Category: PC games

Master These Moves to Rank Up Quickly in Rocket League

There’s just something about those Rocket League items that are reserved for champions. They’re always cool, whatever they are. Maybe it’s just the fact that they’re reserved for the best of the best. Once you have one, everybody knows you’ve been a champion at least once.

To help you with getting that Champion item, here are some moves to master first.

Half Flip Recovery

This maneuver is basically a U-turn using a canceled backflip and an air roll. It lets you turn the car 180 degrees in a fast and efficient way without losing momentum. The most basic of moves, you’ll find that you’ll be using this more often than you thought.

The first step in performing this maneuver is to start a backflip and cancel it halfway (when all four wheels are up in the air). From there, just do the air roll, and you’ve completed the half flip. Do it in a flowing motion.

Quick Power Slide

The Quick Power Slide is basically drifting, but with a boost. It’s good for turning in sharp angles. When doing the Power Slide in the tutorial, it’s a little wobbly and uncontrollable. When you’re trying to keep the ball moving toward the opponent’s goal, that’s a bad thing. The Quick Power Slide keeps your car stable and, in a fast-paced game such as Rocket League, that’s a huge bonus.

Doing it is easy, just keep the boost on when you execute a power slide.

Kickoffs

Kickoffs are an important part of the match, because anyone (or any team) that is good at them can dominate a match. A proper kickoff gives a huge advantage to the player (and their team). It is absolutely essential to learn how to do proper kickoffs.

There are two characteristics of a good kickoff, height and how goalside you are. For height, a ball bouncing between two car noses will continue so until one nose becomes higher than the other. That higher nose becomes a barrier that the ball will bounce off over the other car.

As for being goalside, imagine a straight line that splits the arena in half and goes through both goals. It will pass through the ball at its starting position on the center. Being goalside is being aligned with that line when hitting the ball.

There will be no details on how to do kickoffs, as there are many variations. You can search for video tutorials on those variations, or create your own version.

Double Jump Aerial

Aerial shots and fights will become more frequent as players climb the ranks. Therefore, to be as prepared as you could be, it would be good to practice aerial maneuvers early. One such maneuver is the Double Jump Aerial. It can get you to a ball up in the air in a quick, efficient way.

This maneuver involves double-tapping the jump key, while not moving. (If done while moving, it will make the car flip.) At the peak of that second jump, turn on the boost and direct the car toward the ball.

Mid-Boost Jump

This is a more advanced maneuver to master, and an aerial one at that. This move also lets you zoom to the ball quickly, though it’s up to your judgment whether to use this or the double jump boost instead. It’s also a little harder to control on top of being harder to do.

To execute a Mid-Boost Jump, jump, pull back a bit while boosting and then jump again.

Practice, Practice, Practice!

Practice makes perfect, as the saying goes. However, since nothing’s perfect, aim for consistency instead. Practice these moves until they become muscle memory. Along with these moves, you should also train your judgment and positioning. Those are essential skills to train, as knowing how to perform these moves means nothing if you can’t get your timing or positioning right. Lastly, don’t neglect your defense.

So play, practice, and observe. Take each day as it comes, and don’t let failure be the end. Enjoy Rocket League!

The Ever-Changing Conflict: New Features of Battle for Azeroth

Blizzard usually releases an expansion once every two years. That is, up until Battle for Azeroth was announced, which is slated to be launched in November of this year, while they just released Legion a few months ago. Despite the short time between the two, it seems like it was enough for Blizzard to plan and create enough content in order to ensure that the going on fifteen-year-old MMO remains fresh, enjoyable, and relevant.

Old War, New Front

New things for every expansion, including WoW Mounts, however, depends on the direction of the game’s story and its core theme. For the Battle of Azeroth, the conflict is at the heart of everything and is the very heart itself. After years of factions being reduced to a mere lore-related player detail that’s determined by race, it is going to once again become an important determinant of one’s fate in Azeroth, as Blizzard will be fanning the flames of war once more between the Alliance and the Horde. It is a brilliant move, as it propels the game forward, while at the same time taking it back to its roots, perhaps even further than Legion did.

The best new feature that represents Battle for Azeroth would be the Warfront Mode. Warfronts are 20-player PVE missions that look and feel like a real-time strategy game, just like the original Warcraft games, except that this time, you are the heroes leading the charge and turning the tides of war to your advantage on the ground rather than giving orders from a birds-eye view.

