General News

Players, World of Warcraft Forever beta currently caps progression at level 20. How is your main character feeling so far? Don't be too quick to pass judgment on a class just yet, though - at this stage, it is specializations that truly set the gameplay apart.

Below, we highlight specializations that feel fluid and feature changes well-received by the community, as well as those that are currently underwhelming and require further observation.

Keep in mind that this is an early experience - pre-level 20 - and everything is subject to change before the official launch of WoW Forever.

Standout Specializations

Protection Warrior

Protection Warrior currently offers a standout tanking experience.

The fun stems from an active, tight rotation: Shield Block automatically generates Rage and triggers Revenge, with Revenge itself dealing high damage and generating significant threat.

There is strong synergy between blocks, dodges, and parries; since parries reset swing timers, the combat rhythm feels incredibly smooth.

While Protection Warrior isn't the easiest tank to pick up in WoW Forever - largely because you must actively maintain AoE threat - this complexity makes the feedback from your actions all the more rewarding.

At higher levels, you can look forward to damage-boosting talents like Bastion, the ability to Charge while in Defensive Stance, Shield Slam, and talents that significantly reduce the cooldown of Shield Wall.

Affliction Warlock

Affliction Warlock has performed impressively so far, benefiting from the extensive changes made to Warlocks across the board in World of Warcraft Forever.

Damage over Time (DoT) can now crit; adjustments have been made to spell power, spirit, pet damage, and threat generation; and curses have been separated from banes - all contributing to a noticeably improved overall experience.

Affliction is particularly well-positioned to capitalize on these changes thanks to its self-sufficiency. You have a toolkit that keeps you running: DoTs, a threat-generating pet, drain spells, Life Tap, and Healthstones - while gaps in the rotation can be filled with Shadow Bolt or your wand.

This self-sufficiency also means less reliance on potions and consumables, saving you some WoW Forever gold in the long run. Even though wand has been somewhat nerfed in the game, its skill uptime and overall gameplay feel remain very smooth.

Although players are currently limited to level 20, Affliction Warlock's performance will become even more impressive as levels increase, thanks to a wealth of excellent talents in Affliction tree and the introduction of new capstone talents.

Affliction Warlocks are highly competitive in both PvE and PvP environments.

Enhancement Shaman

Enhancement Shaman is another specialization in WoW Classic+ that offers a pleasant surprise.

While Enhancement Shamans do not yet have access to core abilities like Windfury and Stormstrike, the fundamental gameplay feel is already excellent.

Once Enhancement Shamans can wield two-handed weapons, players can look forward to the satisfying experience of clearing out groups of lesser enemies.

Enhancement talent tree features many synergies between weapon attacks and spells, while certain tank-oriented talents open up new possibilities for gameplay styles.

Fire Nova is now more fun to use, and the conversion mechanism between Intellect and Attack Power allows for greater flexibility regarding stats, talents, and gear choices.

Abilities such as Earth Shock and Flame Shock, Healing Stream Totem, Lightning Shield, and the now-usable-indoors Ghost Wolf give Enhancement Shaman plenty of room to shine in open-world questing and world PvP.

In short, Enhancement Shaman offers a playstyle somewhat akin to a Battle Mage - simple, yet far from monotonous.

Specializations Currently Falling Short of Expectations

Arms Warrior

The current state of Arms Warrior in WoW Forever stands in stark contrast to that of Protection Warrior.

A lack of Rage is one of the most frustrating aspects of playing an Arms Warrior, an issue that was particularly pronounced during the early beta stages.

Since the development team standardized Rage generation - meaning critical hits no longer grant bonus Rage - players often find themselves waiting for Rage to accumulate before using abilities, rather than unleashing rapid bursts of damage to clear out enemies.

However, there is good news: Arms Warrior experience may improve significantly after level 40, thanks to the synergies between Rend, Overpower, and Mortal Strike.

The beta phase is quite long; new changes regarding talents and gear might still emerge later on, so it is premature to draw definitive conclusions right now.

Combat Rogue

The issue with Combat Rogue isn't that it is weak, but that the changes aren't particularly striking.

Restless Blades talent seen in earlier showcases didn't make it into the beta; this talent could have boosted Combat Rogue's competitiveness by allowing finishing moves to reduce the cooldowns of major abilities.

The leveling experience from levels 1 to 20 feels very similar to the classic Vanilla Rogue, though gear acquisition for Combat Rogues in WoW Forever might be more favorable.

Combat talents still lean towards PvP, whereas Assassination and Subtlety have undergone significant changes and could become solid PvE choices in the future.

If you already enjoy Vanilla Rogue, the current Combat Rogue remains a worthy choice; it simply lacks the novelty found in the flashy updates given to other classes.

Frost Mage

Frost Mage has been categorized as a less-than-ideal specialization, primarily because its AoE leveling playstyle took a major hit.

Both Improved Blizzard and Permafrost were nerfed, and managing mana is no longer as easy as it used to be.

This is undoubtedly a blow for Mage players accustomed to rapid leveling strategies.

However, Frost tree still has plenty of highlights; Fingers of Frost and Ice Lance provide strong burst damage and crowd control capabilities in PvP.

In reality, a Mage's survivability and mobility remain decent, though the old days of easy AoE solo farming are likely gone.

Recommendation

A key feature of the current WoW Classic+ beta is the abundance of high-performing specializations, while those that currently seem lackluster won't necessarily remain weak in the long run.

An Arms Warrior might turn things around at level 40 thanks to key abilities, Combat Rogue could see further adjustments, and Frost Mage might even develop new AoE farming strategies.

Therefore, rather than choosing a specialization based on early-stage power levels, it is better to try out the playstyle you enjoy most and stay attentive to the evolving changes in WoW Forever!

In Path of Exile 2's endgame, around 90% of the content revolves around repeatedly farming maps, which can inevitably become a little tedious. As a result, most players are looking for builds that can clear maps quickly to reduce downtime.

If you are even lazier and simply want to play a one-button build, or even a zero-button build, Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.5 still gives you plenty of options. Let's take a look at some viable AFK builds that let you complete entire maps while enjoying a cup of coffee.

Here are the 3 AFK builds in PoE 2 Patch 0.5.5: 

• Immortal Witchhunter Frostbolt
• Temporalis Infinite Loop Autobomber
• Infinite Navira Fracturing Minion

Immortal Witchhunter Frostbolt

This is an AFK build that requires almost no input. It performs extremely well when clearing Simulacrum and regular maps, allowing you to leave it running with virtually no interaction. However, it is slightly less effective against Pinnacle Bosses that require frequent movement. 

The setup for this build is quite unique. Its core idea is to use weapon swapping and specific Unique items to create an endless damage loop.

For the first weapon set, you need Widowhail and Drillneck. Widowhail greatly amplifies the bonuses provided by your quiver, while Drillneck provides a large amount of Projectile Damage and Critical Hit Chance. It also increases damage whenever your projectiles Pierce an enemy, which works perfectly with Frostbolt.

The second weapon set uses Atziri's Rule staff, which is responsible for starting the loop.

First, cast Frostbolt while using Weapon Set One. At this point, the projectiles snapshot all the damage bonuses provided by your current equipment, including Widowhail and Drillneck.

