The GTA 6 pre-orders are going live soon, letting you pre-purchase your chosen edition of the game for when it launches in November. You might be wondering why there's so much fuss around a pre-order, but since GTA 5, a GTA release has become a once-in-a-decade global phenomenon, even if it isn't confirmed when we'll be getting it on our personal computers.

Rockstar has officially released info explaining when pre-orders go live for each region, so I'll explain that down below, plus a few other things we've learned today.

GTA 6 pre-order release times

You can pre-order Grand Theft Auto 6 on June 25 at midnight local time. Yes, that means no simultaneous release across the globe, but it'll actually vary based on where you live. The info was shared on Rockstar Games official instagram, so you can believe the validity of the source. Sadly, there's no word of a PC release date yet, but it'll most likely come later on as with the previous game.

Rockstar has released info about each edition of the game and their bonuses on its official site. It does look like GTA 6 will also cost $79.99 and $99.99 according to info that's emerged, which is a little more expensive than many were expecting.

We might also get to see a new trailer when pre-orders drop as an added incentive, though I guess with where the hype's currently at it might not even be necessary. Hopefully those pre-ordering will get to see more of the game before they do anyway.

The best Darktide Skitarii build for my money is all about the powerful Chordclaw ability. While the Servo Skulls are certainly fun and provide a lot of utility, such as rezzing allies or solving puzzles, if you're a melee-enjoyer like me, Chordclaw's skewering hand is too good to pass up, and can brutalize both bosses and tanky enemies.

I'll explain the build in depth below, but it's essentially about crit-ing lots for added bonuses like regaining ability energy, and then using Chordclaw lots to murder enemies and gain further bonuses. It's pretty straightforward, so here's how to set it all up.

The best Darktide Skitarii build

After experimenting with the Skitarii, the best build I found revolves around the powerful Chordclaw ability and using crits to electrocute enemies and gain capacitance (your ability resource). Chordclaw fires out a stabbing arm, a guaranteed rending crit which, buffed with its sub-talents, Probing Strikes and Slice and Dice, hits three times, applies bleed, and gains extra damage for each successive hit.

This is further enhanced with Electro-Strike Conduit, which makes melee crits apply electrocution (including the Chordclaw). Flux Conduit Build-Up will provide capacitance as you crit to regain Chordclaw charges (which includes Chordclaw uses), plus when you do Chordclaw, Moebian Conductor, Voltaic Restoration, and Enhanced Capacitance Protocols will buff your overall damage, replenish toughness, and regain all stacks for Flensing Protocols.

Flensing Protocols is vital here—this key node and its sub-talents give you eight stacks of +2.5% damage and toughness damage reduction, and +1.5% crit chance and melee attack speed. These are reduced when you get hit by enemies, but you regain them all whenever you use Chordclaw.

Lastly, the Integrated Refraction Emitter gives you a three-charge shield which you can use in tricky spots to avoid ranged damage and electrocute enemies in an AoE for more damage against them, thanks to talents like Weakness Analysis Doctrine and Retribution Conduit. It sounds complex, but the fundamentals are crit lots, use Chordclaw lots, profit.

Best Skitarii weapons and relics

These are the weapons, blessings, and perks I recommend using for the Skitarii:

• Melee weapon: Paired Transonic Blades
  • Blessing 1: Shred (+4% bonus critical hit chance on chained hit. Stacks five times)
  • Blessing 2: Perfect Strike (Critical hits ignore hit mass armour bonus from armour. +10% melee critical hit damage)
  • Perks: Melee crit chance, melee crit damage

While the Arc Maul is a very strong weapon to start with, I recommend hopping to the Paired Transonic Blades when you unlock them. These Mechanicus swords have two different attack patterns that you switch via the special weapon action: a series of horizontal slashes for hordes, and downward strikes and stabs for single entities, so make sure to swap between them if you suddenly spot a Mauler or Crusher amidst the crowd.

Considering this build is all about hitting crits (electrocuting enemies for bonus damage and gaining capacitance), I recommend taking Shred and Perfect Strike, the classic Zealot combo which buffs crit chance, crit damage, and makes crits ignore armour mass for more cleave. If you feel like you're still not crit-ing enough, swap Perfect Strike for Riposte—if you play anything like me, you're dodging constantly, so this crit chance buff on dodge is easy to maintain. Perk-wise, I suggest crit chance and crit damage to buff it further.

• Ranged weapon: Galvanic Rifle
  • Blessing 1: Deadly Accurate (+60% critical weak spot damage)
  • Blessing 2: Headhunter (+20% critical chance on weak spot hit until your next critical hit. Stacks five times)
  • Perks: Ranged crit damage, +% damage to carapace armoured enemies

The Galvanic Rifle is a very satisfying weapon and I mainly use it as a means to quickly snipe troublesome specialists or enemies in the midst of combat. With that in mind, I chose Deadly Accurate and Headhunter. These will ensure that your headshots are more likely to crit and that they hit incredibly hard, letting you quickly deal with dangerous foes.

For perks, I recommend you buff your ranged crit damage and (considering you've already got plenty of crit chance via Headhunter) your damage to carapace armoured enemies, who will be the trickiest to kill with ranged attacks.

• Curio bonuses: Toughness, max health, sprint efficacy

Lastly, for curio bonuses I suggest the usual combination of toughness, max health, and sprint efficacy. It never hurts to have a little corruption resistance and an extra wound either, but neither is strictly necessary, I don't think.

Best Skitarii talent and keystone levelling path

This is my recommended levelling order for the Skitarii, but it's worth noting that you can grab most of these at any point thanks to its radial skill tree, as I do in the video above. So, if you're struggling with survivability, pick the talents in here that buff toughness, or if you need extra damage, focus the ones that buff that instead.

Skitarii build playstyle

As mentioned, this build is all about using crits to electrocute enemies and regen capacitance for your powerful Chordclaw ability, which will also provide benefits on use. You've also got the Integrated Refraction Emitter shield to keep you alive under heavy fire or when you need to revive an ally. Here are some other tips for playing this build:

1. Regularly use Chordclaw for tough foes and bosses

Chordclaw murders most enemies and brutalises bosses. Landing three strikes will kill a Crusher from full health in Heresy—I genuinely cannot imagine the havoc a team of four Skitarii with this ability will wreak. Chordclaw also provides extra benefits thanks to this build (including regen-ing Chordclaw because of its guaranteed crit hits), so use it often, especially as it will replenish all your Flensing Protocol stacks if you've been hit by enemies.

2. Snipe annoying specialists with your Galvanic Rifle

The Galvanic Rifle is a great weapon for headshotting foes at long range, and if you're following this build it's essentially set up as a headshot crit machine. Use it for snipers, flamers, poxbursters, hounds, bombers, gunners, ragers, and just about anything else you can safely kill at range with a quick cranial plink.

3. Switch Paired Transonic Blade modes for different foes

It took me a while to get used to this, but make sure to use your special weapon action to swap your Transonic Blades into single-entity mode. I'm pretty sure it changes the weapon's profile, because it suddenly becomes significantly better at piercing armour for Maulers and Crushers. You can also switch modes mid-combat and I'm pretty sure this move counts as a block, too.

4. Use the Integrated Refraction Emitter in tricky spots

Though it costs grenade uses, the Integrated Refraction Emitter is absurdly strong against ranged enemies. You can use it to complete objectives or revive allies under fire, and allies can even shelter behind you since it's an AoE shield. Thanks to its Kinetic Repulsion sub-talent, it also reduces health damage you take in melee and electrocutes enemies around you on use (for increased damage), making it handy for any tough spots you find yourself in.

The Sims 4 painted the town green with its outdoorsy, fairy-themed expansion, but if you don't want to work your way up the faefolk rankings to get to the good stuff, you can use Enchanted by Nature cheats for an easy shortcut. Some fairy features don't have their own code, but here you'll find cheats for most Sims 4 careers, skills, and traits that were added with the expansion.

If you need extra guidance, check out our main list of The Sims 4 cheats for a refresher on the basics. And if you're looking for other expansion commands, we've got lists for Businesses & Hobbies cheats and Life & Death cheats.

Enchanted by Nature career cheats

Enchanted by Nature added one new career to The Sims 4 with the Naturopath. It's a handy career for curing ailments, and you can even take things a step further with branching career paths as a Lifestyle Coach or Apothe-curist.

Enchanted by Nature skill cheats

The Sims 4 received two new skills with Enchanted by Nature: Apothecary and Natural Living. Sims skilled in Apothecary will learn how to make cures for ailments, while Natural Living sims learn how to thrive outdoors.

Use the testingcheats true command before setting a skill level via cheat code.

Enchanted by Nature trait cheats

Sims get three standard traits in this expansion: Disruptive, Mystical, and Plant Lover. There are Enchanted by Nature cheats for all three, but you can always add them via Create-a-Sim by:

• Using testingcheats true in the cheat console
• Using cas.fulleditmode in the cheat console
• Clicking your sim and selecting "Edit in CAS"
• Find both in the "Social" traits section

You can also add or remove traits in the console with the codes below. Traits marked with the fairy emoji 🧚 are exclusive to the occult sim.

Personality traits

Reward traits

Enchanted by Nature death cheats

Enchanted by Nature adds two overdramatic deaths for fairy sims, Death by Emotional Starvation and Death by Emotional Overload, but there's only a cheat for one.

Fairy death cheats

How fairy sims die from Emotional Overload

Fairies can detect and absorb other sims' emotions, but consuming Overload Moodlets can lead to Death by Emotional Overload. Here's how to get the process started:

• Use Detect Emotion on other sims to find overload emotions (look for an exclamation❗)
• Use Absorb Emotion until it triggers Enraged, Hysterical, or Mortified
• Continue until triggering Death by Anger, Death by Laughter, or Death by Embarrassment

Sims have been able to die from extreme emotions for a while, but the fairy sim option is still a new way to experience all three possibilities. If you're trying to avoid death or bring someone back, refer to our main list of Sims 4 cheats.

Enchanted by Nature fairy cheats

As Enchanted by Nature's occult sims hone their magical abilities, they'll also improve their fairy ranking. There are five ranks to work (or cheat) your way through, each with their own perks and special manipulation magic.

There's no cheat to directly equip the fairy rank to your sim, but you can use an XP shortcut to accomplish the same thing.

There are tons of new activities in Dave the Diver: In the Jungle, from turn-based jungle combat against spiders and snakes to hunting game birds in the woods with a rifle. But one activity had me more excited than all the rest combined: fishing.

Weird to say it, but after catching hundreds of fish in Dave the Diver, Dave can finally do some fishing—not with a harpoon or net gun or an underwater shottie, but with a good old-fashioned fishing rod. Once you've got it you'll be able to fish in several ponds scattered around the jungle and start collecting new fish types you won't find anywhere else. But first, you've got to acquire a fishing rod, and that means bringing down a very mean fish.

How to get the fishing rod in Dave the Diver: In the Jungle

To get the fishing rod, you'll first need to do a favor for one of the villagers. Look for Basu, a friendly fellow who lives east of Dave's cabin, just on the edge of the lake. He's usually just outside his house, though he may be fishing off his dock, so you may need to enter his house and walk out the back door overlooking the water.

Talk to Basu and ask him about his favorite things. He'll start talking about Piraiba Catfish, requesting that you serve the fish in some form in your restaurant. He won't mention the fishing pole, but that's the reward for bringing him some Piraiba Catfish.

To find the Piraiba Catfish, go diving in the lake and start swimming to the right. You want to be at a depth of between 35-75 meters while you explore. The Piraiba Catfish will typically appear around the middle of the lake at that depth. It's dark gray with a white underbelly, it's about three times larger than Dave, and it's got long whiskers. Here's what it looks like:

The Piraiba Catfish is a tough customer, so make sure you have extra ammo as one of your hotbar items and spare oxygen (healing) as the other. It has a tendency to swim directly toward you and try to suck you into its mouth.

As it tries swallowing you, you'll have to beat a quicktime event to avoid it, and if you fail, you'll have to play another quicktime event to escape from its stomach. I'd recommend circling it while taking shots with the sniper rifle, switching to your shotgun when it's close up, and swimming either directly up or down when it's charging at you to avoid its mouth.

After you've killed the catfish, either summon your salvage drone to take it away or cut off some of its meat with your knife. Leave the lake and head back to Basu. Once you've delivered a piece of Piraiba Catfish to Basu, he'll give you the fishing rod. His shop also becomes available, where you can buy bait and fishing rod upgrades.

Now you can go fishing at any of the fishing spots in the game! They're all marked on your map with a fishing rod icon. There's a pond to the west of the village by the waterfall near the shooting range, and there are three fishing ponds on the jungle map. You can also fish off of Basu's dock next to the lake.

It's time to abandon your old flowerbeds and plant something fresh—one of Roblox's most popular games officially has a sequel in Grow a Garden 2. The new Roblox experience is a lot like the original, but with a few quality-of-life tweaks and added threats as other players can now steal your hard-earned seedlings. That means you'll need more resources than ever to stay safe from player heists, so we're tracking all active Grow a Garden 2 codes below.

All active Grow a Garden 2 codes

• TEAMGREENBEAN - 3x Green Bean Seeds

Expired Grow a Garden 2 codes

There are no expired Grow a Garden 2 codes at this time.

How to redeem Grow a Garden 2 codes

Arc Raiders gave us a surprise player project in the latest update to keep us busy for a few weeks while Embark is cracking on with Frozen Trail coming in October. The Converging Paths project works in tandem with the Forgotten Relics event, asking you to donate your new trinkets to build a display stand for them.

I'll outline everything you need to do below, but I'll warn you now that it's a limited-time event, running from June 16 through to July 27. I do wish we could customise our den and show off our achievements long term, though. You're teasing us, Embark.

How to complete the Arc Raiders Converging Paths project

The Converging Paths project has six stages to complete, but unlike most projects, it actually starts and ends with a simple quest objective—I recommend you save the mine and trap rewards for the final stage. You'll also need to find a bunch of the new trinket items, which you'll also need for the Forgotten Relics event.

The best place to find these new relic trinkets is in Residential or Commercial areas, since they commonly spawn on shelves, and inside cupboards, drawers, and other containers. I recommend searching Grandioso Apartments, Santa Maria Houses, and the Plazas in Buried City, and inside the chimneys during the Bird City event.

• Train Model (common - 10 Merits)
• Sextant (uncommon - 15 Merits)
• Vintage Steering Wheel (uncommon - 15 Merits)
• Equatorial Sundial (rare - 25 Merits)
• Colorful Shoes (rare - 25 Merits)
• Tellurion (epic - 50 Merits)
• Colorful Shoes (epic - 50 Merits)
• Colorful Shoes (legendary - 150 Merits)
• Elephant Obelisk (legendary - 150 Merits)

Here's everything you need to do, and what you'll earn:

Secure safe passage (1/6)

You need to deal 1,200 damage to Arc enemies in the Swamp, which is on the west side of Dam Battlegrounds. You can complete this task anywhere between South Swamp Outpost and presumably Hydroponic Dome Complex, and there's no shortage of machines roaming this area, including Rocketeers.

A great way to complete this step quickly would be to take advantage of the Close Scrutiny map condition when it's active on Dam Battlegrounds, as the Arc Assessor's spawn waves of bots to kill.

• Rewards: 3x Pulse Mine, 3x Lure Grenade Trap, 25x Raider Tokens

Collect supplies (2/6)

From here on out (until the final step), it's back to the usual 'collect items and donate them' objectives that we're used to from projects.

• Reward: 3x Smoke Grenade Trap, 3x Explosive Mine, 25x Raider Coins

Procure relics (3/6)

• Reward: 3x Blaze Grenade Trap, 3x Jolt Mine, 1x Rascal II, 50x Raider Coins

Create emergency caches (4/6)

• Reward: 3x Surge Coil, 3x Blaze Grenade Trap, 3x Explosive Mine, 50x Raider Coins

Finish the cabinet of curiosities (5/6)

• Reward: 1x Combat MK.3 (Flanking) augment, 1x Photoelectric Cloak, 1x Bobcat II, 50x Raider Coins

Use nomad tactics to fight Arc (6/6)

The final task is to deal damage to Arc using mines or traps, including Blaze Grenade Traps, Pulse Mines, Jolt Mines, Explosive Mines, and Surge Coils. You'll have earned a bunch from completing the stages so far, so now it's time to put them to use. You can do this on any map and mode, so pick your poison.

• Reward: Sextant backpack charm, Red Black Saltwalker outfit colour, 100x Raider Coins, Surge Coil blueprint

Arc Raiders' latest update has given us the Forgotten Relics event and the Converging Paths project, both of which intertwine slightly. It's not super complicated, but they're intended to be a snack to tide us over until the big Frozen Trail update in October.

