Category: PlayStation

Welcome back, survivors, and prepare to embark on a thrilling journey filled with intense combat, strategic decision-making, and unyielding teamwork! Remnant II will be available on July 25, 2023 on PlayStation 5. Sequel to the third-person action-survival shooter Remnant: From the Ashes, Remnant II builds upon the foundations of its predecessor, offering an enhanced cooperative experience that will test your mettle like never before. Join forces with friends or meet fellow adventurers online as you navigate a dynamically designed world ravaged by otherworldly forces.

Core gameplay and mechanics

Remnant II immerses players in a seamless blend of fast-paced third person shooting, strategic character customization, and deep exploration. As you venture through dynamically generated environments, you’ll encounter hordes of terrifying and brutal enemies. Your goal is to survive the onslaught while uncovering the secrets behind the relentless invasion of the Root.

The game presents an arsenal of diverse weapons, each with their unique playstyle and devastating powers. Whether you prefer the precision of long-range rifles, the brute force of heavy weaponry, or the agility of close-quarters combat, there’s a weapon to suit every survivor’s style. Mastering the art of gunplay and adapting your loadout to different encounters is key to overcoming the challenging adversaries that lie ahead.

Remnant II embraces a robust character progression system that grants you the freedom to customize your abilities and playstyle. Choose from a variety of archetypes, each with its unique set of skills and perks, allowing you to tailor your character to fit your preferred combat approach. Unleash powerful abilities, harness mystical arts, and experiment with different synergies to create a formidable survivor capable of facing any obstacle.

Cooperative gameplay

Remnant II thrives on cooperative experience, encouraging players to team up and tackle the Root’s onslaught together. Whether you prefer playing with a close group of friends or teaming up with fellow survivors online, the game seamlessly integrates cooperative play into its core mechanics.

Coordinated teamwork becomes essential as you face daunting bosses and navigate treacherous environments. Strategize with your teammates, combine your unique abilities, and cover each other’s backs to overcome the challenges that lie ahead. Communication and cooperation are key, as the game rewards players who work together seamlessly, offering enhanced tactical possibilities and shared rewards.

Level design and multiplayer integration

In Remnant II, level design takes multiplayer into account, providing an exciting world that reacts to the presence of multiple players. Each area is dynamically generated to offer a balanced and engaging experience, regardless of the number of players in your party.

The game intelligently adjusts enemy difficulty and spawn rates based on the number of players, ensuring a challenging but fair cooperative experience. Whether you’re exploring eerie ruins, navigating through dense forests, or infiltrating haunting gothic complexes, the levels offer a mix of verticality, hidden pathways, and environmental hazards that demand coordination and adaptability from your team.

Furthermore, Remnant II introduces unique multiplayer events and encounters, encouraging players to join forces and tackle exclusive challenges together. These events may range from intense boss battles to objective-based puzzles, adding a layer of excitement and camaraderie to your cooperative journey.

Pre-orders are available starting today. Fans who digitally purchase the Remnant II Ultimate Edition will also receive early access to Remnant II on July 21^st, three days before its official launch date. In addition, if players pre-order any digital edition, they will also get early unlock to the Gunslinger Archetype Class.

Choose from three options when digitally pre-ordering Remnant II:

Standard Edition – $49.99

• Base Game – Enjoy Remnant II when it releases on July 25

Deluxe Edition – $59.99

• Standard Edition content
• Three Remnant: From the Ashes armor sets Elder, Void, and Radiant armor sets

Ultimate Edition – $69.99

• Deluxe Edition content
• Early Access – Start playing Remnant II on July 21 ahead of the official launch of the game
• Survival Pack – Start the game with a variety of expendable items to get a leg up against powerful foes
• DLC Bundle – Receive three DLC packs for Remnant II. More details regarding the DLC packs will be announced at a later date. All DLC is expected to be available within one year of launch.

Are you ready to lie or die? I hope so! I’m Ji Won Choi, project director for Lies of P which will be launching onto PS4 and PS5 on September 19. We quickly amassed a large community of fans after announcing the title and we’re so excited they can finally get a taste of the adventure that awaits them in Krat in the Lies of P demo.

