No Rest for the Wicked rapidly established itself as a hack 'n' slash that's not afraid of doing things differently, though its Early Access status means it's rough around the edges. That's bound to change as the game is updated, of course, and Patch 2 is proof enough of?? that.

Notably, No Rest for the Wicked's Early Access Patch 2 is the biggest update the game's received yet. Sure, it is only the second major update Wicked has gotten so far, but I'll allow it. It's a sizeable chunk of improvements across the board, for sure: between performance uplifts, control scheme improvements, all-new gameplay features, and a variety of fixes and balancing boons, there's a lot to like here.

No Rest for the Wicked Early Access Patch 2 overview

?Fi?rst things first, then, let's go over Patch 2's performance uplifts:

• Upscaler availability: DLSS 3.7 and FSR 2.2 options are now both available
• Various CPU optimizations
• Performance Mode improvements: lowered texture resolution, leading to better performance and stability on low-end machines
• Various memory leak fixes
• GPU culling improvements (lower latency and overhead, with better stability)
• Steam Deck improvements (optimizations in the texture resolution and memory budget departments)
• Improved Ambient Occlusion rendering performance
• Various additional optimizations in art rendering, memory use, and other items

Impressive stuff across the board, though it'll take a bit before we can properly quantify just how much better the game might be running now. The presence of upscalers alone should help massively in GPU bottleneck scenarios, however, so that's great news for sure. Patch 2 goes far beyond j?ust performance improvements, however:

• Introduces the Respec system via the Cerim Crucible Atrium statue (1 Fallen Ember per attribute point reallocation)
• Introduces the weapon try-out system: players can equip a given weapon regardless of its attribute requirements
• (Re)introduces the 'Misc' inventory tab that separates Housing Items, Runes, Fallen Embers, and other assorted goodies from the rest of your inventory
• Added a new set of Enchantments
• Spear weapons can now be upgraded with 'Throw' runes
• Pig Sticker and Assegai blueprints added to Fillmore and Whittacker's shops, respectively

Some extremely solid improvements here, too, but that as well is just the start of it. The official Steam blog post lists a massive array of other tweaks and changes, many of them having to do with bugs, faulty bounties, localization issues, and various assorted audio improvements. Note that certain VFX instances have been made "juicier," notably in the blood and gore department, so that mi??ght be fun to see in action.

Regardless, things are looking solid so far for No Rest for the Wicked! It's not a game you can play as you would ??a regular hack 'n' slash, of course, but Moon Studio is clearly unafraid of pushing the envelope here, and I, for one, am thrilled to see what the team makes of Wicked.

The post No Rest for the Wicked gets its biggest update yet, including? improved performance, Respecs, and lots more appeared first on Destructoid.

Echo Knight is by far the most difficult boss encounter in No Rest For The Wicked for numerous reasons. No matter which is preventing you from bringing him down, this guide will help conquer this seemingly ?insurmountable foe.

How to beat the Echo Knight boss fight in No Rest For the Wicked

One of the biggest reasons Echo Knight is so difficult is because he is at the tail end of the Cerim Crucible, meaning you have to learn the fight on the fly, or risk being sent back to the beginning on death. There are a few things you can do to make you??r next encounter with Echo Knight much easier.

Make use of Health gained on Damage Dealt

Regardless of your build, Echo Knight does massive damage with most of his attacks. His attacks are relentless, designed to pressure you to make a mistake. Taking even one hit from him is enough ??to disillusion you from victory, often causing fatal cascade mistakes when you attempt to heal. Enter Health gain on damage dealt, an incredibly potent stat that allows you to heal yourself for significant amounts, cutting out the need to use consumables unless the situation grows dire.

This stat p??rovides you a competent, safe way to sustain yourself without having to hunt for breakpoints in Echo Knights assault. It is best used with a fast weapon, but make no mistake, if you're using a slow two-handed, you should still aim to use it anyway.

Make use of the Blink Rune ability

If you've used Blink before, there's a high chance you weren't impressed with its performance. It does not teleport you far, and its cost, while not expensive, takes away from your Focus bar. At first glance, it is unremarkable. However, it has a very powerful me??chanic attached that is not obvious.

The Blink Rune ability allows you to break enemy tracking. What does this mean? Wh?en an enemy begins their attack animation, a significant portion of it will follow you no matter where you move. This is why you must make use of the iframes (Invulernablity?? Frames) in your dodge roll. Uniquely, using Blink during an enemy attack animation will prevent it from following you, allowing you to walk away from it easily.

This is especially strong against Echo Knight (especially during Phase 2) because his attacks all have incredibly long animations. Using a Blink during any of his attacks will break his tracking, giving you several seconds to deal large amounts of damage to him without risk of retaliation. This works against all of Echo Knight's attacks, including his homing sword combos in Phase 2. Best of all? Blink can be slotted into any weapon with an open slot, and does not require a specific build. Just make certain you use Blink after an attack has started, ot?herwise it won't be disjointed.

Strategically place Echo Knight's Fire Patches

One of Echo Knight's most deadly attacks causes him to spawn blue fire patches under your feet in rapid succession. These patches persist for a long period once they are out on the field and exist to limit the amount of movement you can do while fighting. What's more, if you touch one of these patches for even a moment, you'll suffer a large amount of Plague damage and will be i??mmediately afflicted with the Plague DoT (Damage over time), which also does a lot of damage. Needlessly to say, don't stand in the fire. These patches are bad news and can end your run if they end up all over the battlefield.

