Weekly Recap #367 June 28th – Armored Warfare, C9, Black Desert & More!

Entropia Universe begins Summer Mayhem 2019 Competition: 0:24

MindArk is once again hosting their Summer Mayhem event for Entropia Universe! This event, which is already under way, will run until July 1st and will see players proving themselves against the Ascended Mulmun and protecting Planet Calypso. Upon entering the ritual area, participating players will be timed with the best earning some of Entropia Universe’s most coveted prizes! In addition to the Ascended Mulmun timed assault competition, you can also join in for Mayhem Annihilation gameplay! After activating the pile of skulls near the event entrance, you’ll have to kill spawned creatures to accumulate as many points as possible over a limited time. The ones who earn the most points will earn even more valuable prizes. Seems like a fun event.

Guild Wars 2 – Dragon Bash Festival Preview: 1:14

MapleStory’s Pathfinder Class Now Available:

MTG: Core Set 2020 Preview:

Speaking of fun events, MMOHuts’ Jason got a chance to attend a sneak preview of the Dragon Bash Festival for Guild Wars 2! If you want to see what all the event will entail, you can check out the full article linked in the description. While you’re there, MTG fans will want to check out Jason’s assessment of the Magic Core Set 2020 spoilers that were released this past week. And We’ve also got a writeup on the new Pathfinder class for Maple Story! There’s even a preview of World of Myths, so make sure you go check out all the news beyond the news at MMOHuts.com.

Ring of Elysium Releases Details for New Mode, Ashen Eye: 1:48

Aurora Studio released details for their challenging new mode coming to Ring of Elysium, called Ashen Eye… that sounds bad, it sounds like you have ash in your eye, which kinda makes sense as you’ll learn here shortly. This mode was teased at E3 and is now live and will have a new win condition as well as new elements for players to endure if they want to survive. The Ashen Eye involves a safe area that moves as a match progresses, rather than shrinking. You’ll have to manage a limited amount of oxygen to survive the fallout of a recently erupted volcano… haha get it ash-n-eye… while battling other players at the same time. Once you’ve made it into the safe zone, the player with the highest amount of oxygen will trigger the countdown for a rescue helicopter. To secure victory, they must maintain that level of oxygen until the helicopter arrives and picks them up. If they get killed or leave the safe zone, the rescue countdown resets. If a team eliminates all the competition entirely, they’ll automatically win. In addition to the new mode, Chapter 2 of the Season 4 Adventurer pass is now live, which includes a new Recon Drone item. The drone can spawn randomly on the map, and can scout out areas of the map for players as long as the battery lasts. Players using the drone won’t be able to move though, so exercise caution when using it.

Fortnite’s ’14 Days of Summer’ Has Begun: 3:05

A special limited-time event has begun in Fortnite, called “14 Days of Summer”, and each day offers something new. Battle Royale will have a new item unveiled every day for a 24 hour period. There will also be a new LTM featured each day, with new daily challenges and free rewards (outfits, et cetera) in the item shop. Creative will also have a new featured island daily as well. Save the World will also have new content, with a new quest every day to help Homebase host the hottest summer party around, and also score some awesome freebies in the store. Players can complete quests to earn heaps of Summer Tickets; completing all 14 will unlock a new explosive weapon. Everybody needs that!

Hearthstone Reveals Card Updates and New Classic Cards: 3:47

As Hearthstone grows and more and more people dive into it, it becomes important to revisit past designs and make sure they are in line with the present foundation for the game. With that in mind, the Hearthstone development team released a new blog going over the notion of Class Identity, Classifying the Classes, and more. Each class is supposed to have an Identity, which adheres to this classes fantasy (What they excel at, and where they are weak at). Each class is broken down into three categories: Strengths, Limits, and Weaknesses. There are several cards that simply don’t fit into these lines for the various classes, and this is going to be addressed in a future update for the game. Two cards, Mind Blast and Vanish, are also being moved to the Hall of Fame. In their place, two new cards called Plaguebringer and Radiance are being introduced to the main rotation of cards. It’s a really cool blog they introduced showcasing how they address these balance changes as the game grows, worth checking out.

