In Days Gone Hordes are huge gatherings of zombie-like Freakers, sometimes hundreds strong – and are perhaps the most daunting thing to come across in the wilderness of post-apocalyptic Oregon.

However, slaying them earns you considerable Days Gone Horde rewards including trust, experience points and, if you can take every single horde out, the St. John Horde Killer Custom Skin for your motorcycle.

On this page:

• How Horde locations work in Days Gone
• Cascade Wilderness Horde locations in Days Gone
• Belknap Horde locations in Days Gone
• Lost Lake Horde locations in Days Gone
• Crater Lake Horde locations in Days Gone
• Highway 97 Horde locations in Days Gone
• Days Gone Horde rewards explained

Looking for more things to tick off your list in Days Gone? Our Days Gone Nero Research Site, Checkpoint and Injector locations page can help.

How Horde locations work and tips to beat Hordes in Days Gone

There are 40 different Freaker hordes spread across five of the game’s six regions. You’ll have to beat three of them during the main campaign, leaving the other 37 roaming the world.

Once the credits have rolled on the main story, every horde will be highlighted on the map.

Your best bet for tackling hordes is strategically planning out each attack. The individual Freakers inside a horde move with great speed towards Deacon, ripping him to pieces if they catch up with him.

Throwable explosives such as frag grenades and molotov cocktails combined with lots of running and machine gun fire is usually the best strategy for killing every individual Freaker in a given horde.

Additionally, Freaker Hordes vary in strength. The further down this list you go, the bigger the hordes tend to be with the Highway 97 region home to the largest and most dangerous hordes.

Cascade Wilderness Horde locations in Days Gone

Here’s where all the Cascade Wilderness Horde locations at a glance:

The Horde locations in more detail…

Cascade Wilderness Horde #1 Location (Grotto Caves Horde)

Locate the Old Pioneer Cemetery Nero Checkpoint at the north-eastern most point of the Cascade Wilderness map. From this checkpoint, head west until you come across a car park situated at the top of a hill. Follow the slope down the other side and you’ll come across the mouth of a cave. The horde emerges from these caves once night falls.

Cascade Wilderness Horde #2 Location (White King Mine Horde)

This horde roams an area at the northwest section of the Cascade Wilderness map, almost directly west from the Grotto Caves Horde and the Jefferson Rail Tunnel Ambush camp. At night the horde can be found in a dry river bed by a small bridge, in the day they sleep in the nearby cave.

Cascade Wilderness Horde #3 Location (Death Train Horde)

Head to the Horse Lake Nero Checkpoint to find this horde. Inside the train carriages that sit abandoned on the tracks just north of the Nero Checkpoint you’ll be able to find a sleeping horde. During the night they wander over to the dig site just east from the NERO trailer.

Cascade Wilderness Horde #4 Location (Horse Lake Horde)

Head northeast on the road from the Horse Lake NERO Checkpoint until you come across a series of cave mouths on the left side of the tarmac. Look for the cave mouth that is adorned with branches and blood, venture inside to find the horde.

Cascade Wilderness Horde #5 Location (O’Leary Mountain Horde)

Locate the O’Leary Mountain Safehouse (it’s the same watchtower that Boozer stays in during the first few hours of the game) and head directly north, heading down the mountain track. The O’Leary Mountain Horde are living in a cave that cuts through the base of the mountain.

Cascade Wilderness Horde #6 Location (Little Bear Lake Horde)

Head to the Little Bear Lake Nero Checkpoint but, before you enter the camp, take the left turn onto the dirt track by the abandoned car and the speed limit sign. Follow this winding track downhill until you come across a wooden shack, during the day the horde hibernate in here.

Cascade Wilderness Horde #7 Location (Cascade Highway Horde)

From the Horse Creek Ambush Camp travel north until you pass underneath the steel railway bridge. This horde moves along the lip of the river and can be found in three locations. Underneath the railway bridge, by the water’s edge, or descending towards the river from the hill slightly further north.

Cascade Wilderness Horde #8 Location (Proxy Falls Horde)

From the Horse Creek Ambush Camp cross the large stone bridge next to the waterfall. As you continue to walk south you’ll eventually spot a large cave, the entrance strewn with branches and blood. The horde responsible is waiting for you just inside.

Belknap Horde locations in Days Gone

Here’s where all the Belknap Horde locations at a glance:

The Horde locations in more detail…

Belknap Horde #1 Location (Shadow Lake Horde)

Enter the Belknap region through the Marion Forks Tunnel or fast travel to the Marion Forks NERO Checkpoint. Once here, you need to drive north towards the large lake situated at the top of the Belknap region map. The horde lives inside a cave at the northmost point of the lake, only venturing out as night falls to drink from the lake.

Belknap Horde #2 Location (Marion Forks Horde)

Locate the town of Marion Forks and then travel directly south from the gas station at the town’s centre. Only a short way down the road you’ll notice a cave on your left-hand side littered with the tell-tale signs (blood, tree branches) of a nearby horde. The horde lives inside the cave.

Belknap Horde #3 Location (Belknap Crater Horde)

From the Marion Forks Horde continue to head south and you’ll come across a series of rocky outcrops and a cave. This location is also south-east of the Belknap Caves Ambush camp if you’re having trouble pinpointing the cave mouth. In the day the horde hibernates inside the cavern here.

Belknap Horde #4 Location (The Lava Arch Horde)

At the centre of Belknap stands a giant mountain which divides the region. On the eastern part of the rockface, you’ll find the Lava Arch, an arched rock formation that hides the entrance to a cave. Enter the cave and follow the roped-off pathway to locate the horde sheltering inside.

Belknap Horde #5 Location (Twin Craters Horde)

Head to the south-eastern corner of the Belknap map just below the town of Crazy Willies. Follow the main track south and head to the outskirts of the region. At the most southern point of this area, you’ll find a cave as well as the horde that lives there.

Belknap Horde #6 Location (Bear Creek Hot Spring Horde)

This horde lives close to the Bear Creek Hot Spring Ambush camp. Exit the ambush camp from the west and drive along the sandy track until you come across a series of caves near a fast running river. The Bear Creek Hot Springs Horde live inside the cave just to the right of the grand waterfall.

Belknap Horde #7 Location (Patjens Lakes Horde)

Exit the Hot Springs camp and drive through the abandoned town until you come to the marble gates. Directly opposite is a large, looming cavemouth. Enter the cave and lure out the horde using the water nearby to slow them down.

Lost Lake Horde locations in Days Gone

Here’s where all the Lost Lake Horde locations at a glance:

The Horde locations in more detail…

Lost Lake Horde Location #1 (River Flow Farms Horde)

A medium-sized horde lives in the area just north of Iron Mike’s Farm. This horde wanders across both sides of the train tracks either by the cluster of houses to the left of the bales of hay or by the barn that can be seen from Iron Mike’s encampment.

Lost Lake Horde Location #2 (Sherman’s Camp Horde)

Head to Sherman’s camp (situated within the Lost Lake region directly west of Iron Mike’s Farm). The town is also home to an infestation zone that you may or may not have cleared during the main campaign. The horde dwells in a shop on the eastern side of the town, so it’s best to clear the infestation zone before you face them.

Lost Lake Horde #3 Location (Metolius Lava Cave Horde)

Head north from Iron Mike’s encampment towards the forests which separate the Lost Lake region from Cascade Wilderness. You’ll eventually come to the Metolius Caves at the top of a rocky outcrop. In the daytime the horde can be found inside these caves, while at night they may wander down the road to the west, to drink from the lake.

Lost Lake Horde #4 Location (Westfir Horde)

Pinpoint Iron Mike’s encampment and head west from there, driving down the same main road that you may have fought the Metolius horde on. In the day you’re most likely to find this horde near three houses just off the tarmac road, each with a different-coloured roof. At night the horde can be found near the petrol station just before the tunnel leading to the Iron Butte region.