Immediately after casting the skill, switch to Weapon Set Two, which has Atziri's Rule equipped. This staff continuously creates Reflected Mirrors around you.

When your Frostbolt projectiles hit the mirrors, the mirrors shatter and create nine new Frostbolts. Rithlord Algram is also crucial because it causes all Frostbolt projectiles to return to your character. These returning Frostbolts then hit newly generated mirrors and create even more projectiles. Once the loop starts, you no longer need to cast any other skills.

The main reason to choose Witchhunter is that it has two Ascendancy nodes that are particularly well suited to AFK gameplay:

• Weapon Master: Allows you to configure different Passive Skill Trees for each weapon set, maximizing the benefits of the snapshot mechanic.
• Sorcery Ward: Creates a barrier that absorbs elemental damage. Its capacity depends on your Armour and Evasion, making the build very safe while AFK.

You can also choose Ritualist Ascendancy, which offers stronger recovery capabilities but is mainly suitable for Simulacrum. It is slightly weaker in regular maps.

Temporalis Infinite Loop Autobomber

This build has incredible damage and solid clear speed, but its biggest drawback is that it requires a large amount of PoE2 currency. If you have already accumulated plenty of currency and want to experience the thrill of blasting through maps with a pure Autobomber setup, this build is an option.

Choir of the Storm amulet is the core of this build's infinite loop. It can trigger Lightning Bolt skill when you critically strike. The skill has a base cooldown of 0.5 seconds and can store up to five uses.

Temporalis helmet provides a fixed amount of Cooldown Recovery, allowing Lightning Bolt's cooldown to be reduced to an extremely low level. Around 150% CDR can bring the cooldown below 0.2 seconds, allowing the loop to function consistently.

Relying on Lightning Bolt's own Critical Hits makes the loop unstable, so you also need to link it with Mana Flare Support Gem. When Lightning Bolt critically strikes, it triggers Mana Flare, which consumes 25% of your current Mana to deal Area Fire Damage. Mana Flare can also critically strike, which then triggers another Lightning Bolt from Choir of the Storm.

Oracle Ascendancy's Forced Outcome node can guarantee Critical Hits. With it, Critical Hits from Lightning Bolt and Mana Flare no longer depend on stacking Critical Hit Chance through your gear, allowing the loop to run consistently.

Once the loop starts, you do not need to press any skill buttons. You only need to walk close to monsters and let the loop handle the rest. The loop also works against single-target Bosses, but you need to make sure the Boss is not killed instantly before it can trigger subsequent Critical Hits.

Infinite Navira Fracturing Minion

Minion builds have always been a popular choice for AFK gameplay because your minions can clear monsters for you while you only need to keep your character safe.

However, this build does not rely entirely on minion damage. Your actual damage comes from the interaction between Navira's Fracturing and Chilled Ground debuff, which allows you to deal damage to enemies.

You first create a large area of Chilled Ground beneath enemies using Ice Nova or Tame Beast with Frozen Ground Trail.

Navira's Fracturing for Disciple of Arashta Ascendancy consumes Chilled Ground beneath enemies and deals high Spell Damage to all enemies within the area while applying a powerful Freeze effect, essentially clearing enemies across the entire screen.

In the endgame, you can link Ice Nova to Cast on Minion Death. When your persistent minions die, Ice Nova is automatically triggered, generating Chilled Ground and allowing the entire loop to operate without manual input.

You need Unique items such as Alpha's Howl and Bones of Ullr to increase your minion count and damage. However, these Unique items are not particularly costly, so you can easily put together this AFK build in the Endgame.

All three builds above can clear entire maps quickly, so you do not need to worry too much about efficiency. However, their investment requirements are different, so you can choose one based on the currency you have available and the class you are playing.

In World of Warcraft Forever, one of the earliest choices every player makes when setting out on their journey is their race, and racial talents have always been an important factor in that decision.

In Classic WoW, racial talents had a major influence on which classes were the most popular. Now, the official team has significantly reworked almost every racial talent in WoW Forever. Each race now has two active racials and two passive racials. Starting with the weakest race, let's take a look at how all the races perform.

10. Dwarf

Active Racials:

• Find Treasure: Causes treasure chests to appear on the map, and it can now stack with Find Minerals or Find Herbs.
• Stone Form: Removes all Bleeds, Poisons, and Diseases and grants 10% damage reduction for 8 seconds.

Passive Racials:

• Mace Specialization: While wielding a mace, spells and abilities gain 1% Critical Strike.
• Big Game Hunter: Deals 5% additional damage to Beasts.

Find Treasure taking up one active racial slot feels somewhat underwhelming, especially compared with the new active racials available to other races, though it is quite efficient for earning WoW Forever gold in the early stage.

Stone Form remains powerful, while the passive racials are also decent because there are plenty of Beasts throughout the journey from leveling to the endgame. Overall, however, Dwarves have not received too many exciting new additions.

9. Horde Skyborn

Active Racials:

• Walk on Air: Grants a slow-fall effect and allows you to turn while airborne, with a 2-minute cooldown. It can be dispelled by magic, but taking damage does not remove the effect, making it much stronger than a standard slow-fall effect.
• Sky Sight: Grants 10% movement speed for 15 seconds. If used near a ley line, it instead grants 10% movement speed for 15 minutes.

Passive Racials:

• Wind Blessed: Grants 1% Haste to melee, ranged, and spellcasting speed.
• Elemental Insight: Increases damage dealt to Elementals by 5%.

Since Classic WoW has a large number of Elemental creatures, Skyborn's passive racials are fairly useful. However, when it comes to active racials, Alliance Skyborn is slightly better.

8. Tauren

Active Racials:

• War Stomp: Stuns nearby enemies for 2 seconds, with a 2-minute cooldown.
• Cultivation: Once per hour, allows you to gather any herb without having Herbalism.

Passive Racials:

• Endurance: Increases total Health by 5% and now also provides 1% Hit.
• Plains Running: While running, gain 1% movement speed every 5 seconds, stacking up to 30 times. Taking damage or stopping movement causes the stacks to drop rapidly.

Cultivation is not particularly useful for the average player, though it could potentially be abused by bots camping spawn points to harvest rare herbs. Plains Running is difficult for melee classes to maintain, but it is fairly useful for ranged classes.

7. Undead

Active Racials:

• Cannibalize: Restores both Health and Mana, recovering up to 35% of each over 10 seconds.
• Will of the Forsaken: Has a 2-minute cooldown and still removes Charm, Fear, and Sleep effects, but no longer provides immunity afterward.

Passive Racials:

• Underwater Breathing: Increases the duration you can breathe underwater by 300%.
• Touch of the Grave: Attacks and spells have a 5% chance to drain life, restoring up to 5% Health. Only direct attacks can trigger the effect, while damage-over-time effects cannot.

Although Will of the Forsaken has been nerfed, it remains a powerful ability. Touch of the Grave is also currently extremely strong for DoT classes and could potentially receive a nerf.

6. Human

Active Racials:

• Perception: Has a 3-minute cooldown and greatly increases Stealth detection for 20 seconds.
• Will to Survive: Has a 3-minute cooldown and removes all Stun effects.

Passive Racials:

• Sword Specialization: While wielding a sword, spells and abilities gain 2% Critical Strike.
• The Human Spirit: Increases Spirit by 5%.

