MMO News

Forsaken World Aladdin Pack Giveaway
Neverwinter Strongholds Xbox One Resource Pack Giveaway
Krosmaster Arena Amalia Doll Code Giveaway
Crowfall December ACE Q&A
Smite Demonsoul and Ebonsoul Serqet Skins Preview
League of Legends Illaoi Review
Elite Dangerous: Horizons Beta Begins Today
Paladins Closed Beta Preview
Heroes of the Storm Blizzcon 2015 World Championship Recap
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 Features Trailer

Posted: 01 Dec 2015 05:54 PM PST

MMOHuts has partnered with Perfect World Entertainment to grant your wish in Forsaken World with an Aladdin Pack Giveaway!

Forsaken World is a free-to-play MMORPG set in a dark online fantasy world featuring vampires and mythical creatures. Dark forces threaten Eyrda, a world forsaken by the gods and inhabited by seven races: Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Stonemen, the Kindred, Lycan and Demons. Players must unite to restore the land to glory, while exploring an ever-changing world filled with epic dungeons, intense PvP battles and exotic mounts waiting to be tamed.

Forsaken World Aladdin Pack Giveaway

1 Sky Sultan Flying Carpet Mount
1 Lantern Spirit Pet
1 Full Carnival/Samba Fashion Set
10 Mercury Statuettes
1 Action Scroll: Pose

To Redeem Your Key:

Visit www.arcgames.com/en/redeem.
Log into your Arc account and enter your code.
Enter Forsaken World and your items will be waiting in your in-game mailbox.

The post Forsaken World Aladdin Pack Giveaway appeared first on MMOHuts.

Neverwinter Strongholds Xbox One Resource Pack Giveaway

Posted: 01 Dec 2015 05:14 PM PST

MMOHuts has partnered with Perfect World Entertainment to celebrate the recent Neverwinter Strongholds update with Xbox exclusive resource packs!

Neverwinter is a free-to-play action MMORPG that features fast-paced combat and epic dungeons. Players explore the vast city of Neverwinter and its surrounding countryside, learning the vivid history of the iconic city in the Forgotten Realms and battling its many enemies. Neverwinter is currently available on PC and digitally for Xbox One, available free-to-play with Gold* from the Xbox Games Store.

NW (Xbox One) Strongholds Resources Pack

Dragon Bone Weapons (Level scaling, class dependent)
Eternal Armor (Level scaling, class dependent)
Strongbox Key – 10
Stronghold Chest of Campaigns – 4

To Redeem Your Key:

Install Neverwinter from the Xbox One marketplace. If the game is already installed, skip to step 4.
Upon launching Neverwinter, you'll have the option to link your gamertag with an Arc account. This will open the Internet browser on your Xbox One and you can complete the account linking process there. If you skip it now, you'll have another opportunity later.
Once you're in Neverwinter, select the Arc option.
Install Arc. (You can also search for Arc in the Xbox One Marketplace)
Launch Arc and hit the X button.
Enter your code in the field and select "Redeem."
Head back to Neverwinter and find the Reward Claims Agent in Protector's Enclave to pick up your prize!
For any additional questions refer to the redemption guide for Xbox One here.

The post Neverwinter Strongholds Xbox One Resource Pack Giveaway appeared first on MMOHuts.

Krosmaster Arena Amalia Doll Code Giveaway

Posted: 01 Dec 2015 04:24 PM PST

MMOHuts has partnered with Ankama to celebrate the PC, Mac, and Linux launch of Krosmaster Arena with a special Amalia code giveaway!

Krosmaster Arena (3D) is an online version of popular Krosmaster Arena board game based on the Dofus and Wakfu universe. Face off against players from all over the world in an online board game that mixes strategy with epic battles! More than a hundred collectible fighters await you. Create your team of heroes, get your attacks ready and HIT ‘EM HARD.

Your code unlocks the Amalia doll seen below:

To Redeem Your Key:

Register at https://secure.krosmaster.com/en/game/play and download the game.
Enter the code at http://www.krosmaster.com/en/community/codes.
Log into the game and enjoy your gift!

The post Krosmaster Arena Amalia Doll Code Giveaway appeared first on MMOHuts.