Lost Lake Horde #5 Location (Wapinita Road Horde)

From the Berley Lake Ambush camp travel north until you can see the main road from the top of a small hill. Make your way down the hill and you should see the entrance to a small cave. Enter the cave and drop down into the cavern inside to find the Wapinita horde.

Lost Lake Horde #6 Location (Berley Lake Horde)

The easiest way to locate this horde is by travelling to the Santiam Tunnel Nero Checkpointwhich is at the southern border of the Lost Lake region, near the tunnel where you enter Highway 97. From the NERO camp, head northeast until you come across a cave. Inside you’ll be able to find the last horde in the Lost Lake region.

Crater Lake Horde locations in Days Gone

Here’s where all the Crater Lake Horde locations at a glance:

The Horde locations in more detail…

Crater Lake Horde #1 Location (Mt. Bailey Horde)

At the northwest section of the Crater Lake map, directly west from the Diamond Lake encampment you’ll be able to find the large Mt. Bailey Horde. Whilst they roam this area at night, you can find them in the day in a cave on the border of the region.

Crater Lake Horde #2 Location (McLeod Ridge Horde)

Northeast of the Diamond Lake camp you’ll be able to find the second horde in the Crater Lake region. You’ll need to head into the mountainous snowy area at the top of the map and keep an eye out for the opening of a cave. Find the horde inside.

Crater Lake Horde #3 Location (Rimview Ranch Horde)

Head to the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway Nero Checkpoint, and look at the large body of water. The horde sometimes gathers there to drink. If they’re not there, follow the sandy track south until you come to a cave. They’ll be waiting for you inside.

Highway 97 Horde locations in Days Gone

Here’s where all the Highway 97 Horde locations at a glance:

The Horde locations in more detail…

Highway 97 Horde #1 Location (Beaver Marsh Rest Stop Horde)

From the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway Nero Checkpoint, head into the mountains in a northeast direction. You’ll have to pass through a winding rocky path to reach the nearby rest stop where you will come face to face with the horde that lives in this area.

Highway 97 Horde #2 Location (Mt. Scott Ski Resort Horde)

Running through the Highway 97 region is a small river which cuts through the middle of the northern section of the map. Head directly east from the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway until you come to cross a grand bridge over a waterfall. Immediately turn right and drive around the edge of the rocky outcrop by the waterfall. There’s a large cave at the northmost point that shelters this horde.

Highway 97 Horde #3 Location (Sagebrush Point Horde)

From the large bridge nearest the Mt. Scott Ski Resort, drive to the east until you come across a large cave. Inside this cave, you’ll find one of the bigger hordes so make sure you’re well prepared before you take them on.

Highway 97 Horde #4 Location (Beasley Lake Horde)

Open the Highway 97 map and head to the northeast point of the region. This horde can be pinpointed by travelling east from the Sagebrush Point horde, or northeast from the gas station on the east side of Chemult town. This horde is hiding in a cave there.

Highway 97 Horde #5 Location (Solomon Hill Horde)

From the Aspen Butte Ambush camp, head directly north across the main road, past the tunnel to the Crater Lake region until you spot a looming cavemouth. The cave is just to the left of some train tracks and the Soloman Hill horde live inside.

Highway 97 Horde #6 Location (Chemult Station Horde)

Once you’ve arrived in Chemult town, head towards the abandoned bus station just south of the main street that runs between the buildings. After you pass the bus station a large iron bridge and a couple of abandoned train cars will come into view. The horde is living inside one of the empty carriages.

Highway 97 Horde #7 Location (Chemult Community College Horde)

The Chemult Community College area of Highway 97 is a sports field filled with challenges for Deacon to overcome. There’s an infestation zone near the south end of the field, and a Nero Checkpoint to the north. The horde that lives here are hundreds of freakers strong, they rest in the tents in the middle of the sports field.

Highway 97 Horde #8 Location (Cascade Lakes Rail Line Horde)

From Chemult town cross the river to the north and follow the sandy track until you come across branches and corpses scattered on the road, the horde won’t be far. This horde is one of the smaller ones in this region.

Highway 97 Horde #9 Location (Groose Gardens Horde)

Travel directly west from the Chemult Community College Nero Checkpoint until you come to a large bridge that’s blocked by abandoned cars and trucks. Drop down onto the train tracks below and you’ll see a large house which contains the horde.

Highway 97 Horde #10 Location (Rum Rye Gulch Horde)

From the Chemult Community College head southwest via a sandy track. Shrouded by trees, you’ll come across a series of caves. Check each one for the horde, remembering to keep an eye out for the signs of their nests.

Highway 97 Horde #11 Location (Juniper Ridge Horde)

From the Rum Rye Gulch Horde location, continue down the dirt path in a western direction. The next horde is only a short distance from the last one in a cave at the top of a hill, away from the sandy track. You’ll have to ascend the hill to enter this cave.

Highway 97 Horde #12 Location (Friendship Ridge Horde)

Directly south from the Chemult Community College and directly east from the Pillette Bridge Nero Checkpoint, you’ll be able to find a horde living on Friendship Ridge. This horde live inside an old empty warehouse there.

Highway 97 #13 Location (Lobert Draw Ridge Horde)

At night, the last horde can be found south of the Pillette Bridge Nero Checkpoint, near the train tracks and empty carriages that have been abandoned there. During the day, the horde takes up residence inside the tunnel right on the western edge of the Highway 97 region.

Days Gone Horde rewards explained

Finding and wiping out all 37 Freaker hordes results in you obtaining the St. John Horde Killer Custom Skin for your motorcycle.

Additionally, each individual horde slain will gain you a chunk of trust for that region as well as a handful of experience points. This makes slaying hordes in Days Gone one of the best ways to collect those final few skills you missed during the main campaign.

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Ainigmata Ostraka are a type of collectible in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, and are very similar in practice to the Papyrus Puzzles from Assassin’s Creed Origins. Each one contains a riddle on a stone tablet which, when solved, unlocks a new engraving.

Here on this page, we’ll provide you with a full list of all the Ainigmata Ostraka locations, and, of course, how to solve every puzzle to unlock all the engravings.

For more in a similar vein, we have a complete guide to all Assassin’s Creed Odyssey tomb solutions and locations, too!

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey Ainigmata Ostraka explained – puzzle rewards, bonuses and more

Throughout the Ancient Greek world of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, you’ll come across special collectibles written on stone tablets. These contain a riddle which will lead you to a different location in the same region/island. Solving the riddle will unlock an engraving, which can be added to a piece of armour or weapon to enhance its stats. You’ll need to visit a Blacksmith to apply them.

There are no telltale sound effects or visual cues to make each one stand out. The only element that defines them from the environment around them is a marker that lets you interact once you’re close enough to a respective spot. So they’re really easy to miss!

It is possible to locate all the Ostraka early on, but since all of these items are linked to specific locations – such as hideouts, camps, caves and Leader Houses – there’s a good chance you’ll have to face high-level enemies so it’s a good idea to pick them up along the way or clear the story first so you’re suitably levelled up. Some of the riddles can get really tricky, but don’t worry – we’ve got you covered. Happy hunting!

Rewards and bonuses, and other things to know about Ainigmata Ostraka

There’s really one other key thing to know about Assassin’s Creed Odyssey’s Ainigmata Ostraka, and that’s how their rewards work.

Solving the riddle and finding the hidden treasure of an Ainigmata Ostraka gives you a special Engraving – but contrary to what we originally expected these aren’t set in stone. Instead, there are several set types of Engraving (say, one that gives a percentage increase in Crit Chance on full health), and each time you find an Engraving of that type, its bonus increases.

So, for example, the ostraka called ‘The Floor is Lava’ and ‘Pigsty’ both give you Engravings that increase damage with heavy weapons when solved, but it doesn’t matter what order you solve them in – the first will always increase it by 2%, the second by 4%, up to the fifth, increasing it by 10%.

For reference, here’s a rundown of all the Ainigmata Ostraka according to the Engraving bonus they grant you as a reward, and amount they increase by for each one you solve – but remember, it doesn’t matter what order you do them in!

