How to make Radio Times a Preferred Source on Google
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Keep up to date on what’s worth watching with your favourite entertainment news from Radio Times. Google’s new Preferred Sources tool lets you set Radio Times as one of your favourite websites, so you can see more of our exclusive news and interviews featured prominently in Top Stories when using Google. It’s incredibly quick and easy to make Radio Times one of your chosen news sources on Google. How to add Radio Times as a Preferred Source The two easiest ways to set Radio Times as a Preferred Source are as follows. Use our Preferred Sources link You can add Radio Times as one of your preferred news sources directly via this Google page. Follow the link, and make sure that you select Radio Times from the drop-down menu. You can now keep up to date with the latest soaps, TV, film and gaming news from Radio Times in Google’s Top Stories. After this, when you head back to Google, you’ll start to see more of our articles surfaced in the Top Stories section. Add Radio Times directly from Google When browsing on Google, add Radio Times directly by doing the following: Search for any news topic on Google, such as Doctor Who Click on the icon next to the Top Stories section Search for "Radio Times" or "RadioTimes.com" in the Preferred Sources box that appears Click on the checkbox to the right of the Radio Times icon When you go back to Google and refresh your results, more of Radio Times’ stories will start appearing within the Top Stories section. Want to change which news you see? You can edit and remove sources at any time by unchecking them, too. Why should you add Radio Times as a Preferred Source? Radio Times helps you find the best entertainment without the guesswork. Our expert recommendations cover TV, film, sport, gaming and podcasts, alongside trusted reviews, exclusive interviews and in-depth features. By adding Radio Times as a Preferred Source, you’ll see more of our carefully curated picks, insight into the biggest names in entertainment, and practical guidance when choice feels overwhelming. Add shows to your watchlist on the <a id="OWA8b702c45-bee9-94e4-f018-57518e78041b" title="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" href="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-outlook-id="449c28d9-909e-4aab-b6b8-153454f55d5e" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="0">Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more. Check out our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what else is on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Grow a Garden pets: Best pets to own and where to buy them
Who should you spend your hard-earned cash on?
While Grow a Garden might be all about the crops you harvest, pets are a core part of the game, helping give your allotments a huge boost. Whether it's growing crops faster, increasing your harvest, or even stealing crops from other farms, there are so many bonuses Grow a Garden pets can give you. So, once you've redeemed any Grow a Garden codes (and maybe some Basketball Zero and Mugen codes while you're at it), let's take a look at all of the Grow a Garden pets, eggs and abilities! Best Pets in Grow a Garden The best Grow a Garden pets inevitably come from the rarer, more expensive eggs, but we’ve put together a list of the best pets in Grow a Garden, choosing only one pet per egg. The best pets in each egg group are as follows: Common Egg: Golden Lab Uncommon Egg: Deer Rare Egg: Pig Legendary Egg: Polar Bear Mythical Egg: Red Giant Ant Bug Egg: Dragonfly Bee Egg: Bear Bee Anti-Bee Egg: Disco Bee All Grow a Garden Pets: Rarity Tier List of Animals and Eggs There are currently six tiers of Grow a Garden pets, ranging from Common to Divine. Here’s the full breakdown of their abilities, and your chances of getting that pet from the egg: Common Egg Pets: Golden Lab (33 per cent): Every 60 seconds, has a 10 per cent chance to dig up a random seed. Dog (33 per cent): Every 60 seconds, has a 5 per cent chance to dig up a random seed. Bunny (33 per cent): Every 40 seconds, eats a carrot for 1.5x value bonus. While a Bee is also a Common pet, it is only available in the Bee Egg during the limited-time Bizzy Bees event. Your pet may have slightly different stat multipliers or cooldowns than the ones given above, which is part of the natural variation within the game. Uncommon Egg Pets: Black Bunny (25 per cent): Every 40 seconds, eats a carrot for a 1.5x value bonus. Cat (25 per cent): Every 80 seconds, naps for 10s. New fruit within 10 studs will be 1.25x larger. Chicken (25 per cent): Increases egg hatch speed by 10 per cent. Deer (25 per cent): Grants a 3 per cent chance for berry fruit to stay after harvest. Rare Egg Pets: Orange Tabby (33 per cent): Every 90 seconds, naps for 15 seconds. New fruit within 15 studs will be 1.5x larger. Spotted Deer (25 per cent): Grants a 5 per cent chance for berry fruit to stay after harvest. Pig (16 per cent): Every 118 seconds, emits an aura for 15s that grants a 2x chance for new fruits to grow as variants within 15 studs. Rooster (16.6 per cent): Increases egg hatch speed by 20% Monkey (8.3 per cent): Grants a 2.5 per cent chance to refund fruit back into your inventory when selling. Legendary Egg Pets: Cow (42.5 per cent): All plants within 8 studs grow 1.12x faster. Silver Monkey (42.5 per cent): 8 per cent chance to refund fruit back to your inventory when selling. Sea Otter (10.6 per cent): Every 30 seconds, sprays water on a nearby plant. Turtle (2.1 per cent): All sprinklers last 20 per cent longer. Polar Bear (2.1 per cent): Every 90 seconds, 10 per cent chance that a nearby fruit becomes Chilled or Frozen. Mythical Egg Pets: Grey Mouse (35.7 per cent): Every 10 minutes, gains an additional 500 bonus experience. Grants a 10 per cent increase to player movement speed. Brown Mouse (25.8 per cent): Every 8 minutes, gains an additional 750 bonus experience. Grants a 10 per cent increase to player jump height. Squirrel (26.8 per cent): Gives a 2.5 per cent chance to not consume the seed when planting. Red Giant Ant (8.9 per cent): 5.16 per cent chance that harvested crops duplicate. 5.16 per cent extra chance for Fruit type crops to duplicate. Red Fox (1.8 per cent): Every 8:57 minutes, it goes to another player’s random crop and tries to get a seed from it. Divine (Bug) Egg Pets: Snail (40 per cent): 5.08 per cent extra chance that harvested plants drop seeds. Giant Ant (30 per cent): 10 per cent chance to duplicate fruits when harvested. Caterpillar (25 per cent): All leafy plants grow 1.65x faster. Praying Mantis (4 per cent): Every 80 seconds, prays for 10 seconds. This grants a 1.5x chance of a crop gaining a mutation within 10 studs. Dragonfly (1 per cent): Every 5 minutes, turns one random fruit gold. Alongside these pets, additional pets are currently available as part of the Bizzy Bees Event through the Bee Egg and Anti Bee Egg. Bee Egg: Bee (65 per cent): Every 24:45 minutes, flies to a nearby fruit and pollinates it, applying Pollinated mutation. Honey Bee (25 per cent): Every 20 minutes, flies to a nearby fruit and pollinates it, applying Pollinated mutation. Bear Bee (5 per cent): Every 25 minutes, goes to a nearby fruit and tries to pollinate it. But as it's not a bee, it fails and turns it into a Honey Glazed fruit instead. Petal Bee (4 per cent): Every 25 minutes, flies to a nearby fruit and pollinates it, applying Pollinated mutation. This also grants a 1 per cent chance for Flower-type fruit to stay after harvest. Queen Bee (1 per cent): Every 25 minutes, a nearby fruit gets pollinated, applying Pollinated mutation. Every 30m, a random pet will refresh its cooldown. Anti Bee Egg: Wasp (55 per cent): Every 30 minutes, flies to a nearby fruit and pollinates it, applying Pollinated mutation. Every 10 minutes, stings a random pet and advances its ability cooldown by 60 seconds. Tarantula Hawk (30 per cent): Every 25 minutes, flies to a nearby fruit and pollinates it, applying Pollinated mutation. Every 5 minutes, stings a random pet and advances its ability cooldown by 80 seconds. Moth (13.75 per cent): Every 13 minutes, sings to a random pet and restores its hunger to 100 per cent. Butterfly (1 per cent): Every 30 minutes, flies to a nearby fruit with 5x mutations, removes all mutations from it and turns it into Rainbow. Disco Bee (0.25 per cent): Every 20 minutes, 12% chance that a nearby fruit becomes Disco. When you first start Grow a Garden, you can only have three pets in your garden at a time. You can increase this by five extra pet slots by trading your unwanted pets to Raphael at the Pet Egg shop. Read more on Roblox: Roblox Image IDs: Best images to use in Roblox Dress to Impress codes: Latest codes to use Roblox Music codes: Which songs to listen to Grow a Garden Eggs: All egg types and prices You can buy eggs from the Pet Egg shop using the Grow a Garden in-game currency (Sheckles) or Robux. Only three eggs will be on sale at any time, with the egg shop refreshing every 30 minutes. Common Egg (99 per cent): 50,000 Sheckles Uncommon Egg (54 per cent): 150,000 Sheckles Rare Egg (24 per cent): 600,000 Sheckles Legendary Egg (12 per cent): 3,000,000 Sheckles Mythical Egg (7 per cent): 8,000,000 Sheckles Bug (Divine) Egg (3 per cent): 50,000,000 Sheckles Additional eggs are also available as part of ongoing Limited Time Events. The Bee Egg is available in the Honey Shop for 18 Honey, while the Anti-Bee Egg can be crafted from a variety of recipes when talking to the Bizzy Bear. View Green Video on the source website Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
FC 25 cheap 84, 85, 86, 87 and 88-rated players in Ultimate Team
Because we can't all afford Bellingham...