Everybody Wins

Aside from the fact that it will be very reminiscent of the old Warcraft games, Warfronts will be rotating between the two factions. For example, Alliance players would first hold Stormgarde Keep, and after that, the Horde, after gaining enough resources, will lay siege on it. Stormgarde Keep, an old vanilla WoW zone, brings out the feeling of the old times even more.

Going back to the Warfronts mechanics, the opposing faction, after the victory of the other, can launch a counter. It is an eternal back-and-forth battle, and the good part is that if you are not the competitive type, it is PVE and not PVP, so launching a Warfront is a guaranteed victory. That means nobody loses, everybody wins, everybody gets rewards, and nobody will be angry about the other faction.

Do know, however, that a lot is not yet known about Warfronts. Since we are still a few months away from launch, a lot of the mechanics and small details can still change, so be ready.

World at War

Aside from a new PVE mode, PVP will also be seeing a change, as the World PVP will be replaced by War Mode. That means that the old mechanics of players being able to attack other players in servers that have their World PVP will be phased out for the new one. This time around, World PVP will be turned off by default. So, in order for players to participate in this version of World PVP, they will have to go to the capital city of their respective factions, and choose to turn War Mode on or off.

If you turn it on and go to the open world, you will be able to attack players from other factions and vice versa. It is not required to try your hand at War Mode, but those who successfully make kills will receive extra experience and Azerite Power.

Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth is not just about reigniting the strife between Azeroth’s two halves, but about changing how the two wage war against one another. Hopefully, both the Alliance and the Horde are ready for these new stages of combat.

Higher Heights: Path of Exile’s Patch 3.2 Ascendancy Class Changes

PoE Orbs

Image Credit: Pixabay.com

Path of Exile Patch 3.2, War for the Atlas, has been one of the most exciting updates the game has ever received. Aside from offering new content such as PoE items and giving the players one of the most unique leagues, if not the most, it also tweaked the Ascendancy classes. These new classes added to the game two years ago provided further progression and specialization for the six main classes. It was a welcome feature, but it was not perfect, so GGG, true to the same level of commitment and quality they’ve consistently shown, has made some adjustments to make sure that each Ascendancy is unique, useful, and most importantly, enjoyable.

The Ascension of Ascendancy

GGG’s official forum post, entitled Development Manifesto: Ascendancy Changes, has expressed their desire to ensure that the power levels of Ascendancy Classes are consistent and that all 19 of them would be considered as good choices. A lot of players feel like a lot of these classes are “noob traps.” Thus, they decided to carefully evaluate the classes using two metrics: identity and power. While most of the classes were doing fine when judged according to those two criteria, others didn’t fare so well. With that in mind, GGG has decided to revamp all Ascendancy Classes for Patch 3.2.

All Ascendancy classes received changes. Some got substantial buffs, while some got what would be considered as mild or arguable buffs, or even mild or very mild nerfs that were most likely inadvertent. This is to ensure that all classes not only enjoy a sense of identity, as well as the same level of viability, and hopefully, love from the players.

A Creed to Assassins

The example GGG gave for the classes that were returned to its former glory and essence was the Assassin, one of the Shadow’s often overlooked Ascendancy classes. Following archetypal RPG class tradition, the Assassin, according to GGG, was a “’glass cannon’ critical strike chance character.” While “fragile speedster” may have been a more appropriate description for all Shadow Ascendancy classes, GGG isn’t wrong about bringing the Assassin back to what defined it as an Ascendancy class. As such, it became one of the most prominent “returning” classes for Patch 3.2.

Templar Changes

The other two Ascension classes that were given a spotlight in GGG’s post are the Guardian and the Hierophant classes, both from the Templar class. The former is the example of those classes that remained the same, save for particular skills that were given a considerable boost. It may not seem that much, but every Path of Exile player knows that one buffing a few skills, especially important ones, make a world of difference.

As for the Hierophant, it’s one of the most extensively buffed classes in War for the Atlas. While Totem Hierophants have been reliable go-to builds for quite some time now, Patch 3.2 makes them even more of a powerhouse than they’ve ever been before. It now has a strong tri and quad totem capabilities without any repercussions, plus it’d be able to sustain Arcane Surge, permanently if it must easily. The Hierophant’s other trees have also been buffed, making it one of the most dependable builds in the current league.

