Update: The Pokémon Company has officially announced its new series for its popular trading card game, Mega Evolution. Its first expansion will be titled “Pokémon TCG: Mega Evolution.” More information will be revealed on July 10, 2025.

It’s expected to launch in September this year, while Japan’s equivalents, “Mega Brave” and “Mega Symphonia”, will launch in August. The original story continues below.

Just when you thought the Pokémon TCG had enough going on with Destined Rivals and Black Bolt and White Flare, in comes a brand new series altogether with the Mega Brave and Mega Symphonia sets (Update: Mega Evolution for English markets).

Originally announced at Japan’s Championship tournament, as reported by PokeBeach and later confirmed by The Pokémon Company, the two new sets featuring Mega Lucario ex and Mega Gardevoir ex mark the popular trading card game stepping away from its Scarlet and Violet era.

Mega Brave and Mega Symphonia will release on August 1, 2025, in Japan, and in September for English markets as “Mega Evolution”.

Great news, everyone: The latest Magic: The Gathering Final Fantasy Universes Beyond set has arrived, and it includes some great cards.

The arrival of a new set has already given rise to refreshed synergies with some forgotten cards seeing a boost, but naturally, the latest influx of cardboard has caused prices to climb and others to fall.

Magic: The Gathering – Crashers

Reach is one of the coolest VR games I’ve played in a long time. Chasing the high of classic cinematic action games like Tomb Raider or Uncharted, I had a blast climbing ledges, jumping between buildings, and popping enemies while dual-wielding pistols in NDreams’ latest. With dynamic movement and a surprisingly accurate sense of full-body awareness, I can’t wait to see more from this one, even if I got a little dizzy jumping as I platformed my way through the first level.

VR games often need to tow a delicate balance. Moving in a 3D space with stick-based movement is a surefire way to cause motion sickness for a lot of players, so a majority of VR games are designed in a way that takes both point-and-teleport-based movement and stick-based movement into account. But after a demo that featured a lot of running, jumping, and platforming, I’m pleased to say that I didn’t feel that creeping, bottom-of-the-stomach sensation I sometimes feel in VR.

A majority of the demo I played focused on platforming; I scaled up walls and grabbed onto ledges like in The Climb or Horizon: Call of the Mountain. Combined with sprinting, jumping, and even jumping between holds while climbing, the movement here felt surprisingly smooth and dynamic. Before long, I felt like an acrobatic action star pulling off the kinds of stunts only Tom Cruise could accomplish. Multiple times in my demo, I nearly bungled a jump but managed to snag a ledge in the nick of time, swinging in in a way that felt far more real and natural than I could’ve imagined in VR.

Moreso than any kind of cool action setpiece or stealth encounter, this kind of little detail – snagging a ledge just in time, saving myself from falling to certain doom – helps break free from the often on-rails feeling VR games can have. In sections where I wasn’t so lucky and wound up replaying a few times, I found myself skipping jumps and getting from point A to B in new ways each time. I love finding ways to maximize the tools in my toolkit to improve my movement in any game I play, but that kind of drive is rarely satisfied in VR. Reach answered that question in spades.

Exploring Reach’s first level wasn’t all running and climbing, though. I wound up in a handful of shootouts with generic militia guys as I made my way to rescue some hostages. There’s a bow with unlimited ammo strapped to your shoulder. With just a reach over your shoulder, you can snipe away at enemies from a safe distance before climbing, jumping, or running to where you need to go. While the section I saw didn’t really focus on stealth, I did run guns-blazing into what was probably supposed to be a stealth segment set in an office space.

There seemed to be some kind of enemy alert system, though by the time I realized what that little bubble above my targets’ heads meant, the arrow destined for my last enemy’s chest cavity had whistled off my bowstring. After that, there were a few more shootouts, though they didn’t task me with navigating an enclosed space in quite the same way. Instead, they took the shape of more traditional shooting gallery-style encounters like you’d find in plenty of other VR games with guns. Bad guys popped out of shutters and stood on balconies, with conveniently placed pistols littering the level for me to grab and unload.

These were considerably less fun and interesting than that stealth segment. As anyone who’s spent even a little time in VR will tell you, plenty of VR games make their bones in these shooting galleries – they have for nearly a decade at this point. So going from a more open, interactive design to a handful of moments I’d already seen before in a handful of other VR shooters was pretty disappointing. But after I cleared them, I went right back to platforming, exploring the very ledges my victims fell off of.

After one last shootout, things escalated. A helicopter started firing at me as I clambered my way to safety after a truck barreled through and propped open a gate, letting me scurry up a high wall. This little extra jolt of danger and tension, with walls exploding and ceilings collapsing behind me as the helicopter closed in on my location set off a last-ditch moment of platforming madness.

Blazing through Reach’s first level was the most fun I’ve had in VR in months, capped off with a charming way to end a demo like this. I can’t wait to see the rest of what NDreams cooks up when it eventually releases sometime later this year on Meta Quest 3, PlayStation VR2, and SteamVR.

Tucked into a corner of Summer Games Fest, Spine is definitely the kind of game meant to turn heads and grab attention. There is a decidedly late-’90s arcade style to the third-person action title that compels players to grab a controller and see what is going on for themselves. While it’s still early, in my hands-on demo with Spine, I can safely say that it’s absolutely something I’m excited to see evolve as it develops.

