Fae Farm and Dauntless developers Phoenix Labs have cut 34 jobs following an internal review. It's a sad end to a busy year for the Canadian studio, who bought their independence back from previous owner Garena in February, and laid off 9 per cent of their workforce in May.
]]>Free-to-play monster whacking game Dauntless chucked itself out of early access with quite a large update about a year back. This year it's got another big update in store called Dauntless Reforged that adds gliders and new hunts and progression systems and more. Phoenix Labs have published a new trailer today to show off the new bits you'll be getting up to when update 1.5.0 launches tomorrow.
]]>Game development is kinda like owning a dog. No, really, hear me out. Kicking off a new game is like your first day with a pup, a boundless ball of excitement and possibilities you can't pull yourself away from. Then, it grows up, and you have to deal with the realities of owning a pet project. You still love it, but bloody hell, it's only gone and tracked mud all over the nice carpet and crashed to desktop again. It takes particular grit to get a mutt through early access.
But free-to-play monster-hunter Dauntless has only gone and done it, becoming a full-grown beast at last and leaving early access with a mighty roar.
]]>The Dauntless weapons roster is what the game lives and dies by (or at least, its inhabitants do); six weapons, all with unique designs, behaviours, focuses, and combos to master. From the Hammer to the Repeaters, from the Chain Blades to the War Pike, our Dauntless weapons guide will walk you through each one in turn, with practical tips and explanations of how each one excels in different situations. We'll also show you the inner workings of Dauntless's damage system, and how to apply stagger, break, and wound damage to further the Slayers' cause.
]]>So you want to hunt the Behemoths in Dauntless and have geared up for just that purpose. But simply having the gear is only half the battle - you'll need to know how to dodge its brutal attacks and when to strike back. We now have a guide for every single variant of Behemoth in Dauntless - from the lowly Gnasher to the terrifying Shrowd.
Those new to hunting Behemoths should brush up on the basics. Head over to our Dauntless guide & tips for more tips and tricks to get you started.
]]>You've slain all the other Behemoths out there, but this Umbral bird is your final test. Its raven-like appearance is intimidating, but you'll likely not know what to expect going into this Threat Level 17 fight. This is not the same as the owl-bears you have fought up until now - this shadowy beast has far more devious tricks up its wing.
Those new to hunting Behemoths should brush up on the basics. Head over to our Dauntless Behemoths guide to find the rest of the bosses, or head back to our Dauntless guide & tips for more tips and tricks.
]]>The second and toughest of the two Radiant Behemoths in Dauntless is a cross between a snake and a praying mantis. But it's not the sickle-like claws you need to be wary of, it's the mystical nonsense that it can fire off at any time, or the prison it can encase you in. It's very easy to get overwhelmed by this nonsense, so read on for some tips for beating this tough boss.
Those new to hunting Behemoths should brush up on the basics. Head over to our Dauntless Behemoths guide to find the rest of the bosses, or head back to our Dauntless guide & tips for more tips and tricks.
]]>You've finally reached Slayer Rank 10 in Dauntless, but the trials have only just begun. The final new Terran Behemoth you'll face is the Koshai - a master of vines, plants, and a savage beast to boot. It'll take a well-prepared party and some knowledge of its attacks to slay this creature.
Those new to hunting Behemoths should brush up on the basics. Head over to our Dauntless Behemoths guide to find the rest of the bosses, or head back to our Dauntless guide & tips for more tips and tricks.
]]>The Pangar in Dauntless is another larger foe that could give newer players a bit of a hard time. It's mostly due to the fact that its Aether Charged mode creates new ice obstacles that can make fighting it that little bit tougher. That said, there are ways to interrupt the most devastating of attacks and take advantage of the situation.
Those new to hunting Behemoths should brush up on the basics. Head over to our Dauntless Behemoths guide to find the rest of the bosses, or head back to our Dauntless guide & tips for more tips and tricks.
]]>This gigantic scarab beetle is likely the first Radiant Behemoth you'll fight in Dauntless. It's a highly defensive creature that uses all kinds of lasers and orbs to prevent you from getting close, but breach its defences and it's a bit of a sitting duck.
Those new to hunting Behemoths should brush up on the basics. Head over to our Dauntless Behemoths guide to find the rest of the bosses, or head back to our Dauntless guide & tips for more tips and tricks.
