Destiny 2: Season of the Splicer brings with it transmog, the epic return of Vault of Glass, Expunge, and more. It is also bringing much-needed Stasis changes, an ability introduced with Beyond Light that has the Destiny community divided, doubly so on the PvP side of things. In a recent blog post from Bungie, the studio has outlined some upcoming changes to this subclass and what that means for Guardians going forward. 

Sandbox lead Kevin Yanes took the reigns during this week's update to talk about Stasis changes that Guardians have ahead. The main focus of the latest Statsis heads up concerns the state of PvP. There has been a lot of feedback regarding the addition of PvP. While I personally love the additional challenge in Crucible, despite hating getting frozen, I do understand the frustration. It is incredibly unbalanced, especially for those playing comp. With the lack of new Crucible maps and the perceived lack of meaningful updates to the PvP experience, it's understandable why the Guardian versus Guardian aspect of Destiny 2 has found itself under a bright spotlight. 

"It’s clear the vision we had for crowd control in PvE is succeeding and players are finding it both useful and fun," said Yanes in the most recent blog post. "We love how Stasis plays in PvE and we want to preserve that experience, but we agree with many in the PvP community who say that Stasis is too dominant in the Crucible for too little effort or skill required."

He continued on, saying that the feedback has been crucial and that the team is preparing to roll out some new changes based on community insight. Working hard to "reel in this great new power," Bungie is making a few vital tweaks to make Crucible more fun and blanaced. 

"Stasis and crowd control are key components of the Destiny combat sandbox - they're not going anywhere, meaning it’s up to us to ensure Stasis plays well across all activities, regardless of skill level," he added. "What you’ll find detailed in this TWAB is a series of changes we believe will more evenly position Stasis alongside Void, Solar, and Arc subclasses as an equal option rather than the dominant one, while retaining what is fun about the ability set."

The dev continues saying that since Forsaken, the team recognizes why players feel that gunplay has "taken a backseat" and because of that, Bungie will be focusing more on weapons going forward. Since Crucible is an excellent combination of subclass power and weaponry, the balance is a hard, thin line to tread, but one the studio is committed to regardless. 

Yanes mentioned that the changes going forward implement a few key pillars of the studio's creative vision going into PvP, including weapons as a primary focus, non-super abilities acting as an enhancement to combat, abilities with clear-cut strengths, weakness and counters, and rewards. All in all, the gist of the latest update is that Bungie has heard players and it is shifting its focus back onto gunplay; the core pillar. 

Combat designer Eric Smith added that Bungie had some planned changes for Season 15 with a substantial subclass balance patch, but feedback has prompted for some of those changes to arrive sooner rather than later. For Hotfix 3.2.0.3 (June 3), the below changes can be expected: 

Stasis Freeze

• Reduced duration of all non-Super freezes vs. players to 1.35s.
  • Note: This freeze is too short to break out of, so breaking out is now only possible when frozen by a Super.
• Reduced Special-weapon, Heavy-weapon, and Light-ability bonus damage vs. frozen players from +50% to +5%.

Stasis Slow 

• No longer reduces weapon accuracy. 
  • Now increases weapon flinch when under fire. 
• No longer suppresses class ability and air moves (e.g., Icarus Dash). 
  • Known issue: The Stormcaller’s Ionic Blink is still suppressed when slowed. We plan to address this in a future release. 
• Reduced movement speed penalty while slowed by ~20%. 

Whisper of Hedrons Fragment

• No longer increases weapon damage after freezing. 
• Now increases weapon stability, weapon aim assist, Mobility, Resilience, and Recovery after freezing. 

Whisper of Rime Fragment

• No longer provides overshield while in Super. 

Coldsnap Grenade 

• Seeker no longer tracks targets after initial target acquisition. 
• Increased arming duration before seeker spawns from 0.3s to 0.8s. 
• Reduced detonation radius vs. players from 3m to 1.5m. 
• Now bounces off walls and detonates on the ground. 

Titan Behemoth 

Shiver Strike 

• Reduced flight speed and distance. 
• Reduced knockback vs. players. 
• Removed slow detonation on player impact. 

Cryoclasm 

• Now requires the Titan to sprint for 1.25s before activation when not in Super. 
• Removed cooldown. 

Howl of the Storm 

• Reduced angle of initial freezing/damage cone. 
• Reduced crystal-creation freezing radius. 
• Slowed down sequence of crystal formation to allow victims more opportunity to escape. 
• Now spawns a small crystal on walls if performed into walls. 

Glacial Quake 

• Reduced heavy slam vertical freeze range vs. players. 
• Reduced damage resistance from 50% to 47%. 

Hunter Revenant 

Withering Blade

• Reduced slow duration vs. players from 2.5s to 1.5s. 
• Reduced Whisper of Durance slow-duration extension vs. players from 2s to 0.5s. 
• Reduced damage vs. players from 65 to 45 (after one bounce reduced further to 30). 
• Reduced projectile speed by 10%. 
• Reduced tracking after bouncing off a wall. 

Winter’s Shroud 

• Reduced slow duration vs. players from 2.5s to 1.5s. 
• Reduced Whisper of Durance slow-duration extension vs. players from 2s to 0.5s. 

Touch of Winter 

• Coldsnap seeker no longer has increased movement speed or travel distance. 
• Coldsnap seeker now spawns a small Stasis crystal on detonation. 

Warlock Shadebinder

Penumbral Blast 

• Reduced tracking and proximity detonation size and tracking vs. players. 
• Reduced freeze radius vs. players when impacting the environment from 2.7m to 1.5m. 

Iceflare Bolts 

• Seeker now only chains once when spawned from a player shatter. 