Crowfall December ACE Q&A

Posted: 01 Dec 2015 03:49 PM PST

The Crowfall team answers more community questions from the ACE forums.

The post Crowfall December ACE Q&A appeared first on MMOHuts.

Smite Demonsoul and Ebonsoul Serqet Skins Preview

Posted: 01 Dec 2015 03:43 PM PST

Smite previews the Demonsoul and Ebonsoul Serqet skins, available in the limited Demonic Pack bundle.

The post Smite Demonsoul and Ebonsoul Serqet Skins Preview appeared first on MMOHuts.

League of Legends Illaoi Review

Posted: 01 Dec 2015 03:33 PM PST

So now we have the Jamaican-sounding, tentacle wielding, Priestess of a Dark God in the League of Legends Rift! Illaoi (pronounced Ill-owie) is one of the coolest champs I've played in a long long while. A juggernaut (tanky but capable of dishing out damage) who belongs in top lane, she can also go bot lane to create some pretty terrifying lanes to deal with. But in core meta you will find she hangs just fine with the best of the top lane bruisers. What does she do? She has a passive that creates tentacles that she can interact with, slam people with tentacles, and teach a harsh lesson to anyone who bothers her.

Meet the meanest new bully in top lane.

She's beefy, throws around some pretty intense damage, and in general is a detriment to anyone in a teamfight, as she summons even more tentacles to be a bother! She's got a lot going on that is far more of a nightmare for her opponents to deal with than the player to unleash. She's incredible at zoning; while you can't control where the tentacles spawn, you can help them along by standing farther from the other ones, closer to where you'd "like" one to go. They can also spawn on any structure in the game like towers, broken or otherwise. I'm reasonably sure I saw one spawn on a Trundle pillar! But she's not without restrictions. Her base attack animation is ungodly, horridly slow. It's relatively easy to avoid her main damage if you are mobile enough/paying attention. She doesn't have much if any CC, and her one dash doesn't go very far. When the fighting starts, you have to already be in, or well on your way to make a difference.

Naturally, as a support main, I tried to take her to the bot lane to become accustomed to her kit where I'm at ease. When I did, I used my traditional tank support runes, or a variety of them. Illaoi doesn't require a lot of damage to be a threat. In fact, the games I won I typically did not buy a single attack item until late game. As far as runes/masteries go, my runes are pretty standard AD top with: Attack Quints, a mix of Attack/AD Pen Reds, Armor Yellows and MR Blues.

Jury is still out on the new masteries but I didn't find offensive ones useful for her.

Masteries may have gotten a touch up, but runes are still boring as Hell. My mastery page for Illaoi doesn't even include Ferocity; it just isn't necessary. I have one made for her, culminating in Fervor of Battle, but normally I go with 12 Cunning/18 Resolve. I tend to go with Grasp of the Undying, but if I really want health/sustain I will go with Strength of the Ages, but Grasp seems to be more reliable to me. I mostly go with tanky/sustain masteries; key ones appear to be Runic Armor (8% more lifesteal for my Q), Merciless (5% more damage below 40% hp on Champions for all the post-6 damage I do), and Unyielding (More defense is always great; she has to be up close and personal). It's teleport/flash top and exhaust/flash bot lane for me on Illaoi.

Now, as to what she does and why it's worth noticing:

Prophet of an Elder God is her passive, and it spawns (based on your level) tentacles on impassible terrain. Your tower, their tower, rocks, walls, whatever is convenient. They won't spawn "too" close to each other, so move around when you see your passive tick down and get the lane set up your way. By level 17 or so I believe the passive was on a 12 second cooldown. The tentacles attack spirits, vessels, and anyone she targets with her W (Harsh Lesson). You can really inflict ridiculous damage thanks to it.

Jury is still out on the new masteries but I didn't find offensive ones useful for her.

Her Q, Tentacle Smash, slowly slaps a tentacle from her to a set range in front of where the mouse is hovering. This is a great wave clear, which is helpful because her AA is pretty much awful at the start of the game. What makes this your best move? The passive: Tentacles heal her for 5% of her life when they damage a champion (It makes sure to say "tentacles," and not "Tentacle Smash"). In a team fight you can go from nothing back to full if things go right! It's incredible easy to avoid though if people are mobile/paying attention/fast, so you might have to lead people into it.