]]>Of all the challenges you've likely faced in Dauntless so far, the first Umbral behemoth is one of the more unique and irritating. This panther can jump between portals, using momentum to hit extremely hard in some cases. Likely you'll have some issues going up against this giant cat at first, but there are a few tells that should help you on your way to success.
]]>This was the first Behemoth in Dauntless that gave me issues. Not for the fire, or even the burying underground, but some of its regular attacks defy traditional logic in games involving tracking down and slaying big beasts. I did eventually work it out though and below are the main tips and loot tables for the Hellion.
Those new to hunting Behemoths should brush up on the basics. Head over to our Dauntless Behemoths guide to find the rest of the bosses, or head back to our Dauntless guide & tips for more tips and tricks.
]]>The Nayzaga in Dauntless is one of the tougher early Behemoths in the game. The shards they shoot out of their backs are electrically charged and unless you manage them, you'll be overwhelmed by electric balls that shoot out of them after a while. Naturally, you don't want that, so we'll give you the tips you need to beat this boss.
Those new to hunting Behemoths should brush up on the basics. Head over to our Dauntless Behemoths guide to find the rest of the bosses, or head back to our Dauntless guide & tips for more tips and tricks.
]]>Stormclaw is another Behemoth in Dauntless that likes to make things very irritating for you with the power of electricity. It does this by setting up barriers with horns, which you must break if you want to have freedom of movement. It has a bunch of other nasty attacks aside from this, so our guide will go over the strategies and loot you can get for fighting this Behemoth.
Those new to hunting Behemoths should brush up on the basics. Head over to our Dauntless Behemoths guide to find the rest of the bosses, or head back to our Dauntless guide & tips for more tips and tricks.
]]>Dauntless really wants you to be prepared for the upcoming hunts. Not only have they supplied you with a wide variety of different weapons, armour, perks, and lanterns with which to create your builds, but you're also able to use the gatherables you find on each island to craft grenades, potions, and pylons aplenty. Our Dauntless crafting and supplies guide will walk you through the recipes for each different craftable in the game, along with a full list of all crafting reagents and how you can easily gather them in large quantities.
]]>The Skraev in Dauntless is just an ice variant of the Shrike, and the Shrike was already extremely similar to a D&D Owlbear. That makes the Skraev an ice Owlbear. It's even got mostly the same attacks as the original version too, only they're a little chillier, and this Behemoth does have its own loot and a few things to keep on eye out for.
Those new to hunting Behemoths should brush up on the basics. Head over to our Dauntless Behemoths guide to find the rest of the bosses, or head back to our Dauntless guide & tips for more tips and tricks.
]]>There aren't all that many neutral enemies in Dauntless, but the Quillshot does present itself with visual differences depending on its state. It can grow quills which it uses as projectiles. Other than that, there's not a lot to this pig-like Behemoth and it's relatively easy to take down.
Those new to hunting Behemoths should brush up on the basics. Head over to our Dauntless Behemoths guide to find the rest of the bosses, or head back to our Dauntless guide & tips for more tips and tricks.
]]>Let's be honest here. The Shrike from Dauntless is an Owlbear in all but name - that classic Dungeons & Dragons monster, except this one can fly around and create projectiles out of the wind itself. It also presents one of the first Behemoths that uses slightly altered attacks in its enraged form.
Those new to hunting Behemoths should brush up on the basics. Head over to our Dauntless Behemoths guide to find the rest of the bosses, or head back to our Dauntless guide & tips for more tips and tricks.
]]>The Kharabak in Dauntless is a particularly annoying wasp, throwing sickles, darting around, and buzzing. It's by far the toughest of the early Behemoths due in no small part to its speed and seemingly short windows of opportunity to attack it. But it also has a pattern to its attacks and we'll tell you how to exploit this pattern.
Those new to hunting Behemoths should brush up on the basics. Head over to our Dauntless Behemoths guide to find the rest of the bosses, or head back to our Dauntless guide & tips for more tips and tricks.
]]>There are several different things that make up a good build in Dauntless. Weaponry, Armour, Lantern, Cells, Perks, Potions, Grenades... It's a fair amount to juggle at once when you're deciding upon your loadout for your next Behemoth fight. Allow us to lift some of this burden with our Dauntless builds and loadouts guide, where we'll walk you through an early-game and a late-game build for each different type of weapon, complete with tips and explanations of our choices so you can better understand how to put together your own builds in the future.