Aesthetically, Spine fits the cyberpunk-Blade Runner mold of an overcrowded dystopian city with profuse neon-yet-dark corners everywhere. The player assumes the role of a street artist named Redline who, in the demo, has been accused of a crime she did not commit and quickly finds herself surrounded by thugs at a bar. Redline fights off the enemies with deadly force and keeps going while punching and shooting everything that gets in her way.

Players familiar with Sifu will notice an immediate resemblance to that game in the form of the quick jabs, special attacks, and parry-driven finishing moves, but the developer shies away from that particular comparison. Instead, they insist it is a little bit more like Rocksteady’s Arkham series of Batman titles, with a heavy focus on reading tells more than predicting enemy movements.

Regardless of inspiration, the true carnival-game feel of Spine comes from the flashy and over-the-top finishers that are earned by parrying enemy attacks. Not for the squeamish or meek at heart, Redline will often force enemies to swallow a bullet with a gun shoved between their teeth or spin around them like John Wick with a well-placed shot to the back of the skull. The camera zooms, spins, and pans around the finishers to showcase the most dramatic and cinematic angles for her gunkata before Redline quickly moves on to the next goon coming her way.

Parrying also works at enemies throwing things or shooting at her as well, allowing her to spot-dodge the incoming projectile with a quick lean or turn that feels immensely satisfying, regardless of the ease to pull off.

Occasionally, Redline will pick up another weapon with limited ammo, such as a shotgun, and blow enemies away in one hit. These sections feel more like Hotline Miami than anything Batman has ever done, and sometimes even adopt that overhead camera angle to complete the allusion, intentional or otherwise.

There is some degree of Sega Genesis vibe going on with Spine that I cannot quite put my finger on, but it absolutely evokes an alternate reality where beat-‘em-ups became the biggest genre in the world in the ‘90s and iterated on that formula for decades. While there is a lot more to see before deciding where in that storied hierarchy Spine will land, I am more than interested in watching it get there.

Rekindling the long-running debate about whether Call of Duty skins have well and truly gone off the deep end, Beavis and Butt-Head are heading to the game.

Beavis and Butt-Head are perhaps the poster boys of the MTV generation and genuine 90s cartoon icons. Created by Mike Judge, Beavis and Butt-Head are two idiotic teen slackers who sit around grunting and giggling at rock music on MTV.

Call of Duty has form when it comes to 90s-themed skins, so perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised to see Beavis and Butt-Head finally get their moment in the shooter. But what is perhaps surprising is how their skins look, which is a jarring combination of the cartoon style fans know Beavis and Butt-Head for, but wearing MilSim outfits.

Mike Judge’s Beavis & Butt-Head are coming to Call of Duty Season 04 Reloaded 🔥 pic.twitter.com/3QnIYMv2AN

— Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) June 23, 2025

“Of all the collabs to get military-themed outfits in this game, I definitely did not see Beavis and Butt-Head getting one,” said redditor RdJokr1993. “Lol these are unironically more MilSim than most skins in the game,” added LoneRogue2018.

Others are coming up with on-brand one-liners we might hear Beavis and Butt-Head say in-game. For example: “Heh heh heh heh, he said ‘Duty.’”

In truth, Beavis and Butt-Head shouldn’t come as any surprise to anyone who’s played Call of Duty in the last few years. This is a game that has the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, a Dragon Knight that looks straight out of Skyrim, and, more recently, a skin made from strips of bacon, all running around realistic, war-torn environments. Activision releases these sorts of skins and players complain about realism, but they sell enough for Activision to keep releasing these sorts of skins. And so the cycle continues.

The question will be how much Beavis and Butt-Head cost. Activision has come under fire recently for its ultra aggressive monetization of Black Ops 6 and Warzone, with some players complaining about the high price of bundles, the introduction of event passes, and ever more expensive battle passes. Earlier this month, Activision pulled controversial adverts placed inside Black Ops 6 and Warzone loadouts, insisting they were a “feature test” published “in error.” It’s worth remembering that Black Ops 6 is a premium, $70 game, and this year’s Black Ops 7 is set to jump to $80.

And will this Beavis and Butt-Head skin carry forward into the recently announced Black Ops 7? Activision has yet to say. But given the timing of its release, the hope is that anyone who forks out for Beavis and Butt-Head will get bang for their buck.

For now, Call of Duty players are speculating that getting a headshot against Beavis and Butt-Head might be a little easier than against other skins in the game. Is this a pay-to-lose bundle?

Good luck to those sitting on them headies… 💀 pic.twitter.com/U4nd9l8PxS

— Team WaR (@OfficialTeamWaR) June 23, 2025

We don’t know when the Season 4 Reloaded mid-season update is set to launch exactly, but based on how many days players have left to complete the Season 4 battle pass, it should be released on or around June 26.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

There’s plenty of sealed Pokémon TCG stock available today, and while most Amazon listings are still above MSRP, a few products are finally trending down. The Prismatic Evolutions Super-Premium Collection is one of the most inflated at $208, while staples like the Lillie Premium Tournament Collection and Destined Rivals booster bundles are more reasonably priced. If you’re looking to crack packs or complete a set, there are a few solid pickups, just be sure to compare with secondary market prices first.