Humans are particularly effective against Horde Rogues. Their two racial talents almost seem specifically designed to counter a particular class. Their passive racials are also very strong, providing useful benefits for both Warriors and Mages.

5. Troll

Active Racials:

• Berserking: Increases spellcasting speed and attack speed by 10% for 10 seconds, with a 3-minute cooldown.
• Rapid Regeneration: Has a 3-minute cooldown and restores 50% of maximum Health over 6 seconds. Moving or taking damage cancels the effect.

Passive Racials:

• Beast Slaying: Deals 5% additional damage to Beasts.
• Regeneration: Increases Health regeneration by 10%, with 10% of the effect remaining active during combat.

Despite the nerf to Berserking, Trolls remain extremely powerful in PvP. All Priests now have Devouring Plague and Fear Ward, while Troll Priests additionally have Shadowguard.

Rapid Regeneration is also extremely powerful. As long as you find an opportunity to control your opponent, you can use this ability to recover a portion of your Health.

4. Alliance Skyborn

Alliance Skyborn and Horde Skyborn only differ in one active racial:

• Read Ley Line: Has a 2-second cast time and a 2-minute cooldown, providing 100% Health and Mana regeneration for 15 seconds. If used near a ley line, the effect instead lasts for 15 minutes.

Having 100% Health and Mana regeneration for 15 minutes is extremely powerful. If ley lines are common enough in the open world, dungeons, or even raid content, this racial could become exceptionally strong.

3. Night Elf

Active Racials:

• Elune's Light: Increases the critical strike chance of all spells and attacks by 10% for 15 seconds, with a 3-minute cooldown.
• Shadowmeld: Enters Stealth while standing still and breaks when you move. It can be used during combat and has a 2-minute cooldown.

Passive Racials:

• Wisp Spirit: Turns you into a Wisp after death, increasing movement speed by 75%.
• Quickness: Grants 1% Dodge and 2% movement speed, while also improving Stealth for Rogues and Druids.

In WoW Forever, periodic effects can also critically strike, making Elune's Light extremely powerful. It is well suited to being paired with burst abilities, trinkets, and DPS potions.

2. Orc

Active Racials:

• Blood Fury: Increases Attack Power and Spell Power by 10% for 15 seconds, with a 2-minute cooldown.
• Shatter Curse: Removes Curses and Bane effects and grants immunity to them for 8 seconds. It also reduces Magic damage taken by 15%, with a 3-minute cooldown.

Passive Racials:

• Axe Specialization: Gain 1% critical strike chance when wielding axes.
• Hardiness: Reduces stun duration by 20%.

Orcs were already one of the strongest races in Classic WoW, and they are even stronger now. Blood Fury is more versatile, and its percentage-based increase should provide better long-term value than the fixed Attack Power increase from the past. It also no longer applies a healing reduction. Shatter Curse also directly counters Warlocks.

1. Gnome

Active Racials:

• Eureka!: Has a 2-minute cooldown and does not trigger the global cooldown. The next three abilities have their resource costs reduced by 40% and their effects increased by 10%.
• Escape Artist: Removes all Immobilizing and Slowing effects and grants 3 seconds of immunity to movement-impairing effects, with a 2-minute cooldown.

Passive Racials:

• Engineering Specialization: Reduces the failure chance of Engineering items by 20%.
• Expansive Mind: Increases Rage, Energy, or Mana by 5%.

Overall, three of the 4 Gnome racial talents are extremely strong, especially Eureka!, which can enhance a wide range of abilities. Whether in PvE or PvP, Gnomes are currently in an excellent position.

In WoW Forever, most racial talents are currently in a good state, with only a few potentially needing buffs. You can also ignore racial strength and simply choose whichever race feels the coolest, because having fun is ultimately more important.

Last Epoch Season 5 will begin on October 1, and returning players may want to consider which classes to use for league starting.

Acolyte is one of the main choices for many players, as its army of Skeletons can help us reach the endgame with little difficulty. Many players may transition to Lich in the endgame, but Necromancer also has several promising options.

Here are the 4 Necromancer Builds in Last Epoch Season 5:

• Mana Stacking Skeleton Mages
• Zombie Giants
• Abomination Necromancerv
• Ice Skeleton Mage

Mana Stacking Exploder

The damage of this entire build comes from 5 Skeleton Mages. The regular Skeletons that are summoned are not damage dealers, while Bone Golem mainly serves as a tank. This build does not give you an army of undead in the traditional sense. Instead, it plays more like a mage.

The real purpose of the regular Skeletons is to serve as ammunition. Your Skeleton Mages use Profane Oblation to sacrifice them, causing them to explode in the faces of enemies. Simply spawn Skeletons directly on top of a pack of enemies, and Skeleton Mages will immediately detonate them.

The key node is Forbidden Arcana in Skeleton Mage skill tree. It gives Skeleton Mages more multiplicative damage based on our maximum Mana. Therefore, Mana should be stacked as high as possible. All Mana gained by your minions increases their power multiplicatively, with an ideal target of around 3,000 Mana.

However, multiplicative damage alone is not enough. You also need base damage for those multipliers to work with. That is why Chaos Bolts in the skill bar are not used for dealing damage. Instead, they are there to provide buffs.

Revolution node in Chaos Bolts skill tree grants minions additional base spell damage based on maximum Mana. This means a large Mana pool is converted into a huge amount of base spell damage, and you only need to cast it once every few seconds.

If Chaos Bolts hit your own Skeleton Mages, they also gain a very high chance to apply Damned on hit, adding another significant amount of damage.

Dread Shade is placed on one Skeleton Mage, and its buff spreads to all Skeleton Mages.

Zombie Giants

Zombie Giants is an upgrade node for Summon Volatile Zombie. It transforms your Volatile Zombies into Zombie Giants and slows their health loss, allowing them to remain on the battlefield for longer. However, you still need to occasionally cast the skill to ensure that 6 Zombies remain active.

Flammable Vitae node converts the vomit skill into Fire damage, while Pyromancer Skeletal Mages throw Fireballs and the tank-focused Golems draw enemy attention.

This build permanently maintains Aura of Decay. In its skill tree, we take the nodes that increase the chance for minions to poison and provide more multiplicative minion Poison damage.

The reason is that Ash Wake boots convert Aura of Decay into Fire damage and convert the chance to Poison into a chance to Ignite. As a result, these two large Poison nodes actually provide Fire and Ignite benefits. This becomes a massive buff that remains active across the entire army.

You will also need Dragonflame Edict, whose main purpose is to give minions a chance to Ignite on hit while also providing many other minion bonuses.

The body armor is Aaron's Will. It grants us additional Bone Golems based on the maximum number of Skeletons, allowing you to summon two Bone Golems and significantly improving survivability.

If you have enough Gold, you can look for items with T7 Vitality affixes on the market, as Vitality is your main attribute. Necromancer passive tree has threshold bonuses that grant minions more damage over time for each point of Vitality. Therefore, stacking Vitality effectively gives your minions a huge amount of multiplicative damage over time.

Abomination Necromancer

Abomination Necromancer remains powerful in Season 5. In a conventional Abomination setup, it deals very high damage and is extremely difficult to kill, but it does not move particularly fast.