With our year of FC 25 coming to an end, and the FC 26 release date now fast approaching, most of you probably already have a solid squad in Ultimate Team. The game has just hit Xbox Game Pass, though, so with new players getting stuck in, bargain players are a must if you want to catch up. And even if you've already got your perfect squad set up for Division Rivals and FUT Champs, those SBCs aren't going to complete themselves. So, whether you're building a team or looking for fodder, here are the cheapest high-rated players in FC 25, for every rating between 84 and 88! EA FC 25 cheap high-rated players in Ultimate Team These are the cheapest 84-88-rated players in Ultimate Team at the time of writing. As the FC 25 market can fluctuate constantly, make sure to check out FC 25's new 'Average Transfer Market Price' feature on each player for an up-to-date price. It's also worth checking FutBin for the latest player prices. Cheapest 84-rated players in FC 25 Mané - 1.2k Sabitzer - 1.2k Vicario - 1.2k Aké - 1.2k Hrádecky - 1.2k Acerbi - 1.2k Koulibaly - 1.2k Grealish - 1.2k Bounou - 1.2k De Paul - 1.2k Iago Aspas - 1.2k Romero - 1.2k Cheapest 85-rated players in FC 25 Palmer - 2.2k Brandt - 2.2k Isak - 2.2k Watkins - 2.2k Robertson - 2.2k Stones - 2.2k Maddison - 2.2k Bronze - 2.2k Russo - 2.2k Bright - 2.2k Mahrez - 2.2k Tchouaméni - 2.2k Cheapest 86-rated players in FC 25 Grimaldo - 4k Gabriel - 4k Mac Allister -4.1k Alexander-Arnold - 4.1k Benzema - 4.1k Xhaka - 4.1k Kelly - 4.1k Horan - 4.2k Kimmich - 4.3k Oberdorf - 4.3k Tah - 4.3k Roord - 4.4k Cheapest 87-rated players in FC 25 Popp - 6.8k Swanson - 6.9k Rice - 6.9k Gündoğan - 6.9k Martínez - 7k Lavelle - 7k Saka - 7k Bastoni - 7k Sommer - 7k Karchaoui - 7k Maignan - 7k Dybala - 7.1k Cheapest 88-rated players in FC 25 Reiten - 9.6k Katoto - 9.8k Mead - 9.8k Kobel - 9.8k Lewandowski - 9.8k Endler - 9.9k Foden - 10k Griezmann - 10k Rúben Dias - 10k Ederson - 10k Bernado Silva - 10k Oblak - 10.25k Read more on FC 25: FC 25 review: Our final verdict FC 25 ratings: The very best players FC 25 soundtrack: Full list of songs FC 25 wonderkids: Best young players FC 25 strikers: Best forwards to use FC 25 wingers: Best RW and LW FC 25 midfielders: Best CDM, CM and CAM FC 25 defenders: Best CB, RB and LB FC 25 goalkeepers: Best GK Best kits in FC 25: Our favourite shirts FC 25 evolutions: Who should you upgrade? FC 25 Squad Battle rewards FC 25 FUT Champs rewards FC 25 Division Rivals rewards Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
GTA 6 could cause delays to live-service game updates, as release date still remains up in the air
The upcoming release of GTA 6 is reportedly prompting top live-service games to shift the launch of their updates, as developers prepare for a Q4 disrupted by the much-anticipated open-world title. Speaking to The Game Business, two unnamed developers of 'top 10 live-service games' said they aren’t planning to release major updates during the GTA 6 release period. The autumn period is a prime spot for any game launch, often seeing the annual launch of a Call of Duty and EA Sports FC title, alongside a host of AAA games. We know that Pokémon Legends: Z-A is targeting this release window in 2025, for example. Alongside new games, we often see the likes of Fortnite and Call of Duty release significant seasonal updates. Epic Games has launched new LEGO game modes in successive Decembers, while the late-November period often marks the launch of a new season for Warzone and Call of Duty. GTA 6 is officially slated for release in autumn 2025, with the Take-Two CEO recently confirming GTA 6 is still on track for this launch window. If Rockstar sticks to this date, some developers are instead timing their releases to launch either a few weeks before or after GTA 6’s release. One developer told The Game Business: "We just need to prepare to win players back once the excitement has started to die down." GTA 5 has sold over 200 million copies since its launch in 2013, and with regular updates to GTA Online, it remains one of the most successful games of all time, raking in approximately $8.6 billion in revenue. So it's no wonder developers are being cautious about their products. Very few developers have confirmed their plans for Q4, with many games still set for a generic 2025 release. One of the only games with a concrete release date around this time is Borderlands 4, which, like GTA 6, sits under the Take-Two publishing banner. So, much like the wider GTA community, it seems even video game executives are waiting with bated breath for any updates on the GTA 6 release date. View Green Video on the source website Read more on GTA 6: GTA 6 fans are convinced that major news will drop this week, based on comeback teaser What to expect from GTA 6 in 2025 - our predictions Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Is FC 25 down for maintenance? How to check server status
If you’ve tried to boot up FC 25 today (19th March 2025) but are struggling to connect to the EA servers, you may be wondering if EA FC 25 is down. With FC 25 having both an online component and a whole season of new content, it's no surprise that the servers sometimes go down. Sometimes these FC outages are due to planned maintenance, and sometimes they are due to unplanned crashes or too many people on the servers. To get you back playing FC 25, here’s a look at how to check the FC 25 server status to see if FC 25 is down. Read on for everything you need to know. Is EA FC 25 down? Yes, FC 25 is currently down. The game went offline at 9am GMT on Wednesday 19th March for players here in the UK. This is due to some planned maintenance, rather than anything sinister. The developers have promised on social media that FC 25 should be back online at around 11:30 GMT here in the UK. View oEmbed on the source website How to check EA FC 25 server status If you're reading this article in the far future, you might want to know how to check the FC 25 server status for yourself. The best place to check on the FC 25 server status will initially be via the EA Sports FC Direct Communications account on X (formerly Twitter). This account will frequently post updates about any server updates, maintenance, or ongoing investigations into known issues. EA also has an official website that lists the current server status of its many major online games. Outside of these official accounts, we’d also recommend taking a look at Downdetector’s two pages on EA and FIFA. These pages will let you know if other players are reporting similar issues within the last 24 hours. Finally, we’d also recommend making sure that your connection is working fine, both on your console and Wi-Fi router. View Riddle on the source website Read more on FC 25: FC 25 ratings: The very best players FC 25 soundtrack: Full list of songs FC 25 wonderkids: Best young players FC 25 strikers: Best forwards to use FC 25 midfielders: Best CDM, CM and CAM FC 25 defenders: Best CB, RB and LB Best kits in FC 25: Our favourite shirts FC 25 evolutions: Who should you upgrade? Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Marvel Rivals ranked: All ranks and Competitive Mode explained
Want to prove to everyone that you're the best at the game? You'll need to play Marvel Rivals Competitive Mode and rise through the ranks. There are many Marvel Rivals ranks to climb through, with Season Rewards available based on where you place. One reward in Season 1 is a new Invisible Woman costume, so playing Competitive is worth it! A word of warning, though: when you approach the highest ranks in Competitive, teamwork and synergy are key. You should take a look at our Marvel Rivals tier list to see which are the best characters to use. So, if you're thinking of trying your hand at the Marvel Rivals Competitive Mode and moving through the tiers in your quest to become a Celestial in Marvel Rivals Season 1 and beyond, here’s what you need to know. All Marvel Rivals ranks in Competitive Starting from Bronze III and going up to One Above All, these are all the current Marvel Rivals ranks available in Competitive: Bronze: Tier III-I Silver: Tier III-I Gold: Tier III-I Platinum: Tier III-I Diamond: Tier III-I Grandmaster: Tier III-I Celestial: Tier III-I Eternity One Above All (Top 500) Season 1 introduced a new rank - Celestial - between Grandmaster and Eternity, adding another three tiers to the competitive ladder. While Overwatch players may be used to a ranked system that places you into a specific tier after your placement matches, this is not the case for Marvel Rivals. All players begin in Bronze III. To progress from one tier to another, you will need to earn 100 points, meaning it will take 300 points to move from Bronze to Silver, and so on. There is no set number of points you gain from a victory, or lose from a defeat. It will vary dramatically based on your rank and performance. Finally, players also have a Chrono Shield, which protects you from a demotion after a loss. However, it will only work once before needing to recharge (by losing more games). Marvel Rivals Competitive rank reset explained When a new season of Marvel Rivals begins, all players will automatically drop down by seven tiers. This means that a player in Diamond I will then drop to Gold II, for example. Anyone who ends the season below Gold II will therefore drop back to the lowest tier of Bronze III. How do Competitive games work in Marvel Rivals? To compete in Marvel Rivals’ Competitive ranked mode, you need to reach Level 10. The Marvel Rivals Competitive mode offers a similar gameplay experience to the core gameplay you’ll be used to from Quick Play. The main difference between the modes comes when playing Convoy or Convergence modes. Unlike in Quick Play, where a team either attacks or defends for the whole match, both teams will attack and defend, with the winner being the team that makes it to the most checkpoints or moves the furthest. One additional difference comes when you reach the Diamond rank. From this level upwards, Marvel Rivals has a character ban system which lets players ban certain heroes from the match. As is often the case in competitive gaming, this gives teams the chance to block some of the more overpowered and dominating heroes in the current meta through a voting system, with Hela, Hawkeye and Luna Snow being among the most common picks for a ban. Marvel Rivals Competitive rewards The rewards available for Season 1 in Marvel Rivals are as follows: Blood Shield Invisible Woman Costume: Reach Gold III or higher Silver Crest of Honor: Reach Grandmaster III or higher Gold Crest of Honor: Be in the Top 500 players (One Above All Tier) at the end of the season These rewards (aside from the Gold Crest) are based on your highest rank of the season, so don’t worry if you drop down as you should still be eligible for the rewards. Read more on Marvel Rivals: Marvel Rivals codes: All free skins Marvel Rivals trophy guide: Full list of achievements Marvel Rivals player count: How many have picked it up? Will Marvel Rivals come to Switch: Director comments on handheld options Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Marvel Rivals tier list: Best heroes to use in Season 1 meta
Our Marvel Rivals tier list has changed considerably since the launch of Marvel Rivals Season 1 brought us some huge buffs and nerfs, alongside new characters, so which characters should you be using in the current meta? With the addition of Sue Storm and Mr Fantastic to the Marvel Rivals character roster (alongside the expected launch of the Human Torch and The Thing later this season), this is our first chance to see how disruptive new characters can be to the Rivals meta since the full launch. We've committed countless hours to Marvel Rivals and its previous beta period so far to help you choose the best characters to use in Competitive and reach that Grandmaster rank. Like any tier list, we've got an S rank reserved for the absolute best options, too. Do you agree with our expert ranking? And how will you react to the next Marvel Rivals patch notes that will likely be full of buffs and nerfs? Read on, and discover our Marvel Rivals tier list for the season at hand. Marvel Rivals tier list: Every hero ranked Broken down from S-Tier to D-Tier, here is our full Marvel Rivals tier list: S-Tier: Mantis (Strategist) Doctor Strange (Vanguard) Storm (Duelist) A-Tier: Luna Snow (Strategist) Rocket Raccoon (Strategist) Hela (Duelist) Magik (Duelist) Hulk (Vanguard) Peni Parker (Vanguard) B-Tier: Cloak & Dagger (Strategist) Invisible (Strategist) Thor (Vanguard) Groot (Vanguard) Psylocke (Duelist) Moon Knight (Duelist) Iron Man (Duelist) Wolverine (Duelist) Winter Soldier (Duelist) Iron Fist (Duelist) Mister Fantastic (Duelist) C-Tier: Adam Warlock (Strategist) Loki (Strategist) Magneto (Vanguard) Venom (Vanguard) Captain America (Vanguard) Punisher (Duelist) Black Panther (Duelist) Star-Lord (Duelist) Scarlet Witch (Duelist) Squirrel Girl (Duelist) Namor (Duelist) Spider-Man (Duelist) D-Tier Hawkeye (Duelist) Jeff the Land Shark (Strategist) Black Widow (Duelist) Keep in mind this is still a very subjective tier list, and will likely change as we move further into Season 1 and beyond, especially as NetEase releases major patches that include buffs or nerfs. As a reminder, picking heroes from S-Tier and A-Tier won't guarantee you success in Marvel Rivals. You need to have a balanced team composition, which, in hero-shooters like this, usually means having two characters from each of the three classes - healer, tank, and DPS (or Strategist, Vanguard, and Duelist in Marvel Rivals speak). This isn't always necessary, but we'd strongly recommend having at least one of each class, and ideally at least two healers. We've had plenty of victories with a 1-3-2 team composition (three DPS characters), so long as the Vanguard is capable of tanking a lot of hits. Read on for a complete breakdown of every hero in Marvel Rivals, and why we've placed them into the various tiers based on the current Marvel Rivals meta. Mantis Welcome back, Zenyatta! Mantis remains our top Strategist in Marvel Rivals's Season 1 mainly due to the damage buffs she grants herself and her teammates. These can quickly turn around any fight, especially if you’re able to land critical hits – as this instantly restores your Life Orbs, allowing you to keep buffing and healing allies non-stop. Mantis's sleep ability, Spore Slumber, is also an excellent counter to any overly aggressive enemies trying to take you out in the back, adding further to her range of skills. Her healing powers are also useful, but we’d always recommend running a Luna Snow, Rocket Raccoon or Cloak & Dagger alongside Mantis to provide more instant healing compared