You may know that Lies of P is an action Souls-like game inspired by the tale of everyone’s favorite liar Pinochio, set in a dark Belle Époque world. But, do you know how to “lie” your way through the first two chapters of the game? I’m not going to tell you a step-by-step guide and take away from the experience but I’ll be your “blue fairy” of sorts with pointers you won’t get anywhere else!

But before I begin, here’s what you can expect from the demo:

Explore Krat

This demo gives you just a glimpse of what’s explorable in Krat but there’s lots to discover! So, make sure you explore locations as you make your way to Hotel Krat. You just may uncover secrets that help P grow stronger and additional background information.  

Weapon assemble/ weapon combination

Create unique weapons by taking some handles and blades to merge them into something new for all new attributes and styles. After meeting with Gepgetto, you can begin experimenting by speaking to Eugenie in Hotel Krat or by finding a stargazer.

Fable Arts 

Each weapon has two Fable Arts – one for the blade and one for the handle. Fable Arts have a wide-range of uses, including bolstering your defense or dealing damage in spectacular fashion

Legion Arm loadouts 

There are three available in the demo, each with a unique purpose so you can customize to fit your playstyle and weapon. Go to the Venigni Craft Machine in Hotel Krat to change your Legion Arm.

Improving P

Increase all your attributes in exchange for Ergo by speaking to Sophia in Hotel Krat. The higher your attributes increase, the greater the Ergo cost. What will you improve first? You’ll be able to improve P via Stargazer before meeting with Sophia in this demo.

Stargazers/ Stargazers

Using a Stargazer will replenish your health, but enemies also respawn so only use them if you really need to. 

Groggy & Fatal Attacks

When attacking enemies, they’ll become Groggy (see white outline around health bar). After stunning a groggy enemy, use a Fatal Attack to punish them during this window. 

Before you take on the Parade Master 

Purchase Throwing Cells from the Wandering Merchant located directly outside the boss encounter. They’re a particularly effective throwable object for this boss. They deal shock damage from a distance and make the boss more susceptible to damage from melee attacks for a short period.

Be sure to upgrade P from the Stargazer outside Krat Hotel before taking on the Parade Master. 

Scrapping with the Scrapped Watchman 

Use a Star Fragment to summon a Specter outside the boss room to aid you in this encounter.

It will use electric elemental attack in the second phase, therefore it is recommended to use parts with electric damage reduction.

Electric shock status will cause more damage from this boss. Make sure to use Attribute Purification Ampoule to prevent it from happening.

Feedback, please

The Lies of P developers have been hard at work to deliver a demo they’re proud of. But none of that means a thing unless you, the community, feel the same. Please share your feedback with us and we’ll release the very best Lies of P experience possible this September 19.

Hello wanderers, I’m Gwen, co-founder and director at SOS. We are very happy to welcome you to Viewfinder, our first game as a studio. In it you, the player, can reshape reality with photographs, found objects, and a camera. That may sound confusing, but I’ve always found that the best way to explain the gameplay of Viewfinder is to experience it. For this reason, we are proud to reveal that you can do so today, in the new Viewfinder demo at PlayStation Store for PlayStation 5!

When we were first developing the placing photos mechanic, we focused on what felt good and fun. Having a camera, taking photos, and placing things randomly in space to alter reality is very exciting and amusing. But we were very mindful that placing found objects in new spaces also meant destroying what was previously there. Things can get complicated and confusing, especially if you accidentally delete something, like a teleporter, as these mark the end point of each puzzle and take you to the next challenge or even to the end of the level. We wouldn’t want that. This would mean dead ends and as much as the core mechanic is interesting, it limits the things we wanted to do and would be an unpleasant experience for anybody.

Sometimes playing games can feel like work and resetting a whole level’s progress can be discouraging, especially when the solution is at the tip of your tongue. How could we give players the freedom to explore the world we’ve built without fear of consequences? So we thought of what else we can pair with this camera mechanic so that it doesn’t punish, but actually encourages trial and error for people figuring out ways to move forward.

The answer is Rewind.

We wanted to encourage experimentation and remove the fear of failure. Now when you stumble upon something that would have otherwise been game breaking, you can just turn back time and try again! It is very important that people play the game at their own pace and discover things in their own way. It doesn’t matter how you play the game, as long as you have fun along the way. After that, the game felt way fuller and concrete.