However, because Echo Knight spawns the fire patches at your feet, you have some agency to control where they end up. Instead of running around in a panic, aim to keep the fire patches gathered on the outskirts of Echo Knight's arena. Ideally, you want to keep them all bunched in a corner, but just placing them around the outside gives you enough room to maneuver. Even better, once placed, move to the opposite side o??f where they are so your back is never to them. Echo Knight w??ants to kill you. He will come to you. Don't let him box you in.

Don't stand directly in front of Echo Knight

Echo Knight's most dangerous attacks come from his lightning-fast spear thrusts. He does them in rapid succession and they deal large amounts of damage but can be avoided if you position yourself well. Echo Knight will only use his spear thrusts if you're directly in front of him. So, don't be. Attack from his sides, or back, but never stay in front of Echo Knight for long. If he uses his spear thrust combo, focus on evasion (Blink, dodge away) until you can reposition away from him. Getting out of his range will cause him to end the combo early.

Be Aggressive against Echo Knight

Aggressive is often thought to be the last thing you want to be in a difficult boss encounter, especially in a Souls-like. Ironically, in such games, aggression ten??ds to be the secret key to victory, because ??if you're dictating the terms of the fight, then the boss becomes fodder. I can confirm that this is the case for Echo Knight as well.

Echo Knight has a Break bar under his h??ealth that fills up every time you hit him. Filling this bar will cause him to fall, giving you a chance to deliver some painful blows. After a few seconds, it fills back up, and he's back on his feet.

Now, imagine he is about to use his fire patch mechanic. You recognize it and shatter his Break bar ?just before he gets even one of his casts off. You just canceled one of his most dangerous mechanics, and now you won't have to worry about it. Even if he does manage to c?ast once, having one fire patch in the field is way better than having six. Aggression is the key to victory against Echo Knight, and with the above-mentioned tools (Blink, Health on damage dealt), you should have no problem keeping him pressured.

The post How to defeat Echo Kn??ight in No?? Rest For The Wicked (tips and tricks) appeared first on Destructoid.

When gearing up in No Rest For the Wicked you want to l??ook for gear that best fulfills the various needs of your build. However, there are several stats that you always keep an eye out for regardless of the type of character you're making.

Strongest Gear Stats in No Rest For The Wicked

The gear grind is the universal standard in ARPGs, and despite its Soul-like gameplay, No Rest For the Wicked is no exception. As suc??h, the best stats you'll find on gear tend to focus on improving your overall damage, or your survivability in a b??ig, impactful way. Here are the ones you should look out for.

Attacks deal % Extra Elemental Damage

Many weapons you'll find will come with a stat line that grants you some random element as a percent extra damage on hit. This is a massively impactful stat as a high percentage roll of this stat (20% or higher), adds a significant amount of damage to every one of your blows, greatly improving your damage per second (DPS). With this stat, you can roll extra Heat, Cold, Electric, or Plague as extr?a damage. The amount you get is random, so you'll have to hunt down a god roll ?for maximum power gains.

Health Regeneration

This stat is relatively common on Epic rarity (purple) items you'll come across while farming gear. Health Regeneration slowly restores your missing health over time, which is rather useful due to the limitation of having to craft your own healing consumables at all times. This regeneration will never save you in a pinch, but it will help you cut down on the overall healing consumables you're using. Most importantly though, Health Regeneration stacks with itself, meaning if you have multiple pieces of?? gear with the stat, you'll passive regeneration health faster.

Gain % Health on Damage Dealt

With this stat, every time you land a successful attack on something with a health bar (even wildlife), you'll gain a percentage of your health back every time you land a hit. The percentage is the random portion of it, so you'll want to hunt god rolls to make significant use of this stat. Like Health Regeneration, you can stack this stat to increase your overall health gain. Finally, the health gain is based solely on your successful hits, meaning this stat is far more powerful with a fast-hitting weapon, over a slow one.

Gain % Focus on Damage Dealt

This stat functions the same as the one above, only for the Focus bar instead. This stat is also just as strong, as, with a high enough percent roll on a piece of gear (typically a weapon), you can effectively spam your Rune abilities as long as you're landing hits. Just like with the Health Gain ??stat, the faster your weapon, the more potent a stat this is.

Gain % Health on Block

Functionally, this stat is identical to the two mentioned above, only instead of needing to deal damage, you simply need to block an attack instead for its effect to activate. When blocking with a shield in No Rest For The Wicked, you'll still take some damage if your Armor Value is too low for the attack. With enough armor and this stat, however, you can forgo all dam??age, and c??ause blocking to heal you instead. This is major for any build that makes use of a shield.

Gain % Focus on Block

Naturally, the same stat is just as useful on a shield, but for Focus generation instead. If your build? relies heavily on Rune-based abilities, then using a shield with this stat is a great way to make sure you can use your Rune abilities as actively as you please.

Poise Defense Increased by %

Poise is your ability to ignore enemy blows while launching your own without interruption. If an enemy ??attacks you and your Poise stat is too low, the attack will interrupt you. With high enough Poise, you can swing through your enemies' attacks, shrugging them off as you crush them under your heel. Typically, attacks with a 'Charge-Up' mechanic tend to have high innate Poise. However, faster attacks, such as ones done with daggers, tend to have very little normally. Additionally, heavier armor has more Poise, meaning this stat is best on said armor since it is a percentage increase.