to her alone. The slight nerf to her speed in Season 1 does bring her down slightly, but not enough to displace her from our S-Tier ranking. Doctor Strange While many players may opt for a more aggressive Vanguard like Venom, we've opted to put Doctor Strange higher in this tier list, mainly due to the protection he offers. Doctor Strange’s Shield of Seraphim is the best method of protecting your teammates in Marvel Rivals. It can absorb a ton of damage, has a massive hitbox, and regenerates quickly, too. A well-timed portal can also be the difference between a win and a loss, allowing your team to quickly return to the point, or flank behind the opponents to catch them off-guard. His damage output isn’t the best, but that’s what we have Duelists for, right? Storm As you'll see from some of the updates in this tier list, Marvel Rivals isn't playing around when it comes to buffs and nerfs. Storm has jumped up from D-Tier to S-Tier in Season 1, with the patch increasing her projectile's speed and damage, while giving her more protection during her Ultimate. While she can fly, we wouldn't recommend using her like an Iron Man, as aerial characters can still be picked off easily by Duelists with good aim. Instead, Ororo is best used flying closer to the ground and nearby the Strategists and Vanguards, as her new projectile speed makes her more efficient at farming those kills from a longer range. Luna Snow Luna Snow is still one of the best healers in Marvel Rivals, and one of the top Strategist picks. Her Ice Arts ability grants a solid amount of healing to your teammate, and if you attach an Idol Aura to an ally, this will also heal them when healing others – perfect for that pesky Spider-Man who runs off and always needs healing. Her Fate of Both Worlds Ultimate lets you switch between a 40 per cent damage boost and a 250HP/s healing mode, which negates a lot of other heroes’ Ultimates, even with the slight nerf. The combination of a Mantis and Luna Snow is putting you well on the way to victory, in our opinion. Rocket Raccoon Another D-Tier character who shot up the ranks in Season 1 due to buffs, Rocket Raccoon is now a strong healer in the Marvel Rivals meta. Rocket's repair mode healing was boosted from 60 health per second to 70, giving him that extra push needed to make him a viable pick. Combined with his Battle Rebirth Beacon revival kit, he has fast become a top choice for those in the higher ranks. We're reluctant to place him in S-Tier just yet, as it could be that players aren't yet used to coming up against him as often, so one to keep an eye on going forward. Hela Hela is still one of the best Duelists available in Marvel Rivals, even after the nerfs to her health. Her normal attack can two-shot enemies quite easily thanks to a very generous hitscan for the Nightsword Thorns, and on top of that, she also has one of the most varied kits around. The Goddess of Death can quickly escape using the Astrol Flock ability that transforms her into a crow, and the Soul Drainer stun is surprisingly useful, too. What separates her from other OP Duelists is her Ultimate ability, Goddess of Death. Here, she soars into the sky and rains down damage on to enemies below. Aside from Doctor Strange’s shield or a Strategist Ultimate, there isn’t much that counters this at the moment. It lasts for quite a while and gives you an extra 800HP while in use, meaning that it’s pretty difficult to take her out, even when massively exposed. Magik As we've moved further into the Marvel Rivals life cycle, Magik has become much more prominent in the top ranks as a dive character. She is incredibly effective at jumping into enemy backlines, swinging her sword at those pesky Strategists, and escaping unscathed. Coupled with a slight boost to her Ultimate ability in the Season 1 patch, and she's becoming a go-to choice for any meta teams in Marvel Rivals. Peni Parker Peni Parker can have a lot of impact, especially when you make the most out of her Cyber-Webs and Spider-Nests, which do take a bit of focus to set up. If set up correctly, her mines can instantly take out any squishy heroes who walk nearby, especially Strategists. Alongside this, Peni is able to hold her own quite effectively if your Strategists fall. Her self-healing ability and immobilising webs cause a nuisance to attackers with or without your teammates. She's more useful when defending, as the need to be near your webs does limit her impact when on the offence, or in games with payloads. Hulk When we first started this list in Season 0, we had Hulk much lower due to his fairly weak offence. However, as the meta has developed and we've played with some very good Hulk mains, he has shot up the list into A-Tier. His huge amount of health, combined with his Gamma Shield and jump ability, means he does what we thought Venom would excel at earlier in the season (distraction), but better. Even the transformation into Bruce Banner adds an extra padding of time and health, giving your team space to take down enemies while they try to finish you off. He's still not what we expected this flagship Marvel character to be in Marvel Rivals, but as we move into Season 1, he is becoming a much more viable pick. Cloak & Dagger Once underrated, Cloak & Dagger are now a go-to choice for many Strategists in Marvel Rivals. Dagger is an excellent healer with three different methods of healing available, and her Dagger Storm healing sphere is perfect for any particularly hectic team fights. Meanwhile, Cloak’s Dark Teleportation is a great means of escape if you've pushed up too far or are left vulnerable against an enemy Duelist. The real strength, though, comes in the ability to switch between the two. We’ve turned around countless fights by quickly shifting into Cloak to finish off a few weaker Strategists of Duelists, before reverting to Dagger to heal up the team before the next fight. Invisible Woman As she's still so new to Marvel Rivals, it remains tough to place Invisible Woman properly on this tier list while we wait for players to adapt to her inclusion in the meta. So far, though, her healing looks to be reliable if your team stays close together, with Sue Storm's shield being the most effective tool for healing her teammates. Her Psionic Vortex is also great for disrupting enemy teams, but we have found that her overall healing output is slightly lacking outside of the shield, making her less appealing as a Strategist than others above her. Thor Another brawler who mainly works best at close range, Thor benefited from an overall HP buff in the latest Marvel Rivals patch, making him more viable. The Thorforce Passive is an interesting system still requires a lot of maintaining and landing your Mjolnir Bashes to keep up, but this is now more forgiving due to his extra health. Groot Groot is a classic tank that can just sit and absorb a lot of hits. What separates him from some of the lower-tier Vanguards who remain pretty bulky are his walls. While they are great at just blocking damage or creating chokepoints, they can also deal damage or heal, so long as you and your team are damaging enemies nearby. Due to this, we’d recommend being a bit more aggressive with Groot and using these walls for more offensive reasons, as opposed to simply soaking up hits. His Ultimate is also great for combining with other players' Ultimate abilities, with Iron Man, Moon Knight and The Punisher being a few of the top combos. And finally, be wary of where you’re placing walls. Make sure you aren’t blocking off any lines of sight for your teammates, in particular any healers! Psylocke Another Duelist who is pretty difficult to take down due to her mobility, Psylocke can easily disrupt the enemy backlines and deal a lot of damage before escaping using her dashes and invisibility. Her Dance of the Butterly Ultimate also deals massive damage to enemies in a large area, really quickly. Your only chance of survival here is hoping that your fellow teammates sponge up enough of the damage to spare you. Moon Knight Moon Knight's Ankhs are proving much more deadly than we expected them to be this far into the Marvel Rivals meta. These allow his primary and secondary attacks to bounce between them and enemies, chaining together more deadly attacks. Even when players are aware of them, Marc Spector is able to deal so much damage and stealthily move away to set up the next Ankh that it doesn't matter if they're destroyed. Iron Man As a Marvel flagship, we were surprised that Iron Man didn't see any buffs in the Season 1 patch. Iron Man has some strong attacks and a powerful Ultimate, made better by his flanking manoeuvres. If you want to take out an Iron Man, you do need to focus on him, leaving you vulnerable to other enemy attacks while you're aiming at the sky. However, as a flying character just waiting to be sniped by Hawkeye, Iron Man is still fairly vulnerable to attacks from the Duelists in the existing Marvel Rivals meta. Wolverine Wolverine’s Savage Claw primary can be quite effective against Vanguards as it scales up with an enemy's HP, making him very useful when coming up against a good tank player. He's a good choice in a match-up against teams running three Vanguards, but that really isn't the meta at the moment (possibly due to the threat of Wolverine) and so he isn't particularly viable right now. His overall damage does not feel like enough for a Duelist, and as another melee character, he’s struggling against anyone with range. The Regenerative Healing Factor has a lot of potential, but with a 90s cooldown, it’s nowhere near reliable enough to rely on aside from the occasional KO. Winter Soldier The key to playing as the Winter Soldier is to make use of the Ceaseless Charge passive, which reloads your primary weapon every time you use a Bionic Arm ability (which is all of your abilities). Otherwise, you may find yourself in a tricky situation where you keep needing to reload. Bucky is best at a close-to-medium range, and since he has no real mobility options, you need to have this locked down to have a chance of success. Still, his Ultimate is one of the best in the game, especially when you can chain enemies. Iron Fist Strategists, look away now! Iron Fist is a true enemy to the backlines, being able to dive in, deal a tremendous amount of damage, and escape quickly due to his mobility. His fists have a very generous amount of aim-assist and can easily 1v1 most other squishy Duelists and Vanguards if used correctly. However, as the meta has developed, Iron Fist has fallen away as a top-tier character especially in Competitive. Once he's used up his attacks, he can be quite vulnerable to a counter-attack, similar to Spider-Man. Mister Fantastic As with Invisible Woman, it's still very early to be placing Mister Fantastic confidently, meaning we're putting him solidly in B-Tier. He is most effective when used more like a Vanguard, as he is able to tank a lot of damage using his various shielding abilities. Adam Warlock Marvel Rivals’ answer to Mercy, Adam Warlock has some good healing options to keep multiple teammates at full strength simultaneously using his Soul Bond. His ability to revive allies via Karmic Revival is a great tool to have after losing a team fight, so long as you can stay alive to use it. While his attacking output is strong if you have quite a good aim, his healing abilities have an unforgivingly long cooldown, leading to some moments when he feels pretty redundant on the battlefield. Loki Fittingly for the God of Mischief, Loki’s trickery translates through into his abilities and kit, which can be quite difficult to get the hang of when first picking him up. You’ll get the most out of Loki by using his Doppelganger Illusion, which creates a duplicate of himself wherever you choose. Not only does this give you mobility options and frustrate opponents, but they can also deploy the Regeneration Domain, giving you multiple healing points across the map for your teammates, so long as they’re aware of them. Magneto Magneto’s strength is two-fold, in that he can use his Metallic Curtain and Bulwark bubbles to protect the team from the front, while his projectiles are pretty powerful from range. However, we’ve found his shield isn’t as strong or useful as that of Doctor Strange, and he is among the slowest of characters, putting him slightly lower on this list. Venom Now this is a dive tank! The Venom Swing gives Venom amazing mobility to swing in and cause a lot of chaos. When using Venom, we've found the best strategy is to just be a distraction, as he’s really difficult to take down alone. Eddie Brock doesn’t do the most damage with his tendrils, so we’d recommend focusing on being that distraction over trying to take out too many enemies. With 650HP, you can absorb a lot of hits, especially combined with the Symbiotic Resilience that gives you more Bonus Health the lower your health is. We've moved Venom lower into the C-Tier, as for the more competitive teams that can play together, he can be fairly easily targeted by a couple of players as a counter-attack. Captain America Captain America is an odd Hero in Marvel Rivals, as it sometimes feels like he can't do much. As a melee character, he has the most impact at short range. He can do so by using his Leading Dash, Super-Soldier Slam, or Liberty Rush, but if you’re opting for this playstyle, we’ve found more success with Venom than Steve Rogers. When he does get close, a good Captain America can quickly dispatch a couple of enemies, but often he will draw way too much attention and be taken care of by the rest of the team. The Punisher The Punisher is who your more Call of Duty-inclined friend will pick when you force them to play Marvel Rivals – this game’s version of Soldier 76. Frank Castle's kit is relatively easy to grasp, and we’ve found that switching to the shotgun at close range is a great way to surprise enemies and melt them from existence. The Punisher’s turret was also one of our favourite abilities to use in the Marvel Rivals beta, but as players have become better, they’re able to target the Punisher and his turret much better, meaning it perhaps isn’t as deadly as it once was. Black Panther Another Duelist focused on using that mobility to take down enemies at a close range, Black Panther’s strengths come from his Spirit Rend and Spinning Kick dashes which make him particularly difficult to target while dealing damage. However, when we have to compare him to other super-mobile Duelists, in Spider-Man and Iron Fist, he isn’t able to cause as much damage – especially if you mess up with his dash attacks and are left vulnerable. Star-Lord Star-Lord certainly feels like Tracer did when Overwatch first launched in 2016. The dual-wield