Unless you are fighting an endgame boss such as Uber Apophis, Abomination's damage is often more than enough. Therefore, you can sacrifice some damage in exchange for greater speed.

Abomination is assembled by consuming your own minions. Two nodes in its skill tree are more important than anything else:

• Engorgement: Each point gives Abomination more damage and health for each type of minion fed to it.
• Death in the Family: Each point provides a large amount of additional damage, attack speed, and movement speed, provided that every specialized minion type is fed to it: Skeletons, Skeleton Mages, Wraiths, and Bone Golems.

The main source of speed for this build is Infernal Shade, which provides extremely high movement speed and attack speed. Abomination will also need to potentially consume Skeleton Rogues, which can provide additional speed through Sharpened Bones and Cruel Monstrosity nodes in the skill tree.

Ice Skeleton Mage

Ice Golem and Skeleton Mage are the only two minions in this build. The setup looks somewhat similar to Abomination Necromancer, but it removes the complicated summoning process.

Archmage node in Skeleton Mage skill tree removes the entire group of Mages and gives us a single Archmage instead. This allows all Necromancer skills that target individual minions with debuffs and buffs to be concentrated on your Ice Golem and Skeleton Mage.

The key item that makes this build work is Lich's Scorn. Without it, this build does not work. It converts Dread Shade's damage into Cold damage, and increases base Cold damage for each Infernal Shade attached to one of our minions.

Dread Shade is almost mandatory for Necromancer minion builds because it provides more damage than almost anything else. Infernal Shade is then used to greatly increase movement, attack, and cast speed, making this build highly effective for clearing maps.

The above are 4 unique and powerful Necromancer builds for Season 5. Most of them can function without many Unique items, and even the ones that do require them are not particularly difficult to put together. They can be built relatively easily for the Season 5 endgame.

Soul Splinters are a new type of gem introduced in Diablo 4 Season 15. Each Soul Splinter provides a powerful buff but comes with a clear cost - it could be increased resource consumption, decreased movement speed, or even the complete loss of a core combat attribute.

They have four quality tiers: magic, rare, legendary, and unique. Lower-tier splinters of the same type can be combined into higher-quality versions using Horadric Cube. A character can have a maximum of three different Soul Splinters socketed in their Jewelry slot.

There are eight Soul Splinters, each associated with a different demon or artifact in Diablo universe:

1. Splinter of Anguish (Andariel)
2. Splinter of Sin (Azmodan)
3. Splinter of Lies (Belial)
4. Splinter of the Black Soulstone
5. Splinter of Pain (Duriel)
6. Splinter of the Mother (Lilith)
7. Splinter of Hellfire (Na-Krul)
8. Splinter of Damnation (Skarn)

8 Soul Splinters' Effects and Costs

Splinter of Anguish

Splinter of Anguish provides a double bonus to attack speed and critical strike chance (5/10/15/20%), at the cost of a 30% increase in the cost of all major resources.

Anguish is only worth using when your build can benefit from higher attack speed and critical strike chance. For example, attack speed triggers more passives, critical strikes restore resources, or your own resource production is sufficient to offset the 30% increase in resource cost. Conversely, if skill rotations frequently stall due to resource shortages, this Splinter will make each cast more expensive.

Simply put, it's suitable for builds that recover resources on critical hits and have ample resource rotations; it's not recommended for builds that are inherently resource-deficient.

Splinter of Sin

Splinter of Sin trades a 30% reduction in Maximum Primary Resource for 20/30/40/50% increased maximum health, making it a clearly survivability-oriented Splinter.

Its best use case is when survivability is the current bottleneck, and the build relies on resource recovery rather than resource cap. The value of Splinter of Sin increases further when shields, healing, or Fortify benefit from maximum health.

Conversely, if a character's skill duration or damage is directly calculated based on maximum resource, reducing the resource cap will directly disrupt the core rotation of the build.

Splinter of Lies

Splinter of Lies is a purely economical Soul Splinter. It provides a 40/60/80/100% Gold Drop Rate, Crafting Material Drop Rate, and 25% Bonus Experience, at the cost of permanently placing the character in a Weakened and Vulnerable state.

When you're clearing maps and grinding monsters at an intensity far exceeding the current content's limits, the negative effects are almost negligible, while Diablo 4 gold, material, and experience gains are considerable.

However, in Diablo 4 pits or high-difficulty boss fights, being continuously in a Vulnerable state significantly increases the risk of instant death; it's recommended to remove it before entering high-difficulty content.

Splinter of the Black Soulstone

Splinter of the Black Soulstone is a typical monster-slaying, damage-boosting Soul Splinter. Each enemy killed absorbs its soul for 15 seconds, with each stack of soul providing a 1.0/1.5/2.0/2.5% damage bonus, but also increasing the damage taken by the character by 0.5%. This effect stacks but doesn't refresh, requiring a continuous influx of new enemies.

This limits its optimal use cases to: densely packed areas like Helltide and Nightmare Dungeon, or any content with a constant stream of enemies. In dense environments, soul stacks can quickly accumulate to hundreds, providing a substantial multiplicative damage increase.

However, in isolated boss fights, without new kills to maintain the stacks, Splinter of the Black Soulstone is practically ineffective. When equipping this shard, carefully consider whether your defensive resources can absorb the ever-increasing damage taken.

Splinter of Pain

Splinter of Pain provides 10/15/20/25% damage reduction at the cost of a 30% reduction in movement speed. This is also a survival-oriented shard with solid stats and a clear trade-off.

When damage taken becomes a bottleneck for your build, and your class has movement abilities like Dash, Charge, or Teleport that don't rely on movement speed, the benefits of Splinter of Pain far outweigh the costs.

Furthermore, by stacking movement speed affixes on shoes and using Berserking, mobility can be restored to some extent. However, in boss fights requiring frequent dodging of skills, the 30% movement speed reduction can severely impact survivability, requiring careful use.

Splinter of the Mother

Splinter of the Mother grants the character Unhindered status - allowing them to pass through enemy bodies without being blocked, and applying Vulnerable for 10 seconds upon contact. The cost is a 4-second stun after accumulating 100/150/200/250 contact with enemies.

Vulnerable is one of the most efficient damage-boosting statuses in the late game of Diablo 4, and Splinter of the Mother changes the application method from skill casting to simply walking through, making it extremely beneficial for melee and high-mobility builds.

However, the 4-second stun is fatal in high-pressure content, especially in environments with dense monster populations, where the character is often in the center of the enemy group when the stun is triggered. If your build has an Unstoppable effect or a Cleanse mechanism, you can actively cancel this penalty.

Splinter of Hellfire

Splinter of Hellfire is arguably the most extreme of the eight shards: it provides up to 20/30/40/50% multiplicative damage increase, at the cost of completely removing critical strike chance.

Reducing critical strike chance to zero means any mechanism relying on critical strike procs, critical strike energy regeneration, or critical strike damage increase will be disabled, and you cannot compensate for critical strike chance elsewhere.

Therefore, Splinter of Hellfire is only suitable for builds that do not rely on critical strikes at all, such as builds centered around DoT, or those using mechanisms mutually exclusive with critical strikes like Deadly Strike. Before equipping Hellfire, you must meticulously check all skills, passives, Legendary Aspects, and item effects to ensure that no critical mechanics depend on critical strikes.

