Cornell Otto

If you've ever hesitated between gear stats and Paragon points in Diablo 4 Season 13, or doubted whether you've truly maximized your damage output in actual combat, then understanding the underlying logic of DoT might be the key to unraveling this mystery.

Unlike direct damage, DoTs don't unleash their full power in a single attack; instead, damage is calculated gradually and accumulates subtly. To truly master this type of damage, you need more than just stacking gear; you need a clear understanding of how the mechanics work.

Grasping these mechanics will allow you to more accurately predict the damage output of Diablo 4 DoTs, providing a rational basis for gear state choices and in-game operations.

Features

By default, all DoT effects in Diablo 4 cannot crit, cannot apply overpower, and benefit from additive damage stats and damage over time.

A DoT effect triggers a damage check every 0.5 seconds; this single calculation is called a tick. The sum of all ticks generated during the entire DoT period equals the total damage value indicated by the effect.

For example, a DoT that deals 200 damage over 5 seconds will be broken down into 10 ticks in Diablo 4, each dealing 20 damage. This splitting method ensures stable damage output and provides a basis for subsequent stacking calculations.

Types

• Bleeding: Physical damage
• Burning: Fire damage
• Corrupting: Shadow damage
• Frostbite: Cold damage
• Poisoning: Poison damage
• Sparking: Lightning damage

Snapshotting

Snapshotting is one of the most crucial features of Diablo 4 DoTs. A portion of the damage bonus is locked by Snapshotting the moment DoT takes effect and remains unchanged throughout its duration. For example, if a Diablo 4 target is vulnerable for 2 seconds, and you apply an 8-second DoT during this time, each tick of that DoT will retain up to 20% of the vulnerability damage bonus. Even if the target's vulnerability disappears after 2 seconds, the bonus continues until DoT ends.

Classification

Based on whether the damage is tied to a specific target, Diablo 4 DoTs can be divided into two main categories: Targeted DoTs and Non-Targeted DoTs. Regardless of the type, Diablo 4 system uses a unified time unit to advance damage calculation.

Targeted DoTs

Targeted DoTs are effects directly applied to the enemy's status bar in Diablo 4, such as Flay, Poison Creeper, Fire Bolt, and Touch of Death. These DoTs deduct remaining damage over time, and the remaining damage can affect the benefits of other related skills.

When you repeatedly use the same Targeted DoT skill, the effect of subsequent casts does not exist independently, but is merged with the unresolved damage on the target. Diablo 4 system records the current remaining DoT damage and recalculates a unified DoT when an additional effect is added.

Assuming the base stats of a Targeted DoT are: each cast inflicts 100 damage, lasting 5 seconds. If 2 seconds have passed after the first cast, the remaining damage is 60. Immediately after casting a second DoT, Diablo 4 system adds 60 residual damage to the new 100 damage, generating a new DoT that deals 160 damage and lasts for 5 seconds. This new DoT overwrites the original remaining time and is dispersed at a rate of 16 damage per tick.

Mathematically, Diablo 4's targeted DoTs exhibit a decaying growth pattern. With each additional damage, the residual value of the old damage gradually decreases, so the total damage doesn't expand indefinitely but rather approaches a stable peak. This design preserves the benefits of your other skills and Diablo 4 Items while preventing uncontrolled damage.

Non-targeted DoTs

Diablo 4's non-targeted DoTs don't directly attach to the target but instead take effect by creating a damage area or continuously emitted damage waves. For example, skills like Firewall, Incinerate, Blighted Corpse Explosion, and Blight will periodically tick as long as the target is within the skills area of ​​effect. This source of damage doesn't shift with target movement, and there's no concept of residual damage value. 

The stacking logic of non-targeted DoTs is completely different. Because these effects are essentially damage sources rather than target states, multiple effects can coexist and operate independently. When an additional effect is placed on top of an existing one, their damage is directly added together.

This stacking method does not change the intrinsic properties of a single effect, nor does it have a total cap. The peak damage depends on how much you can make the effective windows of multiple effects overlap. Once casting stops, the damage diminishes with each stack, eventually reaching zero.

Tactical Implications

Diablo 4's merging mechanism for targeted DoTs means that continuous casting can continuously increase damage per tick, but the rate of increase decreases, making it crucial to accurately grasp the residual value changes after stacking. Non-targeted DoTs, on the other hand, require more precise positioning and casting rhythm. Because the damage is not target-bound, enemies lose damage input once they leave the area. Therefore, the effectiveness of these skills highly depends on area coverage and methods of restricting enemy movement.

In Diablo 4 Season 13 gameplay, you can maintain stable damage output through targeted DoTs while utilizing non-targeted DoTs to handle multi-target or mobile combat scenarios, thus building a more comprehensive and sustained damage output system.

Understanding the logic behind Diablo 4 DoTs not only helps you more accurately estimate damage output efficiency but also provides a rational basis for judgment in equipment selection and skill combinations. While damage over time (DoTs) doesn't have the immediate effect of direct damage, once you grasp its patterns, it often demonstrates astonishing cumulative power in prolonged battles.

ARC Raiders just recently launched its latest Expedition 4 Update, and all players who decide to participate in this Expedition will experience this Reset. So, after this Expedition opens, what new content will players receive next?

This is still full of variables, but it won't last long.

According to ARC Raiders officials, the game will receive updates starting on May 12th, and every Tuesday thereafter. But what is certain now is that the next content update has been confirmed to be on the 26th.

In other words, the game updates before this may be some small changes, such as weekly store updates, and some other content additions and changes.

We can also see in previous adjustments that these contents will be similar to adjustments to the strength of Augment in the game, or changes to Weapon Durability.

Therefore, if nothing else happens, players will see the new ARC Raiders content on the 26th. Then, next, this article will help you sort out and predict the future development direction of games.

Review of recent updates

If you look back at the recent updates of ARC Raiders, you can find that it seems to follow a pattern: first a large update, then a small update, and so on.

Therefore, we believes that the upcoming monthly update may be more similar to the previous Flashpoint update and will have rich content, including the long-awaited new blueprints, new ARC enemies or new conditions.

As early as January of this year, we saw the official road map released by ARC Raiders, which pointed out the future development direction of the game for a third of this year.

But if you have been paying attention to this aspect, you will know that after entering May, the previous road map has become outdated, and the official has not released a new road map for a long time.

When will New Content arrive?

You can make speculations. In the near future, or even within a week or two, we are likely to see a road map again, indicating the direction of ARC Raiders updates in the next three to four months, giving everyone enough time to understand possible follow-up content.

It's been a while since we've had a big update like Riven Tides. So, in fact, we can assume that Riven Tides update is already a thing of the past for the game's officials.

Regardless of players' experience and feedback, official attention and interest in this version have entered a stage of decline. Their attention has now turned to new content, and they need time to fully prepare and promote the new content.

Therefore, this week naturally becomes the best window period. The current Expedition is more proof of this. During this period, players can focus on resetting their accounts, reaccumulating ARC Raiders items, and preparing for the next update.

Let us review for you players, before Riven Tides update was announced, players also experienced such a period. If this new content is also released according to this step, then we can well predict that future content updates may be carried out in this way.

It is undeniable that ARC Raiders officials do a pretty good job of keeping secrets, and they always like to bring unexpected surprises to everyone. When the last road map was released, it was only four days before Headwinds update. So this time, it is very likely to be the case.

In any case, the focus of all players this week is to complete Expedition, focus on Resets, missions, and Workbench. You can prepare ARC Raiders items for possible content updates.

