wearing Power Armor.ART AND GRAPHICSApparel: Hair no longer clips through the Nuka-Girl Rocketsuit helmet.Apparel: Underarmor no longer remains visible while wearing the Silver Shroud costume.Emotes: Fixed an issue causing reduced framerates during the Snowball Fight! Emote’s animation.Enemies: Fixed an issue that could cause a second head to appear on a specific Scorched variant after decapitating it via headshot.Graphics: Switching outfits or weapons while the Chameleon mutation or legendary effect is active no longer causes those items to appear visible to other players.Nuke Code Pieces: Letters and Numbers displayed by Nuke Code Pieces will no longer appear misaligned on pickup.Perks: The throwing arc displayed by the Fire in the Hole perk now remains visible if the player moves while holding a fragmentation grenade.Photomode: Returning to first-person view after exiting Photomode with a ranged weapon equipped no longer causes the character model’s hands to appear offset or dark graphic effects to appear onscreen.C.A.M.P., CRAFTING, AND WORKSHOPSBlueprints: Blueprints containing a mirror ball can now be placed correctly and no longer cause an “Object is floating.” error message to display.Blueprints: Attempting to place a blueprint containing objects that have been placed on shelves no longer causes an “Object needs support” error message to display.Blueprints: Blueprint names now support a maximum of 25 characters.Budget: Tamed creatures no longer permanently consume C.A.M.P. budget after they are killed.C.A.M.P.: Fixed an issue that could cause a C.A.M.P. dialog to display to a new character before they had placed their C.A.M.P. for the first time.Crafting: Fixed an issue that could prevent items from being crafted or repaired despite having the required materials if those materials were split between the inventory and stash.Crafting: Players who have exceeded the absolute weight limit of 1,500 lbs plus their current maximum carry weight are now correctly notified that they are unable to craft items while over the limit.Exploit: Addressed an exploit that could allow items to be duplicated when moving C.A.M.P. locations.Exploit: Addressed an exploit that could allow items to be duplicated if a blueprint failed to save properly.Recipes and Plans: Fixed an issue that could prevent a player from crafting a Recipe or Plan they had previously learned.Scrapping: Bleached Dogwood is now protected from autoscrapping when crafting. However, it can still be scrapped manually.Workbenches: Attempting to place a Power Armor Station on a foundation in a structure that has multiple levels no longer causes the station to be placed on the second floor.ENEMIESScorchbeast Queen: The Scorchbeast Queen can now correctly drop Plans from the full range of Ultracite Power Armor Mod Plans in her loot list, and players now correctly receive a random roll from her loot list.Mothman: Fixed an issue in which Mothman would not leave the area when approached or respond to attacks.ITEMSApparel: The Clean Clown Outfit now correctly counts toward completion of the "Kill Wendigos" side mission at Freddie's House of Scares.Apparel: The Nuka-Girl Rocketsuit can no longer be equipped or unequipped while wearing Power ArmorApparel: The Nuka-Girl Rocketsuit outfit has been separated into two pieces - the body piece and the upper helmet. Dev Note: For the moment, the upper helmet, when not worn with the body piece, looks to be floating partly from the player character. This is temporary until we can rework the helmet itself. This was a necessary change to prevent poor interactions with Power Armor and underarmor. Players who already own the Rocketsuit, will automatically have access to craft the helmet.Armor: The Punishing legendary effect no longer reflects “slap” damage dealt by another player. This should prevent cases where a player wearing Punishing armor could become Wanted unintentionally due to reflected damage that killed their attacker.Armor: Fixed an issue causing damage reflected by the Punishing legendary effect to be reduced based on the defending player’s resistances.Cap Containers: Now award the correct number of Caps and no longer generate only 1 Cap as loot.Exploits: Removed an apparel Recipe that was not intended to be available in-game, as well as items created using that Recipe.Headlamps: Removed an erroneously added Atomic Shop flag from all non-Mothman Power Armor Head Lamps. Also added a separate red Mothman headlamp that works once Mothman Power Armor is equipped.Holotapes: Choosing to stop a Holotape now correctly stops that Holotape from continuing to play.Mods: Aiming down the