One of the many fun experiences in Throne and Liberty is the abi??lity to transform into different forms that enable you to dash, glide, or swim. There are a lot of different Morph forms, and you can unlock them through a variety of means. 

Although we know how to get most of the Morphs in Throne and Liberty, some have obtainment methods that have not yet been revealed. They may be added as rewards for future events, as part of the Battle Pass, or through the Special Shop in exchange for Lucent. Morphs with unclear obtainment methods will?? be marked as TBD, and we’ll update this list as more information becomes available. 

How to change Morphs in Throne and Liberty

To select which Morph you want to turn ?into in any situation, you can ope??n up the main menu and select ‘Morphsâ€? Then, select ‘Dashâ€? ‘Glideâ€? or ‘Swimâ€?on the left side of the window. From here, you can choose any Morph that you have unlocked to become your Designated Morph, and also look through a selection of Morphs that you’ve yet to unlock. 

How Growth Points work in Throne and Liberty

Each Morph will provide you with a certain number of Growth Points, with points being added automatically upon unlocking a new Morph. Then, when you reach new milestones, you’ll be able to unlock new perks for each Morph type depending on the Growth Level of ??the Morph category. 

Dash Morphs in Throne and Liberty

Dash Morphs replace the ability to sprint in Throne and Liberty, and there a?re a lot of very pretty Morph?s to choose from. ;

Starter Dash Morphs

The following three Dash Morphs are unlocked as so??on as you step fo??ot in Solisium:

• Saber Taion
• Wild Skoll
• Shadow Purpuma

Unlockable Dash Morphs

If you want to change up your look while ??traversing the wilds of Solisium, the following Morphs are also available to unlock. 

Glide Morphs in Throne and Liberty

Starter Glide Morphs

From the very begin?n?ing of your adventures in Solisium, you’ll already be able to double jump and glide down from high areas as the Bald Eagle Morph. 

Unlockable Glide Morphs

If yo??u want to soar through the skies with a different look, you can unlock the following Glide Morphs:

Swim Morphs in Throne and Liberty

Swim Morphs, otherwise known as Aquatic Morphs, allow you to glide through the waters around Solisium with e?ase. I?t's an interesting mechanic, rather than simply swimming as your character.

Starter Swim Morphs

The Roving Lutrang Swim Morph will be unlocked for all players from the v?ery beginning of an adventure in Solisium. 

Unlockable Swim Morphs

If you want a new look while taking to the water, you can unlock various other Swim Morphs through diffe??rent means. Some of the unloc??kable Swim Morphs come with the additional benefits, which can be seen below the table below.

*Dracoryft Turtles do not take? damage over time when in lava are??as

**Shadow S?hark will no slow down when swimming in a swamp

Shapeshift Morphs in Throne and Liberty

There are a total of 84 special Shapeshift Morphs that can be unlocked as you make progress through the main story of Throne and Liberty. While these Morphs can’t help you move faster or traverse the skies or seas, they ?can come in handy when you’re forced to make your way through enemy territory and don’t feel like fighting your way ??through the mobs. 

Transforming into any o?f these Shapeshift Morphs will allow you to walk through enemies of the same type without drawing attention from them. To choose your Designated Shapeshift Morph, open up the Morphs menu and then navigate to the ‘Speci?alâ€?tab. 

The post All Thone and Liberty morphs and how to get them appeared first on Destructoid.

Almost one year after releasing Throne and Liberty in Korea, developer NCSoft has teamed up with Amazon Games to publish the free-to-play MMORPG in the Western market. Throne and Liberty is a pretty important MMORPG to both companies as it is NCSofts first non-mobile-focused MMO in about a decade—Rest In Peace Wildstar—and for Amazon, it's certainly hoping to help fill the hole of recently canceled Bandai Namco MMORPG they were set to publish in the west, Blue Protocol.