In the words of the Cheshire Cat, “Imagination is the only weapon in the war with reality.” Viewfinder gameplay became this unique experience that can only exist in the video game medium. Because it is so absurd, weird and far removed from reality, we wanted to ground it with things from the real world. The space you’re exploring should feel lived in and real. Instead of trying to make something wholly original, we did our best to figure out how we can bring who we are, and what makes us happy into the game. Like sitting, we really like sitting down.

Adding in elements that are so closely tied to who we are as people can be complicated and scary. It takes a lot of hard work and vulnerability to translate feelings into a video game and hope people resonate with them. But it turns out that this was the best part of making this game.

We’ve put in a robot vacuum cleaner and some of the places and paintings we love. There’s a bonsai mango. There’s a watermelon with a headset. Guitars. Electric guitars. Plants. Tea cups. The evil eye. Bread. A photocopier. What happens when you put the impossible triangle in 3D space? Does it go on forever? What will “The Scream” painting sound like? What’s inside a child-like house drawing? Do blocks fall when you place a picture of them in the sky? Is it a stair or is it just lines on the wall?

This is why we have a cat in-game. CAIT will be your companion as you learn more about the world we’ve built. And if you ever feel frustrated at a level, we encourage you to pet the cat. Now cats growl when they’re pleased, some people might call it purring, and some might call it growling. But yes, pet the cat.

So you get to rewind time and pet a cat.

Creating is freedom, but at what cost? You can learn more about this when you play Viewfinder. The demo will be permanently available on PlayStation 5. And we are very excited to release the full game on July 18. We hope you love the game just as much as we do.

AK-xolotl is the cutest, deadliest and only top-down roguelike shooter featuring AK-wielding axolotls. Blast your way through the animal kingdom with an arsenal of powerful guns, mighty power-ups and even raise an army of trigger-happy baby axolotls.

After showing off some gameplay in an explosive trailer earlier this year, the team is delighted to present some more of the roguelite (or roguelotl, as we call it) gameplay elements of our game AK-xolotl.

For these axolotls, the food chain is merely a suggestion and the line between prey and predator can easily be erased with an AK-47. Your enemies however, will not go down without a fight. Especially in the beginning, you’ll be outnumbered and outgunned.

As the old saying kinda goes, “Anything that actually kills us, makes us stronger.” For axolotls and their amazing regenerative abilities, this is undeniably true. In your quest for revenge and snacks (more on the story later) you’ll be faced with many challenging adversaries. As shown in the trailer, dying is part of the gameplay loop and players should be prepared to die…a lotl.

Luckily, our main Axolotl doesn’t have to face all this violence alone. During each run, new Axolittles can be unlocked, each with unique traits and skills. With a little love (and food) these Axolittles will soon grow into a bunch of trigger-happy little maniacs, eager to mow down their enemies.

In the trailer, we are showing off some of the unique abilities your Axolittles can inherit, ranging from a quick self heal to destroying all your enemies in the ultimate sacrifice.

Snack

Beginning players might appreciate the standard healing ability early on. While you are still learning the ropes and expanding your arsenal, being able to heal yourself will come in clutch during that first boss fight. You’ll still have to manage and plan your heals as the ability, like all abilities, requires a certain amount of damage dealt to enemies before you can use it again.

Summon

More experienced players might be more inclined to max out their special items by embracing their inner Greed Demon, an ability that allows them to summon power-ups from the netherrealms. Don’t expect to spam this ability though. The more you use it, the longer it will take to charge.

Lotzilla

When collecting certain materials from specific biomes, sometimes you just want to be able to stomp your enemies and get it over with. In those cases, nothing beats the Lotzilla skill. You think an axolotl with a gun is a problem? Try facing a giant axolotl with a giant gun!

Faith

The powerful  “all or nothing” ability Faith should be reserved for only the fiercest players. When death is imminent, this type of axolotl can go full Super Saiy…lotl and overcharge their killing power to destroy everything on screen, including themselves. Why would anyone do that? Well, remember the regenerative power of the axolotls. Everytime they burn it all down, there is a small chance of surviving the explosion. A great way to either get out of a terrible situation, or go out in style.

But wait, there’s more!

Along the way you’ll be able to collect ingredients to cook hearty meals for your Axolittles, helping them grow and nurture their violent tendencies. Don’t get too attached to the little ones though. Somewhere in a forbidden corner of the pond lurks an ancient evil with an offer that is hard to refuse. Let’s just say that survival of the fittest sometimes means making some hard, dark choices…

AK-xolotl is coming to PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 this fall.