]]>While nowhere as nimble as the previous Blaze Behemoth, the Charrogg in Dauntless presents you with a different problem: How to manage your space so that you can effectively hit it and just what to do when the beast is using its flamethrowers. It's still not a hard fight, provided you're aware of your surroundings.
Those new to hunting Behemoths should brush up on the basics. Head over to our Dauntless Behemoths guide to find the rest of the bosses, or head back to our Dauntless guide & tips for more tips and tricks.
]]>The Skarn is the first Terra Behemoth that you'll be hunting and it has access to some significant armour. But all that weight makes it very vulnerable to being toppled over, which is a shame for the Skarn, but a blessing for you.
Those new to hunting Behemoths should brush up on the basics. Head over to our Dauntless Behemoths guide to find the rest of the bosses, or head back to our Dauntless guide & tips for more tips and tricks.
]]>The lesser form of this rodent Behemoth is the first thing you'll fight in the game, however there are multiple variants and while they still present only a little bit of a challenge, there are some valuable resources to obtain for taking on the tougher variants.
Those new to hunting Behemoths should brush up on the basics. Head over to our Dauntless Behemoths guide to find the rest of the bosses, or head back to our Dauntless guide & tips for more tips and tricks.
]]>Your first Shock elemental Behemoth is the Drask. This lizard is a bit tougher than the other two you've faced so far and has some rather nasty electrical attacks that can stun you, preventing the use of healing items. While the Lesser Drask is a bit of a pushover, the regular Drask will require preparation.
Those new to hunting Behemoths should brush up on the basics. Head over to our Dauntless Behemoths to find the rest of the bosses, or head back to our Dauntless guide & tips for more tips and tricks.
]]>It's time for the first Frost enemy in the form of Boreus. It's also the first real fight where Aether-Charged actually means a great deal, even in its lesser form. So rather than just hitting it repeatedly and hoping for the best, you can read our little guide to fighting the Boreus to learn exactly what you need to do to kill this Behemoth.
Those new to hunting Behemoths should brush up on the basics. Head over to our Dauntless Behemoths to find the rest of the bosses, or head back to our Dauntless guide & tips for more tips and tricks.
]]>Your first real monster that you have to slay that may give you a few issues is the Embermane. While the Lesser version is more of a tutorial fight than anything else, the older cousins have a few more attacks that you should be aware of, as well as a ton of parts to break for resources.
Those new to hunting Behemoths should brush up on the basics. Head over to our Dauntless Behemoths guide to find the rest of the bosses, or head back to our Dauntless guide & tips for more tips and tricks.
]]>Dauntless may pit players against a variety of punishing and powerful Behemoths as a matter of course, but let's give credit: it supplies us with everything we could possibly need in order to triumph time and time again. Not just weapons and armour, but the diverse selection of Perks and Cells that bestow minor-to-whoppingly-major benefits to the Slayer what wields'em. Our Dauntless Cells & Perks guide will walk you through each of these benefits one at a time, providing exact stats for each Perk and explaining which are the best Cells to equip in the current Dauntless meta.
]]>Dauntless takes a lot of what made Monster Hunter: World so much fun, but reducing the barrier to entry and a little of the complexity. Now out of its Early Access period, more and more players are jumping into the town of Ramsgate to gear up before hunting the monsters.
Those new to hunting monsters will need a little guidance, and who better to do so than our team of experienced monster hunters!
]]>Those Behemoths in Dauntless can get pretty nasty, often one-shotting you from across the map with a sudden charge, or a volley of quills, or some other horrible method. So while it's important to always equip yourself with the best possible weapon for the job, it's important to put just as much thought into the armour you wear and upgrade. Our Dauntless armour guide will walk you through every set, every piece of armour in the game (including Exotics), along with some handy tips and details so you can better decide your attire for the coming hunts.
]]>Lightweight and cartoony free-to-play Monster Hunter-alike Dauntless has made the leap from a long open beta to cross-platform launch today. Releasing simultaneously on PC, Xbox One and PS4 (with a Switch version due later), players are free to use one account to play on all systems, and party up with people on other platforms. For us on PC, the biggest change is Phoenix Labs making the short hop onto the Epic Games Store, where Dauntless fits in quite nicely alongside the similarly styled Fortnite. Below, a launch trailer.