guns fail to pack enough of a punch to do enough damage for a top-tier Duelist, and while Peter Quill's mobility options are pretty good, they fall short when compared to other dive options in the category. We do like his Ultimate, however, which gives you auto-lock aim for a period while flying in the air. While it feels like it should be easy to counter, it’s surprisingly effective compared to some other Duelist Ultimates. Scarlet Witch We loved playing Scarlet Witch in the beta, primarily because nobody knew what to do against her Ultimate. However, as time has passed, players aren’t as scared of this anymore, and she is fairly easy to take out before unleashing her Ultimate, limiting its effectiveness. Regardless, she is still a very strong Duelist at the lower levels. Her auto-aiming primary makes her a solid choice for anyone struggling to hit their shots consistently. You’ll be able to win in any 1v1s against Duelists or Strategists, although in wider team battles and at the highest ranks, her effectiveness starts to fade. A good Scarlet Witch also knows that her secondary weapon is one of the most useful tools in her kit, particularly against Vanguards. She is now more useful against Duelists and Strategists, but we would like to see Wanda's Mystic Projection buffed slightly by making it last longer, as right now it does not give her enough time to escape situations. Squirrel Girl As one of our favourite Marvel characters, we were pleasantly surprised to see Squirrel Girl added to the Marvel Rivals roster, although we did expect her to be a Strategist. Sadly, her Junkrat-esque Burst Acorn projectile is only effective if you’re playing from quite deep, which only works well if your team is set up for that, or on the defence. Outside of that, Doreen Green's abilities don't offer her much compared to other Duelists. Her Ultimate saw quite the big overhaul in Season 1, but her lack of an offensive punch means that Squirrel Girl and Tippy Toe have to sit in C-Tier for now. Namor On his own, Namor isn’t the strongest Duelist out there, but if you make sure his Monstro Spawn (his octopus friends) work hard as turrets, he can be effective in defending. They still don’t have the most health but can contribute towards chipping away enemy health quite nicely. His most underrated ability is the Blessing of the Deep, which gives him a protective barrier as he jumps into the air – great for diverting attention, but not really as useful for someone trying to play as a pure Duelist. Spider-Man He might be higher on this list if it wasn’t for the amount of frustrating Spider-Man teammates we’ve played with. Spider-Man goes head-to-head with Iron Fist as the best option to flank and dive into the opponent’s backlines using his web-swinging and double jumps, but as a five-star difficulty hero, this Marvel fan favourite needs to be mastered by more players before he can move any higher in the tier list. Hawkeye Once a thing of terror to any Duelist or Strategist, the latest Rivals patch has significantly nerfed Hawkeye all the way down to D-Tier. His damage output has been decimated in Season 1 in response to his early dominance of the meta as NetEase sought to make his medium and long-range capabilities worse. As with Black Widow, his fellow D-Tier sniper, you still need to have good aim to do well as Clint, placing him firmly in the bottom options for Duelists now. Jeff the Land Shark We did consider placing Jeff in S-Tier for his Ultimate alone, which has been the source of many great clips on social media since Marvel Rivals launched. However, as an actual Strategist, we’ve found less success with Jeff so far. His main Splash Healing has a much greater range than you’d expect, but requires constant babysitting to work properly. The Healing Bubbles also rely too much on your teammates going out of their way to collect them for it to be a reliable strategy. What's worse, his Ultimate has also seen a reduction in its range, making his one piece of viable kit even worse. Black Widow In Season 0, it was easy to say Black Widow is a worse version of Hawkeye. But now, they are both pretty unviable. Widow’s sniper rifle, while certainly powerful, cannot one-shot any hero – even with a headshot. Her counters against other short-range Duelists, in the Fleet Foot dash and Edge Dancer kick, really struggle to make any real impact. Read more on Marvel Rivals: Marvel Rivals codes: All free skins Marvel Rivals trophy guide: Full list of achievements Marvel Rivals player count: How many have picked it up? Will Marvel Rivals come to Switch: Director comments on handheld options Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Marvel Rivals win rate data reveals which heroes you need on your team
New data released by Marvel Rivals confirms that Mantis is the standout character to pick for your team composition, with the highest win rate across Quick Play and Competitive on both console and PC. The Rivals 'Hero Hot List' revealed official win rates and pick rates for every Marvel Rival character, breaking it down by platform, game mode, and even by Marvel Rivals ranked tier. Sitting in S-Tier on our Marvel Rivals tier list, Mantis's healing and damage buffs make her one of the most effective Strategists to pick. So, if you’re looking to start Season 1 of Marvel Rivals with a new main, here’s a closer look at some of the best-performing characters so far. Marvel Rivals win rates show the best-performing heroes in each role With a 56.03 per cent win rate in Quick Play and a 55.2/55.4 per cent (PC/Console) in Competitive, Mantis beats out fellow meta picks such as Hela and Doctor Strange to become the most effective character in Marvel Rivals. Peni Parker, meanwhile, has the highest win rate for Vanguards, with a 55.38 per cent win rate in Quick Play and a 53.05/53.45 per cent win rate in Competitive. Hela is among the top picks for Duelists, with a win rate of 52.86 per cent in Quick Play, and 54.24/53.47 per cent in Competitive, although surprisingly, she does face stiff competition from Magik for this title. At the other end, Black Widow and Jeff the Land Shark sit firmly bottom in the win rate table, with win rates of just 44.15 per cent and 45.39 per cent in Quick Play, respectively. Jeff the Land Shark is the most used character in Marvel Rivals Despite his low win rate, Marvel Rivals players have not been deterred from choosing Jeff the Land Shark as their go-to Strategist in Quick Play, with a 21.18 per cent pick rate. This was possibly influenced by his viral Ultimate ability, which may have seen new players attempting to replicate clips they’ve seen of Jeff players eating and throwing entire teams of the map. In Competitive, however, the Strategist duo of Cloak & Dagger lead the way with a 20.58/26.04 per cent pick rate, respectively. These high pick rates for the healers do make sense, given there are only seven Strategists to choose from compared to a whopping 18 Duelists – both excluding the upcoming Sue Storm and Mister Fantastic releases. Storm, Namor and Black Widow – all characters set for improvements in Season 1 – are the least common choices, each being chosen in less than 3 per cent of the time. These win rates and pick rates give us some insights into the data likely used in the latest Marvel Rivals patch, which saw Mantis and Hela nerfed while Black Widow and Storm received hefty buffs. Read more on Marvel Rivals: Marvel Rivals codes: All free skins Marvel Rivals trophy guide: Full list of achievements Marvel Rivals player count: How many have picked it up? Will Marvel Rivals come to Switch: Director comments on handheld options Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Helldivers 2 difficulty levels: Full list and differences explained
If you're after more Medals, Samples and XP, increasing the Helldivers 2 difficulty level is the best way to do it. Be warned, though, the higher the difficulty setting, the harder the game will get. Trust us when we say it can get incredibly difficult. Difficulty options work differently in Helldivers 2 compared to other games and you'll find new, more tricky enemies to kill as you rise through the rank. Nope, not content with throwing more enemies at you, increased difficulties throw new enemies at you. Here's the full breakdown of Helldivers 2 difficulty levels, from Trivial to Super Helldive. What are the Helldivers 2 difficulty levels? Full list and how to unlock There are 10 different Helldivers 2 difficulties, which are the following: Trivial - 1 Easy - 2 Medium - 3 Challenging - 4 Hard - 5 Extreme - 6 Suicide Mission - 7 Impossible - 8 Helldive - 9 Super Helldive - 10 View Affiliate Playlist on the source website Players must start on Trivial. So even if you consider yourself a seasoned gamer, you can't jump straight into Challenging – or even Medium – at the very beginning. Trivial might be a bit boring, but you need to complete an operation at this level to unlock Easy. From there, you work your way up, unlocking the next difficulty level every time you beat your current one. What’s the difference between the Helldivers 2 difficulty levels? As you'd expect, the game gets more challenging with each successive difficulty. As you work your way up the difficulty levels, the number of objectives grows, enemies increase in number, and new enemy types appear. Impossible or Helldive difficulties feel like a different game to Trivial. It's not like you don't get rewarded, though. Plenty of Medals and Super Samples are on offer if you're up for the challenge of the top difficulties. Here's the full breakdown: Trivial - 1 Mission and Enemies: Primary Objectives, Enemy Patrols Rewards: Common Samples, 1 Medal Easy - 2 Mission and Enemies: Allied Tactical Objectives, Light Outposts Rewards: Common Samples, 2 Medals Medium - 3 Mission and Enemies: Allied Tactical Objectives, Light Outposts Rewards: Common Samples, 6 Medals (for full completion) XP Multiplier: +25 per cent Challenging - 4 Mission and Enemies: Enemy Tactical Objectives, Heavy Outposts, Heavily Armoured Enemies Rewards: Common Samples, Rare Samples, 8 Medals (for full completion) XP Multiplier: +50 per cent Hard - 5 Mission and Enemies: Operation Modifiers, Massive Enemies, Heavily Armoured Enemies Rewards: Common Samples, Rare Samples, 18 Medals (for full completion) XP Multiplier: +75 per cent Extreme - 6 Mission and Enemies: Tactical Objectives Increase, Massive Enemies, Heavily Armoured Enemies Rewards: Common Samples, Rare Samples, Super Samples, 21 Medals (for full completion) XP Multiplier: +100 per cent Suicide Mission - 7 Mission and Enemies: Tactical Objectives Increase, Massive Enemies, Heavily Armoured Enemies Rewards: Common Samples, Rare Samples, Super Samples, 24 Medals (for full completion) XP Multiplier: +150 per cent Impossible - 8 Mission and Enemies: Increased Enemy Presence, Multiple Operation Modifiers, Heavily Armoured Enemies Rewards: Common Samples, Rare Samples, Super Samples, 29 Medals (for full completion) XP Multiplier: +200 per cent Helldive - 9 Mission and Enemies: Increased Enemy Presence, Multiple Operation Modifiers, Heavily Armoured Enemies Rewards: Common Samples, Rare Samples, Super Samples, 33 Medals (for full completion) XP Multiplier: +250 per cent Super Helldive - 10 Mission and Enemies: Increased Enemy Presence, Multiple Operation Modifiers, Mega Nest/Fortress, Spawns more Heavy and Elite Enemies Rewards: Common Samples, Rare Samples, Super Rare Samples, 36 Medals (for full completion) XP Multiplier: +300 per cent Keep in mind that if you're trying to farm Samples quickly, the number of Samples available per mission scales up with difficulty, too. How to change between Helldivers 2 difficulty levels Once you've unlocked difficulties other than Trivial, you can change the difficulty by heading to the Galactic War Screen. Here you can change the difficulty by pressing L1 and R1 on the PlayStation, or Q and E on the PC. Read more on Helldivers 2: Helldivers 2 player count | Helldivers 2 server status | Helldivers 2 mechs | Helldivers 2 stratagems | Helldivers 2 trophies | Helldivers 2 crossplay | Helldivers console exclusivity explained | Is Helldivers 2 on PS4? Alternatives explained | Helldivers 2 roadmap Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Black Ops 6 players want this one change reversed after latest patch makes scorestreak worse
Call of Duty's UAVs no longer grant as much XP for assists.
Changes to UAVs and CUAVs in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 are frustrating players who used the scorestreak to gain more XP. The launch of Season 1 in Black Ops 6 brought with it a host of changes, including the release of new maps and Ranked Play, but one small change to the UAV and CUAV scorestreaks has left some players feeling short-changed. If you've somehow landed on this article without any context, UAVs in CoD BO6 are Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, and the extra C in CUAV stands for Counter. Here's the breakdown of the UAV and CUAV changes in Black Ops 6 and why their users are frustrated. Black Ops 6 cuts XP rewards for UAVs and CUAVs When Black Ops 6 first launched in October, UAVs and CUAVs granted players 15 XP as a reveal assist for every teammate's kill while the scorestreak was active. This allowed support players, particularly those using the Strategist perks, to quickly build up their scorestreaks from these assists, while also earning more XP as they headed towards their next prestige. However, the latest patch has changed things. UAVs and CUAVs now only grant players 5 XP for a reveal assist, nerfing their score bonuses by two-thirds. This means that for those using UAVs or CUAVs, their scorestreak progression may now be much slower. Several players have expressed their frustrations about these changes online, including one Reddit user, who asked Treyarch to roll them back. Other players, who noticed that this change to UAV scores was not included in the latest patch notes, also wondered whether the change was intentional or was actually a bug. The only reference to the UAV in the November 15 patch said: "Improved stability when using the UAV." However, not every Black Ops 6 player was so critical of the change, with Redditors noting that gaining 30 Score towards your scorestreaks for every kill from a teammate was quite overpowered. If this prompts players to consider using other scorestreaks over the UAV and CUAV, it may be good news for those of us who aren't running the Ghost perk, at least. We'll keep you posted as the situation develops! Read more on Call of Duty: Black Ops 6: CoD BO6 review - our final verdict How to get Double XP tokens in CoD BO6 CoD BO6 XM4 - best loadout How long is the CoD BO6 campaign? CoD BO6 ending explained - unpacking the campaign How to exfil in CoD BO6 Zombies CoD BO6 Safe House puzzles - all solutions CoD BO6 Zombies Vault Code CoD BOD trophy guide - all achievements CoD BO6 Mastery Camos - the full list CoD BO6 Monster Energy - collab explained CoD BO6 Terminus code - how to solve the puzzle New BO6 zombies map - when will it release? Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