Below, I'll explain how to earn Merits to complete the Forgotten Relics event, as well as the rewards you'll get for being such a diligent treasure hunter.

Like Converging Paths, this is a limited-time affair (June 16 through to July 27), so get in while you can.

How to complete the Forgotten Relics event in Arc Raiders

To progress the Forgotten Relics event, you need to earn Merits, which is done by:

• Earning XP during a match—Looting, killing bots and players, and time spent increase how much you'll earn.
• Looting and extracting new trinket items.

There are nine new trinkets you can find, which give an increasing number of Merits based on their rarity. You can also donate these relics to the Converging Paths projects once you've returned to Speranza with them, so it's two birds with one stone.

The best place to find these new trinkets is in Residential or Commercial areas, on shelves, or inside cupboards, drawers, and the like. I recommend searching Grandioso Apartments, Santa Maria Houses, and the Plazas in Buried City, and inside the chimneys during the Bird City event. Here's what each is worth Merit-wise:

• Train Model (common - 10 Merits)
• Sextant (uncommon - 15 Merits)
• Vintage Steering Wheel (uncommon - 15 Merits)
• Equatorial Sundial (rare - 25 Merits)
• Colorful Shoes (rare - 25 Merits)
• Tellurion (epic - 50 Merits)
• Colorful Shoes (epic - 50 Merits)
• Colorful Shoes (legendary - 150 Merits)
• Elephant Obelisk (legendary - 150 Merits)

Since XP is the main source of progression in the Forgotten Relics event though, you'll want to maximise your earnings. Map events like Night Raids are a great opportunity to rack up high scores, and you can do this while looting for valuable trinkets, too.

Merits are automatically converted and redeemed in the events page, so head there to track your progress.

All Arc Raiders Forgotten Relics rewards

There are 21 rewards available, including an exclusive outfit and 100 Raider Tokens, requiring you to earn 3,150 Merits to unlock them all:

Why bring guns when you can throw motorbikes? Overwatch's Season 3 plans to answer that important question with the new hero Shion. She brings both, so guns and weaponised motorbikes must fill different, invaluable niches, I suppose.

Below, I'll explain when Overwatch Season 3: Into the Tiger's Den releases in your time zone, as well as what you can expect from the new season. Of course, that includes a rundown of Shion's abilities and perks, which are seriously cool.

When does Overwatch Season 3 start?

Overwatch Season 3 begins on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, at 12 am PT / 3 pm ET / 7 pm GMT, and runs until mid-August. You'll be able to preload this update on PC and console (now including Switch 2) to save you time.

This coincides with the end of the current season, so you've still got a little time left to finish your battle pass.

Here's everything arriving in Season 3:

• DPS hero Shion
• Neon Junction (Hybrid) map, set in Tokyo
• Anima Strike event
• Summer Games event returns
• Stadium hero reworks and tweaks for every character, "with about half the cast getting minor reworks."
• Illari mythic skin
• Hanzo mythic weapon
• Yaosobi collab skins for Kiriko, Hanzo, and Genji
• Hero ban updates

As always, there will also be a new battle pass and store bundles, and another mythic skin coming in the mid-season update.

Overwatch Shion abilities and perks

Releasing alongside Season 3 (there are no hero trials anymore) is Shion, the newest hitscan DPS to join the roster, and the leader of the Hashimoto. She's similar to Tracer in that she dual-wields semi-automatic pistols and has a dash, but she's also got a motorbike. And it's as outlandish as it sounds, letting you drive around and then launch your ride at enemies.

I predict she'll be a very strong flanker due to having two mobility tools and an execute in her base kit, which is something Anran, another recent flanker, has been lacking. You'll have to wait and see where Shion lands on our Overwatch tier list once she's settled in.

Here are Shion's abilities:

And here are Shion's perks:

Minor:

• Rapid Reload: Evade reloads nine ammo.
• X Machina: Execution does 20% more damage to enemies below half health.

Major:

• Refuel: Joyride instantly restores 50 health and regenerates 20 health per second while active.
• Faces of Death: Gain all other Damage subrole passives (Recon, Specialist, and Sharpshooter).

The elephant in the room is the Faces of Death perk, which has the potential to be incredibly broken. But chances are, you don't remember all the subroles off the top of your head, so here they are:

• Recon: Detect enemies below half health through walls after damaging them.
• Specialist: Eliminating an enemy briefly increases your reload speed.
• Sharpshooter: Critical hits reduce your movement ability cooldowns.

These come in addition to her default Flanker passive. The end result is a DPS that will be blazingly quick, so long as you're hitting headshots and scoring kills. With two mobility skills and an execute, that shouldn't be too much of an issue.

I'll probably be picking X Machina as the minor perk to gank low-health enemies before they inevitably get healed up, and Faces of Death as the major perk to become supercharged. However, I'm interested in testing Refuel. Depending on how quickly you can get on your bike and fling it at the enemy, that burst of healing could be very handy.

If you had told me just a few years ago that there was about to be a Silent Hill renaissance, I would've called you a liar. But it's happened; and after back-to-back horror bangers in Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill F, Konami has another developer new to the series working on its next game, Silent Hill: Townfall. Screen Burn Interactive's vision for the foggy town takes place in Scotland, and its lead tortured soul, Simon Ordell, seems to have quite a bit in common with James Sunderland.

When is the Silent Hill: Townfall release date?

The Silent Hill: Townfall release date is Thursday, September 24, 2026. Konami and its co-publisher Annapurna Interactive announced the date at the Sony State of Play during this year's Summer Game Fest.

You can also pre-order the deluxe edition for two days of advanced access, which begins on September 22. Silent Hill: Townfall will be available on Steam and the Epic Games Store.

Silent Hill: Townfall trailers

Konami revealed Townfall as part of its Silent Hill Transmission series, where it's been dishing out new horrors like candy. Townfall's special broadcast introduces fans to Screen Burn—an indie developer I wasn't familiar with until their partnership with Annapurna and Konami—but after hearing about their vision, I think they get the vibe.

Townfall's release date trailer expands on the medical horrors hinted at in its reveal footage, but on a larger scale than previous games. Whatever happened in St. Amelia isn't contained to the declining health of just a few citizens, and the people must've put up quite the fight before succumbing to the fog.

Silent Hill: Townfall gameplay

Silent Hill: Townfall setting and characters

What do we know about the characters in Silent Hill: Townfall?

Simon Ordell

Simon is Townfall's protagonist, and like so many of the Silent Hill leads, he has no idea how he wound up in the game's hellish setting. With all of the medical imagery, chronic illness or self-harm seem like the most obvious guesses, but those things could be related to other people in the town.

A close-up in the reveal trailer shows he's wearing a grungy hospital bracelet with his name, date of birth (15/10/59), and blood type (A+) printed on it. Another clip shows a vault door with his last name, Ordell, in the middle before cutting to a regular door labeled 204. My money is that 204 leads to a hospital room, and there's probably a reason the vault only says Ordell, with no first name included.

Zoe

From her familiarity, I'm assuming the mysterious woman speaking over Simon's CRTV is his wife—or at least someone with a romantic connection. We also see Simon pick up mail labeled "Zoe Ellis," but I'm not confident declaring that's the same Zoe until Konami says so. We all know how these games can be.

Now, you might be wondering why this isn't titled "the best builds for Ascension 10", and that's because while builds are still important at higher difficulties in Slay the Spire 2, they're also actually a lie—Ascension 10 isn't about getting the perfect synergy, it's about plugging leaks. Your starter deck is a problem, and you need to fix those problems as quickly and as soon as possible.

I'll get into what Silent's builds are at the end of this article, but really, you'll be better served at Ascension 10 by understanding which cards cover up which weaknesses. Or, as the title might suggest, the best Ascension 10 cards for Silent. Not the best cards overall, but rather, the ones that'll get your hiney out of the fire the fastest. Let's go.

Best Silent cards in Slay the Spire 2

By far, the most powerful mechanic the Silent has at her disposal is the Sly modifier—wherein if you discard a card with Sly, it'll play anyway. However, this comes with a huge asterisk: You generally don't want to pick most Sly cards before you have a reliable set of discard options, since they usually aren't worth their energy cost alone.

If you get too many Sly cards too early on without ways to get rid of them, you'll have essentially created curses for yourself—and you'll lose in Act 1 to terrible hands that see you eating huge damage.

Other than that, the general priority for Ascension 10 stays true: Get early damage and 1-2 AoE cards, get good defensive/block options, then go for card draw and discard so you can both improve your hands on a turn-by-turn basis and set yourself up for Sly synergies.

Early Picks

These cards aren't necessarily run-winners in their own right—some of them might stay put in your deck for the whole run, while others might be less useful as time goes on. But again, this is A10—you need to cover for your weaknesses as soon as possible, regardless of whether or not these cards fit into your imagined build.

It's all about early value. In the first few floors of any run, your job is to grab cards that are just better than a strike—because strikes don't give you nearly enough damage to get past A10's scarier, tankier fights.

• AoE - Echoing Slash/Flick-Flack/Dagger Spray: You'll want at least one of these early on. STS2 has a lot of nasty multi-target fights.

• Poisoned Stab/Bubble Bubble: Poisoned Stab is decent damage, and Bubble Bubble is a natural combo to it—nine whole poison for just one energy is a good deal, as long as you can set it up properly, which is what Poisoned Stab will always do for you.
• Backstab/Assassinate: These cards get stronger with good turn-one draw, but they're never a bad idea in Act 1 where you're starving for energy and quick, easy damage. Just don't take too many, since they don't scale well on their own.

• Strangle: This card doesn't scale too well, but if you're able to pick up a couple of shiv cards to supplement it, the early damage value it offers can be massive.
• Ricochet: Ricochet stays useful until the endgame thanks to its Sly property, and it's not a disastrous card to play early on even without discard, given it's the equivalent of two non-upgrade strikes.
• Flechettes: This thing's better than it seems, especially if you're able to get fat hands with card draw. It'll usually be doing 10 damage for 1 energy even on a sub-par hand—but if you can draw a few skills, Flechettes is excellent.

• Snakebite (No, really): This card gets memed on a lot, but Snakebite is actually fine—it has Retain, which means once you draw it, it's basically out of your deck until you have a chance to use it. It combos nicely with Flechettes, and some enemies or bosses will have turns where throwing 7 poison at them is valuable. You probably don't want more than one, but Snakebite is just fine.
• Dagger Throw: Better damage than a strike, card draw, and potential synergies with Sly—if you see this in Act 1's early fights, just get it.
• Dash: Dash is kinda garbage late game, but good early game just because of its value—you're blocking and attacking for two energy, meaning you can play a defensive turn without falling too far behind on tempo.

Defense

Once you've got some early value under your belt, you'll want to figure out your defensive game, too. Damage in A10 is severe, and chances are high you'll be taking chip damage at least every fight—and resting at campfires more than you can upgrade your cards. Snagging an early defensive plan doesn't just help you dodge damage, it also makes you stronger in the long run.

• Footwork: Dexterity is so good, and Footwork is a cost-effective power that, on its own, can prevent dozens of points of chip damage over the course of several fights. One Dexterity is solid, two is amazing. Three is probably too much, but if you've got relics or energy gain to support it, you can grab more of those, too.
• Abrasive: A touch situational, and only worth playing if you've got good discard options, Abrasive is still great for the reasons Footwork is great. Dexterity's super valuable, and the thorns are a nice bonus.
• Blur: Blur's extremely useful not necessarily because of its value (though that is good), but because it can help bail you out of nothing turns where you draw a bunch of defence but the enemy isn't attacking. A blur can transform a wasted turn into a lovely bit of setup for the next one.

• Leg Sweep: This almost made the "Early Picks" list, because Weak in A10 is an incredibly useful status effect, and the Silent only has a few ways to apply it. Almost always worth having one of these in your hand.
• Blade of Ink: Similar to Leg Sweep, Blade of Ink is a nice, fuss-free way to cause Weak in your deck—it also synergises with the Mystic Lighter relic, so it's a must-pick if you've got that knocking about.
• Untouchable: If you have good discard, you should always grab an Untouchable or two. It's a free block.

• Afterimage: Again, chip damage in Ascension 10 is the enemy—no matter your deck, having one Afterimage in it is useful. Having two, albeit harder in A10, is excellent. This plays especially nice with Shiv cards, so make sure to grab a few if you get it.
• Escape Plan: Save for a few specific enemies, Escape Plan is basically free. If you play it and don't draw a skill, you haven't wasted any energy. If you play it and do draw a skill, you just got 3 block for nothing. See it, click it.

Draw, Discard, and Retain

Once you're all set up, the Silent wants to figure out its draw/discard game—Sly is your friend, which means that discard is your friend, and card draw is just good insurance on any character playing any deck, as having good draw reduces your chances of having wasted turns—which, in A10, can be fatal.

• Prepared: Prepared is solid, baseline, but if you can upgrade this bad boy it can be responsible for winning your run—it might even be worth forgoing a rest at a campfire if you've got the Sly cards to support it. No Sly cards in your hand? Prepare might draw them for you. Sly cards in your hand? Prepared will let you play them. You cannot lose.
• Tools of the Trade: This is basically a Prepared that auto-plays at the start of your turn, and it's good for all the same reasons.
• Well-Laid Plans: Never underestimate Retain—a Well-Laid Plans means you can keep a hold of useful cards for synergies, or remove crappy cards from your draw pool, allowing you to have more effective turns.

• Reflex: Reflex plays nicely with all of the other cards on this list, boosting their draw to give you even bigger hands—which usually means better turns.
• Acrobatics: Never a bad card to grab. Fish for Sly cards in your deck, or draw some cards and play a Sly card already in your hand.
• Backflip: Card draw with a little block. What's not to love?

• Calculated Gamble: You want one of these in your deck, especially if it's upgraded—bad turns kill A10 runs, and being able to simply go "no, I'd like to do something else" is always useful. Bonus points if you're getting rid of (and auto-playing) a bunch of Sly cards, too.
• Hidden Daggers: The Discard plays nicely with Sly, and the two extra shivs are just a sexy bonus.

Ramp/Scaling

Last in your priorities is ramp and scaling—for the non-card game folks among you, that basically means "things that let you play more cards earlier in the fight" and "things that multiply your existing damage, or let you get more powerful over time".

• Adrenaline: This is a "see it, pick it" card. Card draw and extra energy to play with? Get it. Get it yesterday.
• Accelerant: If you've got a poison deck and you're offered this, get it. A measly one energy to effectively double your poison damage is a great way to make you scale into the later acts.
• Tactician: If you've got a good amount of discard going, Tactician helps your discard turns go further, helping to solve your energy problems.

• Noxious Fumes: If you're building any sort of poison deck, Noxious Fumes is worth getting—it might be worth getting even if you aren't. This also counts as an AoE damage card, so it's super valuable.
• Shadow Step: Plays nicely with Sly cards, and increases the damage of your next turn.
• Tracking: If you've got good ways to cause Weak in your deck, tracking is monstrously powerful. It also plays nicely with shiv archetypes, as well as cards like Flechettes and Ricochet.

• Accuracy/Phantom Blades: If you're building a Shiv deck, you'll want to start grabbing these cards—but not before you've got a few Shiv creators in your pocket.
• Corrosive Wave: If you've got a bunch of card draw, Corrosive Wave is a no-brainer. It's a cheap, effective way to potentially throw a whole bunch of poison on your enemies—and it makes poison decks play much faster under the right circumstances.

Situationals

I'd hesitate to call any of these cards bad; most cards are useful in Slay the Spire 2. But they're so situational that you want to make sure you pick them only when you've already got the other cards or relics that make them work.

• Envenom: On its own, Envenom just isn't worth playing—but if you've got a decent shiv deck going or ways to get free powers like a mummified hand, it's a nice supplement to certain decks that improves your scaling.
• Bullet Time: Combos well with high-draw decks. Get a big, nasty hand and then drop a bullet time to play everything in it. Otherwise, skip it.
• Speedster: Similar to Envenom, the energy cost of Speedster is just too high to make it worth playing—unless you've got a deck with an obscene amount of draw and the energy to back it up, in which case, Speedster can win you runs. It's a feast or famine card.

• Serpent Form: More often than not, Serpent Form just doesn't work. Three-energy powers are way too costly at Ascension 10—but again, if you've got the relics and/or energy generation for it? It might be worth taking.
• Fan of Knives: A very good card. However, because of how little you can find Rare cards in Ascension 10, you're unlikely to get this before you've got a couple AoE cards in your deck; Snag it if you're still somehow lacking in AoE, if it's offered to you early, or if you're building Shiv.