What might new content include?

New Road Map

First of all, the new road map will definitely appear as soon as the official update news is released to fill in the outdated road map. And players generally reported that the information given in the last official road map was too vague and did not allow everyone to understand the detailed content.

Therefore, we believes that everyone can expect that perhaps in the new road map, there will be more detailed information, such as when new ARC Raiders items will be added, and in which update there will be new ARC enemies to meet players.

This kind of clear update content preview can also reduce players' speculation about possible update content, so that there will be no excessive expectations and subsequent disappointment.

New ARC Raiders Map

After this Riven Tides update, player feedback doesn't seem to be very good, and it doesn't live up to many people's expectations. Players have been waiting for months for this map, so any dissatisfaction will be magnified by this long wait.

ARC Raiders officials have discovered this problem and are likely already making preparations. As early as the first few months of this year, they have publicly stated that they are dissatisfied with the current game map and are planning to add larger and more diverse maps.

Previously, when Riven Tides update was released, some players found some clues in the updated game files that may represent new map.

Might include a cold map with chronic snow, and a new map with constant acid rain. These new maps will bring new ARC Raiders items for players to use, and there may also be some new game mechanics coming.

This most likely means that the official has a clear and ongoing plan to add more maps in subsequent updates, and the frequency of map updates will be increased, so there is no need to wait for a long time.

Adjustments to Reward System

You can observe that in this version, players are dissatisfied with the mission rewards of ARC Raiders.

Although many tasks allow players to unlock certain items, when players complete these tasks, the subsequent rewards do not change in any way, or in other words, these repeatedly unlocked items have almost no value to players.

Therefore, we can expect that ARC Raiders officials may make modifications to these in-game systems in subsequent updates so that players will not feel bored when playing the game content repeatedly.

No matter what, focus on Expedition 4 and get ready for the content update on May 26th. If you are following the latest content from ARC Raiders, hope this article can help you understand what may be coming next.

It's been a while since ARC Raiders Riven Tides update, and recently, the game began its Fourth Expedition.

You might be all set for the upcoming content, eagerly awaiting its release. Or perhaps some raiders are already feeling a bit weary from the constant fighting and relentless raids.

So why not put down your weapons and complete Easter Egg the developers have included in this update: Hotel Panorama Disco Room Puzzle? It might offer a bit of relaxation for you or your friends amidst the intense ARC Raiders gameplay.

What is Hotel Panorama Disco Room Puzzle?

In Hotel Panorama of Riven Tides, there's a room that has puzzled many players—a derelict disco hall. It seems you could find a puzzle here, but no one has mentioned anything of value that can be obtained from it.

Yes, there is indeed a puzzle here, but unlike other puzzles, it doesn't reward you with specific rare ARC Raiders items or unlock a loot room. This puzzle offers no rewards, achievements, or experience points; its sole purpose is to be fun.

If you're a player who enjoys the fun puzzles and things in ARC Raiders, then this puzzle will definitely be to your liking. It might even give your teammates or opponents a little unexpected surprise.

What you need to prepare

If you want to show your friends this useless Hotel Panorama Disco Room Puzzle and see their reaction when all they get in return for their efforts is upbeat music and a constantly spinning disco ball; or if you want to create some funny video clips during gameplay...

Here are some things you'll need to prepare in advance:

• Batteries
• Wires
• Power Rods
• Speakers
• Voltage Converters
• Power Cables
• Electrical Components

Note that to complete this puzzle, it's best to prepare all the materials listed above beforehand.

This is because the materials required for the puzzle will randomly change within this list each time you enter a new raid, and you'll only know exactly which materials you need once you reach the destination.

Furthermore, it's strongly discouraged to search for these materials after entering the raid, as this not only makes you more vulnerable but also makes material acquisition highly unpredictable.

Therefore, to cope with this randomness, your best option is to prepare at least five of each possible material. Although each raid only randomly generates three required materials, to ensure you meet the puzzle's requirements, it's best to bring all of them.

This might take up a lot of space, so you can conveniently bring a friend along to enjoy the puzzle together. Alternatively, you can bring ARC Raiders items with the most Backpack Slots and try multiple times.

Where is Hotel Panorama Disco Room Puzzle?

To reach Disco Room in ARC Raiders, you first need to find the entrance to Hotel Panorama Azzuro on the east side.

If you are familiar with the map, go to the stairs on the east side of the hotel, enter the hotel from there, and turn left. You will immediately see the abandoned giant disco ball. The puzzle we need to solve is nearby.

It is highly recommended that you clear out ARC enemies around Hotel Panorama Azzuro before solving the puzzle.

This will not only prevent them from disturbing you while you are solving the puzzle, but also prevent them from attracting other raiders. Moreover, enemies lurking in this area usually have a good chance of dropping valuable ARC Raiders items.

How to solve it?

Once you have successfully found the location of the puzzle following the previous instructions, you will see that it is divided into upper and lower levels. You need to remember the locations of the three circuits that need to be repaired to solve the puzzle, and then repair the circuits in order.

First Circuit

After entering the hotel, walk along the balcony above. You'll easily find the first circuit; it will be indicated by special visual effects. It's interactive, and if you have the correct materials, you can repair it using the hints.

Second Circuit

After repairing the first circuit, jump down from the balcony on the right. You'll enter the disco. Search carefully; on the wall next to the stairs, you'll find the second circuit, which is sparking. Repair it as well, following the hints.

Third Circuit

Back in the disco, you'll see some tables and chairs. Keep walking forward until you find a black speaker; it's easy to spot. Go around to the back of the speaker, and you'll find the last circuit that needs repairing.

Start Disco

Once you've successfully found and repaired all three circuits, the rest is simple. Just return to the circuits in the same order and interact with them within the time limit to solve the puzzle and start the disco ball and music.

The only thing to be careful about is that when repairing the first three circuits, do not press the interact key again after using materials to repair them. This will start the puzzle's timer, which should be the last step.

If you accidentally activate it, you will fail Hotel Panorama Disco Room Puzzle. Any ARC Raiders items you used to repair the circuits will be wasted, and you will need to try again in the next run.

Is Hotel Panorama Disco Room Puzzle worth completing?

For players seeking high rewards, this puzzle might seem very uninteresting.

After all, completing it requires not only materials and time but also venturing into areas of Riven Tides with a high probability of player spawns and a high chance of combat.

And completing it offers no rewards—no achievements, no experience, and not even any proof to boast about to other players.

However, you still occasionally see this puzzle in ARC Raiders videos, and we can see different players, sometimes even strangers, sharing the music and lighting effects after completing it. This is precisely the charm of games like ARC Raiders; the players you encounter aren't necessarily enemies, although we usually assume that. They're actually just players like you, and it's perfectly acceptable to remain friendly.

Hopefully, this Hotel Panorama Disco Room Puzzle will help you relax amidst the intense gameplay of ARC Raiders.

Statistics show that fall damage causes players to fail raids far more often in ARC Raiders than against any ARC enemy, a situation that has been widely complained about. Therefore, the developers have effectively addressed this issue by adding Powered Descender in the recent Riven Tides update.

Equipping it before jumping from a rooftop or tower will slow your descent, allowing for a safe landing. However, obtaining its blueprint requires some targeted searching, and crafting it requires a specific level crafting table and two components.

This article will guide you through the details of the new Powered Descender in ARC Raiders, helping you acquire and use it more quickly.

