Swords are returning to Destiny 2, based on the footage shown during the gameplay reveal as well as recordings by the event’s attendees. There are several new types of swords, as well as unique animations either for the sword you carry or for the class you play.

Swords were originally introduced into Bungie’s first Destiny title through The Taken King expansion and are receiving revamps in the sequel. As stated earlier, swords no longer share the same animation on your character. From the early playtests at the gameplay event, Destiny 2 features new animations based on either your class or the type of sword you hold.

That said, basing the animations and poses by class provides more identity and character, instead of shared animations based on sword-type.

Cabal or Fallen Sword

The sword seen on the back of the new Titan Sentinel could be a Fallen-styled blade because of the angular design and scrap metal used. However, the weapon looks similar to the Cabal swords shown in various trailers and Destiny 2 centers on the Cabal as the main enemy.

Katana

From official gameplay footage, the Hunter class wielded a katana-style sword. The class may hold swords with only one hand and more loosely than other classes.

Broadsword

A broadsword was confirmed through early playtests, wielded by the Titan Striker. From the video above, you can see the broadsword help in a much stronger position. When you attack, your character will use both hands to complete the swing.

Digital Deluxe Sword

If you pre-order the Digital Deluxe, Limited Edition, or Collector’s Edition of Destiny 2 you’ll be rewarded with a legendary sword. At the moment, there is no name attached, but it looks more regal than any of the others depicted.

Raze-Lighter

If you’ve played the original Destiny, you’ll notice that the sword shown above is definitely Raze-Lighter. This does not confirm the sword’s availability for players, though you may be able to earn this weapon after a quest or use it to complete one.

Unfortunately, swords were not available for the Warlock class during Destiny 2’s playtests. We’ve seen Warlocks hold a sword for their new Super, Dawnblade, but there’s no guarantee the posture and animations would be similar with a different sword-type.

You can check out all the confirmed exotic weapons and submachine guns here.

Destiny 2 is available for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on September 8, while PC has an unconfirmed release date after consoles.

In a video with content creator JCbackfire, Treyarch Co-Studio Head Jason Blundell confirmed Call of Duty: Black Ops 3’s Zombie Chronicles with eight remastered maps from previous CoD titles. The coming Zombie content will be first available on PlayStation 4 on May 16, with a later release on Xbox One and PC.

It appears the earlier datamine leaks were true as Zombie Chronicles will include reimagined content from World at War, Black Ops, and Black Ops 2. Here’s what Blundell has confirmed Zombie Chronicles will include:

• Three maps from Call of Duty®: World at War: Nacht der Untoten, Verruckt, and Shi No Numa
• Four maps from Call of Duty®: Black Ops: Kino Der Toten, Ascension, Shangri-la and Moon
• One map from Call of Duty®: Black Ops II: Origins
• Takeo and Richtofen Calling Cards
• Dempsey and Nikolai Calling Cards
• Zombies Heroes Animated Calling Cards
• Limited Edition Camouflage Tin Can

On Zombie Chronicles inception, Blundell and the development team originally thought of only remastering four maps but decided on eight for a larger “new generation” release. He explained that these coming maps are not simple reskins of the previous content, but rather a “re-realization” of them. The team kept to the original concept and layout of each map but fine-tuned their concepts and gameplay.

Also during the reveal video, JCbackfire and Blundell held up a poster highlighting the official timeline of the Zombie mode, starting from the zombies’ ideation and creation to later events you may have played through in the Call of Duty’s Zombie game modes.

You can find the full Zombie timeline on Call of Duty’s website here.

Following the confirmation of Zombie Chronicles, Treyarch will be hosting a live stream on May 8 at 11 AM PST to talk about more in-depth details.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 3’s Zombie Chronicles releases first on PlayStation 4 on May 16, and will release on Xbox One and PC at a later date.

If there is any singular problem with Splatoon 2‘s gear abilities, it’s how little information it actually gives you. Sure, sure: Ink Resistance means taking less damage from inked turf (though not weapons fire) and an easier time to make it out of the enemy territory and swim away. But by how much? How many more shots can you take? If you slap on three Bomb Defense main slots and nine sub-slots, can you tank an entire missile volley with your face?