Best builds for Silent in Slay the Spire 2

Again, I must emphasise—if you wanna win Ascension 10 runs in Slay the Spire 2, you should be building for solutions, not builds. Stubbornly trying to stick to a certain archetype is a great way to get killed. However, it's good to keep them in mind, given you'll more or less be trying to steer into one of these versions of Silent whenever you play.

Shiv

• (+) Good to build for if you find a Kunai, Shuriken, or Ornamental Fan.
• (+) Mystic Lighter + Blade of Ink combo is very strong, as Blade of Ink counts as an enchanted attack.
• (-) Most reliant on synergy cards.

Worth building into if you get an early Kunai or Shuriken relic, as both give you in-built Strength and Dexterity, scaling that the Silent's particularly good at taking advantage of. Shiv decks primarily rely on cards like Fan of Knives, Accuracy, Phantom Blades, Blade of Ink, and Afterimage. And, naturally, cards that generate shivs themselves, such as Hidden Daggers.

Still, given the amount of supplementary cards you need, it's only really worth building for Shiv if you've been given the aforementioned relics or if you're given no real other synergistic option.

Poison

• (+) Poison scales well.
• (+) Good to build if you get lots of defensive relics and good block cards.
• (-) Very slow tempo.

The second-strongest archetype, poison is just pretty good. It deals its damage right before the enemy's turn, and by its nature has in-built scaling. Poison decks only really struggle with AoE damage, and they can be a little slow to start off with.

You'll want to build for Poison if you get certain key cards like Corrosive Wave, Accelerant, Bouncing Flask, or an early Bubble Bubble—or if you find yourself with a lot of relics that provide you block, allowing you to survive long enough to start ramping up those poison stacks.

Sly (Draw/Discard)

• (+) The strongest Silent archetype.
• (+) Builds out of cards you want to be getting in Shiv and Poison builds, anyway.
• (-) Getting Sly cards before you get discard options can brick a run.

By far the strongest out of the Silent's current archetype, Sly is just busted—and this archetype's already empowered by things you want to be building for any way, namely card draw and discard.

Even if you're building for Shiv or Poison, chances are you'll have some Sly cards in your deck, and a lot of the best cards for Silent—Adrenaline, Calculated Gamble, Tools of the Trade, Hidden Daggers, and so on—are naturally Sly enablers, as well.

Finding the Astro Toy photo challenge location this week in Forza Horizon 6 is much easier than the Tokyo Tower or Edogawa Baseball Stadium, so long as you've done some exploring. That said, finding the Irokawa Space Centre isn't the biggest hurdle. That would be figuring out what a Track Toy is.

Below, I'll explain exactly where you need to go so that you can get back to racing and other Festival Playlist challenges.

Forza Horizon 6 Astro Toy photo challenge explained

This week, you need to take a photo of a Track Toy at the Irokawa Space Centre in the southeast of the Nangan region, at the southern tip of the map. It's just down the road from the Launch Control wristband event that unlocks the purple wristband, as well as the Irokawa Circuit road race and Nangan Cross-Country Circuit.

Unlike the hint suggests, you don't necessarily need to snap a photo of the rocket at the centre of the space facility. Instead, you need to take a photo of a Track Toy, which is a type of car. This includes vehicles like the BAC Mono, a Chevrolet Camaro or Corvette, or a Nissan GT-R NISMO. I recommend filtering your garage (or the Autoshow, if you need to buy one) by Track Toys.

Like previous photo challenges, you'll receive three Festival Playlist points upon completion, which puts you one step closer to Spring's Festival Playlist rewards—the 1996 Toyota Starlet Glanza V and the 1974 Toyota Corolla SR5. You'll also get the "Beam me up!" Forza Link, which is basically meaningless to most players, I'd imagine.

After taking last week off, the Treasure Hunt challenge is back on the menu in Forza Horizon 6's Spring Series 1 update. This week, we've got to find the Tokyo City Treasure Hunt, which is the hardest one yet.

The hint you're given is of the shipping yard in the city, with tons of containers and facilities on the ground below. But it's hard to figure out what direction the photo was taken from, which makes it difficult to pinpoint the location. Don't worry, I'll explain exactly where to go to find the Treasure Chest this week.

Forza Horizon 6 Tokyo City Treasure Hunt location

The Festival Playlist's Treasure Hunt chest this week is in Tokyo City, on a warehouse roof in the docks to the far east of the region. It's not far from the Pier Pressure wristband event—in fact, you can see part of the course in the background of the photo clue. You'll need a fast, powerful car to reach it, though:

1. Head to the west side of the docks, near the large warehouses overlooking the shipping containers—you'll see the red pylons from the photo clue.
2. Drive up the ramp on the northernmost Tomitama warehouse.
3. Jump across the gap to the other warehouse and drive up to the rooftop.
4. Use the ramp on the roof to jump back across to the roof of the Tomitama warehouse.
5. Drop off the ledge on your right, onto a platform where you'll see the festival chest—it's above the first ramp you took.
6. Crash into the Treasure Hunt chest there to smash it, completing the challenge.

Like previous Treasure Hunt challenges, you'll receive three Festival Playlist points and 100,000 credits for your trouble. Can't argue with that for only a short detour.

As for what those Festival Points go towards, this week, you can unlock the 1996 Toyota Starlet Glanza V and the 1974 Toyota Corolla SR5. You'll also be closer towards the 60 and 120 point milestones with the 2008 Mazda Furai and 2010 Nissan 370Z respectively.

This is the last update of Series 1, though there's a good chance that there'll be more Treasure Hunts popping up regularly during Season 2 as well.

Strange as it is, Destiny 2's massive final update is here, marking the end of an era. But Bungie's gone out with a bang here, not least because it's added 26 new catalysts and updated nine old ones. No Exotic weapons have been left behind, and that's a fitting way to leave things.

Below, I'll outline all the new catalysts and how to get them, as well as what's been changed on existing catalyst-havers. I'll warn you now, it's a bit of a grind, but it's not like there's anything else on the horizon anyhow.

All 26 new catalysts in Destiny 2

There are 26 new catalysts added to Exotic weapons that didn't already have one, meaning every golden-tier gun now has an upgrade. While the catalysts for raid and dungeon-exclusive Exotics remain in their respective activities, so far it seems as though any Exotics available from random drops, quests, or the Exotic Archive have their catalysts in the general loot pool. In other words, you can grind ritual activities and complete Exotic Orders in the hopes that you get what you want.

Most of these new and updated catalysts are pretty strong upgrades, though I've certainly got my favourites. I think Riskrunner is one of the biggest winners here, now having Chain Reaction explosions added to its catalyst on top of already incredible add-clearing potential. I'm also partial to the Last Word, and its new catalyst makes it a gunslinger's dream in both PvE and PvP.

Here's what each new catalyst provides and where you can get it:

Updated catalysts

Bungie has also expanded a number of Exotic weapons' catalysts so they're a little more interesting—these upgrades were previously just stat bonuses, now they've got a perk, too—and buffed some others.

The new Distortions quest in Destiny 2 introduces you to the event of the same name, which Bungie hopes will revitalise destination-based play a little more now that the game has received its final update. There is a range of really good new weapons available in this event, so it's well worth the time if you find something you want to farm, especially with the inclusion of attunement for pretty much all activities.

You first get this quest from Lodi in the Tower, so here's what you need to do from then onwards to complete it, and how to play a Distortions event.

How to complete the Distortions quest in Destiny 2

After you visit Ikora and Lodi in the Tower, you'll get the Distortions quest. Lodi tells you that The Nine are still wreaking havoc on reality in a bid to escape the solar system, though none of that really matters now, but this is the intro to the new Distortions event.

Your first step is to head to whatever destination is currently Distorted—you can tell this by the red circle around it. Once there:

1. Complete a public event and then wait around after it—you'll see a red glowing pillar begin to build and a new event countdown will start.
2. Complete the Distortion event (both succeeding or failing counts). It's basically a wave defense, but between killing enemies, you have to destroy three glowing red corruptions hidden around the arena by shooting them.
3. Now you need to gather Strange Matter. You can do this by opening chests, gathering destination material nodes, and completing public events, so explore the destination grabbing what you can until you hit the amount.

When done, the Strange Matter will transform into a Strange Signal you now have to follow.

How to follow the Strange Signal in Destiny 2

Your final step is following a Strange Signal. This marker will appear on the map as a circle, so select it to activate the nav marker on it and follow the markers to get there. You'll find a tough Distorted enemy at the location you need to beat—doing so will unlock a chest just next to them that you can open to get one of the event weapons, usually of a high tier.

If you head into your inventory, select attunement, and then Distortions attunement, you can see all of the potential weapons that will drop. They each have the extremely fun Carrion Munitions origin trait, which spawns explosive insectoid robots that chase enemies when you defeat a powerful combatant.

You can find info about each of these weapons' perk pools either in their respective entry in collections, or by using light.gg. This will help you decide which to attune to when completing Distortions and Strange Signals.

Destiny 2's Monuments of Triumph final update is here, giving you tons of challenges to complete, new catalysts to collect, and even a new Exotic mission for the Cull's Shadow. One such challenge is the very enthusiastically named GOOOAAAALLL!!!, which requires you to kick a ball into the hidden net.

You'll fall into one of two camps when you see this. You either don't know where the soccer pitch is in the Tower, or you've played ball in the hangar many times. Either way, you won't be looking in the right place to complete this challenge.

How to score a goal in the hidden net in Destiny 2

First, you need to head to the Tower Hangar (take a left from where you spawn into the Tower and follow the path). Here you'll find a soccer ball in front of Saint-14 in the centre of the room. You need to bump into this ball to 'kick' it to the hidden net, which is actually inside the old Future War Cult faction room—it's not the usual glowing green barriers at the edge of the hangar.

As I demonstrate in the video above, from where the soccer ball spawns:

1. Push the ball across the hangar towards the red staircase towards the entrance.
2. Go up the first, smaller set of red stairs—avoid bumping the ball all the way up, or over the railings.
3. Continue up the white stairs on your right, leading into the old Future War Cult room, the big windowed space overlooking the hangar.
4. Push the ball through the green light barrier at the entrance (that's the net) to score a goal.

Completing this challenge will give you ten Legendary Marks, which is a unique currency used at the Monument of Guardian Tenets in the Tower. You can spend them on various rewards, like armour sets, Sparrows, ships, Ghosts, and engrams. You'll want to complete the other Monuments of Triumph challenges in the Journey page to earn more Legendary Marks and, hopefully, unlock everything.

We were introduced to the turbulent flow of time in Remake, and we met Sephiroth for his iconic encounter in Rebirth, and now it's time to wrap this story up. Final Fantasy 7 Revelation is the third and final act in Square Enix's remake trilogy, and even from its earliest teases, it looks like this one is squeezing in all the nostalgia-mandated highlights. After its Summer Game Fest reveal, Square hasn't been shy about interviews and lore dumps, so I'll keep the updates coming, but here's everything we know so far about Final Fantasy 7 Revelation.

Is there a Final Fantasy 7 Revelation release date?

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation will launch in spring 2027 but Square Enix has not confirmed a specific date yet. Revelation is also the first game in the trilogy to launch on all platforms simultaneously, including PC.

There are no PC store pages yet, but Revelation will be available on Steam, Epic Games Store, and Xbox for PC. So no store exclusivity deals this time around, either.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation gameplay details

What's notable about Revelation's combat?

As the current mainline series drifts further from turn-based combat, it's nice to see Final Fantasy 7 double down on its commitment to honoring the series roots. While not entirely turn-based, the tactical hybrid battle system is back, which at least gives me the option to pause the chaos and consider my options.

A few other details I've noticed from trailers and interviews:

• FITs, a new dress-up system, changes movesets à la classic Final Fantasy
• The gunslinging Vincent Valentine is playable, and can transform into giant beasts
• Cid is also playable, with his classic, aerial Dragoon kit
• Synergy abilities are also back
• Knights of the Round will return, as confirmed by Denfaminico Gamer
• Square Enix describes Weapons as "enemies that Cloud and his companions must stand against," so it sounds like they're no longer optional

And what about the rest of the gameplay?

• There's an open world you'll navigate with the Highwind, Cid's prized airship
• You'll depart from the Highwind via parachute. (I hope someone cracks a "where we droppin'?" at least once)
• Square Enix confirmed in an interview with Polygon that the Queen's Blood card game will return, and it's working on snowboarding
• The Tifa vs Scarlet slap fight is also a mini-game, according to Denfaminico Gamer
• There's new Chocobo content, but no details on what that includes
• Rebirth's affinity system has been reworked to explore relationships between other party members, not just each character's relationship with Cloud

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation setting and story details

The Remake trilogy is the same story, but different

I'm speculating, but from what we've seen in Remake and Rebirth, it seems like Revelation will conclude the trilogy with a story that follows the same big beats as the original. The difference is in the little choices we make in-between, and the glimpses at alternate timelines Sephiroth loves torturing Cloud and the gang with.

When everything is all said and done, I don't expect to see any major differences from the original story when it comes to who lives and dies or the fate of the planet.

Where does FF7 Revelation pick up from?

While Hamaguchi has played coy when answering the question, it sounds like Revelation will begin right around where Rebirth left off—no time skips or ignoring parts of the original PS1 game. In an interview with Bloomberg, Hamaguchi noted that Rebirth ends in the Forgotten City, and that the original RPG moves on to the Icicle Inn from there.

As for the state of the rest of the world, we know Meteor has been summoned, so it's not lookin' too good out there. The planet is (understandably) pissed about all the chaos, so the Weapons are awake and responding to anything they deem a threat.

Where can we go in Revelation's version of the planet?

It sounds like piloting the Highwind gives us access to the entire planet, though I'm assuming story beats will prevent us from entering some areas in Revelation. So expect to see places like Midgar and Gongaga return, along with some new locations like:

• Wutai, home to the ninja village and Yuffie
• Mideel, the hot spring town
• Rocket Town, the place built around Shinra's once-abandoned rocket
• The Underwater world, or at least that's what's hinted at in the Bloomberg interview

Will Final Fantasy 7 Revelation have multiple endings?

No, Final Fantasy 7 Revelation will not have multiple endings. In an interview with GamesRadar, Hamaguchi confirmed players will have choices to make that impact the story, but the trilogy will conclude with a "singular ending." While our paths to the big finale may look different, they'll all end the same.

Does Aerith die?

Look in your heart. You already know the answer to this.

Halo Combat Evolved, the start of the legendary FPS franchise, may have already been remastered (albeit in 2011), but now it's time for a full-blown remake. Enter, Halo: Campaign Evolved. It's the original story you know and love but with fancy graphics, "refined controls", and three bonus prologue missions—it's not just a retread.

Xbox hasn't presented a clear plan for Halo beyond this remake (though we know a brand-new game is coming), so it'll have to do for now. I've compiled everything you need to know about this remake, so you'll be ready to take the fight to the Covenant once again.

When is the Halo: Campaign Evolved release date?

The Halo: Campaign Evolved release date is Tuesday, July 28, 2026, which was confirmed during a new trailer for the game at the latest Xbox Games Showcase. However, you can also pre-order the Premium or Collector’s Edition to get five days of early access beginning Thursday, July 23, 2026.

It will, of course, release on PC and Xbox Series X|S consoles, but it'll also be available on PS5. This makes it the first Halo game to ever be released on PlayStation—weird times.

What's changed in Halo: Campaign Evolved?

Halo: Campaign Evolved is a full remake of the original game, but what does that mean exactly? Here's everything that we know of so far that makes it different from the original and its 2011 anniversary remaster:

Halo: Campaign Evolved trailers

The Halo 1 remaster was first revealed with a trailer and gameplay demo of perhaps the most iconic mission in the game, The Silent Cartographer, back in October 2025. Apart from reticence towards it being in Unreal Engine 5 and an oddly specific dislike of the assault rifle having 32 bullets, I'd say it went down pretty well. I mean, it's Halo: Combat Evolved again.

Seven months later, at the Xbox Games Showcase 2026, we were treated to a cinematic story trailer, which will feel very familiar to fans of the series. The Master Chief crash-lands on the ringworld and fights off Covenant aliens with the help of his AI companion Cortana.

The Operation Meteorite trailer we got is much more interesting, showcasing brand-new content arriving in the remake. As I mentioned earlier, it's a short prologue to the events of the main story, where we see Master Chief and Sgt. Johnson fight through some lush environments and Covenant ships. It's new, but it also looks very classic, and hopefully seamlessly slots into place.

I truly can't believe they're doing it. ArenaNet is making Guild Wars 3. Unlike every other live-service game and MMO around right now, determined to shamble on as a "platform" into eternity, Guild Wars 2 is making room for a third game the way Guild Wars did before it. Even so, ArenaNet affirmed its dedication to supporting GW2 beyond the launch of GW3—they're doing it all. I've collected everything we know so far about Guild Wars 3 ahead of its first planned betas in 2027.