Item Usage Mechanics

Powered Descender is a useful device that slows your descent when jumping or falling from a height. However, the device requires a charging time to activate, so you need to deploy it before jumping, not during the fall.

If the energy runs out while you are still falling, the device will deactivate, and you will take normal fall damage for the remainder of your fall. Therefore, always plan your descent carefully before jumping.

Additionally, please note that Powered Descender has a limited charging time. If you jump from an extremely tall building, the device may lose power before you land. Please test it on a lower building first to familiarize yourself with the charging time.

How to obtain Blueprint?

Like all other Blueprints in ARC Raiders, ARC Raiders Powered Descender Blueprint does not have a fixed spawn location. This means you will need to rely on the random drop of containers, rather than being guaranteed to get it from chests.

However, currently, Hotel Panorama Azzurro, located in the western part of Riven Tides map, is the most popular drop location for this Blueprint. The hotel's compact layout allows players to find various types of containers within a limited space. Since the game update, players have consistently found Powered Descender Blueprints there.

If you want to acquire Powered Descenders faster, the following three strategies can significantly increase your Powered Descender Blueprint drop rate. Let's take a look:

After landing, prioritize areas with higher item drop rates. Night raids double the drop rate for all blueprints. If time permits, try to go during night raids.

You can carry Dockmaster's Detector, which will reveal normally invisible buried containers in the sand. These containers may contain Powered Descender Blueprints.

You don't need to empty Hotel Panorama Azzurro every time. Attack the higher-level Raider Containers and Commercial Lockers first, then evacuate. Repeat this process during multiple raids to improve efficiency instead of spending the entire game time in one building.

How to craft?

After the blueprint is in your inventory and you've safely evacuated, return to Speranza and open your crafting station. Powered Descender is crafted at Utility Station, but only if you upgrade it to level 3. If your Utility Station level is lower than this, you'll need to upgrade your station to unlock the recipe, as lower-level stations won't offer this option. You can prepare for this in advance.

The two materials required to craft this item are a Power Rod and a Turbine Compressor. Theoretically, a Power Rod can drop as loot, but its drop rate is extremely low, making it very rare. Don't rely on luck to find it; crafting it at Refiner is a more reliable method. Turbine Compressor is an epic item that can be obtained by searching destroyed Turbines, or you can choose to defeat them directly.

Both materials are related to Riven Tides map in this update, which may require some exploration. Therefore, expect to spend some time collecting components on the map.

How to use it effectively?

This device is one of two new items added in Riven Tides update, adding a new member to Utility Item, but most Raiders haven't yet mastered its efficient use. Next, I'll explain in detail how to effectively use Powered Descender.

Because this device requires a short charge to activate, you need to activate it before jumping off the edge. Players who activate the device after jumping often find that the charge is insufficient, providing only partial protection.

Here are some operational tips for your reference:

• Activate the device at the edge of the platform, that is, before jumping, wait for the charge to complete, and then jump.
• When you are on a tall building, it is recommended to use stairs or ropes to reach the upper level, using Powered Descender only on the final part of the descent.
• The device has a limited number of charges, so if you are on a top floor, you need to plan your route carefully and avoid jumping blindly.
• For lower buildings, Powered Descender is very convenient to use, allowing you to completely bypass stairs and save time in tense and exciting raids.

This concludes the article on how to obtain and use the new item Powered Descender, in ARC Raiders. We hope this information helps you acquire the item more quickly and apply it in actual combat.

Diablo 4 Lord of Hatred expansion launched on April 27th, and many players are undoubtedly eager to experience it. Lair Bosses have always been one of the most reliable ways to obtain key equipment. All bosses can be challenged without consuming any resources. If you defeat them, you can use a Lair Key to open their treasure vaults and obtain a large amount of loot.

This article will show you how to defeat Urivar in Diablo 4 Lord of Hatred.

About Urivar

Urivar is content from Lord of Hatred expansion; you can only challenge him if you own the expansion pack.

Urivar is a Lair Boss with unique loot drops. To obtain the rewards, you need to overcome various mechanics to defeat him. You can adjust your world level to make the fight easier or more challenging. However, higher Torment difficulty will reward you with better loot.

After defeating Urivar, you will need a Lair Key to open his treasure chest. This key can be obtained through various endgame events, such as War Plans and Helltide.

Before challenging the boss, you need to choose a suitable build: please select a build with strong area control and survivability.

Boss Mechanics and Tips

Urivar and his knights deal mixed fire, lightning, and physical damage. If you cannot reach the 70% fire resistance cap, use Elixir of Fire Resistance II to break through your resistance cap. Like most Lair bosses, he also has a Stagger Bar, which temporarily stuns him when it is full, creating an opportunity for you to attack the boss.

During the fight, there are some mechanics you need to be aware of, and we have also provided some solutions:

• Surrounding Knights: At the edge of the arena, these Surrounding Knights will circle around you. You need to avoid bumping into them. If you accidentally bump into a Knight, they will attack you with their spears and knock you back to the center of the arena.
• Aerial Spear Attack: When Surrounding Knights attack you, their spears will rapidly fall around you. Before the spears hit the ground, a yellow circle will briefly appear under your feet. Therefore, try to move in a circle to dodge attacks, letting the spears land behind you until the attack ends.
• Fire Lanes: When Shield-bearing knights slam their shields into the ground, fire lanes will form around them. You need to avoid stepping into these fire zones.
• Urivar's Sword Slam: Urivar raises his sword and slams it into the ground, creating a glowing arrow-shaped pattern. You need to immediately leave the pattern's area and move behind the boss. The marked area will disappear after a few seconds.
• Urivar's Light Bridge: Urivar can create a glowing bridge of light connecting to your location. During this time, he will track your movement and summon spears to attack your location. You need to use defensive skills such as Immunity or Shields and keep moving to avoid the impact areas.
• Knights Fight (50% Phase): When Urivar's health drops to 50%, he will disappear and summon nearby knights to fight for him. The knights will join the battle one after another, using fire circles, firebombs, and lightning balls, and attempting to attack you with spears. Therefore, you need to remain vigilant and avoid being surrounded by enemies.
• Spears Landing: As the battle nears its end, spears will rain down across the arena. Pay attention to the yellow circles; they indicate where the spears will land. It's also crucial to avoid the center of the arena, as this area will take the most damage when Urivar summons the spears. Stay at the edge of the arena while avoiding the surrounding knights.

Loot Items

After the battle, you'll need to use Lair Key to open the reward chest to obtain the dropped items. The first unique item dropped will always come from the boss-specific drop list below. Subsequent unique items have a 50% chance of coming from the universal unique item pool.

If you're playing in a group, the chance of a unique item drop increases by 33% for each additional teammate, up to a maximum of 100% with a full group of 4 players. Additionally, Urivar will drop Diablo 4 Greater Lair Key, which is necessary to open any Greater Lair Boss hoard. The number of unique items dropped by Lair Boss Hoards depends on Torment difficulty.

Belial Ambush Encounter

After defeating Lair Boss, Belial has a small chance to ambush you. This unexpected encounter may present a series of challenges. Belial will use a mixture of Blood and Poison magic, which you will need to dodge.

After defeating Mini Belial, you will receive a second round of loot from Lair Boss you just killed, without needing any additional materials. Additionally, he will drop Betrayer's Husk, an item required to challenge Belial's Exalted Lair Boss form.

This concludes this article about Diablo 4 Lord of Hatred Urivar. We hope you can defeat the bosses and obtain the items you desire in the game.