Lastly, GGG has clarified that they intentionally didn’t have overt nerfs. That will come later after they have evaluated which buffs they should keep and which ones they should tone down.

Tweaks in classes will always have a ripple effect in MMOs. Given how big or small and simple yet meaningful those Ascendancy class changes are in Patch 3.2,
Path of Exile has officially changed forever.

Don’t Be Offensive: Defensive Play Tips for Rocket League

Tips for Rocket League | gamehitch
Disclaimer: Full permission to use this image from www.aszventure.com (Samar K.)

Patience is a virtue. This is very much true in video games, especially in Rocket League where defensive playing is key to victory, and patience is a core of defensive playing. Unfortunately, a lot of players don’t seem to have that particular positive trait, and it wouldn’t be surprising if you’re one of these people. It’s not entirely your fault, as Rocket League isn’t the kind of game to promote patience. Nevertheless, you need it, especially if you want to get Rocket League Items.

You probably know that you need it too. That’s why you’re here. So without further ado, here are tips for defensive playing. They’ll be a great help to you.

What’s The Goal?

If you’re the goalie, then you really have no choice but to play defensively. And, contrary to popular belief, you play a big role in the kickoff.

So, for your first tip as a goalkeeper, a good way to get a great head-start would be to grab the first boost pad and then stay in the goal. It’s preferable to stay inside so that you have enough space to block the ball in case it gets in. And, whenever you’re sitting inside the goal, it is better to position yourself sideways so that you can just move to the left or right when it’s time to block.

Another great way to get a very early game advantage would be to observe where the ball is going. If it’s headed towards you, do your best to block it. And, when you block it, make sure to do so in a very safe manner. Better be simple and sure, than fancy yet risky. Because, if the latter fails, it’s a point for your opponent. In football – and Rocket League is definitely football – one point is a big deal, as there’s no guarantee that you’ll be able to catch up.

Caught In the Middle?

Contrary to popular belief, it’s not only the goal where you have to play defensively; you also have to do that when you’re on the mid-field. And when you’re on the mid-field, playing defensively can help you earn some points. A good way to do that is by trying to see if the ball is going to the corners of the field. If they are, then you better get there before the ball does as it’s often a good opportunity for you to get a goal. But don’t try to be too daring or forward. If it’s not going to be a sure goal, then it may be better to not try as your opponent might be able to steal the ball.

On the other hand, if and when you’re not feeling confident in shooting, just keep pushing the ball to the enemy’s side of the field and let your teammates be the one to score. By doing this, you’ll be awarded with assists or even accidentally make a goal yourself.

All About The Movement

Aside from where you are in the field, you also need to consider how the ball is moving. If it’s rolling (on the ground, obviously), then simply hit it; no need for anything fancy. If it’s bouncing, jump-hit it. When you do, time it, as you’re pretty likely to miss it. And if it’s in the air, then you either use your 100% boost to block it, or if the moment is right and you’re confident, make a shot. If you have no boost and you want to block the ball, simply double jump.

It’s not easy to always be on your toes, but in a game like Rocket League it definitely pays off. So if I were you, I’d make defensive playing a lifestyle.

Path of Exile – A Challenger Appears to Diablo III

Path of Exile

Image Credit: Pixabay.com

Diablo III has accumulated plenty of sins since it was first released in 2012. From the Auction House debacle to the seasonal resets, there has been no end to the criticism leveled on Blizzard. Despite all that, Diablo III remains the king of the isometric ARPG loot grind and no others have even come close. Things are different now, however, since Path of Exile has come into the ring and is proving to be a tough and true contender for Diablo III’s crown.

The Classic System with Modern Roots

Path of Exile is not ashamed to say that it took its core gameplay from Diablo; naturally, there’s no way around the loot crawl without acknowledging the original. However, the Diablo franchise has seen better days in the heyday of Diablo II and the original, despite the arguable relative success of Diablo III today.

Path of Exile comes from the same family of games, but it does more to separate itself from its cousins and ancestry. For one, PoE manages to stand out by making some very unique classes and combat mechanics; these focus on gem equipment in order to determine skills in combat.