At its core, Throne and Liberty is a free-to-play MMORPG with a focus on guild content via massive-scale guild vs. guild PvP, and open-world public event PvE that can host hundreds of players participating at once. It's an ambitious outing to bring the social aspects back to the genre; and for the most part, it succeeds. For better or worse, Throne and Liberty in many ways feels like a modern-day Lineage, an??d for many fans of the genre, that's a breath of fresh air.

Throne and Liberty (PC [Reviewed], PS5, Xbox Series X|S)
Developer: NCSoft
Publisher: Amazon Games
Released: October 1, 2024
MSRP: Free to Play

You start Throne and Liberty like most MMORPGs: creating your own character. Some would argue this is the most important aspect of an MMO. The character creators itself is pretty expansive, allowing you to customize your character's appearance through a variety of sliders, changing things like hair and facial features. However, two key typical MMO character creation choices are missing from T&L: race and class.

Humans are the only option in Throne and Liberty; sorry, no elves or orcs here. And while class diversity is traditionally a staple point for MMOs, in T&L, your combat gameplay and diversity are? instead based on your weapons. There are seven weapon types in total: Crossbow, Dagger, Greatsword, Longbow, Staff, Sword & Shield, and Wand. You can equip two weapons at once, mixing and matching the skills for each of the weapons to create yo??ur own combo builds.

I started off with Crossbow and Dagger as it seemed like a pretty deadly combo for PvE. Using a mix of skills from those two weapons I was able to burst down enemies from afar, then switch into a deadly flurry of attacks with my daggers as they got closer. As I reached the higher levels I found that I enjoyed the ranged style of gameplay more, so I replaced my Dagger with a Longbow. I know, I know, it seems like an odd choice to be using both the Longbow AND the Crossbow.?? But both weapon types have specific skills that complement each other, and I've found the synergy between the two while blasting enemies at range and kiting them around very enjoyable.

At a glance, the tab target action combat may seem rather basic. After all, this has been the pretty standard combat for MMO for a couple of decades now. But there are innovations to the system. For starters, every weapon comes with a unique defensive skill, that is bound to the 'Q' key on PC by default. Each of the skills lasts for a few seconds and will reduce incoming damage you take when active. However, if you're able to execute a well-timed use of the sk?ill, you can completely parry and negate damage while also automatically dealing damage with a follow-up attack. It creates a very dynamic and fluid real-time combat system in both PvE and PvP while still using the tab target premise.

Little innovations like this mixed with the overall high level of polish that makes T&L succeed so fun. NCSoft isn't trying to reinvent the wheel, but rather present a very high-quality wheel with fun improvements to? make the tried-and-true systems feel more fun and intuitive.

While the questing experience is rather par for the course—you know, the standard go here, kill this number of enemies, repeat—there is enough variety scattered throughout to make the journey a lot more bearable than most MMOs. Every hour there is a rotation of content throughout the entire world of T&L, which repeats every three hours.

So at midnight, ??every region has a special event called a Dynamic Quest that takes place, and scales players to that region's appropriate level. Dynamic Quests are area-wide public quests that are meant to be completed by a large group of players to get the best rewards. For example, the Dynamic Quest i?n the region called Nesting Grounds is the Lantern Seed Festival. Players must work together to complete a variety of tasks across three different phases to successfully host the Lantern Seed Festival.

Suppose the players at the event are able to complete all three tasks quickly enough. In that case, the remain??ing duration of the event spawns a special boss fight that players can continuously kill until the event ends to earn bonus? rewards. After the event ends, all players who participate will receive level-appropriate rewards including experience, which always makes them worth doing. These Dynamic Quests will spawn every 3 hours starting at midnight, giving players the opportunity to join in on many throughout the day as they level and reach new regions.

Then, every three hours starting at 1AM, unique World Bosses spawn throughout all of the regions. In the lower-level regions, several portals open up at the World Boss spawn locations, allowing players to form massive groups before going in and attempting to take down the boss before the timer runs out. In the higher level regions, World Bosses will spawn in either a Peaceful or Conflict ph?ase. In peaceful, the encounters are the same as the lower-level ones; make a group and go kill the boss. But when a World Boss spawns in the Conflict phase, the area around the world boss is open PvP, meaning you'll have to fight with other players while also trying to kill the boss. It's a unique experience, albeit a bit of a hectic one.