Square Enix Partners with Gary Sinise Foundation With ‘Warriors in the Darkness’: 4:42

Square Enix announced this week that they will match all donations, dollar for dollar to the Gary Sinise Foundation. Through their ‘Warriors in the Darkness’ website, they will match dollar for dollar up to 50,000 USD, which will go directly to the national and local programs that honor and serve America’s defenders, veterans, first responders and their families. Donations can be made in the link below. Square Enix also released this video recently, working together with the non-profit charity to highlight the selfless work of first responders. Beyond just that, Shadowbringers will also be the next chapter of Final Fantasy XIV, where players can encounter exotic new races, master new jobs, and tackle a fascinating story, beginning on July 2nd, 2019. The expansion will be available physically and digitally in both a Collector’s and Standard Edition and may be pre-ordered through the official Shadowbringers website. Thanks in part to the free trial system, Final Fantasy XIV has its highest number of active subscribers in the title’s history. That free trial lets players join over 16 million other players in the game, and they can access content up to level 35, create up to eight playable characters, and experience the game’s classes, races, and jobs with no restriction on playtime.

Armored Warfare’s ‘Moscow Calling’ Season Is Live: 5:57

Armored Warfare’s third season of content is finally here! Moscow Calling’s new story sees CEO of Clayburn Industries, Sebastian Grimm no longer in the picture, and their assets are being seized by the ISD. There has been a summit called to Moscow to make peace with these huge corporations once and for all, and since you are a key player, you also received an invite. What could possibly go wrong? With this update there will also be a gorgeous, sprawling PVP map based on one of the largest boulevards in Moscow. It’s a gloomy, rainy evening in Moscow, and this map is sure to impress. One of the main focuses for this season is giving the players more things to do after they have expanded their vehicle collection. Apart from the upcoming Battle Path campaign, a number of activities and improvements, such as a new war games mode, additional vehicle progression with the Mastery system and improved contact mission rewards have been added to ensure plenty of spoils and awards for even AW most seasoned players to achieve. Moscow Calling also adds plenty of bug fixes, and mechanics improvements, such as to the commander progression systems, daily bonuses, smoke visuals and the armor viewer.

Continent of the Ninth Seal Releases new Manacrafter Class: 7:08

Also this past week, A new content update saw the addition of the Manacrafter class to Continent of the Ninth Seal! This female class slashes down enemies with a mighty, magic imbued sword. Through charging her Crystal Mana Swords, devastating power is unleashed. To unlock this class, players will have to collect Soulshards across a variety of game modes, and this includes the new competitive mode.  This new mode is a 4v4 battle mode against other players, where they work together to defeat a boss monster. Each team will be dealing as much damage as possible to the boss, or use their power to interfere with the other team. The team who dealt the most damage wins the round and claims the prizes. To celebrate the Manacrafter, the C9 team will be hosting various in-game events, until July 8th, 2019. The Jumping Event will allow both new and returning players to create a new lv. 57 character and receive a Book of Knowledge to reach lv. 63, all packed with additional goods in order to help speed up leveling their character. In the Costume Extravaganza event, C9 players will have a chance to win fabulous items including Palladium Joker, Sacred Enhance Stone Rank 3, and Rank 8 Protective Crystal for Weapon’s Magic. In order to participate, players will need to equip more than 2 different costume gear parts available from the Costume Box on the Goddess’s Tear Shop, and submit the screenshot to the C9 official Facebook Page.

Hoverloop Releases Major Update Ahead of Fall 2019 Launch: 8:31

Cronos Interactive and Not a Company have released a major update for their futuristic battle drone arena game, Hoverloop! This update adds enhancements and new content including a new combat arena inside a mine, and the new Team Deathmatch mode. Hoverloop also has a new tutorial to help players learn the ropes, and the game also saw an AI upgrade for the PC opponents. A bundle of new drone chassis and customization options round out the list of improvements as well as a slew of UI and feedback refinements that will help players stay in control of the remote-controlled chaos. The full notes can be found below. Though Hoverloop is only playable locally for now, online will arrive in the Fall 2019 launch.

SMITE Releases Olorun, The First Mage with Crit: 9:15

The first god of a brand-new pantheon hit this past week in Smite, Olorun of the Yoruba! He is the Ruler of the Heavens, and despite being a supreme deity, he seeks neither fame nor followers. He once allowed others to rule in his stead, but no more. He has taken the throne of Olympus, to lead the Gods and ultimately unite them. His goal is to end the suffering of mortals and immortals alike. Olorun is also the first mage to benefit from Critical Hit Chance, so that the more magical power he collects, the harder his auto attacks are. He can also channel pure heavenly energy and deal further damage, or release the power of the sun itself. Calling on his follow deities – Olodumare and Olofi – Olorun is capable of creating a sanctified field; a zone in which he alters time, slowing enemies and speeding himself up. He really seems like a combination of some other really fun to play gods, as a recent mage fan, I’ll have to try him out once the popularity dies down a bit at least.