Kinetic Converter is a legendary weapon attachment in ARC Raiders that increases a weapon's rate of fire by 15%, but at the cost of a 20% increase in both horizontal and vertical recoil.

Currently, 15 weapons in the game can use Kinetic Converter: Ferro, Kettle, Rattler, Stitcher, Arpeggio, IL Toro, Osprey, Renegade, Torrente, Hullcracker, Bettina, Bobcat, Vulcano, Canto, and Aphelion.

With the upcoming ARC Raiders Riven Tides, which gun benefits most from Kinetic Converter, and which benefits the least? How should PvP and PvE players choose? Understanding these concepts will give you an edge in Riven Tides, so I decided to conduct two tests to find out.

Testing Methods

All tests were conducted after weapons were upgraded to the maximum level, and some weapons were equipped with magazine conversion mods by default, such as Bobcat, as they are almost always used with magazine conversion mods; otherwise, these two tests wouldn't be realistic.

The first test was a kill time test. Entering the practice range, I first knocked down a Light Shielded Raider with a bare weapon, then equipped a Kinetic Converter and knocked down another Light Shielded Raider with it. I calculated the time required for these two knockdowns.

The second test was a magazine emptying test. Since some weapons are clearly better suited for PvE, I felt it was fair to conduct a magazine emptying test, which involved measuring the time required to empty the magazine of a weapon without a Kinetic Converter and with one equipped with a Kinetic Converter.

Unsuitable Weapons

First, Ferro and Osprey should absolutely not use Kinetic Converter.

Ferro is a folding combat rifle that uses heavy ammunition. It's inexpensive and an effective choice for mid-to-long-range engagements, but its long reload speed becomes a disadvantage in close-quarters combat. Kinetic Converter increases the rate of fire, not the reload speed. Since Ferro magazine only holds one round, equipping it with Kinetic Converter makes no sense. Your rate of fire won't change because you only have one round to fire.

Osprey is a bolt-action sniper rifle that uses medium ammunition. When using Osprey, you need to stop after each shot. Even if you fire Osprey at its fastest rate, without even aiming down sights, Kinetic Converter won't increase your rate of fire.

Automatic weapons or weapons that require rapid trigger pulls, such as Kettle, Arpeggio, Vulcano, and Aphelion, are best left without a Kinetic Converter.

Based on the data, if a weapon requires rapid trigger-firing, such as Kettle, a semi-automatic assault rifle using lightweight ammunition, or a burst-fire weapon like Arpeggio or Aphelion, then its performance mechanics are not well-suited to Kinetic Converter.

In my testing, I found that the time it took to empty Kettle magazine was exactly the same regardless of whether I used Kinetic Converter. While my kill rate and magazine emptying speed were indeed faster with Arpeggio and Aphelion, the improvement was not significant compared to other weapons.

These data are likely affected by human error, such as operational mistakes during testing, resulting in imperfect shots with each weapon. However, this means that in matches, using Kinetic Converter will not provide a consistent benefit, as the margin for error is too low; we cannot guarantee that every match will be error free.

Suitable Weapons

If you use fully automatic weapons, you don't need to worry about negligible benefits or the risk of operational errors. Therefore, I believe the weapons that benefit most from Kinetic Converter are Rattler, Stitcher, Torrente, Renegade, Canto, Betina, and Bobcat.

Torrente is a fully automatic light machine gun that uses medium ammunition. Equipping Kinetic Converter on Torrente empties its magazine 43 frames faster, significantly improving its performance and DPS.

IL Toro also empties its magazine 43 frames faster after equipping Kinetic Converter. If you, like Matriarch, enjoy using IL Toro for wide-range spraying, you might also consider equipping Kinetic Converter.

For PvP players, all the above weapons are suitable for pairing with Kinetic Converter. Even if your best kill time is only slightly reduced by a few frames, this could be the deciding factor in a 1v1 battle.

Therefore, if you enjoy PvP, revel in the increased rate of fire provided by the Kinetic Converter. However, if you're a peace-loving PvE player, I highly recommend installing Kinetic Converter on your Hullcracker.

Hullcracker is a unique pump-action grenade launcher that uses launcher ammunition. Its ammunition explosions cause multiple instances of damage, making it extremely useful when hunting large Arc Wardens (ARCs) like Matriarchs or looting Evaluators.

Once you penetrate the protective layer of an Arc Warden, it will expose a yellow weak point or a glowing red core. Attacking these weak points or the core with the high rate of fire of Hullcracker will deal significant damage. You can efficiently kill ARCs and obtain a wealth of ARC Raider Items.

Kinetic Converter requires the right attachments to be effective. Ferro and Osprey are the least beneficial or even completely useless attachments. Semi-automatic or semi-automatic weapons like Kettle, Arpeggio, Vulcano, and Aphelion, while offering slight stat boosts, are highly susceptible to human error in actual gameplay, resulting in inconsistent gains and a tiny margin for error. Therefore, their use is not recommended.

The greatest benefits and most worthwhile investment are in all fully automatic weapons. For PvP players, this frame rate advantage is often the key to victory in 1v1 gunfights. If you're a PvE-focused player, try installing Kinetic Converter on your Hullcracker; it will definitely surprise you.

Kinetic Converter's benefits come at the cost of a 20% increase in both horizontal and vertical recoil. You need to carefully balance rate of fire and recoil control based on your playstyle to make this legendary attachment truly worthwhile.

A new week! Arc Raiders Week 25 trials went live on April 20th, and as usual, completing them will earn you tons of rewards.

Week 25 trials will run from April 20th to April 26th, while the current Arc Raiders update ends on April 28th. This means this week's trials are the final ones. After that, we'll see the highly anticipated Riven Tides update.

This week's trials also consist of five parts, and you'll earn double points if you complete them on certain maps.

Arc Raiders Trials for Week 25 include the following:

Search ARC Probes

Damage Queens or Matriarchs

Damage Fireflies

Open Containers inside the traffic tunnels

Damage Flying ARCs inside the walls

Next, I'll guide you through each task: how to complete them quickly. If you're interested, please read on!

Search ARC Probes

Aside from Stella Montis, you'll frequently encounter ARC Probes emitting black smoke and randomly spawning on the ground. Therefore, this is a very simple trial; you just need to wander around the map, find, and destroy these ARC Probes.

These ARC Probes will emit a cue sound, so wear your headphones and listen carefully. Also, be careful not to get attacked by nearby enemies.

It's worth mentioning that you get double points in Electromagnetic Storm or Prospecting Probes map conditions. Finding one ARC Probe into normal conditions earns 667 points, while under these conditions you can get 1334 points.

Damage Queens or Matriarchs

Having covered the easiest trial of the week, let's move on to the hardest - Damage Queens or Matriarchs.

First, this trial only requires dealing enough damage to these two giant ARC enemies; you don't need to kill them. Note that they only appear in Harvester and Matriarch events.

Before facing two powerful enemies, make sure you have enough powerful Arc Raiders Items, such as Hullcrackers or Anvils, before starting the battle. You'll also need some explosives, shields, and healing items.

It would be ideal to team up with friends, but if you prefer playing solo, utilizing the map's terrain, targeting their weaknesses, and preparing the most suitable equipment beforehand will also allow you to complete this trial.

Note that you must leave the map alive to earn points. If you die in battle, you will not receive any points, so prioritize your survival.

Damage Fireflies

In this trial, you need to destroy a certain number of fireflies. Fireflies are new Arc Raiders added to the game in Shrouded Sky update.