Splinter of Damnation

The effect of Splinter of Damnation is that for every Elite Pack killed, monster power is temporarily increased by 1 level and experience gained by 25%, lasting 10/15/20/25 seconds.

This shard has no explicit stat penalty; its cost is stronger enemies you create yourself. Increased monster power means monsters have higher health and damage, but also better loot.

Therefore, Splinter of Damnation is suitable for builds where current content is too easy and you want to actively seek difficulty in farming efficiency and loot quality. If your character is already at their survival limit, Damnation will only hasten failure.

Soul Splinters Selection Principles

The fun of Soul Splinters lies not in how strong their buffs are, but in the fact that they force players to make realistic build decisions.

Some penalties can be compensated for by other gear systems. For example, the movement speed loss from Splinter of Pain can be mitigated by movement speed affixes or short-cooldown movement skills. The damage reduction amplification from Splinter of the Black Soulstone can be offset by armor, block, and damage reduction.

However, some penalties cannot be mitigated by stacking other attributes - Hellfire directly removes critical hits, and you can't get them back elsewhere. For these penalties, the only option is for the build to still work without relying on that attribute.

Therefore, the correct order for choosing Soul Splinters should be:

List the mechanics your build absolutely cannot lose → Find Splinters that won't trigger these mechanics → Choose the one with the highest benefit.

It's worth noting that the quality of Soul Splinters directly affects their usability. Higher quality versions not only have higher bonus values, but also improve the tolerance for certain shard penalties. Upgrading commonly used shards to unique quality using Horadric Cube is an important progression path from the mid to late game of Diablo 4 Season 15.

EA FC 27 Ones to Watch challenge is quite demanding, especially because the AI opponents are extremely difficult to deal with this year. Their passing is remarkably strong, and they only need a small opening to break through your defensive line.

For players whose squads are not strong enough yet, defeating this AI team on Legendary difficulty can be extremely difficult. However, you are not completely without options. One of the most effective approaches is actually to absorb the pressure and then hit them on the counterattack.

Formation and Player Setup

Any formation that gives you a CAM and two strikers can work well, so simply choose the formation you are most comfortable with.

CB

For the first line of defense, you need a very tall center-back. Once the AI wins a corner, it has a very high chance of scoring with a header. If you can regain possession from the corner, you can often create a 3 vs 2 or 4 vs 2 counterattack, which is basically a guaranteed goal.

You can use 84 OVR Ibrahima Konaté, who stands at 6 feet 4 inches and also has Bruiser PlayStyle. If you have enough FUT coins, you can also consider 87 OVR Nico Schlotterbeck.

CM

For your CMs, the priority is having one or two players with Incisive Pass. There are plenty of options, such as 86 OVR Florian Wirtz and Bruno Guimarães Moura. Bruno has a significant weakness, so if you do not want to use him, you can instead choose a player with First Touch or Technical.

Your CMs should ideally be tall players who can handle pressure. 88 OVR Declan Rice stands at 6 feet 2 inches, has strong defensive and physical attributes, and also has Relentless+. You can control him to track back and help defend.

CAM

CAM position is extremely important. Incisive Pass+ is almost essential. Having 4-star or 5-star Weak Foot would make things even better. Against the AI, more than nine times out of ten, you will rely on precise passing to put the ball directly into your striker's path.

ST

For your strikers, pace is everything, although any striker with enough pace can be quite valuable. Pay attention to player chemistry, as some strikers can reach strong sprint speeds when equipped with Hunter Chemistry Style.

How to Beat the Legendary AI?

First, you need to set your Depth to 1. This is extremely important. If you push your defensive line too high, the AI will use extremely dangerous through balls to tear through your defense.

Against the AI, the harder you try to force your way forward, the more likely you are to make a mistake. If you constantly force forward passes, you will find yourself under a lot of pressure. You need to spend plenty of time circulating the ball in the defensive third while waiting for space to open up in the midfield third.

After losing possession, control a midfielder and have him track back instead of switching to a defender. Do not try to rush out with your defenders, and do not switch defenders too casually. One wrong decision can be immediately punished by the AI.

Once you regain possession, give the ball to a player with Incisive Pass or Incisive Pass+, then play a through ball immediately. This will be the source of most of your goals. You regain possession, play a penetrating pass to your striker, and from there, it becomes a matter of pace.

If you take the lead, such as going 2-0 up, you can become more passive and allow the AI to have possession or even win corners, although this still carries some risk. As long as you regain possession, continue to counterattack.

Do not constantly recycle the ball all the way back to your own defensive area, but controlled possession and running down the clock are necessary tools for dealing with the AI.

When the AI starts pushing forward aggressively, you will feel completely suffocated. At that point, a simple one-two can be enough to break the defensive line, allowing you to run directly at goal. A low Depth keeps your midfield line deeper, while your strikers will have more room to make forward runs after you win possession.

Corners and Set Pieces

The AI is extremely dangerous from corners. Its ability to connect with headers is very strong, but corners can also create opportunities because they almost guarantee that one side will get a chance to score. If you can regain possession, you will usually have a 3 vs 2 or 4 vs 2 counterattack, which should almost always result in a goal. Once you are ahead, you can play more passively, allow them to cross the ball, and then use your taller players to clear it.

Managing a Lead

Once you are ahead, possession becomes extremely important. You can pass the ball back to your goalkeeper and allow the AI to push forward. The risk is that the goalkeeper could be dispossessed and concede. However, you can simply wait, as the AI will eventually push forward.

Once they truly start pressing and you feel suffocated, use a one-two to break through their line, then move the ball to the other side of the pitch and continue controlling possession.

If the timing is right, you may not even need to attempt another goal. Of course, scoring another one is always welcome. The key is to make the match as difficult and as long as possible, preventing the AI from attacking comfortably.

There is no cheating involved, nor are there any settings changes that allow you to stay permanently onside. This is simply a legitimate way to defeat the AI on Legendary difficulty. If you can master this approach in the PvE Live Event, returning to Squad Battles should feel noticeably easier because the AI there is weaker.

With the global launch of FC 27, you have likely finished building your initial squad and are now looking to earn more coins to further bolster your club.

Among the various ways to earn rewards in Ultimate Team, Squad Battles stands out as a relatively reliable mode; it refreshes weekly to ensure a steady stream of rewards and offers a moderate level of difficulty.

However, a frustrating issue has arisen: as more players join FC 27 and progress through Squad Battles, many have found the mode significantly harder than before. Frequent bugs have also plagued the experience, completely undermining the relaxed PvE gameplay players used to enjoy.

In this article, we will outline the changes to FUT 27 Squad Battles and analyze the problems, and their underlying causes, that players are encountering.

What do players want from Squad Battles?

While Career Mode is more welcoming to FC 27 players who dislike competitive environments, it offers no coin rewards and can eventually feel a bit stale or lacking in excitement.

If you want a change of pace and decide to switch to Ultimate Team, Squad Battles is clearly a better choice than the high-pressure, energy-draining gameplay found in Rivals and Champions.

As a PvE mode, Squad Battles pits you against AI-controlled teams built by other players, and you are free to choose your difficulty level. Although playing on lower difficulties yields fewer FUT 27 coins, it serves as an excellent source of income for a more casual gaming session.