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey Ainigmata Ostraka rewards list:

Looking for more help? Our main Assassin’s Creed Odyssey guide and tips hub gives you an overview of our pages, while we also have all fifty-plus Ainigmata Ostraka puzzle locations and solutions, plus more on how to get the Assassin’s Creed Odyssey best ending, a list of all Assassin’s Creed Odyssey tomb solutions, the best weapons, armour, engravings, and legendary armour and weapons listed, the Kalydonian Boar strategy and location, Orichalcum locationsand even help with Assassin’s Creed Odyssey romance options. Elsewhere we can help with how to earn money and Drachmae fast in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, and how to earn XP and level up fast in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey.

Otherwise, in the section below you’ll find our big (in-progress) list of Ainigmata Ostraka locations and their solutions!

Ainigmata Ostraka locations, solutions and puzzles listed

Kephallonia Island Ainigmata Ostraka:

• Bottomless Lake, Ashes to Ashes riddle solutions, Melissani Cave, Markos’s Vineyard tablets
• Fatal Attraction riddle solution, Odysseus’s Palace tablet

Northern Greece Ainigmata Ostraka:

• Pressed for Time, A Finger Tip riddle solutions, Sacred Lands of Apollo, Despina Fort tablets
• A Specific General riddle solution, Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia tablet
• Red Scent, Heart and Sole riddle solutions, Lokris Leader’s House, Phyllidos’s House tablets

Attika Peninsula Ainigmata Ostraka:

• Hound Docked, Happy Hour riddle solutions, Occupied Forest of Tripodiskos, Battlefield Cave tablets
• Record Sunshine riddle solution, Valley of King Lelex tablet
• Backstage Pass, Odor in the Court riddle solutions, Greater Athens Textile Workshop, Ariabignes Shipwreck tablets
• War Eagle, Elbow Greece riddle solutions, Isle of Salamis Marble Quarry, Altar of Love tablets
• Goat’s Gruff, Killer View riddle solutions, Camp Dekelia, Mount Pentelikos Marble Quarry tablets
• Pigsty, Fire in the Belly riddle solutions, Kreusis Military Camp, Tower of Askre tablets
• Stadium Love, Bridging the Gap riddle solutions, Thebes Leader’s House, Cursed Lands of Oedipus tablets

Forest Islands Ainigmata Ostraka:

• Helios’s Greeting, Hungry for Misadventure riddle solutions, Amphipolis Leader’s House, Ancient Stronghold tablets
• To the Edge of the World, Dye Dye Dye riddle solutions, Anavatos Ruin, Teichos of Herakles tablets
• A Deal For Freedom riddle solution and where to find the Oreos Quarry tablet
• Star-Crossed Lovers riddle solution and where to find the Alkidas Fort tablet

Paradise Islands Ainigmata Ostraka:

• Blue Eyed Beauty, Smoke Signal riddle solutions, Cradle of Myths, Lion Hill tablets
• Pride of Place, Stone Cold riddle solutions, Wailing Cavern, Korinth tablets
• Estate Envy, Marbled Morale riddle solutions, Mykonos Leader’s House, Porphyrion Cave tablets
• Needle in a Haystack, Grave Discovery riddle solutions, Sunken Wreck of Datis, Kynthos Ruins tablets
• Procrastinate Now, Stubborn Mule riddle solutions and where to find the Naxos Quarry, Cave of Mount Zas tablets

Arid Islands Ainigmata Ostraka:

• Upon Typhon’s Crown, Beneath Theseus’s Dream riddle solutions, Melos Leader’s House, Plains of Achilles tablets
• Made in Abyss, ‘Til Death Do Us Part riddle solutions, Temple of Aphrodite, Temple of Poseidon tablets

Peloponnese Ainigmata Ostraka:

• Turning Tides, An Arm and a Leg riddle solutions, Sea Captain Dock, Argos Leader’s House tablets
• Two of Clubs, The Floor is Lava riddle solutions, Bronze Club of Periphetes, Epidauros Akropolis tablets
• Showboat, Strange Disease riddle solutions, Ruins of Helike, Temple of Apollo tablets
• Hobby Horsing, Farming Coin riddle solution, Lost Horse of Odysseus, Golden Fields tablets
• Sweet Tooth, Foggy Memory riddle solution, Lagos’s Compound, Palace of Aphareus tablets
• Procession of Bones, Tastes like Chicken riddle solutions, Temple of Apollo Korythos, Terror Gorge cave tablets
• Rightful King, Mapping Out riddle solutions, Paidiskoi Camp, Altar of Dioskouri tablets
• Soldier to Shoulder riddle solution, Sparta Leader House tablet
• Prophecy Prevention riddle solution and where to find the Spring of Piera tablet
• Rock and Roll riddle solution and where to find the Diolkos West Ramp tablet
• Belly Flop riddle solution and where to find the Sanctuary of Poseidon tablet

The easiest Ainigmata Ostraka secrets to find in Ancient Greece:

If you’re out for a few quick hit or just some digestible puzzles to help ease you into the process of hunting them all down, here are some of the easier ones we found:

• Hound Docked – Found on a moored ship in the Occupied Forest of Tripodiskos on Megaris.
• A Finger Tip – Look for a giant statue led on its back in the Valley of the Snake in Phokis.
• Procrastinate Now – Look for the arch-like Portara on Naxos to grab this secret.
• Showboat – Head to Patrai and look for a theatre with a boat as its stage in Achaia.

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Sekiro: Shadow’s Die Twice is tough as nails – perhaps From Software’s toughest game to date – requiring some genuine skill and a real shake-up of the tried-and-tested methods you might have used in the Soulsborne games gone by.

Our Sekiro walkthrough and this Sekiro guide hub are here to help though: below we’ll gather each individual guide page we have for the game plus every step of our (currently in-progress) walkthrough, including a Sekiro boss guide and boss list taking you through bosses, mini bosses and any key moments in between.

On this page:

• Sekiro walkthrough – our Sekiro boss guide and boss list
• Sekiro guide hub – all our Sekiro guides in one place
• Sekiro boss battle advice: key things to know about how to get through Sekiro: Shadow’s Die Twice’s bosses

Sekiro walkthrough – our Sekiro boss guide and boss list

Our walkthrough is still very much in progress for now, as are our standalone guides to the game’s various mechanics – keep checking back for more in the days following launch, but for now here are they key pages we’ve got for you so far:

Sekiro boss list and walkthrough – Ashina Outskirts

• Sekiro Leader Shigenori Yamauchi fight – how to beat and kill Yamauchi
• Sekiro General Naomori Kawarada fight – how to beat and kill Kawarada
• Sekiro Chained Ogre fight – how to beat and kill the Ogre with fire
• Sekiro General Tenzen Yamauchi fight – how to beat and kill General Tenzen

Sekiro boss list and walkthrough – Hirata Estate

• Sekiro Shinobi Hunter Enshin of Misen fight – how to beat and kill the Shinobi Hunter
• Sekiro Juzou the Drunkard fight – how to beat and kill the Drunkard
• Sekiro Lady Butterfly fight – how to beat and kill Lady Butterfly

Sekiro boss list and walkthrough – Ashina Castle

• Sekiro Gyoubu Oniwa fight – how to beat and kill the horse boss Gyoubu
• Sekiro Blazing Bull fight – how to beat and kill the Blazing Bull
• Sekiro General Kuranosuke Matsumoto mini fight – how to beat and kill General Matsumoto
• Sekiro Ashina Elite Jinsuke Saze fight – how to beat and kill the Ashina Elite
• Sekiro Seven Ashina Spears fight – how to beat and kill Seven Ashina Spears Shikibu Toshikatsu Yamauchi
• Sekiro Lone Shadow Longswordsman fight – how to beat and kill the Lone Shadow Longswordsman
• Sekiro Genichiro Ashina fight – how to beat and kill Genichiro Ashina Way of Tomoe