Despite their cute name, unlike real-life fireflies, in the game they are Arc Raiders wearing armor, wielding flamethrowers, and capable of flight. Many players have complained that they are annoying and difficult to deal with.

However, with the right techniques, all players can easily complete this trial. First, you need to enter the raid area under major map conditions such as an Electromagnetic Storm or Night Raid.

Second, you need to know that Fireflies' weaknesses are thrusters and fuel tanks, so the best approach is to bring targeted Arc Raiders items, such as Ferro or Anvil.

You should use Ferro or Anvil to shoot down Fireflies before they attack you with their flamethrowers, making them an easy kill.

While Fireflies are present on all maps, Spaceport or Blue Gate maps have the most, allowing you to complete missions quickly on these maps.

Open Containers inside the traffic tunnels

Another simple one, now we can relax a bit. Enter The Blue Gate, then Traffic Tunnels, and loot all the containers you can find to easily earn double points.

Alternatively, you can take another route, passing through Checkpoint area guarded by a Bombardier.

Don't forget to evacuate safely after looting the containers; if you die, you won't get any points. There are safe extraction points near Traffic Tunnels, so memorize their locations.

Damage Flying ARCs inside the walls

This is still a simple trial. First, where is the trial location? They're in the center of Spaceport, surrounded by walls. Once inside the walls, you'll easily find flying ARCs patrolling around.

Hunting any flying ARCs inside the walls will earn points, including Hornet, Firefly, Rocketeer, Spotter, Snitch, Vaporizer, and Wasps. Note that you must damage them inside the walls; leaving the walls will not earn points.

You'll definitely need good ranged Arc Raider Items to complete this trial. Like Fireflies mentioned earlier, simply use ranged equipment to attack their weak points and shoot them down; then it's your turn.

This concludes the guide to Week 25 trials. To better prepare for Riven Tides update on April 28th, be sure to complete Week 25 trials and earn the generous rewards.

Many tasks in this week's trials are better suited for teams of two or three players. Teaming up is a better option if you want to achieve a higher ranking, although this may sound a bit unfair.

Additionally, note that leaderboard rankings will lock you into a group the first time you earn a score. Players who have time to complete trials on weekdays usually have more playtime, while many players only have two days a week to play on weekends.

Therefore, if you're interested in the leaderboards, you can submit your scores on the weekend, which will place you in a less competitive weekend group.

To be honest, playing MLB The Show 26 Diamond Dynasty mode for a long time can easily get monotonous, as you might always be facing the same teams, the same pitchers, the same lineups… and nine times out of ten, you've hit Coors Field five hundred times.

Generally, many players overlook stadium selection, but in fact, stadium selection is far more important than people realize; it can completely change your gaming experience.

Some stadiums can turn every mistake into a home run, while others will prevent you from even having the thought of swinging for one. Of course, some stadiums strike a perfect balance.

Choosing the following stadiums might give you an unprecedented level of enjoyment in MLB 26 Diamond Dynasty. Let's take a look.

Yankee Stadium

• Left field: 318'
• Center field: 408'
• Right field: 314'

The most striking feature of this stadium is the famous Short Porch in right field, just 318 feet from home plate. If you field a left-handed batter with enough power, or use an ambidextrous batter against a right-handed pitcher, you're guaranteed to reap rich rewards. Some home runs might feel a bit like cheating, but that's part of its charm.

Yankee Stadium is highly situational; it's not a pure hitter's paradise as commonly believed. Here, left-handed batters can swing freely, while right-handed batters must face the 399-foot Death Valley in left center field - a brutally powerful hitting zone.

So even if you feel the bat has hit the ball, it might still be there, forcing you to carefully consider your hitting strategy rather than chasing a home run on every single shot. You need to build a lineup that fully utilizes the stadium's advantages using MLB The Show 26 Stubs; a one-dimensional playing style can backfire.

Yankee Stadium adds just the right amount of chaos and personality in MLB 26, keeping the game fresh.

Fenway Park

• Left field: 310'
• Center field: 420'
• Right field: 301'

Fenway Park is undoubtedly a nightmare for many players, but it's undeniably excellent in Diamond Dynasty mode. The presence of Green Monster completely changes the gameplay.

You can't deal with right-handed hitters the usual way; any ball pulled to left field is likely to hit the wall.

Meanwhile, left field is essentially a no-fly zone for defenders. You'll constantly have to deal with unpredictable bounces, tricky angles, and outfielders hitting the ball against the wall instead of catching it cleanly.

In addition, Pesky's Pole is only 302 feet from the court, meaning that even if the ball isn't perfectly perpendicular, a left-handed hitter can still quickly hit it out of bounds.

So, this court is peculiar; both corners are dangerous, just in drastically different ways. Many people hate this court, but you can't deny it's incredibly fun.

Oak Street Park

• Left field: 310'
• Center field: 408'
• Right field: 310'

Unlike Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park, Oak Street Park isn't a real court; it's entirely fictional. Everything on this court is very compact; while not small in size, it feels smaller in actual use than you might imagine.

Here, the ball can fly very far, openings are easy to create, and once the offense finds its rhythm, the score can quickly widen. So, if you're not careful, a 2-1 score can quickly become 7-1.

One of the best things about Oak Street Park is its 310-foot width on both sides of the sidelines, which is very friendly to batters. Here, trying to hit perfectly, without hesitation, doesn't always work. You have to be proactive, swing early, attack the pitcher, and punish any pitches thrown toward the inside. Pitching is important, but the key is the order of pitches and disrupting the batter's rhythm.

Date Palm Field

• Left field: 331'
• Center field: 405'
• Right field: 326'

Date Palm Field is completely different from the other fields I've mentioned; it's a pitcher's field through and through. The outfield is deep, and the balls travel much shorter distances, with many of the hits becoming regular fly balls out of play.

This year, most of the fields at MLB The Show 26 are favorable to batters, making it one of the few fields in Diamond Dynasty format where pitchers can truly breathe. Here, you can face batters more challengingly, trust your pitching order, and not worry about every mis-pitch resulting in a home run. It emphasizes pitching technique over mere survival.

At the same time, this forces you to make adjustments. You can't just sit around waiting to be outplayed; you need to utilize openings, find the right moment, and truly build up runs. Here, line drives and good timing are more important than sheer power.

Ranking games in Diamond Dynasty don't always have to be 10-9 battles. Sometimes a clean 3-1 victory can be even more exciting. If you're looking for that kind of experience, I recommend trying to Date Palm Field.

This concludes our article on recommended stadiums for MLB The Show 26. Choosing the right stadium can sometimes impact your entire game; try different stadiums in Diamond Dynasty and choose carefully.

In ARC Raiders, stocks are weapon accessories that can be attached to weapons to alter their characteristics. They can be crafted at Gunsmith in Workshop, found on the ground, or purchased from Astronomy Department.

Original stocks provide different modification effects. So how do you choose the right stock for your equipment?

Understanding stock terminology and functions will help you understand which stock is best suited for each weapon and why. Let's take a look.

Stock Classification

ARC Raiders features five different types of stocks.

Stable Stock

There are three different Stable Stocks: Stable Stock I, Stable Stock II, and Stable Stock III. They all have two main functions: reducing Recoil Recovery Time and Dispersion Recovery Time.

