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Weekly Recap #478 December 11th – Lost Ark & Blood Hunt Release Dates, Fortnite Map Flips & More

JamesBl0nde recaps the MMO gaming news for the week of December 11, 2021! Transcript follows.


Lost Ark now has an official launch date, Kakao Games relaunches ArcheAge with a new skillset off the bat, Vindictus welcomes in its 19th playable hero and celebrate 30 years of Bungie along side the epic new Destiny 2 Witch Queen trailer.

What’s good everyone, JamesBl0nde here with the weekly recap for gaming news and announcements for the week of December 11th, 2021 and we’ve got another pretty packed recap so kicking it off this week…

Hot from the Video Game Awards, Bloodhunt – the Vampire the Masquerade battle royale – has announced that it will launch out of early access next Spring on PC and PlayStation 5. The game’s developer, Sharkmob, is working hard to implement improvements based on feedback from its early access period. Season One will feature plenty of these improvements, along with its first set of cosmetic gear and more. Keep an eye out for the free to play launch in a few months.

If you’ve been looking forward to Lost Ark like a good number of people have, this news is for you.  Lost Ark will officially launch on February 11, 2022!  The team counts the successes of the technical alpha an closed beta testing with the ability to release the game in a timely manner.  Founders packs are still available for the upcoming action RPG title, featuring several different cosmetics for founders to enjoy, including a three-day head start on the game.  Lost Ark is still planned to be free-to-play, so it may well be worth a look if you’re a fan of action RPG combat!

Also at this year’s Video Game Awards, Bungie revealed a new trailer for its upcoming Destiny 2 expansion, The Witch Queen. The expansion launches February 22nd, but players who want to jump into the game for the first time can currently nab discounts on the game’s expansion packs up to 67% off! Destiny 2 is also hosting a celebration for Bungie’s 30th anniversary, featuring a six player match based activity, secrets, collectible rewards, and more.

Next up, Kakao Games has officially take over publishing of ArcheAge and ArcheAge Unchained, with fresh, new servers available for new and returning players, along with data transfer for players who previously played under gamigo’s publishing. The re-launch also includes a new update that introduces Spelldance, a new skillset that heals allies and damages enemies through dance and magic. Also new is the five man dungeon Black Thorn Prison, and the addition of Guild Residences. During this relaunch event players can log in and claim special rewards including premium time. One final note – for those of you who played Unchained, the game is now under a $10 a month subscription model, though players who previously purchased the game and its DLC will be compensated with free premium time.

This week Legends of Runeterra launched its newest content expansion, Magic Misadventures. This update adds 43 new cards, including four new champions: Ahri, Kennen, Rumble, and Pantheon. A new card keyword, Fated, grants +1/+1 when an ally targets them for the first time each round. There’s also a new card subtype, mecha Yordies, to bring some heavy metal firepower to your deck. Of course there’s also new challenges, quests, and balance changes, so check out the patch notes linked below.

In other card game news, Hearthstone has just released its latest expansion, Fractured in Alterac Valley. This update features 135 new cards inspired by the battleground from World of Warcraft. This includes the new keyword “Honorable Kill,” which grants unique bonuses if you deal exact damage to a minion. Ten mercenary heroes are now legendary level as well. Meanwhile players will get one of two free legendary cards, depending on their choice of faction – Horde or Alliance. During a special event running until January 11th, you will earn honor points for your chosen faction by playing in Ranked, Arena, and Duel – the winning faction will be granted a Diamond version of their leader’s card.

Also in the news this week Vindictus has just welcomed its 19th playable hero, Dan-Ah! This exiled warrior from the underworld uses the Soulblade, a weapon enchanted with the power of the king of the underworld. This allows Dan Ah to throw her weapon and teleport to it, and call down the power of souls to extinguish the life of her enemies. To welcome this new character, there’s several events ongoing until January 11th, including the chance to get a free special outfit by leveling Dan Ah to level 10.

Meanwhile EverQuest has rolled out its latest expansion, Terror of Luclin. Looks like it’s not just Final Fantasy XIV players that are headed to the moon this month, as EverQuest sends players to investigate what the master vampire Mayong Mistmoore is up to on the moon. The level cap will raise to 120, introducing new spells and abilities in addition to an expansion’s worth of zones, quests, and items – plus new raids to challenge the truly dedicated. Terror of Luclin is available from $40 on up depending on your preferred edition.

The Legion of Doom is here!  Well, at least in DC Universe Online across all platforms.  Heroes must try and stop Lex Luthor and his band of supervillains, controlled by the wicked Perpetua.  Washington D.C. becomes available to explore with this update, with tons of new open world missions centered around the Hall of Justice.  Players can also challenge a new duo, alert, and large-scale raid as they face off against various members of the Legion such as Ultraviolet Sinestro, The Cheetah, Black Manta, Giganta, and more.  Of course, no update is complete without a bunch of new gear, styles, and feats, and a new ally will also be available to join your cause!

PlayStation and Xbox players of the voxel MMO Trove can now enjoy the game’s latest update, Polished Paragon. This new system allows players to earn Paragon levels for their level 30 classes, earning special items including materials for Signatory Rings, Allies, Wings, and even pinatas containing valuable materials. As for Switch players, well, you’ll have to wait a little longer.

In other news, Fortnite has closed its second chapter and begun the first season of Chapter 3. Seems like the world of Fortnite is a flat earth, because it’s been literally flipped upside down. The new map offers a wintery theme, but the snow on this map will eventually thaw out as the weather warms up in future seasons. Meanwhile the game has introduced a few new surprises, including the introduction of sliding and swinging mechanics, tents, and victory crowns. And of course, the wild crossovers continue with Spiderman taking a central role in this current season.

And Warface is braced for winter as it has begun its Snowstorm Season this week. This season features several new weapons, the Snowstorm gear, themed charms and achievements, and much more in the complete battle pass. This coincides with an update that makes it easier to progress through the first 30 levels of the pass for those who want to earn those rewards.

The Winter Express has returned to Apex Legends! Ongoing until December 21st, the Apex Legends Raiders Collection event gives players the chance to earn limited edition cosmetics for Valkyrie, Loba, Revenant, Bloodhound, Pathfinder, Wattson, and Wraith. The game mode Winter Express is also making a return. This mode gives three squads the chance to board and capture the World’s Edge train, and this year you will be able to pick your loadout before boarding. There’s lots of cool goodies to collect in this event so check it out.

Finally let’s round up with the free games available this week on the Epic Games Store! First up is Godfall Challenger Edition, a special version of the fantasy action-adventure game from Gearbox. This edition instantly unlocks the maximum level gear for you, along with the game’s three endgame modes, letting you get straight into the good stuff. The other free game this week is Prison Architect, a strategy simulation title where you take on the role of Prison Warden and must do your best to design and maintain a prison – keeping your prisoners in line, hopefully ethically! You can even build prisons in a sandbox mode or check out other player’s prisons and try to escape.

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!

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