Sekiro boss list and walkthrough – Senpou Temple

• Sekiro Armored Warrior fight – how to beat and kill the Armored Warrior
• Sekiro Long-arm Centipede Sen’un fight – how to beat and kill the first Long-arm Centipede, Sen’un
• Sekiro Folding Screen Monkeys fight – how to find and kill all four Folding Screen Monkeys

Sekiro boss list and walkthrough – Ashina Depths

• Sekiro Snake Eyes Shirahagi fight – how to beat and kill the first Snake Eyes, Shirahagi
• Sekiro O’rin of the Water fight – how to beat and kill O’rin of the Water
• Sekiro Corrupted Monk fight – how to beat and kill the first Corrupted Monk

Sekiro boss list and walkthrough – Sunken Valley

• Sekiro Guardian Ape fight – how to beat and kill the Guardian Ape and headless Ape

Sekiro boss list and walkthrough – Return of Ashina Castle

• Sekiro Great Shinobi Owl fight – how to beat and kill the Owl
• Sekiro Emma and Isshin Ashina fight – how to beat and kill Emma and Isshin Ashina

Sekiro boss list and walktrhough – Fountainhead Palace

• Sekiro True Corrupted Monk fight – how to beat and kill the Fountainhead Corrupted Monk
• Sekiro Divine Dragon fight – how to beat and kill the Divine Dragon

The final Sekiro boss

Sekiro guide hub – all our Sekiro guides in one place

Like our walkthrough above, our list of Sekiro guides is still growing, and you’ll see plenty more pages spring up here over the coming days and weeks.

Here’s what we have for now.

Sekiro guides – systems and tips

• Sekiro tips and tricks for beginners and returning experts
• Sekiro Skills explained – Skill tree, best Skills, how to grind Skill Points, find Esoteric Texts
• Sekiro combat system explained – Posture, Perilous Attacks and how to Deflect
• Sekiro Dragonrot cure explained – how to cure Dragonrot, Rot Essence’s effect on NPCs
• Sekiro ending steps: Best ending Return, Purification ending, plus Shura and Immortal Severance explained

Sekiro guides – collectibles and locations

• Sekiro Treasure Carp Scale locations – where to find all Treasure Carp Scales
• Sekiro Prayer Beads location list – all Prayer Bead locations and where to find them
• Sekiro Divine Confetti farm route, method and locations – how to get Divine Confetti easily
• Sekiro Snap Seed locations – all Snap Seeds and how to find and use them
• Sekiro Prosthetic Tool locations – all Shinobi Prosthetics including Firecracker, Sabimaru, Umbrella

Sekiro boss battle advice: key things to know about how to get through Sekiro: Shadow’s Die Twice’s bosses

Our walkthrough above focuses primarily on boss and mini boss fights, and so most of the time it’s all about combat.

With that in mind, here are a handful of key things to know, or just generally bear in mind, when you’re diving into boss fights or working your way through the game. Combine these tips with the specifics we run through in each of our boss pages above, and you’ll be off to a flyer.

Sekiro boss fight pointers

• Bank the next Skill Point – If you know you’re in for a boss or mini boss fight, and there’s a Sculptor’s Idol nearby, it’s worth grinding out a few grunts until you reach the next Skill Point. You lose all your progress to the next point each time you die, so don’t risk all that XP and just get the last few kills to tick yourself over before you take the next big bad on.
• Top up on Pellets – There’s a vendor fairly early on, shortly after the second mini boss General Naomori Kawarada (on the far left of the next area, listen for the crow sounds to guide you to him). Use vendors when you see them and don’t be afraid to fast travel back to them before boss fights to top up. A handful of Pellets can make the difference, and that Sen’s got to be spent on something!
• Invest your Sen in Light Coin Purses – That said, if you have a load of Sen burnig a hole in your pocket then if you’re not spending it on items, buy Light Coin Purses with it from a vendor. It sounds silly, but these can be ‘activated’ when you need them, and store Sen safely – you don’t lose Light Coin Purses on death, but you do lose half your Sen.
• Be more agressive than you’re used to – We cover this more in our Sekiro combat systemguide, but it feels uncomfortable being aggressive in a game that’s so punishing of your mistakes, but it’s necessary. Know your rock-paper-scissors matchups for Perilous Attacks and how to counter them, get a read on your enemy’s roster of attacks and prepare yourself mentally to attack, dodge, jump, and deflect at the right times. There’ll be few major fights where you won’t need to do all of these at some point.
• Practice, practice, practice – Don’t ignore that friendly training zombie near the Dilapidated Temple. Every time your learn a new skill or make some significant progress, take the time to visit him and practice it. Set yourself a rule, like “don’t leave until you can finish every new training excercise without taking damage”, and you’ll be amazed at the difference it makes to your combat throughout the game.
• Use everything at your disposal, but don’t rely on it – You’ll find that a lot of bosses and general battles can be cheesed. Dousing enemies in Oil and then setting them on fire with a Prosthetic, for instance, or relying on the Firecracker Prosthetic to stun bosses and get some free hits in. These are all worth using, along with the items that are handed out along the way, but don’t rely on them. If you use them as a crutch, you’ll soon hit a boss that’s immune to them, and then without the time spent mastering the foundations of combat, you’ll really struggle.

Over 10 minutes of new Death Stranding footage closed out Geoff Keighley’s Gamescom livestream, with the usual mix of bizarre Hideo Kojima fare.

First, a character trailer for “Mama”, played by The Leftovers actress Margaret Qualley. In this, we discover Qualley’s character is “Mama” to a baby from “the other side”. It’s invisible, so you don’t see it breastfeeding through her clothes.

Next up, a trailer for “Bridge Baby” and “Dead Man”, the latter of which is the character played by Kojima pal Guillermo Del Toro. In this, there’s some heavy exposition for what the babies glimpsed in the game are used for – although after the clip played, Kojima and his interpreter then spent further time laying it all out. Maybe the full game will make more sense.

Lastly, a chunk of actual gameplay footage, where we see main character Sam – AKA Norman Reedus – doing his rounds as a sci-fi Deliveroo driver. He can take a piss and it grows a mushroom. He can also do a job for a character with the face of Geoff Keighley.

After that clip aired, Keighley expressed delight at being included – his face was scanned some time ago, he said. Kojima also made clear you won’t be able to rotate the camera to see Reedus’ penis.

Death Stranding launches 8th November on PS4, and sometime thereafter on PC.

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver turned 20 years old on the 16th August 2019.

Crystal Dynamics’ influential PSone, PC and, later, Dreamcast classic was one of the best single-player adventure games on Sony’s console, and is credited with influencing the genre and its subsequent standouts, such as Uncharted.

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver was praised for its story, characters, world design, evocative atmosphere and the mechanic of shifting between two world states, which at the time was hugely impressive.

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver was directed and written by Amy Hennig, who took to Twitter to say it “holds a very special place in my heart”. Hennig, of course, would go on to play a key role in the Uncharted series at Naughty Dog.

Amy Hennig✔@amy_hennig

Can’t believe it’s been 20 years since we launched Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver. This game holds a very special place in my heart.

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Back in 2012, Hennig talked Soul Reaver secrets in a post on the PlayStation blog. Initially, Hennig revealed, Soul Reaver wasn’t supposed to be a sequel to Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, rather a new IP called Shifter that was loosely inspired by Paradise lost.

“The protagonist was essentially a fallen angel of death, a reaper of souls hunted by his former brethren, and now driven to expose and destroy the false god they all served,” Hennig said.

The Shifter concept was “the genesis” of Soul Reaver. “… the core ideas were all there. The hero was an undead creature, able to shift between the spectral and material realms, and glide on the tattered remains of his wing-like coattails. We conceived the spirit realm as a twisted, expressionistic version of the physical world. The hero was bent on revenge after being betrayed and cast down by his creator – like Raziel, he was a dark savior figure, chosen to restore balance to a blighted, dystopian world.

“When we were asked to adapt this concept into a sequel to Blood Omen, our challenge was to take all these ideas and merge them creatively into the Legacy of Kain mythos.”

