Mass Effect Andromeda players can unlock some sweet, sweet perks by racking up AVP. Here’s what you need to know.

While you’ll spent a lot of Mass Effect Andromeda chasing after evil aliens, shooting things, chatting endlessly and getting romantically entangled, the core of the Pathfinder’s mission is colonisation. It’s easy to get distracted from this, especially because some of the game’s colonisation systems are a little buried in menus on terminals on the Tempest. If you want to get the most out of Andromeda, you need to learn how the AVP system works.

AVP (which stands for Andromeda Viability Points. Not Alien vs Predator, sorry – I was disappointed too) is basically a measurement of your colonial progress in the galaxy, and as it grows you’ll be able to unlock perks for your efforts.

There are a total of five planets you can settle in the game, and if you manage to settle each successfully (which is in no way guaranteed and is based on your in-game choices) you’ll have a planetary viability measurement out of 100% for each. Each time you add to that number increases your AVP across the board. You can continue to increase your AVP even after you’ve raised all five planets to 100% viability if you so wish – there are plenty of extra quests to do beyond that cap.

Your AVP is displayed in the top-right of the main menu and is counted separately from your main EXP counter for your character. It levels up at its own unique rate too, raising the Nexus Level – or how proficient the Nexus, your galactic hub for Andromeda, is. As the Nexus levels up new areas of the station will become available. You can check your progress from a dedicated menu in the pause screen.

How to earn AVP, increase planet viability and level up the Nexus quickly

There are a number of ways to increase your AVP and boost planetary viability – and doing both of these things will in turn raise your Nexus level. A higher Nexus Level will grow your Nexus, as previously mentioned, but will also allow you to wake more people up. The people you wake up will be put to work in their areas of expertise, and this thus manifests itself as Cryo Pod Perks – unlockable via the Tempest.

Here are the most reliable methods to boost your viability and gain AVP:

• Exploring and activating a Remnant Vault will net you 40% viability right away.

  This happens as part of the main quest on some planets, but on others you’ll have to seek the vaults out. As well as the huge uptick in viability vaults will make some of the more difficult to travel planets far easier to explore by making the climate more agreeable.

• Establishing outposts will give you 20% viability

  Establishing an outpost requires high viability to begin with, but it will reward you with 20% viability for doing so.

• Dropping Forward Stations adds 2% viability

  You’ll want to drop forward stations as a priority anyway since they act as fast travel points, but when you do it’ll give you 2% extra viability

• Planet main plot completion adds 10%-20% viability

  Each planet has some sort of quest that is its ‘main quest’ away from the Priority Ops of the main story of Andromeda, such as brokering terms with the Krogan or solving the turf war on Kagara. Completing this quest will add a significant chunk of viability.

• Architect Defeat and/or Enemy Base Clear will add 10% viability

  Architects are nasty, gigantic boss enemies found on several of the colonist worlds. Defeating them will add around 10% viability, and the same is true for the large enemy bases found on some worlds. Some worlds have both.

• Priority Ops will add between 5% and 10% to the related planet’s viability

  Some planets are deeply associated with priority ops, and in those cases you’ll gain 5-10% viability.

• Side Quest completion adds 2% to 5% to viability

  Side quests all contribute to viability, and are a great way to grind for viability and AVP quickly in small increments.

Getting all planets to 100% viability isn’t that difficult and actually carries an in-game reward. Once planets are at 100% viability you can keep pushing on with quests – viability won’t rise past 100%, but your AVP will continue to be added to your overall Nexus Level. Your Nexus Level is vital because it can be spent on…

Spending your AVP and Nexus Points on Cryo Pods

Every time your Nexus levels up from the amount of AVP you gain you not only see the Nexus grow a little busier and sometimes expand, but your AVP and Nexus Level also unlocks a new Cyro Pod Perk. When you hear SAM alert you that ‘you have AVP outstanding’, that’s what SAM is getting at. You can spend your AVP at a terminal on the Tempest or on the Nexus itself in the Operations area.

The Nexus upgrades are split into three main sections: Science, Military and Commerce. This is a little bit like Dragon Age Inquisitions advisor perks, except there’s a lore explanation this time: what you’re essentially doing is spending AVP to wake up certain colonists. The colonists you choose to awaken provide unique perks to you, so you have to pick carefully. Most important to note is at a point AVP and Nexus points max out, so it’s impossible to get all of the perks. Be careful!

Here are some of our favourites that we think you should prioritise picking up early:

The best Military Pod Perks to get early

• Advanced Training: You’ll have to unlock one other lower-level skill before this one (we recommend Reconnaissance), but this then gives you 10% bonus EXP from all encounters. Get this one early!
• Always Prepared: This pod requires the Munitions Pod be unlocked first, but this then gives you an extra consumables slot, used to equip items that give you a major boost in battle such as elemental ammo or defence buffs.
• Versatility: This pod is an upgrade of Always Prepared, adding one fourth and final slot. Having all four slots will give you a lot of options.
• Reconnaissance: Recommended above, this perk reveals hidden chests near forward stations on the open world maps. These chests contain great loot that you can use, sell, or break down for raw materials for use in crafting.

The best Science Cryo Pods to get early

• Improved Development: This upgrade will give you 10% more research data from all sources – vital if you plan to research new gear, and research is finite in the game.
• Improved Development II: As above, but this adds another 10%. If you’re crafting this stuff is a big deal.
• Innovation: If you get into crafting, this adds one more augmentation slot to all your research & development projects, meaning a chance tom make things even more powerful still.

The best Commerce Cryo Pods to get early

• Trade Capacity: This is an absolute no-brainer – it ups your inventory size. At a certain point in the game this becomes absolutely vital.
• Trade Capacity II: See above! Once you have the upgrade you can do this again – it’s still not big enough, mind. I eagerly await the PC inventory mod or trainer cheat app…
• Fusion Mod Support: This is a bit of a late-game upgrade, but it halves the penalty for all fusion mods. Fusion mods are hugely powerful armor mods that also carry a hefty negative hit to offset their huge bonuses in their area of expertise. This halves those penalties, making the mods much more viable.
• Market Dominance: If you’re more interested in crafting than buying, pick this up – it’ll expand shop inventories right across the Heleus Cluster a fair bit with rarer stuff.

When you get closer to endgame you may want to think about the perks that regularly cough up research points; there’s a finite source of research available in-game, and if you’re not keen on multiplayer this is your best way to keep it rolling in so you can unlock top tier gear.

We’re going deeper underground.

Inside the Eos Remnant Vault – A Better Beginning

After meeting Krogan grandpa Drack and activating the remaining Remnant Monoliths scattered around Eos, something big happens: the monoliths appear to power up one final ancient building. A new navpoint will be marked on your map: a bunker that’s out in the middle of the large lake that dominates the currently exploration friendly section of the map. We really have no choice, right? Something that obvious simply has to be explored.

So… let’s explore it. You can reach the vault either by fast travelling to a nearby forward station (you should’ve dropped a few by now) or by driving there using the Nomad. If you just got done with meeting Drack and powering up the last monolith it really isn’t very far, and along the way you might discover some small combat encounters with Kett or Remnant that’ll offer up a little extra EXP and loot boxes along the way.

When you get there it looks hopeless – there’s a big gap between you and the newly-opened bunker-type structure. But… approach the edge, as if you’re ready to drive into the lake.

A bridge forms up in front of you as you drive. An invitation, of sorts. Head on over. Here you’ll meet up with Peebee and see some cutscenes – if you want to perform the narrative action with RT/R2 here you can, it has no ill effects – you just look like a slightly reckless badass.

Exploring the Vault

You’ll now find yourself down in the vault, a dark, mysterious labyrinth of corridors and neon lighting. This clearly isn’t something the Kett built, if there was any doubt remaining. First thing’s first: in your starting room after getting into the vault proper you’ll discover another remnant console which you’ll need to scan – then keep your scanner out and use it to follow the cabling towards another console. Scan the console where the cable leads to get the password, then head back up to the first console and use it.

As an aside, don’t forget to scan liberally down here in general, as there’s lots of remnant tech that rewards remnant research points. Some of the best gear in the game is Remnant in origin.

After a cutscene, Peebee splits off from the group leaving you with a party of 3 once more. Take a look around – note there’s a room to the West you can’t access right now. If you try to access Ryder will make a note of it – this is worth doing for later – later on when you’re leaving the vault you’ll be able to get in here and open a container, and the game will add this as an optional objective if you interact with the door when it’s locked.

From here on in the vault is a fairly linear set of passages and open rooms, and it’s not really worth us explaining everything beat-for-beat – we’ll just ruin the thrill of exploration. You can easily make it through here on your own. As a rule, however, you should be looking, scanning and climbing everywhere you can, as there are a few containers littered around here with decent loot. This loot is welcome but not be-all end-all, so if you just want to get out of here you can forge ahead without it, but keep in mind vaults are a one-time deal: once you’re done here, there’s no coming back.

As you go you’ll encounter remnant guard units. Some of these can actually be bypassed with stealth if you wish – voice work will clue you in as to when. If you sneak or not is your choice, but remember that unlike Mass Effect 2 and 3 Andromeda actually rewards you EXP for every single encounter in the game, so if you take the time to fight these remnant you’ll get a decent EXP boon for your trouble. These encounters add up, so if you want to level up fast take every chance you can to fight.

After you cross paths with Peebee again your next destination is a door on the right, but if you continue past that door and do a little bit of climbing you’ll discover a container with some fairly decent loot.

Clearing the Eos Radiation

Once you head through the previously mentioned door, prepare yourself for actual combat. (As a note, I hit a bug here where a door wouldn’t open and had to reload – this is not a dead end if that happens to you, reload a save!) At the end of the hallway you’ll be fighting Assemblers and Observers plus a turret that you can either fight or hack. In this encounter and in general Observers should be your top priority – they have a powerful laser beam that can rip through your shields plus a shield of their own, but they also have a very obvious glowing eye that is an irresistible weak point. Hit them there and hit them hard with a rapid-fire weapon like an assault rifle or SMG, then mop up the assemblers and any other units they’ve assembled while you took on the observer.

There are also consoles you can hack in this room – one turns a turret to your side, the other creates cover you can use to protect yourself.

Once combat is over and done with, sweep this area for loot as there will inevitably be some drops from enemies plus some chests, then use the gravity well in the middle. You end up in a new room – but there’s a water leak. The console you need doesn’t work. For a moment it looks like you’re trapped, but then Peebee arrives and has an idea of her own. At her suggestion scan to fix the leak then use the previously broken console. That opens a door. Search to the north before you leave to find a chest with some loot inside – a new melee weapon – this is a static drop of a fairly good weapon that doesn’t change.