TL;DR: Deals For Today

Over on TCGPlayer, pricing is more competitive. The Destined Rivals Elite Trainer Box is going for $80, which beats Amazon’s $120+ listing. Cynthia’s Garchomp Premium Collection is nearly half the price on TCGPlayer as well. If you’re buying for value, this is where the better deals are today, especially on ETBs, bundles, and battle decks that are still readily available.

Pokémon TCG Stock Updates

As usual we’re looking at over-inflated pricing at big box stores, but it’s a dependable source of sealed product for trainers looking to add to their collections or rip open boosters. Although we’d recommend checking out secondary market prices first, as big retailers are now regularly selling over market value now too. I’ve already done the hard work for you:

TCG Player and eBay Pokémon Sealed Product

The Most Expensive Japanese Black Bolt White Flare Cards

The most expensive cards from Pokémon TCG’s Black Bolt and White Flare sets are already commanding serious prices in Japan. Top of the list are the Special Illustration Rares of Zekrom ex and Reshiram ex, both featuring intricate, hand-drawn artwork and fetching well over ¥20,000 (around $130–$150 USD) on the secondary market.

Also climbing fast are the new BWR (Black White Rare) cards and the full-art Victini promos from the themed file sets. With stunning clay and knitted art styles also making their debut, collectors are pushing prices up across the board, especially for low-population, high-style secret rares.

This Weeks Pokémon TCG Crashers and Climbers

With Black Bolt and White Flare wrapping up the Scarlet & Violet era, all eyes are now on what’s next—and Mega Evolution is officially back. The Japanese Championships 2025 confirmed MEGA Symphonia and MEGA Brave as the first entries in the new Mega Expansion Packs, launching August 1 in Japan. These sets reintroduce Mega Evolution ex cards in a powerful new form, now Stage 2 Pokémon worth 3 Prize Cards when knocked out. Cards like Mega Gardevoir ex, Mega Venusaur ex, and Mega Lucario ex are leading the charge, and collectors are already snapping up classic Mega cards in anticipation of their return to the spotlight.

MTG Live Preorders

Preorders are now live for Magic: The Gathering’s next major set, Edge of Eternities, ahead of its August 1 release. You can lock in Play Booster Boxes, Bundles, Commander Decks, and Collector Boosters, with prices already dipping below MSRP in some spots. With some chunky lore, borderless cards, and premium packaging teased, now’s a good time to grab your picks before stock tightens closer to launch.

MTG Stock Update

There’s the usual suspects of insanely priced boosters such as Theros Beyond Death, but there’s also some discounts such as 9% off a box of Assassin’s Creed collector boosters and a massive 32% off a booster box of Lord of the Rings set boosters.

MTG Final Fantasy Chase Cards

I was going to say how insane MTG Final Fantasy’s popularity is, but it’s completely understandable. Whilst sealed stock is going up in value and becoming harder to get, there’s plenty of option for the most in-demand cards for your deck or collection.

MTG Aetherdrift Chase Cards

Aetherdrift is one of Magic: The Gathering’s more experimental sets, blending high-speed vehicle mechanics with a bold visual style. Released as part of the Universes Beyond series, it introduced new archetypes and card types designed to shake up both casual and competitive formats.

Monster Hunter Wilds PS5 and Xbox Series X

Monster Hunter Wilds has hit its lowest price yet for the standard physical edition on PS5 and Xbox Series X at just $55.99, down from $69.99. This latest entry takes the series into a fully voiced narrative, dynamic biomes, and crossplay multiplayer. If you’ve been waiting for a price drop to jump into the Forbidden Lands, this is a solid time to grab a copy.

Symphonic Journeys Pokémon Red & Blue – IGN Exclusive Vinyl

Elden Ring Nightreign Official Strategy Guide

Serrenity Forge Storyteller’s Bundle

Donkey Kong Bananza

amFilm Switch 2 Tempered Glass Screen

Concept art from a long-canceled Batman Arkham Knight follow-up set to star Damian Wayne as the Dark Knight has surfaced online, giving us our best look yet at an aged Bruce.

Project Sabbath, as it was known, was in development at Batman Arkham Origins studio Warner Bros. Games Montreal after the launch of 2015’s Arkham Knight, and would have featured two Batmen — father and son.

Ultimately, however, the project was canceled by Warner Bros. and WB Games Montreal instead shifted focus to launch 2022’s poorly-received Gotham Knights, a game with no Batmen at all.

At the time, Sabbath was planned as Warner Bros’ next big Batman game, while Rocksteady itself explored concepts featuring other characters. Of course, Rocksteady itself circled back to its version of Batman (sort of) in its next project, the ill-fated Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.

Images from a former WB Games Montreal artist who worked on the project have now popped up on Artstation, featuring a youthful-looking Damian, grizzled and bearded Bruce, plus concepts for Killer Croc and Huntress.

Whether this game would have been strictly part of the Arkhamverse canon has never been firmly established. On the one hand, some of the designs here — particularly a very different-looking Killer Croc — suggest this would have been something of a different take. That said, the same could be said of Poison Ivy’s appearance in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, which definitely was part of the Arkham-verse. And, of course, WB Games Montreal did make Batman Arkham Origins, a prequel that is considered canon to Rocksteady’s core trilogy.