In short, Squad Battles offers a place for competitive players to take a break, while also providing a welcoming option for casual players who occasionally want to try their hand at head-to-head matches.

FC 27 Squad Battles trap

In their guides for FC 27 Ultimate Team newcomers, the development team claims that Squad Battles is a beginner-friendly mode.

They highlight Amateur difficulty as being specifically designed for novices, allowing players to gradually increase the difficulty and climb the rankings at their own pace.

In reality, however, you will find that sticking solely to Amateur or the slightly higher Semi-Pro difficulty makes it impossible to earn valuable packs and coins during the weekly rewards, or to complete specific objectives.

In other words, while FUT 27 Squad Battles might appear easier than in the past, the reward mechanics have been quietly tweaked; if you want worthwhile returns, you essentially have to set the difficulty to World Class or higher.

The awkward reality, however, is that stepping up to this difficulty level exponentially increases the pressure exerted by the AI. Most casual players struggle to cope, while even competitive players looking for a break find it impossible to truly relax.

Even more absurd, whether due to an unfixed bug or a fundamental imbalance in Squad Battles difficulty, is that even with a squad capable of handling high-level play, you might still lose to an AI team with mediocre overall ratings and chemistry.

In almost every game mode, team rating and chemistry are the foundations of squad performance. Allowing an AI team to win easily simply because the difficulty is set high, while ignoring these fundamental elements, is undoubtedly a waste of the time and effort you've invested.

The evolution of Squad Battles

In previous EA FC titles, high-difficulty AI teams were certainly formidable, but their logic tended toward predictable patterns, such as mechanical counter-attacks or possession play. Once you grasped these tendencies, you could easily handle them with your main squad.

In FIFA 27, however, the development team likely integrated data gathered from top-tier PvP players directly into Squad Battles AI behavior patterns. This has vastly complicated match strategies, effectively undermining the original purpose of this PvE mode.

You could try harder, but it's not worth it

Amidst the wave of criticism from the community, a small subset of FUT 27 players argues that if high-difficulty Squad Battles feels too tough, you should simply lower the difficulty or work on improving your own skills.

Clearly, players who hold this view are either exceptionally skilled and accustomed to high-pressure competition, or they are blind apologists for EA.

As previously mentioned, the value of Squad Battles lies in providing a PvE arena where everyone can earn rewards without feeling exhausted.

If you were willing to invest that much extra effort, why wouldn't you just play Rivals or Champions, which offer far better rewards?

Why is the dev team making these under-the-radar changes?

You might wonder: given that the move to increase the grind and difficulty of Squad Battles has been almost universally unpopular, why did FC 27 development team do it? Did they fail to foresee this outcome?

In reality, for the developers, player experience is just one factor among many; their primary concern is maximizing revenue.

In FC 27, Squad Battles is tied not only to your standard objective progress but also closely linked to Player Evolution tasks. If the mode remained as casual as it used to be, you could easily earn coins or high-tier cards without any pressure.

Consequently, your inclination toward and need for micro-transactions would decrease. By ramping up AI's intensity and making match outcomes less certain, the developers force you to invest more time and potentially make more in-store trades just to secure a win.

However, it must be noted that this strategy yields only short-term gains. If FUT 27 persists in turning Squad Battles into a mode as grueling as PvP, more players will inevitably abandon the game.

To make matters worse, many players have reported frequent bugs in Squad Battles that remain unfixed. This raises suspicions that the issues might be a deliberate tactic by the development team to mask their behind-the-scenes adjustments.

Even during the closed beta, many felt that, despite the addition of The Grounds, FC 27 might not be a particularly strong new entry in the franchise. We hope the developers can reverse course before it's too late and prevent this classic series from fading into irrelevance.

In WARDOGS, Recon is a highly strategic class. Compared to Assault, which focuses on frontal assaults, Recon relies more on information gathering, ranged suppression, and battlefield control. Next, I will help you maximize Recon's potential in three-faction battles by focusing on settings optimization, phased gearing, and upgrade efficiency.

Graphics and Controls Settings

For Recon, the core goal of settings is to strike a balance between clarity and performance - you need to be able to distinguish enemy outlines at a distance without letting the visuals drag down your frame rate.

Graphics Settings

FOV is one of the most critical settings for Recon. It is recommended to fine-tune the first-person FOV between 95 and 105 depending on your monitor size - a narrow field of view will require extra mouse movement when observing flanks.

Other graphics settings include:

• Picture-in-Picture Scope: Disabled. This option severely impacts frame rate
• DLSS: Enabled. Balanced setting recommended
• World Textures: Increase without worry, as this has almost no impact on frame rate
• Post-Processing: Lower recommended
• Motion Blur, Depth of Field, Lens Flare, Bloom: These four visual effects should all be turned off. They only serve aesthetic purposes and are actually distracting in combat
• Texture Filtering: Medium

Control Settings

Mouse Acceleration must be set to 0. This is a universal principle for all FPS games.

Regarding ADS sensitivity scaling mode, Legacy automatically reduces sensitivity based on scope magnification when aiming down sights. This significantly slows down tracking when sniping with high-magnification scopes, but provides more precise adjustments. Relative mode maintains consistent ADS sensitivity. If you prefer a more natural tracking feel when sniping, Legacy is the better choice.

Regarding DPI, 600 to 800 is a reasonable starting range, using a 1.00 ADS multiplier as a baseline, and then gradually adjusting according to personal habits.

Phased Equipment Guide

Recon's equipment evolves with each level unlock. Below are recommended configurations for each key level.

Levels 1-4: Beginner Stage

The level 1 Recon-issued Scout Rifle TD is a single-shot, cut-bore rifle with a base damage of only 28, an effective range of approximately 300 meters, and the lowest accuracy of all sniper rifles.

This gun is designed to guide beginners in understanding Recon's core mechanics - target acquisition and marking. At this stage, prioritize carrying Binoculars to mark every visible enemy. Marking enemies provides Recon XP, and you gain additional experience if a teammate kills a marked target.

Additionally, Emergency Resuscitator is free equipment; teammates receive cash and experience every time they revive, so there's no reason not to take it. For ammunition, carry one extra magazine and 5 meds.

Level 5-9: SKS Transition Period

Level 5 unlocks SKS Marksman Rifle, a semi-automatic weapon with a 10-round capacity. Its recoil is significantly lower than dedicated sniper rifles, making it suitable for continuous tracking and follow-up fire. Recommended attachments are DTK-1 Brake muzzle, SKS Bipod, and 6x Precision Rifle Scope. With the bipod deployed, recoil-free shooting is virtually impossible.

SKS cannot kill armored targets with a single shot, but two rapid-fire rounds are not difficult. Level 8 unlocks Range Finder, which is recommended to equip immediately. It displays the precise distance to targets and is extremely useful for bullet drop compensation. For backpacks, the Scout Backpack, along with two sets of ammunition, 10 bandages, and a free Resuscitator, constitutes the standard configuration.

Level 10-18: Mosin Nagant and SV98

Level 10 unlocks Mosin Nagant, the first true bolt-action sniper rifle. With a base damage of 55, it's enough to one-shot kill unarmored targets.

Level 11 unlocks 3x-6x variable magnification scope, significantly increasing the Mosin's practical value. Level 12 unlocks SVD, a semi-automatic sniper rifle. If you prefer a more aggressive playstyle, the SVD's continuous fire capability is more suitable than the Mosin.