The next room is a large chamber with various terminals you must interface with in order to raise and lower platforms. White glowing lines indicate what each terminal will impact, with the currently active section lit up brighter in a glowing white. This room might seem complicated at first glance but it really isn’t: the waypoint shows you where you need to go, and you simply need to wind your way through the area activating terminals in order to build the necessary platforms to get there.

As you go you’ll face off against enemies – mostly Observers and Assemblers. As before, prioritise the Observers as they can tear through your shields very rapidly indeed. Don’t forget as you explore this area to go off the beaten path – most often, there’s a chest. To the south of the area there’s one chest with some static loot – an armor mod that vastly powers up one aspect of your skills while vastly damaging another aspect. You’ll know when you hit this one as it requires solving a Decryption Puzzle.

When you pass the giant plants, scan them for some research data. Keep pushing on through combat. When Liam remarks how cool the plants and self-building bridges are, you’re close. When you enter a room with a giant glowing laser light of bright white in the middle of the room, you’re at the end of this vault-slash-dungeon.

You’ll want to take a moment here: once you activate the vault, you can never come back in here again. If you want to head back and sweep for optional chests, this is your one and only opportunity to do so short of starting a New Game+. (As a note, the door from earlier still won’t be open… more on that in a second.) Once you’re ready, activate the vault.

Escape from the Vault

As soon as the vault is active, run! As you approach the entrance of the dungeon again you’ll pass by that room you couldn’t get into from very early on – it’s now open. Duck inside and grab the items inside, but be damn quick about it!

Once you escape the vault fully, the vault’s purpose will be revealed: it’s a terraforming facility, and over time is going to make Eos much more habitable. The viability of Eos will raise by 50% – but if you leave the planet and return later you’ll see a serious improvement over time, which in turn will open up other areas of the planet that couldn’t be explored before due to radiation, thus unlocking more sidequests.

Settling Prodromos: your first outpost

Once you’re out of the vault, hop back into the Nomad and head to your latest waypoint: a suitable site for a new settlement, away from the mess of Site 1 and Site 2. You can either abuse fast travel or not to get there – your choice.

Once you arrive you’ll find Drack is present and causing a ruckus – fighting a bunch of Chosen and a few Anointed Kett. Anointed have shields and big guns, so abuse shield-restoring powers such as charge and cover in order to defeat them. Remember for tougher enemies you can use the D-Pad to instruct your allies to target specific enemies – you should have everyone focus fire on the anointed.

Once the kett are cleared out, you can now settle Eos with a new settlement that’ll be called Prodromos. This will give you +10 viability but also once the settlement is down offer up a bunch of new quests from the new settlers. But… you’re also faced with a question. Science or Military?

First outpost: Scientific or Military?

As with every Mass Effect game, Andromeda features some big choices. This is arguably the first big choice you face in Andromeda: If you should make the Prodromos outpost into a science-focused settlement or a military base style settlement. You might find this choice difficult to make.

Let us make it a little easier: Don’t sweat it too much. While this does have an impact on dialogue and the way some NPCs will react to you, the overall outcome for this particular choice is the same. This is more intended to introduce you to big choices – but soon enough you’ll have to make some where those hard choices do matter a lot, so be prepared.

Here are a few new quests you can grab on Eos post-vault:

• Shock Treatment
  Access the audio terminal inside the research building. You’ll find entries that lead to this quest on this terminal.
• The Secret Project
  Head back to Site 1 (Promise) and find the datapad inside the ground floor of the two-floor building.
• Pathfinder Armor Crafting
  This quest is gathered from Jacob Mittney, a settler in Prodromos.
• Waking up to the Future
  Found on a terminal at Prodromos after it’s founded.

Drack will join you, too – but for now, we recommend not taking on these quests.

The radiation will take some time to clear – the smart move is to leave Eos and head to another planet. When you return to Eos later, the radiation will be gone. Take the Tempest towards space and back to the Nexus for a return visit to catch up with Nexus brass and to pick up some new side quests.

Meet the Angara – and prove yourself to them by staging a daring rescue.

Now that you’ve activated the vault on Eos and begin the process of clearing Eos of its radiation, you should be heading to the skies from Eos in the Tempest and looking for your next challenge in the Heleus Cluster. Thankfully you have one with your next major mission: A Trail of Hope.

Mass Effect Andromeda‘s critical mission path is heating up, but this latest quest is a multi-stage, multi-planet doozy. Before you dive into it, we recommend checking back in with your squadmates on the Tempest as well as taking a tour of the Nexus. In both places you’ll find new side content, new conversations and new side quests that can be triggered. It’s also a great chance to offload any junk in your inventory in exchange for credits that you can use to pick up consumables and new gear. Shops on the Nexus also change their stock up in tune with your main story mission progress, so you might find new, better stuff there now.

Shortly after beginning A Trail of Hope you’ll unlock many new systems to explore on the Galaxy Map view. Be sure to check in with each, scanning each system in full, if you’re aiming for full completion.

A Trail of Hope has an unusual structure. Shortly after making first contact with the Angara you’ll be given two main quests, Helping Havarl’s Scientists and Meet the Resistance. Completing either fulfils an objective to gain the trust of the Angara. We recommend completing both, and outline an ideal mission flow below.

A large number of secondary quests are available during A Trail of Hope, and we’ve listed them all by location below. It’s an exhaustive, long list, but it’s worth noting that some sidequests on both Hvarl and Voeld won’t become available until you have spoken to Addison on the vidcon in the Tempest after completing one or both of the two Angara trust missions that Efvra and Jaal give you. Making this call does not close off any mission threads, so we suggest getting that out of the way as soon as possible to open yourself up to as many quests as possible.

A Trail of Hope objectives and suggested missions flow

This is our suggested path through A Trail of Hope. It includes multiple optional tips to go around hoovering up side quests after specific milestones, and should allow you to get absolutely everything available done before you proceed to the fourth priority op.

As discussed above, this quest branches and you can complete either of two quests to gain the trust of the Angara, or go for them both. Our suggested path takes in both, which means you get to visit two new planets rather than just one. In a game all about exploration that seems like the right choice, we reckon.

In either case, the mission joins back together after you contact Evfra for the second time and begin a mission to rescue the Moshae.

• Optional: visit the Nexus, Hyperion and Tempest to update conversations and side quests
• Travel to the Onaon system and land on Aya
• Meet with Evfra
• Optional: Collect Aya sidequests (see list below)
• Complete Helping Havarl’s Scientists
  • Travel to Havarl
  • Speak to Kiiran Dals
  • Solve the monolith to free the Angaran prisoners
  • Return to Kiiran Dals
• Optional: collect Havarl side quests (see list below)
• Return to the Tempest and speak with Addison on the vidcon
• Complete the Meet the Resistance mission chain
  • Travel to Voeld
  • Follow the heat lamps to the rebel camp
  • Speak to Anjik Do Xeel and Beniska to begin Eyes on the Ground/On the Frontlines
  • Place a forward station and summon the Nomad, then follow the paths to Hjara Station
  • Speak to Skeot to begin Stage a Rescue
  • Travel to the Kett base to rescue Nilij
• Meet with Evfra at Resistance HQ
• Optional: collect Voeld side quests (see list below)
• Optional: visit the Nexus, Hyperion and Tempest to update conversations and side quests
• Optional: scan all new planets and systems
• Talk to Commander Heckt at the docks on Aya
• Rescue the Moshae
  • Infiltrate the Kett Base
  • Speak to Commander Heckt
  • Fight through the Kett base
  • Scan the stasis pods
  • Use the console
  • Fight through the Kett
  • Speak to Jaal
  • Defeat the Cardinal
  • Speak to the Moshae [decision point]
  • Protect the Moshae
  • Board the shuttle
• Optional: visit the Nexus, Hyperion and Tempest to update conversations and side quests
• Return to Aya
• Optional: collect Aya sidequests (see list below)
• Meet with the Moshae and Evfra at Resistence HQ

A Trail of Hope Boss: Defeating the Cardinal

Towards the end of the ‘A Trail of Hope’ mission to rescue the Moshae you’ll face off against the Cardinal – a new enemy type that you’re going to meet a few times during your adventure. This is a tougher and more resilient class of Kett who ominously floats off the ground and has an orb that protects him.

In order to take down the Cardinal you need to attack the orb that floats around him; when it explodes, the cardinal himself will be vulnerable. That’s the time to pile on the damage. Because the orb floats around in and out of your line of fire area of effect attacks such as singularity or flamethrower are particularly useful here.

The orb will eventually regenerate, so you’ll want to lay on as much damage as you can while the Cardinal is exposed. To this end be sure to equip some good consumable ammo such as inferno or cryo ammo to up the damage dealt in a short degree of time and direct your squadmates to attack directly.

The Cardinal spawns with a number of allies, but it’s best to take them down first and focus on the Cardinal last. If you see the cardinal charging up a large ball of orange energy be ready to use your boost jets to dodge out of the way – even cover won’t save you from this shield-busting attack.

A Trail of Hope story branch: Save the Angara or Destroy the Facility

At the end of the mission to rescue the Moshae you’ll get a major choice: you can either destroy the exhalation facility or leave it standing and give the Cardinal, the character who runs it, a chance. This is a gut-wrenching, no-win decision – leaving the facility standing means there’s a chance it could be used again, but destroying it dooms many Angara to death.

Destroying it will kill many Angara, but the Moshae, whose help you require, begs you to destroy it nevertheless. Jaal is less keen on the idea of the facility’s destruction. Thus this choice branches the story somewhat:

• If you destroy the facility, the Angara will die but the Moshae will be happiest with you. She’ll thank you, and be more forthcoming with her help – though you’ll get her help either way. Jaal will initially be upset but also will come to understand – this doesn’t damage your relationship (or friendship) chances with him.
• If you allow the facility to stay standing the Moshae will be angry and the facility survives. In return you get some additional support from the Angaran Resistance during a late-game mission thanks to the fact you rescue their people from the facility by saving it, but who knows if the act of leaving the facility standing will have repercussions in a future game.

Aya secondary quests

The following sidequests become available on Aya during A Trail of Hope, after you speak with Evfra for the first time, or upon your return after rescuing the Moshae.

• Trading Favors
  Speak to Sohkaa Esof at the docks on Aya on your first visit.
• Recovering the Past
  Speak to Avela Kjar at the docks on Aya on your first visit. This can lead to a romance subplot with Avela.
• Task: Laws and Customs
  Speak to any of the Arbiters while exploring Aya after rescuing the Moshae.
• Task: Local Cuisine
  Scan any fruit you see in Aya after rescuing the Moshae.
• Task: Messages to the Nexus
  Speak to the staff in the Governor’s office after rescuing the Moshae.
• Task: Test Subject
  Walk through the markets of Aya until your are notified that you are being scanned after rescuing the Moshae.
• Liam Kosta: Day Out on Aya
  Speak to Liam on the Tempest after rescuing the Moshae and viewing the Aya Vault scene.
• Forgotten History
  Speak to Avela Kjar at the museum after completing Recovering the Past and rescuing the Moshae.