New concept art from WB Games Montréal’s cancelled 2015 Damian Wayne game “Project Sabbath” has surfaced, shared by character artist Rodrigue Pralier. The pieces clearly show Damian, an older Bruce, Killer Croc, and Huntress. The style and character designs further support the… pic.twitter.com/aRwTD7caYE

— Batman Arkham Videos (@ArkhamVideos) June 22, 2025

This isn’t the first time concept art from the game has hit the internet. Back in 2021, another former WB Games Montreal developer posted images of Damian Wayne in his Batsuit — a sleek outfit with red Bat signal emblazoned on his chest.

These designs also showed the same bearded older Bruce Wayne, although only inside his suit — meaning his newly-revealed face was obscured. Still, the designs suggest that, at some point, the older Bruce would still have suited up during his retirement.

“Project Sabbath”, a canceled Damian Wayne Batman game at WB Games Montreal, apparently has another wave of concept art revealed – this time by concept artist Goran Bukvic. The images match how the game was first described years ago.

Credit to Reddit user thebananapeeler2. pic.twitter.com/TelAZeMVMj

— The Arkham Channel (@ArkhamChannel) November 9, 2021

After launching Gotham Knights and providing additional development help to Rocksteady on Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, WB Games Montreal was downsized in December 2024, with almost 100 jobs lost. Rocksteady’s attempt at a co-op game featuring Batman side-characters was a flop, though the developer is now reportedly working on a single-player Batman game once again.

Maybe this will end up finally being the Bruce and Damian Wayne game fans have been waiting for?

Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

Kojima Productions has confirmed the global release times for Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, the sequel to Hideo Kojima’s open-world delivery adventure game starring Norman Reedus.

While most people will be able to play from midnight local time this coming Thursday, June 26, Kojima Productions has confirmed that those who bought the digital deluxe edition are able to jump in two days early on Tuesday, June 24.

It’s at this point that we normally add in a handy map, but Kojima Productions hasn’t provided one this time. That said, you don’t really need a satnav to navigate this release — the game will unlock for most at midnight local time.

IGN’s Death Stranding 2 review returned a 9/10. We said: “Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is a triumphant sequel that emphatically delivers on the promise of its original.”

Don’t forget, Hideo Kojima is also working on a live-action Death Stranding film with A24, and we recently learned that a Death Stranding anime is in the works, too. He’s also working on a PlayStation exclusive action espionage project called Physint, and called the upcoming Xbox-published OD “a game I have always wanted to make.”

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach global release times — early access:

Tuesday, June 24, 2025

PDT (Los Angeles):

• 12am midnight

CDT (Mexico City)

• 12am midnight

CDT (Chicago):

• 12am midnight

EDT (New York):

• 12am midnight

CLT (Santiago):

• 12am midnight

BRT (São Paulo):

• 12am midnight

BST (London):

• 12am midnight

CEST (Berlin):

• 12am midnight

GST (Dubai):

• 12am midnight

CST (Beijing)

• 12am midnight

KST (Seoul)

• 12am midnight

JST (Tokyo)

• 12am midnight

AEST (Sydney)

• 12am midnight

Death Stranding 2 global release times — standard access:

Thursday, June 26, 2025

PDT (Los Angeles):

• 12am midnight

CDT (Mexico City):

• 12am midnight

CDT (Chicago):

• 12am midnight

EDT (New York):

• 12am midnight

CLT (Santiago):

• 12am midnight

BRT (São Paulo):

• 12am midnight

BST (London):

• 12am midnight

CEST (Berlin):

• 12am midnight

GST (Dubai):

• 12am midnight

CST (Beijing):

• 12am midnight

KST (Seoul):

• 12am midnight

JST (Tokyo):

• 12am midnight

AEST (Sydney):

• 12am midnight

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

Just when you thought the Pokémon TCG had enough going on with Destined Rivals and Black Bolt and White Flare, in comes a brand new series altogether with the Mega Brave and Mega Symphonia sets.

Announced at Japan’s Championship tournament, as reported by PokeBeach, the two new sets featuring Mega Lucario ex and Mega Gardevoir ex mark the popular trading card game stepping away from its Scarlet and Violet era. It will release on August 1, 2025, in Japan, and September 26 in English markets (with preorders also supposedly taking place on September 13).

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide developer Fatshark has released the Battle for Tertium update, with the new Adeptus Arbites class DLC also set to go live. Patch notes are below.

The Adeptus Arbites, Darktide’s first class DLC, goes live around 7am PDT / 4pm CEST time today, June 23, priced $11.99 / €11.99 across all platforms.

This comes alongside the free Battle for Tertium update. This reworks the core player experience “to provide a new clearer narrative focus, following the conflict of the Battle for Tertium,” Fatshark said.

Players will now experience a linear campaign with new mission debriefs and embedded cinematics. This new progression path is designed to “ease in new players and gradually unlock features that were previously gated by character level,” the studio added.

While previously each new player’s experience was completely random, the Battle for Tertium narrative presents maps, enemies, and characters in a specific order. This, Fatshark hopes, means players will discover all aspects of the game at a much better pace.

The story missions play the same as regular missions, except they have a tighter control over which enemies spawn. You might also hear some new VO lines during missions, Fatshark teased, and some brand new mission debrief cinematics when completing each mission.

