The Ranger class in Avowed is the most versatile at the start of the game. They can make good use of any one-handed weapons, shields, arbalests, pistols, and bows. If you're looking to play a Ranger, here are t?he best early weapons to get your hands on.

Best early-game weapons for Rangers in Avowed

Last Light of Day

If you fancy wielding one-handed swords to slay your foes with, the Last Light of Day is undoubtedly the best one you're going to find early on. This flaming longsword deals massive damage, with a portion of it being Fire damage, allowing you to ignite foes quite easily with just a few swings. On top of this, it comes with Fine quality, giving it higher stats than any basic longsword you'll find. By enchanting, you can further empower the blade's ability to?? restore your health or increase its stun power from parrying attacks. It is the best ??longsword you will find during your time in Dawnshore.

To get the Last Light of Day, you'll need to pull it off the corpse of a crazed Oracle hiding in the Eothasian Temple, nort??h of Paradis. Seek the Pilgrim's Path, and you'll be on your way to finding him. Trust me, you won't miss him. Just make sure? you find a way to make him a corpse, or you won't get this sword from him.

Caeroc's Pride

If you'd prefer to wiel?d firearms from a distance rather than swing around a fancy sword, you should consider wielding Caeroc's Pride instead. This unique pistol comes fully loaded with?? shock rounds that explode on impact, making it capable of dealing significant AoE damage. It also applies high Shock Accumulation to any enemy hit by it.

Enchanti??ng this unique pistol allows you to amplify its ability to apply Shock Accumulation by also affecting nearby enemies with it. All this combined makes Caeroc's Pride the best pistol you'll find in the early game.

To get your hands on Caeroc's Pride, you'll need to kill Tempestuous Luandi, one of the several bounty targets available to you from the bounty board in Paradis. Taking her bounty will give you a pinpoint marker of her location. However, if you're interested in that, you can still find her roaming around the Ship Graveyard, southeast of Shantytown, just outside of Paradis itself. Be careful ??when you approach her, as she will wield this powerful pistol against you herself.

The Disappointer

This Pistol, when yo??u first acquire it, will look rather disappointing, as the name of it suggests. While it has the powerful Bleeding Lash effect, which allows you to apply Bleed Accumulation on targets you hit, it also comes with a -10% Damage nerf. What in the world? Why use this, you ask? Well, it turns out if you invest in this disappointing firearm by enchanting it, you can turn that -10% Damage into a walloping +10% instead, making it the second strongest pistol you'll? find in Dawnshore.

Unlike the other two weapons on this list, you can acquire The Disappointer without shedding blood. It is purchased from a Merchant in Paradis Hightown, just north of the Philosophers' Alley marker on the map. The entire Paradis Hightown area is automatically uncovered when you arrive, so you should have no problem at all finding him. J??ust come with some coin ready to spend.

Sheathed in Summer

If you prefer the sneaky approach to combat, then I urge you to consider getting your hands on Sheathed in Summer. This flaming dagger attacks very fast and deals considerable Fire damage per hit. It also gets a hefty bonus to Fire Accumulation if you land all your attacks in a single dagger-swinging combo. There is no better dagger you can acquire early on in Avowed, s???o if you like dagger combat, this is the perfect weapon for you.

Sheathed in Summar must be picked ripe from the corpse of Octav the Firebrand, another bounty target you can activate from the bounty board in Paradis. He is found in the heart of the Godless Ruins, northwest of Paradis itself. Octav the Firebrand will come at you swinging this dagger around, s??o tread carefully.

Wind and Wave

You probably didn't expect to see a shield on this list, but it is classified as a weapon in Avowed, and for good reason. Wind and Wave is primarily for defen?se, but just by having it equipped, you'll gain a significant 10% Move Speed boost at all times, allowing you to duck and weave throughout combat that much easier.