Hvarl secondary quests

The following sidequests are available on Hvarl during A Trail of Hope. Many sidequests branch from or are dependent on A Dying Planet, Hvarl’s major secondary quest.

• A Dying Planet
  Speak to Kiiran Dals in the research station near the spawn point.
• A Lost Sister
  Speak to Sage Amurd at the top of Mithrava during A Dying Planet.
• Unearthed
  Speak to Fleera at the top of Mithrava during A Dying Planet.
• Task: Roekaar Manifestos
  Collect the datapad at the camp across the bridge, which becomes available partway through A Dying Planet.
• Overgrown
  Speak to Dr. Tassana Rilar at the research station near the spawn point after completing A Dying Planet.
• Cross-Cultural Alliances
  Check your email after completing A Dying Planet.
• Forgotten Stars
  Speak to Raashel Vier in the research station near the spawn point.
• Turian Ark: Not Dead Yet
  Speak to Kiiran Dals in the research station near the spawn point, after completing Helping Havarl’s Scientists – or simply find the encmapment.
• Task: Turian Salvage
  Speak to Drusa after completing both Helping Havarl’s Scientists and Turian Ark: Not Dead Yet.

Voeld secondary quests

The following sidequests are available on Voeld during A Trail of Hope:

• Intercepted
  Access a terminal at the Resistance Base.
• Medical Caches
  Speak to Dr Harihn at the Resistance Base.
• Task: Nomad Shield Crafting
  Talk to the mechanic at the Resistance Base.
• The Lost Scout
  Talk to Haana at the Resistance Base.
• Reformation
  Speak to the Angaran Priestess at the Resistance base.
• Meet The Family
  Unlocks after completion of Stage a Rescue.
• Remove the Heart
  Unlocks after completion of Meet the Family.
• Uncovering the Past
  Unlocks after completion of Remove the Hearts.
• Frequency
  Find a strange meteorite, or speak to the irritated researcher at Hjara station.
• Brought to Light
  Speak to Rjoek in Techiix.
• Fact or Fiction
  Speak to Ari Vesjek at Techiix, or access a console in the Kett base.
• Bridge Sabotage
  Locate the broken bridge southwest of Techiix.
• The Lost Song
  Speak to the biologist standing on the lake outside Techiix.
• White Death
  Look for a lone sniper outside Techiix.
• Restoring a World
  Reactivate a monolith on Voeld.
• Missing Science Crew
  Speak to Priya Blake after placing an outpost on Voeld.
• End of Watch
  Find one of three datapads at battle sites around Voeld.
• Subjugation
  Destroy a Kett device in a random encounter.
• Task: Catch and Release
  Scan an Angaran corpse in a random encounter.
• Task: Clearing the Air
  Hack a Kett terminal in a random encounter.
• Task: Gone Dark
  Scan an Angaran console in a random encounter.
• The Vanished
  Search for an audio recording in a cave in the north of the map.

Crew and loyalty missions

The following side quests become available once you begin A Trail of Hope, or at various milestones throughout. Check in regularly at your email terminal, as well as in conversations on the Nexus, Hyperion and Tempest, to ensure you get them all.

• Nakmor Drack: Krogan Betrayal
  Speak to Drack on the Tempest.
• Cora Harper: Asari Ark
  Read an email from Cora and speak to her on the Tempest, after landing on Aya. Completion of this mission is vital to getting the game’s best ending.
• Liam Kosta: Armor Diplomacy
  Visit Aya, exhaust Liam’s dialogue on the Tempest, exit the Tempest and return to speak to Liam again.
• Jaal Ama Darva: Friend or Foe?
  Speak to Jaal after you chat with Evfra via Vidcon.
• Peebee: Secret Project
  Check your email.
• Gill Brodie:A Game of Poker
  Check your email.
• Excess Baggage
  Exhaust Suvi’s dialogue, after landing on Aya.
• Know your Enemy
  Read your email, after speaking with Evfra.
• Movie Night: Getting started
  Exhaust all Liam’s dialogue after landing on Aya, then speak to him again.

Mass Effect Andromeda throws a whole new galaxy at you, but you don’t have to face it empty-handed: we’ve got everything you need right here.

Mass Effect Andromeda has proved to be a polarising game for many, and though we found that it has a heart of gold that’s worth fighting to find, you might have to do some fairly painful digging to get there. It’s scored a fair bit lower than other Mass Effect games, but we still think it’s pretty good and well worth a look. It’s worth your time.

One of the things that might make the rougher aspects of Andromeda a little easier to handle is knowing where you’re going, what you’re doing and how to best tackle its various systems. There’s an absolute shed load of content, a lot of complex gameplay systems, and honestly sometimes it can just get a little overwhelming in a way that isn’t always good. So… here we are, stepping in, ready to assist.

After over 100 hours of play across the VG247 team, we’ve got some strong feelings on some of Andromeda’s mechanics: so here are our tips, tricks and other guide assistance for would-be pathfinders. Good luck out there!

Tips, Tricks and other vital information

Kickstart your adventure with some pro tips and strats, work out which romanceable character will be your main squeeze, solve glyph puzzles, sort out that confusing AVP notification business and generally deep dive on Mass Effect Andromeda’s systems and mechanics with these detailed guides.

• Tips for brand new Pathfinders and N7 veterans alike

  If you’re planning to hop aboard the Ark Hyperion and head to the Andromeda Galaxy, there are some things you should know first. Here’s our tips from over 100 hours of gameplay.

• Romance guide: from casual banging to winning hearts

  Who, what, where and how to get to banging your new space girlfriend, boyfriend, or monogendered alien pal. Some spoilers ahead, but if you want to know who is available, we’ve got you covered.

• Conversation options guide: what those dialogue icons mean

  Mass Effect Andromeda’s conversation system may baffle series newcomers and BioWare fanatics alike. Let’s break it down.

• Monolith, glyphs and Remnant decryption guide

  Don’t let Alien Sudouku get you down. If those damn glyph and decryption games are getting to you, we’ve got the help you need.

• Monolith, glyphs and Remnant decryption guide

  Don’t let Alien Sudouku get you down. If those damn glyph and decryption games are getting to you, we’ve got the help you need.

• The best weapons in Mass Effect Andromeda: our favourite assault rifles, shotguns and more

  A massive part of any RPG is gear and loot, and Mass Effect Andromeda is no exception. Navigating its massive number of weapons available to buy, loot or craft is difficult – but we’ve picked out some of the best so you don’t have to.

• Frequently asked Questions answered

  How to change armour, your first outpost, respec, best training and more covered in this guide to some of the most commonly recurring questions during the early hours of the game.

Main Quest Priority Ops Walkthrough

From woe to go, everything you need to do to finish Mass Effect Andromeda – and all the things you don’t have to do, too, since everyone likes a nice round completion number. Key choices and consequences clearly detailed, bosses thoroughly sorted out, baffling systems explained.

• Prologue: Hyperion – Character Creation, Character Profiles and Starting Skills

  It’s time to wake up. Andromeda awaits.

• Planetside: Ark Hyperion and Habitat 7

  Humanity’s new home isn’t all it’s cracked up to be… now it’s time to fight for survival.

A Better Beginning

• Arrival at the Nexus – sidequests galore

  The Citadel is 600 years away, but its spirit lives on aboard the Nexus. Time to explore it, and meet the Andromeda Initiative top brass.

• The Tempest and the strange signal on Eos

  Get yourself two forms of transport – a ship and a buggy – and then get out into exploring your first proper planet..

• A Better Beginning and Activating the Remnant Monoliths

  It’s time for some alien sudoku, some fighting, and a bad-ass Krogan.

• Into the Vault, clearing the Eos radiation and founding Prodromos

  We’re going deeper underground – and when we emerge, we’ll have a much more hospitable planet.

A Trail of Hope

• A Trail of Hope: Aya, Hvarl, Voeld and Rescuing the Moshae

  The Heleus Cluster’s native alien race aren’t exactly happy to see you, but they do need your help. It’s time to gain their trust.

Hunting the Archon

• Hunting the Archon: The Salarian Ark and the Kett Flagship

  Take the fight to the Archon, and rescue some of your people along the way.

The Journey to Meridian

• Elaaden, 100% viability and The Journey to Meridian

  Things are building to a climax – and we don’t just mean in the romance system.

Meridian – The Way Home

• The Point of No Return, Khi Tasira, and Meridian

  Now that you’ve settled the Krogan paradise of Elaaden the main quest is drawing to a rapid conclusion: the time has come to try to take Meridian.

Sidequests & Tasks

Mass Effect Andromeda is big, in case you somehow missed that memo. Among so many side quests, there’s sure to be one that has you pulling your hair in frustration. Here are a few of the ones that nearly left us all bald.

• Eos: Naming the Dead visual guide – screenshots and map locations for colonist bodies

  Mass Effect Andromeda has a quest called Naming the Dead, and it is a pain in the arse. We’ve suffered so you don’t have to.

• Nexus: First Murderer – exile or release?

  Ryder faces a difficult choice in the First Murderer secondary quest. We have a helping hand.

• Nexus: Sleeping Dragons – the fate of the protestors

  Decide the fate of some protestors in the Sleeping Dragons secondary quest.

• Voeld: Uncovering the Past – What to do about the Mind of Voeld AI

  Mass Effect fans will know all too well that sometimes AI can be a really bad idea – but that doesn’t make this choice any easier. Here’s some help for making a choice.

• Making an Impression: drill decision and Architect battle

  There are three reasons why you might be looking for help with this quest. Are you making a decision, fighting a boss, or just wondering where the heck the NPCs are…?

Other Notable Pages

• Mass Effect: Andromeda isn’t all bad faces – it’s gorgeous in 4K, so here’s 33 screenshots of it in action
• Mass Effect Andromeda review: rough as guts for the first 10 hours, but worth fighting through to the heart
• Mass Effect Andromeda reviews: all the scores and how it compares to older Mass Effect games
• All the Mass Effect: Andromeda romance scenes we’ve come across so far
• Mass Effect: Andromeda – BioWare looking at patching “lots of issues”, wants to “strongly support the game”

Mass Effect Andromeda Patches & Updates

• Mass Effect: Andromeda PC update out now, fixes black screen, Corsair Utility Engine, more
• Mass Effect: Andromeda Nvidia drivers released
• Mass Effect: Andromeda patch 1.04 is out now on PS4 and Xbox One

Got any questions about Mass Effect: Andromeda we haven’t answered here? Drop us a comment and we’ll see what we can do.