sights after applying the Recon Sensors mod to a Power Armor helmet now correctly marks enemies on the compass.Power Armor: Resistances are no longer incorrectly reduced when entering Power Armor while wearing Underarmor.Power Armor: Now correctly prioritizes using the Fusion Core in the player’s inventory that has the least remaining charge, rather than selecting them at random.Power Armor: Fixed an issue that could allow Power Armor pieces with Atomic Shop paints applied to be transferred into containers.Weapons: The M79 Grenade Launcher and the Auto Grenade Launcher are now classified as heavy weapons, and correctly benefit from all heavy weapons perks except Heavy Gunner, as they benefit from Demolitions Expert instead.PERKSLast Laugh: Explosive Bait is no longer dropped on death while the Last Laugh perk is equipped.Martial Artist: Now only applies its attack speed bonus to melee weapons and no longer incorrectly increases the Gatling Gun’s rate of fire.Ricochet: The Ricochet perk fanfare no longer displays repeatedly when its effects are triggered multiple times in quick succession.Team Effects: A team invite must be accepted, and a team formed, before team-based perks, such as Squad Maneuvers, will apply their team effects.PVPRespawn: Being killed by a friend, selecting “Respawn”, and then using the Social Menu to respawn at a that friend’s location no longer causes those players to remain hostile toward each other.QUESTS, EVENTS, AND CHALLENGESQuest Containers: Non-quest items can no longer be transferred into the Feed the People and Path to Enlightenment event quest containers.One of Us: The Congressional Access Card is no longer lost if the player is disconnected or the server crashes.SURVIVALAddictions: Fixed an issue which prevented Addictions currently affecting the character from displaying in the Pip-Boy’s Status menu.Diseases: Rad Worms now only increases radiation damage taken by 50%, and no longer incorrectly increases Mutation and other effects.Mutations: Fixed an inconsistent interaction between the Class Freak, Barbarian, and Evasive perks that could cause them to stop functioning while affected by the Herd Mentality mutation.Mutations: The Healing Factor mutation no longer causes players to become invincible while in the downed state.USER INTERFACEC.A.M.P.: A player’s name will now correctly appear onscreen when viewing their C.A.M.P., even if that player is not nearby.Controls: Plugging in a controller after launching Fallout 76 on PC using a keyboard and mouse no longer causes the button indicators for interactable objects, like containers or workbenches, to disappear until the client is relaunched.Controls: Pressing the Quick Swap key (Default: Left D-pad) after the current weapon breaks now correctly swaps to an alternate weapon.Crosshairs: Fixed an issue causing crosshairs to expand and contract incorrectly for players running the game using 21:9 aspect ratios.Game Camera: Changing the face preset in the Change Appearance menu outside of Vault 76 no longer causes the camera to show an unintended angle in third-person view.Holotapes: Attempting to play a blank terminal holotape no longer causes the Pip-Boy to display a blank screen.Localization: “Perk Card Pack” text that displays when opening a new Perk Card Pack is now correctly localized in non-English versions of the game client.Map: Fixed an issue that could prevent player icons from displaying on the Map when choosing a respawn location.Map: Overencumbered players who die inside a Nuke Zone can now correctly respawn at the nearest Map marker.Notifications: “Ammo Removed” messages no longer appear onscreen when harvesting flora or other materials shortly after firing a weapon.Notifications: The “You have joined a team.” notification now correctly displays console controls, rather than PC hotkeys, in its subtitle text while playing on consoles.Notifications: Fixed an issue where players could sometimes receive a “Max weight limit reached.” message when attempting to trade with other players.Photomode Frames: Photomode frames that were purchased from the Atomic Shop now correctly display the Atom symbol in the photomode menu.Shop: Fixed an issue on PC that could cause controls to lock up when purchasing Atoms.Shop: Purchasing multiple items from the Atomic Shop in quick succession no longer prevents those items from appearing in crafting menus until the client is relaunched.Shop: Preview images have been added for the Kill, Laugh, Love Neon Sign.Teams: Attempting to join a teammate in a world from the main menu using the social menu no longer causes a message to display stating that they will be removed from the team.Teams: Fixed an issue that could prevent team members from loading into a world with the team leader after the leader selected “Play”.Teams: Fixed an issue in which the "Play with Team" option on the Main Menu became non-functional when attempting to rejoin teammates in a world following a crash or disconnect.Transfer Menu: The transfer bar now correctly stops at 1 when scrolling to reduce the transfer quantity.Voice Chat: The voice chat speaker icon now correctly appears in player nameplates, in team chat, and in the area chat list when a player is speaking. Info from Gamespot.com