When you fire, the bullet flies upwards and then returns to your initial aiming point. Simultaneously, your crosshair enlarges. The time it takes for the crosshair to return to its normal size is the weapon's Dispersion Recovery Time. The time it takes for the muzzle to return to your initial aiming position after firing is Recoil Recovery Time. These two points are the essence of Stable Stock.

Stable Stock I reduces Recoil Recovery Time and Dispersion Recovery Time by 20%, Stable Stock II by 35%, and Stable Stock III by 50%.

Upgrading to Stable Stock III has a slight drawback: Equip Time and Unequip Time increase by 20%, but this is negligible.

Padded Stock

Padded Stock is special. It reduces Vertical Recoil and Horizontal Recoil by 15% and Per-Shot Dispersion by 20%, meaning less recoil.

Take Torrent as an example. When aiming with Torrent, you see a circular crosshair. If you fire a bullet with Torrent, it will land anywhere within the crosshair. Per-Shot Dispersion essentially means that each bullet you fire will land at a different location within the circle. Equipping your gun with Padded Stock reduces Per-Shot Dispersion by 20%.

However, the downside of Padded Stock is that Equip Time and Unequip Time increase by 20%. Most seriously, ADS Speed ​​decreases by 30%, meaning aiming time increases by 30%, significantly reducing weapon handling.

Lightweight Stock

Conversely, Lightweight Stock increases ADS Speed ​​by 200%, resulting in extremely fast aiming. It significantly improves handling. It also reduces Equip Time and Unequip Time by 30%. However, its downside is a 50% increase in Vertical Recoil and Recoil Recovery Time.

How to Choose?

Single-Shot Weapons

Single-shot weapons include Aphelion, Renegade, Kettle, Arpeggio, and Vulcano.

These weapons must be equipped with Stable Stock, allowing for faster firing and effective control of recoil and bullet spread, resulting in quicker firing.

All these single-shot weapons require reduced recoil for faster firing. Therefore, Stable Stock is essential; other stocks are not considered. Furthermore, the more expensive Stable Stock you can buy, the greater the advantage you gain from these single-shot weapons and the more ARC Raiders Items you acquire.

Fully Automatic Weapons

Choosing these weapons is actually quite simple. You need to choose Padded Stock. This reduces recoil and lowers single-shot spread by 20%.

While there will be a slight decrease in handling, it's very subtle, especially for submachine guns like the new Canto, Bobcat, and Stitcher. You'll barely feel the increase in Equip Time and Unequip Time. The 30% increase in aiming time is also insignificant, as their aiming speed is already very fast and their handling is excellent. Therefore, you'll hardly feel these drawbacks.

So, for all rapid-fire weapons like submachine guns in ARC Raiders, Padded Stock is the simplest and wisest choice. However, for some types of players, Padded Stock may not be the best option for using Canto and Bobcat.

If you're the type of player who prefers short bursts, like releasing the trigger after two, three, or four bullets to control recoil and maintain aim, then a padded stock might not be for you. You should use a stable stock, as your recoil and bullet spread recover much faster.

Therefore, for players who prefer short bursts, even with submachine guns, a stable stock is recommended. However, if you prefer to unload the magazine, you should choose a padded stock; a stable stock offers no advantage.

Other Situations

First, I want to discuss two weapons that I believe completely lack a stock. The first is Osprey, which can be used without a stock. IL Toro is similar; it's a single-shot shotgun with a pump-action mechanism, so a stock offers little advantage.

Vulcano requires reduced recoil and single-shot spread, so you can use it with a soft stock. For players who like using Torrente on Stella Montis map, a lightweight stock might be useful. Lightweight Stock is also a great fit for Hullcracker, significantly improving handling.

Your Stable Stock I, Stable Stock II, and Stable Stock III are interchangeable, depending on how many resources you have in the game. You won't notice the increased Equip Time and Unequip Time when using Stable Stock III. Of course, it depends on your personal preference. If you're the type of player who likes to use SMGs and fully automatic weapons with heavy magazines, then Padded Stock is the best choice for you.

Lightweight Stock is a very niche attachment and not very useful in ARC Raiders. You can equip it on Hullcracker, and some might think it works well on Torrente, but the final choice is yours.

These stock usage suggestions are just recommendations. You need to adjust your stock usage in ARC Raiders according to your own playing style. Once you understand the function of each stock, you'll find the one that truly suits you.

Marvel Rivals is about to receive a major update for Season 7.5, with the patch officially going live on April 17th. This version of Marvel Rivals shows a more cautious approach to balance, with adjustments to multiple Heroes aimed at reducing frustration in combat.

Marvel Rivals is attempting to make combat smoother and reduce unnecessary game time in extreme situations.

This patch covers a comprehensive update, from basic mechanics to Hero skills, from team abilities to skin content. The following is a detailed breakdown of each module.

Mechanics Innovation

In Season 7.5, Marvel Rivals introduces a brand-new Chain-CC Protection mechanism, the most systemic change in this update. The development team hopes to solve the long-standing problem of infinite CC chains in the game with this mechanism, giving players room to counter when continuously CC'd.

Trigger Conditions

The trigger conditions for this protection system are set quite strictly. Chain-CC Protection mechanism automatically activates when a Hero accumulates a total CC effect duration of 5.5 seconds within a 7-second time window, or is hit by 6 independent CC effects.

Upon activation, the system immediately removes all active CC effects from Hero and grants them a 30% Tenacity bonus for 3 seconds. Numerically, triggering this protection is difficult in normal matches; it only takes effect when the enemy team has an extremely dense concentration of CC abilities.

Tenacity Stacking

Within 3 seconds after the protection mechanism activates, for each new CC effect Hero receives, Tenacity increases by 10%, and Protection duration is extended by 0.5 seconds. This means that if the enemy continues to apply CC during the protection period, it becomes increasingly difficult to control CC-affected Heroes.

When Tenacity reaches 100%, Hero enters a CC Immune CC state until Protection ends. It's important to note that during CC Immune, newly applied CC effects will neither increase Tenacity nor extend the immunity duration. This design provides a breathing space for the targeted team and prevents the protection mechanic from being extended indefinitely.

Exceptions

Not all CC effects are restricted by this system. Certain animation-driven special CC abilities, such as Emma Frost's Carbon Crush and Monster Hulk's World Breaker, can directly bypass the protection mechanic. The duration of these abilities is not reduced by Tenacity, nor does it trigger the protection system's clearing effect.

However, regular CC effects applied during these animated abilities will still be cleared, and Tenacity effects will only take effect after the animated ability ends. The protection system itself has a 5-second cooldown, starting from the last Tenacity effect that disappears.

Balance Adjustments

This update includes targeted adjustments to several Heroes, covering Vanguard, Duelist, and Strategist roles.

Vanguard Hero

Emma Frost received a slight buff. Her ultimate ability, Psionic Seduction, has had its energy cost reduced from 3400 to 3100, meaning she can use it more frequently to dominate the battlefield. While this change isn't huge, it significantly benefits playstyles reliant on ultimate-based tempo.

Deadpool (Vanguard) has received a significant nerf.

His Gun Form ultimate ability, Ban Hammer, has been reduced in several ways: the bonus health gained per hammer hit has been reduced from 80 to 60 (upgraded from 80 to 70), the damage per hammer hit has been reduced from 45 to 35, and the attack speed bonus he provides to allies has been reduced from 60% to 40%.

These changes combined significantly affect Deadpool's burst damage and survivability.

Peni Parker's changes are characterized by nerfs to his base stats and improvements to his mechanics.