Her W is Harsh Lesson, and normally has a decent cooldown. If her ult is active, it drops to 2 seconds, making it incredibly easy to spam! It makes her next auto attack a minor dash in which she imitates the "Macho Man" Randy Savage, leaping and hitting the enemy. This synergizes with the rest of her kit, because any nearby tentacles smash down right on that target too. I've had a good four or so hit the same person at once and let me tower dive poor Wukong, burying him without mercy.

Your tower can't save you now!

Don't miss her E, Test of Spirit! It has an insanely long cooldown and with good reason! It sends a tentacle out, and if it hits a player, it drags their spirit before Illaoi. It can be stopped by minions, so it's really a high reward skillshot that will have lane opponents nearly as scared as if facing a Blitzcrank. For ten seconds you can damage their spirit, as can anyone else on your team; damage done to it transfers to the target (25/30/35/40%), which can definitely kill them. If the spirit dies or the person leaves the range, they become a vessel, and tentacles constantly attack them. Those tentacles spawn once every ten seconds, and you also get a decaying slow debuff. If you already have a few tentacles, you can time this with your W and smash someone out of the fight with little to no effort. It's even better when the person runs towards their friends. . . On odd fact of this ability is that if your spirit is stolen, you can actually attack Illaoi to reduce the duration of the curse. Yet I almost forgot this was the case as I've never seen opponents try to attack me after being hit, even in team fights!

Which brings us to what makes her a real terror of teamfights, Leap of Faith. Smashing her tentacle pot (idol) into the ground, she does AOE damage to everyone nearby. That's not all though! For each enemy near, a tentacle spawns, and for 8 seconds tentacles swing 50% faster, are untargetable, AND Harsh Lesson has a 2 second cooldown. I've found that I immediately get CCed right when I ult by smart players. Otherwise I have already decided who gets killed, Wing them a few times, going to the next person, and tagging someone with E so even if they get away, they'll still die. If you catch the enemy team out of position in the jungle with nowhere to run, this can really spell the end quickly.

It takes a pretty chiseled veteran League player to see this many tentacles in a team fight and maintain composure.

I can't stress enough the utility that Illaoi brings to the battlefield. Her tentacles combined with Q/W make it very easy for her to siege safely, since waves disappear, and dueling her means contending with her E. Again, you don't really have to build damage items on her, but a single damage item if you're ahead can pay dividends (Cleaver and/or Hydra). I tend to pick Dead Man's Plate or Spirit Visage first, but I do get both. Randuin's Omen for slow/tankiness, Frozen Heart or Fist are hilarious, though countering the enemy's primary damage output is more important. Her build's pretty flexible. You "could" go Trinity Force, but you have to be incredibly fed to make this worthwhile. I tend to avoid it personally. It's also important to note that if you E your opponent under your own tower, it can and will tank it for them, which might spell disaster for you if you had been a little cocky.

I cannot stress enough how important being aware of the walls is; if you are not paying attention, you might not get more tentacles and will suddenly be at a disadvantage. It's worthy of note that her tentacles on her passive last until they are killed, or are passive for a minute. That means if you are keeping time, you can W near them onto a creep and keep a ridiculous number of them alive. It will be mana intensive, but with a little math and attention to detail, Illaoi will test anyone who comes at her. She's not so good at dealing with hyper carries because of the insane damage they do in rapid succession, but I haven't found too many counters for her top lane, except someone who can outrange her or get away from tentacles quickly. Stick to battles of sustain and let your allies peel away bursters, and Illaoi will support your team's victory nearly every time.

Full Gameplay Image Gallery

[See image gallery at mmohuts.com]

The post League of Legends Illaoi Review appeared first on MMOHuts.

Elite Dangerous: Horizons Beta Begins Today

Posted: 01 Dec 2015 03:22 PM PST

Frontier Developments plc (AIM: FDEV) today launched the Elite Dangerous: Horizons beta test for PC.

Elite Dangerous: Horizons is the new season of major gameplay expansions for the award-winning space epic Elite Dangerous, beginning this Holiday with Planetary Landings on 1:1 scale worlds. Elite Dangerous: Horizons will introduce further major gameplay features as the season continues into 2016, enriching the Elite Dangerous experience with new activities and new ways to play.