Former EA executive vice president of worldwide studios Patrick Soderlund has announced his indie studio, titled Embark, is beginning development on its first game. In a blog post, Soderlund detailed the type of game Embark is working on."Lots about this first game of ours will change and evolve as we progress," Soderlund wrote. "With that caveat out of the way, I can tell you that it’s a cooperative free-to-play action game set in a distant future, about overcoming seemingly impossible odds by working together." Embark is using Epic's Unreal Engine to develop the game.Soderlund left EA in August 2018, but not before playing a key role in the company's development of the Battlefield and Star Wars Battlefront franchises, including Battlefield V and Battlefront II. "From his early vision for Frostbite, which has now become a cornerstone for our technology strategy, to being a champion for Players First experiences, Patrick has always ensured we put creative at the center of everything we do," EA CEO Andrew Wilson said when announcing Soderlund's departure.After Soderlund's departure, there was an internal shakeup within EA, and the company announced a renewed focus for how players consumed its games. "We're deepening our focus on user experience, and welcoming Jason Wozencroft to our studios to lead a strong, unified UX approach for our games and services," Wilson said. "And with new games and content playing a vital role in our networked future, the EA Originals and EA Partners teams led by Rob Letts will join our Strategic Growth group."Info from Gamespot.com

Combining character abilities with those of your squad is one of the key ways to get ahead in Apex Legends. Each of the fighters in Respawn Entertainment's battle royale shooter is geared toward a specific role on a squad, and utilizing how they complement one another can make you an effective unit. Knowing your role on a team and in a match, and picking the right character to go with your play style, is all part of the being successful in Apex Legends.Players who like to take the fight to the enemy might want to check out Bloodhound. The Technological Tracker character's abilities are all about hunting down and locating the enemy, and used by a smart team, the information Bloodhound provides can change the outcome of just about any fight--especially when paired with teammates who can take away the enemy's ability to see.We've got all the information you need below to become a capable Bloodhound player. You might also want to check out the useful information Apex Legends doesn't tell you, and read what we've discovered trying to bust myths to find out exactly what is and isn't possible in Apex Legends. You might also want to read our Apex Legends review.Other Character GuidesLifeline Guide: Tips On How To Be The Best Combat MedicMirage Guide: Tips On How To Be The Best Holographic TricksterPathfinder Guide: Tips On How To Be The Best Forward ScoutCaustic Guide: Tips On How To Be The Best Toxic TrapperWraith Guide: Tips On How To Be A Dangerous BamboozlerGibraltar Guide: Tips On Playing As The Shielded FortressBangalore Guide: Tips For Getting Kills As The Professional SoldierBloodhound General OverviewBloodhound is the only tracker character currently in the Apex roster, which gives them the unique role on a team of helping to find enemies to fight. As such, Bloodhound's a good choice if you're an aggressive player who likes to mix it up. Their abilities are all about getting you closer to enemy teams so you can take them down, and they team very well with characters like Bangalore and Caustic who can put their own capabilities to use for setting up ambushes or blinding enemy teammates.Playing as Bloodhound is a communication-heavy role--since you're the one with all the information about where enemies have gone and where they might be, it's on you to share it with your teammates to ensure you'll prevail in the inevitable fights. Bringing all the information you can gather to bear against another team can help your