Hennig and the development team pared back on some secondary features during the making of Soul Reaver, including a plan to include shape-shifting as well as plane-shifting. The biggest challenge, “hands-down”, was getting the data-streaming working to allow the game to have a seamless, interconnected world with no load events.

“I think we were one of the first developers to tackle this problem (along with Naughty Dog, on Crash Bandicoot),” Hennig said.

“It proved to be way more difficult than we had initially anticipated – if I recall, we were still struggling to get the textures to dynamically pack correctly, just a couple months before release. We ultimately got it working by the skin of our teeth, but I wonder if we would’ve embarked on such an ambitious plan if we’d known how difficult it was going to be!”

As you’d expect, implementing the real-time morph between the two environments – that is, figuring out how to store two sets of data for the spectral and material realms – was also a challenge.

But the “ultimate challenge”, Hennig said, was schedule and scope – a common challenge in video game development.

“Conceived as an open-world, Zelda-esque 3D adventure game, Soul Reaver was incredibly ambitious,” Hennig said.

“Crystal Dynamics’ Gex engine gave us a leg-up on the 3D technology, but in essence we were writing a game engine from scratch, while developing a new IP. These days, a developer wouldn’t think of attempting such a thing in less than three years (minimum), but Eidos wanted the game in less than two. In the end, we shipped Soul Reaver in under 2.5 years, but not without some unfortunate 11th-hour cuts which still pain me today. The scope of the game was definitely too ambitious, but if we had shipped the game that fall, instead of that summer, I think we could have reduced the scope of the game more elegantly.”

To hit the August 1999 release date, the developers had to cut the last few levels of the game, and end on a cliffhanger to set up Soul Reaver 2.

“Originally, Raziel was going to hunt down and destroy all of his former brothers as well as Kain – and then, using his newly-acquired abilities, he would’ve activated the long-dormant pipes of the Silenced Cathedral to wipe out the remaining vampires of Nosgoth with a sonic blast,” Hennig said.

“Only then would he realise he’d been the Elder God’s pawn all along, that the purging of the vampires had devastating consequences, and that the only way to set things right would be to use Moebius’ time-streaming device to go back in time and alter history (in the sequel).

“So the story would have arrived at a similar place, just by a different route. In the end, as much as I hated its bluntness, Soul Reaver’s ‘To Be Continued’ ending probably turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because I think it opened up more interesting story options for the sequels.”

And sequels came. Soul Reaver 2 launched on PS2 and PC in October 2001, Blood Omen 2, which was directed by Dead Space co-creator Glen Schofield, came out just a year later in 2002 as a sequel to the first game in the series, before Hennig returned to direct 2003’s Legacy of Kain: Defiance.

Since then, Legacy of Kain has remained dormant. The ill-fated Nosgoth, a free-to-play multiplayer action game developed by Rocket League maker Psyonix, didn’t make it out of open beta. Legacy of Kain: Dead Sun was a more traditional Legacy of Kain game, developed by Climax Studios for Square Enix Europe, but it was cancelled in 2012 after three years of work. (For the inside story on Legacy of Kain: Dead Sun’s demise, check out our in-depth report.)

So, 20 years after Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver came out, it remains for many fans the best game in the series. And with no new Legacy of Kain in sight, perhaps it’ll stay that way for years to come.

During the latest Sea of Thieves weekly stream, a Rare developer accidentally mentioned fire will make its way to the game.

This isn’t the first time James Thomas, lead engineer at Rare, has inadvertently let some secret info slip. Back on a stream in January he revealed parrots were a pet coming to Sea of Thieves, leading to a six month ban from the weekly streams.

“Somehow the parrots have learned to be aquatic,” he said while discussing how the team had designed pets not to follow you into the water. This is quickly followed by a quiet “parrots confirmed” from Joe Neate, executive producer at Rare.

This week, about an hour and four minutes into his first stream back after the ban, Thomas cheerfully begins to tease the fire mechanic, which players hadn’t actually been told about yet.

“I think the biggest thing we’ve announced that we have coming soon is fire, so hopefully there’ll be something for you-” James starts, before quickly being interrupted by co-streamer Andrew Preston, senior designer for the game.

Rare seems to be taking the accidental reveal pretty well though, taking to Twitter to do some not-so-subtle teasing:

James Thomas@BIGsheep · Aug 21, 2019

*walks away from the Internet*

Joe “Three Sheets” Neate@JoeNeate1

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James Thomas@BIGsheep · Aug 21, 2019

*walks away from the Internet*

Drew Stevens@S0nicbob

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James Thomas@BIGsheep

Subtle, folks. Subtle. https://twitter.com/SeaOfThieves/status/1164146739835785216 …Sea of Thieves✔@SeaOfThievesYesterday’s Sea of Thieves Weekly Stream was a hot one, so if you couldn’t catch it live but want to blaze through it looking for new details from the devs – although we’re sure nothing would have leaked out in casual conflagration – you can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGhOheo7HgE …1378:35 PM – Aug 21, 2019Twitter Ads info and privacy20 people are talking about this

As for this newly teased fire mechanic itself, we don’t actually know anything yet short of the fact it exists. Seeing as pets were announced quite a while ago now and still haven’t appeared in the game, it’ll likely be a little while before we’re able to set anything ablaze in Sea of Thieves.

We hope James Thomas isn’t feeling too burnt up about his mistake, and that Rare lets him off for his accidental act of pyrocy.

Supergiant Games’ roguelike dungeon crawler Hades will soon be available on Steam (as well as the Epic Games Store) when it hits early access on Valve’s platform on 10th December.

The developer made the announcement as part of the celebration of its 10th birthday, also revealing the entire catalogue of Supergiant Games are up to 80 per cent off in its anniversary sale on Steam.

Supergiant Games  PAX West✔@SupergiantGames · 20h

(1/6) Guess what? Supergiant Games is turning 10 years old!! It’s like we’re a Kid again. Here’s a brief thread with FOUR exciting announcements to mark the occasion!

Supergiant Games  PAX West✔@SupergiantGames

(2/6) We’re really excited to announce that we’re bringing #HADES, our rogue-like dungeon crawler, to Steam Early Access on December 10!

It’d mean a lot if you added the game to your wishlist:https://store.steampowered.com/app/1145360/Hades/ …

For more info, visit our official web site.

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Hades has received a bunch of early access updates on the Epic Store over the last few months, the most recent of which allowing you to pet the giant hell dog.

The game was one of the very first to be an exclusive to Epic’s launcher, and is likely to see its full release in the second half of 2020.

If you can’t wait until the Steam release however, now is a great time to buy Hades as it’s currently 15 per cent off in the Epic Store.

The latest Minecraft Java edition update is chock full of bugs – bees!

Bees are a brand new neutral mob that will quite happily bumble around, gathering pollen from their favourite flowers and flying back home to their nests to make honey.

They won’t hurt you unless you hurt them – but if you do hurt the bees and provoke them into stinging you they’ll leave their stinger behind and die, and won’t even drop any items for your trouble. You monster.

Bee Nests naturally spawn in Flower Forests, Plains and Sunflower Plains biomes. They have favourite flowers (aww) and like sharing the location of their favourites with other bees (AWW). Do not just whack a bee nest to try and collect the block though! You’ll need to use a tool with silk touch to safely get the block with the bees stored inside, otherwise the nest will be destroyed.

During the nighttime or if it’s raining, your bee pals will chill in their nests. If you want to keep them in chill-mode during the day, you can place a campfire under the nest or hive.

These new mobs will help with your farming by pollinating your crops when they’re on the way back to their nests. You’ll also be able to build a beehive to have your very own colony right on your doorstep, allowing you to harvest their honey and keep them nice and close to your farm.

There are five levels of honey (the amount contained in the nest), and once it reaches level five you’re able to harvest it using an empty glass bottle. You can also harvest honeycomb by shearing a full-honey hive or nest, and you’ll need the honeycomb if you want to create an artificial hive to house your bee friends.

Minecraft✔@Minecraft

Today, Java Snapshots return, with an exciting new bug! Wait, come back, it’s not that type of bug! Meet Minecraft’s latest mob: the bee!