Existing players with characters at level 10 or higher can choose to skip the story or play it from the beginning. Players who change their minds about playing the campaign can opt out by using the Personality Scourge at the Barber-Chirurgeon.

It’s worth noting that if you skip the story when you first log-in with this update, you cannot revert this decision. The only way to play the story after choosing to skip it is to create a new character. The option to replay story missions at any time is still in progress, Fatshark clarified.

Story wise, the Arbites’ arrival takes place after the events of the Battle for Tertium, so while you can absolutely play as an Arbites through the new campaign, some of the story scenes will not be addressed to your type of character. Fatshark suggests playing the Battle for Tertium for the first time with one of the core characters.

Elsewhere, there’s a new mission board system, which changes how you engage with missions and difficulties. Missions are no longer tied to a specific difficulty, allowing you to select a mission and then choose the difficulty you want. This will effectively increase the amount of mission options available for players of all difficulty levels.

Tied into this, the difficulty system has been overhauled. You now unlock new difficulties by completing missions rather than leveling up your characters. “You must prove your skills at your current maximum difficulty to unlock access to the next one,” Fatshark explained. “We intend to create a motivation for new players to master the game step by step, and for veteran players to feel assured that their teammates have earned the right to be there.”

You will make progress by playing missions at your current maximum difficulty. Completing missions advances your progress. Mission Failures reduce your progress slightly but you will never be demoted to a lower difficulty. Higher difficulties will require you to complete more missions to unlock them. For existing characters, your difficulty progression will be migrated based on their character level and completed missions.

Battle for Tertium is one of the most significant updates for Darktide yet, and comes as the co-op first-person Warhammer 40,000 game nears its third birthday. After a troubled launch, Fatshark has improved Darktide significantly, to the point now where it has a ‘mostly positive’ Steam user review rating.

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide Battle for Tertium update patch notes:

Quality of Life Changes

• Increased maximum number of operatives to 8.
• Increased maximum number of weapon loadouts to 8.
• Added a total of ~900 new banter conversations, both between the original cast and Arbites.

Weapon Balance Changes & Tweaks

Catachan “Devil’s Claw” Swords

This batch of changes for the Devil’s Claw swords aims at further reinforcing the crowd control and reliability of the family.

We increased the offensive properties of the Light attack profiles, while also significantly increasing the armour damage modifiers (“adm” from now on) of the Heavy Strikedown and Special Riposte profiles against specific armour types.

We improved the base Stamina statistic, reduced the minimum Block time (the amount of time that the Block stance must be maintained after performing the input) and allowed for most attacks and attack starts to be performed while sprinting. This will make the weapon snappier and more responsive in different situations.

Finally, we took a pass on all attacks to tweak active windows, ranges and hitboxes to be better aligned with their animations.

For the Mk I, we added a new Heavy Strikedown attack, only reached from Light 3. In turn, the Light 3 attack is now reachable also from the Push action, and has an increased baseline power multiplier.

These additions will grant additional options to a mark which was lacking in single target attacks.

For the Mk IV, we raised the power level multiplier of the Light 4 attack as it was very far into the attack chain and not particularly enticing.

For the Mk VII, we increased the power level multiplier of the Pushfollow and Light 3 attacks while also changing the possible combos after a Riposte attack.

Now after a successful Special Parry, the combo will chain into the Pushfollow attack instead of Light 3; as the Pushfollow attack still chains into Light 3, this will give the mark a new unique chain.

Detailed Changes – Catachan “Devil’s Claw” Swords

Damage profiles

• Light Vanguard
  • 1st target damage from {40, 80} to {60, 100}.

Dev Note: The change will also affect the Turtolsky Heavy Swords Special followup Light attacks.

• Light Strikedown / Light Strikedown Stab
  • 1st target adm vs Maniac from 1 to 1.25.
  • 1st target damage from {100, 200} to {115, 230}.
  • 2nd target damage from {25,60} to {40,80}.

Dev Note: The changes will also affect the Turtolsky Heavy Swords Pushfollow attacks and the Maccabian Mk V Duelling Sword Light 3 attack.

• Heavy Strikedown
  • 1st target adm vs Unarmoured from 1 to 1.1.
  • 1st target adm vs Unyielding from 0.75 to 1.25.
• Riposte
  • 1st target adm vs Unarmoured from 1 to 1.25.
  • 1st target adm vs Unyielding from 1 to 1.25.
  • 1st target adm vs Carapace armour from 0.25 to 0.5.

All marks

• Added Allowed during sprint to most attacks and attack starts.
• Block minimum time from 0.3 to 0.225.
• Stamina template update:
  • Base Stamina from 4 to 4.5.
• Tweaked damage windows, hitboxes and ranges for several attacks.
• Updated Inspect screen to correct some attack gestalt icons (visual only change).

Mk I

• Added a new Heavy Strikedown attack with 540 power level multiplier .
  • This attack will chain only from Light 3.
• Light 3 chains now to Light 2 / new Heavy Strikedown instead of Light 1 / Heavy 1.
• Push chains now to Light 3 / Heavy 1 instead of Light 1 / Heavy 1.
• Heavy 2 chain time to Start attack from 0.55 to 0.5.
• Push chain time to Start attack from 0.35 to 0.3.
• Added 545 power level multiplier to Light 3 (from default 500).
• Added 535 power level multiplier to Pushfollow attack (from default 500).