squad maintain an advantage, take enemies by surprise, and win more fights. It's tempting to use Bloodhound like a lone wolf who can see through walls and stalk prey, but you'll always be stronger with the rest of your pack.Bloodhound's AbilitiesPassive Ability: TrackerAs Bloodhound, you're going to want to pay a lot of attention to your surroundings. Your passive ability shows tracks from other players, allowing you to figure out where they've been and, potentially, where they're going. You'll also get a sense of how old the tracks are, which can let you know if you're already close to another team before they spot you.Tactical Ability: Eye of the AllfatherBloodhound's tactical ability is kind of like a sonar ping, giving you a brief look into an area and through walls to pick up on any enemies, traps, and clues in the area. It's a great way to check out your immediate surroundings as you enter somewhere new, but be warned that anyone can see the orange energy wave of your ping when you fire it--including opposing players.Ultimate Ability: Beast of the HuntIt takes a second to execute, but Bloodhound's ultimate is worth the wait. It more or less turns you into a killing machine, changing the look of the world so that it's black and white while highlighting enemies in red--even through walls. It also enhances your speed, making it possible to quickly close in on enemies and attack them in dangerous situations.Tips For Playing As BloodhoundBloodhound is all about information. Playing as a tracker allows you to see who's been where and when, giving you a bunch of knowledge about other teams' movements. The clues you can see, which indicate where an enemy has gone and what they've interacted with, include color-coded timers so you can tell how long ago someone passed through: if the clue is red, someone is probably nearby. You can also pick up clues at range with scopes, so pay attention to your environment and soak up all the information you can get. Be sure to share what you learn with your team, as they're relying on you to lead them on the hunt.Eye of the Allfather is great for getting a sense of what you're walking into as you enter a new area, and it's worth using it basically all the time if you're not 100-percent sure you're alone in an area. It can let you see enemies through walls and give you better clues as to where players have passed--and positional knowledge is often the difference in a fight. Other teams might see your Eye of the Allfather wave and pick up on your presence, but the knowledge gained about enemy locations is usually worth the sacrifice.If you're about to get into a fight and you can use it, pop Bloodhound's Beast of the Hunt ultimate. It gives you a significant edge in battle, making you quicker and highlighting enemies to make aiming easier. The highlights will also give you a sense of range on an enemy, indicated by the color red enemies appear in. Bloodhound is also great paired with Bangalore or Caustic, since you'll be able to see through smoke and gas to shoot at enemies that others can't target, and who should struggle to target you.You can also use Beast of the Hunt for its speed boost to escape the ring and to close the distance between you and an enemy squad. Keep in mind that you're faster and therefore tougher to hit, and use that to your advantage. Try flanking enemies and getting in close when you can, while also drawing fire away from teammates who can't get out of the line of fire as quickly.Bloodhound's abilities have a relatively short range in general, making them a good mid- to close-range fighter. Your Eye of the Allfather and Beast of the Hunt abilities are a lot less useful from far away or while sniping, so keep that in mind as you choose your weapons and cross open ground. Info from Gamespot.com

Tetris 99 was a surprise reveal during Nintendo's recent Switch Direct presentation. It's Tetris's take on the battle royale genre, as 99 people battle it out to be the last brick-layer standing.As it's an online multiplayer game, you'll need a Switch Online membership to play, however the game itself is free-to-play. As with last year's Tetris Effect, it's an interesting new twist on a series that's been around for nearly as long as gaming itself. However the question remains: is it any good?Our critic, Peter Brown, certainly thinks so, as he awarded the game an 8/10 in our Tetris 99 review. For more reviewers' opinions, read on below; alternatively, check out GameSpot sister site Metacritic for the full picture on Tetris 99's critical reception.GameSpot -- 8/10"Tetris 99 may not be a proper battle royale game, but it taps into