Trove Goes Green on Console With Latest Update: 10:17

Originally released back in May on PC, the new Trove Going Green update is now available on PS4 and Xbox One! This update focuses on gardening with new vegetables and other gardening features for players to explore including new crafting stations and recipes. There’s also a new gardening rank to earn in Horticulturist. Players who reach the Horticulturist rank can explore new habitats and acquire new unique allies like the Flowered Faerie or the Appleshell Snail.

Astellia’s First Closed Beta Test Begins: 10:44

Astellia Online’s first ever closed beta has officially launched this past week for those who prepurchased the game! Those who received a code in our MMOHut’s giveaway can also join this test, but not future tests. This closed beta will run until July 2nd, and giveaways are also happening on the Astellia Discord server. These testers will provide the studio with invaluable feedback about features and mechanics in Astellia such as progression speed and the updated combat systems. If you want to participate in the tests, you can find links to both the Astellia Discord server and to the game’s website to purchase it through the article in the description.

Brawlhalla – 3.45 Patch Notes: 11:21

Brawlhalla’s latest update sees the introduction of Petra the Darkheart! This new playable Legend uses orbs and gauntlets for weapons, and has 8 Strength, 4 Dexterity, 4 Defense, and 6 Speed for base stats. Daily Missions were also improved in this update, and localization will now be available for Switch players. There are new test features to check out too, and a brand new Brawl of the Week – Kung Foot!

World of Myths announces Faction Wars and New Mythologies: 11:47

Rebellious Software announced that World of Myths will have players tackling Faction Wars soon and that new mythologies will also be joining the game. Faction Wars will have players championing a faction of their choice for rewards and reputation, to ultimately sway the tide of war. World of Myths is pushing aside the standard Daily Quest model of CCGs, and instead of using factions. Players will champion a faction of their choice, and by winning matches in that mythology, players earn reputation and will gain rewards. This way, they can unlock more content by playing the way they want. With Faction Wars, players will be able to assist their pantheon in dominating the world map. During the Faction Wars, mythology communities will decide which areas to attack or defend in an attempt to increase the area their faction controls on the world map through organized contests. Members of each faction will fight it out in tactical 1v1 battles, with the victorious mythology unlocking massive rewards as well as new content. In addition to this, World of Myths latest update will introduce MesoAmerican, African, Chinese, Slavic, and Egyptian mythologies to offer some new and exciting ways to play the game.

Black Desert Online’s Shai Class is Now Available: 12:53

Black Desert Online’s 18th playable class, and its first support class, is now available on Xbox One and PC! The Shai class is focused on healing and support skills and bring a new approach to tackling the many quests in the world of Black Desert Online unlike anything the game has seen before. The update also brings a trio of new donkeys in Derome, Cherose, and Vallet. These offer benefits to Shai as they are her special interest. To celebrate her release, a Mount EXP +50% boost event is taking place right now. The release of Shai also sees a special event where players can decide how to play Shai by choosing one of ‘three given paths’. These paths correspond to the archetypal playstyles that are unique to Black Desert Online and offer players a more thematic approach to begin a new adventure. Shai herself specializes in aiding her allies, though she can protect herself with her huge Florang. She can heal and offer other beneficial effects and should make PVP and PVE alike interesting. The leveling event that allows trial players to earn a free copy of Black Desert Online is still ongoing as well, and lasts until the 10th of July! As a reminder, all you have to do is log in on seven different days and have one character reach level 50 by the end of the event! Good luck.

Prosperous Universe Releases Locality Update: 14:09

A massive update launched this week for Prosperous Universe! The Locality update adds Local Markets, a new way for players to exchange goods. This will help players reach far beyond the established trading hubs of Katoa, Montem, and Promitor. There’s also a company rating system to see which companies you think you should trust. These Local Markets can be created on any planet, so you can exchange goods anywhere in the galaxy, but they do rely on trust, so be careful. This update also allows for betraying of contracts, so if you decide not to uphold your end of a bargain, you certainly can – but this will affect your trust rating.

Dauntless Releases New Soundtrack Documentary and Update:  14:46

Phoenix Labs released a new soundtrack documentary this  past week for Dauntless, entitled “Symphony of the Shattered Isles”, which has a behind-the-scenes look at a live soundtrack recording by the Bratislava Symphony Orchestra in Slovakia. The soundtrack was composed by Cris Velasco, a veteran composer who has produced music a number of titles – the Mass Effect and Borderlands series, Bloodborne, Overwatch and so many more. For those that want to listen, the first volume of the soundtrack is on most streaming services. In addition, Patch 0.8.3 dropped today, and with is the mighty new Behemoth, Winterhorn Skraev. This update features a number of bug fixes, quality of life improvements, formatting changes and balance improvements. For more info checkout the site post linked below.