Mk IV

• Heavy 1 windup from secondary start from 0.56 to 0.46.
• Added 550 power level multiplier to Light 4 (from default 500).

Mk VII

• Pushfollow damage profile from Light Strikedown to Light Strikedown Stab.
• Riposte chains now to Pushfollow / Heavy 1 instead of Light 3 / Heavy 1.
• Added 535 power level multiplier to Light 3 (from default 500).
• Added 525 power level multiplier to Pushfollow attack (from default 500).

Atrox Tactical Axes

While sporting overall good mobility, the Tactical Axes had only average Sprint values.

We significantly improved their Sprint profile, while also allowing for most attacks and attack starts to be performed while sprinting.

We also significantly raised the damage of the Special attacks and added a new profile for the Heavy Strikedowns with a vertical or uppercut direction, with increased damage and Carapace armour modifier.

Finally, we took a pass on all attacks to tweak active windows, ranges and hitboxes to be better aligned with their animations.

For the Mk II, we added a power level boost to the Light 3 attack, as it is further into the attack chain, and to both Special attacks, as they are slower compared to the other two marks.

For the Mk IV, we upgraded the damage profile for both Heavy attacks and slightly lowered their chain timings, as they are both performed in a vertical or uppercut direction.

For the Mk VII, we added a power level boost to all Light attacks, as they inflict a higher movement speed penalty compared to the Lights of the other marks, and changed the Heavy 2 profile to the new Heavy Strikedown.

Detailed Changes – Atrox Tactical Axes

Damage profiles

• Light Assassin
  • Added 3rd target.
• Heavy Strikedown (diagonal)
  • Adm vs Carapace armour from 0.25 to 0.3.
• Added a new Heavy Strikedown profile for vertical and uppercut attacks, with the same. properties as Heavy Strikedown (diagonal) aside from:
  • 1st target damage from {100,200} to {115,230}.
  • 1st target adm vs Carapace armour from 0.3 to 0.5.
• Special Stab
  • 1st target damage from {25,50} to {70,140}.
  • Removed Crit Chance bonus.
• Special Strikedown
  • 1st target damage from {25,50} to {60,120}.
  • 1st target impact from {8,16} to {10,20}.
  • Removed Crit Chance bonus.

All marks

• Sprint template from “default” to “assault”.
  • Forward acceleration from {0.15, 0.4} to {0.4, 0.8}.
  • Forward deceleration from 1.25 to 2.1.
  • Sprint speed modifier from {-0.5, 0.5} to {-0.25, 0.85}.
• Increased action total time for most Heavy attacks.
  • This will make continuing the combo chain after the attacks more forgiving.
• Added Allowed during sprint to most attacks and attack starts.
• Tweaked damage windows, hitboxes and ranges for most attacks.
• Buffer time for the Special input from 0.2 to 0.4.

Mk II

• Added power level multiplier 515 to Light 3 (from default 500).
• Added power level multiplier 550 to Special 1 and Special 2 (from default 500).

Mk IV

• Changed damage profile of Heavy 1 and Heavy 2 from Heavy Strikedown (diagonal) to the new Heavy Strikedown (vertical/uppercut).
• Lowered chain times to Start Attack and Special Attack from Heavy 1 and Heavy 2 from 0.5 to 0.4.
• Added power level multiplier 515 to Heavy 2 (from default 500).

Mk VII

• Changed damage profile of Heavy 2 from Heavy Strikedown (diagonal) to the new Heavy Strikedown (vertical/uppercut).
• Added power level multiplier 550 to Light 1, Light 2, Light 3 (from default 500).

Shock Mauls

The Shock Mauls, while being dependable in inflicting stagger, were also below average in damage output and overall not very exciting.

We increased the damage against the 1st target on most profiles, with a particularly large bonus to the Heavy Strikedown and Special attacks.

We also enhanced the base Stamina and Dodge templates, and tweaked hitboxes and active windows of some attacks to better align with their animations.

For the attacks with an uppercut direction (Light 3 on the Mk Ia / Light 4 on the Mk III) we slightly delayed the start of the attack active window to make it easier to connect with weakspots.

Finally, for the Mk Ia, we added power level multipliers to the Light 3 and Light 4 attacks, to make them a more enticing combo alternative to just returning to Heavy 1.

Detailed Changes – Shock Mauls

Damage profiles

• Light Strikedown
  • 1st target damage from {100,200} to {115,210}.
• Light Vanguard
  • Cleave from “light” to “medium”.
    • From {3.0,6.0} to {4.0,9.0}.
  • 1st target damage from {100,150} to {110,165}.
• Heavy Relentless
  • 1st target damage from {110,260} to {120,270}.
• Heavy Strikedown
  • Cleave from “big” to “light”.
    • From {8.5,12.5} to {3.0,6.0}.
  • 1st target damage from {140,350} to {160,390}.
  • 4th target damage override removed (from 0 to {30,50}).
• Light Relentless
  • adm vs Maniac from 0.8 to 0.75.
  • adm vs Carapace armour from 0.75 to 0.4.
  • 1st target damage from {80,150} to {90,165}.
• Special attack
  • Sticky damage tick from {10,70} to {30,80}.
  • Stun damage tick from {40,50} to {50,65}.