There are six basic classes in the game; Marauder, Ranger, Duelist, Shadow, Templar, and Witch. These all ultimately have an analogue in Diablo III save for some unique differences. Regardless, the game is easy enough to pick up by the Diablo veteran or the genre newbie since each class performs a specific role akin to the holy trinity found in ARPGs like these.

The one thing that PoE does well is its ability to imitate the tropes and trends of Diablo, without becoming too much like Diablo. Enemies of the same quality are there with blue-named enemies being a “rarer” genus than white ones. Gold would be the enemies that may or may not completely destroy you. From the basic shuffling demon to the irreverent demon, many of these enemies will be familiar to fans of the genre. This is a good thing. PoE manages to replicate the same things people enjoyed in Diablo and other isometric ARPGs, while being able to keep it unique with its Dark Souls-inspired aesthetic and feel. This way, PoE does not manage to alienate a whole player base who may think that the original did it better, and it manages to be intriguing enough to draw in the genre newbie.

Perhaps the only downside to PoE is its Xbox One port. It is not awful in any sense, but it certainly could be better. Diablo III’s console ports are very fleshed out and polished, but this is the first time Grinding Gear Games went for a port of their flagship game, thus this was expected. There is not any cross-platform play, but that is also expected. This is due to the different balancing of the peripheral differences for controller and mouse and keyboard. Being out on the Xbox One for only a year, PoE will still find plenty of improvements on a console and, if Grinding Gear Games finds enough reason, even cross-platform play.

The best thing about PoE, however, is that it is completely free-to-play along with all seven expansions currently released. You do not have to spend a single dollar to be able to experience the breadth of content it has. It does have a cash shop as is standard in F2P games, but everything that could be purchased there is mere vanity items that do nothing to improve your game. Grinding Gear Games is one of those developers that took an ethical stance with cash shops, by maintaining that there will never be an advantageous purchase over another player that does not want to spend a dime on PoE. Perhaps the only somewhat essential item on the cash shop is the extra bank space that would not normally be purchasable with in-game PoE currency. However, many players would find this forgivable as it is not a game-changing thing. It will make your dungeon crawling considerably easier though.

Just Like Diablo But More

It is very similar in scope and size to the Diablo franchise with its sprawling, loot-laden dungeons and drop-in/drop-out co-op where enemies scale according to the number of players. However, there is much more content in PoE due to Grinding Gear Games’ penchant for releasing updates and expansions on a regular basis. PoE is already up to its seventh expansion in the form of War for the Atlas. There is a whole slew of things to do and explore – much more than Diablo III’s meager vanilla game and its single expansion, Reaper of Souls.

With an interesting storyline and hours upon hours of fun, Path of Exile is proving to be a serious contender for Diablo III’s crown as the undisputed king of isometric ARPGs. It is a wonder how PoE does not have the same level of fame as its predecessor. Grinding Gear Games simply does not have the advertising power Blizzard has since it is an indie company. If you would like a break from Diablo III’s seasonal resets, you may want to give PoE a try for a fresh take on the ARPG genre.

The Hottest Games of 2017

Games

The year is coming to an end, which means that it is time to showcase the top three most popular games of 2017. The games that are mentioned below are proven as favorites of the year with the help of the number of sales, postings, inquiries, and traffic. So, without further ado, here are the hottest games of 2017!

  1. PUBG – PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds

High traffic places PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds as number one in the hottest games of 2017. Even without the PlayerAuctions stats, it is easy to see that PUBG has been extremely popular among gamers for this year.

Players were able to obtain early access to the game earlier this year, and December 12th marked the official release for Xbox One and December 20th for PC. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds really hit the ground running, with countless games consisting of 100 players each, constantly battling to become the victor. Steam has data showing that current PUBG players number anywhere from 10 million to as high as 16.8 million. PUBG had more players playing through Steam than other popular games like Dota 2, CS: GO, and GTA V. If that’s not popular, then I don’t know what is!

  1. Rocket League

Rocket League is gradually and consistently increasing in popularity. How? Well, the Rocket League e-sports scene is flourishing with gaming tournaments being held all over the world. Every tournament has multiple companies that are sponsoring the events, which is huge because large companies will not advertise their products in tournaments or competitions if the number of viewers is low. Each year, the prize pool has been getting bigger and bigger for these tournaments as well.