FC 25 Evolutions: Best players to upgrade and all requirements
Evolutions are back in FC 25, bringing a selection of new pathways to upgrade your favourite players - but who are the best players to use? If you can’t get your hands on some of the highest-rated players in FC 25 Ultimate Team, Evolutions are a quick way to add some firepower to your team early in the season to get firing in Division Rivals. As a reminder from FC 24, Evolutions are a fairly new addition to Ultimate Team designed to allow those lower-rated players to transform into more useful ones. Different Evolution pathways have limits, usually capping specific attributes. Once you’ve chosen your player and fulfilled the requirements (usually after playing a select number of games or scoring a few goals), they’ll be upgraded. If you’re stuck on who to upgrade, here are a few of our top picks for the FC 25 Evolutions. Intro to Stat Limits Evolution: Best players, requirements & upgrades The best players to use in the FC 25 Intro to Stat Limits Evolution are Marcus Rashford, Ángel Correa, Karim Adeyemi, Darwin Núñez and Iñaki Williams. With the Evolution improving your player’s Shooting and Dribbling, we’re prioritising attacking players here, especially those in the top leagues with good Pace. Rashford, Adeyemi and Williams all already have over 85 Pace, and can provide good links throughout the year in FC 25. However, keep in mind that some of these players may be better suited for the Ultimate Edition Evolution, listed below. Outside of the wingers, Correa and Núñez both have consistent high base stats for strikers, especially in Pace, Shooting and Dribbling, so upgrading either one of these could leave you with a great forward for those early Division Rivals or FUT Champs matches. Intro to Stat Limits Evolution Upgrades OVR: +1 Shooting: +3 (Max 86) Dribbling: +2 (Max 87) Skill Moves: +1 Star (Max 3) Intro to Stat Limits Evolution Requirements OVR: Maximum 82 Intro to Stat Limit Challenges Level 1: Play 3 matches in Rush, Rivals, or Squad Battles on min Semi-Pro difficulty using your active EVO player in-game. Level 2: Win 2 matches in Rush, Rivals, or Squad Battles on min Semi-Pro difficulty using your active EVO player in-game. Club Member Reward Evolution: Best players, requirements & upgrades The best players to use in the Club Member Reward Evolution are Denzel Dumfries, Diogo Dalot and Nahuel Molina. This Evolution gives the upgraded player the RB Falseback++ Role, so we’re only focusing on those who are primarily RBs, as opposed to pacey CBs who can also play on the right (sorry, Micky van de Ven fans). Each of these players play in one of the top leagues for Ultimate Team chemistry. So, alongside their high Pace and overall consistent stats, they’re great picks for the Club Member Reward. Club Member Reward Evolution Upgrades OVR: +2 Pace: +4 (Max 89) Shooting: +1 Passing: +3 Dribbling: +3 Defending: +2 Physical: +2 PlayStyles: Incisive Pass and Rapid Role++: RB Falseback++ Club Member Reward Evolution Requirements OVR: Max 82 Position: RB Max PlayStyles: 7 Club Member Reward Evolution Challenges Level 1: Play 3 matches in Rush, Rivals, or Squad Battles on min Semi-Pro difficulty using your active EVO player in-game AND Win 2 matches in Rush, Rivals, or Squad Battles on min Semi-Pro difficulty using your active EVO player in-game. Level 2: Play 3 matches in Rush, Rivals, or Squad Battles on min Semi-Pro difficulty using your active EVO player in-game AND Achieve 1 Clean Sheet in Rush, Rivals, or Squad Battles on min Semi-Pro difficulty using your active EVO player in-game. Ultimate Edition Evolution: Best players, requirements & upgrades The best Ultimate Edition Evolution players are Ángel Correa, Gabriel Jesus, Iñaki Williams and Nicolas Jackson. This Evolution makes use of one of the major changes to Evolutions this year, which sees certain stats capped at limits. These limits mean that Evolution upgrades won’t increase certain attributes (eg Pace) past a designated number. Here, players cannot see their Pace go above 87, or their Shooting above 87, for example. However, this doesn't mean we should ignore players who already have high stats, as we can improve their other attributes. Iñaki Williams already has the Pace but lacks slightly in the Shooting and Dribbling areas - which is what this Evolution can upgrade. Gabriel Jesus is one of the best dribblers available in the Premier League, but this Evolution can give him a much-needed boost to his Pace. Ultimate Edition Evolution Upgrades OVR: +2 Pace: +5 (Max 87) Shooting: +4 (Max 87) Passing: +3 (Max 90) Dribbling: +3 (Max 85) Defending: +1 Physical: +3 PlayStyle: First Touch PlayStyle+: Power Shot Skill Moves: +1 Star (Max 4 Star) Ultimate Edition Evolution Requirements OVR: Max 82 Position: ST Max PlayStyles: 7 Max PlayStyle+: 0 Ultimate Edition Evolution Challenges Level 1: N/A Level 2: Win 3 matches in Rush, Rivals or Squad Battles on min Semi-Pro difficulty using your active EVO player in-game AND Score 3 goals using your active EVO player in Rush, Rivals, or Squad Battles on min Semi-Pro difficulty. From Box-to-Box Evolution: Best players, requirements & upgrades The best players to use in the From Box-to-Box Evolution are Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Joelinton, Segi Darder and Lo'eau LaBonta. As this Evolution gives your CM a boost across all stats, we're looking for those players with the highest overalls across all stats, alongside being able to link up well with other nations and leagues. Loftus-Cheek is the standout here, almost hitting the fabled 'Gullit Gang' level of stats (80 in all face attributes). Linking with both Serie A and England, he already has a 4-star weak foot and 4-star skills, so could fit in many of your FC 25 tactics looking beyond the first few weeks. Finally, don't fall into the trap of thinking that a player who already has the Box-to-Box+ Role will receive a Box-to-Box++ Role. It appears the FC 25 Player Role system doesn't scale as stats do. Those with the existing Role will stay at that level. So don't expect Kobbie Mainoo to become a Box-to-Box++, for example. From Box-to-Box Evolution Upgrades OVR: +2 Pace: +2 Shooting: +2 Passing: +3 Dribbling: +2 Defending: +2 Physical: +2 PlayStyle: Relentless Player Role: Box-to-Box+ Skill Moves: +1 Star (Max 4 Star) From Box-to-Box Evolution Requirements OVR: Max 82 Pace: Max 85 Position: CM Max PlayStyles: 7 From Box-to-Box Evolution Challenges Level 1: Play 3 matches in Rush, Rivals, or Squad Battles on min Semi-Pro difficulty using your active EVO player in-game AND Win 2 matches in Rush, Rivals, or Squad Battles on min Semi-Pro difficulty using your active EVO player in-game. Level 2: Play 4 matches in Rush, Rivals, or Squad Battles on min Semi-Pro difficulty using your active EVO player in-game AND Win 3 matches in Rush, Rivals, or Squad Battles on min Semi-Pro difficulty using your active EVO player in-game. Level 3: Win 3 matches in Rush, Rivals, or Squad Battles on min Semi-Pro difficulty using your active EVO player in-game AND Achieve 3 Clean Sheets in Rush, Rivals, or Squad Battles on min Semi-Pro difficulty using your active EVO player in-game. View Green Video on the source website Sprint Supreme Evolution: Best players, requirements & upgrades The best players to use in the Sprint Supreme Evolution are Cristian Romero, Matthijs De Ligt and Andreas Christensen. These are all solid CBs already, who are just lacking in the pace department. With these upgrades, the cards could become much more useable in-game. However, we'd also recommend using this upgrade to further increase the pace of any CB who already has pretty high speed. Using this upgrade on Ibrahima Konaté, for example, won't increase his Sprint Speed, but will move his Acceleration from 69 to a solid 78. Sprint Supreme Evolution Upgrades Acceleration: +10 (Max 78) Sprint Speed: +10 (Max 78) Sprint Supreme Evolution Requirements OVR: Max 84 Position: CB Sprint Supreme Evolution Challenges Level 1: Play 5 matches in Rush, Rivals, or Squad Battles on min Semi-Pro difficulty using your active EVO player in-game AND Win 3 matches in Rush, Rivals, or Squad Battles on min Semi-Pro difficulty using your active EVO player in-game. Level 2: Play 5 matches in Rush, Rivals, or Squad Battles on min Semi-Pro difficulty using your active EVO player in-game AND Win 4 matches in Rush, Rivals, or Squad Battles on min Semi-Pro difficulty using your active EVO player in-game. Read more on FC 25: FC 25 ratings: The very best players FC 25 soundtrack: Full list of songs FC 25 wonderkids: Best young players FC 25 strikers: Best forwards to use FC 25 midfielders: Best CDM, CM and CAM FC 25 defenders: Best CB, RB and LB FC 25 Squad Battle Rewards: When do they come out? Best kits in FC 25: Our favourite shirts Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
FC 25 Player Roles explained: Best Player Role for each position
One of the most significant changes to gameplay in FC 25 is the Player Roles system, but which Player Roles are best? Following on from FC 24’s PlayStyles update, EA Sports has added another player attribute through its new FC IQ system. Here’s how they work, alongside our best Player Roles for each position and which players to use. Read on for everything you need to know. What are Player Roles in FC 25? Player Roles contribute to how individual players in FC 25 behave when off the ball. As part of the FC IQ system, EA introduced 31 different Roles, influencing their movement, positioning, and overall play. While any player can use any role, certain players will have a higher familiarity with certain roles, known as Role+ or Role++. For example, Bukayo Saka has a high familiarity with being an Inside Forward on the right wing, and so has the Inside Forward++ Role. So, now that you know the basics, which Player Roles should you use? Best Player Roles in FC 25 Our top Player Roles in FC 25 are Falseback, Defender, Holding, Shadow Striker, Inside Forward and Poacher. The Roles you should prioritise heavily depend on your style of play, formations, and tactics, so this shouldn’t be the only thing that informs your squad decisions. They only form a part of a player’s behaviour on the pitch, so you should also look at their PlayStyles and general attributes, too. We wouldn’t suggest discarding Kylian Mbappé or any of the highest-rated FC 25 players just because they don't have the Player Role you want. With that in mind, here are our favourite Player Roles in FC 25 so far, alongside some players with these roles. Best Goalkeeper Player Role in FC 25 There are only two GK Player Roles in FC 25, and our favourite so far has been the standard Goalkeeper Role, over Sweeper Keeper. Sweeper Keeper sees your GK move off the line and out of the box more frequently than they often do in real life. However, as FC 25 is such a fast-paced game, having your GK anywhere outside the box to collect the ball could be risky. Some of the best players with the Goalkeeper ++ Role include: Gianluigi Donnarumma Jan Oblak Gregor Kobel Best LB and RB Player Role in FC 25 The best Player Role for an LB or RB in FC 25 is Falseback. This Role will see your player acting more like an inverted full-back, moving into the midfield when attacking. However, we’d only suggest having one Falseback in your starting 11, with the other full-back taking a more traditional defensive position with the regular Full-Back Role, for example. Trent Alexander-Arnold is the only non-Legend/Hero player with the Falseback++ Role at either LB or RB, but there are plenty with the Falseback+ Role. Best CB Player Role in FC 25 While the Ball-Playing Defender Role is effective, we’ve found more success using the Defender Role to maintain our defensive shape and prevent players getting in behind. Some of the best CBs with the Defender++ Player Role are: Antonio Rüdiger William Saliba Jonathan Tah Kadeisha Buchanan Best CDM Player Role in FC 25 If you’re running a CDM or a CM, we’d suggest prioritising the Holding Player Role to give yourself more defensive cover. A player with this Role will stay back when attacking and aim to prevent counter-attacks, sitting just in front of the two CBs. The best CDMs and CMs with the Holding++ Role are: Declan Rice Palhinha N'Golo Kanté Georgia Stanway Best CAM Player Role in FC 25 The best Role for your CAM depends on your formation, but the Shadow Striker is a great all-round pick if you want them to join the attack. The Shadow Striker Role does pretty much what you’d expect. The CAM will attack from just behind your forwards, making runs into the box on the overlap. The best CAMs with the Shadow Striker++ Role are: Florian Wirtz Rose Lavelle Jamal Musiala Paulo Dybala Best LW and RW Player Role in FC 25 For LM/LW or RM/RW players, you should use the Inside Forward Role. This will let you cut inside much easier so that your wide players can provide more of a threat centrally. There are plenty of the best wingers in FC 25 with the Inside Forward++ Role. These include: Vinicius Jr Caroline Graham Hansen Mo Salah Bukayo Saka Lauren James Cole Palmer Best ST Player Role in FC 25 While we like playing with two strikers - one as a Poacher and the other as an Advanced Forward - the Poacher Player Role has been our most effective. The Poacher role isn’t what you traditionally think of as a poacher in football. This role replicated part of the classic FIFA/FC player instructions of 'Stay Forward, Get in Behind' that was firmly the meta. Stick a pacey striker up top in a Poacher role, and they’ll be running behind the defenders in no time. The strikers with the Poacher++ Role include: Erling Haaland Victor Osimhen Rachel Daly View Green Video on the source website EA Sports FC 25 is scheduled to launch on 27th September 2024 across PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Windows. Read more on FC 25: FC 25 ratings: The very best players FC 25 soundtrack: Full list of songs FC 25 wonderkids: Best young players FC 25 strikers: Best forwards to use FC 25 midfielders: Best CDM, CM and CAM FC 25 defenders: Best CB, RB and LB Best kits in FC 25: Our favourite shirts FC 25 evolutions: Who should you upgrade? Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
EA FC 24 FUT Champs rewards: Full list & format explained
How to achieve the most prestigious rank!