Damage Dealt Increased by %

This stat is self-explanatory as it simply boosts all your damage when you have it. Oddly enough, I've found this one to be extremely rare even after ?roughly 70 hours of playtime. Even so, this is a big one to keep an e??ye out for for obvious reasons.

Focus Gained Increased by %

Not to be mixed up with Focus on damage dealt, this stat acts more like a multiplier for your overall Focus gain. You naturally gain Focus when dealing damage, but you also gain Focus when using Rune abilities such as Channel. This specific stat boosts the amount of Focus you'd gain about the stated percentage of the base gain from any given ability. So, if you g??et a base 13 Focus from one swing, and you have a piece of? gear that grants 'Focus Gained Increased by 23%', you'll be getting 16 Focus per swing instead.

Healing Effects Increased by %

This stat boosts the total base effectiveness of all sources of healing you can obtain. This includes consumables, Rune abilities, 'Health Regeneration', and even 'Health Gained by Damage? Dealt'. With enough of this stat, your most basic healing functions can restore you to full, effortlessly. It functions exactly how I explained above with 'Focus Gain Increased by %', only with health healing instead of Focus gain.

Which Gear Stats to Avoid in No Rest For The Wicked

Most of the above-mentioned stats come only on Epic rarity gear, which comes with the additional caveat of a negative stat. This stat line works entirely to weaken your character and must be paid attention to, as some negative stats should be avoided at all costs. You know you're looking at a negative stat when the stat line is entirely red.

Damage Taken Increased by %

When wearing a piece of gear with this stat, y??ou'll flat-out take increased damage. This amount can be minor, or could massive. Either way, you should work to avoid this one if you? see it, as it lowers your survivability.

Experience Loss on Damage Taken

As it states, if you take any source of damage, no matter what it's from, you'll lose experience. Awful. Avoid at all c??osts unless you're already at max level.

Health Decreased by %

Gear with this negative stat flat out reduces your maximum health by the stated percentage. This is awful ?unless you're godly at avoiding damage. If you're not, avoid this one l??ike the plague.

Stamina Decreased by %

With this negative stat equipped, you are effectively reducing your ability to swing your weapon, dodge attacks, and perform any other functional ability to act. Once again, avoid this ??one if you see it, regardless?? of the other stats.

The post Best Gear Stats in No Rest For The Wicked appeared first on Destructoid.

No Rest for the Wicked is, like the Navidson's home in House of Leaves, much larger than it seems. The first act of the game (and a juicy chunk of postgame) is available right now in Early Access over on Steam, ??but the longer I play, the more I discover. The more I discover, the more I wish I'd known before undertaking the journey in the first place. These tips s??hould help you through the game's somewhat brutal early game and beyond.

Level your stamina

Stamina, desp?ite recent buffs via hotfixes, is a crucial resource. Rolling, blocking, and now even parrying require it, and if you run out when facing down a foe you're going to get slapped around a bit. Leveling stamina, even just two or three times works wonders in the early game for smoothing out the combat experience by letting you act a bit more aggressively.

Don't skip over resources

Mushrooms and herbs, specifically, are your lifeline in the early game. You aren't allotted healing items automatically like you are in say, Dark Souls, relying instead on food you find or cook yourself. Your starting recipe for Mushroom Soup relies on these plants, and heals 35 HP. If you're dashing along and neglect to pick up enough ingredients to keep your bottomless pit of a player character?? healed up, you'll run out and have to resort to farming some. I was always running low on Artemisia herb, so be sure you grab it whenever you spot some.

It's also worth it to chop?? down some pine trees and collect copper ore whenever you have the required tools on hand. You'll need these later to upgrade craft and trade booths in Sacrament.

Repair your tools before they break

On the note of gathering resources, if you ??let a shiny new tool you just bought like an iron axe break, you're going to have to buy a new one. You can spot if one of your gathering tools is about to break by glancing to the bottom right of the screen - a yellow-to-orange toolbox icon will alert you if one or more of your items is approaching disintegration-levels of damage. Luckily, these can be repaired at the blacksmith like a??nything else.

Experiment with Enchantment (sparingly)

Once you've made your way to Sacrament, immediately following ?the game's first boss, you'll have access to a vendor named Eleanor. For a price, she can modify your items in various ways, including bumping their rarity on one or more levels for a mere silver piece.

Enchantment ca??n be tempting, and it has its benefits - boosting your items' rarity means passive affixes that boost stats. But it comes at the cost of customization, since you'??ll lose out on gem and rune slots in the process. Cursed, or "purple," items, come with a meaty negative affix to balance their stronger positive ones. There's no guarantee that Eleanor won't scuff an item by bumping it all the way to Cursed from Common, but it can be a good way to roll for better loot.

Infuse, Infuse, Infuse

Eleanor has a safer way to boost item's power in the form of infusions. This is simply the process of slotting your found or purchased gems into weapons and armor to grant them effects. Focus Regeneration, Elemental Damage, and Resistances to blights are just a few of the properties gems can grant. Like Diablo, the effect of any given gem comes from the piece of gear it's infused into, so make sure you experiment and put them to goo??d use.

Extract Runes from weapons you don't want

Eleanor i??s back for one last piece of advice: if you're going to sell a weapon, take a look at its runes f??irst. If there's one that seems even a little interesting, extract it at her shop. It'll destroy the weapon in the process, but you'll stockpile a collection of useful runes for use in weapons you'd like to try out later.

