The Week in Wikis: Top RPG News on Dark Souls 3, Absolver, Divinity: Original Sin 2 & More

Happy weekend from Fextralife! If you’ve been too busy to keep up on the latest in the games we cover or are looking for a refresher we’ve got your back. Let’s take a look at the comings and goings across the Fextralife Wiki Network. Check out the video above and read on for the text!

Dark Souls 3

A new patch released this Friday, May 12th for Dark Souls 3.
The changes are pretty numerous and they address some issues related to The Ringed City DLC as well as the base game overall. You can check out the entire list of changes on our patches page on the wiki. Many weapons, spells, items and skill received some significant revisions in how they handle and operate.
The game is already content complete but From Software is still fine tuning the game’s balance. Thoughts on the patch? Let us know in the comments!

Mass Effect Andromeda

BioWare has released a new patch for Mass Effect: Andromeda that addresses some changes for the game. The patch makes several adjustments to the game’s opening cinematic scenes as well as fixes several player reported issues. Dialogue options will no longer appear “greyed out” if a character has more to say. They have also made some changes to multiplayer combat and powers. You can view the full list on our blog article
Still making your through your first or a new playthrough of Mass Effect: Andromeda, or are you digging into the mutliplayer more? Thoughts on the patch? Let us know what you think in the comments.

ESO

Zenimax Online has announced that Elder Scrolls Online players on PC who purchase the Digital Upgrade version of the The Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind will be able to play the full game live on May 22nd and retain their progression when the expansion officially launches on June 6th. Players will also be able to download the accompanying Update 14 on May 22nd.
Early Access is automatically available for players who purchase the Digital Upgrade or Digital Collector’s Edition Upgrade versions of ESO: Morrowind for PC/Mac any time prior to launch. If you are an existing ESO player who has pre-ordered or pre-purchased the physical ESO: Morrowind Collector’s Edition for PC/Mac, you will be able to join the Early Access event after a few simple steps.
Furthermore, they showed some of the new Player Housing options that will be available with the expansion. Ald Velothi Harbor House, Medium Home and Amaya Lake Lodge, Large Home.
Not done yet, this week they also gave players a preview of the new Halls of Fabrication trial that is coming with June’s Morrowind expansion.
Dungeon Lead Mike Finnigan gave players some tips in today’s blog post. They recommend 2 tanks for the dungeon and you’ll be facing off with not just enemies, but the environment. There will be a variety of traps, hazards, spinning blades and more to look out for. There will be 5 bosses to defeat, with less enemies between them in order to restore the focus back to boss fights.
Clearing the trial will earn you some new and valuable armor sets, furnishings and new achievements depending on how well you perform!
Morrowind is presently in closed beta on the public test server and is releasing for the PS4, Xbox One and PC on June 6th. Until then, keep checking back with us for much more!

Absolver

Devolver Digital and SloClap have announced that their upcoming Online Combat RPG, Absolver is releasing August 29th for the PS4 and PC. To mark the announcement, they have released a new combat trailer which you can see in full on our channel.
The video takes a look at the 2 primary components of Absolver, the Combat Deck and Combat Styles.
The Combat Deck is the list of attacks that are available to the player in combat. Players can choose one of 4 stances and in each stance they have different attacks: a sequence of up to 3 moves and 1 alternative attack. Every attack starts and finishes in a certain stance so players can play around with how they start and finish to set up their opponents. You learn attacks for your Combat Deck by fighting others in the world, by defending against unknown attacks. To actually earn attack XP though you have to actually win your fights.
Combat Style is chosen at the start and the the different styles improve different stats. Each style has a special ability that can be used during combat for an advantage. With the 3 styles available at the start, you can parry, avoid or absorb attacks. More styles will be discovered as players discover the world of Raslan. You will also be able to become a mentor and teach others your style, allowing your students to learn new styles and their mentor’s Combat Deck.
The fight mechanics compliment the depth of the combat system. A perfect attack rewards precise timing by allowing following attacks to chain faster and stun longer. You can also use feints to cancel attacks. Tension Shards are glowing crystals which fill during combat and can be used to trigger powers which shift the advantage of a battle in your favor. It’s not just hand to hand though, there are weapons available and these also come with their own Combat Deck.
Intense stuff. We got to play Absolver for ourselves last E3 and found the combat very engaging. PvP enthusiasts may be in for a treat when it drops this August.

Divinity Original Sin 2

In a developer update for Divinity: Original Sin 2, Larian Studios has unveiled the Game Master Mode that players will able to immerse themselves in with fellow players.
Game Master Mode will let players create stories, NPCs, items, treasure and more and control the entire presentation. The mode is designed to be flexible giving the GM and players the freedom to adapt on the fly and create reactive worlds.
The mode will come with pre-made campaigns as well as a variety of world maps and over 100 locations to choose from when designing your own. You can also upload your own maps and locations by using their Divinity Engine Editor. Once a location is made you can change everything about it from time of day to weather, to music.
Once a game is going, a GM will be able to control any enemy or NPC directly. For narrative, you can add graphics, NPC dialogue and narration and present difficult choices with the game’s Vignette System. You can also make these additions on the fly if you need to react to something unexpected right then and there.
Everything you create can then be shared via Steam Workshop, which should give fans a ton of great content to keep them going long past completing the main game. It is exciting to think about what players are going to come up with, as you can bet there is going to be hilarity and great storytelling.
Game Master modes have been attempted before in games like Sword Coast Legends but they’ve always had mixed results. The way Larian is laying this out has us very hopeful!