Those lucrative FUT Champs rewards are still going in EA FC 24, even as we near the end of the season, adding in FC 24 TOTS cards to your potential winnings. Also known as the Weekend League, Ultimate Team Champs - or FUT Champs, for those still using the FIFA terminology - is the most competitive (and rage-inducing) mode in Ultimate Team, but with the best rewards, so you can go out and buy the latest and greatest cards. Whether you've been playing since the start of FC 24, or just picked it up as a free PS Plus game, the rewards change so frequently that you might not know what exactly is on offer. Let's take a look at the play-off ranks, and the rewards, for both the Champions Play-Offs and the Finals. We'll also explain how the whole FUT Champs reward system works if you're new to the game. EA FC 24 FUT Champs rewards and ranks There are 10 matches in the Champions Play-Offs, and depending on how many points you get, there'll be some nice rewards once you finish them. Fear not, though – even if you do terribly, the rewards will be worth it. The same goes for the Finals. So, let's have a look! Champions Play-Offs Ranks Rank 1: 40pts Rank 2: 36-39pts Rank 3: 32-35pts Rank 4: 26-31pts Rank 5: 20-25pts Rank 6: 12-19pts Rank 7: 4-11pts Champions Play-Offs Rewards Rank 1: x1 Jumbo Rare Players Pack, x1 Rare Players Pack, x1 Mega Pack and Finals Qualification Rank 2: x1 Rare Mega Pack, x1 Prime Gold Players Pack, x2 Small Rare Players Packs and Finals Qualification Rank 3: x1 Jumbo Premium Gold Players Pack, x2 Rare Gold Packs, x2 Small Prime Gold Players Packs and Finals Qualification Rank 4: x2 Mega Packs, x1 Rare Gold Pack and Finals Qualification Rank 5: x2 Rare Gold Packs, x1 Small Prime Gold Players Pack and Finals Qualification Rank 6: x2 Gold Players Packs, x1 Jumbo Premium Gold Pack and 400 Champions Qualification Points Rank 7: x2 Jumbo Premium Gold Packs (Untradeable) Champions Final Ranks Rank 1: 76-80 pts Rank 2: 72-75 pts Rank 3: 67-71 pts Rank 4: 60-66 pts Rank 5: 51-59 pts Rank 6: 45-50 pts Rank 7: 36-44 pts Rank 8: 24-35 points Rank 9: 12-23 points Rank 10: 4-11 points Champions Final Rewards Rank 1: x1 TOTS 3 Players Pack (Untradeable), x3 UT Champions TOTS Player Pick (Untradeable), x1 85+ x5 Rare Gold Player Pack, x1 87+ x2 Rare Gold Players Pack, x1 Rare Players Pack, x2 Ultimate Pack, 1,250 Champions Qualification Points, 125,000 coins, 1,500 XP Rank 2: x1 TOTS 3 Players Pack (Untradeable), x2 UT Champions TOTS Player Pick (Untradeable), x1 85+ x4 Rare Gold Player Pack, x1 86+ x2 Rare Gold Players Pack, x2 Ultimate Pack, 1,250 Champions Qualification Points, 100,000 coins, 1,500 XP Rank 3: x1 TOTS 3 Players Pack (Untradeable), x2 UT Champions TOTS Player Pick (Untradeable), x1 85+ x5 Rare Gold Player Pack, x1 85+ x2 Rare Gold Players Pack, x1 Jumbo Rare Players Pack, x1 Ultimate Pack, 1,250 Champions Qualification Points, 85,000 coins, 1,500 XP Rank 4: x1 TOTS 3 Players Pack (Untradeable), x2 UT Champions TOTS Player Pick (Untradeable), x1 85+ x3 Rare Gold Player Pack, x1 Jumbo Rare Players Pack, x1 Ultimate Pack, 1,250 Champions Qualification Points, 50,000 coins, 1,500 XP Rank 5: x2 UT Champions TOTS Player Pick (Untradeable), x1 85+ x2 Rare Gold Player Pack, x1 Rare Players Pack, x1 Ultimate Pack, 1,250 Champions Qualification Points, 30,000 coins, 1,350 XP Rank 6: x1 UT Champions TOTS Player Pick (Untradeable), x1 85+ Rare Gold Player Pack, x1 Ultimate Pack, x1 Rare Players Pack, 1,250 FUT Champions Qualification Points, 25,000 coins, 1,150 XP Rank 7: x2 Max 90 OVR TOTS Player (Untradeable), x1 Rare Players Pack, x1, Jumbo Rare Players Pack, 1,000 Champions Qualification Points, 15,000 coins, 1,000 XP Rank 8: x2 Max 90 OVR TOTS Player (Untradeable), x1 Rare Players Pack, x2 Jumbo Premium Gold Pack, 750 Champions Qualification Points, 10,000 coins, 750 XP Rank 9: x1 Max 90 OVR TOTS Player (Untradeable), x2 Prime Gold Players Pack, 500 Champions Qualification Points, 5,000 coins, 500 XP Rank 10: x1 Max 90 OVR TOTS Player (Untradeable), x1 Rare Mixed Players Pack, 500 Champions Qualification Points, 250 XP Ultimate Teams Champs EA FC 24 format explained: start time and qualification Ultimate Team Champs is split into two stages: Champions Play-Offs and the Champions Finals. To secure your spot in the Play-Offs, 1250 CQP are required, which you can earn through playing Division Rivals matches. After you've qualified for the Play-Offs, you'll get seven entries each season to qualify for the Weekend League. Champions Play-Offs Once you're here, it's still about totting up those points. You earn four points for a win, and one point for a loss in the Play-Offs. To make it to the Finals, you'll need to earn 20 points from the 10 matches. So you'll need to win at least four out of 10 to earn a Finals Qualification Token. Champions Finals You've made it! But now the real challenge begins. The points system is the same as the Play-Offs (one for a loss and four for a win), and you'll have to complete all 20 matches before the event ends! During TOTS, FUT Champs will begin on Friday at 8pm BST, and will end on Wednesday at 8am. This is so the rewards will feature that week's new TOTS squads. After TOTS, FUT Champs rewards will revert back to the traditional event times. Here, it starts on Friday at 8am BST, and ends on Monday at 8am. Even if you don't finish all the games, you'll still be able to collect the rewards you earn - don't worry! Listen to our One More Life podcast, subscribe to our free newsletter and follow us on Twitter for all the latest gaming intel. Looking for something to watch? Check out our TV Guide or Streaming Guide. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
EA FC 24 PlayStyles explained: Best PlayStyles for each position in FC 24
From Scoring to Goalkeeper, here's how to make the most from all 34 PlayStyles.
If you're just picking up EA FC 24, then the new PlayStyles feature will be one of the more significant gameplay changes that will take some getting used to. As with FIFA 23's lengthy players, these player attributes can be more important than some of the base stats if used effectively. So that means that some of the best strikers in FC 24 by rating may not be the best choices for your team, if they have the wrong PlayStyle. With over 30 PlayStyles available across six categories, which should you be prioritising in the current FC 24 meta? Here are our top choices for every position. EA FC 24 PlayStyles explained The newly introduced PlayStyles are categorised as one of the following: Passing, Shooting, Defending, Ball Control, Physical and Goalkeeping. There are 34 PlayStyles in total, with regular PlayStyles being the signature abilities that make players more unique and help them stand out on the pitch. But which should you pick? Best PlayStyles for each position in EA FC 24 To find out what PlayStyle is best, it's well worth experimenting with each to find which one suits your own approach to the game. That said, here are our recommendations for the best PlayStyles in each position for EA FC 24. Best PlayStyle for Strikers in FC 24 The top PlayStyle we've been using on our attackers in FC 24 is the Finesse Shot. If you think back a few years to previous FIFA games when finesse shots were pretty overpowered, this PlayStyle replicates that. As with all these PlayStyles, they get even better with PlayStyles+. Alex Morgan has been our striker of choice with this one, but if you're building a Premier League team, Mohamed Salah is another option down the wing. Best PlayStyle for Wingers in FC 24 Pacey wingers are once again the meta in FC 24, and the Quick Step PlayStyle has been our choice to make use of the fast players out wide. Giving faster acceleration during Explosive Sprint, Quick Step may give you the slight edge to run past defenders and cut back to a player in the box. Sticking in the NWSL, Trinity Rodman has worked wonders for us with the Quick Step PlayStyle+, but Moussa Diaby is also a good choice for Premier League teams. Outside of Quick Step, we'd also look for Rapid and Technical PlayStyles on our wingers. Best PlayStyle for Attacking Midfielders in FC 24 The best PlayStyle for CAMs is the Incisive Pass PlayStyle, which gives the player more accurate, faster through balls. Another bonus PlayStyle we'd suggest for your CAM (or any player) is Dead Ball, which improves their set piece ability. James Maddison and Paulo Dybala would be our suggestions here. Best PlayStyle for Defensive Midfielders in FC 24 We'd recommend running CDMs with several PlayStyles, notably the Jockey and Pinged Pass PlayStyles. As one of the most important players on the team, getting a CM or a CDM who can defend well, and then quickly transition play in attack, is absolutely crucial in FC 24. Jockey improves the speed of your jockeying while defending, helping you out in those crucial 1v1s, while Pinged Pass makes your ground passes faster, speeding up your transition into attack. Georgia Stanway is our choice for this, having both Jockey and Pinged Pass+. Best PlayStyle for LB and RB in FC 24 Any full-backs with the same PlayStyles as the wingers are great picks, but our best PlayStyle for a full-back is the Whipped Pass PlayStyle. This makes your crosses much faster and more accurate. So, if you're using a formation with overlapping full-backs, this can make you much more of an aerial threat. There are plenty of choices here, but Kieran Trippier, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Alejandro Grimaldo would be our picks. Best PlayStyle for CB in FC 24 Like your defensive midfielders, the Jockey PlayStyle is a great choice for your CBs. We'd also suggest choosing players with Block and Anticipate, too. Virgil van Dijk has all three of these PlayStyles, but there are cheaper defenders who have two of these, such as Pierre Kalulu or William Saliba. Best PlayStyle for GK in FC 24 The Goalkeeper PlayStyles only come into effect when playing on the Be a Goalkeeper (BAG) mode, so don't matter as much in normal gameplay. However, if you are playing as a keeper, we'd suggest using Quick Reflexes and Footwork, as these will help in those 1v1 situations after a player breaks through. Read more on FC 24: Best formations in FC 24 - our favourite tactics EA FC 24 FUT Champs - rewards and format EA FC 24 Squad Battles - release time and rewards EA FC 24 Division Rivals - all rewards and timings FC 24 cheapest 84, 85 and 86-rated players - boss that SBC Get more from our Gaming experts: listen to our One More Life podcast, subscribe to our free newsletter and follow us on Twitter for all the latest updates. Looking for something to watch? Check out our TV Guide or Streaming Guide. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Best weapons in Helldivers 2: Weapons tier list for latest patch
Using one of the best Helldivers 2 weapons is a necessity in your quest to defend Super Earth, especially as you reach the highest Helldivers difficulty levels. While Helldivers stratagems often get the most attention in loadout discussions, your primaries and secondaries are still essential for squashing bugs or destroying bots. With the April patch bringing several balances to the weapons, here's our up-to-date Helldivers 2 weapons tier list, and picks for the best weapons to use against both Automatons and Terminids. Read on to find out more. Helldivers 2 weapons tier list Focusing only on the Primary and Secondary Weapons that form your loadout, here’s our Helldivers 2 tier list: S-Tier PLAS-1 Scorcher SG-225 Breaker/ Incendiary Breaker P-19 Redeemer (Secondary) A-Tier Jar-5 Dominator AR-23P Liberator Penetrator SG-225 Breaker SG-8S Slugger LAS-16 Sickle B-Tier AR-23 Liberator AR-23 Liberator Concussive P-4 Senator (Secondary) SG-225SP Breaker Spray & Pray SG-8P Punisher Plasma C-Tier SMG-37 Defender R-63 Diligence ARC-12 Blitzer R-2 Peacemaker (Secondary) SG-8P Punisher Plasma D-Tier LAS-5 Scythe MP-98 Knight LAS-7 Dagger (Secondary) R-63 Diligence Counter Sniper SG-8 Punisher Best Helldivers 2 weapons Following the various buffs and nerfs that have taken place over the last month, these are some of the top weapons we’d recommend in Helldivers 2. SG-225 Breaker and SG-225IE Breaker Incendiary We’ve included the two Breaker weapons here, as while the Breaker Incendiary is our new favourite, it is only available via the Steeled Veterans Premium Warbond. So, if you’re saving your Super Credits or don’t want to spend real money to unlock it, the normal Breaker will do just fine. With strong damage at a fast fire rate and somewhat forgiving ranges for a shotgun, the Breaker is the most consistent weapon type in the game. Its main downside comes from the ammo capacity, but as long as you aren’t being swarmed from all angles, you should be able to crowd control fairly easily before retreating and reloading. And that’s even after the patch. The reason the Breaker Incendiary just edges it comes from the latest Helldivers 2 patch. With fire damage increased by 50 per cent in the update (alongside the Breaker Incendiary’s damage per bullet buff), the weapon is now much more effective, especially against bugs. However, we have seen reports that the Damage Over Time effect is only working if you are the host, so look out for that in future patches. PLAS-1 Scorcher The go-to weapon for Automaton missions! The explosive ammo makes taking down some of the stronger Automaton enemies much easier, while the recoil also makes it much easier to control. Once again, though, it does burn through ammo quite quickly, so you might need to rely on Resupplies or a Supply Backpack. If you haven’t managed to unlock it yet, take a look at the JAR-5 Dominator in the Steeled Veterans Premium Warbond. It was significantly buffed in the April patch, and is a much more viable option for melting those bots away. Just be wary of its handling. P-19 Redeemer (Secondary) It’s not going to replace any of the Primary Weapons, but the P-19 Redeemer is the best Secondary Weapon to use in a pinch. Whether you’re carrying the SSDD to an objective or simply ran out of rounds, the Redeemer can kill a few enemies quickly to clear a path for you. We wouldn’t recommend using it unless absolutely necessary, but out of the small selection of available secondaries, it is the standout option by far, putting it in our S-Tier. View Green Video on the source website Read more on Helldivers 2: Next Warbond in Helldivers 2 | Helldivers 2 crashing | Helldivers 2 server status | Helldivers 2 enemies | Helldivers 2 solo guide | Helldivers 2 crossplay | Helldivers console exclusivity explained | Helldivers 2 roadmap | Helldivers 2 level cap | Helldivers 2 ranks Subscribe to our gaming newsletter for all the latest intel. Looking for something to watch? Check out our TV Guide or Streaming Guide. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10 – subscribe now. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Balatro Joker tier list: Best Jokers to use in Balatro
Our rundown on all 150 Jokers in Balatro.