the same emotional well, where a large number of players vying for supremacy creates an ever-present intensity that's difficult to shake. Add that layer to a game that's plenty capable of instilling tension on its own, and you've got a riveting experience that even at its worst is still a game very much worth playing. There's obvious room for improvement, but that's the last thing on your mind when the pieces start falling and the players start dropping." -- Peter Brown [Full review]IGN -- 8.5/10"Tetris 99 is a maniacally intense battle royale that forces you to make strategic decisions beyond just where to drop your next piece. This is Tetris on steroids, where a good run can quickly turn into a disaster and a bad run can turn into a surprising comeback. There’s a lot of luck involved, which can lead to some unfair-feeling knockouts, but it’s quick and easy to jump back in. This nerve-wracking and utterly delightful take on one of the greatest games of all time feels perfect on Switch, and on its own it justifies the $20 annual cost of the Nintendo Switch Online subscription." -- Steven Petite [Full review]Nintendo Life -- 9/10"The complete oddball of the family, Tetris 99 offers a truly unique way to play the tried-and-tested classic, even if the overall package feels a little lightweight. Playing live against 98 others is chaotic, and the action feels fast, precise, and wonderfully addictive. It's seriously difficult, too--we'd fancy our chances in Fortnite over this any day--and we're impressed with the fact that it's forced us to play the game with a completely different approach to our usual slow-and-steady ways. Signing up for Nintendo Switch Online just to play this game might be a bit of a stretch, but if you're already a member, what are you waiting for? It’s free, and it might just become your next favourite time sink." -- Ryan Craddock [Full review]Pocket Gamer -- 4/5"Tetris 99 is chaotic, ridiculous, and a little barebones, but it's also a damn good game of Tetris." -- Ric Cowley [Full review]Info from Gamespot.com

Media Molecule's Dreams for PS4 has been in the works for a number of years, but until now the closest we had to a release date was merely a vague "2019." Now, the developer has confirmed Dreams will launch in early access this spring."Early access won't have everything that the full version of Dreams will, but you'll get 100% of the same Dreams tools that we have used every day at Media Molecule to make our content," wrote the company's director, Siobhan Reddy, on the PlayStation Blog. "As well as fun, deep interactive tutorials catering for all skill sets and levels, and Media Molecule crafted arcade games ready to play and remix. If you joined us during the beta period, you'll also have your beta creations to return to. Along the way, we’ll be adding more features, tutorials, arcade levels, and assets during the early access period as we build towards the full slate of launch content."Reddy goes on to confirm Dreams' early access version is a limited release, meaning Sony will take the game off sale once a certain number of copies have been shifted. This, Reddy says, is to ensure Media Molecule can adequately listen and respond to player feedback.The early access edition will launch on the PlayStation Store this spring for US $30 / €30, with UK and AU pricing yet to be announced. A precise release date for the early access version has also not been confirmed, while we are no closer to knowing the release window for the game's final version.Dreams' beta was held in January, and players came up with some wild creations. One person even managed to a battle royale-style game inside Dreams.Info from Gamespot.com

The January sales are over, new games are coming out, and everything's expensive again. But wait! A big new sale has appeared on the PlayStation Store in Europe, discounting plenty of great PS4 games.Ubisoft titles make up a large part of the promotion, with Assassin's Creed Odyssey, for example, down to £30 and Far Cry 5 down to just £20 for PS Plus subscribers. The Division 2's release date is just a few weeks away, meanwhile, so why not pick up the first game for just £9?Elsewhere, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is available for 35% off at £39, while Grand Theft Auto V's Premium Online Edition is down to £13. The sale also has an extensive list of games available for under a tenner--take a look at the full list of games on sale over at the PlayStation Blog.February's free PS Plus games are also available now. This is the last month you'll be able to pick up PS3 and PS Vita games for no extra cost, but those platforms are at least going out with a bang: Divekick and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots are the final PS3 PS Plus games, along with Gunhouse and Rogue Aces for PS Vita. Divekick also has cross-buy with Vita, and both of the Vita titles have cross-buy with PS4. Finally, February's PS Plus games for PS4 are For Honor and the 2016 reboot of Hitman.Info from Gamespot.com