Sometimes, Common rarity items are best

Your goal in No Rest for the Wicked isn't to deck your character out in the rarest armor possible, it's to make your build function. And just about any build would crumble under two or more cursed affixes, some of which can reduce your health by a whopping 25%. So instead of chasing rare loot, consider customizing the common items in your collection instead. Common items have four gem slots and four rune slots, meaning they can be fine-tuned to your liki?ng at the expense of a few random attributes.

Don't get (too) aggressive

Unlike Diablo, an obvious inspiration, No Rest for the Wicked's combat is reactive. Meaning, you aren't walking up to three or four enemies at a time and wiping the floor with them - rather, you're waiting for them to perform their predictable moves and waiting for opportunities to punish. Healing items are a resource, and not getting hit is the best way to "farm" them. If y??ou rely on counterattacks rather than mashing forward and getting whittled down, you'll progress much faster in the long run.

Buy a house as soon as possible

When you've milled arou??nd Sacrament a while and progressed the campaign to a certain point, you'll be able to buy your very own home. The cheapest option is still a hefty 20 silver, but it comes with benefits too good to ignore. First, you can jam it full of chests for storing the dozens of resources, consumables, and ??materials you pick up on your journeys. You can also cook inside it and place crafting benches of your own. But really, it's just a great place to horde items, and any of the available offerings are a far cry more convenient than traipsing up to the shared "community" chest whenever you're overburdened.

Revisit past areas often

Whether for bounty completions or resources, revisiting old areas is going to become necessary at one point or another. Lucky for you, this means replenished loot pools, new enemies with greater experience payouts, and brand-new passages to uncover. The world of NRFTW is a more dynamic one than you might realize, and even the starter zone of the Shallows becomes a treacherous foray into the unknown once you've made progress into othe?r areas of the game. Old zones are a gr?eat chance to snag some extra experience while stocking up on ever-diminishing supplies.

The post 10 things I wish I’d known before starting No Rest for the Wicked appeared first on Destructoid.

No Rest for the Wicked is a grim and tough action RPG from the folks who brought us the Ori games. It strikes a blend between Diablo and Dark Souls, and those games can be better with friends. Does No Rest for the Wicked have any multiplayer modes or co-op?

There's some good news and bad news regarding the subject. While Moon Studios is planning on including a multiplayer mode eventually, No Rest for the Wicked does not currently have a multiplayer or co-op mode. The game is in Early Access and will receive more updates and content as development continues. At the current time, the game remains a single-player experience. Moon Studios has detailed a roadmap for the game, so we actually do have an idea on when No Rest for the Wicked opens up for multiplayer.

No Rest for the Wicked multiplayer and co-op are available soon

Ahead of its release, Moon Studios revealed the Early Access roadmap for No Rest for the Wicked, which include??d multiplayer plans. According to the team, multiplayer will be available with "Update 1." There's no set or even vague date for when the update goes live. The studio mentions on the Steam page that the game will remai??n in Early Access for a while, but it's mum on the details.

So far, No Rest for the Wicked has seen many patches, mostly aimed at performance. The developer seems to be doing well at staying ahea??????????????????????????d of issues. Hopefully, that means good thin??gs when it comes to future content rollout.

What kind of multiplayer modes are coming to No Rest for the Wicked?

The game should get two multiplayer modes ahead of its full launch. No Rest for the Wicked will have online co-op for up to four players, as well as a multiplayer PvP mode. It's unclear?? how the latter will look, but the developer has hinted toward what you should expect with co-op. According to the studio, co-op will allow you to invite up to three friends to your world. You can tackle bosses, quests, and?? more together, but players can also splinter off from the group to do their own thing.

As mentioned, we don't know when No Rest for the Wicked will get m??ultiplayer and co-op modes. Hopefully, it'll be soon. But I'm good to wait until all the performance woes are completely ironed out. It's better now, but three other people running around might cause my PC to go nuclear. The summer?? will be warm enough.

The post Does No Rest for the?? ?Wicked have multiplayer modes, co-op? appeared first on Destructoid.

If you've been playing No Rest For the Wicked, there's a good chance you ran into a man named ??Finley locked in a cell within the Nameless Pass. Any attempt to open his cell is blocked by the need for a certain Quarry Guard Key, so if you haven't found it yet, here's where you can.

How to get the Quarry Guard Key in No Rest For The Wicked (Map)

Unlike most other keys in No Rest For The Wicked, th??e Quarry Guard Key is rather hidden and well out of the way. The key is located in a hanging cell above the prison where Finley is imprisoned. As the cell is hanging, there is no traditional method or p?athway that will allow you to reach it. Instead, you'll need to do a bit of climbing and careful platforming to reach it.

First things first, if you haven't already, make your way over to the circular prison ward in Nameless Pass. You'll find it toward ??the end of the pass, j?ust before reaching the imperial encampment.

Once you've reached the prison area, make your way onto the ruined wall, like you're going toward the imperial encampment. Transverse the path, following the broken wooden bridge south until you reach a high-reaching vine wall leading toward the encampment.

Climb this vine wall and at the top, you should see a campfire where you can sit down and cook food. From here, follow the rocky path directly south of the campfire. It is a narrow path ?so watch your footing or you'll die and have to start this process over.

Continue following the rock path until you reach what appears to be a dead end. Look to the right of the endpoint and you should see a rock slope. Very carefully slide down this slope to a small rocky platform below it. Note that you cannot see this platform until you begin sliding down the slope. Once more, if you mess this up, you will most certainly di??e and have to begin anew.