If you’ve been online at all today, you already know there are various pre-order options available for Destiny 2. Let’s have a closer look at those, because there are four in total at present.

As reported yesterday, Destiny 2 is now available for pre-order and without the standard edition included, the skus on offer are: a Collector’s Edition, Digital Deluxe Edition, Limited Edition and Standard plus Expansion Pass.

The Expansion Pass, which contains two, large expansions, is also available for pre-order.

Also, and as previously reported, pre-ordering the game nets early access to the beta with dates to be announced, but it’s slated for sometime this summer. Once pre-ordered, the code will be emailed within two business days.

Each of the editions, and the contents were posted yesterday, but we have images for each now which will provide you with a better idea of what you’ll be getting.

All options below include the base game and Expansion Pass along with in-game digital goodies. These digital extras are: a Legendary Sword, Legendary Player Emote and a Cabal Empire Themed Emblem.

Those who prefer to go the digital route can pre-order the Destiny 2: Digital Deluxe Edition for $99.99. It comes with the aforementioned contents.

If you like things which you can hold in your hand, the Destiny 2: Limited Edition might tempt you to spend $99.99/£89.99 (£79.99 for PC in the UK).

Along with the base game, digital content and Expansion Pass it includes the following:

Limited Edition SteelBook Case

Cabal-themed Collector’s Box, containing:

• Booklet with secrets into the Cabal Empire
• Cabal Schematic
• Collectible Postcard Images
• Cabal Military Pawns

For the collectors out there, the rather expensive Collector’s Edition ($249.99/£219.99) comes with the same contents as the Digital Deluxe and Limited Editions, but with more physical items than the latter. The PC version is the same price in the US but £209.99 in the UK.

Here’s the extra contents included with the Destiny 2: Collector’s Edition:

Destiny 2 – Frontier Bag

• Customizable bag that can be worn as a backpack or messenger bag
• 15” Laptop/Tablet Sleeve with protective pocket slip

Frontier Kit

• Solar panel USB charger with built-in light
• Paracord
• Solar blanket

Once again, like the Limited Edition it comes with a SteelBook Case and the same contents, along with the digital items included with it and the Deluxe Edition.

Over in North America, the Limited Edition is exclusive to GameStop. All pre-orders of Destiny 2 through the retailer will come with the Cayde-6 statue while supplies last – except for the Digital Deluxe version.

It’s the same story over in the UK, only physical editions of the game will include the Cayde 6 pre-order bonus and the figurine is exclusive to GAME. So is the Collector’s Edition.

Finally, you can also buy the base game plus the Expansion Pass for $89.99.

If you hit up the links to both GAME and GameStop you can get a better idea on pricing and contents.

Destiny 2 will be released on September 8 for PC, PS4 and Xbox One.

We’ll get our first look at gameplay via livestream on May 18.

Dom’s Ice Charger in Fate of the Furious, or Furious 8/Fast 8 if you will, is coming to Rocket League next week.

The Dodge Charger will be added to Rocket League ten days before the Vin Diesel and co.’s film hits theaters on April 14.

It’s a premium Battle-Car and will run you $1.99 or the regional equivalent. The Dodge Ice Charger also comes with exclusive wheels and six decals: Clean Cut, Crazy Sandwich, Flames, Rakugaki, Rally, and CCCXL.

Players can download The Fate of the Furious DLC for Rocket League on April 4.

Ubisoft has performed maintenance on For Honor which has increased Steel income and brought back the River Fort and High Fort maps.

News of the For Honor update came around the same time as a planned blackout by players. Many are unhappy with Ubisoft’s lack of communication with the community regarding issues that have been raised.

After the servers were brought down this morning, the following changes were applied:

River Fort Map

• Will re-introduce River Fort by end of day today.
• Plans are to re-introduce High Fort as soon as possible if everything goes well with River Fort.

Increased Steel income

Overall income of Steel on all matches and Orders across all platforms has been increased.

Here are the new rates:

• All matches Steel income are increased by 25%
• Daily Orders Steel income are increased by 33%
• Side Orders Steel income are increased by 50%
• Community Orders Steel rewards are increased from 500-1000 to 2000 Steel
• Changes can raise daily first two hours income by as much as 45%.

New Heroes Customization

New Elite outfits per hero (12 total). Includes:

• The Battlefield Chic Outfits for the Knights
• The Death Ravens Outfits for the Vikings
• The Death Blossoms Outfits for the Samurai

Compensation for March, 28 outage : All players granted three day Champion Status for the eight hours of outage.

A livestream discussing the For Honor update as well as upcoming changes will kick off at 1pm ET/6pm UK. You can watch it over on Twitch.

The development team is also currently investigating the Faction War rewards and will “correct the situation soon.”

Dark Souls 3: The Ringed City throws a tough mini-boss, a swamp, the meat of Lapp’s NPC quest and a boatload of hazards at us today.

This Dark Souls 3: The Ringed City walkthrough explores the mostly optional area around the Ringed City bonfire. Our primary goal in this area is to open the shortcut gate, and you can do that in about five minutes if you just sprint through all the enemies. Just scroll down to the shortcut gate section if you want to get it over with.

If you do want to explore, though, this area has a lot to offer. There’s a mini-boss returning Dark Souls fans will be overjoyed to see and some good items in among all the horror. The good news is that the swamp in this area is not poisonous, so you can explore at your leisure.

Keep an eye – and an ear – out for locusts (cricket men) as you roam. Many of them sit submerged in the water, only a bit of head showing. The ones you encounter around the edges tend to be passive, merely startling you by mumbling to themselves, but closer to the centre they’ll ambush and attack.

Don’t worry too much about the little locusts. These babies will only attack if you get very close or if they’re with a bigger locust who aggro’s on you.

Exploring the swamp – clockwise

Exit the bonfire room the same way you came in and either kill the locust guarding the path or drop down over the nearby ledges to the left to avoid him for now.

The swamp is spread out like a circle before you and we’re going to start by going clockwise. Cut across the middle, close to the little island made by the sunken rooftop, to avoid spawning and attracting the Halva knights at the bottom of the stairs.

Hug the left wall and you’ll go around another sunken rooftop to spot a locust. Kill it so you can grab the twinkling titanite.

Continue on along the left wall to find a ramp made by a fallen beam. Run up it to kill a humpback man. There’s nothing up here, but he’s an annoyance as you run around this area, casting his spell at you. When he’s down, head down to kill the locust patrolling around the building. Try to stay on the wall side of the building, not the swamp side, or you may attract the attention of the grey giant. If that happens, run back to the edge of the swamp and wait for him to get over it.

Now we’re going to head up the road winding up the hill, which unfortunately is guarded by three humpback men. Battling them all at once is annoying, and it’s hard to snipe them, but try to get the one on the rise above you with arrows at least. As usual, hidden body is great for ensuring you only fight one at a time if you can’t get them with rapid sniping.

In the curve of the road up the hill you’ll find a white birch bow – its special skill is great for sniping at enemies who normally dodge arrows – and at the top there’s a titanite chunk.

The curve of the road is a great place to snipe at the five locusts and three humpback men scattered around the area below, luring them to you one at a time for dispatch. When they’re gone you can gather three young white branches. There’s also some rubbish by the island with the pillar.

Keep on hugging the left wall to enter the little dome. Another humpback man is waiting inside, plus any who fled your sniping, and up to two humpback men will aggro from the surroundings as you beat up the one inside. Kill them all to collect the Church Guardian Shiv – not a weapon but a consumable.

We’re very close to the miniboss now, so it’s a good idea to snipe any nearby locusts, luring them in and getting rid of them, to avoid complications if you decide to leg it.

Iron Dragonslayer mini-boss and grey giant

As you push further into the swamp you’ll start seeing dead Halva knights. This means the Iron Dragonslayer is close. (If you aggro him and regret it, you may ned to run all the way back to the bonfire to lose him.)

This is a really tough duel: the Iron Dragonslayer is Ornstein, a notorious boss from the first Dark Souls. He’s a little easier on his own than with his old buddy Smough, but still troubling. He drops the Iron Dragonslayer set.

Ornstein isn’t really cheesable, as far as I can tell, so if you aren’t ready for a rough duel and can’t find summons to help you out: just skip him. You don’t need his fancy pants anyway. The loot near him is negligible – two titanite scales.

If you are going to try it, speed trumps survivability unless you have summons with you; unless you go pretty heavy you won’t survive many of Ornstein’s attacks, so it’s better not to be hit if you can manage it. Get in close to him and stay by his left hip, dodging under his attacks, then attacking once and circling again. If you see him winding up with his blade held as if he were drawing a sword, motor on out of there as far and as fast as you can to avoid a very tricky horizontal sweep.

Whether or not you beat up the Iron Dragonslayer, you can also choose to tackle or ignore the grey giant in the swamp. Again, if you decide to do this, make sure you clear out any nearby locusts since you don’t need that on your plate.

Because of the melee phantoms and lack of good cover in the swamp, it’s far easier to get in close and melee the giant, skipping out of reach of his melee phantoms as they appear, than to cheese him with arrows. He tends not to summon archers when you’re very close, and if he does, just circle to put the giant between you and them.

Once again, skipping this is a perfectly viable option and the loot is negligible: a hidden blessing from the giant itself, and a titanite chunk nearby. It’s almost like Dark Souls 3 is saying “hey, choose your battles” in this DLC.

Unlocking the shortcut

Now we want to check out the other side of the swamp and unlock the shortcut gate. If you don’t want to fight these enemies, just sprint past everything, following these directions to reach the gate and hopefully unlock it before your pursuers murder you. Hit the bonfire again to end the horror.

There’s some good loot to grab if you can face them, though. Starting at the bonfire (don’t rest if you don’t need to; we don’t want all the baddies coming back) and set out again, this time travelling anti-clockwise and hugging the right wall.

Note: if you didn’t kill the giant, make sure it’s walking away or at the far end of its patrol before venturing out where it might see you. If it aggros, run all the way back to the bonfire and hide, dodging the phantoms that arise, until it forgets you. Also, be wary of venturing too far towards the Iron Dragonslayer area if he’s still alive.

As you proceed around the swamp, kill or ignore the locust in the first alcove and keep circling around, hugging the right wall. A locust will ambush you from the water on your left as you do.

Grab the titanite chunk and the large soul of a weary warrior from the swamp and its edge in this area, but then keep on hugging the right wall to go around the little headland and climb up among some ruins. Your locust NPC is here for a chat, and you can grab the Ringed Knight Straight Sword.