Following a partial leak of the upcoming Anthem update, BioWare has released a more extensive list of patch notes and released the update. This "day one patch" will be waiting for players who buy the game on its wide release day, but it's coming several days into the early access period.BioWare released the official notes on Reddit. While the original list was lengthy, the new one is even more extensive. It lists more than a dozen new changes, along with minor updates and revisions of some of the tweaks that were already on the list. As before, the high-level fixes focus on load times, crash and loading bugs, and challenge tracking. Other improvements include changes to Strongholds, crafting, the UI, and much more.Anthem went live on Friday, February 15, for players with EA Access on Xbox One or Origin Access on PC. Both offer a 10-hour trial, and Origin Access Premier granted unlimited access. Those players have been experiencing the game without these improvements for almost a week. The full game will go live at midnight on Friday, February 22, in your local time zone."Anthem has good ideas, but it struggles significantly with the execution," critic Kallie Plagge said in GameSpot's Anthem review. "It's a co-op game that works best with no one talking; it buries genuinely interesting character moments and puts its most incomprehensible story bits at the forefront; its combat is exciting until you get to the boss fights and find your wings have been clipped. Even the simple, exhilarating act of flying is frequently interrupted by the limitations of your javelin, and you never quite shake that feeling of disappointment--of knowing, throughout the good parts of Anthem, that you'll inevitably come crashing back down."Once you do pick up your copy, make sure to claim your pre-order and special edition bonuses. Plus you can check out a short film from District 9 and Chappie director Neill Blomkamp.Anthem Day One Update Patch NotesHigh level fixesDecreased loading times for older disk drivesFixed many infinite loading screensFixed multiple challenges not tracking properlyA number of issues have been fixed that were causing players to disconnect or crashWeapons and gear now have numbers present for modifiersGeneral Fixes and ImprovementsLoot Reveal and Expedition Summary now correctly play during the end of expedition screen.The gather party mechanic has been made more lenient in a number of situationsAt the end of expedition screen players will no longer get stuck on "Recording Victories" or "Skipping All".Game no longer hangs in Javelin menu when unlocking the second, third or fourth javelinDuring the mission “What Freelancers Do” dying after killing Junkmaw & freeing Arcanists leaves you unable to progress, this has been fixedChallenges now unlock for players at the correct levelsFixed some camera issues during cutscenesLegendary Contracts can now be accepted from the Social Hub contract boardSome enemies have had their shield values decreasedLoot now properly drops for players who are downedThe texture quality on the NPC Prospero has been improvedFinal boss of strongholds now drop loot instead of only being shown on the end of expedition screenFixed the time outs on echoes and relics to prevent griefing and to handle disconnections properlyPlayers can no longer fall through the floor during the 3rd trial in the Fortress of DawnCompleting the tutorial expedition will now show the correct Ranger appearanceAfter disconnecting, rejoining an expedition will now place you back into a squad if you were in one previouslyCorrected an issue where players could not interact with each other in the launch bay in certain circumstancesCorrected an issue during the Mission "Bad Deal" where outlaws won't spawn, blocking progressThe start of expedition screen has been improvedAddressed a variety of situations where killing enemies does not properly progress world eventsOpening a chest now increments Tomb of the Legionnaire progress for all squad members presentScar snipers can no longer shoot through Storm ShieldCorrected an issue where players would get stuck on the end of expedition screen in some situationsPlayers will no longer get disconnected if joining the "Finding Old Friends" mission while the cinematic