↣ http://redsto.ne/bees  ↢

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If you haven’t played Minecraft in a while, now is a wonderful time to jump back in. As well as the addition of bees, the game has received plenty of updates, and has even gained official ray tracing support on PC.

You can check out all the details for the latest update on the Minecraft website. There’s no word just yet when bees will migrate over to the game’s cross-platform Bedrock edition.

It turns out that Minecraft is getting a visual update after all, just not the one that was originally promised. Overnight, graphics card makers Nvidia announced a new update for the game that will add Minecraft to the growing list of PC games that support real-time ray tracing.

“Ray tracing is one of the key innovations that we think is next for Minecraft,” said Saxs Persson, the game’s creative director, in a video announcing Nvidia’s update. “In normal Minecraft a block of gold just appears yellow but with ray tracing turned on you really get to see the specular highlight, you get to see the reflection, you can even see a mob reflected in it.”

In a brief trailer, you can see how much more vibrant and organic Minecraft’s world feels. Lava glows against nearby blocks, streams of water shimmer and show reflections of what’s nearby, and sunlight filters through a series of vines to create a soft, warm glow on the ground. Of course, players will need Nvidia RTX graphics card if they want to see any of this in their own version of the game.

While Nvidia has also announced that ray tracing support is coming to a bunch of upcoming games including Control and Watch Dogs: Legion, Minecraft is interesting because the game was originally due for a much broader graphical update called the Super Duper Graphics Pack. Announced at E3 2017, the pack was supposed to add much more detailed and realistic lighting effects to the game, as well as other enhancements, including support for 4K.

It was also supposed to be coming to more than just PC, but earlier this month Mojang announced that the Super Duper Graphics Pack had been canceled as it “proved too technically demanding to implement as planned.” The ray tracing update is due out soon.

Days after cancelling a long-delayed graphics update for Minecraft, Microsoft has unveiled a separate boost for the block-based game’s visuals.

The update improves the way light bounces around game scenes to make Minecraft environments look more “realistic”.

However, the graphics patch will only be available to people with an Nvidia RTX graphics card.

Microsoft said it would be released in 2020 but gave no firm date.

Hefty price

The RTX graphics cards use a technique called “ray tracing” to do a much better job of working out how light bounces around the virtual scenes in games.

It can make on-screen visuals look more realistic as shadows, colours and the play of light in game environments will look more like the real thing.

“Ray tracing sits at the centre of what we think is next for Minecraft,” said Saxs Persson, creative director of Minecraft at Microsoft, in a statement.

“In normal Minecraft, a block of gold just appears yellow, but with ray tracing turned on, you really get to see the specular highlight, you get to see the reflection, you can even see a mob reflected in it,” he said.

Writing on the Rock Paper Shotgun game news website, Katharine Castle said the update looked “impressive in action”.

She added: “I do have concerns over how easy Minecraft’s RTX update will be to run.”

Ms Castle said it would take a “hefty” RTX card to run all the different lighting, shadow and atmospheric effects at the same time.

• Minecraft ditches Super Duper graphics plan
• Minecraft: 10 years on, what’s next?
• Minecraft player loses five-year-long game

The prices of Nvidia cards vary widely across online retailers, but low-end cards typically cost more than £300, The most expensive in the range can cost thousands. The update will also only be available on Windows 10.

As the update is being developed, Minecraft-maker Mojang said it would be added as an option on the settings screen so players could test it out.

It also added that it was working on a more general overhaul of Minecraft’s graphics engine. This, it said, should bring some visual improvements to people who do not possess an RTX card or who do not run the game on a PC.

“Not all devices will support ray tracing, but we will have some graphics enhancements on most devices,” said Mojang. No date has been given for when this general update will be available.

Both announcements were made on the eve of the Gamescom gaming show, which runs this week in Cologne.

News about the RTX release came less than a week after Microsoft announced it was cancelling what it called the “Super Duper Graphics” update for Minecraft.

Announced in 2017, this promised to improve the look of the game on every gadget on which the game was available.

The update was cancelled after two years of development, because the “technical challenges” of producing it had proved insurmountable.

A look at the Minecraft enhancements with Nvidia RTX turned on and a look at the high fidelity texture pack coming to Windows 10.

https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/08/20/minecraft-nvidia-rtx-ray-tracing-and-high-fidelity-texture-pack-gameplay-gamescom-2019

Minecraft has received a vast graphic upgrade that completely redefines how the game looks.

The world’s best-selling game has been updated with new lighting and a completely different appearance, which makes the game look vastly better than it did before.

The upgrade is the result of a collaboration between developers Mojang and Microsoft, and Nvidia. Together, they will bring ray tracing to the game, which allows light inside the blocky world to be rendered in a newly realistic way.

The updates will come to the Windows version of the game soon. And it will be available as a free upgrade to all PC users, allowing anyone with an Nvidia RTX enabled graphics card to play it.

“Ray tracing sits at the center of what we think is next for Minecraft,” Saxs Persson, the creative director of Minecraft at Microsoft, said in a statement. “RTX gives the Minecraft world a brand-new feel to it.

“In normal Minecraft, a block of gold just appears yellow, but with ray tracing turned on, you really get to see the specular highlight, you get to see the reflection, you can even see a mob reflected in it.”

Nvidia claims that the changes will “affect almost every pixel of every scene” and make lighting, reflections, shadows and more appear different than they did before.

It will do so using path tracing, which is a form of the ray tracing technology that allows light to be drawn realistically and in real time. That will allow light to move naturally as it would in real life, even as players change up the blocks that make up the world.

The ray tracing technology will be moddable in the same way that the game itself is. That will allow players to create new kinds of ray traced content, building them in the same way they do mods for the rest of the Minecraft game.

Minecraft is getting a free update that brings much-improved lighting and color to the game’s blocky graphics using real-time ray tracing running on Nvidia GeForce RTX graphics hardware. The new look is a dramatic change in the atmospherics of the game, and manages to be eerily realistic while retaining Minecraft’s pixelated charm.

The ray-tracing tech will be available via a free update to the game on Windows 10 PCs, but it’ll only be accessible to players using an Nvidia GeForce RTX GPU, as that’s the only graphics hardware on the market that currently supports playing games with real-time ray tracing active.

It sounds like it’ll be an excellent addition to the experience for players who are equipped with the right hardware — including lighting effects not only from the sun, but also from in-game materials like glowstone and lava; both hard and soft shadows depending on transparency of material and angle of light refraction; and accurate reflections in surfaces that are supposed to be reflective (i.e. gold blocks, for instance).

This is welcome news after Minecraft developer Mojang  announced last week that it canceled plans to release its Super Duper Graphics Pack, which was going to add a bunch of improved visuals to the game because it wouldn’t work well across platforms. At the time, Mojang said it would be sharing news about graphics optimization for some platforms “very soon,” and it looks like this is what they had in mind.

Nvidia, meanwhile, is showing off at Gamescom 2019 in Cologne, Germany a range of 2019 games with real-time ray tracing enabled, including Dying Light 2, Cyperpunk 2077, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Watch Dogs: Legion.

The new “Spider-Man: Far From Home” trailer catches up with Peter Parker (Tom Holland) in a world needing new heroes after “Avengers: Endgame.” USA TODAY

On Tuesday, negotiations broke down between Disney and Sony Pictures for future Spider-Man films, sending fans into a panic.

What’s going on? Sony has controlled the rights to the web-slinger since 1999, but the two studios have been happily (or so we thought) sharing Spider-Man across a plethora of films since 2015, including a major emotional role in the latest “Avengers” movies. As part of the previous agreement, Marvel had also been acting as a producer on the 2017 and 2019 standalone Sony “Spider-Man” movies starring Tom Holland, which were both box-office blockbusters.

In a Sony statement to USA TODAY Tuesday night, the studio said the outstanding issue remained over the future involvement of Marvel President, and comic movie mastermind, Kevin Feige as producer in future Spider-man films.