If you look out over the swamp you’ll see a submerged tower with an item glow. Four locusts are hidden in the water around it, but they won’t ambush till you get right up close to the item, so you’ll probably want to snipe their heads to draw them out. Watch out for the grey giant here, too. If you get in trouble, run straight back up to where you grabbed the Ringed Knight Straight Sword and drop down the other side to reach the bonfire room where you can hide out for a few minutes before heading back. The item is the White Preacher Right Arm, a sorcery catalyst.

Keep on advancing along hugging the right wall to spot a narrow spire with an item glow. A locust is waiting to ambush you there, so snipe him out to make it easier to get the soul of a weary warrior without aggro’ing the giant – if he’s around.

Now you want to climb onto the roof of the building here, but there are multiple enemies waiting. First, there’s a ringed knight standing on guard. After you approach the building, a second ringed knight begins patrolling around the building, clockwise. A third ringed knight will drop down and head off to a side area to stand guard on his own, while a fourth ringed knight drops down to stand with the first one. So there’s a lot of potential for an absolute clusterfuck here – especially if the grey giant and iron dragonslayer are still hanging around, limiting your escape options.

I found it easiest to cast hidden body and use that to sneak past to a large boulder along the cliff edge beyond (where there’s a titanite chunk), and then cheese (good old snipe-and-run-away) from this line-of-sight breaking cover. If you don’t have hidden body, you’ll probably want to try and snipe the first one from the swamp, or lure him there to duel, then run past the building as the others drop in. There are two items to grab in this area – the Black Witch Veil is in a little nook next to the ringed knight who stands on his own, and a piece of twinkling titanite is hidden on the building if you climb to the highest point. Alternately, you can of course just sprint past all this.

Navigationally, your goal is just to use the submerged building as a ramp allowing you to drop down onto the rocky area on the far side. Make sure you drop down to just above the swamp, not on the cliff side, or you’ll just end up back by the lone ringed knight guard area again.

Ignore the road leading across the ravine for now and instead walk along the ledge above the swamp until you see a lit doorway. Enter and open the shortcut gate back to the bonfire.

“Show Your Humanity”: Lapp’s NPC quest and the Purging Monument

With the shortcut to the next area active, it’s time to do a last clean up of Ringed City Streets and complete a bit more of Lapp’s NPC quest.

One of the statues in the room outside the shortcut gate has fallen down, allowing you to read the engraving behind it, “show your humanity”. To unlock this secret, go back out through the bonfire room to the swamp, stand in the water and use Chameleon or a young white branch until you are turned into a black figure – a humanity. Walk back to the engraving in this form (remember not to interact or attack, or the spell breaks) and read it again to make a ladder appear.

There’s a one-way drop at the end of the path leading to an area patrolled by two ringed knights and guarded by a grey giant. If you don’t have hidden body this is very tough for cheesy types so you may just want to run right through.

Your goal is a spot on the far side of the area, past the grey giant and on the same side, where you can go down some stairs to a slightly lower ledge. From here, with cat’s ring or Spook you can drop to another lower ledge; there is a ladder but it’s hard to find in a panic. The drop you want on the right as you face across the great stairs; dropping to the left will put you way back and in considerable danger.

At the end of this path you’ll find a wretch and the Dragonhead Shield. Turn back and go the other way to grab a large soul of a crestfallen knight and pray to the purging monument. This can clear sin and hollowing, and revive the DLC boss if you want another go. For now just activating is enough; we want to take this info back to Lapp.

The easiest way to get back to Lapp is to drop down to the stairs using Spook or Cat’s Ring, then face out into the swamp. Turn left and hug the wall, watching out for the humpedback men, to climb the ladder. Kill or avoid the two ringed knights and overgrown wretch across the bridge, then push through to the end to find Lapp. We’ve described this route before.

We’ve pantsed this area pretty thoroughly now, so tomorrow we’ll take a look at that ravine – and maybe the dragon you may have noticed flapping about in the vicinity.

When we first glanced at the email, the thought this was an April Fool’s joke crossed our mind. Then we remembered it’s Studio Wildcard after all, and DLC for Ark: Survival Evolved featuring a unicorn prancing around wouldn’t be odd in the slightest.

Update v256 for Ark: Survival Evolved on Steam also adds underwater bases, aquatic breeding, TEK teleporters, four new creatures and a more streamlined inventory system. The latter will make it easier for players to access everything placed in the inventory.

It also includes the next TEK Tier as part of the ongoing, slow rollout. The new tier adds the following:

• New Structure: TEK Power Generator. The wireless generators power TEK structures and any Tribe electrical structures in adjustable range.
• New Structures & Mechanic: TEK Underwater Bases. Allows fully-enclosed structures to be created underwater, with ventilators to allow oxygen filled room. Air-locks and moonpools allow players to enter and exit without flooding their base.
• New Structure: TEK Teleporter. Helps players move around the expansive open-world island. But very expensive to obtain.
• New Item: TEK Mosa Saddle. Once properly placed on the Mosasaur it equips the beast with lasers and more.

Four new creatures were also added, one of which is the Equus Magnus, which looks a bit like a zebra-ass cross. It’s rather large and can be ridden, used in herding, and as a pack animal. In order to tame the beast, players will need to use the new “break-in” mechanic.

Within the Equus saddle inventory, players will also be able to craft the new Lasso item. It can be used to wrangle creatures and players while riding. Yee-haw.

While trotting about on their amazing horse, players may encounter the Unicorn. It is the “rarest creature on the Island,” because there is only one on the map at a time. It can be tamed just like the normal Equus.

The three other critters include the Leedsichthys Conviviumbrosia which is the largest fish in the waters around the island, but it’s of “little taming value.” Players can, however use it for food, and it’s so very large, they can cut chunks of meat off of it without causing death or permanent injury.

Players can also tame the Ichthyornis Piscoquus, which is just a normal seagull. Once tamed, they will ride the player’s shoulders and bring them small fish throughout the day.

Iguanodon Vicissitudinis, a large herbivore which looks similar to the Parasaurolophus is the fourth animal to be added with the update. It sports two spike-like thumbs for “prying fruits open to pick out the seeds” and for stabbing enemies. It can walk about on all fours or on its hind legs.

Along with the above, a new hairstyle and facial hairstyle has been added. Players can now grow ponytails with full physics and mutton chops, because why not.

If you are interested in picking up Ark: Survival Evolved, it is on sale through Steam for 67% off and the Scorched Earth expansion is 51% off until Monday, April 3.

The game is also available through Xbox One via the ID@Xbox program and in early access on PlayStation 4.

Quite a few developers love to have fun with fans on April Fool’s Day, and the Battlefield 1 team is no exception.

DICE has added a bit of silliness to Battlefield 1 over on the CTE, in form of talking unicorns.

According to Westie, the mythical equines speak in a very elitist voice, which you can hear in the video above, and as they dash across the desert, you can glimpse rainbows coming out of their horn.

It’s just a bit of fun for everyone who plays on the CTE.

Since we’ve no idea how long the ability to ride unicorns will be available, if you’re a CTE player, you might want to jump on soon.

Two longtime Square Enix developers have announced their departure from the company.

Final Fantasy 15′s art director Isamu Kamikokuryo, who worked at Square Enix for 18 years announced yesterday, March 31, he was leaving to pursue freelance art and diction work, according a statement made on Twitter (thanks, Siliconera).

Kamikokuryo was art supervisor and art director for franchise titles Final Fantasy 10, Final Fantasy 12, Final Fantasy 13/13-2 and Final Fantasy 15.

Star Ocean and Valkyrie Profile series producer Yoshinori Yamagishi also announced his resignation from Square Enix on March 31.

Yamagishi worked at Square for over 20 years and was a producer for many tri-Ace titles over the years.

Announcing his departure on Twitter, Yamagishi said he is considering “working on a new game with a different company,” and hopes to have fan support when the time comes (thanks, Siliconera).

If both announcing their departure on March 31 sounds off, there’s no need to toss it in the April Fool’s Day pile.

In Japan, the new fiscal year starts on April 1, so it’s rather common for employees to leave their place of employment on March 31.

Escape dragon on the bridge as we continue through Dark Souls 3: The Ringed City.

Our Dark Souls 3: The Ringed City walkthrough continues on out of the swamp now, crossing a bridge over a ravine guarded by a huge dragon, wandering through a burial tower, finishing an NPC quest, and meeting a nasty dark spirit NPC.

At the end of this section we’ll land at a new bonfire, and after that it’s just a little further to unlock the second shortcut gate and lay the level bare.

This area is dominated by Darkeater Midir, the dragon you’ll definitely have noticed if you attempted to cross the bridge.

You may remember an NPC at the top of the grand stairs asking you to dispatch this foe, and we’ll certainly come to that – but not right now. Now we just want to get past him without having our bollock hairs roasted.

Alright; lower your equip load and be ready to mash that sprint key; we’re going across.

Crossing the dragon bridge from Ringed City Streets

Head out the newly opened shortcut gate and towards the ravine. Rather than approaching the bridge, search the right side for a path leading to an item glow. A ringed knight patrols up as you begin on this path. Stay out of sight and wait for him to begin walking back down, then run up behind him for an arrow or backstab before running back to hide near the bonfire for an easy cheese; he often falls off the ledge in his excitement. The item is a titanite scale, and if you continue on down the path and under the bridge you can grab the Dragonhead Greatshield, too.

Peer across the bridge – you’re safe as long as you’re one step back from the line of sunken bricks. Look ahead to spot an item glow against the wall on the right. It’s hard to see, but there’s a crack in the wall here you can duck into. Stand to the left of the bridge and use binoculars to see it.

What we need to do is trigger the dragon, move as far forward as we can without taking damage, wait for the flames the dragon leaves behind it to fade, and then sprint on over and roll into this crack, avoiding the wretch waiting in ambush there; he shoves you back into the flames. Getting past the wretch is the hardest part as the timing is otherwise pretty generous as long as you’re not super slow and heavy.

Inside the little cave beyond you’ll find some titanite scales, and between gouts of flame you can duck out to grab the soul of a weary warrior which was just outside.

The next bit is comparatively easy. If you peek out the door a little way you’ll see a lower path to the left of the one the dragon flames over. Step out a bit to trigger the dragon, then hop back in while it does its thing. As soon as the flames die down, rush on over to drop down onto the lower path. Don’t worry about the item glow along the way; it’s only some rubbish.

Grab the titanite scale and proceed cautiously, killing the wretch waiting to ambush you. Walk slowly up to the rise to trigger a patrolling wretch on the level above you; if he doesn’t hear you, you can creep up a bit further and have the dragon take care of him for you.

Now just sprint up around the corner and duck into the lit doorway on your left. Be sure to get all the way in or the dragon’s flames can still get to you – but don’t topple into the hole ahead!