Is there a Guild Wars 3 release date?

The first beta for Guild Wars 3 will be in fall 2027, but there's no release window announced yet. For reference, the first closed beta tests for Guild Wars 2 began less than a year before it launched.

It's hard to say if we should expect the same timeline for Guild Wars 3, but in its breakdown on what to expect for the future of Guild Wars 2 (more on that below), ArenaNet mentioned a time frame of "the next 18 months," referring to improvements it would be making to GW2 before GW3. That would put us in December 2027, which is still pretty soon after the first beta tests are supposed to begin in autumn. Without being able to pin a timeline on it, it definitely seems like ArenaNet isn't planning to dawdle on Guild Wars 3.

Guild Wars 3 platforms

For the first time in the series, Guild Wars 3 will launch both on PC and on PlayStation 5. What that means so far is that ArenaNet is focusing on action-RPG combat and controls that work for both gamepad and keyboard & mouse. As someone who does actually enjoy playing with a gamepad at my PC, color me curious.

Will there be a subscription?

Nope, the Guild Wars series has always been a buy-to-play model and ArenaNet has confirmed that there won't be a subscription this time either. It also won't have any battlepasses "because we think players are sick of those too," studio head Colin Johanson told IGN.

Guild Wars 3 trailers

The reveal trailer for Guild Wars 3 really leans into the "joy of movement" that ArenaNet has been emphasizing. You can see a character riding their mount and wall-running (mountain running?) which is the bulk of what's shown aside from introducing the fabric and embroidery visual themes that are also used in that ribbon-y new logo. Lotta flag imagery happening here.

Guild Wars 3 gameplay

Guild Wars 3 story and setting

Guild Wars 3 takes place 1,200 years before the events of the original Guild Wars and is set in Orr, "a vast wilderness frontier imbued with the world’s magic." We'll all be playing as a Vaelwarden, a member of an adventurer's guild that wants to protect the nature entities called Vael spirits, each with our own larger spirit mount called a Seeker. Our own adventurer's guild is in conflict (perhaps a war, even) with others over how to protect or exploit the Vael spirits. That's right, we're going back to the guild wars.

How will it play differently from Guild Wars 2?

Guild Wars 3 will lean into playing as an "action-adventure MMORPG," ArenaNet says, with combat designed to play on both gamepad and keyboard & mouse. Anet has emphasized GW3's "one-of-a-kind movement system that transfers your momentum between modes of travel" which include gliding, riding, jumping, and wall-running.

It also said: "As players seamlessly transition between various movement modes, they can harness their speed and turn it into bigger damage and impact when fighting their foes." Guild Wars 2 already has so much interesting use of movement with its mounts, dodging, and flying, and it sounds like GW3 is going well above and beyond that by factoring mounts into combat.

Lastly, Guild Wars 3's website says its combat will involve "strategic skill use, positioning, and movement—where action RPG combat meets Guild Wars build-making." To me, that sounds like it's definitely diverting from the hotbar mashing style of combat I've grown so tired of in MMOs. I'm well interested in a system that prioritizes skill context over cooldown timers.

Guild Wars 3 playable races

ArenaNet hasn't confirmed the exact details on playable races (or classes) but, based on the initial concept art reveals, it sure looks like we'll be playing as thousand-year-in-the-past versions of:

• Humans: Every RPG's vanilla option, you can still play them in GW3.
• Asura: The small but brainy folks first playable in GW2.
• Kodan: The massive bear folks, never before playable in the series.

What's happening to Guild Wars 2?

After announcing GW3, ArenaNet posted an entire video talking about the future of Guild Wars Reforged and GW2—basically, that there is a future for both. Guild Wars 2 is planning a period of quality-of-life updates prior to the launch of GW3 and will be pausing expansion development during that time. After the launch of GW3, it will "return to shipping annual major content updates."

Here's what's coming in those game updates to Guild Wars 2:

• A Hall of Monuments system similar to the one in the original Guild Wars for logging your account achievements so they can be reflected on your Guild Wars 3 account
• Modernizing and polishing GW2 by bringing older content "up to more current design standards"
• A new World versus World map for the first time in years
• A new explorable zone set in Orr "bridging the Tyria you know and the Tyria you're about to discover in Guild Wars 3"

Tracking down Caine in Gothic Remake took me longer than I'd like to admit. This missing mole is apparently somewhere in the Swamp Camp, but if you're ever been to that sprawling mess of ramshackle huts and walkways, you'll understand the issue. If you recall that Caine is Cor Kalom's apprentice, then speaking to him will give you some guidance.

Even then, though, you still have to track down his hut based on a very vague description. I'll run you through The Lost Apprentice quest below, and explain the long process of tracking down Caine.

Where to find Caine in Gothic Remake

As part of Gothic's main quest, you'll be sent to the Swamp Camp to find Caine, a mole secretly feeding info back to whichever camp you joined, but tracking him down is a challenge. First off, you'll want to go see Cor Kalom, the alchemist whose formula you stole in The Cult's Recipe quest and ask him about Caine's whereabouts. This will begin The Lost Apprentice quest.

He has no idea where Caine is, but you can find clues in his shack near the Swampweed mashers. You can see how to get to this location in the video above, or follow these instructions below:

1. From the Swamp Camp entrance where Lester hangs out, go right and follow the path along the water with the pier
2. Keep going past the swamp weed mashers on the left and the first hut, and go into the second on the right

Inside, you'll find a drawing of the locked Abandoned Mine close to the Exchange Zone which you passed when you started the game, so take this and speak to Lester at the entrance, before heading to the mine in the north-east of the map.

This next section is quite long and there's a boss at the end, so make sure you're in a good state to fight with plenty of healing. I recommend completing The Price of Magic if you haven't got the fire bolt rune and grabbing some swamp weed for mana regen.

Outside the mine, you'll have to convince Orry to give you the key, which is much easier if you're with the Old Camp, as you can tell him Raven sent you.

After this, you'll have to complete quite a long traversal section with lots of underwater swimming. The only tricky part is when you arrive in an area with a big pool and an underwater gate you have to open. Grab the Detached Winch underwater in the center of the pool, then climb to the platform above the gate to attach and open it.

Keep traversing the mine until you reach the ruins, where you'll find Caine's corpse, guarded by an undead orc. Defeat this boss, take its strange amulet, and then you simply need to head back to Cor Kalom to complete The Lost Apprentice quest.

Lockpicking in Gothic Remake is my worst nightmare. So, when Fingers asks you to pick Scatty's chest to steal his ring in the early A Ring for Fingers quest, I immediately wanted nothing to do with it. However, it can help gain the favour of the Shadows to join the Old Camp, one of the three camp factions.

Below, I'll explain step-by-step how to open Scatty's chest so you're not banging your head against a wall, breaking all your picks like I did way too many times.

How to open Scatty's chest in Gothic Remake

First off, you can find Scatty's chest inside his hut, which is directly to your lower left when you're speaking to Fingers. Since he runs the arena, it's got a long red banner to the left of the door, weapons displayed on the wall, and a noticeboard hanging outside. He'll leave his hut in the morning to go to the arena, so that's your time to strike.

The chest you need to open is straight ahead of you when you enter. I recommend saving before attempting to crack open the chest so that you can reload your save should you run out of lockpicks.

As I demonstrate in the video above, this is the order you need to move the plates to open Scatty's chest (without any lockpick training), numbered from front to back:

1. Move the third plate to the left five times.
2. Move the fifth plate to the left five times.
3. Move the fourth plate to the left four times.
4. Move the fifth plate to the left four times.
5. Move the second plate to the right four times.
6. Move the fifth plate to the left four times.
7. Move the first plate to the right two times.
8. Move the third plate to the left two times.
9. Move the fourth plate to the left once.

Inside the chest, you'll find Scatty's Ring, which you need to give to Fingers to complete his side quest, granting you 100 XP and his support in joining the Old Camp. However, you could sell the ring if you don't have the quest or don't want to join this faction.

You'll also find a bunch of junk, 16 ore nuggets and a pickaxe, which you should grab if you don't have one already—you can mine ore in the Old Mine.

Unlocking fast travel in Gothic Remake will likely be a priority as soon as you start getting tired of traipsing up and down the same road to the Swamp Camp over and over. There are other ways to move quickly in Gothic—the Scavenger mount you can ride, for one—but if you want actual instantaneous fast travel, it's going to take a little work to acquire it.

Thankfully, though, the Gothic Remake at least has proper fast travel; there's none of that Dragon's Dogma 2 riding in a cart for 12 hours and seemingly being attacked by every cyclops on the map during your journey.

How to unlock fast travel in Gothic Remake

First off, unlocking fast travel is tied to your main story quest progress. You won't get the Swamp Camp fast travel rune (the first item you acquire to teleport) until the start of Chapter 3, which requires a fair bit of quest progress with the main story Swamp Camp quests. To clarify, this doesn't mean you need to join the Swamp Camp, since you'll be sent there by the other factions to complete these quests no matter what.

Complete Chapter 2 and its final quest to explore the Orc Cemetery, then as soon as Chapter 3 begins, Cor Angar will give you the Swamp Camp teleport rune. Is it a bit annoying that Swamp Camp fast travel only unlocks after you've completed a bunch of Swamp Camp quests already? Yes. Yes, it is.

During Chapter 3 you'll also unlock the New Camp teleport rune from Saturas when you visit the Water Mages. For me, I had to return to the Old Camp (where I was a member), speak to Raven, who pointed me to Diego, who asked me to go visit the Water Mages as part of the Water Mages' Plan quest. I haven't unlocked the Old Camp teleport rune yet, but considering Torrez doesn't sell it, I'm pretty sure it will also come from main quest progress.

You can use a teleport rune the same way as any other spell rune. Simply put it in your hotbar, select it, and then spend mana to teleport.

Trying to join the Old Camp in Gothic Remake is a surprisingly long process, requiring you to earn the trust of important members of the faction through a bucketload of quests and tasks. It's nothing like joining the Fighter's Guild in an Elder Scrolls game, where you can just rock up and start killing rats.

There are two quests involved in joining the Old Camp, Admission to the Old Camp and Casting Shadows, the latter of which is the most important, as you convince the shadows to support your candidacy in joining the faction. So, here's everything you need to do to complete that quest and become a member of the Old Camp.

How to complete Casting Shadows in Gothic Remake

After you arrive in the Old Camp and speak to Thorus at the castle gate, he'll explain that if you want to get inside and join the faction, you need someone to vouch for you, namely, Diego, who you met at the start of the game.

Diego's shack is right by the castle gate, and upon speaking to him, he'll give you the Casting Shadows quest, which is all about making a good impression on the Shadows—the various NPCs inhabiting the Old Camp.

Here are the steps you need to complete. First off, the tasks:

• Speak to Scatty by the bottom of the arena and defeat a fighter: I recommend challenging Kirgo, since he's the easiest. If you want an easy way to do this, acquire fire bolt through The Price of Magic quest, buy a mana potion from Torrez, then hit-and-run him with magic during the fight.
• Get to Level 5 and learn a skill from a teacher: Even after you complete all the necessary quests and tasks, Diego will still say you are too green and need more experience. I wasn't able to determine whether this requires you to reach Level 5 or to learn a skill, because I did both and it worked. Try learning a skill first (I recommend a hunting skill from Drax) and if Diego still says you're too green, then you need to get to Level 5.

And now the necessary quests:

• The Vanished Warder: If you head right when entering the Old Camp via the north gate (where you first entered), you'll find Sly, who will ask you to track down his missing pal, Nek. All the details you need are in that linked guide.
• The Cult's Recipe: You get this quest from Dexter in the market area with the cloth hangings on the south side of the Old Camp. He asks you to go to the Swamp Camp and steal a recipe—again, full details in the linked guide.
• Whistler's Sword: This task is easy. Head right from the castle entrance and follow the path past Gravo's shack to find Whistler sitting on a bench outside a shack to your right. He gives you 100 ore nuggets to buy his sword back from Fisk in the market a little further down the path. Fisk will ask for 110, but actually I suggest you just keep the money. Diego will be impressed that you swindled Whistler, and you'll get 100 ore, which is a lot early on.
• Scatty's Chest: I didn't originally do this task for Fingers, which means that if you do everything thing else in these lists, you can skip it (perfect, if you hate lockpicking as much as I do). If you want to complete it, though, basically head left from the castle entrance, past Scaf's cauldron, and then turn right up the slope to find Fingers. If you get stuck, full details (including a lockpick tutorial) are in the linked guide above.
• Test of Faith: This quest comes from Diego if you ask him for a task. Simply head to the old mine in the northwest of the map—the location with the two little watchtowers on the Colony map. Descend to the bottom of the mine to find Ian, say the code phrase Diego gave you, then deliver the list back to Diego.
• Out of Sight: This final task is from Thorus if you keep bugging him to give you a job once you've done everything else. He asks you to get rid of the New Camp merchant, Mordrag, who hangs out on a bench outside a shack to the east of the market area, in the south of the Old Camp. Mordrag offers to take you to the New Camp, which will get rid of him and complete the quest. However, you can also fight him. If you have fire bolt from The Price of Magic quest, plus some way to regen mana like a potion or swamp weed, it's fairly easy. Make sure to rob him when he's down to get a Spike Mace and a Longbow, before telling him to leave, and then heading back to Thorus.

Speak to Diego once all this is done and he'll give you his approval, which means you can now enter the castle for your audience with Gomez.

How to convince Gomez and join the Old Camp

When you meet Gomez in the main hall of the castle, you'll have to convince him to let you join the faction. First off, don't choose "Do I need to chop your head off to prove I'm a good fighter?" no matter what, as this will make him kill you.

Also, when you're telling him about the people you know in the other camps, don't choose "To Y'Berion" as this will make him kill you, too, since he realises it's a lie. All the other options were safe for me and by the end, you'll have convinced him to let you join the Old Camp.

One of the most captivating parts of Gothic Remake is that you start off as a poor sod with no gear to your name, and everyone's trying to swindle you. Unlike basically every other RPG ever, you don't even start with a basic weapon, so even little critters will eat you for breakfast. Naturally, finding out how to get armour is your next milestone after grabbing a sword.

I also recommend completing The Price of Magic quest early on to unlock magic, which makes early combat (especially without armour) much more manageable.

How to get armour in Gothic Remake

Getting armour is primarily tied to your faction progression of the three main camps or sold by vendors—you generally don't find any from exploring, unlike weapons. At the start of the game, you won't have any armour, just the Nameless Hero's boring black outfit (which isn't even considered an item). New gear sets are very few and far between, but you can grab one for free relatively early on.

The first armour you'll be able to get is the Digger's Light Trousers by purchasing them from Fisk in the Old Camp marketplace for 313 ore. He's got short black hair and is wearing the recognisable red Warder attire. The Digger's Light Trousers provide ten edge and blunt protection, and five fire resistance, so it's a great upgrade from your bare black robes. I recommend hunting, stealing, and mining in the Old Mine to make a quick buck early on. However, there's an upgraded alternative in the Old Mine.

If you can hold out and save your money for a little bit longer, then I recommend going to the Old Mine in the northwest of The Colony, which is around the hill to your left when you leave the New Camp. Almost at the bottom of the mine, you'll find merchant Alberto speaking to Ian. Alberto sells the Digger's Trousers for 324 ore, which is a slightly upgraded version of the armour sold by Fisk.

You can also get the Digger's Dress for free, which has the same stats as the Light Trousers. All you need to do is go to the Free Mine, accessed by going through the New Camp in the hills on the west side of The Colony, and speak to Swiney, a digger near the entrance. In theory, you could run over here almost immediately if you're brave enough and able to dodge all the enemies on the way to the New Camp.

After this, your next armour set is most likely going to come from whatever faction you choose. Completing Casting Shadows to join the Old Camp rewards you with the Shadow's armour, which you can upgrade at merchants like Fisk as you get promoted, such as to a Warder. Likewise, joining the New Camp will give you the Bandit's Dress to start with, while the Swamp Camp offers up its culty Novice robes.

Magic is very strong in Gothic Remake, especially early on in the game, where it can add a big boost to your firepower. This is why it's a good idea to complete The Price of Magic quest in the Old Camp. All you need to do is find a couple of items for the mage Torrez, and in return, he'll give you a valuable spell rune which lets you cast permanently so long as you have mana in the tank.

This will also unlock his magical inventory, letting you purchase more spells, including one-time consumable scrolls, though these will be well beyond your price range early on. Still, offensive magic will let you punch well above your weight, so here's how to complete the quest.