This shield also provides you with significant Frost Accumulation resistance. Being Frozen in Avowed is a death sentence, especially on higher difficulties, so this shield is quite good. Lastly, it can be wielded with any of the other weapons on this list.? Quite good indeed.

Unlike every other weapon on this list, Wind and Wave is found within a hidden chest near the riverline northeast of the Western Paragrun Wall Beacon. Teleport there first and head directly northeast until you find this particular portion of the Old Pargrun Wall.

From here, dive underwater and look for a cave entrance right on the river bank.

Swim t??hrough this entrance, and you'll f??ind the hidden chest with Wind and Wave waiting for you inside.

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When I received the gift of Stardew Valley from my husband back in December 2017, I never understood the importance or impact this game would have on me and my mental health. It is the exact typ??e of game that I needed when I was a child, and as an adult, I'm not ashamed to admit that I enjoy it for therapeutic reasons.

Stardew Valley is one of those games that I play when I ultimately need to relax. While I do play most games to relax, Stardew Valley takes that to an extra level, and allows me not to feel?? so alone in the world. It gives me purpose on days where life socialization or ??life is too much. From the style of the music, the cute pixel art, and the various activities in the game, there is always something relaxing or therapeutic about it when I play it.

The artsyle is so cute it makes me happy

The pixel style of graphics, especially for Stardew Valley, reach the inner child in me that needed this game in my past. The bright colors, the palette in general make the world blend in together in an aesthetically cute pixel art, and cute things always make me happy and hopeful. The bright pa??lette adds tones of extra cheerfulness of the game, which helps brighten my moods.

Even the stormy days always bring to mind something—my best friend who loved storms, the intense rain noises that I love listening to, even when the thunder is too loud. I also have to make sure, during the summer season, to have enough lightning rods. Though they do create batteries when struck by lightning, I also just get sad if lightning happens to strike any of my crops or flowers. Especial?ly when crops get destroyed, as it ruins my sometimes perfected layouts and growth.

The activities bring me joy

There is so much to do in Stardew Valley that it's always fun. There is mining, which I love the exploration of the cave system, the peaceful bits of the mining, and then the bits of combat as I travel deeper. The further I travel, the more the zones change in appearance, from normal stone tilin?g, to a frozen ancient castle appearance, and then even a magma-like filled cavern. Fishing, while I use a mod on PC because the mini-game is a bit too difficult, is fun as well. I adore playing the mini-game for fishing on the Nintendo Switch, , as I can utilize the controls for it better.

I love the variety of fish that the game provides, and for some reason, the purple super cucumber caught in the ocean is one of my favorites. I love the farming aspects as well, both the crop raising and animal raisin??g aspects. Being able to pet the animals every morning, i?ncluding the starter pet from the new game menu, makes me happy. I love the little chicken and cow and goat noises, and while it's sometimes tedious, I love hunting them down for pets in the mornings. Sometimes I'll sit in their fenced-in area, just to watch them wander around and listen to the animal sounds.

The music is soft, but upbeat, and hap??py. It fits the aesthetic of the game perfectly, makes it cheerful for even the most downtrodden souls. There is something about the way it transitions from the farm music to the town that seems like flawless execution, and I love that each season ha??s various types of soundtracks that feel fitting for those months. Even the social aspect, like making friends and building romances, even up to marriage and having children, makes me happy. If I'm feeling especially alone on a specific day, I know I have friends in the game that are always happy to talk to me.

Being able to relax with friends in multiplayer, or even make friends with the non-player characters in the town and see them during each of the game's festivals brings a smile to my face, no matter how I'm feeling. While I have yet to actually finish the game, or really just see all of its events, Stardew Valley is always the one game I tur??n to when I need a boost to my mood, when life just is too hard.

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Players receive a variety of goodies, including a new gun

The Call of Duty series is most well known for its multiplayer, leaving the campaigns as an afterthought for many players. The series' story mode can actually be a lot of fun, with all kinds of cool action movie set pieces designed to make you feel like the biggest badass alive. Even so, it's only a small percentage of players who actually play the campaign, let alone finish it (a statistic that is true of most single player games as well). Now Activision is looking to remedy small completion rates with Modern Warfare II by giving those who finish the campaign some irresistible rewards, the company announced in a recent blog post.