Well, no, because of diminishing returns. To summarize: the more of an ability you stack up, the less effective they individually are. While two ability slots might double the effectiveness compared to only having one, the third ability will only get you a third more — and so and so forth, until you might as well swap over to a different ability type, as you’ll statistically gain a lot more that way.

That said: some of Splatoon 1‘s gear abilities’ diminishing returns were scaled just a bit oddly. There is a reason, ultimately, why Stealth Jump/Quick Respawn became the go-to gearsets during the waning days of the Splatoon 1 meta: Quick Respawn not only had a significant tactical edge, but it scaled so much better compared to every other ability. As was provided by Australian Splatoon 2 player FLC:

It seemed for a while that Splatoon 2 operated under a different rate of diminishing returns, but dataminer Lean discovered that “it’s actually the same for most abilities.” Only three were changed: Ink Recovery Up got nerfed to its pre-buff values in an earlier Splatoon 1 patch, Quick Super Jump now works faster, and Ink Saver Main has reduced diminishing returns for weapons that were already more conservative with ink usage.

So why wouldn’t you just run all nine sub-ability slots under one ability, like some players were doing in Splatoon 1? Not because of scaling differences, it turns out, but because of mechanical changes and specific weapon interactions. Said FLC:

It also seems like there are stricter requirements for an ability’s effect to kick in, as well. In Splatoon 1, Run Speed Up used to make you run faster whether you were shooting or not (with the only exception being that rollers and brushes didn’t get the effect while rolling). Now, some players have noted that Run Speed Up doesn’t seem to affect how fast you strafe with certain weapons.

The most notable of such changes were especially targeted at the last games’ standouts. Stealth Jump no longer works on close-up enemy players — you might be able to get a sneaky flank on them still, but you can’t use it to ambush-assist out of anywhere anymore (which would’ve especially been broken with new special ability Splashdown, let’s be fair). Bomb Defense is also a lot more useful now when everybody and their Inkling mothers are flinging around exploding discs at every full special charge — though its scaling may be a bit odd.

As for what the top-tier S+ class players are looking at, said flc:

At the moment though, there are some standouts:

• Bomb Defense has a very strong effect and works very well against some of the common subs (bombs, mainly) and specials (Tenta Missiles and Inkjet) – it’s looking like having at least a small amount is going to be a core part of any close-to-mid-range weapon’s build.
• Ink Resistance has a very strong effect, and is very common on a lot of close-range shooters. Its ability to keep you alive both through damage mitigation* and the ability to strafe more quickly is what makes it popular, but it could also be a training wheels ability that people will move away from when other abilities become more important.
• Stealth Jump was the strongest ability in Splatoon 1, and despite its nerf (the enemy team can see your jump marker when they’re close to it), the ability to jump in virtually anywhere (as opposed to asking your teammate for a safe jump, or looking for people who are in cover so as to not reveal the location of yourself and the player you’re jumping to) is always going to be effective.(edited)
• Swim Speed Up is an all-around solid ability. More swim speed helps you react to any situation faster; the only reason you wouldn’t use a bit is if you can’t fit it into your build.
• Object Shredder is currently popular because its damage bonus applies to the ever-present Ink Armour. This lets many short-ranged weapons, as well as Burst Bomb shockwaves, pop enemy armour in one shot.
• Ninja Squid is seeing a lot of use on certain fast-killing weapons like the Splat Roller and Tri Slosher. The swim speed penalty it applies is much weaker, and because Point Sensors are very rare (compared to Echolocator in Splatoon 1, which was ubiquitous), you can play very aggressively while still being relatively safe.

Mind you, all of that has a big asterisk in that it’s still week two, so we might see some of those abilities disappearing over the coming weeks. Run Speed Up came and went within literally one day last weekend, if Japanese solo queue is any indication.

*Specifically, of course, the Ink Resistance changes apply to turf ink.