From here, you should see a thin wooden path leading to a broken prison cell with an item at its center. Drop down on the wooden path and follow it into the cage. Loot this item and you'll have obtained the Quarry Guard Key.

Now all that's left for you to do is return to Finley's prison cell and free him from his shackles. Finley is a special vendor that only appears in Sacrament at certain tim??es, but I assure you this ?harrowing platforming excursion was worth the trouble.

The post Where to find the Quarry Gu?ard Key in No Rest For The Wicked appeared first on Destructoid.

Surviving the harsh world of No Rest for the Wicked requires more than weapons. Enhancements come in all forms in the game, such as Runes. Here's how to find and equip all the Runes in No Rest for the Wicked, along with what they do.

Runes are magical artifacts in No Rest for the Wicked and become available to you once you meet with Eleanor in Sacrament. She can sell Runes, slot them into weapons, and extract them �all for a modest fee. Runes are powerful items that grant you spe?cial abilities powered by focus. They can either aid you in battle or assist in some other way.

How to equip Runes in No Rest for the Wicked

Runes won't be available in No Rest for the Wicked until you defeat Warrick the Torn and enter the city of Sacrament for the first time. You'll find the Rune master herself, Eleanor, next to her stall in the market district not far from the Forge:

Eleanor can slot gems and Runes into your weapons for a price. She sells a variety of Runes, which cost one to two silver pieces each. To equip Runes, you must have one purchased along with a weapon that has a free Rune slot. Next, while speaking with Eleanor, navigate to the 'Run?e' tab and select the weapon of choice. Highlight an empty?? slot and choose the Rune you want to equip.

You can extract a Rune, but doing so destroys the weapon in the process. ?Make sure you don't need the weapon any longer before doing this.

All Rune in No Rest for the Wicked and what they do

There are five Runes to purchase in No Rest for the Wicked. While it's fairly obvious what some of the Runes do (two have 'healing' in their names, so that's ea??sy), others aren't as clear.

He?re is the list of Runes in the game, followed by what they do:

• Pulse of Health
• Channel
• Heal Aura
• Repair
• Return

Pulse of Health

Pulse of Health heals you for a small amount and t?hen keeps slowly healing for a minute. It costs ?100 Focus to use.

Channel

From what I can tell, Channel is ?a Charged Spell that allows you to trade a small amount of health for 50 Focus. It doesn't cost focus to use, and it doesn't work ?if your focus bar is full. Channel seems like a risky gamble, but it may be what you need to deal that finishing blow.

Heal Aura

Heal Aura is what it?? says on the tin: An aura that heals for a small amou??nt. Its wide range suggests it'll be ideal for co-op play, where you can heal your buddies during or between combat encounters. You can use it for 2 Focus to heal a sliver of health, or hold it down for the full charge, costing 50 Focus.

Repair

Repair will? repair your weapons and items by a small amount. This one is a bit useless unless you find yourself in a bit of a bind.

Return

Return allows you to warp back to the last Cerim Whisper you used. It costs 25 Focus, making it one of the cheapest Runes to use. It is a Channel Spell, which takes about five seconds to finish. Don't try? and warp away when surrounded by foes.

Tha??t about wraps up all we know on Runes. You can equip multiple per weapon, but it may be best to wait until you upgrade your Focus bar a bit more before overdoing it.

The post No Rest for the ??Wicked: All Runes, how to equip, and what they do appeared first on Destructoid.

As you progress through No Rest For The Wicked, you'll eventually come across the quest Spoken and Unspoken, which requires you to obtain a Fallen Ember. If, like me, y??ou sold all your embers for silver while leveling up, you may find yourself lacking the necessary resources, but there's an? easy method to acquire more.

How to get Fallen Embers in No Rest For The Wicked

While Fallen Embers are not exactly a finite resource, they can be rather elusive if you've reached the Spoken and Unspoken questline with none in your inventory. This is the case because the entire playable world of No Rest For The Wicked goes through a level scaling change around level 15, which alters the loot table of possible item drops. You may have noticed that enemies became significantly stronger around that level, and started dropping level 21 items more commonly. This sudden change effectively makes once-common item drops, such as Fallen Embers, become scarce. If you're trying to grind these ??enemies for Fallen Embers, then you'll find it rather time-consuming just to get one.

The best, and most efficient, way to grind out Fallen Embers is to start a new Realm. Realm progression and Character progression are separate in No Rest For The Wicked. This means you can use your high-level ?character to power through the beginning of the game in a second Realm that y?ou create.

For one reason or another, you'll earn more Fallen Embers by playing a less story-progressed Realm. They spawn in large quantities from chests and other lootables only during this time, making this method by far the best way to?? get your hands on them. Fallen Embers can still be earned by playing on a fully progressed Realm, but be mentally prepared to hunt them down consistently as you run out when you need them most.

Fallen Embers and the Cerim Crucible

The Spoke and Unspoken main quest is actually the introductory questline for accessing the Cerim Crucible 'endgame'. This is a special rogue-like dungeon that yields great rewards upon your success of it. However, to enter the Cerim Crucible, you need to use one Fallen Ember. Every following run of the Crucible also requires one Fallen Ember, which is why you want to have several at all times. The cost is well worth the admission fee, however, as the best loot in No Rest For The Wicked comes from the Cerim Crucible.

The post Where to find a Fallen Ember f?or Spoke and Unspoken in No Rest For The Wicked appeared first on Destructoid.