An important element to any F2P MMORPG is its monetization. Throne and Liberty is in a unique place compared to similar releases in the genre. There are two main types of currency: Sollant and Lucent. Sollant ??is essentially Gold, earned by killing enemies, completing quests, doing dailies, etc. You'll use Sollant when upgrading or c??rafting new equipment, leveling up skills, or buying consumables from the vendors.

Lucent, on the other hand, is the "premium currency". You can purchase Lucent directly with your hard-earned cash—currently ranging from $9.99 for 500 Lucent up to $99.99 for 6,000 L?ucent—or can obtain it by completing various in-game activities. You can even get rare drops simply from killing mobs that you can then sell on the auction house that other players can buy with Lucent.

That's where things get a bit weird when it comes to the "Pay to Win" discussion that plagues all F2P MMORPGs. Directly in the cash shop, the things you can purc?hase with Lucent isn't too bad. There's a battle pass with a free and paid track, with the paid track costing just 500 Lucent. You'll get a handful of upgrade materials, skill growth books, and a couple of cosmetics. Nothing too crazy, and all farmable outside of the pass other than the cosmetics. Outside of the pass, you can?? only buy cosmetics, dyes, rename scrolls, and server transfer tickets.

But where things get a little dicey is the auction house. With the Auction House using the premium currency of Lucent, paired with the option to just swipe to buy Lucent, players can in theor??y buy a ton of Lucent and just buy all the gear and upgrade materials they need to power level their gear without having to actually play to get such upgrades.

T??he argument most will make in regards to monetization is that it's "Pay to Skip" rather than "Pay to Win". There's a ceiling to how high you can upgrade even the best gear the game has to offer, and even someone playing completely freely will be able to farm out the materials to reach that ceiling. The difference is that someone who throws a ton of money at the game will be able to reach it quicker. It's a hard balancing act because obviously an MMORPG has to make money, and lots of it; they aren't cheap to develop. Going the F2P route makes things even trickier, as the developers can't rely on subscriptions to fund future content releases. That's probably a discussion for another day, but it's also something very important to mention as for a lot of people the decision to play an MMORPG is often influenced by its potential future. No one wants to invest a ton of time int?o their online character if the future isn't bright.

I've enjoyed pretty much everything I've done in Throne and Liberty so far. The? combat is fluid and fun, and the world is massive and beautiful. Whether it's working with my guild to complete guild activities, grouping with randoms to complete dungeons and world bosses, or even just exploring the world, I've had a good time. I??t's been a long time since I've logged out of an MMO and immediately looked forward to logging back in.

Throne and Liberty feels like a step back in the right direction for MMORPGs, reviving a lot of the social features that seem to be missing from modern entries in the genre. While you can certainly still play solo, T&L gives you the opportunity to socialize and play with others in every aspect of its gameplay, even while leveling. It's a refreshing feeling for the genre that reminds me a lot of the classic days of MMOs, comparable to EverQuest and the original World of Warcraft release.

Like most MMORPGs, the fate of Throne and Liberty will rely heavily on the decisions NCSoft and Amazon Games make in regard to future content. Nothing beats a solid MMORPG launch; and so far, at least the Early Access launch has been incredibly smooth. But the ability to keep meaningful and fun content coming is what keeps players logging in and overall making the MMO feel worth playing. In its current state, you'll be hard-pressed to find an F2P MMORPG with as much content and polish as Throne and Liberty. If you've been looking fo??r something that puts the MMO back into MMORPG, this could be just what you're lookin??g for.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: Throne and Liberty appeared first on Destructoid.

The last two episodes of The Boys ??have been a d?isplay of some of what the show does best- making entertaining bloodbaths out of situations that are complex and nuanced. Despite that, they have also demonstrated some of the biggest flaws that the writers just can’t seem to shake this late into the game. 