How to complete The Price of Magic in Gothic Remake

You'll meet the mage Torrez in the southwest of the Old Camp near the big market area covered by hanging cloth. This is the same area with Fisk, Dexter, and Mordrag. To get here, simply:

1. Head to the castle entrance from the north gate
2. Take a right down past the area with the water and Gravo's shack
3. Keep going and you'll find Torrez on the right by the well, just before you reach the big market area with the fireplace and the cloth coverings above

After speaking to him, Torrez will tell you that you potentially have aptitude for magic, but that you need to get him some things, namely:

• 1x Parchment
• 2x Wolf's Claw

To start, you can get the parchment from Graham, the map maker, whose shack is just to the left of the north gate where you originally entered the Old Camp. He's a plainly dressed gent with a short black beard and a receding hairline—you'll usually find him wandering around this area, or by the cooking cauldron near where his shack is. One Parchment will cost you 13 ore nuggets.

Now, for the Wolf's Claws, you have a couple of options. You can buy them from Mordrag near the market area—from where Torrez is, head through the market area, out the other side, and keep an eye to your left for him sitting on a bench outside a shack. These cost seven ore nuggets each, so 14 in total.

However, you can get these for free also, even early on. I'll show you how to do this in video above, but if you can't see that, do the following:

1. Head out the north gate and over the bridge with the guards standing watch, where you originally entered from
2. Go north a little way into the woods until you find the wolf den
3. Get a wolf's attention and then lead it back to the bridge guards who will kill it, letting you loot the body

Wolves are quite fearsome enemies early on, especially without armour, but this method will get you the Wolf's Claws you need for free. Now, head back to Torrez and deliver the materials. You'll now have the option to learn Rune Magic at the cost of five learning points.

He will craft you a rune (a spell you can permanently use, unlike consumable scrolls). He gives you a choice between fire bolt or healing. I personally recommend fire bolt, since it really lets you deal a lot of damage early on, and you can always heal by eating instead. This will also unlock Torrez's store, where he sells scrolls, runes, mana potions, albeit at a high price.

While resting and passing time will regen mana, the cheap and nasty way is to smoke swamp weed, which temporarily reduces dex. You can purchase this at vendors like Dexter in that market area (and he'll offer you some for free), though the Swamp Camp gives a daily ration of it, too. Consider taking The Cult's Recipe quest from Dexter to find a reason to head there.

If you go to the New Camp in the west of The Colony, you can also pay learning points to increase your overall mana with Cronos, the Water Mage. You'll find him in their headquarters at the back of the big settlement cave.

Taming a Scavenger mount in the Gothic Remake is great if you don't want to walk around the entire map on foot, or retread the same old routes over and over. While you can unlock fast travel in Gothic, it's limited to camps, so getting a mount speeds things up significantly in terms of travelling between known locales.

You can get the Scavenger mount at any time during the game, but you will need enough money and learning points (detailed below) to actually acquire the mount, some skills, and make the saddle. All that said, here's how to saddle up a Scavenger to ride.

How to unlock the Scavenger mount in Gothic Remake

You'll have to complete the Beak Performance quest that you get from Cohsel to the west of the Old Camp to get the Scavenger mount. Before you start, be warned that you'll need at least 280 ore nuggets and six learning points.

The location is shown in the video above, but basically:

1. Head out the north gate of the Old Camp and turn left till you hit a path running south
2. When you reach the crossroads with the sign, turn right on the path descending
3. Follow the path through the delve, passing Cavalorn's hut on the right
4. Ascend out the other side, turning left, to spot Cohsel's shack just ahead

It's easy to recognise since it has a Scavenger mount just outside and there's a tame wolf hanging out. Speak to Cohsel until he mentions riding a Scavenger, and then ask him to teach you three times—keep bugging him until he relents, essentially.

How to get Kingstide in Gothic Remake

The first thing he asks you for is five Kingstide, a plant that grows at the bottom of lakes. You'll want to head to the big lake by the New Camp, directly to the west of the hut—you can see it on the map quite easily. Speak to Homer on top of the dam and get him to train you in diving for five learning points and 30 ore.

Now, dive into the lake. There are five Kingstide in here (this is where I got mine), so just explore the bottom of the lake looking for the long stems and pinkish flowers of the plant pictured above. There are two quite close to the bottom of the dam itself, then doing a lap and keeping your eyes peeled should allow you to find the rest. Bring these back to Cohsel.

How to get Wolf Pelts and Leather Strips in Gothic Remake

Now Cohsel asks you to acquire materials for the saddle, namely:

• 3x Wolf Pelts
• 2x Leather Strips

To harvest the pelts, you'll need a hunting skill. Head west up the valley to find Aidan and pay him 250 ore and one learning point to teach you how to skin fur from animals. There are tonnes of wolves in this area, either close to Aidan, or up the track from Cohsel's shack, past where the lumberyard is.

You'll also need three Leather Strips, which I happened to already have. As Cohsel says, though, you can buy them from blacksmiths, so head to your camp blacksmith depending on who you joined, and purchase them. You can also just buy them from Fisk in the southern cloth-covered market area in the Old Camp.

Bring these back to Cohsel and he'll tell you to come back in a day, so head back to the Old Camp and rest in your hut. Returning the next day, he'll give you a whistle item to summon your Scavenger mount. Simply press F to ride it and remember that it'll get spooked by settlements and combat, so you'll have to dismount before going into a camp proper.

The best part of Gothic Remake's opening chapter is juggling the three factions: the Old Camp, New Camp, and Swamp Camp. Each of the three camps dislikes the others, but they're forced to work together somewhat to survive in The Colony. And then there's you, the Nameless Hero and a fresh face, who must pick a side. But which camp is right for you?

Which camp should you choose in Gothic Remake?

You can only join one faction, and there are some consequences to your actions. The good news is that you will still be able to visit and even complete some quests in the other camps, so it's not the end of the world. In fact, you'll even continue to receive the free daily items, like the ragout from the Old Camp or swampweed from the Swamp Camp. There's no bad blood if you're following the rules.

All factions are, frankly, kind of assholes, so it's more about picking the least nasty team and whichever one's theme is the coolest to you: hierarchical soldiers, a band of thieves and mercs, or cultists.

The main impacts of your faction choice include:

• Your quests are based on which faction you choose, mainly in the first chapter. You need to deliver a message to the fire mages, but you can do this in multiple ways. For example, you could move up the ranks of the Old Camp to get access to the castle, or by becoming a messenger for the water mages at the New Camp, or an envoy for the Swamp Camp. You'll automatically forfeit some quests when you join a camp too. When I signed up with the New Camp, I 'failed' Casting Shadows, Out of Sight, and a few other quests relating to the other camps. It's worth noting that Gothic's main quest is pretty similar no matter which camp you choose.
• You get camp-specific armour, which you can improve by climbing through the ranks of your chosen faction, or simply by paying money to an armourer like Fisk. Old Campers get the Shadow Armour to start with before graduating onto the slightly better Warder Armour, the New Camp gives you the Bandit's Dress, and Swampers get the Novice Armour. The Novice cult robes have less physical protection, but you can quickly upgrade all the sets anyhow.
• You get different faction promotions as you progress. If you pick the Old Camp, you can become a Warder or a Fire Mage. The New Camp offers Mercenary or Water Mage. Lastly, the Swamp Camp leads into Templar.

The Old Camp

The Old Camp is the first faction you'll interact with, thanks to Diego helping you out when you're first thrown into the penal colony. As such, it's very tempting to stick with this faction, especially as the fire mages you need to speak to for the main quest are inside the castle anyhow.

It's also the best camp for acquiring spells early with The Price of Magic quest. If you're looking to rock a pure mage build, then the easy access to fire magic makes this the faction to go for. The Warder gear you get, being plate armour, is obviously also very strong. The Old Camp is also the most convenient, centrally located, and has all sorts of vendors and teachers.

The New Camp

This group of bandits and mercenaries hiding out in the hills (it's the coolest base, if you ask me) are experts in all things thievery. The introductory quests to join the New Camp can be a bit of a pain, but it's a great opportunity to make some money (known as ore).

You can become a Water Mage through the New Camp, which presents a fun opportunity for mages. However, it'll likely take you a bit longer to reach than the Old Camp's fire magic.

There are a lot of handy trainers in the New Camp—including lockpicking, one-handed combat, and archery—though you don't need to join the faction to access these. Likewise, you can get a free armour set by heading to the Free Mine behind their base.

The Swamp Camp

This cult devoted to 'the Sleeper' lives out in the marshes to the northeast, and they love their swampweed. Unlike the other two factions, they don't really have a plan for leaving the penal colony, besides hoping their Sleeper god will help them out. Unfortunately, despite being expanded upon in the remake, the Swamp Camp is still the most underbaked of the three factions.

There are some good trainers here, including a cultist who can teach you how to climb—no need to join the camp, though, just bribe him with drugs.

It's also not the best choice if you want to become a pure mage, due to not having access to the same level spells as the other camps, though they do have a magic vendor. But if you're angling for a spellsword-type character, then it's got you covered.

You'll likely want to pass time when you first arrive in the Old Camp in Gothic Remake. If you're anything like me, you likely spent the whole first day exploring bits and bobs, so when you arrived at the main camp, it was already starting to get a bit gloomy and all of the town's NPCs were tucked up in bed.

You might've tried to sleep in a bed to pass time, only to be rudely awoken by its owner, wondering why you're taking 20 winks in his shack. Well, the good news is that there's a bed and a house just for you in the Old Camp, and all you have to do is find them, which I'll walk you through below.

How to pass time in Gothic Remake

You can pass time in Gothic by sleeping in a bed, but as with other RPGs, it can't be an owned bed. Whenever you try to sleep in a bed belonging to someone else (the sleep icon will be red), they will wake you up shortly after you nod off and won't be best pleased.

Thankfully, though, you can get a free shack and a bed as soon as you arrive in the Old Camp near the start of the game. You can see how to get to the location in the video above.

If you can't see it, then from the north entrance to the Old Camp (which you enter via when you first arrive), you'll want to:

1. Head left following the path through the shacks until you come to the area around the top of the arena (a stone building straight ahead).
2. Walk a short way around the upper viewing platforms of the arena and you'll spot a shack with a red cloth canopy to your left and two drying animal pelts on either side of the door—there's also a fireplace just in front of the entrance with a cooking scavenger bird.

This shack is free and now yours. You can also see the location on the map above relative to the north entrance to the Old Camp that you can enter via. Also make sure to check the chest in here to grab the Forgotten Recipe quest.

It's worth noting that you can find unoccupied beds in other locations, too. If you head to the Swamp Camp, there's a hut at the very top which you can reach by climbing the ladders and walkways until you reach the highest point—this will give you a place to rest if you join this faction, or when you're there on a quest.

Finding and remembering where stuff is in Gothic Remake can be a bit of a pain, especially as there's no compass. In fact, if you want a map, then you'll have to acquire one yourself with your hard-earned ore nuggets. It won't mark important NPCs or locations, but it does give you a useful lay of the land, whether you're in a settlement like the Old Camp or exploring the wider colony region.

You can also add markers to the map yourself, helping you remember where certain points of interest are from moment to moment. All that said, here's how to get a map in Gothic 1 Remake, a little tip to help you get one for cheap, and whether buying every map is strictly necessary.

How to get a map in Gothic Remake

You can purchase a map once you arrive in the Old Camp, and you have two separate options. Graham, the map maker, sells both a Colony map and an Old Camp map, for the wider world and the settlement respectively, but you can actually get the Colony map at a lower price if you buy it from Dexter in the market area. The video above shows you how to find both Graham and Dexter.

Graham's shack is right next to the north gate (where you originally enter the Old Camp) and you can find him wandering around the area during the day or by the cooking cauldron nearby—he has a short black beard and a receding hairline and is dressed in the basic digger clothes.

Dexter, on the other hand, is on the south side of the Old Camp in the market area. To get here:

1. Head to the castle entrance from the north gate
2. Take a right and follow the path past the water and Gravo's shack
3. Keep following the path around the outside of the castle until you reach the market with the cloth coverings hanging above—Dexter is usually on the right side during the day by the pelt racks

He sells a Colony map for 24 ore nuggets versus Graham's 44, and this is the map I definitely recommend you buy. You could also purchase the Old Camp map from Graham for 35, but honestly, there are better things to spend that on and it's a small area—basically a circle of shacks around a castle. You'll come to learn where everyone is soon enough.

Later on, you can buy additional maps which mark specific locations on your Colony map, such as in the Test of Faith quest for Diego, which sees you visiting the old mine. Again, I don't think these are necessarily worth the ore when you can just remember where important locations are via their visual indicators on the map, or place down markers yourself to remember.

Completing The Cult's Recipe in Gothic Remake is one of the necessary steps in impressing Diego enough to get you a recommendation to join the Old Camp. In this quest, Dexter asks you to head all the way to the Swamp Camp and steal Cor Kalom's recipe for creating mystical hallucinogens.

The trickiest part of this quest is actually getting to the Swamp Camp, since it's a dangerous route filled with enemies who'll kill you in one hit thanks to your lack of armor. So, here's how to get there safely, find the recipe, and even lockpick the chest containing it.

How to get to the Swamp Camp in Gothic Remake

After Dexter tasks you with stealing Cor Kalom's recipe, you'll have to find a way to the Swamp Camp. Before you do, though, make sure you have a couple of lockpicks—you can buy these from Mordrag in the same market area as Dexter if you head east past the fire pit towards the arena and look for him to your left, sitting on a bench in front of a shack. I'd also recommend grabbing a map of the Colony.

Now, you'll want to speak to Baal Parvez, the cultist with the face tattoos in the market area by Dexter, since he'll offer to escort you to the Swamp Camp and it's a dangerous journey. Follow and let him fight the harder enemies, though make sure you're close enough to get some XP. When you arrive in the camp, tell the Templars at the entrance you want to join, then head inside and ask Lester to show you to "Cor Kalom's Laboratory".

How to lockpick Cor Kalom's chest in Gothic Remake

The video above picks up where Lester drops you off. Head up the spiral staircase to the top to find the laboratory and Cor Kalom. His recipe is in the locked chest in the same room as the lab. The video shows how to pick the lock, and for some reason, Cor Kalom and his assistant don't really seem to mind. It doesn't matter too much if you're planning to join the Old Camp anyway, which if you're doing this quest, you are.

Grab the Old Recipe, then follow the route that you and Baal Parvez took to get back to the Old Camp—if you can't remember, use your colony map by pressing M. Make sure to stick to the path and keep running to avoid enemies. Give Dexter the recipe and he'll agree to put in a good word with Diego.

I'm not sure I've come across a lockpicking minigame that feels quite as brutal as the one in Gothic Remake, especially when you're untrained. I guess it's probably quite similar to how it would feel if I gave you a lockpick and asked you to open a locked chest in real life (assuming you're not some kind of master thief on the sly).

Luckily, like most things in Gothic, it becomes significantly easier if you invest in training and gather plenty of lockpicks to use when you're intent on cracking open a container and filching some items. So, here are the fundamentals of lockpicking, how to make it easier, and where to get more picks.

How to lockpick in Gothic Remake

Gothic has some of the hardest lockpicking I've encountered in an RPG, especially when tackling complex locks with six sliders. You can see me lockpicking a chest during The Cult's Recipe quest above. Otherwise, here's a brief rundown of how it works:

• Your goal is to align all of the sliders: Each slider has seven holes and your job is to align them all (by selecting and moving each) so the copper-coloured pin is in the middle hole for each of them. When a slider is correctly aligned, the pin will stick out of the hole.
• Sliders move other sliders: The tricky part is that moving a slider will either:
  • Move just that slider
  • Move other sliders in the same direction
  • Move other sliders in the opposite direction
• Lockpicks have durability: If a slider hits either side of the lock (which you'll know because it will be unable to move and will rattle), it will cost one durability. By default, lockpicks have two durability. When a pick breaks, the lock will reset, though you can also reset it at any time by pressing R. Though, if you exit lockpicking and your pick has any strain on it already, it will break.
• Training improves lockpick durability and adds break bonuses: If you're Trained, a pick will take four strains and the lock won't reset on a break. If you're a Master, it takes six strains, but a break will also remove a connection within the lock, simplifying the relationship between the sliders so it's easier to solve.

So, if you're serious about lockpicking, you'll want to get some training as soon as possible. If you pursue the Casting Shadows quest for Diego, you can ask him about teachers, and he will recommend you speak to Fingers in the Old Camp.

If you head left from the castle entrance, past Snaf and his cauldron, you'll find Fingers' shack up the slope to your right. He can train you in lockpicking, provided you have the ore nuggets and learning points from levelling up.