While F1 Manager 23 is lining up on the grid for release on July 31, we’re jumping into a few of the new features that are now included in the most authentic F1 management simulation to date.

Race Replay

Race Replay is a brand-new mode for F1 Manager 23 allowing you to relive every race and pivotal moments from the 2023 F1 season.

Starting Grid is the first way to prove yourself in Race Replay. Choose any team and take on the starting grid and conditions from any real 2023 race and see if you have what it takes to beat the real-life outcome. You’ll need to manage your drivers, tactics, and tyres to produce the optimal performance for the team.

Race Moments let you jump directly into crucial, real-life scenarios faced by teams during the current season. Join Alpine at the Miami Grand Prix, where Esteban Ocon is battling to keep Charles Leclerc behind and choose the perfect time for your pit stops to ensure you beat the pursuing Ferraris. Or, take charge of McLaren after a hectic 29 laps at Albert Park and see if you can lead Oscar Piastri to a points finish at his home race.

With new Starting Grids and Race Moments being added to the game following every race weekend of the 2023 season, Race Replay is your opportunity to get closer to the action than ever before!

Pit Crew Training

New for 2023 is the Sporting Director: a key staff member responsible for trackside operations, bringing with them the ability to manage and improve your pit crew. Your Sporting Director will have their own set of performance ratings that will be crucial to develop to ensure they get the best out of your pit crew during training.

Pit-crew training schedules are set monthly. You can choose between preset regimes or create a custom plan (You can even set morning/afternoon plans per day!). Go balanced or focus on specific areas you need your crew to improve on. Pit Stop Errors will put focus on improving consistency, while Fatigue Reduction will give your crew members more rest days, reducing the likelihood of a fatigue related mistake.

Driver Confidence

Confidence is key when hurtling around a circuit at 200mph in an F1 car and things are no different in F1 Manager 23.

Going into each race weekend, your drivers will have a baseline confidence level for each session. How you set up the car and how much time you give your drivers on-track in Practice will play a fundamental role in your drivers’ confidence and performance for Qualifying and Race sessions. If successful, your drivers will be more confident when the lights go out and be more likely to make that all important overtake. If they’re involved in a failed battle or incident, they will lose confidence! It’s up to you to keep an eye on how your driver is performing before issuing them commands.

Deeper Race Drama

Authenticity to the sport is at the heart of F1 Manager and this year we’ve taken it even further. You’ll see more on-track battles and wheel-to-wheel action going into corners, including that all important sprint to the first corner.

You’ll notice more variety in racing lines as drivers that are pushing hard will be more aggressive on the kerbs, while a driver that is conserving tyres may take a more passive approach to corners. New Driver Tactics will play into the previously mentioned Driver Confidence and influence how each race pans out while the ERS Battle Assist will make it easier to overtake/defend at those pivotal moments.

Get closer with Helmet Cam

And last but not least, a new, more visual way to immerse yourself. Building upon the broadcast-style presentation, where we showcase all the action with real trackside camera angles, we’ve added Helmet Cam to F1 Manager 23.

Introduced into F1 over the last couple of years, you can now get a driver’s-eye view of every corner, every battle and every incident in game.

The immersion is ramped up immediately when you switch to the helmet camera and see your driver’s hands shifting rapidly from left and right as they tackle every apex. Or cut to the car behind and watch from their eyes. It really must be seen in action to appreciate how realistic it looks.

F1 Manager 23 features a plethora of improvements and features, bringing you ever closer to all the drama and action from the real F1 season, while setting you up with all the tools to prove yourself for years into the future. Find out if you have what it takes to be a Team Principal from July 31.

PlayStation players who pre-order F1 Manager 23 will unlock three extra Race Replays. Deluxe Edition purchasers will also gain access to twelve exclusive scenarios for Race Replay.

F1 Manager 23 is available for pre-order now on PS4 and PS5, launching digitally on July 31.

Synapse’s State of Play reveal illustrated a potent combo of sidearm and telekinetic-infused combat. Last month at PlayStation Showcase, developer nDreams used the release date announcement to dig into the story of a lone operative diving into another’s mind to avert global catastrophe, and the reunion of two high-caliber voice talents who find themselves again involved in a black ops-style mission, but this time on different sides of a battlefield. And now, thanks to a hands-on with a specially-curated playable demo, we have a better understanding of how Synapse gameplay unfolds.