Level 15 unlocks the suppressor. It's recommended to equip this on Mosin first. The suppressor not only reduces gunshot noise and muzzle flash but also adds recoil. The only trade-off is an ADS speed penalty - but this is negligible for a sniper rifle.

Level 19 unlocks SV98, the most important weapon upgrade in the mid-game of Recon. Like Mosin, SV98 has a base damage of 55, but its effective range is increased to 1000 meters, accuracy is significantly improved, and its ADS time is the fastest among all bolt-action sniper rifles.

Level 24-32: Ghillie Suit and Thermal Range Finder

Level 24 unlocks Ghillie Suit, a set of equipment focused on concealment. Its core functions are threefold:

• Completely eliminates death replays after kills, preventing enemies from locating you through replays.
• Hides your infrared thermal signature, making you undetectable to enemies equipped with infrared rangefinders.
• Provides basic visual concealment.

However, this comes at the cost of significantly reduced protective capabilities. Whether to choose Ghillie Suit depends on your playstyle: if you excel at maintaining distance and frequently repositioning, Ghillie Suit is extremely valuable; if you prefer sustained fire from a fixed position, regular armor may be more practical.

Level 25 unlocks Mark 22 sniper rifle, currently with the same damage stats as SV98, the only difference being a slightly increased bullet velocity. In the current season, Mark 22's position is somewhat awkward; the benefits of upgrading from SV98 to Mark 22 are not significant.

Level 32 unlocks Thermal Range Finder, a key component of Recon gear system. It not only provides 8x magnification and accurate rangefinding but also boasts a wider field of view, making its target acquisition efficiency far superior to ordinary rangefinders. It's recommended to carry it on every sortie.

Level 30+: AMR 50

AMR 50 unlocks at level 30. It uses .50 BMG ammunition, has a base damage of 107, and an effective range of 2000 meters. It's the only true Anti-Materiel weapon in Wardogs. A single chest shot can kill a target of any armor level.

AMR 50's cost is its weight - it's the heaviest sniper rifle in the game, severely impacting your movement speed and stamina.

The solution to this problem is to carry Adrenaline Pen, a consumable that provides approximately 90 seconds of unlimited tactical sprint. An Adrenaline pen costs only 250 Wardogs cash, and you can carry up to three.

Use one when you need to quickly reposition, providing extremely high movement speed even while carrying an AMR 50. Ammunition is not included in weight calculations, so you can confidently carry a sufficient amount of .50 BMG ammo.

Upgrade Efficiency and Experience Gain

Recon's upgrade efficiency depends on how you prioritize target acquisition and kills.

Target marking is a unique source of experience in Recon, but it shouldn't be your only way to gain experience. Marking enemies grants limited experience, while long-range kills, headshots, and long-range kills provide significantly more experience.

The correct approach is to prioritize sniper kills, with target marking as a natural byproduct. When you spot an enemy in your scope, if the firing window is only a few seconds long, fire first, then mark.

Only switch to marking when the target is about to leave your line of sight or when you are temporarily unable to fire (e.g., when you need to reload). When you scan the battlefield with your rangefinder, enemy detection will occur automatically; you don't need to stop specifically to mark them.

The experience bonus for long-range kills is substantial. While ensuring a kill, try to shoot at as far distances as possible. The extra reward for headshot kills is also worth pursuing, especially when using high-damage single-shot weapons like Mosin or SV98; get into the habit of aiming for the head rather than the torso.

The essence of Recon is detecting the enemy first, firing first, and disengaging first. You don't need the highest kill count, but you need to be the one on the battlefield who constantly makes the enemy feel threatened. Every accurate long-range shot, every timely marker, and every successful positional shift contributes to the team's victory.

With Season 2 approaching, some weapon stats and equipment mechanics may be adjusted. We recommend that you continue to pay attention to Wardogs' official update announcements to adapt to version changes.

Exiles, if you've stockpiled a heap of Unique rings in Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.5 but aren't sure what to do with them, consider crafting Loreweave. You'll need to sacrifice 60 rings at once; the result could be a massive windfall - or total heartbreak.

Unlocking the Recipe

Obtaining Loreweave is tied to Path of Exile 2 endgame content known as Expedition. First, travel southeast from The Ziggurat Refuge to Ruins of Kingsmarch to engage with Expedition mechanic.

While exploring the seas, you will encounter Grand Expeditions. Some of these maps contain underground areas - you can spot them by checking the map layout.

Upon completing these underground areas, you will obtain the quest item Journey to the East. Take this to Dannig at Ruins of Kingsmarch to unlock the ability to craft Loreweave using 60 Unique rings.

Affix Limitations

Once you've unlocked the recipe, you can combine 60 Unique rings to create a Loreweave. The resulting item will feature three random affixes derived from Unique rings used.

The rings you sacrifice influence the pool of potential affixes, though there is no guarantee that an affix from every specific ring will appear.

For instance, if you sacrifice both Ming's Heart and Blackheart, the final item might only inherit an affix from one of them, while the third slot could be filled by an affix from a completely different random ring.

In practice, while at least one affix from your sacrificed rings usually carries over, exactly which one you get is entirely random.

Additionally, different Unique rings contribute different numbers of potential affixes to the craft.

Ming's Heart, for example, only contributes the extra Chaos Damage affix; other stats, such as Energy Shield or reduced maximum Life, will not appear on Loreweave.

Understanding which rings offer multiple usable affixes is key to planning your crafting strategy in Path of Exile 2.

Furthermore, these affixes are weighted; sacrificing more rings that possess your desired affix increases the probability of that affix appearing on the final item.

Rarer Unique rings - such as Dream Fragments or The Taming - may carry higher weightings because of their scarcity in the market.

However, this assessment is based on extensive synthesis testing and does not represent a hard-and-fast rule established in Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.5.

Ultimately, both the specific types and the quantities of rings you invest will influence the outcome of your synthesized Loreweave.

The Role of Ventor's Gamble

It is worth highlighting Ventor's Gamble (a Unique Gold Ring); while it does not grant Loreweave any exclusive modifiers during synthesis, its value lies in expanding the numerical ranges of the item's existing modifiers.

For instance, Quality of all Skills modifier might normally range from 2% to 5%, but with Ventor's Gamble involved, the upper limit could reach 7%. Similarly, the maximum resistance range - typically around 75% to 80% - could be expanded to span 50% to 82%.

Other modifiers with numerical ranges may also see their variance widened, making it easier to roll higher values ​​on the final Loreweave.

The Value of Maximum Resistance Modifier

The maximum resistance modifier on Loreweave offers more than just a simple boost to resistance caps. Certain runes, for example, might impose a -10% penalty to maximum elemental resistances while granting +20% elemental resistance - a combination that would normally lower the resistance cap from 75% to 65%.

Loreweave, however, negates this penalty to maximum elemental resistance, allowing players to retain the benefit of the +20% elemental resistance.

Furthermore, it nullifies modifiers on PoE 2 maps and Waystones that reduce maximum elemental resistances, making this modifier exceptionally powerful for defensive builds.

Unique Nature of Kalandra's Touch

If you include Kalandra's Touch in the synthesis process, you have a chance to obtain two Loreweave items simultaneously, one of which will be a mirrored version.