If you pre-order the game, you can also get access to all of these rewards before the full release through Campaign Early Access. Activision didn't confirm whether you get the rewards as you go through the missions or all at once at the end, but if I had to guess, I'd put money on the ?former.

Here's ev?erything you can earn in "chronological mission order:"

• Calling Card: “Soap’s Determinationâ€?/li>
• Emblem: “What’s Done Is Doneâ€?/li>
• 30 Minute Double XP Token
• 30 Minute Double Weapon XP Token
• Calling Card: “Chainlinkedâ€?/li>
• Base Operator: Chuy
• 30 Minute Double XP Token
• 30 Minute Double Weapon XP Token
• Calling Card: “Gazâ€?/li>
• Base Operator: Nova
• 1 Hour Double XP Token
• 1 Hour Double Weapon XP Token
• Calling Card: “Shadow Company Opsâ€?/li>
• Base Operator: Reyes
• 1 Hour Double XP Token
• 1 Hour Double Weapon XP Token
• Base Operator: Hutch

That's not all, t??hough -- players who complete the full campaign will also re?ceive the Union Guard Weapon Blueprint. The powerful assault rifle comes with four pre-equipped attachments, including "the Aim OP-V4 Reflex Optic, the SZ 1MW PEQ Laser, the FSS Covert V Silencer on the Muzzle, and the Lockgrip Precision-40 Underbarrel Vertical Grip."

Don't worry if you don't plan on pre-ordering Modern Warfare II -- all of these rewards will be available to unlock ??at any time. The lure of getting them early is just another way for Activision to rake in ??the pre-orders.

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At least I have something to look forward to

Back in the early Overwatch days, something I would look forward to every year was the seasonal events, particularly the ones that had PvE, story mode-type missions. Overwatch’s characters are a big part of what makes the game feel so spe??cial. The game was always more than?? just the multiplayer experience �it was the comics and the animated shorts and the seasonal story events, too. Having opportunities to dive into battle and see not only the history of the characters and the maps from the game, but actually seeing them work together as a team in-universe �that was a pretty magical feeling, if you ask me.

Even with all the new changes Blizzard promised when it came to the PvP, I was most excited to see some kind of story mode in Overwatch 2. I was so distracted by what a headache Overwatch 2’s launch has been, however, that I entirely forgot that there was supposed to be a story mode in the first place. The more I sat struggling just to get into a game, the more I found myself wondering how the inclusion of a PvE mode would have ma??de the launch so much bett??er.

Wasn't story mode the whole point?

After doing some digging, I couldn’t find any sources that claimed that PvE was supposed to be available to play on launch day. I don’t know how this idea got Mandela-Effected into my head, but after conferring with my roommate to make?? sure I wasn’t imagining things, we confirmed that we were both under the impression that story mode ??was coming day one.

My best guess as to why this happened is because while multiplayer got some big updates, including new heroes, maps, UI, skins, etc., it’s about what you’d expect to see from Blizzard if they had kept up with the game’s usual live updates. The game looks different at a glance, but when you jump into a game, everything pretty much feels the?? exact same aside from some performance improvements.

I think to us, the promise of an awesome single-player mode is what justified the idea of a sequel and the official name of Overwatch 2. Now that I’ve played the game for a few days, I very much fall into the camp that thi??nks what we got would have ??been better suited as a big update rather than its own title. Not that it really matters now that it’s out, and what’s done is done.

PvE would have made things easier, IMO

What I will continue to ruminate on, however, is how much I think Overwatch 2 would have benefitt?ed from holding out another couple months until the PvE was finished so it could launch alongside the PvP.