is playingAddressed a number of situations where players can get stuck on the environment in the launch bayIncreased the damage of the electric status effectCorrected an issue where the Shield of Dawn could be crafted with less materials then intended in some situationsThe Platinum Mission feat now grants completion as intendedStatus effects can more reliably be applied to TitansFixed loading animations on Marksmen RiflesPlayers can now access the Vault from the ForgeSwimming into jellyfish underwater no longer leaves a visual effect stuck on players.Idle animations will no longer sync up over time in the Launch BayHaluk is no longer dual-wielding canes in the epilogue sceneCorrected an issue where players could not interact with each other in the launch bay in certain circumstancesFixed an issue that could cause players in the launch bay to have identical emotes and be unable to use themInterceptor melee ability animations will no longer stretch out in certain situationsCorrected an issue where the default Ranger appearance doesn't preview in the forge in some situationsAll animations now play as intended in the ForgePlayers can now enter the Tomb of Gwanes while in a partyThe default Javelin wear state has been changed from "Dirty" to "Old"Sentinel Loyalty 2 text no longer incorrectly states that it will lead to a larger vaultPicking up ammo from the ground now properly gives you 30% of that ammo back into both the current magazine and the maximum spare ammoFixed a bug where some global (Javelin Icon) inscription bonuses were not being properly applied to the Javelin and other gear/weapons.Fixed some issues that could cause the Armor Pip count on the UI to break and not display properlyStrongholdsFixed an issue that would cause a Stronghold server crash after defeating the last bossTemple of Scar - Players can no longer get stuck in the mined tunnel in the explosives roomTemple of Scar - Players can no longer be blocked from entering the explosives room due to fog wallFixed Tyrant Mine so people that join the stronghold in-progress do not end up locked away from their teamAdjusted lighting in Tyrant Mine underwater section to make it easier to navigate to the exitThe Swarm Tyrant will no longer get stuck in the side cave entrances in some situationsCorrected an issue where players would spawn into different areas of the Tyrant Mine in certain situationsImplemented more safeguards to stop players from going AFK in StrongholdsChallengesOnly Masterwork items can now be used to progress Masterwork challenges as intendedCorrected an issue where some Challenges track progress simultaneously instead of incrementally, as intended. (ex: Blast Missile I and then Blast Missile II instead of both incrementing at the same timeGear and WeaponsAfter having 1st pilot unlock suit after tutorials, creating a new pilot and going to forge no longer causes load screen hangIce damage bonuses are now correctly applied on ice gearSuit-wide bonuses from inscription are now functioning properlyPlayers can no longer salvage equipped itemsJavelin specific gear and/or weapons are no longer able to be used on javelins they aren't intended forCorrected an issue where in some circumstances Masterwork Components do not have any inscriptionsThe Endless Siege Masterwork Autocannon no longer displays a damage increase of 0% in its tooltipSuit-wide specific weapon ammo bonuses coming from infusions are now correctly appliedA Network Error Message no longer appears when opening an item chest in the second tutorialColossus shoulder gear will now share the appearance of the rest of the javelin as intendedDeadeye has increased spare ammo 10 -> 20Cloudburst has had increased damage 16.3 -> 21Torrent has had increased damage 22.2 -> 28.6Lightning Strike’s pre-visualization will now accurately depict that the explosion snaps to the ground.(Ranger) Inferno Grenade base damage 130 -> 175(Interceptor) Cryo Glaive base damage 20 -> 50(Storm) Living Flame base damage 50 -> 60(Storm) Glacial Beam base damage 150 -> 120(Storm) Arc Burst secondary damage 100 -> 150(Ranger) Pulse Blast base damage 225 -> 300, and now deals extra damage to Shields (previously did extra damage to Armored).