In 2017, the number of Rocket League players was 33 million. Coincidentally, the same number of Rocket League copies were sold throughout the three platforms, with PS4 taking the highest portion of sales during the year. Psyonix’s stats show the number of players that are active on Rocket League each day is 1.6 million users. Each week, there are 3.3 million users, and each month has 6.1 million users respectively. With the vast amount of tradeable Rocket League items available, along with the number of players involved in the game,  has garnered a lot of traffic, thus making it number two on the list of the hottest games of 2017.

  1. Path of Exile

Path of Exile comes in at number three in the hottest games of 2017, however, it is nowhere near as popular as the other two previously mentioned. Believe it or not, PoE’s player base increased over 40%! The increase occurred after March 17, 2017, with the release of Patch 2.6.0. The game reached a peak of 113 thousand players. Steam Charts also show that Path of Exile reached a peak of 70 thousand players (150.46% in growth) in the last 30 days. Given this information, it must be noted that the game is not available in Steam in certain countries around the world, so it is a very respectable number!

Path of Exile is traded in quite often amongst the players involved in the game. Being a popular trading site has benefited from this and has seen a drastic increase in traffic with PoE related inquiries.

There you have it, the hottest games of 2017. Have you tried playing any of these games? Not yet? You should take part in all of the fun and excitement these games can bring this holiday season! You can expect these games to get more popular in the coming year, 2018!

FIFA 18 Coins Farming Guide — Three Ways To Effectively Farm For FIFA Ultimate Team Coins

fifa coins

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It’s one thing to earn FIFA 18 coins, but farming for them could often be a completely different story altogether. For those who are not familiar with the term, farming is the process of earning a ton of currency (or experience points) by repeating certain actions or replaying levels; this can oftentimes be referred to as “grinding.” So while we’ve already given you some tips on how to earn more FIFA Ultimate Team coins, we might as well talk about the farming aspect of things. How can you grind for FUT coins, and what are the easiest ways to go about this process? Read on, as we’ll enumerate the three best farming techniques in EA Sports’ latest iteration in the FIFA series.

Complete More Challenges, Including Team Of The Week

When it comes to FIFA 18 coins farming, you want to complete the Team of the Week Challenge. The coin rewards you can win through this challenge may vary, but the constant here is that you will be competing against a team composed of some of the best players in the European leagues. If you defeat a tougher lineup, you’ll win more coins, but the key here is picking your challenges, as you wouldn’t want to waste your time playing a TotW where the difficulty level is too much for your team to handle.

Think the TotW challenge is too much work for you? There are other challenges which you can complete for effective FIFA 18 coins farming. These challenges have different conditions that you need to meet, and many of them can be achieved by naturally playing the game. But you should also remember that these are limited-time challenges; if you’re planning to take them on, make sure you do so as soon as possible because if you complete them, that could be a good way to earn more coins and effectively farm for them.

Play In Story Mode

Story modes might not be the most exciting parts of games that have multiplayer features. But if you’re a FIFA 18 player in need of coins, and ways to farm for them easily, you definitely want to check Story Mode out. The Journey: Hunter Returns allows you to go through the exploits of Alex Hunter, and as the official FIFA 18 website explains, Alex is back for a second season, after his sensational rookie year in the English Premier League. This season will come with some challenges, but Hunter will have several top teams competing for his services, and as far as you, the player, are concerned, you can potentially win new packs, new players, and more importantly, a ton of coins.

Buying And Selling Players — It Works For Farming Too!

As we explained in our similar, yet a more extensive guide for earning more coins, market trading is a good technique for FIFA 18 coins farming. The first thing you need to do is to look for a player that’s highly in-demand; once you’ve found a player or two (or maybe three), you can then determine his average price. Check for the lowest “Buy Now” price, add a couple hundred coins, and use that figure when making a bid. It’s as easy as that, but there are a few things to take into account when playing the market.

First of all, don’t start playing the market trading scene with overly high expectations. You’ll essentially be wasting your time if you’re trying to get a couple thousands of coins worth of profit. Keep your target profits to about 200 coins or so per card, and remember that EA charges in-game taxes; even a hundred coins would make for a solid profit, all things considered. As a bonus tip, remember that the player market can be fickle; one player’s value may rise and fall like stocks do in the stock market, and that may affect your chances of turning a profit at any given time.