In today's Planetary Landings beta, players can explore epic, accurately simulated planets and moons throughout Elite Dangerous' full scale re-creation of our Milky Way. Each of these life-sized worlds offer incredible vistas and new gameplay opportunities as players discover valuable resources, experience deadly combat encounters, raid bases, scout crash sites and cooperate with other players, both on the planet surface and flying high above.

Players can journey from space to surface for the first time in Elite Dangerous, coasting over mountaintops in their spacecraft, diving into canyons and venturing out on the ground in the new Scarab SRV wheeled vehicle, alone or with friends, all without loading screens or breaks in gameplay. Planetary Landings is an entirely new way to play Elite Dangerous, and is just the first of the Horizons season of expansions

"Planetary Landings in Elite Dangerous is the closest most of us will ever come to visiting other worlds, and it's just the beginning of Horizons' new season of gameplay expansions," Frontier Developments CEO David Braben said. "There is so much new gameplay to experience, new things to discover, and new ways to bring our amazing community together. It's also a great technical achievement for our incredible team, using cutting edge technology to create realistic simulated worlds and add to the enormous depth and richness of the Elite Dangerous galaxy."

Elite Dangerous: Horizons launches this Holiday with the first expansion Planetary Landings and continues into 2016 with further expansions including new missions, new ships, new Close Quarter Combat (CQC) arenas and massive new features dedicated to gameplay, community, and narrative, including:

Loot and Crafting, unlocking a world of customization options and adding new value and meaning to every action.
Multicrew, allowing teams of players to assume roles aboard the same ship.
Commander Creation, giving a unique appearance to players' in-game avatars.
Ship-Launched Fighters, allowing larger spacecraft to carry their own short-range fighter ships for attack and defense.

All Elite Dangerous and Elite Dangerous: Horizons players will retain their progress and continue to fly together in the same galaxy as one community, and all Elite Dangerous players will continue to receive free updates, fixes and optimizations as the game evolves alongside Elite Dangerous: Horizons.

The Elite Dangerous: Horizons beta for PC is available now at FrontierStore.net for £49.99 (€67.99, $74.99), with beta and full access to every Elite Dangerous: Horizons expansion available throughout Elite Dangerous: Horizons season.

Elite Dangerous: Horizons will launch soon for PC, and is available for pre-order now at FrontierStore.net for £39.99 (€49.99, $59.99). An entire season of gameplay expansions for one price.

Existing Elite Dangerous players who pre-order either the beta or standard edition will receive a £10 (€14, $15) loyalty discount off the retail price and will unlock the exclusive 'Cobra Mk IV' spacecraft in Elite Dangerous: Horizons.

The post Elite Dangerous: Horizons Beta Begins Today appeared first on MMOHuts.

Paladins Closed Beta Preview

Posted: 01 Dec 2015 02:45 PM PST

When I heard the name "Paladins,” I assumed it was going to be besieging, medieval warfare, something akin to the crusades. It turns out I was half right. Paladins by Hi-Rez Studios takes what they excel at (first/third person team-based combat) and put a new spin on it. But that's not all! It also has deckbuilding! Yes, much in the way that you unlock cards in Hearthstone, you can do similar right here, which then lead me to think of something like the Yu-Gi-Oh anime, with card games on horseback instead of motorcycles! Thank God I was wrong about that. Each team consists of five characters, each with a distinct personality, look and ability kit (two attacks, one utility/movement). Each team is trying to reach the vault behind the walls of the others castle. The teams vie for chokepoints on the map that randomly spawn, and whomever gets the point to 100% first receives a siege engine that ponderously rolls towards the enemy base. It can be killed, and stays around until it is bested.

Each team has two castles, with a vault hidden beyond a pair of breakable walls. There are certain points on the map where the two teams will rush towards, kill each other and try to claim them. Consider them choke points, and they only spawn when there is no siege engine on the field. They stay until destroyed; I don't think there is a timer, but typically a siege engine doesn't get farther than one wall before the other team demolishes it. You level up like in MOBAs (but I hesitate to call Paladins a MOBA) such as SMITE or League of Legends, but there are no swarms of creep to kill, just other players. It does feel a bit repetitious I fear, simply running or riding from point to point, getting into a teamfight, and either defending or pushing. That's about all there is to game mechanics. But the card system really spices it up.