This new are is the Shared Grave itself. It’s a tower encircled by a spiralling staircase. Rather then rely on left and right, which are relative, we’ll usually guide you with upstairs and downstairs. Downstairs progresses us through the level, while upstairs takes us on an optional loot with a dark spirit NPC.

The Moaning Knight

This section is optional so skip it if you like; we’ll meet back at the door to the Shared Grave in a few minutes.

Head up the stairs towards the crystal lizard; the floor collapses under you before you can reach it. When you drop down you’ll be invaded by the NPC dark spirit Moaning Knight. He patrols up and down the stairs here so you will either need to use stealth of some sort (hidden body remains amazing) or else quickly clear a safe spot to duel him. Alternately: do both, as we describe here.

Immediately head down the stairs to dispatch a skeleton, then go on up and into the first room on the left, clearing the two skeletons as soon as possible. If you do this quickly you’ll be done before the Moaning Knight arrives.

Hold very still and listen; Moaning Knight’s footsteps are soft. Stay well back from the door on the side of the room he’s approaching from, and he’ll walk right past without noticing you. You can sneak the whole way up the staircase, avoiding him altogether, with this tactic – but it’s also great for cheesing him.

To cheese the Moaning Knight, wait until he turns around at the bottom of the stairs, then keep still and let him walk past again, heading upwards. Sneak up behind him quickly, before he reaches the next room up, and backstab him (or alternately headshot him with an arrow), then sprint back to hide in your room. If you’re lucky (or have hidden body), he will lose you and resume patrolling, and if not, well, you’ve got a head start on the duel. He drops the Blindfold Mask, for some reason, which may explain why he so rarely sees you.

Whether you kill the Moaning Knight or just advance using the side rooms and gaps in his patrol, the next room up on the left contains a skeleton and nothing else. It rises up even if you’re stealthed, so you’ll probably have to deal with it, but note that it’s pretty open to backstabs if you lure and hide. Just outside the second room is a simple gem.

The third room also holds a skeleton, and then there’s the drop back down to the next floor, where you started.

Lapp’s NPC quest and the Shared Grave bonfire

From the door to the Shared Grave tower, turn downstairs and climb the rubble to drop a short way. If you’ve been doing his NPC quest, then Lapp is waiting in the room here for a chat. If his voice didn’t tip you off, his posture might.

After chatting with Lapp, hem hem, you want to drop down to the next level near the red pennant nearby. Depending on your existing relationship to the NPC Lapp turns out to be, you’ll see a scene play here, but you end up where you need to be no matter what. In either case, once we get to the next bonfire you can come back to where Lapp was and take some nice items he leaves for you.

Having dropped down one level from where Lapp was, go upstairs, and drop down another level. Turn downstairs to grab a Blessed Gem. There’s nothing further in this direction, so just turn around and go upstairs.

There’s a treasure chest in the first room you come to and it is, of course, a mimic. Kill it (easier said than done, if you don’t have hidden body) for the Ring of the Evil Eye +3.

Continue up the stairs and enter the next room to fight a skeleton. At the back of this room is a short flight of stairs leading up to two skeletons. Continue past them and emerge back out in the central area; if you have been to a bonfire or ignored the optional path, there’s a crystal lizard on your right – but the ground will crumble under your feet and drop you back onto the Moaning Knight path, so ignore it for now. It’s just a trap.

Instead, head upstairs to find the Shared Grave bonfire. Don’t go traipsing out the other door without a care in the world; Midir is still waiting for you.

One thing you should do before leaving this place is go back to where Lapp was to collect the items for finishing his quest. You can either bonfire back to Ringed Streets and walk back, or use the path where the Moaning Knight patrols; obviously, if you haven’t beat up the Moaning Knight, the former option is by far the safer route.

Knock the dragon off the bridge and optionally put him down for good in Dark Souls 3: The Ringed City.

This Dark Souls 3: The Ringed City walkthrough chapter covers the short run from the Shared Grave bonfire back to Ringed Inner Wall.

This is a pretty eventful section, even if geographically it is short. Along the way we’ll unlock an optional boss, open the shortcut gate right back to the Ringed Inner Wall, find the path to the optional boss and collect some sweet loot.

Since this is a short chapter, we’ve also included a guide to beating the optional boss, Darkeater Midir, but be warned, dear cheeseburger assassins: this is a very, very tough boss, designed for the hardiest of players, and not glass-jawed little sneaksters like us. If the messages are anything to go by, this boss has broken many a player.

Personally, I got someone else to do it, placing the control pad in the hands of a woman ten years younger who thinks nothing of lightning combos and split second dodges. I highly recommend this method, or if it is not available to you, try pretending the optional boss does not exist at all.

Unlock optional boss Darkeater Midir

From the Shared Grave bonfire, you end up face to face with the dragon again. Darkeater Midir has two flame attacks here – a sweeping beam that travels from right to left (your orientation), and a straight blast that is aimed directly at you, wherever you are. The latter is far more deadly.

This seems like a good spot for a cheese, but with feather arrows and a fully upgraded Black Bow of Pharis I was only getting about 35 damage per shot if I managed to bean it right on the nose, and at that rate even I lost patience. There’s a far better option just a little further on.

Now, you can just run past Darkeater Midir, if you’re quick and time it well, but if you knock him off you clear this area for good, and open an optional boss fight with him, which, as we already mentioned, you should definitely ignore as it is awful in every way.

It’s not too hard to knock him off, either. First, run forward hugging the left wall to climb up on the rocks a bit. There’s usually a message here advertising the safe zone. Give it a like while you’re there.

This is the optimal place to cheese Midir, and it’s still a little tricky. The real danger is the straight line flame blast, because if he fires that while you’re lining up a shot, you are literal toast. Be ready to roll back into shelter if you see him preparing it: he’ll be looking right at you, rather than lifting his head, with flame around his face. He rarely does it twice in a row, but it does happen, so don’t get cocky in its wake.

Use feather arrows and stick to one shot at a time unless Midir is roaring. Eventually he’ll fall down, and this is a great time to run up and finish him off with melee.

If you’d rather duel the whole way, getting close to Midir is a bit trickier than to this first safe zone; as soon as the fire stops, move out onto the rocks where they’re not burning and see what Midir is doing. It’s only safe to advance while Midir is winding up for his sweeping fire blast (head thrown up); if he has his head pointed at you and is flaming, he’s about to fire his direct blast, which will hit you, and if he’s roaring, he may fire the direct blast before you reach him.

Assuming Midir is winding up his sweeping blast, sprint forward and get behind the low rocks on the left as soon as the fire on the ground allows it. Then immediately run towards him and get in among his feet; the rocks nearby are not a safe zone if he goes for the direct blast again.

When you reach Midir, get under his body and attack the claw that’s on the right (as you face him running up the path) for best results.

Midir has a melee combo; he’ll stomp once with his left claw, and then sweep it along the ground horizontally. It’s pretty easy to avoid just by staying near the back edge of the cliff, near his body.

He also has a flame attack, which can fill the area right by him, and he usually continues on from it with a beam attack, which traces the path of a devastating blast to follow. Again, if you’re at the right claw and close to the cliff edge both of these attacks will miss you. If not, it’s best to move along the path a bit rather than try to stay beneath him where it’s hard to see and dodge.

For best results here, unlock the camera, two hand your weapon, and be very careful not to fall off the cliff yourself as you wail away on Midir. All you need to do is keep coming back to that same claw, dodging his stomp, and you’ll whittle him down in no time.

Whether you cheese or duel the whole way, when Midir’s health bar is completely depleted he falls into the ravine and you are free to run about this area without fear of his flame attacks. Nice.

Opening the shortcut gate

With Midir down, cross the bridge, grabbing the titanite scale on the way. Enter the building to find a seemingly empty room. Ignore the stairs for now and smack the wall next to them, revealing a humpbacked man. Kill it, then bash the next wall to find a large soul of a weary warrior. Bash yet another illusory wall to find the Lightning Arrow spell.

Now take the stairs and kill the crystal lizard. For once, it doesn’t lead into a trap – possibly to make up for the last one we saw. In the room at the top of the stairs you’ll see a statue of what seems to be Gwyn crowning a Hollow – or is he taking its crown away? (Or, for some angles, is he receiving – well, anyway.)

Activate the nearby lift and open the gate you find at the bottom to find yourself back at the Ringed Inner Wall bonfire.

This is a good time to go back to the locked door at the top of the grand stairs between the Ringed Inner Wall and Ringed City Streets bonfires and have a chat with the NPC there, but it’s not necessary; you don’t get anything for it, although she gives you a clue about where to find the optional boss. We already know the answer so you don’t have to risk it.

Although we’ve said you don’t need to fight Darkeater Midir, it’s worth going right up to the edge of his boss arena for some good loot, so follow along for a little while.

Locating Darkeater Midir

From the Ringed Inner Wall bonfire, enter the lift room and activate it so it heads down. Immediately turn left and run into the wall, and you’ll stumble into a doorway part way down.

The path here goes two ways. Turn right and head down, dropping through the broken floor, to land back with the Gwyn statue and take the Chloranthy Ring +3. Definitely worth the trip.

Return via the lift and hidden door, and go the other way to find an ember. Attack the first statue clockwise of the item to open a hidden path.

Go down the stairs to find a path ending at a ladder. You can very carefully edge around the left side to grab a Filinore’s Spear Ornament, a new covenant trade item, if you like. Otherwise, just descend the ladder. Bloodstains suggest many players find this action difficult, for some reason.

In the room at the bottom you can collect the Antiquated Plain Garb and Violet Wrappings. If you’re in ember form and you haven’t seen the end of the DLC yet, you’ll also find a summon sign for the NPC phantom Shira.

If you’re sensible, go back up the ladder and drop down through the hole above the Gwyn statue to go back to the bonfire and rest up for the next section of the game. Otherwise, read on.

Darkeater Midir optional boss fight

Adjust your build, summon and do whatever else you want to before dropping down the hole behind the altar to begin the Darkeater Midir boss fight. Like most dragons, Midir is weak against lightning – so think about that when choosing a weapon, consumables and spells. He is resistant to dark, as the name implies, so don’t bother with that.

This is a fight best kept up close and personal. Midir has a number of area of effect and ranged attacks, and all but one of them are most easily avoided by sticking very close to him.

The worst move in this fight is Midir’s flying flame breath, which is almost impossible to avoid entirely unless you’re right under his belly. If you see him take to the skies, get under him. If you’re unlucky enough to be far away when this happens, you’re in trouble – so bring the best fire resist armour and shield you have. Not that it is going to help much; you’ll need a long, long health bar to survive a hit.

When the fight starts the boss will rush at you; roll sideways and don’t stop until the boss finishes this attack. If you stay close to him, you’ll never see it again. If you do, sideways rolling sorts it out.