Her base health has been reduced from 700 to 650, but the number of Cyber-Webs that can exist on the field simultaneously has increased from 3 to 4, the maximum bonus health provided by Webs has increased from 150 to 200, and Cyber-Web Cluster Projectile Speed ​​has increased from 120 to 150.

Overall, Peni will perform better in positional warfare, but will become more vulnerable without Web coverage.

Duelist Hero

Elsa Bloodstone has been nerfed in several ways. Her Helix Advance cooldown has increased from 8 seconds to 10 seconds, and the cooldown at full passive stacks has increased from 2 seconds to 4 seconds.

More importantly, her percentage damage has been significantly reduced: the percentage damage per bullet has decreased from 1.2% to 0.8%, and the total percentage damage from five hits has decreased from 6% to 4%. For example, damage to a 275-health Hero has decreased from 81.5 to 76, and damage to a 700-health Vanguard Hero has decreased from 107 to 93. This change is clearly intended to reduce her threat to front-line Vanguards.

Human Torch's movement mechanic has been completely reworked. The previous hold-Shift free-flight mode has been changed to a charged dash. Now, after casting the ability, he will immediately dash 10 meters toward movement, then enter a plasma state for 4 seconds.

This ability has 2 charges, each with a 10-second cooldown, and a 4-second interval between consecutive casts. This change makes Human Torch's mobility more controllable, and his movement trajectory easier for opponents to predict.

Winter Soldier, Bucky Barnes' adjustments are relatively complex. On one hand, his CC (Crowd Control) ability has been weakened: Trooper's Fist Grounded effect has been removed, but the cooldown has been reduced from 12 seconds to 10 seconds; Bionic Hook's cooldown has been increased from 12 seconds to 15 seconds.

On the other hand, his damage composition has also changed: Projectile damage has been increased from 75 to 80, but Spell Field damage has been reduced from 55 to 45. A higher execute threshold (20%, previously 15%) comes at the cost of lower base damage (70, down from 80) for Kraken Impact ultimate.

Strategist Hero

Adam Warlock has received a buff to his healing abilities. His Cosmic Cluster cooldown reduction after hitting an enemy has increased from 0.3 seconds to 0.4 seconds, meaning he can use his healing abilities more frequently.

The developers shortened Cloak & Dagger's ultimate, Eternal Bond, from 13 seconds to 11 seconds. This makes sense, as the ability previously overstayed its welcome on the battlefield.

Jeff the Land Shark's ranged pressure has been nerfed, but the penalty to his ultimate ability has been reduced. The falloff for Joyful Splash now begins at 15 meters (down from 20), and its damage drops off more sharply afterward.

Previously, it decayed to 65% at 40 meters; now it decays to 60% at 30 meters. However, the cooldown after a failed Devour has been significantly reduced from 1 second to 0.4 seconds, making him less vulnerable to being counter-killed after a mistake.

Luna Snow's base damage and healing have been increased from 22 to 24. While the increase is small, it seems likely to improve her win rate.

Ultron received one of the most significant buffs in this update. His ultimate ability, Rage of Ultron, has had its range increased from 3 meters to 6 meters, and Drones' attack logic has changed from targeting the crosshair to bombarding the area around the target.

Furthermore, Ultron's Encephalo-Rays damage has been increased from 8 to 18, Drones' ray damage from 8 to 12, and healing to allies from 25 to 40. The new damage decay mechanic allows for a clearer division of labor between close-range burst damage and area-of-effect support.

Healing Adjustments

Guardian of the Deep (Venom, Jeff/Hela) ability has been significantly nerfed. The percentage of overhealing converted into bonus health has been reduced from 100% to 50%, and healing efficiency from 70% to 60%. This change directly reduces the overall survivability of this combination.

New Team Abilities

Black Cat, White Fox, and Captain America form a brand new team composition. As the team's core, Black Cat gains a 5% damage output bonus. 

White Fox unlocks the new Nine-Tailed Aura ability through the team's ability, while Captain America unlocks Vibranium Bastion ability, which reflects attacks back to the target's target. To grab Black Cat's ranked reward skin or her limited-time bundles, a quick Marvel Rivals Top Up is the easiest way to get ready.

Marvel Rivals 7.5 Season update makes positive attempts at mechanics, with the introduction of Chain-CC Protection system expected to improve the negative experience caused by extreme CC lineups.

Overall, this patch focuses on steady, minor tweaks without changing the game's structure, but it still has positive implications for improving the ranked environment.

In Torchlight Infinite's SS12 Lunaria, Mind Control has been significantly nerfed, directly affecting the strategies of many players who rely on this skill for progression.

While this Torchlight Infinite update brought free pets and buffs to Hero Memories, Mind Control's damage output has been reduced by approximately 40% in a no-investment state.

Meanwhile, Torchlight Infinite's alternative Curse Ill Omen, designed for the new version, has failed to effectively compensate for this shortcoming, offering far less benefit than the traditional Curse option.

Therefore, forcing the use of Mind Control in the early stages of Torchlight Infinite's Lunaria Season is not a wise choice. However, the nerf to Mind Control primarily affects the early game, and its strength may be restored later through Lunaria Season mechanics.

Talent Changes

The most devastating change to Mind Control in Torchlight Infinite SS12 is the complete removal of Core Talent Node Reap Purification from Talent Panel.

This talent was previously a key pillar of Mind Control build's damage system, its mechanism deeply tied to Mind Control's sustained damage output loop.

Losing this talent creates a structural gap in Mind Control's core damage structure. According to actual test data, this single change alone has resulted in an approximately 40% decrease in Mind Control's overall damage output.

This means that in the early stages of a Season, lacking resource support, Mind Control's map clearing efficiency and boss kill speed will lag significantly behind other mainstream skills.

Players who insist on using Mind Control for early game progression will face a much more tough experience than in previous Seasons. Story bosses that were previously easy to handle may become challenging, and the pace of early Endgame map progression will be noticeably slower.

Ill Omen

The following analysis will examine the advantages, disadvantages, cost-effectiveness, and potential value of this skill.

Advantages and Disadvantages

To fill the gap left by the removal of Reap Purification, Torchlight Infinite design team provided Mind Control with a new Curse skill, Ill Omen.

Ill Omen appears to have some potential: each stack of 10 debuffs deals damage equal to 20% of the monster's health. Theoretically, if it could trigger twice consistently, it could rival Corruption or Entangled Pain, which provide a 40% damage bonus.

However, practical testing clearly reveals an enormous gap between ideal and reality. Without investing any talent points or gear affixes, players can only trigger the full execute effect once.

This makes Ill Omen's actual benefit only about half that of other Curse options, approximately a 20% equivalent damage increase, far from enough to compensate for 40% loss because of the removal of Reap Purification.

Value

To make Ill Omen nearly usable, players must invest approximately 6 points in Talent Panel for a 30% Curse efficiency boost, while also selecting Core Talent Node Inexorable Doom in Psychic Talent Panel.

After this investment, calculations show that approximately 31.5% damage is needed to stack to 10 layers and trigger the first execute. Practical simulations further demonstrate that the first trigger reduces the boss's health to approximately 48.5%, while the second trigger deals slightly excess damage.

This means that even with substantial talent points and effort invested, Ill Omen's overall performance is still slightly inferior to Corruption or Entangled Pain, which provide a stable 40% damage bonus without any additional investment.

Therefore, for early-game progression characters, investing valuable talent points in Ill Omen-related efficiency enhancements is clearly not the optimal resource allocation. These 6 talent points, if used in other damage multipliers, often yield more stable benefits.