Let’s break down the core gameplay loop. It’s driven by tactical combat, using your base abilities of bullets and TK plus interactive objects to clear out multi-leveled arenas of enemies. Those encounters are punchy bursts of action which increase in complexity and intensity. You’re outnumbered, continually outflanked, attackers able to short-range teleport to better position themselves. The odds are put back in your favor through steadily unlocked abilities and randomized buffs, all tools built to nudge you into being as enjoyably, efficiently creative with your skills as possible. Synapse has the DNA of a roguelite.

Let’s dig deeper. A run will have you fight a growing mix of enemy types across multiple levels, the sequencing of those stages randomized and pulled from a large pool of potential locations. Completion of any opens a door to the next, at the threshold of which you’re offered one of two possible two Traits. These add fun modifiers for the rest of your run. Clutch an object with TK to kick in slo-mo. Add a curve to your bullets. Turn TK-grabbed foes into short-term friendlies or targets for other assailants to draw fire away from you. 

Synapse’s mini-map is thoughtfully executed. Flip your TK hand palm up for a radial-style device to materialize upon it. A 3D space floats above it, pinpoints enemy locations and collectables. It’s an interaction with the same simple satisfaction – and muscle memory – as checking your watch for notifications.

Revelations is Synapse’s name for permanent upgrades split across three skill trees, for your TK, weapons and general resilience respectively. These trees are available between runs and will grant you, amongst others, the ability to grab enemies (and toss them around like rag-dolls) or their grenades (catching them mid-throw), increase your weapon loadout. You can activate Shrines that’ll spawn within levels, granting you a health boost or new weapons.

All are unlocked and used during my hands-on, early access granted thanks to a generous dose of XP (called Defiance in Synpase) for the purposes of the demo. But before I step into several arenas to play around with my powers, I need to learn how the core mechanics work. Cue tutorial and the base mechanics.

Movement is an uncompromised first-person shooter, character movement and camera operated by the Sense controller sticks, with comfort settings also offered. You can also pick which of your hands does what. Gun hand is

is self-explanatory but doesn’t work in isolation: guns need to be reloaded by way of partially ejecting them then slamming magazines back into position. You can use your other hand. Or any solid surface, which includes cover points and an enemy’s noggin. Reloads continue to feel satisfying throughout the run.

Your other hand is where multitasking takes off. It can be used to grab cover, your Sense controller movement mirrored in-game to pull you out, up or to the side of whatever you’re ducking behind. As long as you’ve got your finger pulled down on the Sense controller trigger, you’re anchored. It’s a design brought over from nDreams’ previous PS VR title Fracked. A nice feature that gives you mobility options while stationary.

The game’s music is being scored by Paul Weir, who also composed No Man’s Sky. The direction he was tasked to draw inspiration from was the cerebral blockbuster movies of Christopher Nolan, lending a Zimmer-like soundtrack to Synapse.

It’s this hand, along with PS VR2’s eye-tracking, that powers TK. You learn very quickly what is interactive in Synapse: crates, platforms (and later, enemies and their grenades). In a world that’s wholly monochrome, objects made for manipulating are suddenly outlined in vibrant color. Grip with the Sense controller, and you’re free to shift the item as telekinesis intended.

The item’s movement and velocity is dictated by your hand’s movement and speed. Hold a crate steady and close, and you have mobile cover. You could toss a fastball and use this flying box to cannon into – and aimed right, one-shot kill – enemies. The delicacy and precision that TK physics offers is impressive. I’ll admit I spend longer in the tutorial than I need to, just carefully stacking crates or attempting to juggle three in the air, spinning each faster and faster as I catch and release them, tossing them higher and higher.

Two examples of using TK during combat: crates can be held and swiped back and forth, knocking enemies down like skittles. Barrels can be an explosive way to take out foes well hidden behind cover.

There’s smart use of the Sense controller’s adaptive triggers as well, with volatile objects such as barrels and live grenades requiring a lighter grip if you’re to hold them safely. Pull fully on the trigger and you’ll crush them, leading to explosive results. Perfect to toss then squeeze as they arc over the heads of congregating shooters, though a stray bullet from either side can as easily ignite a barrel.