In addition to his ranged attacks, Midir has single melee swipe attacks, and two combos you can exploit. Get close to his face (give him a smack there, if you dare; he takes double damage) or just inside his neck to lure him into performing these combos.

Midir’s most common combo is two claw swipes, followed by a flame attack. When he winds up, just roll forward and through him, and get all the way to the end of his tail (any closer, and you’ll be burned). Here you can wail away at him a few times (if you struggle to hit his tail with melee, use lock on and smack him with a single arrow or spell) before quickly dodging out of the way of his tailwhip counter-attack; he doesn’t always use it, but it hits hard, so better safe than sorry.

If you’re lucky, Midir will do his other combo, which is a couple of bites follows by breathing fire ahead of him. Instead of moving right to the tail, stay by one of his rear feet and smack away merrily a few times. He won’t tail whip here, so it’s much easier to get into position for the next go-round.

In either case, your next goal is to get right back close to his head so you can dodge his next combo and repeat this sequence of events, over and over and over again.

When you get Midir to half health he’ll hunker down and start sucking in dark, preparing to do a horrible new AOE attack. You can only run, run, run out of this mess. He may do this again if you take too long to kill him, and if so, just run away again.

In this second phase Midir gets more trigger happy with ranged attacks so it’s even more important to stay as close to him as possible. Otherwise, it’s the same old cycle.

Defeating Midir awards youSoul of Darkeater Midir, which you can transpose for Frayed Blade or the Old Moonlight spell. Also, you have our most sincere congratulations and admiration.

The final boss of Dark Souls 3: The Ringed City is our old pal, Slave Knight Gael.

If you’ve been following this Dark Souls 3: The Ringed City walkthrough, you won’t have anything left to do in this DLC besides tackle the last boss.

Reach the Slave Knight Gael boss battle by following the drag marks in the ash outside the ruin sheltering the Filianore’s Rest bonfire. Enter the arch to trigger a short cutscene and the battle itself.

In direct contrast to Darkeater Midir, Slave Knight Gael is a battle that favours range over tight circling.

Slave Knight Gael has several nice, slow melee combos you will find it easy enough to dodge even if you’re not much of a twitch-reflex fan, and if you keep a bit of distance between you it’s even easier.

However, you’ll also find he has some very fast and nasty attacks including a leap and dive move, and combo finishing overhead strike or lunge. These may take you unaware, but again, distance really helps. That extra breathing room on your rolls is everything.

The other big danger is Gael’s repeating crossbow. The projectiles aren’t too fast but there are generally a lot of them, and if your stamina is low you’ll be tempted to roll into Gael rather than sideways to evade them – which is pretty risky given distance is your friend here. Keep going sideways and wait it out.

On the offense side of things, use the distance and the gaps between Gael’s attacks to drop your shield, recharging your stamina – and to fire off a spell or an arrow. Just go for one, very conservatively, and only when you’re sure he’s in recovery from a combo. Then go straight back into moving away from the boss, kiting backwards and circling.

This is a nice big arena and apart from a few ruins and some structures you should break as soon as possible, there’s nothing to prevent you leading the boss around by his nose, chipping away at him in a nice comfortable war of attrition.

The second phase plays out nearly the same as the first, except that Gael adds some magic attacks to his repertoire – skulls flying through the air, for example. In general these are slow moving enough that you can easily dodge them unless you’re right on top of him – and as discussed, we’re never right on top of him.

This battle is made laughable with even one summon. Keep Gael on the hop by aggro’ing him, avoiding his attack while your friend pings his bottom, then aggro’ing him again. Blip him back and forth between you like a tennis ball.

Unless you’re a pure in-your-face melee type, the most dangerous part of this battle is a tendency to over-confidence; don’t get sloppy and let Gael hit you because you’re three quarters done and getting bored or cocky.

Tidying up loose ends

When Gael goes down, you’ll receive Soul of Slave Knight Gael and Blood of the Dark Soul.

Take Gael’s soul to Firelink Shrine to transpose it into Gael’s Greatsword or the Repeating Crossbow.

Take the Blood of the Dark Souls back to the Painter in the Attic near Sister Friede’s bonfire. You can choose to share your name with her, if you like; it’s not clear if this ahs any consequences.

If you visit the Dreg heap bonfire you’ll see the old woman here has died. You can collect her ashes to take to the Shrine Handmaiden, unlocking her inventory. It seems this old pilgrim may have ascended, as there’s a new angel in the area. It didn’t attack me as I explored but it’s on a pretty weird patrol so I might just have been lucky.

That’s everything triggered by finishing the DLC, I think, but tomorrow we’ll come back and clear out the horrible area near Earthen Peak Ruins with the two angels.

Persona 5 is this week’s most exciting new release, but there are some other treasures on offer, too.

New video game releases for the week of April 3 – April 9.

Tuesday, April 4

• Persona 5 (PS3, PS4)
• Drawn to Death (PS4)
• PaRappa the Rapper Remastered (PS4)
• Lego City Undercover (PS4, Switch, Xbox One)
• Air Conflicts: Secret Wars Ultimate Edition (PS4)
• ArmaGallant: Decks of Destiny (PS4)
• Blackwood Crossing (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
• Mortal Blitz (PSVR)
• Plutobi: The Dwarf Planet Tales (PS4)
• Use Your Words (PS4)
• Virri VR (PSVR)

Wednesday, April 5

• Shovel Knight: Spectre of Torment (Mac, PC)

Thursday, April 6

• Graceful Explosion Machine (Switch)
• Pinball Breakout (3DS)
• Animal Gods (Wii U)

Friday, April 7

• Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition (PC, PS4, Xbox One)

Persona 5 is this week’s headline act, which makes it pretty amusing that for some reason Amazon UK hasn’t got its act together in terms of proper listing. Time to patronise your local high street chain or favourite online retailer. Persona 5 reviews have been enormously positive and Alex called it the best JRPG in a decade, which is a heck of a call – especially from him.

The other major release this week is the digital only Drawn to Death, an online multiplayer shooter from David Jaffe, who gave us Twisted Metal and God of War.

If you’re keen on remasters, there are two good ones this week. PaRappa the Rapper is finally back in action on modern hardware, and we expect its cartoon stylings to make the transition with grace. Meanwhile, Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition gives you another chance to check out one of the most interesting FPS titles of the last generation; unfortunately, Bulletstorm’s excellent gameplay was overshadowed at release by marketing focused on its humour.

Looking further ahead? Check out our full list of 2017 video game release dates.

As always, PlayStation Store release dates may vary depending on region.

Agents of Mayhem, the first post-Saints Row game from Volition Inc, looks pretty familiar in a good way.

An Agents of Mayhem trailer popped up online over the weekend, apparently leaked ahead of schedule.

Regular source Wario64 was one of a number of those who shared the Agents of Mayhem trailer on Twitter, although takedowns hits many of the leaks and their mirrors. The one above was working at time of writing, but who knows for how long?

Announced in June 2016, Agents of Mayhem is a comic book style Saints Row spin-off. Set in the same universe as Volition’s open world franchise, it focuses on a group of anti-heroes who face off against a supervillain, thus providing plenty of scope for Volition’s trademark mayhem (title callback, wha-hey!) within the familiar good vs bad framework.

We don’t yet know a lot about the project but given the leak we can probably expect a bunch of Agents of Mayhem news pretty soon. The trailer ends by revealing an August 2017 release window, so that’s one bit spoiled. The footage suggests you may be playing as preset characters rather than making your own, but have cosmetic customisation options at the very least.

Just judging by the trailer, it looks like a lot of Voilition’s DNA has survived the transition to a new IP. Saints Row is a great series – way better than all that dildo bat nonsense suggests – and the superpowers in the fourth game and its Gat Out of Hell spin-off were extra fun, so Agents of Mayhem looking a lot like Saints Row with extra cartoon elements is okay in my book.

Unlike Overwatch, which also embraced a Saturday Morning Cartoon style aesthetic, it doesn’t look like Agents of Mayhem will be PG-rated. Colourful visuals? Fine. Shouting “ahoy motherfuckers” while you drive a car through a building? Ratings bodies tend to frown on it.

Defeat the Spear of the Church to bring you one step from the end of Dark Souls 3: The Ringed City.

This Dark Souls 3: The Ringed City walkthrough chapter kicks off after you’ve passed Darkeater Midir on the bridge for a second time, and unlocked the shortcut gate near the Shared Grave bonfire leading back to Ringed Inner City.

We’re almost at the very end of the DLC now; all that stands between you and the very end are two bosses, a cutscene and an optional NPC fight. “All,” ha ha.

This isn’t the point of no return, by the way; that comes a little further down the page. If you’e determined to beat up Darkeater Midir, which honestly you should not feel obliged to, you can put it off till after the next boss with no ill effects. (You can do it after the DLC is completely over, too, but you miss your chance for an NPC summon.)

Although you may have just as many questions as before, we’re about to learn some of the secrets of the Ringed City. Are you ready? Let’s do this.

Take the lift from the Ringed Inner Wall bonfire and head out the door into the fresh air for a lovely view of the Ringed City now that the weather has improved a little. There’s a ringed knight ahead who’s a little more deadly than usual, so cheese to your heart’s content; the lift can be handy here. He drops the Ringed Knight Paired Greatwords, if you fancy such things.

On the way to this fellow you can collect some budding green blossom. There’s an altar here for the new covenant, and behind it is a ritual spear fragment consumable.

On a side path to the left of the church doors, you can drop down to grab some twinkling titanite, then drop down again to get back to the main path.

Approach the church doors for a little dialogue. Open them and enter to encounter a boss fight fog door.

Spear of the Church or Halflight Spear boss battle

This is a fight that’s something of a gamble. If you’re online, you’ll be facing off against another player from the new Spears of the Church covenant, with all the uncertainties that brings. If not, you’ll face an NPC called Halflight, Spear of the Church.

One the one hand, playing online means you can go into ember form and bring two or three summons with you, including Unbreakable Patches if you’ve met the requirements. On the other hand, real players – especially PvP players – are unpredictable, and often very, very good. You may be better off playing offline, and just sticking with Patches, assuming you’ve unlocked him. (If not, go back and do Lapp’s quest.)

When you enter the boss fog you’ll first see Adjudicator Jago, who is a grey giant. You can beat him up for a divine blessing, but he’ll despawn after a few moments anyway. You can get a divine blessing from it, though.

The battle actually begins when Adjudicator Jago summons in a Painting Guardian – a type of NPC familiar to veteran Souls players, but much tougher than usual. “Make haste,” he says, and yeah, you want to – if you leave it too long, you’ll have to fight the Painting Guardian and the boss.