Having some of the best Jokers in Balatro is essential to going far in Balatro. With only a limited amount you can hold at once, choosing the right Jokers can make or break your run. There are 150 Jokers to choose from, each with a unique ability. Whether the Joker gives you more money, higher scores, or makes it easier to play hands, with so much choice it can be difficult to know where to start. After many Antes, last-minute losses, and frustrating Boss Blinds ruining our Flush runs, here’s our full Balatro Joker tier list and recommendations for which are the best Jokers you should always search for in Balatro. Balatro Jokers tier list Here’s is our full list of every Balatro joker ranked, from S-Tier to D-Tier: S-Tier: Gros Michel, Cavendish, DNA, Card Sharp, Baseball Card, Blueprint, Brainstorm A-Tier: Fibonacci, Mime, Dusk, Chaos the Clown, Steel Joker, Hack, Blackboard, Constellation, Vampire, Hologram, Baron, Rocket, Bull, Trading Card, Ancient Joker, Campfire, Throwback, Invisible Joker, Driver's License, Canio, Triboulet, Chicot B-Tier: Greedy Joker, Lusty Joker, Wrathful Joker, Gluttonous Joker, Half Joker, Joker Stencil, Four Fingers, Mystic Summit, Misprint, Scary Face, Abstract Joker, Pareidolia, Scholar, Space Joker, Ice Cream, Blue Joker, Hiker, Riff Raff, Vagabond, Midas Mask, Luchador, Turtle Bean, Erosion, Golden Joker, Diet Cola, Spare Trousers, Ramen, Seltzer, Castle, Mr Bones, Acrobat, Sock and Buskin, Certificate, Smeared Joker, Rough Gem, Bloodstone, Arrowhead, Onyx Agate, Glass Joker, Wee Joker, The Duo, The Trio, The Tribe, Satellite, Cartomancer, Astronomer, Burnt Joker, Bootstraps C-Tier: Joker, Droll Joker, Crafty Joker, Ceremonial Dagger, Banner, Raised Fist, Even Steven, Odd Todd, Supernova, Ride the Bus, Egg, Splash, Sixth Sense, Madness, Seance, Shortcut, Cloud 9, Obelisk, Photograph, To The Moon, Fortune Teller, Juggler, Drunkard, Flash Card, Popcorn, Walkie Talkie, Smilie Face, Swashbuckler, Troubadour, Hanging Chad, Rough Gem, Flowerpot, Merry Andy, Seeing Double, Hit the Road, The Family, The Order, Stuntman, Shoot the Moon, Yorick, Perkeo D-Tier: Jolly Joker, Zany Joker, Mad Joker, Crazy Joker, Sly Joker, Wily Joker, Clever Joker, Devious Joker, Credit Card, Marble Joker, Loyalty Card, 8 Ball, Delayed Gratification, Business Card, Burglar, Runner, Faceless Joker, Green Joker, Superposition, To Do List, Red Card, Square Joker, Gift Card, Reserved Parking, Mail-In Rebate, Hallucination, Stone Joker, Lucky Cat, Golden Ticket, Showman, Oops! All 6s, The Idol, Matador Best Jokers in Balatro Based on our time with Balatro, the best Jokers to consistently win runs are: Baseball Card Cavendish DNA Card Sharp Blueprint Brainstorm These Jokers on their own aren’t going to see you going deep into Endless, but paired with other cards will give you the best shot of getting some huge scores. Here’s a closer look at each of the best Jokers we’d recommend. Baseball Card When Baseball Card comes up as a Joker in the first few Antes, you know you have a good chance of going all the way. Giving x1.5 Mult for each Uncommon Joker in your hand, you can easily get Baseball Card to x4.5 or even x6 Mult without much effort. And since many of the best Jokers are Uncommon, you don’t really need to sacrifice much, either. Just remember to move it to the end of your Jokers, to ensure any multipliers happen after everything else has triggered. If you’re wondering which Uncommon Jokers to pick up, we’d suggest looking for Card Sharp, Fibonacci, Hologram or other S-Tier and A-Tier cards on our Joker tier list. We'd also recommend using Antimatter Voucher (unlocked by buying the Balatro's Blank Voucher) to add an extra Joker slot to for another Uncommon. Cavendish With a flat x3 Mult, Cavendish is yet another card we love to pick up on our way to Endless. The ‘downside’ is that Cavendish has a 1 in 1000 chance of being destroyed after a round, but after using Cavendish in plenty of rounds, we’ve never had it get destroyed. As a reminder, you can’t go looking for Cavendish without first picking up Gros Michel, as it will only appear once Gros Michel destroys itself. View Green Video on the source website DNA It’s not only about increasing your scores! DNA is one of our favourite Jokers as it lets you consistently duplicate cards. This is an incredibly underrated ability in Balatro as it means you don’t need to rely on the Death Tarot appearing in your shops. Yes, it may not provide any value to your scores, but when you’ve been able to draw a hand of eight Red Seal Polychrome Kings, does that really matter? Card Sharp Unless you’re playing a very creative run, the best strategy in Balatro is to usually focus on one type of hand. This makes Card Sharp a must-have Joker if it appears in your shop. Giving a x3 Mult if your played poker hand has already been played during the same round, it has huge utility no matter the Ante, especially during the early and late rounds of your runs where you might be struggling to beat the Boss Blinds in one go. Blueprint and Brainstorm We've combined these into one recommendation, as they do very similar things. Blueprint copies the ability of the Joker on its right, while Brainstorm copies the ability of the leftmost Joker. Either way, they both allow you to copy other Jokers, which can lead to some huge scores if used with some of the Jokers we’ve already mentioned in S-Tier or A-Tier. Out of the two, we’d recommend Blueprint over Brainstorm, just because being able to copy the ability of Jokers on the right is better for the likes of Baseball Card, Cavendish, Card Sharp and other xMult Jokers that we always try to keep as our rightmost cards. Subscribe to our free gaming newsletter for all the latest intel. Looking for something to watch? Check out our TV Guide or Streaming Guide. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10 – subscribe now. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Call of Duty MW3 campaign early access: How & when you can start playing MW3
Mere hours are separating us from getting stuck in the Call of Duty MW3 campaign early access, and so you're there at ground zero, we'll be going over how and when you can start playing CoD MW3 in the UK. It's a good thing, too, that we can get started ahead of the MW3's main release date – Makarov is up to no good again in this rebooted series, and we don't want to see any spoilers on social media that might ruin the twists and turns. Seeing as it's a new story, you don't need to play the original Modern Warfare trilogy to understand what's going on, but you might miss out on that nostalgia factor. See where the new MW3 fits in the Call of Duty timeline. Just be sure if you're playing on PC that your rig meets the minimum and recommended specs so you're not left out of the fun. And fun we're bound to have – especially with MW3 multiplayer, as we relive our younger years screaming at each other in lobbies before diving into some classic MW2 maps. You're not here to hear us waffle on, though – read on to see when you can start playing MW3 early access! How to get Modern Warfare 3 campaign early access To play the Modern Warfare 3 campaign early, you'll need to preorder any digital copy of the game. This means you cannot get early access when preordering a physical copy. You'll need to go via the PlayStation Store, Microsoft Store or PC launcher of your choosing if you want to qualify for early access. Also, bear in mind that we're only talking about the campaign here. There is no early access to the multiplayer or Zombies modes, besides the beta periods earlier this year. These will be available on the full release date a week later. When does Modern Warfare 3 early access start? Christmas has come early - you can start playing the Modern Warfare campaign on 2nd November 2023. That's a week before the game's official release date, so you'll have plenty of time to get to grips with Modern Warfare 3's gameplay before playing with friends! Players on PC can preload the early access campaign on 1st November from 4pm GMT, or 9am PT/12pm ET. When is the UK launch time for CoD MW3 campaign early access? The UK launch time for CoD MW3 campaign early access is 5PM GMT 2nd November 2023. If you managed to preload the game on 1st November, you should be ready to get stuck in as soon as you get home from work or school. It would be completely understandable to have called in sick today, too, though we at RadioTimes.com cannot guarantee you won't be met with any disciplinary action. View Green Video on the source website Listen to our One More Life podcast, subscribe to our free newsletter and follow us on Twitter for all the latest gaming intel. Looking for something to watch? Check out our TV Guide or Streaming Guide. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10 – subscribe now and celebrate the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who with a special issue of Radio Times. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
EA FC 24 best formation & custom tactics: Pro player recommendations
Here's a look at the current FC 24 meta formations.