Even in these early encounters, the action ramps up quickly, requiring you to think even quicker, pinpointing possible configurations of useful items, enemy locations, your route through and around any danger. All familiar ingredients of a roguelite, but TK gives Synapse a unique flavor.

And I’d be remiss if I didn’t take the time to acknowledge Synapse’s art direction. Monochrome levels with pops of vibrant color initially echo the best showroom OLED TV demos in showrooms, but the more I took time to soak in my surroundings, the more I felt subtly unsettled. The studio points out surrealistic art as an initial inspiration, but I realized what the desolate shoreline and rocky outcrops of this first biome was reminding me of. It’s a black and white starkness that harkened the setting of Swedish fantasy film The Seventh Seal. In that, a knight plays for his life in a game of chess against Death.

Perhaps that parallel isn’t an accident. Synapse’s story is one built around a battle of wits between two minds: The Colonel and his invader’s. In actual fact, it’s three different sources: the Colonel’s mind, your character’s own and the AI in control of the system. I’m curious to see what unfolds visually. nDreams promises a strong narrative to pull you in, stating it’ll take three complete runs to uncover the full scope of its story. And even after its conclusion, the game’s roguelite design is built to entice you back into another mind dive.

Diablo IV’s potential for adventure knows no bounds. With its remarkable replayability and highly customisable gameplay, delving into the depths of diverse builds is an integral part of the excitement. Today, we present three favorite builds personally chosen by the developers themselves.

With the official launch just around the corner, why not try one of these for yourself? Perhaps you’ll find your personal preferred playstyle within Diablo IV’s endless possibilities…

Bad to the Bone-Spirit (Necromancer)

by Adam Z. Jackson – Lead Class Designer

The first build I would like to talk about is what I’m planning to run with for Diablo IV’s launch, which is a Bone-Spirit Necromancer!

Bone Spirit is one of our bolder skill designs in that it both has a long cooldown and removes ALL of the player’s Essence when cast. In exchange, it deals a significant amount of extra damage to enemies for every point of resource spent. The Enhancement for Bone Spirit also reduces its cooldown significantly when it Critically Strikes an enemy, adding an additional goal for players to chase.

Putting this all together, the goal for this build is to get to a place where the player can both increase their maximum Essence as well as their Essence Regeneration to the point where they can cast Bone Sprit on cooldown while reliably being able to generate enough Essence to be full again for the next cast. We’ll be prioritizing Maximum Resource, Resource Regeneration, and Critical Strike Chance as the primary stats to chase. Other stats like Critical Strike Damage or effects like bonus damage to Bone skills are also desirable. One thing that’s also very interesting about this build is that I expect it to change a lot over time as I get more gear and certain Legendaries and Uniques that I’m going to target.

Among the key effects we want is Ghastly Bone Spirit, which grants an additional 10% Critical Srike Chance and helps us reliably Critically Strike enemies that is crucial to the build until our Critical Strike Chance is high enough via gear and other methods to do it without this upgrade. At that point, we can switch over to Dreadful Bone Spirit (generates 30 Essence over the next 4 seconds after each hit) to help with our Essence generation. The Ossified Essence Key Passive causes Bone Spirit to deal even more damage when cast with a lot of Essence (1% increased damage to Bone Skills for each point of Essence above 50).  Since we plan to always cast Bone Spirit at full Essence, this is going to greatly increase the damage that we’ll be able to put out.

For this build, I’m going to try only running a Bone Golem, and sacrificing my Skeleton Skirmishers for extra Critical Strike Chance (6%) and my Skeletal Mages for additional maximum Essence (18).

As far as skills, to start the game I’m going to use Bone Splinters, Bone Spear, Bone Spirit, Golem, Corpse Explosion, and Blood Wave.  This set of skills gives me a way to use Corpses effectively while also having the control tools needed via my Golem and Blood Wave to keep enemies grouped up and at bay while I annihilate them with Bone Spear and Bone Spirit.

Legendaries and Uniques will improve this build further. Blood Artisan’s Cuirass greatly upgrades the build by giving an alternative method of spawning Bone Spirits by collecting Blood Orbs. After getting this Unique, my build will also be chasing spawning Blood Orbs, which now enables new connections, such as the Tidal Doom Legendary power that spawns multiple Blood Waves, which also spawns more Blood Orbs to collect!