As players are likely aware, mirrored items cannot be socketed with gems or have their quality improved, and Kalandra's Touch itself commands a high price.

All things considered, the returns on this strategy in Path of Exile 2 are quite limited; it is not worth using Kalandra's Touch in the crafting process.

Common Crafting Strategies

If you want specific modifiers from The Taming to appear on your Loreweave, a standard setup involves gathering roughly 35 to 45 Ventor's Gamble rings, along with one The Taming and several Death Rush and Ming's Heart rings.

The exact count doesn't need to be perfect; getting the general proportions right is sufficient, since the final outcome is determined randomly.

If you include Snakepit rings, aim for modifiers like +1 to the number of times spell projectiles chain or spell projectiles fork, while trying to avoid the negative effect spell projectiles cannot pierce.

For players incorporating Blackflame, the ideal outcome is to roll modifiers such as Withered you inflict also increases Fire Damage taken and Ignite you inflict deals Chaos Damage.

Costs and Risks

Naturally, crafting Loreweave this way is resource-intensive. Sourcing the necessary rings from various locations makes the process tedious, and the cost of a single attempt can reach several PoE 2 Divine Orbs - with expenses rising significantly when using large numbers of Ventor's Gamble rings.

While consecutive failures are common, using lower-cost rings for the craft can sometimes yield surprising results.

For instance, crafting Loreweave using 60 Polcirkeln rings could potentially result in a finished item worth 100 Divine Orbs.

In short, if you unlock the ability to craft Loreweave using 60 Unique rings in PoE 2, try experimenting with cheaper rings first - and try not to get too hung up on the specific outcome!

In a shooter like Wardogs, guns are undoubtedly the most critical type of gear; they serve as your primary source of firepower for defeating enemies and defending yourself.

Among the various weapon categories, assault rifles are not only a popular choice but also directly impact XP progression for players focusing on Assault skill branch. Consequently, many players aim to unlock the best assault rifles as early as possible.

Here, we break down the game into different stages: early, mid, and endgame, to introduce assault rifles that perform best during each phase and are within your reach to unlock.

Early-game: T-21, A91, and AK-74

When evaluating assault rifle performance in Wardogs, the primary factor is the weapon's base ballistic characteristics in its stock configuration.

Generally, rifles with recoil that trends primarily vertically offer greater potential for mastery; conversely, rifles with excessive horizontal sway are difficult to control accurately at medium-to-long ranges, even when equipped with top-tier compensators.

With this in mind, assault rifles worth considering in the early season are T-21, A91, and AK-74. Each differs in terms of performance, unlock methods, and attachment setups.

A91

Available for free immediately upon starting Wardogs, A91 deals 14 damage per shot. While this figure isn't low, the weapon's major drawback is that it cannot be fitted with any attachments.

Furthermore, its bullet spread at medium-to-long ranges is highly erratic, necessitating a tap-fire, reset, tap-fire rhythm. As such, it is suitable only for the initial zero-resource phase of the game and should be replaced as soon as possible.

T-21

This weapon's base stats include 14 damage per shot, a fire rate of 800 RPM, a muzzle velocity of 910 m/s, and an effective range of 300 meters.

Regarding ballistics and recoil control, T-21 comes standard with only a 20-round magazine; the 30-round extended magazine requires your character to reach Level 6 to unlock.

When firing the base T-21 in rapid succession against a test wall, the reticle experiences severe vertical climb. Equipping the 30-round magazine further increases recoil, making it extremely difficult to control when engaging distant enemies.

Of course, few Wardogs weapons perform exceptionally well without attachments, so you should outfit T-21 with three-chamber muzzle brake, TDG Vertical Grip, and 1.2x or 1.5x scope.

This setup effectively balances the recoil, allowing you to capitalize on T-21's high fire rate and potent close-range burst damage.

However, note that unlocking this assault rifle needs approximately 600 Wardogs cash, and the requirements for its attachments are also quite high. Therefore, you might not want to aim for it immediately; instead, use other guns as a stopgap.

AK-74

If you choose Assault skill tree as your primary specialization, AK-74 is the best early-game Wardogs assault rifle for you; it unlocks at Level 3.

Although its per-shot damage is lower than T-21's and its fire rate is slower, it comes standard with a 30-round magazine. Its predictable ballistic trajectory makes recoil compensation easier, resulting in more consistent damage output.

In terms of attachments, equipping a moderate vertical recoil compensator cuts the vertical recoil in half. Combined with its 500-meter effective range, it can easily deliver nearly 200 points of damage.

Mid-game: Galil and M4

As you enter the mid-game phase of Wardogs season, you should look beyond mere consistent damage output and seek greater versatility. If assault rifles remain your primary gear type at this stage, Galil and M4 are the top choices.

Galil

If you are playing Assault class, you can unlock this weapon upon reaching Level 10. Its role in the game is very similar to that of AK-74.

However, Galil boasts a higher muzzle velocity and a larger base magazine capacity, allowing you to easily secure multiple kills during sustained close-quarters firefights.

In terms of ballistics, Galil's spread is characterized primarily by vertical recoil with minimal horizontal deviation, offering a higher skill ceiling for recoil control compared to AK-74. Consequently, we recommend equipping TDG Vertical Grip and three-chamber muzzle brake.

It is worth noting that equipping the 50-round magazine significantly slows down the weapon's ADS speed, a detail not explicitly stated by Wardogs.

Furthermore, if you have been using AK-74, switching to Galil isn't strictly necessary. Galil is the superior choice only if you require a larger magazine capacity or a faster TTK.

M4

This assault rifle deals 14 damage per shot, has a fire rate of 800 RPM, a muzzle velocity of 910 m/s, and an effective range of 500 meters.

Compared to Galil and AK-74, M4 has a higher fire rate, giving it a significant TTK advantage in head-to-head engagements against targets wearing Level 2 armor.

However, this high fire rate also results in more intense muzzle climb, making the weapon harder to control at medium-to-long ranges. To mitigate this, we recommend equipping TDG Vertical grip, a silencer or three-chamber muzzle brake, and 1.5x scope.

When fully kitted out, M4 can easily deal 270 critical damage at close range. Although damage drop-off occurs at longer ranges due to recoil, M4 remains the most powerful all-around assault rifle for the mid-season, provided you invest the time to master its recoil control.

Switch to FAL for the endgame

As the ultimate weapon for Level 35 Assault class, FAL boasts impressive base stats right out of the gate. It deals 60 damage per shot, with a fire rate comparable to other top-tier assault rifles.

Additionally, FAL boasts an impressive 800-meter damage drop-off range and extremely high muzzle velocity; consequently, there is virtually no noticeable damage drop-off across the vast majority of Wardogs map scenarios.

Equipping FAL-specific suppressor and three-port muzzle brake significantly reduces both vertical and horizontal recoil, an advantage over standard suppressors, which typically only mitigate vertical recoil.

If you plan to use FAL for long-range engagements, we recommend attaching a 4x scope and switching to semi-auto mode to balance high per-shot damage with responsive handling.

The unlock and usage sequence outlined above is merely a recommendation based on the various seasonal stages of Wardogs; in actual combat, feel free to adjust your setup according to your personal preferences or overall gear configuration!