MMO Weekly Recap #427 Oct 9th – SMITE Loki Rework, Valorant Act 3, Bless Unleashed on PS4 & more!

JamesBl0nde recaps the MMO gaming news for the week of October 9, 2020! Transcript and timestamps follow.

Valorant plans to roll out Act III with a new map and battlepass, Genshin Impact developer dives into the future plans for the MMO, Star Citizen celebrates eight years in Alpha and it seems like Smite’s trickster God Loki just became a tad less annoying to deal with.

What’s good everyone, JamesBl0nde here with the weekly recap for gaming news and announcements for the week of October 9th 2020 and starting out the news this week,

0:22 Star Trek Online: House Shattered Launch Trailer

Star Trek Online has released its newest season, House Shattered, on PC – and speaking of PC, STO is now available on the Epic Games Store as well! This update features a new episode and a new task force operation. The Klingon remaster continues with four more missions completely revamped. Plus in the coming month, players can earn credits during a special event to earn the new four piece Imperial Rift Space Set. Console players will get the update in a few months, scheduled for January 21st, 2021.

1:02 SMITE: The Trickster God Update

Next up, If you’ve ever played SMITE, you know how dreaded and sometimes hated the name Loki was. And after all this time, the trickster god has new tricks up his sleeve – with a complete rework so big that Hi-Rez is saying it makes him “essentially a new character.” The new Loki embraces his backstabbing persona with two more abilities that do extra damage from behind, gains a flurry strike, and can blind enemies right before he takes them out. Meanwhile some of the rage he induced should be quelled with two small nerfs – a brief failure of his invisibility when taking damage, and little sound effects that pop up right before he strikes. That’s going to be nice. Sounds like the Trickster God is properly ready for the jungle and has some decent counters in place as well. I mean fair is fair but some Loki mains might not be so thrilled with this change.

1:54 Armored Warfare – Al Dabbah Map Trailer

This week Armored Warfare is showcasing its brand new PvP map, Al Dabbah. Designed to take advantage of some of the game’s recent balance changes, Al Dabbah is a large map divided into three segments by the Nile River and puts an emphasis on mobility and flanking. For now the map is only available in Standard and Encounter random battles, so if you’re hoping to PvE on it you’re out of luck. Armored Warfare is also putting in some changes for Mechanized Infantry so that you can direct their fire out on the battlefield. Overall this update should be a much welcome change.

2:27 Black Desert Console: Succession Update

Meanwhile, Black Desert’s succession update has finally rolled out to console players on PS4 and Xbox One. The update allows Warriors, Sorceresses, Rangers, and Beserkers to shift from their awakened weapons to renewed versions of their original weapons, gaining new abilities and variations for each weapon. Each class has its own unique quest line, available once class Awakening is complete.  To celebrate the update, Pearl Abyss is also hosting a few bonus events that will allow players to reallocate their skill points for free and gain bonus experience and goodies for leveling up past level 56 on these classes. Other classes will also get their succession skills in a future update.

3:07 Black Desert Online PC: O’dyllita Expansion

And on PC, Black Desert Online has released its newest expansion, adding the O’dyllita region to the game for PC users of course. This region is gothic inspired, home of the sinister elven race named the Ahib along with some of the most difficult to complete areas in the game. To celebrate there will be daily login bonuses that adds up to $100 worth of stuff including the Shadow Wolf minipet. BDO is also enjoying the return of Twitch Drops for those watching the Black Desert Online category. In fact even people who don’t actually have the game can get a free copy of the game by watching a stream for one hour! That’s pretty legit!

3:46 Valorant Act III Incoming

If you’re itching for some new action, Riot’s Valorant is preparing to roll out Act III next week, starting October 13th. The first part of Act III will introduce the Icebox, a brand new map set in an arctic wilderness which favors skirmishes and skilled shots. That same day the new Battlepass will launch, improving weekly mission progress and plenty of themed goodies to unlock. A few weeks later, on October 27th, Valorant will get its newest agent, Skye, who has some interesting forest-themed magic abilities that can serve as distractions and extra eyes on the battlefield.

4:20 NosTale 13th Anniversary

And speaking of 13, NosTale is celebrating its 13th anniversary this month with a bundle of special gifts for its players. From October 7th through October 20th players can log in each day to claim a special gift box, and in the item mall, you can claim a free Gloopy Cake pet. There’s also an ongoing collector’s event and a double experience event that runs from the 9th through the 12th so if you’ve been missing out on this classic MMO, make sure to log in.