For a more end-game setup, I swapped out Bone Splinters and Bone Spear for Hemorrhage and Corpse Tendrils so I can get more Blood Orbs. In this version of the build, I am using Bone Sprit on cooldown to deal massive damage while creating and collecting Blood Orbs to spawn additional Bone Spirits when I can.

Wolfnado (Druid)

by Adam Z. Jackson – Lead Class Designer

A Werewolf Tornado Druid is a fun and powerful build that only gets better over time.

The goal of this build is to fill the screen with as many Tornadoes as possible.  To do this, you should prioritize maximum Spirit, Spirit generation, and effects that reward you for gaining and spending Spirit as much as possible.

One Unique really changes this build is Tempest Roar. Being able to cast Tornado as a Werewolf opens a lot of interactions that previously weren’t available. While the build can work without this item, it enables many powerful synergies that really take it to the next level as you approach the end game. Some other Legendaries that enable this build are Stormchasers Doom which allows Tornadoes to seek enemies and the Calm Breeze Legendary that enables Wind Shear to restore all your Spirit!

Some Skills, Upgrades, and Passives that you should consider are Perfect Storm (grants 1 Spirit and deals 15% increased damage when hitting a Vulnerable, Immobilized or Slowed enemy), which creates a Spirit generating engine by causing enemies to be Vulnerable and then using Tornado on them. Energize gives you a 15% chance to restore 10 Spirit when damaging enemies, and Masochistic is a Spirit Boon that will help with sustain; since Tornado becomes a Shapeshifting skill, it will now heal you 3% Maximum Life when Critically Striking enemies!

As far as which skills to use, there is some flexibility, but a good starting setup is Wind Shear, Tornado, Cyclone Armor, Ravens, Blood Howl, and Cataclysm. This group of skills allows you to heal, gain Spirit, and enables various ways to apply Vulnerable to enemies.

Imbue-llers Day Off (Rogue)

by Charles Dunn – Associate Game Designer, Classes

My favorite build, and the one I will be playing on Diablo IV’s launch is a Rogue Imbuement build.

Imbuements are special skills unique to Rogues that enhance their next 2 attacks with the power of Shadow, Poison, or Cold. There are many ways to mix and match these Imbuements when building your Rogue, but for this build, I will be using Shadow and Cold to take full advantage of the Icy Alchemist legendary power. Cold Imbuement applies Chill to enemies, so I can finish them off with a Shadow Imbued skill, causing lots of explosions and massive AoE damage! There are plenty of other legendary and unique items that work well with this playstyle, including the extremely powerful Word of Hakan unique amulet, which causes my ultimate Rain of Arrows skill to always benefit from all three Imbuements at once.

The Core skill in this build is Twisting Blades. Not only is it a great way to apply my Imbuements to large packs of enemies, but the Advanced Twisting Blades reduces the cooldown on all my Imbuements, keeping me constantly in the action. For mobility, I love pairing Dash with Twisting Blades in this build, since Dash lets me easily get to the other side of a pack of enemies to ensure Twisting Blades hits the maximum number of targets when they return. The Preparation Specialization is also a great way to ensure that I have maximum uptime on my cooldown skills, which leads to a very fast paced playstyle.

One of the most important stats to look for in this build is Lucky Hit Chance. The key legendary for this build, Icy Alchemist, is a Lucky Hit effect, as well as other skills throughout the skill tree like Innervation (10% to gain 8 Energy on Lucky Hit) and Enhanced Cold Imbuement (Cold Imbued skills have a 30% chance to make enemies vulnerable for 3 seconds). But Rogues aren’t known for playing fair, so I tip the luck in my favor with Alchemist’s Fortune (15% increased Lucky Hit Chance on Non-Psychical damage) and Primary Invigorating Strike (8% Lucky Hit Chance, 16% for Crowd Controlled or Injured enemies).  

Finally, the Momentum Key Passive works very well in this build, giving me a bunch of stats that I want like Energy Regeneration to spam Twisting Blades, Movement Speed to maneuver around the battlefield to get all optimal angles for those Twisting Blades, and Damage Reduction which is even more important since I will be in melee range of enemies most of the time. Alternatively, the Victimize Key Passive could also work well with enough Lucky Hit chance to consistently trigger Vulnerable from Enhanced Cold Imbuement.