“Much of today’s news about Spider-Man has mischaracterized recent discussions about Kevin Feige’s involvement in the franchise,” the statement said. “We are disappointed, but respect Disney’s decision not to have him continue as a lead producer of our next live action Spider-Man film. We hope this might change in the future.”

“Kevin is terrific and we are grateful for his help and guidance and appreciate the path he has helped put us on, which we will continue,” the statement continued. 

With a Hollywood divorce looking imminent, Twitter had a meltdown imagining the fate of its beloved teenage superhero. The Twitter hashtag #SaveSpiderMan, however steeped in irrational emotion, went viral Tuesday.

Here’s what you need to know about what could happen next for Spidey. 

Spider-Man may not be in Marvel movies anymore.

If Sony and Disney can’t come to a deal, Spidey might not be in Marvel movies in the near future – but he probably wouldn’t be anyway, unless for some reason he was supposed to be in “Black Widow” or “The Eternals,” the MCU’s next two films (which is highly doubtful). There’s plenty of time to work stuff out.

“This doesn’t necessarily mean that Spider-Man won’t be part of the MCU going forward,” a person familiar with the negotiations but not authorized to speak publicly told USA TODAY. “This story is just about producer credit.”

Twitter user @epeytonhudson wrote, “Don’t be okay with an MCU-less Spidey! The audience has plenty of power here. #SaveSpiderMan.”

Don’t be okay with an MCU-less Spidey! The audience has plenty of power here. #SaveSpiderMan

That distress was echoed by Twitter user @JayRecinos, who wrote, “When you find out that Tom Holland’s Spider-Man may no longer be part of the MCU #SpiderMan #SaveSpiderMan #Spidey,” along with a GIF of Sadness from “Inside Out.”

When you find out that Tom Holland’s Spider-Man may no longer be part of the MCU #SpiderMan #SaveSpiderMan #Spidey

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Twitter user @BrandonDavisBD summed up every fan’s fears with a photo of Spider-Man holding his head in his hands. “Live look at literally every Spider-Man fan right now,” he wrote.

Live look at literally every Spider-Man fan right now

But there WILL still be Spider-Man movies.

Holland’s webby hero is coming off his most successful outing to date, with this year’s “Spider-Man: Far From Home” grossing more than $1.109 billion. That’s Sony’s most popular film ever, overtaking James Bond in “Skyfall” ($1.108 billion).

Deadline reports that there are two more Spider-Man films in the works with director Jon Watts and Holland, with Watts still finalizing his deal with Sony. Barring any dramatic change, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige won’t be the lead creative producer on these films. But Spider-Man will spin his web.

This is really about money, obviously.

Disney and Sony Pictures have failed to reach new terms that would have given the former a 50/50 co-financing stake going forward, which means that the web-slinger will no longer be part of the MCU, according to Deadline.

Per IndieWire, on the last two Spider-Man movies, “Spider-Man: Homecoming” and “Spider-Man: Far From Home,” Disney took a smaller percentage of profits from each in exchange for Sony allowing Marvel to use the character in “Captain America: Civil War,” “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame.”

With Marvel plotting out Phase 4 of its cinematic universe, no one is surprised that Disney wanted to renegotiate terms, but according to Deadline, Disney’s offer for a 50/50 co-financing arrangement between the studios wasn’t even met by a counter from Sony. So, no dice, so far.  

Sony has been busy expanding its own comic-book universe, with a planned “Venom” sequel starring Tom Hardy, an upcoming Morbius film with Jared Leto, a Kraven the Hunter film and another spinoff with the characters Silver Sable and Black Cat.

Me and all the other MCU Fans on our way to burn down Sony HQ

But fans are … mad.

“Me and all the other MCU Fans on our way to burn down Sony HQ,” @rodneyn95 wrote on Twitter, with video of superheroes in the final “Avengers” battle.

Sony has complete control of Peter Parker again, which makes a Venom crossover much more likely in the future.

How do you solve a problem like Peter Parker? News broke Tuesday that Sony and Marvel Studios have split and will no longer work on future Spider-Man films together. Sony and Marvel’s falling out doesn’t just mean that Kevin Feige won’t get a producer credit on any future Spider-Man movies; it almost certainly means that Tom Holland’s version of the wall-crawler is going to be absent from the Marvel Cinematic Universe effective immediately, despite both studios having spent the last three years ensuring that Spider-Man is a central part of what audiences think of when they think “Marvel.”

Ultimately, this is far more of a problem for Marvel than it is for Sony; for all that the latter might lose the cache of having an MCU cameo or two in future Spider-Man movies — or, more importantly, the certainty of the Marvel Studios creative touch — it would be easy enough for Sony’s future Spider-Man movies to just never mention the Avengers anymore, or refer to characters and events indirectly to keep IP lawyers from getting too jittery.

Additionally, bringing Spider-Man back to a prospective Sonyverse means that the possibility of his meeting Tom Hardy’s Venom, or Jared Leto’s Morbius, currently in production, has just significantly increased, much to the delight of internet meme makers everywhere.

CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM except it is kevin feige listening to amy pascal

1,18210:30 PM – Jun 18, 2017Twitter Ads info and privacy748 people are talking about this

For those nervous that losing Marvel from the Spidey moviemaking decision process — not the most unreasonable response, considering the confused state of Sony’s Spider-slate before the Marvel partnership was announced in early 2015 — let’s remember that Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse writers/producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller are already developing new Spider-Man ideas for Sony, albeit the TV side. How difficult would it be to get them to start thinking of more big-screen ideas, too…?

For Marvel, however, there’s a bit more of a problem. Since his introduction in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man has been an increasingly integral part of the MCU. Outside of his two solo movies since then, he was also one of the most visible characters in Avengers: Infinity War, and his death in that movie proved to be one of the primary motivators for Tony Stark’s actions in Avengers: Endgame the following year. The most recent solo pic, Spider-Man: Far From Home, not only was responsible for introducing the new status quo of the MCU, but it also seemed to tease the next big multi-movie storyline for Marvel Studios. Spider-Man, it was clear, was very important to the MCU.

And now, he won’t be there.

On the one hand, this won’t be an immediate problem for Marvel — note that there was no Spider-Man movie announced as part of Marvel’s Phase IV at San Diego Comic-Con last month — but on the other… How, exactly, is Marvel going to dance around the fact that it can no longer feature the character who — in the very last Marvel movie released — was the face of the MCU superheroes?

It could, of course, simply not mention him and hope that everyone in the audience understands why, but that seems like a somewhat risky move given the vocal demands of the fan base. There’s the potential for some comic, cosmic switcheroo storyline that literally replaces Spider-Man with characters from the Fantastic Four or X-Men franchises, which would arguably give those introductions additional narrative weight (and could explain why no one has heard of those characters to this point).

Perhaps this is too premature. In 2012, as The Avengers were hitting the big screen, it seemed unthinkable that Spider-Man would be joining them in a Civil War movie four years later. Perhaps Sony and Marvel will make peace and craft a deal to maintain the integrity of the MCU, such as it is. But if not, don’t be too surprised if the fifth Avengers movie opens with Doctor Strange looking at an indistinct corpse in a mortuary and commenting that, yes, it’s Peter and it’s such a shame that the accident left him utterly unrecognizable and he’ll be an inspiration to everyone moving forward. It’s what he would have wanted.

During his August 12 episode of ‘Last Week I Asked You’, YouTube king Felix ‘PewDiePie’ Kjellberg teased a special Minecraft reward once he hits his next subscriber milestone. 

PewDiePie is quickly approaching 100 million subscribers, making him the highest subbed independent creator on the platform.

During the YouTuber’s latest episode of LWIAY – a show where he comments on user-submitted content from his Reddit community – he enticed his audience to subscribe by promising a 12-hour Minecraft live stream once he hits his next subscriber milestone.

A 12-hour Minecraft livestream

Back in July, the Swede promised a 12-hour live stream if his video got more than two million likes in 24 hours, but unfortunately viewers were not able to do it in time. So his 12-hour stream challenge has become a bit of a meme with his fan-base.