Just as with any RPG, you're allowed to make several alts in No Rest For The Wicked. Leveling a character is a time-thieving affair, but ??there is a way? to dramatically speed up the process.

How to level an Alt fast in No Rest For The Wicked

There are numerous reasons why you'd want to have an alternative (alt) character in No Rest For the Wicked. Not only is your build final on any given character, but an alt means more useful storage space. The first thing you're going to want to do is be around level 28, and have progressed the main storyline until you've gained access to the Cerim Crucible. For reference, this is toward the end of the current Early Access content in No Rest For The Wicked. You'll know you're close to this point when you need to acquire a Fallen Ember f??or the main quest.

To power level an alt character, you're going to need Experience Potions, and lots of them. ??As the name of the item suggests, these potions grant the consumer a hefty amount of experience based on the size of the potion.

• Small Experience Potion - Rewards 200 Experience Points
• Medium Experience Potion - Rewards 400 Experience Points
• Large Experience Potion - Rewards 800 Experience Points

You can obtain Small, Medium, and Large Experience Potions by looting chests and killing strong enemies. They have a fairly low drop rate in the normal world, but in the Cerim Crucible, you'll find them to be decently com?mon. This is largely due to the enemies present there being much more powerful than the standard. The best way to amass Experience Potions is to run the Cerim Crucible several times over. Make sure to thoroughly search every chest and loot item within the Crucible, as each one offers a chance of containing one of the three types of Experience Potions mentioned earlier.

When you've got a ton of Experience Potions in your inventory, it's time to give them to your alt. Character progression and Realm progression are separate, therefore it is possible to use your alt on your current, story-complete Realm. This is important because you need access to either the Community Chest in the Rookery or a standard chest in your home. For whichever you prefer to use, place the Experience P??otions you earned into the chest. You can put as many as you like in there, s??o long as you have space.

Now, switch to your alt character and guide them to the specified chest. Retrieve the potions from the chest and transfer them to your alt's inventory. Have your alt consume the potions to expedite their leveling process fa?r beyond what you could achieve through traditional enemy grinding. Repeat this method on as many characters as desired.

The post How to power level Alts in No Rest For The Wicked appeared first on Destructoid.

The remarkably genre-bending hack 'n' slash No Rest for the Wicked has proven that the genre hasn't given its all just yet, though its Early Access status betrayed a slew of technical issues.? Some of them - including a memory leak, of all things - have been fixed ?in Hotfix 3.

Developed by Moon Studios, the team that made the widely acclaimed Ori games, No Rest for the Wicked is a massively different title from anything the developer had produced before. As it's currently unfinished, then, it was to be expected that there would be some growing pains, with Moon Studios owning up to them and promising prompt fixes. To date, we are now on the third substantial technical patch,?? and Hotfix 3 may be the most substantial of them y??et.

No Rest for the Wicked's Hotfix 3 improves performance and fixes a problematic memory leak

According to No Rest for the Wicked's Hotfix 3 patch notes, players should find the game much more pleasant to play and performant on a wide variety of systems. According to Moon Studios, they have "improved Performance, Balance, Loot, Harvesting, Graphics, fixed progression blockers and added new options in the Settings Screen. A good few dozen other bugs across the rest of the game have also been squashed." Excellent news indeed, but performance improvements are the most meaningful boon of the bunch, in my book, as that's one of the main points of contention players have had with the game.

With Hotfix 3, Moon Studios has delivered all of the following performance improvements for Wicked:

• Improved area streaming (smoother traversal from one area to another)
• Less aggressive dynamic resolution scaling
• Improved off-screen object culling
• Improved bird animation culling, leading to a small performance uplift
• Further shader optimizations, with improvements to particle rendering
• Assorted CPU performance improvements and memory optimizations

Of course, the fact that Moon Studios has resolved a particularly obnoxious memory leak of particular note here. So, those who enjoyed playing Wicked for long stretches of time should now be free to do so,?? without worrying about the performance drop-off or, in extreme cases, crashing. Hotfix 3 also introduces a variety of camera management options, balancing improvements, and heaps of general bugfixing, with plenty more to come in the near and far future.

The post No Rest for the Wicked’s memory leak is fixed with the latest hotfix appeared first on Destructoid.

Diablo 4's fourth season got a hearty month-long delay, owing to the fact th??at it's spring-boarding a complete overhaul to the game's itemization, crafting systems, and endgame. Plenty of folks, myself included, are more than a little excited for a new start to Blizzard's powerhouse IP, but we're stuck waiting until May 14. So rather than sit on our clicking hands, I have a few suggestions to help pass the time:

Grim Dawn

Grim Dawn is my absolute favoritest-favorite action RPG. Not only is it an absolute beast in terms of its content (if you cop the expansions on one of the game's regular sales, you're looking at 100+ hours of content at least), it's unmatched in class fantasy and build customizat??ion.

Sure, it's not the flashiest action RPG in the ??world, but its gruff, high contrast aesthetic is a bit reminiscent of the gold-box RPG glory days, isn't it? The oversaturated hue of the spell effects mixed with the pitch black shadows gives it some real character.

Grim Dawn is a fair bit more complex than Diablo, but not nearly the impenetrable fortress that is Path of Exile. Think of it as sitting somewhere in the middle-complexity sweet spot that games like Last Epoch occupy. You can blitz through the campaign on the breezy No?rmal difficulty or crank things up a few notches and see if your build can stand up to Ultimate??.