Winter’s Wrath 

• Freezing-projectile tracking strength now ramps down to 0 after 2s of flight.'

To learn more, you can check out the full Bungie blog post here. 

Far Cry 6 release date has been revealed alongside an extensive first look at what the next step of the Ubisoft franchise will have to offer. From petting those good puppers out there to riding horses, the latest Far Cry looks to be an adventure. 

The latest Far Cry title is set to release on October 7 as revealed in the character trailer released below. Showing off more of the faces of Far Cry 6, including a new look at Anton Castillo played by Giancarlo Esposito. 

Set in the fictional world of Yara, Anton's dictatorship role was heavily inspired by his father, the former president of this location. Following dear old dad's execution after the people of Yara rebelled, Anton grew up fixated on the belief that this island was stolen from him and his family by those that rebelled. As he grew up, the idea of control became more than enticing as the Castillo family continued to grow in power. When the son eventually became El Presidente, he sought to rebuild Yara in his own image. 

Rebellion, unlike lightning, does often strike in the same place twice, which is what the latest look at Far Cry 6 shows. There are many faces that are leading this new quest for freedom. We'll have a few deeper dives looking into the world of Far Cry 6 here soon on the site, so keep it tuned in here at Game Informer to learn more about the many new faces players will meet, and the features that can be enjoyed. 

Far Cry 6 is set to arrive on October 7 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, Google Stadia, and Amazon Luna. 

Thoughts on the latest look at Far Cry 6 and the gameplay reveal going on now at the time this article was written? Sound off with your hottest of hot takes in the comment section below! 

Antón Castillo’s bloody reign over the Cuban paradise, Yara, must be stopped. You’ll scour the island’s myriad biomes alongside a bevy of Amigos For Hire and with the support of a few other revolutionaries to free the general public from tyrannical rule. As Dani Rojas (players can choose to play as a woman or man), you’ll need the best equipment you can find. Sometimes, however, instead of stumbling across some rare stash or bountiful armory, you’ll have to make due with what you’ve got. In Far Cry 6, you’ll have to craft your most powerful weapons to transform into a one-person-army. 

Yaran culture is appropriately informed by Cuba’s real-world “resolver” philosophy: use everything and anything at your disposal to accomplish the goal/objective that has been set. As a seasoned mercenary and revolutionary, you must embrace this methodology to stay one step ahead of Castillo’s gargantuan military force. In other words, you’ll become a “resolver guerilla.” While out and about, you’ll likely collect a good amount of seemingly throw-away scraps and mechanical parts. These pieces can be presented  to your mentor, Juan Cortez, and crafted into weapons of notable strength. 

In the gameplay footage that was released today, Dani can be seen wielding a motorcycle engine powered minigun and unleashing carnage on their weaker opponents. Additionally, you’ll likely spot a homing missile throwing backpack hilariously laying waste to the landscape. Far Cry 6 embraces the zaniness of craftable weapons so that you can live out your own badass action-movie fantasies. And when you’re not in the mood to spark the flames of chaos and warfare, you can holster your weapon– for the first time in franchise history by the way! – to take a more passive approach to exploration and navigation. 

While we’re sure there’ll be more wacky firearms and gear to create, we’ll have to wait and see what Ubisoft has in store for future trailers and updates. Unfortunately Far Cry 6 was delayed, but it’s still set for a 2021 launch on next-gen and current-gen consoles as well as PC and Stadia. 

Today’s Far Cry 6 gameplay reel showcased high-stakes gunfights, zany explosions, guerrilla commandos, and...a cute weiner dog that kills enemies with kindness. Far Cry 5’s “Guns For Hire” is back, but this time your companions are fittingly called “Amigos For Hire.” You see, the Cuban island of Yara is expansive and beautiful; brimming with dense metropolitan centers, sparkling beaches, and lush forests. Over the course of the many intense skirmishes that you’ll be catalyzing, you might find yourself in need of some company. Luckily for you, two such allies were revealed in the Far Cry 6 footage: an adorable pup and a man-eating crocodile.

Chorizo

Let me guess, if you weren’t sold before, you’re sold now that you know Chorizo (what an incredible name for a weiner dog!) is coming along for the ride. Your little buddy is as sweet as they come, but packs an unexpectedly mean punch too. If you prefer the stealth approach when taking down command posts or patrolling platoons, let Chorizo run loose and distract guards with his incredibly adorable face and unassuming barks. Sure, you’ll have to swoop in from behind with a bow knife and put that unsuspecting soldier to rest, but viva la revolution am I right? When the smoke clears, don’t forget to show the little guy some love with a flurry of pets. Chorizo is a true doggy-heartthrob and I'm sure that he'll make every “Best Video Game Dogs/Pets” listicle to come. 

Guapo

On the other side of the spectrum, you have ex-KGB spy Juan Cortez’s pet crocodile, Guapo (Spanish for “handsome”). This ferocious reptile definitely looks better from a distance for militias since he tends to close in on enemy positions and rip their skin and defenses to shreds. Guapo is fast-moving while on land, but even deadlier underwater as you can use his terrifying presence to initiate engagements or keep foes occupied. And much like his less-intimidating counterpart, Chorizo, you can show Guapo some affection and appreciation too...just mind that gigantic set of teeth, of course.

Better yet, you can also rush through the packed streets and muddy villages of Yara on horseback if that suits your fancy. Hopefully, we'll get to see some more Amigos For Hire in future cinematics. Far Cry 6 is slated to launch at some point later in the year on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Stadia, PC, and Mac.

How are you feeling about these two animal friends? Do you you think you'll commission one's services over the other, or are you planning to alternate playstyles?