One of the submissions in the episode directly referenced it, with the popular Grand Theft Auto San Andreas meme. “12 hour Minecraft Livestream at 100 mil. Ah shit, here we go again,” it said, showing the GTA protagonist in front of a Google account creation window. 

PewDiePie then laughed: “are we at 99 yet? Come on gamers!?”

YOUTUBE: PEWDIEPIEThe YouTube star challenged his audience to subscribe for a 12-hour Minecraft live stream.

Another submission pointed out the fact that after he hits 100 million, the next video was just going to be “another beautiful day in Minecraft.” The YouTube star laughed and said “No-one is gonna want anything else. Let’s be real here.”

The Swede then stopped the show to repeat his request from earlier. “Come on gamers! 12 hour livestream at 100 million. Subscribe!” he said, clapping in between each word, emphasizing the challenge.

(Timestamp of 05:44 for mobile viewers.)

Fans are desperate for the livestream

Fans desperately want the YouTube star to do the live stream, so the challenge from a month ago has inspired a ton of memes over on his ‘PewDiePieSubmissions’ subreddit, which has built momentum towards the stream possibly happening.

Reddit user ‘meme_lordxd420‘ posted a meme that references Thanos from the Avengers film. “12 hour Minecraft Livestream at 100 mil. A small price to pay for 1,500,000 9 year olds,” it read.

REDDIT: MEME_LORDXD420Memes like this have been gaining momentum over on Reddit, as fans desperately want the live stream

It’s tough to say if PewDiePie will actually do a 12-hour live stream of Minecraft – after-all when he was about to hit 50 million subs, he promised he would delete his whole channel. Which obviously didn’t happen. 

We’ll keep you updated once he hits 100 million…

Mojang is officially pulling the plug on Minecraft’s high-end graphics overhaul, announcing today that the Super Duper Graphics Pack it announced at E3 back in 2017 will no longer see the light of day.

The reason for the cancelation, Mojang notes in a post on the Minecraft website, is the addition proved too difficult to implement in the game without having a significant impact on Minecraft‘s performance. 

The pack aimed to build Xbox One X and high-end PC targeted enhancements into Mojang’s still-thriving blocky builder, including 4K and HDR support, new shaders, and lighting effects.

On any project, it can be difficult to know when to cut your losses when something just isn’t working out, especially when years of resources and work have been poured into the feature in question. For Mojang, the decision comes after rebuilding parts of Minecraft’s Bedrock Engine to work with the overhaul and years of quiet delays.

At the end of the day however, Mojang says that the game couldn’t perform at an acceptable level with the graphics pack running, and made the call back away from the project.

“Super Duper was an ambitious initiative that brought a new look to Minecraft but, unfortunately, the pack proved too technically demanding to implement as planned,” explains the team. “We realize this is disappointing to some of you – there was a lot of enthusiasm for Super Duper from inside and outside the studio – but unfortunately, we aren’t happy with how the pack performed across devices. For this reason, we’re stopping development on the pack, and looking into other ways for you to experience Minecraft with a new look.”

Minecraft itself has been around since 2009, and released in earnest in 2011. Despite its age, Microsoft-owned Mojang keeps a steady flow of updates headed to the game and keeps the attention of millions across several platforms. As of this May, Minecraft has sold over 176 million copies and, as of last October, maintained 91 million monthly active users.

More than two years after its initial unveiling, Mojang has finally confirmed that Minecraft’s very-long-awaited Super Duper Graphics Pack is no longer in development.

Mojang initially announced the Super Duper Graphics Pack alongside Minecraft’s Better Together update. While the latter was a core system update, moving all platforms (except PS4) to the game’s new Bedrock version and enabling cross-play in the process, the Super Duper Graphics update was all about aesthetics; it would give the survival game a massive, optional visual overhaul, initially launching alongside the then-imminent Xbox One X version.

Better Together would bring 4K HDR support, as well as improved lighting, water, and shadows, but Super Duper Graphics would, according to Mojang’s enthusiastic announcement blog, usher in all sorts of “excessive visual razzmatazz”, including dynamic shadows, directional lighting, and edge highlighting. “Light will filter in shimmering rays through cotton clouds,” it gushed, “dappling the ground beneath fluttering foliage, and sparkling on the rippling waters.” It even accompanied the announcement with an extremely lavish musical trailer:

As 2017 drew to a close, however, Mojang announced that it would be delaying the release of the Super Duper update into the following year, writing that, “there’s a lot of work to be done”. And from then on out, updates grew increasingly scarce, leaving many to ponder its fate.

And, today, an answer has arrived in the form of a new post on the Minecraft website. “Super Duper was an ambitious initiative that brought a new look to Minecraft,” explained Mojang, “but, unfortunately, the pack proved too technically demanding to implement as planned.”

“There was a lot of enthusiasm for Super Duper from inside and outside the studio,” it continued, “but unfortunately, we aren’t happy with how the pack performed across devices. For this reason, we’re stopping development on the pack, and looking into other ways for you to experience Minecraft with a new look.”

The Minecraft Team at Microsoft has ended development of the previously promised Super Duper graphics pack. The team said that the visuals made the game too taxing.

Microsoft first announced the Super Duper pack alongside the Xbox One X reveal in 2017. The company intended to upgrade the textures and lighting to look better on 4K displays. Two years later, however, Super Duper never arrived. The Minecraft Team has instead worked on other updates for the block-building phenomenon.Recommended videosPowered by AnyClipDefining Moments in Gaming (National Video Game Day)

“Super Duper was an ambitious initiative that brought a new look to Minecraft but, unfortunately, the pack proved too technically demanding to implement as planned,” reads the Minecraft blog.

One of the problems that likely occurred is that Minecraft is now one continuous experience across devices. It is on the same version on Windows 10, smartphones, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. And all of those devices get updates at the same time. More important, they all get content from the community-powered Marketplace, so it’s important that the game looks and runs the same on everything.

“We realize this is disappointing to some of you – there was a lot of enthusiasm for Super Duper from inside and outside the studio – but unfortunately, we aren’t happy with how the pack performed across devices,” reads the Minecraft blog. “For this reason, we’re stopping development on the pack, and looking into other ways for you to experience Minecraft with a new look.”

But if any game from the last decade has proven that cutting-edge graphics aren’t crucial, it’s Minecraft.

And if you absolutely must have the most cutting edge visuals in your Minecraft, play the Java version and get some mods.

You can make it look astonishing with 4K textures and even real-time ray tracing.

Microsoft’s long-delayed upgrade to drag Minecraft’s iconic blocky look into the modern age has been scrapped all together.

On Monday, Minecraft developer Mojang announced that the Super Duper Graphics Pack teased at E3 2017 “proved too technically demanding to implement as planned.” The Super Duper Graphics Pack was supposed to introduce “excessive visual razzmatazz” to the cross-platform version of the game, including 4K resolution support, HDR visuals, dynamic shadows, directional lighting, edge highlighting, improved water effects, and more.

It was supposed to launch alongside Minecraft on Microsoft’s powerful Xbox One X console but wound up being pushed back. Now it’s dead. (So dead, in fact, that Mojang nuked the YouTube teaser trailer it revealed at the Super Duper Graphics Pack’s announcement.)It’s still at the age of 55 plus but it’s as good a our[ Further reading: These 20 absorbing PC games will eat days of your life ]

“We aren’t happy with how the pack performed across devices,” Mojang’s announcement says. “For this reason, we’re stopping development on the pack, and looking into other ways for you to experience Minecraft with a new look.”

That last line still gives hope for a future where Minecraft’s blocks look slightly shinier. Of course, PC gamers with the O.G. Java Edition of Minecraft and a hunger for eye candy don’t need to wait for Mojang to figure out how to optimize performance on phones and consoles with ancient CPUs, thanks to the power of mods. If you want to give modding a shot, check out PCGamesN’s list of glorious visual overhauls, while PC Gamer maintains a killer roundup of Minecraft mods that extend beyond mere graphical tweaks if you want to really get wild.