If you're worried about this game's age meaning it isn't receiving updates or content, you may be pleasantly surprised to hear that that's decidedly not the case. The latest mega-patch, 1.2, saw a whole slew of changes, including difficulty scaling, loot tables, and the addition of an evade button. There's even a whole new expansion on its way, and a second game in early development. So, if you're looking for something with a little grit, it's never too late to become a fan of Grim Dawn.

V Rising

V Rising is, unlike Grim Dawn, markedly not old. In fact, it's not even fully released yet. 1.0 is hitting just a bit shy of Diablo 4's new season, on May 8, but you can explore p?lenty? of the game's content right now in Early Access.

The elevator pitch for V Rising probably went something like, "What if Diablo, survival crafting games like Valheim, and old-school MMO's got thrown in a blender?" You'll hunt down treacherous bosses and collect bear asses both, all in service to your ever-growing castle. The game has the same sticky mechanics that all the great survival games do: you'll craft increasingly impressive and useful tools using workbenches, but you'll only find the blueprints after defeating some of the world's many, many big-bads.

By day, you'll likely be cooped up in your cast??le, rearranging furniture, stocking the furnace with ore, that sort of thing. But come nightfall, when the sun's rays won't cremate you, you'll be pushing further a??nd further into the wilds, collecting resources and slaying foes.

If you've got a knack for building houses in The Sims or seeing how big you can make your Minecraft fortress, V Rising has a fantastic base-building system that's sure to satiate your lust for interior design. If you also enjoy skill-shotting folks in MOBAs, the game so happens to use WASD movement such that its combat plays like a frenetic mix of League of Legends and Lost Ark. It??'ll take some getting used to, but this weird combination of c?ozy homebuilding and action is surprisingly harmonious.

No Rest for the Wicked

And at last, we have Moon Studio's (makers of Ori) very left-field foray into the action RPG space: No Rest for the Wicked. I was embarrassingly excited for this game, which lau?nched last Thursday, April 18 into Early Access.

My recommendation of No Rest for the Wicked comes with two caveats: first, you'll need a pretty juicy rig to run it. With a "recommended" GPU equivalent to an RTX 3070, it isn't particularly optimized in these early days. Second, it barely qualifies as an "action RPG" in the traditional, Diablo-esque sense of the phrase. Its combat is slow,?? methodical, and heavy.

Those caveats out of the way, what's here is very good so far. The first act of the game is available to play, which should run you anywhere from ??10 to 15 hours?? depending on your propensity for exploration and upgrading the capital city of Sacrament using resources found along your journey.

One of the more progressive features of No Rest for the Wicked is its ever-changing landscapes that are a joy to revisit. Starter zones level up alongside your progress through the campaign, and trekking back through previously?? explored lands may reveal new enemies, bosses, and loot. Loot rarity has had the script flipped a bit too - "common" items are the most customizable, while higher rarities may come with hefty drawbacks in exchange for their affixed bonuses.

It's early days for the game, but after two quick and beefy ??hotfixes (which went live over the weekend, no less), I think it's worth keep??ing an eye on at the very least. Jumping in early is always a bit of a leap of faith, but I haven't regretted a moment spent with the game.

The post Three games to scratch that action RPG itch during the? wait for Diablo 4 ?Season 4 appeared first on Destructoid.

No Rest for the Wicked, Moon Studio's new action RPG, is a little less Diablo than many players (myself included) were expecting. This dissonance between expectation ?and reality, no matter the quality of the game, is a surefire recipe for friction.

A glance at the user reviews, currently sitting at a 65% "Mix??ed" rating on Steam, tells a story of... well, mostly performance issues. But if you look a little closer, complaints of a low stamina economy, plodding enemy encounters, and a high early-game difficulty start to peek through the usual Early Access culprits.

No Rest for the Wicked Combat Tips

Having completed the campaign portion of the Early Access content currently on offer ("Act 1" of what will be the full game), I feel well-versed in its weird blend of Dark Souls meets Diablo. And by "blend," I basically mean 100% of the combat stylings of Dark Souls, and 100% of the camera angle from Diablo.

If you, like me, expected to be a?ble to eventually delete even a handful of enemies at once after finding some gear, you're sorely mistaken. Here are some quick tips sure to dispel the illusion that this is a "typical" dungeon-crawlin??g action RPG.

Slow it down

If you find yourself relatively exhausted after each enemy encounter, this is by design. Every fight is a bit of an ordeal, since you're only going to be fighting upwards of five or six enemies total between rest points. Taking on more than one foe at once is a recipe for disaster, but if you do find yourself outnumbered, try to separate enemies by rushing down ranged units. More crucially: take your time. Trying to rus??h through fights is a guaranteed way to walk away poorer in resources than you ought to.

Spend your Focus, use your Runes

Your focus meter, indicated by the yellow-orange meter by your health and stamina gauge, is spent using Runes. Runes are essentially spells that attach to your weapons, and every weapon comes equipped with at least one. These are very powerful abilities, and can quickly turn the tide of a fight. There are even some Runes, available for purcha?se a little later on fro?m Eleanor in Sacrament, that heal you on use. If you also have an aversion to resource-farming, these are a lifesaver when you run low on food.

Level Stamina (at least a little)

Stamina got a little bit of a buff in a recent hotfix, but it can still feel scarce in the early game. Since rolling is your most valuable tool for avoiding damage, be sure to put at least 2 or 3 extra points in Stamina so you can keep up with the relentless attacks of speedier foe??s. Remember: rolling or dodging grants invincibility frames, which means you'll be invulnerable for the duration.