Part way through the battle Jago will say “make haste” again, and that means the Painting Guardian is coming back for another go, so you’ll have to face two targets. The good news is that Unbreakable Patches is pretty good at keeping the Painting Guardian occupied once he has aggro’d onto it, so if you’re alone and not able to take it down quickly while under attack from the main boss, you can just lure them together.

The Painting Guardian isn’t so tough. They have has very quick dagger attacks and can throw a church shiv, but they have pretty low defence and interrupt fairly easily, so you only need to dodge once and start wailing to quickly whittle it down.

In the second phase, the Painting Guardian adds some new tricks. One is some sort of spell; it’ll kneel and a large circle appears around it. We never got close enough to find out what this does – maybe it’s a heal, or an AoE? – but it’s a great cue to sneak in a backstab.

The other enemy is the real problem. Whether you end up fighting Halflight, Spear of the Church or another human player, they each come with a spell similar to Homing Soulmass and dole it out constantly, which means whenever that halo of lights is around them, if you get close they’ll dart at you. It’s easy to dodge if you go sideways as they fire, thankfully, but it can shut down an otherwise fine opening for a melee.

We can’t give you advice on what else a human player may be packing, but Halflight has a spell that creates a long, persistent line of spears. She’ll glow white briefly before this happens, so immediately roll away.

Weapon-wise, Halflight uses a one-handed sword and will sometimes fire dark energy from it in a beam directly ahead of her. Watch for the overhead vertical swipe that telegraphs this. She’ll also sometimes use Hold, so if you see her assume the stance keep your distance and maybe hit her with a spell or bow.

Speaking of ranged attacks, Halflight will sometimes pull out a bow and start pinging away, or use the Lightning Arrow spell. She generally does this if you’re alone and have turned your attention to the Painting Guardian, so keep moving as you duel the second combatant.

Final exploration

The final boss is really close now. After defeating the Spear of the Church, head out ether of the doors at the back of the room and climb the short flight of stairs to activate the Church of Filianore bonfire.

If you’re ready to proceed with the DLC (you might want to do the optional boss now, so you can summon Shira, but it will still be available later), take the lift and climb the stairs. Open the door, approach Filianore and touch the egg to trigger a cutscene. When the scene ends, activate the Filianore’s Rest bonfire and then explore the new area.

Look at all that ash. The Ringed City no longer stands against the end of the age of fire. A hollow is dragging himself across the ash to one side of this area. He’s not hostile. Approach to trigger a bit of dialogue.

The final boss arena is found by following the hollow’s drag trail towards and through the arch you can see ahead and left, but there are a couple of other things to do in this desolate landscape, believe it or not.

If you like, hug the left wall and top the rise to find a ringed knight with paired greatswords. He’ll drop a titanite slab, but without Hidden Body this is a long slog cheese due to the distance you’ll have to cross to break line of sight with cover.

There’s also an optional NPC battle in this area. Hug the right wall and you’ll come to some ruins leading into a nice arena. When you reach the far side, Shira appears. She’s pretty mad at you for waking Filianore, and who can blame her? She can be cheesed with Hidden Body but will use Estus, so it will probably come down to a duel sooner or later. Try a summon for best results; she’s not good at multiple targets and can be backstabbed. Killing Shira nets you the Crucifix of the Mad King weapon.

Anyway, head to the other end of this ashy area to trigger the final boss.

We test out Volition’s latest Saints-Row-but-not and come away impressed.

Agents of Mayhem is gonna be a blast, with the emphasis on blast, blast, blast. The latest game from Saints Row creators Volition Studios is a similarly potty-mouthed, 80s-cheese inspired, mostly open-world 3rd person shooter. It’s a fine niche.

We went hands on with a number of segments: some of the Agent origin/recruitment story missions, a few small open world segments, and some more linear missions that ended in pitched boss battles. We were also introduced to nine of the twelve playable characters and plenty of key NPCs on both sides of the battle.

“No amount of knowingly puerile humour is going to replace great action and gameplay, and it’s clear all those years developing Red Faction and Saints Row have really paid off.”

The battle is one for the fate of the world (obviously) after the super villainous LEGION and subtly monikered leader Morningstar smashed everyone with teleportation tech and weaponised Dark Matter. Something called The Ultor Corporation manages to headhunt former LEGION honcho Persephone Brimstone to recruit a rag tag bunch hellbent on revenge – and that’s where we come in.

Much like Borderlands, the colourful cast and their even more colourful language is perhaps as crucial to the game’s charm as the explosions and loot. “There are plenty of more serious games… we wanna bring players an experience they can laugh with” says Kate Nelson, veteran Volition producer when I ask what the ideal first reaction to the game is.

And it works. I found myself chuckling at Daisy, the the ex-roller-derby girl ‘built like a brick shithouse’ (her words) for example. Her recruitment mission sees a retracing of her drunken steps/skates from the night before, demanding pizza from a talking sushi takeaway statue, before ending up in a human vs. robot fight club. During ex-boot camp sergeant Braddock’s recruitment mission she recounts the sadistic forfeits she made her squaddies go through, such as making one stand on his locker singing ‘I’m a little teapot’.

“They’re really not the perfect iconic heroes” Nelson clarifies. “It’s an 80s cartoon vibe, mature version of those cartoon heroes, and we ‘elevate’ them into a more serious mindset or just make them more out there in general.” It’s not all post-ironic one liners, as relationships between the individuals seem to develop over time, which really helps to create a sense of camaraderie between a great ensemble cast.

Of course, no amount of knowingly puerile humour is going to replace great action and gameplay, and it’s clear all those years developing Red Faction and Saints Row have really paid off. Aiming is satisfying, weighty and responsive, melee attacks feel brutal, and each agent’s ability set (of a special, a dash and a Mayhem power) feels powerful and unique.

What sets the gameplay apart mechanically is “the swap, putting together different squads, finding synergy. Crafting that, and setting up the combos” as Nelson says.

“It’s actually super satisfying to transition from the open world into a more linear, focused mission. It’s in these that the combat encounters, and OTT, multi-stage boss battles really shine.”

The swap is your ability to instantly switch between 3 (out of the 12) agents you decide to use for the mission. For example, the fantastically sadistic aforementioned Braddock gains a fortify and empower buff when swapped to. Or, dual-wielding, agile Fortune’s ‘Mayhem’ ability is an area of effect stun, and you might switch quickly to the shotgun and harpoon toting but slow Hardtack to really exploit the stun and wrack up silly damage.

It’s an elegant system that encourages experimentation and strategy, but is equally as satisfying on the fly. “Of course there lots of ways to customise within each character” – Agents gain new skills and agent-specific gadgets (effectively mods, i.e. slower reload for increased mag size) as they gain experience.

As such while you could balance every hero for maximum tactical flexibility, you could just as feasibly stick with your fave trio the whole time. And for the vain among you – yes, there seem to be plenty of weapon and agent skin variants (and you won’t even have to spend £100 on loot crates for a 5% chance of getting the one you want).

The rest of the mechanics are as expected for a game of this kin and feel pleasingly polished and tactile. It’s easy to get around thanks to a nice floaty triple jump and the Saints Row school of quickly summoned vehicles with big boost gauges. There are enemies and collectible doodads dotted around generously, etc. the open world isn’t a fancy simulation, but the city of Seoul feels alive enough to enjoy exploring.

And, even though it’s not exactly seamless (i.e. you get a loading screen and you teleport to the location) it’s actually super satisfying to transition from the open world into a more linear, focused mission. It’s in these that the combat encounters, and OTT, multi-stage boss battles really shine.

Each mission should also provide replay value, too. “Depending on which agents you use, they’ll respond to stuff with their own lines, their own personalities,” Nelson explains. It’s a small concession when hinting at a grind, but on the other hand the quality of writing and the different feel to each agent means it’s likely to be more pleasure than business.

All told, Agents of Mayhem is firmly on my radar now. The game seems pleasingly averse to the overwhelming feature creep of other open-world action games, and the team’s writing has definitely evolved from Saint’s Row. We clearly weren’t shown everything so there may be more surprises in store, but the core mechanics and cast already feels like a rollicking quick to pick up good time with some strategic depth.

Injustice 2 isn’t all obscure DC characters to please the hardcore; plenty of your favourites are back, too.

Injustice 2 faithful won’t be surprised to see a Catwoman trailer added to the mix, but it’s good to see the famous burglar in action again.

Here’s the official description of Catwoman’s role in Injustice 2:

“Consistently walking the line between hero and villain, Selina Kyle’s pilfering past as Catwoman prevents Batman from ever placing his full trust in her. As the ashes of the Regime give rise to the sinister Society, the Caped Crusader must once again speculate where this thieving feline’s loyalties lie.”

Sounds like business as usual for Bats and Cats in Injustice 2. Will those two ever properly sort it out and get to pashing? Probably not, because that sort of thing definitely does not sell comics. If they tied the knot you know she’d end up fridged as soon as the writers got tired of domestic bliss.

Anyway, Injustice 2 releases in May for PS4 and Xbox One.

No PC port has been announced for Injustice 2 at this time, but with any luck one might surface later on. Warner Bros. hasn’t had a very good recent track record for PC releases, so for once we’d be happy to accept a delay on PC if it meant a better release.

Overwatch players should prepare for some sort of event. Probably.

Initiating archive declassification…
Mission files unlock: April 11

RETWEET to confirm. pic.twitter.com/GUvthyskCm

— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) April 3, 2017

Overwatch social channels are teasing something happening next week. Could it be a new hero, a new map or mode, or perhaps an event?

Given how recently we got a new hero, our bets are on some sort of Overwatch event, like those we’ve seen fairly regularly since the shooter’s release last year. The teaser specifically highlights April 11, but is that kick-off time, or just when we’ll learn more ahead of whatever it is actually happening?

In these days of teasers-for-teasers, who can tell. One thing we’re reasonably sure of is that this won’t be an Easter event; a few months ago game director Jeff Kaplan said the Overwatch team was not planning Valentine’s Day or Easter events.

Although we did get a few little chocolate and romance themed voice lines, the big February Overwatch event was a Lunar New Year festival. It seems like scanning the calendar might likewise turn up an April event that isn’t Easter so we could guess at what’s coming to Overwatch this month, but I, at least, am drawing a blank. Any ideas?

It’s possible this event will have real world correlation and will be entirely based around Overwatch lore. So far, Overwatch’s story has been conveyed mostly through shorts and comics, and has mostly been backstory and character spotlights rather than any change in the world state or narrative momentum. Maybe that’s about to change.

It’s probably fairly safe to assume it won’t be another Sombra AR affair, despite this talk of declassifying files and whatnot. Pretty sure the Overwatch team has learned its lesson there.