How to get lockpicks in Gothic Remake

Your best bet for acquiring lockpicks is either by keeping an eye out for them while exploring the world, particularly in prisoner-inhabited areas, or by buying them from Mordrag in the Old Camp. This New Camp representative is sitting on a bench outside a shack on the east side of the cloth-covered market area, in the south of the camp.

He sells them for 13 ore a piece, which is fairly expensive, so you're better off finding them and save-scumming to preserve your picks when you actually do some lockpicking. You can also buy them from Dexter in the same market area, the merchant who gives you The Cult's Recipe quest.

Joining the New Camp is a very long-winded process in Gothic Remake. Alongside handing out a bunch of swampweed for cash, you also need to help the Rice Lord. And after completing the A Few Drops Too Much quest, this so-called lord of rice will set you the task of finding Bran in the Up to His Neck quest.

Take note that while this quest will earn you the trust of the Rice Lord, a major step in joining the New Camp, you'll make that decision with Lares later. In other words, it won't lock you out of joining the other camp factions. Before you start this quest, I also recommend grabbing some armour, especially the free Digger's Dress.

How to complete Up to His Neck in Gothic Remake

The Rice Lord needs you to find Bran, his missing foreman, and tells you to speak to the farmers to find out more. Only the named farmers will comment on Bran, but, at least for me, Malon told me where he saw him disappear to. You need to speak to Malon kindly.

Malon explains that Bran went to a cave near the pond where Jacko and his crew hang around. To save you from running around the camp for ages like I did (there's a pond and lake in there, after all), to find the correct cave:

1. Exit the New Camp through the main gates
2. Go towards the pond and the small settlement ahead of you.
3. Turn right, where you'll see a bandit guarding a cave entrance. I recommend saving your game here so you have a convenient point to load back to.
4. Go inside the cave and up the stairs, where you'll find Jacko. Speak to Jacko, and he'll threaten you, starting a one-on-one fight.
5. Beat Jacko in combat (you can use weapons, don't worry), and he'll explain that he sent Bran to rob the tavern's basement in order to repay his debts.

Jacko is a strong opponent early on, and if he beats you, he'll steal your gear and you won't be able to find out more. If you're struggling to beat him, I recommend getting a better weapon (such as buying one from Fisk in the Old Camp marketplace) and some armour, like the free Digger's Dress from the Free Mine. You could also unlock the fire bolt rune for more offensive power in The Price of Magic quest.

You can also speak to Cord by the training dummies overlooking the lake tavern in the New Camp to level up your one-handed weapons. However, if you really can't beat him, you can likely skip this step, but you'll miss out on the powerful Bloodfly Sting mace that he drops.

Next, you need to go to the tavern by the lake up the hill in the New Camp, near the entrance to the main cave, to find out how to get into the basement. You have two options: lockpick the door behind Silas, or, my preferred method, swim underneath the tavern. You can discover this secret entrance by persuading Rayk, but you can likely skip this step—if you beat him up in the previous quest, then it'll save you from bribing him with ore.

Here's where you need to go to find Bran:

1. Go behind the tavern, close to the fishing rod on the pier and the chimney stack.
2. Dive into the water, where you'll see a cave entrance with a strong current.
3. Swim inside the basement and continue through the flooded cellar. You can actually surface here if you need more air.
4. Walk up the stairs, where you'll see Bran's body ahead of you, left of the door. It's very dark, so it's easy to miss.
5. Loot Bran's body and read the note. You can also lockpick the chests in this room to find out more, if you can be bothered to struggle with the lockpicking minigame.
6. Swim back out the way you came and return to Silas to confront him about what happened to Bran.

Once you've spoken to Silas, return to the Rice Lord to finish the Up to His Neck quest. Your most important reward for completing this quest is that you'll get the Rice Lord's backing in terms of joining the camp. You'll also get 300 XP, which is a pretty hefty amount early on.

Acquiring ore nuggets in the Gothic Remake can be a taxing process, quite literally as it happens, as warders squeeze you for protection money and you have to shell out for even the most basic gear to keep yourself alive. Protective armor, decent weaponry, and even magic are all luxuries in the Valley of the Mines and will cost you a pretty penny to gather.

Thankfully, there are some ways to make money, though many of them require a little investment to begin with, specifically in learning skills. You can even mine ore if you want a basic way to accrue currency early on, but it's worth investing in more lucrative methods as you progress further into the game.

Best ways to earn ore in Gothic Remake

It's advisable early on to grab basically everything you find in order to sell it, especially herbs and mushrooms, which can be surprisingly valuable. You'll need all the ore you can get to buy a map and equip yourself with gear that isn't total trash.

Thankfully, before long you should start to steamroll in ore terms, especially if you follow the main quest and clear the dungeons in it like the goblin cave and orc cemetery. All of these humanoid enemies have weapons that are valuable to sell, so it can be lucrative.

That said, there are some good ways to earn ore in Gothic.

1. Hunting

You'll find yourself killing lots of molerats, scavengers, wolves, lizards, and other monstrous beasties as you explore the colony. You can learn hunting skills from Drax, a bald hunter on the right side of the road after you descend from the mine into the central valley at the start of the game.

He asks you to get him a beer first, but you should've already found a few in the chests in the mine and at the goods exchange. If you acquire hunting skills, you can extract more materials from the monsters you kill, making it more lucrative.

You can also learn special hunting skills from Cavalorn in his house to the west of the Old Camp if you bring him the Beasts of Khorinis II book from the Old Mine, and then the Minecrawler Queen's gland. There are more Beasts of Khorinis books scattered about the map, so keep your eyes peeled if you want to earn more money hunting.

2. Thievery

You're a criminal, after all, so why not steal stuff? You can either lockpick or pickpocket (though I'd suggest acquiring some training first), but you can also just straight up mug people. If someone picks a fight with you, beat them up, steal everything—they would've done the same to you. If you see an opportunity to draw wild animals to attack someone so you can down them and steal their equipment, do it. That's how I got my first really good sword.

If you really want to mug others, then head to the lawless New Camp in the west of the map. The trader Mordrag will even escort you there—you can find him on the east side of the cloth-covered market area in the south of the Old Camp, sitting on a bench on the left side of the path outside a shack.

3. Smithing

Once you arrive in the Old Camp, provided you've got 10 learning points from gaining a level and 50 ore, you can learn one-handed smithing from Huno, whose forge is just to the south of the upper level of the arena, right by where your shack and bed are. Once you have this skill, you craft weapons with materials you either steal or find, and then sell said weapons.

If you're looking for an easy blueprint to acquire, you can find the Light Club (Mace) very close to the start of the game, if you climb up the rocks on the left side of the area above where the locked mine entrance is. Kill the goblin and enemies up there, then grab this blueprint from his den.

You can also get the Sword of Judgement blueprint from the mine in the northwest of the colony, specifically, on the desk by Ian at the bottom of the mine, where you have to go during Diego's Test of Faith quest, which is part of joining the Old Camp. This is handy, since the mine is also our next stop in terms of money-making methods.

You'll quickly realise when you start exploring goblin caves and orc areas later, that selling weapons is quite lucrative, so killing any large number of humanoid enemies in an area can earn you lots of ore as you loot and sell off all their weapons.

4. Mining

Now, this can be very slow, but if you're determined, you can make a lot of ore. Provided you have a pickaxe, you can mine the blue ore deposits in the mine in the northwest of the colony. Simply walk up to an ore node and interact with it. You'll get three ore for the first few animations, then only one as the deposit's lustre fades.

You can also grab wayward ore nuggets from around other miners or the big ore nugget piles in the lower areas of the mine. It's slow going and boring and hell, but it'll get you a little nest egg of ore you can use to invest in other money-making skills.

One of the first things you're likely to realise in Gothic Remake is how utterly annoying its torch system feels. When you activate a torch in your hotbar, you'll light it up, which is helpful in such an often gloomy game, but there's no way to put it back in your inventory while it's still burning.

If you select a sword, for example, you'll stab the torch into the ground where it'll stay burning for a good while. You can either pick it up and continue, or wait for it to burn out. Admittedly, it feels quite cool stabbing a torch into the ground in some cave so you can draw your sword and fight a bunch of goblins, but for exploration it's a pain.

There is simply no key or input that puts your torch away once it's lit. In fact, the only way your character will stow a torch is if you walk into water and start swimming to snuff the flame. Otherwise, your only option is waiting for it to burn out and collecting it later. There are a couple of handy exceptions though:

• If you rest in a bed, your character will stab the torch into the ground, and it will have gone out by the time you wake up
• If you stab a torch into a puddle or shallow pool of water, it will instantly go out

Thankfully, torches are plentiful, especially in areas where you actually need them, so I wouldn't worry too much about using them. I generally just make sure to stab a torch into the ground on a path or route I know I'll take multiple times, such as the trail to the Swamp Camp, which means I'll spot it later when it's gone out and can always pick it up again.

I also recommend that you set your torch to 0 in the hotbar since this will mean you're far less likely to accidentally take one out and be unable to stow it, which definitely happened to me early on.

Hopefully Alkimia Interactive realises how annoying it is, even as an aspect of realism, and adds in a way to stow torches later on, or at least an option to snuff them out on the ground so we can pick them up without waiting.

Wander around Gothic Remake's iconic Old Camp and you'll soon run into Snaf, the town cook. He'll give you the quest Snaf's Recipe, which requires you to track down meatbugs and hellcap mushrooms for his ragout. He promises it's tastier than it sounds, but I'm not convinced.

Even though Snaf gives you an idea of where to look—which is included in your journal—finding these ingredients is far from straightforward when you barely know your way around. That said, having a map to both the Colony and the Old Camp is helpful.

How to complete Snaf's Recipe in Gothic Remake

Snaf asks you to find three bugmeat and five hellcaps for his ragout recipe, and here's where I recommend you look:

• You can find several meatbugs (like large maggots) by the eastern wall of the Old Camp, past your shack and the arena. However, you might already have some bugmeat if you killed some near the abandoned mine at the start of the game.
• Hellcaps grow inside caves and open fields. You can find five inside the cave where you find Nek in The Vanished Warder quest, just outside the south gate of the Old Camp. You can also find two in the small molerat cave by the bridge at the north gate, and three in the molerat cave to the west of town, by the guarded path to the orcs. These caves also contain Solanaceae, which are required for The Forgotten Recipe quest, so collect these while you're here.

Return to Snaf with the ingredients and he'll cook you a portion of his meatbug ragout—delicious, apparently. More importantly, you'll also get 100 XP, the recipe to cook it yourself, and you can speak to Snaf each day to claim free food. Unfortunately this quest doesn't count towards the main Casting Shadows quest though, so you'll still need to do more busywork in the Old Camp.

Shortly after arriving in the Old Camp in Gothic 1 Remake, you're bound to run into the one and only Mud. He's a lowly villager near the castle gate who'll ambush you for a chat when you walk past his shack. All he wants to do is join you for a while to keep you company, so you've likely said 'why not' out of curiosity. The other option was immediately telling a stranger to piss off, which is a bit rude, don't you think?

However, if you've spent more than a minute with Mud, you'll realise just how annoying he is. He'll interrupt you constantly with his comments and follow you around, but when you speak to him, you'll only have the option of telling him to piss off again. So what's Mud's business? Well, I spent hours suffering by his side to figure it out so that you don't have to put up with him.

Gothic Remake Mud explained

Simply put, Mud is a joke character intended to be a pest and annoy you. The only way to stop Mud from following you is to tell him to go away and beat him up, or have him get killed in combat, though he generally runs away from a fight. However, if the remake follows the original story to a tee, you won't have to worry about Mud past chapter four, if you don't want to be mean to him.

If you put up with Mud's incessant chatter for long enough (roughly three hours, in my case), you then have the option to ask him to be quiet, which he'll happily agree to, for a few minutes at least.

While Mud's interruptions hint at him being a bigger character—he mentions using you against his bullies, putting in a good word for you with the Old Camp, and being hungry—none of these come to fruition, at least in my five hours of exploring with him. In fact, he'll say these voicelines repeatedly and at random locations, too, so it's not based on where you are currently in the world or story.

There is a chance, like in the original game, that Mud can bug out and get stuck while you're exploring. If this happens, he will eventually reset and reappear at his house in the Old Camp. He'll chat to you like normal when you stroll past but won't follow you around. When this accidentally happened to me while heading over to the Swamp Camp, prematurely ending my scientific experiment, I wasn't all too annoyed.

Gothic Remake's resident nice guy, Guy, will give you a free hut once you arrive in the Old Camp. Upon entering your humble abode and looting the chest, you'll find a scrap of paper that gives you The Forgotten Recipe quest.

Speak to Snaf, the town's chef, standing by the cauldron near the castle gate, and he'll give you a laundry list of ingredients to find in order to cook this secret stew recipe. Below, I'll explain where to look to get all six ingredients, and how to cook the stew, so you're not aimlessly wandering around like I was.

Gothic Remake The Forgotten Recipe ingredient locations

Once you speak to Snaf, you will need to find two of each of the following ingredients:

• Scavenger breast (Raw White Meat)
• Onions
• Carrots
• Potatoes
• Solanaceae herb
• Water

You can get Scavenger breast by killing the weird chicken-like dinosaurs of the same name, found just about everywhere, including in the fields and forests to the east and west of the Old Camp (near the north gate, where you first enter the town). They drop Raw White Meat, which is the Scavenger breast you need.

Solanaceae herbs spawn in and around caves. I recommend grabbing the two Solanaceae inside the cave where you find Nek in The Vanished Warder quest, just outside the south gate of the Old Camp. However, you can also find two in the small molerat cave by the bridge at the north gate, and in the larger molerat cave to the west of town, by the guarded path to the orcs.

The best way to get onions, carrots, potatoes, and water is to buy them from Dexter in the market area with the hanging cloth covers on the southern side of the Old Camp. You can buy two of each ingredient you need for a total of 24 ore, which is pretty easy to earn—sell any spare weapons, materials, and trophies if you need some extra cash.

Once you've gathered all the materials you need, return to Snaf. He'll cook one batch of the recipe and explain the complicated process. Then, you need to cook it yourself—thankfully you can actually ignore all the steps Snaf told you, which is rare in Gothic.

To cook the stew recipe, you need to use a cauldron. You can find an unoccupied one near Kharim at the entrance to the arena on the left side of the Old Camp, or just use Snaf's when he goes to bed for the night. Select the Brock's Stew recipe and it'll consume the remaining ingredients you gathered earlier. Then just return to Snaff so he can taste test your attempt, finishing The Forgotten Recipe quest and giving you 100 XP in return.

Once you arrive in the Old Camp in the Gothic Remake, you'll need to beat a handful of quests to complete the Casting Shadows quest for Diego. One such task is The Vanished Warder quest, which you can pick up from Sly near the gate. He'll ask you to find his missing friend Nek, which involves speaking to a bunch of people and eventually tracking down the lost warder.

I'll explain all of the major steps below so you don't have to waste time searching for Nek in the wrong places—very easily done if you haven't immediately purchased a map.

How to complete The Vanished Warder in Gothic Remake

Once you speak to Sly to start The Vanished Warder quest, he'll suggest you speak to Fletcher, a warder by the arena and your shack on the left side of the Old Camp. Fletcher sends you to talk to Guy, a miner in the same area, who passes you on to Snaf, the chef to the left of the gates. Eventually, you'll learn that Snaf sent Nek out to find hellcap mushrooms.

You don't need to speak to these characters in order to find Nek, but it is a good excuse to learn more about the Old Camp and its inhabitants. In fact, my quest bugged and I couldn't speak to Guy or Snaf about Nek, but it didn't prevent me from completing it—no need to roll back your save if you run into this issue too.

As I demonstrate in the video above, to find Nek, you need to:

1. Head out the south gate of the Old Camp, which is past the market area on the right side where you'll find Dexter, Torrez, and Baal Parvez. You first enter the Old Camp through the north gate.
2. From the south gate, continue directly ahead where you'll find a molerat cave, though watch out for the molerats wandering the area.
3. After you've killed them, go inside the cave, where you'll find Nek's corpse on the ground (along with various other loot, including an axe, hellcaps, and solanaceae).
4. Loot Nek's body to collect his amulet.
5. Return to Sly near the north gate and speak to him to finish the quest.

When you speak to Sly, he will ask you for evidence of Nek's death. You can either hand him the amulet or lie and keep it to yourself. I recommend giving Sly Nek's amulet so that he'll put in a good word for you with Diego.

Since Snaf sent Nek to find various ingredients, this is also the perfect opportunity to complete both The Forgotten Recipe and Snaf's Recipe quests. Just pick up the nearby hellcap mushrooms and solanaceae, since they are two of the ingredients you'll need.