You get a choice of one card at the start of a match.

I have mixed feelings going into this game, particularly with the card aspect. Right now you only get Radiant Chests when you level (which gives you five cards, and so far at least one rare in each), but there are chests that give you just one card that you can acquire at the end of a match. There's also the "Mythic Chest,” which I fear might be the purchased chest. The idea that it could be pay-to-win bothers me a great deal. I'm very much on the fence about random card acquisition, but the card pool isn't gigantic (30 cards per character right now) and you can use your duplicates to craft cards. Regardless it's a fun, fast-paced game, and being behind doesn't mean you're going to lose. Comebacks are very real. I find that most of the time, the matches go back and forth, and can really come down to the wire! It's intense from start to finish.

When you start a match, you pick one of three cards from a randomly selected pool. I wish I had more influence over what I start with, but it's all random. Each one has a different use and the higher the rarity the greater power that comes from it. You have to really consider the composition of your team in instances like this. When you level up, you press the same key to pick another one out of three cards. Each champion has 30 total cards right now, and through chests you will unlock more. Critical thinking skills in the heat of battle will serve players well, and picking the right card for the situation will be key, though there's a lot of synergy in your cards. Fernando, the Spaniard Cavalier, has a set of cards that give him bonus health for equipped armor cards, cards that boost his charge and apply on-hit affects to it, or make his shield better. Skye has a variety of cards for her stealth (such as increased damage post-stealth, auto-stealth at low health, etc), and it only goes on! Though if you die, it's important to note that your cards go on cooldown. You never "lose" them in gameplay, but you do have to wait to use their effects again. The greater the rarity, the longer the cooldown. Please note that if you die and leveled right before that, you can pick a card while waiting to respawn without it going on cooldown! It's also easy to see who is winning; there are three blocks at the top of the screen, color coded for teams. Beneath that you'll see a meter of who is winning the war of the spawn point.

Riding high!

Thankfully if you have duplicate cards you can craft ones that are not in your collection. I'm grateful that you get unique cards from crafting and not more damn duplicates. You need 3 of a type of card in a rarity to craft a new one, but there's also an option to craft a new card out of 5 of a rarity level. I haven't tried the second choice, because it's not guaranteed to be unique. There's another mode that isn't available yet, where you play using a pre-constructed deck. I feel like this mode is going to really benefit players who know the game, but don't have the same power cards that others do (who have spent money or simply more time). Though even if you have all the legendary cards in your collection there is no guarantee you'll see them in game as Casual mode gives you random cards in your collection. People in the beta have a distinct advantage currently; if they bought a founders pack they get a cool mount and card chests to get them going. Not to mention that there will be as few wipes as possible, and anything bought will be retained. I still have dreadful fears of pay-to-win though. . .

Paladins? Pretty Hyped.

The name confused me at first; when I think of Paladins I think of mighty holy warriors out crushing evil. But a Paladin is also just a heroic person or champion, someone with above-average skills. These characters definitely fit that bill, but they are not the fantasy style Paladin at all. The gameplay strikes me as terrifyingly repetitive. There are a few maps available right now, but after several days of gameplay I have ONLY seen Temple Ruins. I saw a second map once, but I'm starting to wonder if it was a fever dream. Sometimes, keeping a game simple is really beneficial, so time will tell on this one. But I enjoy it. The bot matches help you learn a character and the flow of gameplay, but to really learn it, you need to jump in against other players. I appreciate the fixed points for siege engines, and that they are randomly selected. I have mixed feelings about the repetitive gameplay, and can only hope that the other maps will offer new challenges. But strategy and paying attention to the terrain is pretty key, as you can surprise players by appearing above them on outcroppings, and shooting them before they can do anything about it! I'm having a lot of fun with Paladins, and people looking for a team-based shooter could certainly do worse. Buying in gives you a cool mount, and 20 card chests to get you started! Card decisions, teamwork, and cool characters make Paladins a great addition to the free-to-play PC gaming pool.