(Ranger) Blast Missile now properly scales up in damage as the item level increases(Interceptor) Melee attacks now have some minor resistance penetrationLarge Area of Effect abilities will better register multi-kill activities for challenges and medalsSpark Dash functionality has been significantly improved when the target enemy is at a different height (above/below) the Interceptor.Several gear pieces that had missing primer or detonator icons have been fixed. InterceptorTempest Strike - Detonator IconSpark Dash - Detonator IconVenom Spray - Primer IconDetonating Strike - Primer IconColossusLightning Coil - Detonator IconShock Coil - Primer IconFlamethrower - Primer Icon Several improvements have been made to ensure gear use on PC prioritizes turning the Javelin towards the reticle when used rather than casting in front of the Javelin's current direction. JavelinsThe Colossus javelin is now able to activate its shield more quickly after using an ability or firing a weaponThe Storm javelin now reacts to getting hit when its shields are upFixed an exploit that allowed the Storm's ultimate attack to be used more times than intendedThe Colossus exo can now shield and revive at the same timeInterceptor Combo Aura has been increased in power and now has a damage over time componentRanger melee now has a cooldown when striking in the airThe Target Beacon ability now correctly seeks targetsSpark Dash and Venom Spray now target based on player cursor instead of character facing. This should also improve the travel path of Spark Dash.The Colossus will no longer be knocked out of the sky in some situations when the attack was blocked by their shieldCombos + Status EffectsCombo indicator icons above creatures now are correctly removed when detonated.When a Storm detonates an electric status effect the chained electric effect now correctly deals damage.Combo damage now penetrates resistancesCraftingNon-Masterwork materials purchased from the crafting store now show as their proper rarity instead of incorrectly showing as MasterworkA number of javelin components that had different icons for their recipes and the actual items are now the sameThe Battle Cry gear recipe now has the correct descriptionFixed Spark Beam gear having the wrong description when being craftedCrafting recipes are now sorted alphabeticallyThe items in the crafting store are now sorted by type to be clearerControls Additional Mouse and Keyboard control improvements have been made UISome conversations were not popping up the reputation points post conversation completion, this has been fixedThe squad screen now displays the correct information for each playerFixed a number of issues where subtitles will no longer get stuck on the screen after dialogue has finished as oftenSettings should no longer reset upon exiting and restarting the game on Xbox OneMotion blur can now correctly be turned offThe Electric Status Effect now shows scaled damage properlyAn option has been added to hide the Squad Member HUDThe edge of the compass will now pulse to indicate enemy locationsA notification has been added in Fort Tarsis if a player's vault is at the cap of 250 itemsOn the "Repair the Strider" step of "A Cry for Help" the search radar has been adjusted to correctly lead the player to all 4 toolsPrimer and Detonator icons have been added to all Interceptor gearCorrected a user interface issue where a player’s ultimate would show as available when it isn'tToggling the HDR option now properly prompts the Apply Changes buttonPlayer banners should now display correctlyCamera shake slider has been added to settings menuPlayers may now track 10 challenges instead of 5An option to adjust screen boundaries on consoles has been addedChanging a player banner through the banner menu now properly saves the selectionHealth, cooldowns, and key bindings now light up on supported keyboardsPlayers will now receive more clear messaging when a squad is disbanded or are kicked from a squadSquad leaders will no longer always show as readyThe icon for players in a downed state will no longer appear in cutscenesCypher Annotations will now appear for more than one player if they are looking at it simultaneouslyRemoved mentions of respawning on the player UI when they die in a restricted respawn areaThe Player Banner now updates immediately when updated from the squad screenFixed a number of situations where a combo will trigger but no combo floating text appearsPressing esc to pass a notification screen no longer opens up the in-game menuQuick chat messages will no longer appear from an ignored playerRemoved a message from the mailbox which incorrectly stated that messages will be removed after 3 daysA number of inscription icons have been updated to properly reflect whether they are Javelin specific or notCorrected an issue where players could not change loadout names on PCPlayers no longer need to exit and re-enter the forge for loadout names to updateThe on-screen VOIP indicator which shows a player speaking will no longer be active if that player is mutedInfo from Gamespot.com