With the first post-release Splatoon 2 Splatfest coming up, and Murch offering sharp discounts to scrubbings for Splatfest t-shirts, now is exactly the time to take stock of exactly what you want your ultimate outfit to look like. Of course, it’s probably worth noting that Charger mains probably shouldn’t be close enough to need Bomb Defense in the first place…

Doomfist was uploaded onto Overwatch’s PTR, but he did not have any of his skins, emotes, highlight intros, or voice lines to preview — until now. Blizzard finally added in all of Doomfist’s cosmetics for players to preview before he comes out onto live servers.

You can check out all of Doomfist’s skins down below:

Legendary

Spirit

Avatar

Irin

Caution

Epic

Painted

Cheetah

Rare

Sunset

Plains

Lake

Daisy

If you’ve yet to check out Doomfist or his abilities, Overwatch’s 25th hero is a high mobility Offense character that specializes in close-quarter encounters. He has a short-ranged attack with his Hand Cannon, though his main opener is definitely his Rocket Punch.

Uploading the new hero onto the PTR was for the best, as Doomfist’s Rocket Punch already received a significant nerf to its range. Prior to the nerf, Doomfist was able to traverse the map and reach locations he otherwise shouldn’t. Take Eichenwalde for example, Doomfist’s thrusting ability allowed the character to completely circumvent the map’s natural bounds and the regular routes to objectives.

Although Doomfist’s high mobility is a core part of his kit, Blizzard still wants to make sure at least some of the more unfair ones don’t work.

Aside from Doomfist, Overwatch Patch 1.13 also introduced the Highlight system and upcoming changes to loot boxes, though they are currently only available on the PTR. If you own the game and play on PC, you can download the PTR by clicking on the Region drop-down menu above the Play button in the Blizzard launcher on PC.

Doomfist is currently available on Overwatch’s PTR and will be introduced onto the live servers in the next patch.

After months of waiting for World of Warcraft: Legion players, it’s time to stick it to Kil’Jaeden. The full raid unlock schedule has been posted by Blizzard in an update to their Raid Preview blog.

Tuesday, June 20th is when we’ll get our first look at the raid on live servers. The Normal and Heroic difficulties will open, and give guilds racing to get world firsts their first checkpoints to hit.

The following week, Mythic will open – and as this is the hardest available difficulty for the raid, the top guilds in the world will be gunning for the World First title here. Among the hopefuls are Method, Serenity, From Scratch, and Limit – all of those on the Horde side. The top Alliance guilds are Prestige Gaming, Scrubusters, Danish Terrace, and Easy. The top guilds from the last set of raids, Tier 19, were mostly from Europe, though Limit (#5) is from US servers.

The guilds have, of course, been busy testing the heroic versions of bosses as they became available for test weekends. The Mythic difficulty has been shrouded in some secrecy to retain the challenge for progression raids.

Tomb of Sargeras will award Tier 20 gear, and the item levels are appropriately advanced from past content. The first eight bosses will award item levels 885 in LFR, 900 Normal, 915 Heroic, and 930 Mythic. Loot from Kil’Jaeden will be 10 levels higher, at all difficulties.

Raid Finder will also open the same week as Mythic difficulty, meaning those without guilds or who are hoping for a slightly more casual experience can get in on the fun as well. The nine bosses don’t unlock all at once and are split into four wings, with Kil’Jaeden occupying his own wing on August 8.

Tomb of Sargeras: Raid Unlock Schedule

• Tuesday, Jun. 20: Normal and Heroic Difficulties Open
• Tuesday, Jun. 27: Mythic difficulty and Raid Finder Wing 1– Gates of Hell (Goroth, Demonic Inquisition, Harjartan) Open
• Tuesday, Jul.  11: Raid Finder Wing 2– Wailing Halls (Mistress Sass’zine, Sisters of the Moon, Desolate Host) Opens
• Tuesday, Jul.  25: Raid Finder Wing 3– Chamber of the Avatar (Maiden of Vigilance, Avatar of Sargeras) Opens
• Tuesday, Aug.  8: Raid Finder Wing 4—Deceiver’s Fall (Kil’Jaeden) Opens

In case you missed it, Blizzard posted a full preview of each raid boss, which you can check out here.