One of the things that bugs me about how Blizzard chose to roll out the game is that they locked new players out of some of the heroes, stating that otherwise the roster would be too overwhelming for those who hadn’t touched the game before (I personally think that’s a lame excuse for being able to lock heroes behind a paywall, but that’s neither here nor there).

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKXS_YA9s7E

You know what would be a great fix for that? A story mode. They could introduce players to each character’s story, personalities, and mechanics all in one fell swoop, and playing through an immersive story mission is way more fun than sitting through a tutorial, or ??just diving into a game and hoping for the best.

Another benefit of a PvE mode at launch is that ?it likely would have helped alleviate some of the strain on the servers,?? and potentially mitigate some of the long load times and crashes. That’s mostly assuming you could play the story without needing to be online, but that’s usually how campaigns work anyway.

Looking ahead

We know for sure that the story mode is coming in 2023, and it’s gonna be hard for me to be patient until then �especially since Junkenstein’s Revenge won't be back until October 25. I had already kind of put my Overwatch days behind me, and seeing as Overwatch 2 doesn’t have ??a ton to offe?r that I’m intrigued by right now, I might have to shelf it until the story mode is out.

Here’s hoping they can deliver big when it comes to the story, because as of right now, I’ve been pretty disappointed by Overwatch 2.

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Hearts of iron

Electronic Arts has revealed a new Marvel project. Today, the publisher confirms that EA Motive is working on an Iron Man video game.

The seemingly untitled-for-now project will be a single-player, third-person action-adventure game starring Iron Man, Marvel's suit-clad hero. EA Motive, the team behind this new project, has previously worked on Star Wars: Squadrons, and is heading up the new Dead Space remake releasing in January.

According to the EA announcement, this game will feature an "original narrative" tha??t taps into the history of Iron Man. It will also tap into Tony Stark. EA says i??t will channel the "complexity, charisma, and creative genius" of Stark.

Marvel Games is collaborating on the project with the Montreal-based EA Motive. The project is currently in pre-production, and more updates will arrive ??as the team gets further into development.

"It’s an honor and privilege to have the opportunity to make a video game based on one of the most iconic Super Heroes in entertainment today," said executive producer Olivier Proulx in a statement today. "We have a great oppor?tunity to create a ne?w and unique story that we can call our own. Marvel is encouraging us to create something fresh. We have a lot of freedom, which is so engaging for the team."

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=-duwSMIgNMU

More Marvel on the way

Of course, this Iron Man game isn't the only new Marvel video game collaboration. At the recent Disney and Marvel games showcase, Skydance New Media teased its upcoming game centered on Captain America and Black Panther. That project also doesn't have a title yet. But the team behind it is Amy Hennig's new studio, which is working on a Star Wars project, too.

With Midnight Suns just around the corner too, the??re's a lot of Marvel on the way. We'll have to wait and see what Motive is up to with its take on one of Marvel's core Avenge??rs.

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A single-player Black Panther game could be a reality

A new Marvel hero may be getting their own game. Giant Bomb's Jeff Grubb reports that a Black Panther game is in development at Electronic Arts.

After teasing the project the night before, Grubb reported on the project during today's Game Mess Mornings program. The Black Panther game would be made by a new team,? likely from a Seattle s?tudio led by former Monolith Productions studio head Kevin Stephens.

It's reportedly in very early development, and is a "big, open-world" Black Panther game. It also, apparently, won't be a live-service game. The project started due to the success of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.

Grubb also reports that the player will be trainin?g to become the new Black Panther, after the death of the former bearer of the mantle.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlOB3UALvrQ

No official announcement of the project has been release??d from Electron??ic Arts.

Even more Marvel in the pipeline

Though nothing has been officially confirmed, EA did announce the establishment of that new studio from Stephens last year. Stephens oversaw Monolith Productions during the creation of both Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War, which is pretty plainly exciting. Warner Bros. has patented that excellent Nemesis system though, so don't put all your chips on that.