The New Camp is one of the three factions you can join in the Gothic Remake. Like joining the Old Camp, it's a very long-winded process. In fact, I'd say it's even more arduous, given all the running back and forth and busywork you have to do.

Be warned that you can only join one camp. But if you've got your heart set on this band of thieves and mercs who rule over farmers and miners, touting freedom, then this is what you need to do to join them.

How to join the New Camp in Gothic Remake

The first step in joining this thieves' guild is to locate them. You can find the New Camp in the hills on the west side of The Colony. Head out the south gate of the Old Camp and go west towards the large body of water you can see on the upper left side of the map—the New Camp is right by this.

However, the journey over there is dangerous, so I recommend completing a few of the Casting Shadows quests and then bugging Thorus in the Old Camp for work. Eventually, he'll give you the Out of Sight quest, in which he asks you to get rid of Mordrag. Ask Mordrag about his job as a messenger for the New Camp, and he'll offer to take you there, which starts the Admission to the New Camp quest.

Follow him to the New Camp and he'll kill all the enemies on the way, giving you a quest item—a ring—that'll let you speak to Lares, the leader of the camp. Once you arrive in the New Camp:

1. Head up the hill past the farm, across the dam/bridge, and into the large cave on your left.
2. Hug the left side of the cave and go up the hill to find Lares' house.

You'll need to convince the guards to let you in by mentioning the ring Mordrag gave you. Speak to Lares, and he'll explain what you need to do to join the New Camp, specifically mentioning Swamp Camper Baal Isidro and his swampweed supply. Basically, you need to get the favour of Lares and the Rice Lord, so complete the following sub-quests:

1. A Piece of the Pie

Lares wants 400 ore nuggets and suggests you speak to Baal Isidro in the lake tavern to get them. I recommend speaking to Baal Kagan by the camp at the base of the hill to Lares' house to get the Canvassing Customers quest, and sell ten Green Novice to any bandits in the camp, giving you ten ore each. You can then use this money to bribe the guards at the tavern.

Once inside, speak to Baal Isidro and suggest helping him sell the swampweed. He'll refuse, so buy him some rice schnapps (his favourite drink) from bartender Silas, at which point he'll give in, starting The Herb Merchant quest. Sell the Green Novice, Northern Dark, and Dreamcall he gives you to mercenaries and bandits, or to merchants like Sharky, Cronos, Malon, and Silas in bulk. Give the 400 nuggs earned to Lares, instead of returning to Isidro.

2. A Few Drops Too Much

Acquired by speaking to the Rice Lord by the gates, he'll ask you to go to the lake tavern to help Silas. All you need to do is speak to Silas, and then either beat up Rayk or convince him to simmer down.

3. Up to His Neck

After completing A Few Drops Too Much, the Rice Lord will give you a quest to find Bran, his missing foreman. Speak to farmer Malon nicely (that's important), and you'll discover he headed out of the camp towards a cave by a pond used by Jacko and Renyu:

1. Exit the New Camp and head towards the large pond settlement ahead of you.
2. To your right, you'll find a cave entrance guarded by Renyu.

Go inside to find Jacko and beat him up. He'll tell you he sent Bran to rob the New Camp tavern's basement. If you're struggling to beat Jacko, then you can likely skip this step, though he did drop the strong Bloodfly Sting mace that I used for a while. Getting the free Digger's Dress armour nearby helped me.

From here, go to Silas' lake tavern at the centre of the New Camp. You need to get into the basement, which is the area behind where Silas is standing, and you have two options: lockpick the door behind Silas, or, my preferred method, swim underneath the tavern. The quest will prompt you to speak to a regular customer to find this alternate entrance (it's the drunkard Rayk, who you likely beat up in the previous quest), though you can likely skip this step and go straight to diving.

1. Go outside and behind the tavern, near the fishing rod on the pier and the chimney stack.
2. Dive into the water, and you'll see a cave entrance with a strong current.
3. Swim inside and continue through the flooded cellar until you reach Silas' alchemy stations and dry land.
4. Walk up the stairs, where you'll see Bran's body ahead of you, left of the door.
5. Loot Bran's body and read the note.
6. Swim back out the way you came and return to Silas to confront him.

After you've confronted Silas, all you need to do is return to the Rice Lord to finish the Up to His Neck quest and earn his favour.

4. Something the Matter?

If you've got the Test of Faith quest from Diego in the Old Camp, go to the Old Mine in the northwest of The Colony, which is around the hill to your left when you leave the New Camp. Go almost all the way down to find Ian and speak to him to get the supply list.

Instead of returning to Diego, go to Lares, who will tamper with the list. This will start the Something the Matter? quest, where you just need to give the falsified supply list to Diego, then return to Lares.

5. The Raid

After you've completed all of the above quests, earning both Lares' and the Rice Lord's trust, speak to the former to ask if you've got what it takes to become a bandit. He'll mention a "special assignment", which you can then ask him about. This gives you The Raid quest, your final test.

All you need to do is:

1. Speak to Gorn, located on your right near the entrance to the cave, to get a free sword.
2. Walk to the road between the Old Mine and the Old Camp, where you'll find a carriage stuck in the mud.
3. Sneak up the mound overlooking the carriage to find Wedge and the other raiders, who'll explain the plan.
4. You're the distraction, so speak to the guards. I told them I was new to the Colony, and suggested we find some wood to help get the carriage out.
5. Ambush the guards—you can use your weapons (like your new sword), despite being told not to kill the guards.
6. Speak to Wedge afterwards, then return to Lares at the New Camp.

Once you've done all this, Lares will officially invite you to the crew, completing the Admission to the New Camp quest. You'll receive the Bandit's Dress armour and 1,500 XP. Be warned that you can only join one of the three camps, so accepting Lares' offer will prevent you from joining either the Old Camp or the Swamp Camp, and you will forfeit some quests. You can still visit them, though, so long as you follow the rules.

The new Snack Attack Series 1 Festival Playlist challenge in Forza Horizon 6 will likely have you stumped. You need to find and smash five vending machines. Easy enough, you think, and then realise you've never actually paid attention to something as inconsequential as a vending machine in a racing game.

Luckily, there's one location where you can quickly find five machines and be done with this challenge. It'll take you just 30 seconds, and you'll get a new car for free to show for it.

Forza Horizon 6 vending machine locations

The best location to visit to find five vending machines is the 365 convenience store at the Minimino Golf Course in the centre of the region, next to the Airfield Trail dirt racing event and the 1969 Dodge Charger R/T Treasure Car. Here you'll find three vending machines outside the 365 shop, and there are two more against the building just over to your left. All you need to do is bump into each one in your car to smash them, and the challenge is done.

Another good location, if you'd rather stay in Tokyo City while you're finding Shibuya Crossing and Edogawa Baseball Stadium, is the road bordering the right side of the park by the Inner City Run drift zone. This is in the north of Tokyo City. Near the end of the road, you'll see a small parking lot with two vending machines against one wall, two more against the brick wall at the back, and a final two across the street to the right, next to a bush.

Your reward for completing the Snack Attack collectables challenge is three Festival Playlist points and the 2023 Lotus Emira. This modern supercar starts at mid-A-rank, so it's pretty handy to have. Plus, it looks the part too.

Tokyo Drift is one of the most annoying Series 1 daily challenges in Forza Horizon 6. Not only do you need to find Shibuya Crossing, but you also need to perform three Awesome Drifts, which is easier said than done.

I'll explain where to find Shibuya Crossing below, alongside how best to complete this pesky challenge so you can get your Playlist Festival points and put this task in the rearview mirror.

Forza Horizon 6 Shibuya Crossing location

Shibuya Crossing is a four-way junction in the northwest of Tokyo City, almost directly south of the Highway Circuit road race, and east of the food delivery job icon. It's not far from Edogawa Baseball Stadium, which you also need to visit this week for the Pitcher Perfect challenge.

You'll recognise Shibuya Crossing by the many road crossings, but also the massive advertisements on the side of the buildings. There are Horizon Festival barriers all around the crossroads, too.

How to beat Tokyo Drift in Forza Horizon 6

As for how to beat Tokyo Drift, the issue with this challenge is how vague the description is. Basically, you need to perform three Awesome Drifts while moving through Shibuya Crossing, so from the main road around the corner into one of the other junctions. It likely won't trigger for you by simply doing donuts at the centre of the road, or drifting but continuing down the main road, for some reason.

A big issue, then, will be avoiding traffic. Wait for the right moment, and as long as you drift long enough through Shibuya Crossing junction for it to score Awesome, then you're done.

I recommend using one of the best cars for drifting, as well as disabling traction control and ABS (anti-lock braking system) to make drifting easier. To get the perfect drift, start drifting around the corner but only tap the accelerator—don't hold the gas like you might be tempted to.

We might be years removed from the old "clicking on a placard for hours until an invisible timer decides to run out" method of Final Fantasy 14 housing yore, but that doesn't mean securing your own abode in the critically-acclaimed MMORPG is a total walk in the park these days.

The good news is that buying a house in Final Fantasy 14 is a relatively hands-off experience these days as it's all done in a lottery-based system. The bad news is that the demand continues to far outweigh the supply, so you may need to try more than once.

I'll lay the whole process out below with a Final Fantasy 14 housing schedule tracking both the entry and results periods, along with how to bid and check if you've won your very own plot of land.

Final Fantasy 14 housing lottery schedule

Full housing lottery schedule for June

Final Fantasy 14's housing lottery schedule cycles every nine days: five days for the entry period, and four days for the results period. Here is the schedule for the upcoming month:

How to enter the Final Fantasy 14 housing lottery

If you want to bid for a house in Final Fantasy 14, first make sure that the lottery cycle is currently in the entry period, which you can see above.

To find out which plots are free, PaissaDB is a great website that pulls crowdsourced info to find empty housing lots. You can filter by your server, housing district, and house size. PaissaDB will also tell you whether Free Companies or individuals can bid on the house, how many entrants there are, and how much it costs.

You can only enter the lottery for one house per cycle, so choose wisely.

Make sure you have enough gil on you, as you'll have to pay upfront in order to bid. From there, head over to the main aetheryte for your desired housing district: Gridania, Limsa Lominsa, Kugane, Ul'dah, Kugane, or Foundation.

Find the correct ward and plot, click on the placard, designate whether you're purchasing for yourself or for your Free Company, and enter your gil to bid. And that's it! You'll be given a number, and now it's time to wait for the results period.

How to find out if you've won a house

Once the results period has commenced, it's time to find out whether your number is the lucky one. Simply head back to the plot you bid on (if you've forgotten, you can check by going to Duty > Timers > Estate and then clicking on Housing Lottery Status) and once again click on the placard.

It'll tell you the winning number. If it's yours, congratulations! You'll be directed to finalise the purchase and claim the lot as your own. You must do this within the four-day results period or you'll lose the plot and 50% of the gil you spent to enter the lottery.

If your number isn't chosen, the game will refund the gil you spent on entering the lottery, so don't worry about losing out. You have 90 days to claim back your gil, so make sure you don't forget to return to the placard. Even if you're already being taunted by someone's house standing proud on the plot you wanted.

As someone who never played the 2001 original, the cult status surrounding the Gothic Remake has led me to keep my eyes on THQ's classic RPG ever since it was announced. Now that the Gothic Remake launch time and release date is almost here, we get to see how this eurojank RPG has been revitalised for a new age.

Returning to the Colony 25 years later to preview the remake, our very own Fraser Brown wrote that the visual glow-up doesn't hide the "scrappy eurojank RPG it always was". And that's not a bad thing.

When is the Gothic Remake unlock time?

The Gothic Remake launches on Friday, June 5 for most regions, but it'll be June 6 for others, at the following times across the globe:

• US Pacific: 10 am PDT
• US Eastern: 1 pm EDT
• UK: 6 pm GMT
• Europe: 7 pm CEST
• Australia: 3 am AEST (June 6)
• New Zealand: 5 am NZST (June 6)

While you've still got to wait to enter the Valley of Mines, you can play the demo (called the Nyras Prologue) in the meantime. Weirdly, it's actually a standalone prologue to the Remake's story—no Nameless Hero in sight, even. Still, it'll give you a taste of what to expect from the full game.

Can you preload Gothic Remake?

At least as of writing, no, you can't preload the Gothic Remake on any platform. However, given it's only 30-40 GB on PC (Steam suggests you have 60 GB free, though), that shouldn't be too much of an issue depending on your download speed.

If you thought finding the Tokyo Tower was hard in last week's Series 1 challenges in Forza Horizon 6, then get ready for the Pitcher Perfect photo challenge. This week gives you nothing more than a hint of a baseball field (lucky you if you recognise it as Edogawa Baseball Stadium), which is less to go on than Tokyo City's iconic tower.

The answer, thankfully, isn't actually that far away from last week's photo challenge. I'll explain where you need to go below so you can tick off another Festival Playlist activity.

Forza Horizon 6 Edogawa Baseball Stadium location

You need to visit the Edogawa baseball stadium in the northwest of Tokyo City, which is a few blocks north of the Tokyo Tower and the food delivery job, and west of the Highway Circuit road race. It's not marked on your map, but it's a large grassy square.

While the prompt you're given is on the northeast corner of the baseball field, where you'll see the high fence railings and a large doorway onto the pitch, you actually need to take a photo inside the stadium. Drive inside and snap a photo to complete the Perfect Pitcher challenge.

Like the other photo challenges, you'll receive three Festival Playlist points upon completion, which is a fair chunk of progress towards the Winter season rewards, including the 2019 Subaru STI S209 and 2016 Toyota Land Cruiser Arctic Trucks AT37. You'll also get the Slide Whistle car horn, if you care about car horns.

The A Heroes Journey update brought Hercules and Phil to Disney Dreamlight Valley, but unlike Pocahontas, the process of unlocking both characters is slightly more complicated. You've got five new quests to make your way through before they move into your valley, alongside a shiny new realm to explore.

To begin the first quest you need to complete, you have to unlock the Hercules realm in the Dream Castle. This will cost 11,000 Dreamlight, which is a pretty big investment if you ask me, but it's worth it. As soon as you've unlocked the realm, before you've even set foot inside, you'll begin the Moonlighting as a Hero quest. Here's what you need to do from there.

How to complete the Moonlighting as a Hero quest in Disney Dreamlight Valley

Once you're inside the Hercules realm, a cutscene will play showing Phil running through the woods. Follow him by going right and walking through the trees. Speak to him in front of the plinth surrounded by thorns, and he will explain that Hercules has gone missing and he needs your help. You'll offer to investigate the thorns and fog, so once the conversation has ended, walk up to the thorns and interact with them to receive a message from Artemis which doesn't make much sense.

Head back to Phil by the pillar at the start of the realm, and talk to him. He'll decipher the message you've just found and task you with finding a Moon Headband in the realm. Fortunately, it's just in the pool of water behind where you're talking to Phil, so grab your fishing rod and cast your line into the ripples. When you've reeled it in, take it to the pedestal next to Phil.

Talk to him again, and he'll suggest getting more gifts for Artemis. You'll need to gather the following items from around the realm next:

• 3 x Greek Clay
• 3 x Greek Flowers
• 3 x Sylvan Wood

Transfer these things to the pedestal, and the Moon Headband will start to glow. Phil will then tell you to pick it up, put it on, and head to the training arena with him. So, equip the headband and follow Phil to the left, clearing all the night thorns along the way. Speak to Phil once you've reached the arena, and he'll get you to run the obstacle course before helping you. So, go through the starting line behind Phil to begin your run.

You'll need to clear night thorns and light five Moonlight Beacons on your way around the course, so keep your Moon Headband equipped. It's worth increasing your stamina bar to gold so you can glide around too, as this makes the entire course that little bit faster. As long as you get through in two minutes or less, that's all that matters though.

Once you've spoken to Phil a final time, he'll send you back to the first pedestal you found in the realm. Light this to clear the first bit of fog, and then go through the woods lighting every pedestal you come across until a cutscene plays showing Hercules in front of three swirling water fountains. Talk to Hercules, and the Moonlighting as a Hero quest will end, and the Speedrun Crash Course quest will automatically begin.

How to complete the Speedrun Crash Course quest in Disney Dreamlight Valley

Head back into the woods and speak to Hercules and Phil. After the initial excitement of them being reunited, they'll explain they need the help of Hermes, aka some Winged Boots, to get across to the temple. These need to be mined from the marble pile to the left of where you speak to Phil and Herc. You'll also need to gather five Pegasus Feathers while you find the boots, which can be found throughout the forest and are hard to miss given their golden glow.