Hellpoint

Hellpoint from Cradle Games has hit their Kickstarter funding goal today just a day before the campaign ends! For those who haven’t seen much of the Sci-Fi Souls game, their demo was updated recently with a new boss to try out, to give players a better idea of the Soulslike gameplay. Check out some footage of it on our channel.
The boss is not particularly quick and avoiding damage is not difficult. It does hit hard however, not quite one shot territory but definitely two shot. It’s moves and patterns are reasonable enough to react to. Visually I like the design, as it fits with the horror vibe well and to me is a much more distinctly defined creature than the standard enemies which to me are more ambiguous.
You can see from the promising boss fight that the game has a bunch of potential. Be sure to download the demo on Steam to see for yourself.

Dead Cells

Dead Cells early access is now available for players on Steam. The Rogue-Vania game from indie developer Motion Twin features permadeath and Souls inspired combat, while unfolding across a Metroidvania style layout.
The early access of the game features the following:
- 11 levels
- 20 monsters
- 50 items
- Hours and hours of gameplay – anywhere from 45 minutes to 30 hours or more depending on your skill.
The game is launching at 16.99 USD with a %15 day one discount, and the entire package will contain nearly half of the planned content, of which the developer anticipates will take 8 months to finish.
We just last week put together a preview of the game which you can watch to get an idea of the roguelike with a twist gameplay
The gameplay of Dead Cells looks promising even from the perspective of a masochistic player. It seems to be taking the best of things we love about games like Castlevania, Salt and Sanctuary, and Rogue Legacy and applying its own unique approach. Planning to pick it up? Let us know what you think about it.

Diablo 3

Diablo III is still kicking on for fans, and at Blizzcon last year, Blizzard announced that a new class, the Necromancer would be releasing sometime later 2017 as part of the paid Rise of the Necromancer pack, and it is based on the original class of the same name. In addition to unlocking the Necromancer as a playable character, players will also receive an in-game pet, two additional character slots, two additional stash tabs (on PC), a portrait frame, pennant, banner, and banner sigil. For those interested in what the Necromancer brings to the popular hack and slash RPG lootfest, weput together an article to give you an overview of the upcoming class.
The class entered into beta on April 25th for players to test out and refine. When it does release it will be playable in both the Campaign and Adventure, with full voice acting and lore.
In gameplay the Necromancers in Diablo III are going to function in a similar way to those in Diablo II. Their core stat is Intelligence and in combat rely on a variety of skills and spells, including curses and some undead minions
A wrinkle unique to the class will be the corpses of monsters that they can see alone, which can be used as catalysts for their corpse related skills.
For a better idea of how these dynamic skills function, check out the full skill and set list for the Necromancer Class on the blog.
The Rise of the Necromancer pack and patch 2.6.0 will release sometime later this year.

Previews

Check out our previews on the blog we did this week of Dark and Light, God Wars and Fort Triumph
Dark and Light from Snail Games is an upcoming online sandbox RPG set in a world dominated by powerful elemental forces. It’s scheduled to hit early access on PC sometime soon and they are aiming for a full release by the end of 2017. Dark and Light is looking to take the massive online survival gameplay of Conan Exiles and go a step further by actually adding an RPG framework with faction gameplay. It’s had its bumps along the way over the past decade, but if it can deliver on the deep magic and build/craft sandbox gameplay this could be quite the freeing game, similar to the build, defend, destroy potential of another MMO sandbox Camelot Unchained.
The historical backdrop and Japanese folklore gives God Wars an exploratory setting that lends itself well to the deep tactical RPG genre. Giving context to the battle grids as well as the deep and complex job system makes the game more approachable from a gameplay perspective. Under the hood, this is a deep game with a lot going on, and should be right up the alley of those with an interest in tactical and thoughtful turn-based battling as well as an interest in Japan’s more esoteric lore.
Fort Triumph has potential to be a fun tactical RPG in the X-COM vein, albeit from a completely different perspective. It’s clunkier than its inspiration but it’s still in its very early development stages. Regardless I would not expect it to evolve along the lines of a Phoenix Point that is shaping up to be a 1:1 emulation of X-COM and instead see Fort Triumph staying closer to its fantasy RPG elements while building upon its highly interactive environments. If some of the camera issues can get sorted out and if the story can deliver an engaging yarn, Fort Triumph could be a very fun journey for fans of tactical games.

That’s a wrap for the Week in Wikis, we’re looking forward to another great week of gaming fun! Don’t forget to check out our VIP program for some exclusive supporter benefits, and budding writers should take advantage of our Become an Author initiative! Thanks for a great week and as always, keep checking in with us for news, reviews, YouTube streams and vids, and general wiki goodness!

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