There are several Marvel projects officially in the works, including this year's upcoming Marvel Midnight Suns from XCOM studio Firaxis. And further out, Insomniac is working on both a Wolverine title and a follow-up to Marvel's Spider-Man, featuring Peter Parker, Miles Morales, and the one and only Venom.

Add in the live-service Marvel's Avengers from Square Enix, and there's little shortage of Marvel video games. A single player-focused title centered around Black Panther, though, could be a pretty interesting sight to see. Especially if it was spurred on by the success of Jedi: Fallen Order. We'll have to wait for ?official confirmation to arrive.

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The legacy of The Witcher card game thrives

It's been years since The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt introduced its surprisingly in-depth version of The Witcher card game, Gwent. Several years and many new iterations later, Gwent has thri??ved in its own right. And now, a new experience is on the way.

IGN revealed the first details on a new Gwent game coming in 2022 today. Currently codenamed "Project Golden Nekker," the game will be a standalone, single-player Gwent experience. It's in d?evelopment right now and will aim to provide a single-player experience different from previous versions of the ?card game.

Gwent has been published a few times before now. Aside from it being a part of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and its expansions, Gwent also got a digital standalone version and another single-player iteration, Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales. Eac?h one has pushed Gwent a little bit further, adding new rules, modifications, and means of play.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=7J-Mbv7JIno

For Project Golden Nekker, it sounds like the focus is squarely on single-player this time around. CD Projekt Red has apparently been teasing the project for a while, and in a developer update that aired during the Gwent Wor?ld Masters in December, game director Vladimir Tortsov said an official reveal is coming soon.

IGN has some concept art of the game ??on its site, including a new image of "The Barbarian." O?ther areas and creatures, like the project's namesake, can be seen too.

Gwent has been a pretty big hit since its incepti?on. To see it get more content, especially of the single-player variety, is pretty exciting. Though I dropped off the digital game a while back, I'm always amazed at how CD Projekt Red has found new ways to twist the formula of Gwent into new ideas. And really, we could always use some more single-player card games. We'll see what's to come of Project Golden Nekker later this year.

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Kick things off with an Arcane tie-in

Legends of Runeterra, a card game that shares its world of Runeterra with League of Legends, has officially revealed its new single-player mode. The Path of Champions is a new way to play PvE in Legends of Runeterra, and the key difference between this and other single-player offerings from LoR is all in the story.

The mode goes live on Nov. 10, but we got a chance to check out some of the content ahead of time. Taking place?? in the world of Runeterra, the Path of Champions functions like many other single-player deckbuilders. You progress along a path of branching nodes, choosing different routes that might offer upgrades, boons, or unique encounters.

As part of the launch, Riot is celebrating the release of the Arcane series on Netflix with a story-based narrative set in Piltover and Zaun. This was the area we got to check out, as I piloted a Jinx deck through ??the ??underworld and up into Piltover.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ3wkCknT5I

One big takeaway from this special campaign was the incorporation of story, which made it stand out not just from Runterra's other offerings like the Lab of Legends, but many other run-based deckbuilders. If you like the world of League of Legends and Runeterra in general, Path o??f C?hampions really showcases it all in a new light with animated comics and voiceovers.

There are even branching narrative choices, which can result in different endings for your run depending on what you choose. As a fan of the Jinx and Vi-focused narrative that Arcane is zooming in on, it worked pretty well for me.

It may be contingent on whether you enjoy playing the base game of Legends of Runeterra, but the nice part is that Riot's card game is free-to-play. If the idea of a branching run-based mode with lots of League of Legends lore sounds appealing, it's free to download and t?ry out.

A bevy of new content arrives alongside Path of Champions, including a new Mega Event Pass with emotes, guardians, and card backs, as well as some Gilded skins for Arcane-related cards like? Vi, Jinx, Caitlyn, Ekko, and Jayce.

Legends of Runeterra will launch its Path of Champions mode ??on Nov. 10, 2021.

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