As with previous FIFA releases, if you're looking to get better at EA FC 24, using some of the best formations and best custom tactics will go a long way in helping you move up in Division Rivals or Squad Battles. While we're only a week into the game, an FC 24 meta has already started developing - and to no surprise, fast players are still dominating. Listen to our podcast episode all about FIFA and FC So, what is the best formation to use? RadioTimes.com has once again teamed up with pro coach NealGuides, who runs his own FC school, to help you stop smashing your controllers and start winning. Best Formation in EA FC 24 The best formation in EA FC 24 is the 4-2-3-1, according to FC 24 pro coach NealGuides. This meta staple includes two CDMs, adding some much-needed protection for your back line, while the remaining four attacking players can quickly break forward when you win the ball. Some of the other top formations in the FC 24 meta are also: 4-2-2-2 4-1-2-1-2 4-4-2 3-5-2 You'll notice the above formations all have two strikers. NealGuides noted that some players have been having trouble with one striker, due to players parking the bus. So, if you're having trouble with attacking, we'd also suggest trying out formations with two strikers, such as a 4-2-2-2 or a 4-2-4 instead. While uncommon nowadays in real football, the link-up play between two strikers helps break defenders apart. In the video below, we can see NealGuides using a more traditional 4-4-2. View oEmbed on the source website We'd also recommend trying out a formation with wingers, or at least wide CAMs, over the more narrow formations that worked well in previous games. Through our current experience climbing the Division Rivals ladder, players can easily get overrun in the midfield, and so playing out wide helps give you the breathing room to avoid making unforced errors. Best Custom Tactics in EA FC 24 As we're still early in the meta, the best EA FC 24 custom tactics you should try out are relatively conservative in their approach. "When starting a new FIFA (or new FC in this case) you don’t want to be trying anything extreme," NealGuides said in his video, advising players instead to tinker when they get more comfortable with their play style. So, to begin with, NealGuides recommends the following tactics: Defence Defensive Style: Press After Possession Loss Width: 50 Depth: 40 Attack Build Up Play: Balanced Chance Creation: Forward Runs Width: 50 Players In Box: 7 Corners: 3 Free Kicks: 3 Best Player Instructions in EA FC 24 Your player instructions will depend on the formation, but generally, we'd recommend using the following: GK: Balanced, Balanced LB/RBs: Stack Back While Attacking, Normal Interceptions, Overlap, Stick To Position CBs: Stay Back While Attacking, Normal Interceptions, Stick To Position CDMs: Balanced Defence, Stay Back While Attacking, Normal Interceptions, Cover Centre, Stick To Position CMs: Stay Back While Attacking, Balanced Crossing Runs, Normal Interceptions, Stick To Position, Cover Centre CAMs: Stay Forward, Balanced Crossing Runs, Stick To Position, Normal Interceptions LW/RW/LM/RM: Come Back On Defence, Balanced Width, Get in Behind, Balanced Crossing Runs, Normal Interceptions ST: Stay Central, Get In Behind, Normal Interceptions, Stay Forward The trend here is to ensure your most attacking players are ready to counter with their fast pace and dribbling, while defensive players stay back. This will make sure you don’t overcommit to an attack and leave yourself vulnerable to a counter-attack. EA FC 24: 4-2-3-1 Formation Guide Back again to dominate another year of Ultimate Team, the 4-2-3-1 is a reliable staple that is perfect for the players coming back to EA FC 24 after a few months (or years) off. We really can't overstate the importance of your CDMs here, who will help protect your defence from quick counter-attacks - often the reason new players lose in Division Rivals. Here's the Custom Tactics we'd pick: Defence Defensive Style: Balanced Width: 50 Depth: 40 Attack Build Up Play: Balanced Chance Creation: Forward Runs Width: 50 Players In Box: 7 Corners: 3 Free Kicks: 3 And our Player Instructions: GK: Balanced, Balanced CB: Stay Back While Attacking, Normal Interceptions, Stick To Position LB/RBs: Stack Back While Attacking, Normal Interceptions, Overlap, Stick To Position CDM: Balanced Defence, Stay Back While Attacking, Normal Interceptions, Cover Centre, Stick To Position Wide CAMs: Stay Forward, Get Into Box For Cross, Stick To Position, Normal Interception Central CAM: Balanced Defence Support, Balanced Crossing Runs, Stick To Position, Normal Interception ST: Stay Central, Get In Behind, Normal Interceptions, Stay Forward While it can be tempting to have all three CAMs as Stay Forward and Get Into Box For Cross, we found that having at least one playing more conservatively helps provide some vital coverage for our midfield during turnovers in play. EA FC 24: 4-2-2-2 Formation Guide Over here on RadioTimes.com, one formation we're currently having success with has been the 4-2-2-2. Taking on advice from NealGuides in using two strikers, we’ve been climbing the ranks of Division Rivals and are well on our way to FUT Champs. Our Custom Tactics are as follows: Defence Defensive Style: Balanced Width: 50 Depth: 40 Attack Build Up Play: Fast Build Up Chance Creation: Balanced Width: 50 Players In Box: 7 Corners: 3 Free Kicks: 3 Our Player Instructions are: GK: Balanced, Balanced CB: Stay Back While Attacking, Normal Interceptions, Stick To Position LB/RBs: Stack Back While Attacking, Normal Interceptions, Overlap, Stick To Position CDM: Balanced Defence, Stay Back While Attacking, Normal Interceptions, Cover Centre, Stick To Position CAM: Come Back On Defence, Balanced Crossing Runs, Stick To Position, Normal Interception ST: Stay Central, Get In Behind, Normal Interceptions, Stay Forward Of course, your tactics and formation are only one part of your game plan. You’ll need to pick the right players to complement your tactical set-up. So far, players with high pace and dribbling appear to be controlling the meta, so consider choosing cards with these attributes, and you’ll hopefully start winning in no time! Read more on EA FC 24: EA FC 24 Career Mode Teams - the best teams to manage Best Kits in EA FC 24 - what to wear Cheapest 84, 85, 86, 87 and 88-rated players in EA FC 24 - for your SBCs! EA FC 24 coins - how to make them EA FC 24 evolutions - who and what are they? EA FC 24 PlayStyles - the best ones EA FC 24 RTTK - track the cards How to earn XP in EA FC 24 - the best objectives EA FC 24 soundtrack - full list of songs Listen to our One More Life podcast, subscribe to our free newsletter and follow us on Twitter for all the latest gaming intel. Looking for something to watch? Check out our TV Guide or Streaming Guide. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10, PLUS a £10 John Lewis and Partners voucher delivered to your home – subscribe now. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
EA FC 24 Best Starter Pack: Which nation to choose
When you launch Ultimate Team for the first time in EA FC 24, you’ll immediately face a daunting choice over which nation and starter pack to go for. This will form your initial squad that you’ll take into your first Squad Battles or Division Rivals match, while also being valuable fodder for SBCs later down the line. But with nine different starter packs and nations to choose from, which should you go for to build your Ultimate Team squad? Here’s our advice. Best nation and starter pack in EA FC 24 The best starter pack in EA FC 24’s Ultimate Team mode is Brazil, as they provide the best potential for future SBCs throughout the year. While it may be tempting to go for England in the hope of getting some Premier League players or chemistry links, the likelihood of you keeping any of your first players is pretty low. Instead, we’d suggest filling up your club with players you can then use in SBCs. Even if you don’t spend any money and are choosing a ‘Road to Glory’ route through Ultimate Team, the packs you get via EA FC 24 Season 1 Objectives and Squad Battles will quickly make your starting squad redundant. The reason Brazil is best for this is because they offer a lot of diversity in terms of leagues. English and Italian players, for example, are more concentrated in their own domestic leagues, meaning they will be valuable in only a few select SBCs. Meanwhile, your Brazilian starting squad will cut across a vast array of leagues, saving you precious coins as you won’t need to buy as many players to complete these SBCs. It also helps that there isn’t a domestic Brazilian league in Ultimate Team, further reducing the chance that your players are all from the same league. If you don’t want to start with Brazil, we’d also suggest picking Argentina, the Netherlands or Spain for the same reasons. Best starter pack and nation for top players in EA FC 24 There is an ever-so-slight chance you’ll pack a high-rated player in your Ultimate Team’s starting squad. If you’re playing the numbers game, then France, Germany and Spain have the most players in the top 100 best players. However, the chances of getting any players who you’d want to keep in your squad after a few games remain very low, so don’t be disappointed if you’re aiming for Mbappe and end up with Neal Maupay. Read more on EA FC 24: EA FC 24 Career Mode Teams - the best teams to manage Best Kits in EA FC 24 - what to wear Cheapest 84, 85, 86, 87 and 88-rated players in EA FC 24 - for your SBCs! Is EA FC 24 down - check server status EA FC 24 evolutions - who and what are they? EA FC 24 review - is it better than FIFA 23? EA FC 24 Web App & Companion App - use the Transfer Market on the go! EA Sports FC 24 Ultimate Team - what's changed? EA FC 24 soundtrack - full list of songs EA FC 24 on Switch - could be a big upgrade Subscribe to our free Gaming Newsletter for weekly insights, and follow us on Twitter for all the latest updates. Looking for something to watch? Check out our TV Guide or Streaming Guide. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10, PLUS a £10 John Lewis and Partners voucher delivered to your home – subscribe now. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Marvel Snap best cards: Top 10 must-have heroes & villains
Build a killer deck with kickass characters.
Whether you’re new to the game, or looking for inspiration for a new deck, using some of the best cards in Marvel may help you on the road to Infinite. Just like any card game, one single card isn’t more important than the overall deck set-up, even if Marvel Snap decks only have 12 cards. However, certain cards are certainly more unique, and more useful, than others So, with Marvel Snap Spotlight Cache and Token Swap hopefully making Series 4-5 cards more accessible for players, here’s a look at the best cards to pick up in Marvel Snap. Best cards in Marvel Snap Based on overall usability and flexibility in decks, alongside uniqueness, these are the best cards you should look to pick up in Marvel Snap right now: High Evolutionary Jeff Shang-Chi Galactus Doctor Doom Thanos Sera Wave Killmonger Darkhawk For more info on why we've picked each of those powerful heroes or villains, keep on reading for our proper rundown of the best Marvel Snap cards. High Evolutionary Cost/Power: 4,4 Description: At the start of the game, unlock the potential of your cards with no abilities. Released following Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, High Evolutionary was one of the most anticipated new card releases, due to his unique ability to unlock special abilities for other Snap cards. Many of the cards that gain abilities from High Evolutionary can be acquired pretty early on in Marvel Snap, such as The Thing, Abomination, Hulk, and Cyclops - so if you’re looking for one card to pick up from the Token Shop in the early stages to help you compete, High Evo is definitely one to start with. Works well with: Wasp, Misty Knight, Shocker, Cyclops, The Thing, Abomination, Hulk Jeff Cost/Power: 2,3 Description: You can move this once. Nothing can stop you from moving or playing this to any location. Another Series 5 card, Jeff the Baby Land Shark is high on this list of the best Marvel Snap cards for his versatility. You wouldn’t really want to build a deck specifically for Jeff, but he can easily slot into many decks if you have a free slot. Jeff’s ability means that once played, he can move to any other location, even if it has been locked down by Professor X, Spider-Man, or Storm, for example. So in a pinch, when your opponent thinks they’ve locked down a lane by a couple of points, Jeff can make all the difference. Works well with: Professor X, Storm, Doctor Doom Shang-Chi Cost: 4,3 Description: On Reveal: Destroy all enemy cards at this location that have 9 or more Power Another card that slots into most decks, Shang-Chi is perhaps the most essential card in a Marvel Snap collection. Destroying cards with 9 or more power means he acts as a counter to any decks with particularly beefy cards, working particularly well in Sera Control decks. In fact, just the threat of a Shang-Chi will have an impact on most Marvel Snap players and the overall meta. He’s also only a Series 2 card, so you’ll likely be able to unlock Shang-Chi pretty early on. Works well with: Sera, Knull, Killmonger Galactus Cost: 6,7 Description: On Reveal: If you're winning this location and this is your only card here, destroy all other locations Ah, Galactus. The bane of every Marvel Snap player’s existence for a few months earlier in 2023. Even post-nerf, Galactus is still a pretty powerful card in Marvel Snap, and definitely a fun one to pick up if you can. Galactus decks play around the goal of turning each game into a one-lane battle, often by playing Wave on Turn 3 to allow us to play Galactus on Turn 4. As Galactus is likely to stick around in Series 5 for the foreseeable future, it’s definitely a card to pin in the Token Shop if it comes around. Works well with: Wave, Death, Knull Doctor Doom Cost: 6,5 Description: On Reveal: Add a 4-Power DoomBot to each other location. Even with the nerf to the DoomBots, Doctor Doom is still one of the most popular cards in Marvel Snap, being able to spread 13 Power across all three lanes, regardless of restrictions. Doom isn’t the only 6-Power card you’d want in your deck, but his strengths come through in the versatility, as he is quite hard to counter. He easily fits into High Evolutionary decks, for example. As a Series 3 card, Doom is more attainable than many cards on this list, and definitely one you should consider adding to your decks if you have the space. Works well with: Wave, Storm, Odin, Jubilee Thanos Cost: 6, 10 Description: At the start of the game, shuffle the six Infinity Stones into your deck Like Galactus, Thanos is on this list due to the uniqueness of this ‘Big Bad’ card. With Thanos in your deck, you also gain an additional six cards with the Infinity Stones (each is 1,1) unlocking a host of potential decks for you to try out as part of the separate Thanos meta. While not as popular as he once used to be following a few nerfs to surrounding cards, Thanos is a great card to play around with if you want to try out some different deck archetypes. Works well with: Killmonger, Devil Dinosaur, Death, Carnage, Lockjaw Sera Cost: 5,4 Description: Ongoing: Cards in your hand cost 1 less. (minimum 1) Sera makes this list due to the evergreen popularity of the Sera Control deck, regarded as one of the most consistent decks in Marvel Snap. By reducing the cost of your cards, Sera sets you up for a big Turn 6. With Sera Control, the aim is to give your opponent priority on the final turn, before using the likes of Shang-Chi, Enchantress and Killmonger to turn the tide right at the end. Works well with: Killmonger, Shang-Chi, Enchantress, Bishop Wave Cost: 3,3 Description: On Reveal: All cards cost 4 until the end of next turn. While Wave may have been higher on this list before the nerf to the DeathWave strategy, she is still a required card for many of the top deck archetypes, including some we’ve mentioned above. By turning every card into a 4-cost card, Wave has two benefits. First, she can allow you to play your 6-cost card much earlier (see Galactus), unlocking their benefits earlier in-game, and allowing a second 6-cost play on Turn 6. Second, she acts as a counter to decks that want to play several cards on a certain turn, notably Sera Control’s Turn 6. Works well with: Doctor Doom, Galactus, Knull, Death Killmonger Cost: 3,3 Description: On Reveal: Destroy ALL 1-Cost cards. Like Shang-Chi, Killmonger is a destruction card available in Series 2, so you should be able to unlock him early on in your Marvel Snap career. Alongside being vital to many destroy decks and other popular archetypes, Killmonger hard counters Kazoo decks, one of the more popular starting decks in Marvel Snap. Works well with: Shang-Chi, Carnage, Death, Sera, Knull, Nova Darkhawk Cost: 4,0 Description: Ongoing: +2 Power for each card in your opponent’s deck. And finally, another card that has its own deck archetype – Darkhawk. Darkhawk strategies look to overload your opponent’s deck with more cards (often rocks) to boost your Power, while also frustrating your opponent who has just drawn 3 rocks in a row. We might have been tempted to put Darkhawk higher, but the refusal to drop him to Series 3 is quite the contentious issue in the community... Works well with: Zabu, Rock Slide, Korg, Devil Dinosaur, Mystique View Green Video on the source website Subscribe to our free Gaming Newsletter for weekly insights, and follow us on Twitter for all the latest updates. Looking for something to watch? Check out our TV Guide or Streaming Guide. Try Radio Times magazine today and get 12 issues for only £1 with delivery to your home — subscribe now. 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