Potential Value

This doesn't mean Ill Omen is useless in all scenarios. Certain gear affixes can further improve Curse efficiency, such as the higher-level efficiency bonuses that may appear on certain Amulets.

As players delve deeper into Torchlight Infinite SS12 Season mechanics, more ways to amplify the benefits of Ill Omen may be discovered.

With extremely high investment, a configuration with "+2 Curse cap" might allow for the simultaneous use of Ill Omen, Corruption, and Entangled Pain.

However, it's important to note that these possibilities all point to high-cost builds in the late game, requiring specific gear, rare affixes, and substantial Torchlight Infinite Currency support, far removed from the practical needs of early Season progression.

Therefore, for early Season characters whose primary goal is to quickly advance the story and obtain early Endgame Maps, it is strongly advised against investing any resources in Ill Omen. Saving talent points for other, more efficient damage sources is a more rational choice.

Adjustment to Early Game Strategy

Forcing the use of Mind Control in the early stages of Torchlight Infinite SS12 Season will face three major challenges. The first is a hard reduction in damage output. 40% loss cannot be compensated for by skillful play or minor gear adjustments, meaning that at the same gear level, Mind Control's damage output is significantly lower than in previous seasons.

The second issue is the inherent flaw in its movement mechanics. Using teleportation-type movement skills in Mind Control interferes with the duration of damage over time, resulting in inconsistent damage output. This problem is particularly pronounced in story phases requiring rapid map movement, as players must maintain both movement speed and damage coverage against monsters.

The third issue is the delayed acquisition of core buffs. Mind Control only alleviates movement lag after acquiring God of War buff, but obtaining God of War requires a significant amount of gameplay, typically unlocking in the mid-to-late game of Endgame Maps.

Therefore, during the initial 0-48 hour golden period of a season, Mind Control lacks sufficient damage, smooth controls, and the support of core buffs. Forcing its use will only reduce overall efficiency and increase unnecessary frustration.

A proven alternative is to use Shadow Swamp for early Season exploration, transitioning to Mind Control once sufficient resources are accumulated. Shadow Swamp offers significant advantages in the early stages.

First, it fully utilizes teleportation-type movement skills, eliminating the interruption of damage output issues present in Mind Control.

Players can maintain continuous damage to monsters while moving quickly, significantly accelerating story progression and clearing early Endgame maps.

Second, Youga Two extremely well with it.

Through treasure areas in the story, each character acquires several guaranteed gear items, and Youga Two's numerous unique gear items provide powerful boosts to Shadow Swamp, including skill level upgrades, damage conversion efficiency, and enhanced survivability.

This means that after completing the story, players can obtain a complete gear system sufficient to support early Endgame content without additional grinding.

The Future of Mind Control

The adjustments to Mind Control in Torchlight Infinite SS12 cannot be simply summarized as a "nerf."

A more accurate understanding is that the development team moved the free damage abilities that were originally part of Talent Panel to Hero Memories, which require resource investment.

Essentially, this adjustment lengthens Mind Control's progression curve, adding intermediate steps from early game progression to a fully developed build.

For players seeking efficiency, this certainly means greater early-game pressure. However, for players willing to invest time in understanding the mechanics and planning their progression path, Mind Control remains a viable endgame build route.

The core strategy is to accept the reality of this adjustment and adjust the progression order accordingly, rather than stubbornly sticking to the experience of the old version.

Mind Control's endgame potential remains considerable, but players need to accept the reality of the longer progression curve and adjust their progression strategies accordingly.

With Champions League and Europa League quarter-finals about to kick off, EA Sports FC 26 is launching Road to the Final (RTTF). In a sense, players will see dynamic card games themed around Europe's biggest club competitions.

You've probably already been whetted by the trailers. RTTF officially launches on Friday, March 27, 2026, at 6 PM GMT / 10 AM PT. Stay tuned!

This guide will take you through everything you need to know about this Friday's RTTF.

Introduction

Before the event launches, the knockout stages of four UEFA competitions are already underway. Therefore, the new RTTF has certainly surprised everyone. Although it was later than expected, it did not affect the subsequent development of RTTF.

This RTTF event integrates four major leagues: Champions League, Europa League, Europa Conference League, and Women's Champions League, covering parts of the knockout stages, quarter-finals, and finals.

As before, the developers have set up a selection of players who will receive enhanced special cards, and these players will be participating in UECL, UEL, UECL, or UWCL. Card upgrades will be synchronized with the participating teams' advancement progress.

Because the event started a little late, the player showcase is limited to one week, which is something you need to be aware of in advance. The showcase phase is part of the overall RTTF, and the main upgrade phase will coincide with the progress of the four UEFA competitions.

The specific end dates for the four UEFA competitions are as follows:

• UEL: May 20, 2026
• UEL: May 23, 2026
• UEL: May 27, 2026
• UCL: May 30, 2026

Related Players

Regarding the total number and roster of players in RTTF, it's currently impossible to determine precisely, as the competition schedule changes significantly each year. According to reliable sources, more than 40 players have been identified, so it's reasonable to speculate that there will be around 50 cards.

After a short announcement period, and with a brief respite, the next promotional campaign is already on the agenda. Therefore, the cards in this RTTF will eventually be presented to you in the form of a super-large team, allowing you to grasp most of the player information immediately. Completing Squad Building Challenges (SBCs) and objective missions in the game will also reward you with some players.

To further enhance your plans, FC 26 RTTF Team 1 will be held on March 27, 2026 (7:00 PM CEST). Successfully completing SBCs and daily missions to obtain player cards will take place from March 27 to April 2, 2026.

Narrowing your roster of ordinary players to four UEFA competitions will alleviate your decision-making difficulties. Undoubtedly, the developers have absolute freedom and decision-making power regarding player card acquisition.

In most cases, players with high popularity and high strength among the player community are more likely to be selected, and we look forward to them achieving remarkable results in subsequent matches. Furthermore, to ensure a diverse selection of players, the game aims to include as many different clubs as possible.

Normally, only one player is available per club. However, for popular clubs, this restriction may be relaxed, allowing two to three players to be included in RTTF. Will your favorite player get an RTTF card this time?

Acquisition Methods

Having introduced the player cards, your enthusiasm and desire to acquire them should be at its peak. As mentioned above, this time it was launched as a large team, and most of the player cards were also fully revealed at this time, so card packs are your main source of RTTF player cards.

Yes, last year's main sources of RTTF player cards were limited to season rewards and SBCs. This year is different. However, it's not entirely the same; some cards can still be obtained through SBCs and daily tasks.

Besides following the game's progression and acquiring cards step by step, there's a third way to obtain cards, which can greatly reduce your disappointment and frustration from not being able to get your desired player cards: going to Transfer Market. All the cards in your packs are tradable, and having a large number of FC 26 coins will greatly accelerate your game progress.

This year's RTTF pack rules are the same as in previous years. During RTTF, all basic cards in all packs, regardless of how you obtained them, will be replaced with RTTF cards, ensuring they are based on the corresponding player cards.

You've already figured out the secret: by collecting as many card packs as possible containing players, your chances of obtaining event cards will steadily and significantly increase. The probabilistic nature of events also tells you that the appearance of RTTF cards is not inevitable. Be prepared to deal with it. Be prepared!

After reading this guide, the passion ignited by the four UEFA competitions will continue to spread to FC 26, so dive into FC 26 Road to the Final and show your skills!