All marks

• Stamina template update:
  • Base Stamina from 4 to 4.5.
  • Sprint cost per second from {1.5, 0.5} to {1.25, 0.75}.
  • Inner angle Block cost from {1.5, 0.5} to {1.0, 0.5}.
• Dodge template update:
  • Effective dodges limit from {3, 4}, to {3, 5}.
    • From 4 to 5 maximum effective dodges at high Mobility stat.
  • Dodge distance from {0.85, 1.0} to {0.9, 1.1}.
  • Dodge speed from {1.0, 1.2} to 1.0.

Mk Ia

• Light 1 damage profile from Light Relentless to Light Vanguard.
• Added power level multiplier 530 to Light 3 (from default 500).
• Added power level multiplier 550 to Light 4 (from default 500).
• Tweaked hitboxes for Light 3 and Light 4.
• Tweaked damage windows for Light 4 to make it easier to connect with weak spots.

Mk III

• Tweaked hitboxes and damage windows for Light 1 and Light 2.
• Tweaked damage windows for Light 3 to make it easier to connect with weakspots.

Tigrus Heavy Eviscerators

The Eviscerator’s thunder was in part stolen by the Relic Blades, which have overall better cleave properties while also being no slouch in the single target department.

To give these iconic Zealot weapons a deserved bump, we tweaked most of the attack profiles: we removed the damage caps on secondary targets for the sweeping Vanguard/Relentless attacks, but also increased several armour modifier values, significantly improved the damage on the Heavy profiles and normalised most of the Special active profiles.

For the Mk III, we changed the chain times to key actions after the Heavy 1 attack to make it more responsive but less spammable with swap cancelling, slightly increased the speed of the Light 2 attack and added a power level multiplier to the Light 3 and Heavy 2 attacks.

Detailed Changes – Tigrus Heavy Eviscerators

Damage profiles

• Light Strikedown
  • adm vs Maniac from 0.5 to 0.9.
  • adm vs Infested from 0.75 to 1.
  • Removed adm reduction on 1st target vs Carapace armour; from 0.1 to 0.25.
• Light Vanguard/Relentless
  • Upped damage on secondary targets.
  • Removed damage cap after 4th target.
• Heavy Vanguard
  • 1st target damage from {150,300} to {165,345}.
  • 1st target finesse multiplier from 0.5 to {0.4,1.0}.
  • Upped damage on secondary targets.
• Heavy Strikedown
  • 1st target damage from {150,300} to {175,350}.
  • 1st target adm vs Carapace armour from 0.25 to 0.5.
  • 1st target finesse multiplier from 0.5 to {0.5, 1.0}.
• Light Strikedown (Special active)
  • Removed damage overrides.
  • Removed finesse multiplier override.
• Light Vanguard/Heavy Strikedown/Pushfollow (Special active)
  • Removed damage overrides.

All marks

• Added 0.4s buffer time to the Unwield input.

Mk III

• Heavy 1 chain to Unwield from 0 to 0.45.
• Heavy 1 chain to Start attack from 0.6 to 0.45.
• Heavy 1 chain to Block from 0.7 to 0.6.
• Light 2 time scale from 0.85 to 0.9 (sped up).
• Added power level multiplier 525 to Heavy 2 and Light 3 (from default 500).
• Updated Heavy 2 and Pushfollow attack damage profiles on Special abort.

Mk XV

• Updated Pushfollow attack damage profiles on Special active and Special abort.

Lucius Helbore Lasguns

The Helbore Lasguns suffered from a very long Wield action duration, making it hard to quickly swap to priority targets (especially accounting also for the charging shots).

While this behaviour was intended, it also became increasingly punishing as the enemy numbers grew in higher difficulties.

In this balancing pass we sped up the Wield action, walking the line of maintaining the cumbersome feeling while also allowing for the weapons to be easier to swap into.

Alongside this change, we improved some of the armour and Finesse modifiers for ranged shots, and extended the hitscan radius of the las projectiles*, to make it easier for the weapon to shine as a marksman tool.

* This will make the hitscan detection more generous and allow for shots that would have slightly missed the target to still be considered a hit.

For the Mk V, we slightly increased the camera zoom in ADS mode.

For the Mk IV, we increased the camera zoom in ADS mode to be equivalent as the Mk IIIa.

We also improved the speed and offensive properties of the Special Slash attack, to be more in line with the Special Stab used in the other marks.

Detailed Changes – Lucius Helbore Lasguns

Damage profiles

• Near charged shot
  • adm vs Unarmoured from 1 to 1.1.
  • adm vs Maniac from 1 to 1.25.
  • adm vs Infested from 1 to 1.1.
• Far charged shot
  • adm vs Unarmoured from 1 to 1.25.
  • adm vs Infested from 1 to 1.25.
• All shots Finesse Boost
  • vs Carapace armour from 0.1 to 0.2.
  • vs Maniac from 0.25 to 0.35.
  • vs Unyielding from 0.25 to 0.3.
• Special Slash
  • Added Ignore stagger reduction.
  • 1st target finesse multiplier from 0.75 to 1.