You may be wondering how a few hundred coins can be considered a solid profit; the goal of FIFA 18 coins farming, after all, is to do something repeatedly to earn more currency. But that’s the thing — farming is about repeating stuff, and if you sell several cards and earn a couple hundred coins in the process, that could add up. Be patient, and keep repeating the process until you earn the coins that you need; you don’t actually need to play any actual matches, and you’ll still be adding to your FIFA Ultimate Team coin totals!

Got any more tips for FIFA 18 coins farming? We’d love to hear from you, so share us your tips in the comments section below.

Destiny 2 Players’ Love for Public Events

destiny 2

Image Credit: Pixabay.com 

For MMOs, it’s important to have a wide range of content since it helps keep the game fresh and ensures that players come back for more. However, it’s not enough for developers to put content just so that players have something to do. Instead, they should consider balancing them, so that no particular kind of content will be more prominent than the rest. Unfortunately, for Destiny 2, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Players’ Display of Affection for Public Events
Destiny 2 has a wealth of endgame content. They’re all there as venues where players can get gear and other Destiny 2 items that will allow them to continuously raise their Power Level up to 305 (even 350 for ambitious players). Although Bungie meant to make all content equal, players don’t see it that way. To them, being able to enjoy the full range of what the game has to offer is nice, but it’s just secondary to pumping their Power Levels. In Destiny 2, players tend to prioritize the latter, even if it means grinding one specific type of content over the others.

In Destiny 2, once you hit Power Level 260, leveling up becomes less routine, and more concentrated on fewer kinds of activities. There are weekly events, the Iron Crucible, Nightfall, Strikes, and Public Events. Among these, Public Events have become the most popular among players.

Why players stick with what seems like a rather mundane activity instead of bigger and arguably better end-game content is because it provides an easier way for players to get Exotics gear compared to the others. For those new to the game, Exotics are the game’s highest tier of gears. In fact, they’re the only gear that is either equipped as they are, or infused to increase Power Levels once blues and non-Milestone legendaries no longer do the trick.

 

Explaining the Rise of Public Events

There are two reasons why it’s easier to get Exotics on Public Events compared to Strikes and The Crucible. First, it’s because of Destiny 2’s new map system. Players can check out any zone to look out for any active and soon-to-be active events, which lets them get to that particular area ahead or just in time. Heck, even late, because there are instances when players arrive at the last twenty seconds of a public event, but still manage to open a chest and get a reward. Besides, Public Events are the most common way to get Exotics, and it’s easy to find other players doing the same thing.

Usually, you’ll find three of four people doing the same Public Event, so you won’t have to worry about going at it alone and struggling. Also, almost everyone already has an idea how to trigger the heroic version of these Public Events, which have a higher chance of giving out Exotic loot.

From the players’ perspective, this is a good thing; it’s a convenient and fun way to boost their Power Levels. However, if we judge this phenomenon from the point of view of sound game development, it’s not something that should continue. After all, Bungie should’ve designed the endgame content in such a way that players will try their hands on all of them equally, and their preference for one over another would be because of personal reasons. The question is, what should they do: nerf Public Events, or buff everything else? We’ll know the answer in the few months to come.

Accessible content is always a pro. When specific content is more accessible than the other, then a few tweaks are in order. Hopefully, Bungie will get this right.

The Lowdown: CSGO Update 1.36.02

The Lowdown: CSGO Update 1.36.02

Last September 11, Valve released Update 1.36.02 for CSGO. It was a significant patch for the game, so if in case you haven’t been caught up to speed with the new set of changes in Valve’s in-house real life-inspired shooter, read up before you get back in the crossfire.

Trading CSGO Skins in China is Allowed

CSGO update - gamehitch-

Perhaps the biggest change in this update isn’t something that would only affect Chinese players. In fact, CSGO has become free-to-play in China if users verify their identity through Perfect World, a game hosting service (similar to China’s version of Steam). Once that’s done, players will not only be able to play the game without any charges but also receive “Prime” status, which means they’ll only have matches with players that also have Prime status.

With Update 1.36.02, Chinese players will finally be able to trade among themselves. For gamers playing CSGO via Perfect World will no longer have to buy from Steam whenever they want CSGO Skins, cases, or keys.