4:47 Star Citizen Celebrates 8th Anniversary And Alpha 3.11

Speaking of anniversaries, Star Citizen is celebrating its eighth birthday this month. Yes, it’s still in early alpha, but that’s not going to stop Cloud Imperium Games from celebrating the fact it’s been eight years since they first revealed Star Citizen to the public. Anyway, this celebration comes with the game update Alpha 3.11, which adds the Origin 100 Series of ships, the removal of many Armistice Zones in favor of more realistic space threats, new weapons, and more. There’s also a ton of events lined up, including the Halloween event which can net you some limited edition rewards like these creepy helmets. And on top of that, CIG is also showcasing a new flythrough video for its single player game, Squadron 42. Some pretty neat stuff if you’re still interested in either game after eight years.

5:37 Bless Unleashed Head Start & Fall Update

In case you’ve forgotten, Bless Unleashed is about to have a full free to play launch on PlayStation 4. But for those who’ve purchased the Ultimate Founder’s Pack, a full 14 day head start access has begun this week, and other Founder Pack purchasers will get head start access on the 12th and 15th depending on their pack. Alongside this head start, both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One players can now enjoy the new Fall update, which includes a level 30 Arena Challenge, an Abyssal Dungeon version of the Dreamscale Ruins: Halls of the Eclipse, Guild Trials, regular season ranking for PvP, and much more.

6:13 Guild Wars 2: Shadow of the Mad King

Halloween is just a few weeks away and that means it’s time for more frightful festivals. Guild Wars 2 has announced its next Halloween event which runs from October 13th through November 3rd. Called the Shadow of the Mad King, players can delve into the Mad Realm through games of Lunatic Inquisition, the Clock Tower jumping puzzle, and the Mad King’s Raceway – or challenge the Mad King in Ascent to Madness or bathe in blood in the Mad King’s Labyrinth. In all these events you can complete achievements and earn event currency to redeem for spooky rewards, including the new Lunatic Court Cape and Demon-Haunted weapons.

6:47 Genshin Impact Hints at Future Plans

Seems like everyone’s playing the new free to play action RPG Genshin Impact these days! So we thought we’d share the latest news from an IGN interview with developer MiHoYo – namely that the game is being developed as a live service, and there’s a lot more in development. Currently there’s plans for a third city and new characters and character-specific missions, but the developer also wants to lean into player feedback to help shape how the game will be developed throughout the future. Genshin Impact is also planning to head to Switch and next-gen consoles, except for Xbox for some reason.

7:19 Torchlight 3 Launches October 13

And while we didn’t end up with a Torchlight MMO, Torchlight 3 – reborn from what was going to be the MMO – is headed to launch next week on October 13th, on Steam, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 with a Switch launch coming later in the year. The full game is designed more for the solo experience and will cost $40 US. Features include the new fort system which lets players build, customize, and visit forts of other players as they travel, a new powerful relic system, improved pets, and four core classes. If you loved the original Torchlight or Torchlight II, might want to consider picking it up or at least putting it on your wishlist.

7:59 Humble Book Bundle: World of Warcraft

Although Shadowlands is delayed, World of Warcraft is back in the news this week alongside Humble Bundle. Together they’ve paired up to offer a great selection of World of Warcraft books and comics for those of you who enjoy Warcraft lore or even just need something to read. This bundle starts unlocking at just one dollar and it benefits the Call of Duty Endowment, which helps get unemployed military veterans back to work. If you’re interested make sure to check out the link below.

8:25 Skyforge Demon Invasion Event Preview (Sponsored)

If you play Skyforge, you might know that another Demon Invasion event has recently started! These events are a bit like seasons in other games, where you take part in a limited time event to earn rewards on a battle pass. This latest season features a new mount, new armor and more – and Skyforge asked us to take a closer look. Make sure to check out the video to learn about the demon invasion and see the event in action with Charlie.

8:50 Epic Free Game Spotlight: Abzu, Rising Storm 2 Vietnam

And finally let’s hit on our free Epic Games this week. First up is Abzu, an atmospheric game from the makers of Journey that has you exploring a beautiful underwater world with hundreds of species to discover. Also up this week is Rising Storm 2: Vietnam, a multiplayer shooter set in the Vietnam era and featuring 64 player battle matches, over 20 maps, over 50 weapons and more. Both of these are available free to keep until October 15th so make sure to grab them ASAP.

But with that said, that’s about it for all the major news and announcements for this week. Be sure to stay safe, and keep your families healthy! Like always you can find more information on the news topics, linked in the description below, feel free to discuss the news or even more news in the comments below and don’t forget to like, subscribe, wash your hands a bunch, hit that little bell icon to get notifications and of course share this video! But until next time guys that’s going to be it for me… I’m JamesBl0nde… see ya out there gamers!