If all else fails, make some room

Distance between yourself and the enemy has perhaps the highest impact on the flow of a battle. Some enemies have massive, far-reaching weapons with high recovery times. Some unleash flurries of short-ranged attacks in the blink of an eye. In both these scenarios, simply backing out of reach can create the perfect opportunity for a counter-attack. Because you can sprint at any time, in any direction, running literal circles around foes is a more than viable option in the heat of battle. Remember: sprinting into an attack is faster than swinging ??from a standstill. Use this to punish!

If nothing else, just don't try to play No Rest for the Wicked like Diablo. Of course, I can't stop you, but you don't want to end up like those poor s??ouls in the Steam reviews, do you?

The post Struggling in?? No Rest for the Wicked? Stop playing it like Diablo appeared first on Destructoid.

Yesterday, Moon Studios released No Rest for the Wicked, the developer's new action RPG game, to Early Access. The team behind Ori and the Blind Forest �and its sequel Ori and the Will of the Wisps �has been thanking fans for quick feedback, but many will be wondering whether? ??it's coming to other platforms.

While it's only available on Steam at the moment, there are plans to release No Rest for the Wicked on current-gen systems, including the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. There's no release date for these versions yet, but the stores for both PlayStation and Xbox do have pages for the game, with ?options to w?ishlist it.

Sadly, for anyone?? hoping for a PS4 or Xbox One port, it doesn't appear as though t?he studio is looking to release the game on these platforms.

What about No Rest for the Wicked on other platforms?

As f??or other PC clients, there also doesn't seem to be a version of the game on GOG or Epic Games Store. However, if you have access to Nvidia's GeForce Now cloud service, you can play it there.

No Rest for the Wicked is so far getting some mixed reviews on Steam. It's worth remembering that it's still in Early Access, so there are almost certainly going to be teething troubles. However, Mo??on Studio is?? acknowledging some of these issues, and is looking to address some of the more egregious ones.

If you're not familiar w?ith the game, here's a ??quick overview of the story:

The year is 841 �King Harol is dead. ?As word of his death echoes throughout the kingdom, the crown passes to his arrogant, yet unteste?d son Magnus.

Even worse, the Pestilence, an unholy plague not seen for a thousand years, has returned. It sweeps across the land, corrupting everything and everyone it to?uches. Madrigal Seline, a ruthlessly ambitious figure in the church, sees the Pestilence as a chance to prove herself in the eyes of her god.

At the time of writing, it's sitting at the number two spot on Steam's Top Sellers list. But then again, this isn't anything too spectacular for anticipated releases, especially from an award-winning developer, so it's almost certainly going to drop. Still, gives us something different to look at than all the Fallout games that are currently in the charts.

So, just to recap: No Rest for the Wicked is currently a PC exclusive title for now (Steam and GeForce Now, specifically). PS5 and Xbox ports are being planned, but we don't know wh??en they're likely to drop.

The post Is No Rest for the Wicked coming to PS5 and Xbox? appeared first on Destructoid.

After creating some of the best Metroidvanias of all time, developer Moon Studios has now set its sights on the hack 'n' slash niche with No Rest for the Wicked, which came out in Early Access just yesterday. Its predictably roughshod state has now been officially ac??knowledged by Moon Studios.

I say "predictably" specifically because No Rest for the Wicked is an Early Access title that's only just begun its long, laborious trek towards a 1.0 release. It was a given that Moon Studios wasn't going to deliver a perfectly polished experience right off the bat this time around, and the team chimed in on the state of the game by thanking the players and creating a list of known issues they'll be addressing as soon as possible. Performance, for example, is high on the list of problems to resolve, though given how much stuff this game is doing in the background, I'm hard-pressed to imagine No Rest for the Wicked will be considered low-spec-friend??ly anytim?e soon.

No Rest for the Wicked is getting improvements in the short and long term

According to Moon Studios, the team is "aiming to get some immediate GPU settings in the next patch" to allow players to fine-tune No Rest for the Wicked's settings for improved performance. In the meantime, the developer has pointed out that we can choose between a variety of Quality Presets to see if that helps, as well as installing the game on a high-speed SSD to reduce hitches and resolve potential stuttering. Moon would also like to invite players to share their hardware specs to help narrow down potential performance problems, so anyone participating in No Rest for the Wicked's Early Access stint is invited to share their feedback on the official forum.

Performance concerns aside, Moon Studios is also working to allow players to pause the game in offline single-player mode (which is the only way to play the game at this time, it's worth remembering), which is great news. The ability to rebind controls should also be coming soon, with Moon acknowledging that Wicked will currently onl??y display Xbox bindings on the UI instead of adapting to the type of controller the player might've plugged in. Not a huge concern, granted, as the keyboard inputs do appear just fine on the UI, and those who come across finicky controller support should check if Steam Input is enabled on their end.

In case of unexpected progression loss, players should exit Wicked to the main menu, and use the 'Backups' option in the Realms UI to roll back to an earlier save. Similarly, if you get stuck while mucking about with Wicked's remarkable physics-enabled clutter, you should go back to the main menu and?? use the 'Continue from Last Whisper' option to reset your character's state.

Moon Studios will be delivering fixes for these and other assorted problems soon, so players should stay tuned and keep an ear close to the ground in the interi??m.

The post No Rest for the Wicked acknowledges majo??r issues with promi??ses to fix them appeared first on Destructoid.