Content warning: This ??piece discusses iss??ues of assault and non-consensual sexual acts.

For all the fun that episode 5 of this season brought, it didn’t get much done. The plot with Hughie’s dad isn’t relevant to the main plot, but it was a great way to show how Hughie has become more pragmatic. In addition, he’s come to accept life in a world where Compound V is normal. After being injected with V by Daphne, Hugh Campbell Sr. went on a rampage that parallels the way A-Train would literally run through people. Ironically, the flipped circumstances were used much more for shock and comedy this time around. That drives some of The Boys�central messaging home, though. The life Hughie ??used to lead is similar to everyone else’s in-?world. People die all the time for no reason and some never get justice. 

The rest of the team went to hunt for the virus that was tested on Godolkin University students, and it sets up a long sequence at Stan Edgar’s old home. A lot of this demonstrates just how effective the virus would be against a regular supe. This part of the episode feels like a lull, but it leads to Butcher grabbing Neuman’s boyfriend and forcing him to come up with a way to get more of the virus. It’s just as much of a distraction to the audience as it is to Neuman about what’s going on under the surface. Based on the way this specific story has flowed, it feels like its main purpose may be fleshing out the stakes in the world to contextualize any threats coming in season 2 of Gen V.  Further ??on, this side plot allows Butcher to have his Tyler ?Durden-esque reveal alone in the following episode.

Forgetting to stick the landing

Hughie draws the short stick in episode 6, and he’s forced to infiltrate and bug Tek Knight’s home at a party. As the boys find ways to listen into the way politicians and shareholders want to shape the future, Hughie gets whisked away by Tek and forced into his dungeon. What unfolds after this point allows for some fun jabs concerning Tek’s political affiliations. It also leads to sequences more uncomfortable than anything covered in Herogasm. This episode raised plenty of eyebrows from its audience, and it’s more? than warranted.

Hughie has suffered a lot. Entire articles have been written pleading The Boysâ€?/em>â€?writers to give him a break. While that is something the audience has gotten used to, sensitive issues like assault isn’t. Scenes where people’s autonomy and consent are violated that populate the comics have been altered or cut entir?ely. In most cases, this has seemed like the right call. Annie’s assault in the beginning of the series? was changed so that it could fully point out the gravity of what’s taking place in the narrative. 

Hughie is forced into what is implied to be hours worth of non-consensual sex, and it’s mostly played for laughs. Rightfully, fans were upset by the fact that Hughie hasnâ€??™t been treated with th??e same grace as Annie. ??These scenes are used to catalyze Hughie’s acceptance that he’s dealt with h??is father’s death so poorly that he barely addressed it. The way that these serious issues are covered by a show that has handled them with more tact has left fans confused. Many believe that this is especially evocative of material from the comics that should have been left on the cutting room floor. Even from a narrative standpoint, the scenes with Tek Knight and Ashley don’t really advance the main plot. 

//twitter.com/kittischmitti/status/1809306257632706593

These scenes leave a sour taste around one of the best scenes of this season- A-Train gets a save that feels right out of a Spider-Man movie. A confrontation with Sister Sage leaves M.M. fixated o??n what the direct consequences his actions have, and continue to have, on his daughter. It’s brutal manipulation on Sage’s part, some of her best work yet, and it triggers a panic attack for him. When A-Train gets called in to drop him off, a kid spots him. The look of wonder on his face and the pride A-Train earns here is heartwarming. It’s also far too optimistic for this show, which feels like it’s cementing that A-Train’s secrets will come out in the open and he’ll be killed next episode.

Not so scary anymore

When Sister sage recovers, she makes even bigger slip-ups this episode, and it only took being a little brain-dead. After taking a bullet, Sage spends the episode without her greatest ability, and it kind of kills all of the aura she had as a threat. Sage has mentioned that if she’s stabbed in the heart, she dies, but when taking a blow to the brain, it’ll grow back. Her rapp?ort with Homelander may be gone after she failed him when he needed it most. Neuman stepping up an?d helping out may have been prompted by Sage, but had she been ready to explain their plan, it could have saved Homelander the humiliation. Homelander’s anger has been more hair-trigger than before lately. Unfortunately for Sage, this could lead to her meeting a similar fate as the original Black Noir did last season. Even if she doesn’t, we now know for sure that most of the boys could handle her in a fight.