Take all of these items back to Phil, and he'll lead you to the Hermes pedestal back at the arena. Place the items on the pedestal, and speak to Hercules. Much like what happened with the Moon Headband, you'll need to put in a bit more work to please Hermes, which means cooking up a "Legendary Meal". To create this, you'll need to find the following items scattered across the entire Hercules realm:

• 1x Aegean Delights
• 1x Legendary Goldfish
• 1x Greek Cheeses
• 1x Greek Fruits and Veggies
• 1x Giant Lettuce

When you've gathered all of these ingredients, use the cooking pot (the firepit) at the entrance of the arena to save yourself from going back to the valley. Shove all of these ingredients into the pot, and take the Legendary Meal to the Hermes pedestal. When you place it, the boots will start to glow like the Moon Headband did. Pick them up, put them on, and go to the starting line for the Hermes obstacle course directly to your left.

As you run around the obstacle course, you'll need to collect five feathers. Just like the first obstacle course you ran, it's easier to float or glide around and much faster too, so fill your stamina bar before you start to make your course more efficient. When you've finished in five minutes, you'll be sent back to the dark forest and you need to talk to Hercules again.

He'll say you're ready to cross the storm to get to the temple, so run back to the cliff edge and interact with the Hermes symbol on the floor to cross. This will end the Speedrun Crash Course quest and immediately start the Thunderstruck quest.

How to complete the Thunderstruck Quest in Disney Dreamlight Valley

Hercules and Phil waste no time in telling you that the gate to the temple is locked, of course. But luckily, there's a rotating puzzle on the floor you can solve to help. Use the levers at the bottom of the puzzle until the cloud with lightning coming out of it is facing you. You'll know when you've positioned each correctly as a mechanism will pop up in the middle, and you'll be able to grab the Stone Bracers Mould. Take this to Hercules, and he'll ask you to gather the following items:

• 6 x Hephaestus Coals
• 10 x Orichalcum Ore
• 10 x Greek Marble Fragment

You can gather most of your Orichalcum Ore and Hephaestus Coals from the island you're on, but you need to head back into the dark forest to get marble fragments from piles of broken marble pillars, and more coals from the arena.

Take all of these items to the crafting bench left of the temple's entrance and craft the Golden Bracers. Place them on the Zeus pedestal in front of the temple entrance. Before you can enter the temple though, you'll need to decide on whether you want to make Zeus laugh, cry, or become angry.

I chose to make him laugh, which sent me back to the valley to speak to Scrooge McDuck, Merlin, and Goofy to learn some good jokes. I couldn't test if the other options gave different characters to speak to, but I imagine so. Go back to the valley and chat to your selected villagers, and return to Hercules in the realm with your findings. For me, I had to tell him my favourite joke, which triggered the Golden Bracers to glow on the pedestal.

Pick up and put on the Bracers, and you'll be able to break the rocks blocking the temple entrance, alongside the chains keeping the door shut. When you break these, Hercules and Phil will run in and walk up to the mosaic at the back of the room. Follow them, and speak to Phil who explains that someone is making a mockery of the Gods by switching parts of the mosaic around. You're then challenged to find the missing pieces around the temple. After this conversation, the Thunderstruck quest will end and automatically start the A Real Godly Mess quest.

How to complete A Real Godly Quest in Disney Dreamlight Valley

You need to find six mosaic pieces around the temple, and luckily they have a very bright golden glow so you can see them from a mile off. Most of them are trapped behind big rocks, so keep your Golden Bracers on as you won't be able to break them otherwise. Once you've got all six pieces, take them to Phil and interact with the mosaic to solve the puzzle. This is just like the puzzles we solved during the Storybook Vale DLC, so you just need to drag and drop the pieces into the right places.

Once you've completed the puzzle, a cutscene showing peace being restored to the realm will play, and you'll ask Phil and Hercules to join you in the valley at the end. Hercules will immediately agree, but Phill will say he's got things to do.

Head back to the valley, place Hercules' house plans, and pay 10,000 Star Coins at the Scrooge McDuck sign. Once his house is built, the Welcome Hercules screen will play. This will unlock him in your valley, but it isn't quite the end of the A Real Godly Quest mission.

Instead, you need to cook a 5-star meal for Phil. Any will do, I ended up just using whatever ingredients I had on hand and baking Aurora's Cake. Take your meal back to the Hercules realm and give it to Phil at the temple, and he'll say that it's a tempting offer but he needs to find out who chaotically rearranged the mosaic. You'll offer to help, which means "checking the temple". Basically, just head straight to the mosaic and you'll find a spool of Dreamlight Thread on the floor which you need to pick up and take back to him.

You'll convince Phil that he'll find more clues about who messed up the mosaic if he comes to Dreamlight Valley, which is all the persuasion he needs. So, head back to the valley with him and the "Welcome Phil" cutscene will play. After a quick conversation, A Real Godly Quest will be completed, and you'll be able to start making your way through Hercules' and Phil's friendship quests.

MMOs love a good recurring seasonal event, and Final Fantasy 14 is no different. It's cultivated a decent rotation at this point, and while Square Enix doesn't tend to share the exact dates for its events super far ahead, each one tends to occur at roughly the same time each year.

There's your classic Valentine's, Easter, and Halloween events (all with their own Final Fantasy-esque names), along with ones similar to Japanese holidays, and fictional in-universe ones. Final Fantasy 14 occasionally peppers in special limited-time collaborations too—like the Final Fantasy 15 collaboration event with the Regalia mount.

Final Fantasy 14 seasonal events 2026

Upcoming Final Fantasy 14 event schedule

While we rarely have concrete dates for seasonal events far in advance, they usually occur in the same month each year. That makes it easier to plot out the Final Fantasy 14 events for 2026:

Upcoming 2026 events

Previous Final Fantasy 14 seasonal events

Canvas the Castle is a classic whodunnit quest in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered where you'll track down an art thief in Chorrol. The investigation really doesn't hold your hand with hints or quest steps, so you'll have to do some extra snooping to uncover the truth.

There are multiple outcomes for Canvas the Castle, and your reward depends on the accuracy of your final accusation. You can also get a unique reward for covering for the guilty party instead of revealing them.

How to start Canvas the Castle

To start Canvas the Castle, travel to the town of Chorrol and enter the Castle Chorrol Great Hall. Talk to Countess Arriana Valga, who you'll find sitting on the throne. One of her paintings was stolen from the throne room, and she'll reward you handsomely if you can get it back.

Questioning the suspects

Finding clues in Canvas the Castle

After questioning all five suspects, you still won't have enough information to make a solid accusation. The testimonies seem to point the finger at either Orgnolf and Chanel, but the case isn't water tight just yet. There's a set of clues hidden around the castle that'll help you prepare a bulletproof prosecution.

Canvas the Castle rewards

Making the accusation

All the evidence points to Chanel, so confront her in the private quarters to force her to confess. If you've found all three clues, she'll come clean.

Chanel will only tell the truth if you have a disposition of at least 70 with her, so you may need to play the persuasion minigame to raise her opinion of you. If she doesn't like you enough, she won't confess even though the evidence against her is substantial.

Canvas the Castle rewards

With a concrete confession, it's time to return to Countess Arriana for your reward. There are three outcomes for this quest, each with a different set of rewards.

If you tell the truth about Chanel, the Countess will have her removed from the court. She'll give you a bunch of gold depending on your level, plus a set of valuable gemstones. Chanel will disappear from the game entirely afterward.

If you wrongly accused Orgnolf before pinning Chanel as the prime suspect, you'll receive a smaller amount of gold.

If you decide to cover for the thief and tell the Countess that neither Orgnolf or Chanel are guilty, then you'll get a very small amount of gold as a reward. Chanel will be thrilled that you protected her, however, rewarding you with a special painting after three in-game weeks. You can use it to decorate a purchased home, or you can sell it for 500 gold.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is a faithful recreation of the classic RPG, even down to its leveling and progression systems. Your main attributes govern your weapon damage and skill values, and your character's build matters much more than you'd think for a Bethesda RPG.

Oblivion Remastered attributes list

Deciding which attributes to dump your points into can be daunting—especially since Oblivion doesn't explain them in detail. Even Oblivion veterans can have a hard time during character creation since Oblivion Remastered makes some tweaks to each attribute. To save you the trouble, we've prepared a breakdown of every attribute in Oblivion Remastered and an at-a-glance view of which ones have changed and which ones are (mostly) the same as before.

Oblivion Remastered attribute changes

Oblivion Remastered keeps the same eight attributes from the original release, but some bonuses have been moved around to allow for smoother progression. One of the biggest attribute changes in Oblivion Remastered is the leveling process itself.

In the original game, your attribute upgrade points were dependent on the skills you improved while filling your XP bar. In Oblivion Remastered, you just get a flat 12 points to spend every level so there's no more tedious skill management required.

Oblivion Remastered also makes some slight changes to the stats and bonuses affected by each attribute. Everything's mostly the same, but there are a few key improvements.

Strength

Strength affects your maximum health, maximum encumbrance, and damage dealt by melee attacks (not counting shortswords and daggers).

In the original release of Oblivion, strength governed all melee damage. It felt a little weird dumping points into strength as a dagger-wielding rogue, so moving smaller blades into a separate category is an appreciated addition.

In Oblivion Remastered, strength now affects your maximum health instead of fatigue. It won't boost your HP as much as endurance, but those points will still make you a bit sturdier.

Intelligence

Intelligence remains largely unchanged from the original version of Oblivion. It governs your maximum magicka, making it the most important skill for spell-slinging sorcerers.

Willpower

Willpower is another attribute that didn't get any changes going into Oblivion Remastered. It affects your magicka regeneration rate and your maximum fatigue level.

It's important to level willpower alongside intelligence, otherwise you'll end up with a huge magicka bar that takes forever to fill up.

Agility

Agility received the biggest changes in Oblivion Remastered, and quite a few stats are now associated with it. This attribute affects your maximum fatigue, your ranged attack damage, and your chance to avoid getting staggered in combat.

Now in Oblivion Remastered, agility affects your fatigue regeneration rate. It also affects your damage with small blades like daggers and shortswords, making this the best attribute for stealth archers and dagger duelists alike.

Speed

Speed is one of the most self-explanatory Oblivion attributes, and it's largely unchanged from its original form. The speed attribute affects your movement speed and how far you can jump. It's great for exploration, but not much else.

Endurance

Endurance is one of the most important attributes in Oblivion Remastered, which affects your maximum fatigue and health, plus your HP regeneration rate outside of combat. You can also breathe underwater longer based on your endurance value.

In the original version of Oblivion, the wonky leveling system made endurance ridiculously important. It affected the health increase you'd get when leveling up, so you'd be forced to dump points into it early to get crucial health bar boosts. HP calculations are now retroactive in Oblivion Remastered, so there's no need to worry about all that.

Personality

Personality is one of the weakest attributes in Oblivion Remastered. It affects your disposition scores with NPCs, making persuasion and haggling easier.

Since you can use the persuasion minigame, bribes, or magic spells to make NPCs like you, I don't recommend dumping points into personality.

Luck

Luck is one of the most nebulous attributes in Oblivion Remastered. It provides slight increases to all of your skills, but not enough to make a huge difference in most builds.

Luck also has some very minor effects peppered throughout the game. A higher luck value will increase the health of gladiators you bet on at the arena, for example, and it also reduces the chances of lockpicks and repair hammers breaking.

This attribute can even affect special equipment like daedric artifacts. Mehrune's Razor has a small chance to instantly kill enemies, and the percentage grows with your luck. These are all very small buffs, but putting a few points into luck never hurt anyone.

Minecraft has revealed its third drop for 2026: a new forest biome and and abandoned camps you can find within. Mojang is still in the early days of development for the dappled forest update though, so there's a lot for us to learn before it releases later this year. After the Chaos Cubed update sent us underground, it's nice to have an upcoming update that shoots us back out to explore the overworld.

We don't actually know the official name of the update yet, so until then we're just calling it by its main feature: the Dappled Forest. Getting teases for features over the next couple of months is part of the fun, so here's everything there is to know about the dappled forest update so far.

When will the dappled forest update come out?

The dappled forest update will launch in fall 2026, but we don't know a more specific timeframe than that yet. The features we have seen haven't made it to testing yet, which implies there's quite a wait ahead of us too. Hopefully once the Chaos Cubed update releases in June, we'll start to see a little more information about the next drop.

If it's anything like last year's drop schedule, we could see the dappled forest update as soon as September. Given the autumnal vibes in the first reveal, it would be the perfect update to ship ahead of the season.

What's included in the dappled forest update?

The main thing in the update is the dappled forest biome. This new woodland area will have bright red, orange, and yellow poplar trees, basically shaking up the greens and greys we are used to seeing in the overworld. Don't get me wrong, I love stumbling across a birch or spruce forest, but I am incredibly excited to have such a colourful biome.

The ground will also be coated in orangey coloured grass, and covered in leaf litter, red shrubs, and brown mushrooms, kind of like the cherry grove biome which has pink petals all over the ground. Once again, an entirely new set of poplar wood blocks is coming, so builders are getting treated well. When broken down into planks and slabs, poplar wood has a warm greyish tone, making it one of the lighter shades available in the game.

Apart from the forest itself, a new structure will be added as part of the update: abandoned camps. They have a tent-like building made from wool steps, a campfire, a few chests or barrels to loot and you'll only find them in the dappled forests. No hints were given on whether items like maps can be looted here, so it could just be your bog-standard apples and armor loot, but at least it's some form of shelter if you need a quick base for the night.

What do we not know about the dappled forest yet? A new biome might mean a new passive mob too, but we've not seen one mentioned yet. With how significant the addition of the pale garden and the Creaking felt back in December 2024, it wouldn't be too surprising if the dappled forest was home to a more ominous mob. It would certainly disrupt the cosy atmosphere though.

Daedric Artifacts are some of the most powerful items in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, and you can get quite a few of them within the first hours of the game.

Most Daedric Artifacts are tied to special Daedric quests found at shrines across Cyrodiil, but others can be obtained from different sources like the Thieves Guild or DLC quests included with Oblivion Remastered. These are all the Daedric Artifacts in Oblivion Remastered, including their level requirements, quest locations, and unique abilities.

Oblivion Remastered Daedric Artifact quests and locations

There are 18 Daedric Artifacts in Oblivion Remastered. The table below lists each Artifact, the Daedric shrine associated with them, and how to unlock them for yourself. Note that Umbra and Masque of Clavicus Vile are alternate rewards for the same quest with the same starting location and are both marked "14".

Why Collect Daedric Artifacts?

Daedric Artifacts are among the strongest items in Oblivion, and you'll have a hard time finding better equipment anywhere else in Cyrodiil.

Umbra and Goldbrand have some of the highest damage outputs in the entire game, and the armor you can get from certain Daedric Princes will easily outclass whatever you can buy in the Imperial City. Plus, they're a whole lot cheaper. It's hard to beat free!

Some Daedric Artifacts also give you huge benefits that you can't get anywhere else in Oblivion. The Skeleton Key is the most famous of the bunch since quite a few people struggle with Oblivion's lockpicking minigame, and an unbreakable lockpick makes life way easier. There's also Azura's Star, which gives you a never ending supply of souls to power your enchanted gear.

You'll need to complete at least one Daedric quest at some point during your Oblivion playthrough because the main quest requires you to sacrifice a Daedric Artifact. It's a good idea to stock up on these so you don't have to give up your favorite when the time comes.

There are a few pesky challenges in Forza Horizon 6's Series 1 update, and Link Skiller isn't going to be too popular. Why? Because you need to perform Link Skills, and that requires you to work with other players.

The good news is that it's actually easy enough to do without friends once you know what you need to do. I'll explain below how you can get Link Skills without having to go too far out of your way to collaborate with other racers.

How to earn Link Skills in Forza Horizon 6

You can earn Link Skills by performing the same action as another player at the same time, while in close proximity to each other. This can include things like drifting, driving fast, or breaking objects—anything that triggers the score prompt at the top of your screen. This sounds scary, but you don't need to be in a Convoy with other players or playing with friends.

My advice is to do one of the following activities:

• Join a Stunt Party since you'll be matched into minigames with other players, which often involve applicable Link Skills. For example, one Stunt Party task is to break objects, so all you need to do is complete the objective near at least one other player.
• Join Horizon Play races, a three-race multiplayer playlist that you can access either by clicking on the challenge or heading to the 'Online' tab of the pause menu. Here you'll easily get Link Skills for things like high speed and drifting.

It's easy enough to rack up Link Skills in these two modes, and you only need to score one to complete the Link Skiller daily challenge. Of course, if you have a friend, then you can just team up and coordinate whatever action you'd like to perform together.

Complete the Link Skiller daily challenge, and you'll be rewarded with one Festival Playlist point and 5,000 Credits. It's not much, but it's not like it requires too much work once you've got your head around it.