While we already knew the schedule of festivities for Evo 2017, knowing when to watch based off of it alone was tricky. Now, however, we have the full schedule for Evo 2017 and which channels you will need to tune into.

The above schedule is in Pacific time, so here is a timezone converter to help you know when to tune in in your region.

In a switch from last year, all of the Evo Twitch channels are called Evo in their web address, rather than srkevo. This potentially reduces confusion from casual fans when trying to find the Evo streams. Here’s a full listing of stream links:

• EVO
• EVO2
• EVO3
• EVO4
• EVO5
• CapcomFighters
• Netherrealm
• Tekken

And here’s a Multitwitch link which opens all of these streams, so you can watch everything going on at once.

The Jump Off, a new concept to the FGC, is a new addition to the Evo lineup this year. If you have ever watched the MLB Network program MLB Tonight, the concept is similar: the stream highlights different matches from around the venue and offers analysis from a panel of guests.

This stream is recommended to watch if you are new to fighting games in general, or just don’t know what to watch while pools are going on, but still want to experience Evo. Its broadcast is on the Evo5 Twitch stream Friday and Saturday until Finals kick off in Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2.

The entire King of Fighters XIV tournament plays out on Friday, including finals. Saturday will see Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2, Injustice 2 and Super Smash Bros Melee take to the Finals stage. Finals Sunday has Marvel vs Capcom 3, BlazBlue Central Fiction, Tekken 7, Super Smash Bros for Wii U, and Street Fighter V’s Top 8 wrap up the weekend.

ESPN 2 will broadcast the Street Fighter V finals this year, just as they did last year, following the above schedule.

Are you hype for Evo 2017? Let us know what you’re planning for your watch party in the comments.

New gameplay footage and design details dropped for Destiny 2’s Titan Sentinel subclass, showing off its new Super and multiple functionalities. Instead of making the Sentinel a slow tank that lacks maneuverability, Bungie strayed away from that archetype, creating the new class as one with both mobile offensive and defensive capabilities.

You can get the first looks at Destiny 2’s Titan Sentinel subclass in the IGN First video below:

As stated earlier, the Destiny 2 developers wanted to take their new Titan class in a different direction from the traditional bulky and sluggish meat-shield. “In Destiny 1, your guard was more impeding on your motion,” Bungie’s senior sandbox designer Claude Jerome stated in the video above. “You couldn’t move very fast, you couldn’t lift. And now we just kind of said, since his Super is all about guarding, his guard isn’t going to impede most of his motion.”

To do that, the Sentinel’s Super has mechanics to influence more fluid gameplay. When you activate your Super, you are equipped with a Void shield, but you can still deal plenty of damage. “You’re the vanguard,” Jerome said. “You’re the aggressor that starts the fight. Just toss the shield in from the other room.”

Aside from the shield toss, you can perform a Shield Bash to smash into enemies, which is the replacement for Destiny’s original Shoulder Charge. But you can also create a defensive bubble for your team in lieu of summoning your shield.

If you press and hold the buttons to activate your Super, you’ll form a large defensive bubble around you, called the Ward of Dawn. Destiny 2’s reveal trailer showcased the Ward of Dawn as the city was first under attack.

It’s important to note, however, that you are not locked in place as you create the bubble. You can still fight after you activate it.

In addition, Bungie also improved the bubble significantly. Instead of wondering how long your shield is going to last, there are now visual cues that will tell you how much health the bubble has left.

“The communication of the health of the bubble was one of the most important things, rather than the length of the bubble,” Bungie senior effects artist David Samuel explained. “You start off with a nice pristine bubble and its got these particles swirling around it, but as it’s getting damaged, it starts to really deteriorate. Holes start forming on it, and all the little particles going around it start getting agitated, you can really see like ‘oh, this thing is about to go down.'”

You can get your first looks at Destiny 2 and the Titan Sentinel subclass during the beta, which begins on July 18 for PlayStation 4 and July 19 for Xbox One.