Although Annie and Kimiko don’t get a huge amount of time, what we do see of them shows us even more of their growth. Kimiko is forced to think on her feet again when she breaks her phone. The scene where she uses book titles to convey meaning is fluff, but it feels like the humor of The Boys at its best. It’s goofy, and it balances lightheartedness during a serious situation. Annie’s scene with Firecracker feels like she’s becomi??ng a bit more complex. While she apologizes to her again, it feels like much of what she’s saying is genuine. It’s equally possible that she’s? forced herself to become craftier after accepting that her enemies won’t be any kinder. 

During all of this, it was easy to ask: where’s Frenchie? The funny thing is that the show has already answered this question. He’s in jail. Frenchie turned himself in for the murders he’s been agonizing over, but it doesn’t feel like anything has come of this. He hasn’t made this decision at a pivotal moment where it would be more dramatic to. The boys seem to be functioning just fine without him (aside from a couple hiccups in their mission). We haven’t seen any of his experience in the prison, outside of rejecting Kimiko’s request to see him. It feels like the character has been long-finished and nobody knows what to do with him anymore. Normally when they’ve s?erved their purpose, a character gets killed off, but that hasn’t happened either. Maybe Frenchie will come into use later; perhaps they’ll use him to create a stronger version of the virus. 

We have a pacing issue

This ambling around with some beats brings us to a larger issue with the show’s pacing. In Season 1, it took two episodes from Hughie to transform from a meek, apprehensive everyman into someone who is ready to kill when he’s cornered. One of the best parts about that short arc where he kills Translucent is how believable his feeli?ngs and motivations are in suc?h a small window of time. Now we’re in Season 4 and he’s been backed into so many corners, where taking the same actions have been just as—if not more—viable, but he has refused. 

Eventually, by episode 4, he takes the initiative and grows. The problem is that because of all that’s happened between those changes, it feels like it’s taken seasons to get there, regardless of whether the key moments of his development have actually been prompted? over similar amounts of on-screen time.&??nbsp;

That’s not to say that Hughie hasn’t developed. Watching him grow and own that his motives are influenced by the killers he spends time around has been a highlight of the season. In Ep?isode 6, he mentions Frenchie and Kimiko to his mother, and she’s bewildered at what comes out of his mouth. This is likely why Hughie and Butcher have spent so much time apart this season. Their on-screen chemistry as a duo is incredible, but the writers appear aware that their dynamic was risking getting stale. Spending time this season inverting their philosophies is smart. As Hughie grows a backbone, Butcher loses his grasp on reality and with that, his self-assuredness. 

The Butcher twist is fun, but the more time spent after the fact, it kind of begs the question of whether it needed to be a reveal, since we already knew he was hallucinating Becca. Was it just to shock the audience? Is that real?ly worth it in a show that used to prioritize quick and entertaining exposition? Things like Season 1’s Ezekiel convention moved the plot while telling us about Annie’s background and Homelander’s current opinions. Here, episodes take the same amount of time and do less. Elements like that twist have begun to feel like padding. They make for what could be a very interesting Season 5, but why are we waiting?

What's next?

A lot of this season feels like a buildup, and perhaps it will pay off. But pacing media this way runs the risk of making those standalone build-up installments less satisfying. Although The Boys S3 finale was great, it was panned across the board for being underwhelming in the same ways that Season 4 spends some of its time dawdling. It makes it reasonable to ask whether Season 5 will deliver. Will The Boys spend their time on Co??mpound-V fueled wild-chicken/goat?/dad chases, or will they finally get to the point and knock Homelander down? 

The post The Boys Season 4 gets uncomfortable, and ?a little wayward appeared first on Destructoid.

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