Smoked and Aimpunched

Update 1.36.02 has fixed a game-breaking glitch on smoke grenades. Before the patch, players were able to make the smoke from the grenade as clear as vapor by simply renaming a few shader files. Thankfully, this was corrected; now, players can no longer tamper with game files but are still be able to connect. Anyone who tries to get down and dirty will receive an error message. If you’re thinking of using this exploit to gain an unfair advantage, don’t count on it.

Another significant development is the reduced unarmored aimpunch. For those unfamiliar with the mechanic, aimpunch is a mechanic that enables unarmored player’s to aim flinches whenever someone gets hit. A player get rewards for taking offensive action and penalizes them for not wearing armor.  However, with this update, while aimpunch will still mess up affected players’ aims, it will no longer be as punishing as before, making it less rewarding for their enemies.

The next focus of the gameplay tweaks in Update 1.36.02 is in the use of pistols. The goal of these changes is to promote the use of pistols, especially with skilled players. Front and center of this development are two pistol models: the Glock and P250.

Handguns Getting Handier

The Glock has been made to be more about getting up close and personal since it’s now better suited for accurate players who prefer close-quarters shootouts. To make it even more suited to this new role, the pistol’s base damage has also been elevated, but its damage, when shot from longer distances, is reduced. Also, its accuracy when fired and moving has been improved. Overall, on top of receiving a more defined usage, the Glock has been given a buff.  A well-deserved one at that because it’s the simplest and one of the most reliable pistols in the game.

Meanwhile, the P250 is the exact opposite of the Glock. In fact, the P250 is now mostly for longer-distance engagements, in particularly against unarmored enemies. The damage, both baseline and at longer distances, has gone up; however, armor penetration and accuracy while moving have reduced, and not as stellar as Glock’s.

Allowing China’s CSGO players to trade cheap CSGO Skins and tweaking two pistols to make them more distinct, Update 1.36.02, has made positive changes even though it’s not a big patch. Hopefully, Valve would continue giving the player base meaningful updates like this so that CSGO can continue to be one of the best first-person shooters out there.

Basic But Helpful: PUBG Tips You Should Keep In Mind

Basic But Helpful: PUBG Tips You Should Keep In Mind

PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS (PUBG) has become big with 10 million players. With a huge player base, how will you have a competitive advantage over the rest in this every-man/woman-for-him/herself battle royale? Well, with a few simple but useful tips so that you’ll last longer in combat. Heck, you might even be the last one standing.

The Speed You Are Falling

The start of a PUBG match is a race to the bottom. You’ll go faster and one of the first to hit the ground running to get items and a gun. So, how do you do that even though players are falling at the same rate? Simple: by pointing your character straight toward the ground. You’ll be able to achieve the maximum of 234 kilometers per hour.

The Building Dilemma in PUBG

The first thing many players do right after landing on the map is to enter a building to look for stuff or ambush players who are looking for things. Always assume that someone else is already in a building, even if the game has just begun. However, it doesn’t mean that you’re no longer going to enter buildings. Entering places is important, especially if you feel like you’ll manage to get the loots and weapons inside. Just be on your toes so that they, not you, will be the one that gets surprised with an ambush. Another thing to keep in mind is to avoid confrontation is the plane’s flight path. By taking note of where the plane flew over, you’ll be able to know which areas (especially buildings) are going to have other players, and which ones won’t.

Running for Your Life

Aside from getting weapons and items, it’s essential to be fast in open areas. The faster you’re, the likelier you’re to secure items and get away from danger. If you’re on foot, go unarmed, or with a pistol or a grenade in your hand so that you can sprint. The best option is to go with a pistol since you won’t be empty-handed in case someone attacks, or you encounter someone that can be taken out easily.

Another way to get around the map quickly is by car. Don’t be too enthusiastic about getting one. There might be players that are using cars as a trap to ambush you. If you think that the coast is clear, get yourself a ride. Similar to driving a car in real life, you shouldn’t get off a running car. In PUBG, if you get off a car running above 20km/h, it’s going to hurt or even kill you. On the other hand, getting off from a car driving below 20km/h could give you a second chance at life and with fewer scars.

When running is not an option, hide. The question is if you’re out in the open, where should you hide? Simple: the grass because it will be harder for the enemies to spot you. Plus, if you have a long-range weapon, you can take out opponents without them seeing it coming.

All right, this is a small fraction of the tips you can and should use to come out of PUBG on top. Something is better than nothing. In a game battle royale, baby steps can make an impact.