All Marks

• Added time scale 1.5 to Wield action (sped up).
• Added 0.05 radius to hitscan templates.
• Buffer time for the Special input from 0.2 to 0.4.

Mk V

• ADS Vertical Field of View from 65 to 55.

Mk IV

• Chain from Special start to Special attack from 0.3 to 0.25.
• Chain from Special attack to Special start from 0.7 to 0.645.
• Tweaked Special attack hitbox and damage window.
• ADS Vertical Field of View from 65 to 45.

Combat Shotguns

The Combat Shotguns have been in a spot where they are mostly used for their Special shells, while the normal shots felt underwhelming in most circumstances. They also suffered from long reload times relative to other weapons.

With this update we are trying to improve the overall usability without relying solely on the Special mechanic.

Along with increased base damage and reload speed, the Combat Shotgun family gets updated Sprint and Stamina templates, to enable a more mobile, close-range playstyle and not rely only on precision weak-spot shots.

We also significantly increased the ammo reserves for all marks.

Finally, we slightly increased the Cleave and Impact values to allow it to punch through lesser enemies.

For the Mk VII, we aligned the Finesse boost curve between hipfire and ADS modes.

For the Mk IX, we slightly extended the Near and Far effective ranges.

Detailed Changes – Combat Shotguns

All Marks

• Sprint template from “killshot” to “assault”.
  • Sprint forward acceleration from {0.15, 0.4} to {0.4, 0.8}.
  • Sprint forward deceleration from 1.25 to 2.1.
  • Sprint sideway acceleration/deceleration from 5 to 7.
  • Sprint speed modifier from {0.5, 0.5} to {0.25, 0.85}.
• Updated Stamina template
  • Stamina modifier from 2 to 4.
  • Sprint cost per second from {2, 1.5} to {1.5, 0.5}.
• Increased Reload speed by around 10%
  • Affecting both regular and special shells.

Damage profiles

• Zarona MK VI
  • Damage from {250, 500} to {300, 600}.
  • Cleave
    • Cleave attack From 0.01 to {2, 4}.
    • Cleave impact from 0.01 to {2, 4}.
  • Ammo reserve from {60, 80} to {70, 95}.
• Agripinaa Mk VII
  • Damage from {200, 400} to {250, 480}.
  • Cleave
    • Cleave attack From 1.3 to 2.5.
    • Cleave impact from 1.3 to 2.5.
  • Ammo reserve from {75, 95} to {80, 105}.
  • Finesse boost curve shooting from HipFire increased to match ADS.
    • {0.6,1.2} to {1.25,2.5}.
• Accatran Mk IX
  • Damage from {450, 700} to {550, 740}.
  • Cleave
    • Cleave attack From 2 to 3.5.
    • Cleave impact from 1 to 3.
  • Ranges
    • Close range from {6, 8} to {6, 11}.
    • Long range from {12, 16} to {12, 17}.
  • Ammo reserve from {45, 65} to {55, 85}.

Double-barreled Shotgun

To increase the reliability of the weapon against bigger targets, we increased the armour damage modifier against the Unyielding type at both Near and Far ranges.

Additionally, we slightly raised the ammo reserves to allow for more aggressive approaches.

Detailed Changes – Double-barreled Shotgun

Damage profiles

• adm vs Unyielding
  • Near from 1.0 to 1.1.
  • Far from 0.5 to 0.65.
• Ammo reserve increased from {40, 80} to {50, 90}.

Bug Fixes & Changes

Weapons and Blessings

• Fixed an issue where the description for the ‘Run n Gun’ blessing was displaying incorrect prefixes.

Classes

Psyker

• Fixed an issue where the Disrupt Destiny keystone sometimes failed to show stacks in the HUD.

Missions

Inter-Zone Void Sector Omega-12

Clandestium Gloriana

• Fixed several places in Clandestium Gloriana where players could get out of bounds.
• Rotated the door after the mid event in Clandestium Gloriana to avoid players getting trapped behind it when it opens.

UI/UX and Animation

• Fixed an issue where an “additional objectives” string in the Penance menu would not localize correctly.

Miscellaneous

• Deadzone options now apply to both sticks when playing on controller.

Cosmetics

• Fixed clipping issue on the Zealot “Stygian Kantrael MK IVG Flak Helm” headgear.
• Fixed clipping issue behind the arms on the Veteran “Stygian MK lll Flak vest” upper body.
• Fixed longer hairstyles clipping issue with the Psyker “Stygian MK IV Psykana Collar with Rebreather” headgear.
• Fixed an issue where the Psyker “Illius Pattern Battleshoud with Psykana Collar (Burn Sulphur)” headgear would remove the operative’s eyebrows.
• Fixed issues with the Veteran “Militarum Field Jacket” upper body clipping with “Militarum Type 47” lower body.
• Fixed issues where the following Veteran headgear cosmetics would clip certain hairstyles
  • Ock’s Blood Goggles
  • Tinker Zard’s Superior High-vis Goggles
  • Chasm Railer Goggles
• Fixed corrupted texture on Veteran “Vostroyan Hat with Tox Guard Face Mask (Mountain Snow)” headgear.
• Fixed clipping issue on the Veteran “Stygian Mk I Armoured Fatigues” lowerbody.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.