]]>Dauntless, the free-to-play Monster Hunter-alike by Phoenix Labs is due to launch out of open beta next week, finding a new home on the Epic Games Store. On May 21st the game officially launches on PC, making its debut on consoles too. Phoenix Labs are aiming for universal cross-platform play eventually (including Switch and mobile versions later on), with PC and Xbox One players sharing servers first, and PS4 players hopefully coming later once negotiations with Sony are over. Below, the developer's answering some player's questions in the run-up to launch.
]]>Epic Games are getting serious about going head-to-head with Valve with their store, and have the war-chest to prove it. They've just announced a slew of exclusives, including Obsidian's highly anticipated The Outer Worlds, and Remedy's upcoming horror shooter Control. Frogwares's cthulhoid detective mystery The Sinking City will be making its debut on the upstart storefront too. This is on top of Epic's surprise announcement that Quantic Dream's formerly PlayStation-exclusive library is coming to PC via their store. See the list of announced exclusives below.
]]>Dauntless - the free-to-play Monster Hunter-like from Phoenix Labs - is due to permanently migrate to the Epic Store. Previously only available direct from its developers, its old launcher will be retired, and players will be transferred over to Epic's account system, though no date has been announced. Working with Epic has its perks; once it launches on PS4 and Xbox One, it'll offer full cross-platform multiplayer, hopefully ensuring that there'll be plenty of people to play with. You can see the full announcement here, with info on how migration works if you've played before.
]]>"Dauntless is Monster Hunter for people who fear grind", said Edwin Evans-Thirlwell when he wrote about Dauntless last year. Hey! That describes me! After years spent smiling and nodding while people told me about how absorbing Capcom's previous games were, I was confident I'd get sucked into the same dino-trouserfying loop with Monster Hunter: World earlier this year. I was not, and bounced off the game after a few hours spent repeatedly fighting the same beasties in battles that dragged rather than thrilled.
Perhaps I'll have more fun in Dauntless's free open beta, which kicked off last night. It sounds reductive to call it a cartoony, simplified Monster Hunter that nevertheless tries to match it almost note for note - but that's definitely the vibe I'm getting from this trailer.
]]>Behold the Quillshot - a living manifestation of ether, the mystical substance that keeps the flying archipelago of promising Monster Hunter tribute Dauntless [official site] aloft. It's a majestic hybrid of stegosaurus and porcupine, the Quillshot, made up of wayward primal energies that must be freed lest the island beneath us crumble away. It's also a bit of a dick. With Phoenix Lab's Nick Clifford and Ian Tornay distracting the monster from the front, I try to land a few hammer strikes on its sweeping, icicle-covered tail. The Quillshot flops on its side, like a dog asking for a belly rub, and treats me to a fusillade of enormous spines from its rump.
As I limp away, frantically glugging a healing potion, it continues to spew spines in an arc, puncturing the earth all around me. If we're going to fell this beast - or behemoth, to use the game's parlance - we're going to have to read its behaviour a little better, and work as a team.
]]>The owl bear monster at the start of the new Dauntless [official site] trailer reminds other people of Trico from The Last Guardian right? It's not just me? Also when they talk about Ramsgate they mean like a mythical place on the Shattered Isles rather than the place just along the coast from Margate in Kent, yeah? Let's catch up with the alpha gameplay trailer as I try to figure this nonsense out.
]]>Dauntless [official site] plunges you into the Shattered Isles, a broken, albeit beautiful, fantasy world where hulking Behemoths are hunted by adventurers in a quest for glory and most importantly, excellent loot. It’s a third-person, four player co-op action RPG created by former Bioware and Riot devs. Monster Hunter is a key influence here, as the game’s schtick centers on teaming up with a few pals to fight massive creatures. There are hints of Western RPGs mixed in, though, and the combat, replete with dodge rolls, is reminiscent of Dark Souls. It’s still early days for Dauntless, and though I only got to test my blade against two Behemoths, I was able to get a preliminary glimpse of what the game could become as it heads into beta later this year.
]]>As Old Father Time grabs his sickle and prepares to take ailing 2016 around the back of the barn for a big sleep, we're looking to the future. The mewling pup that goes by the name 2017 will come into the world soon and we must prepare ourselves for its arrival. Here at RPS, our preparations come in the form of this enormous preview feature, which contains details on more than a hundred of the exciting games that are coming our way over the next twelve months. 2016 was a good one - in the world of games at least - but, ever the optimists, we're hoping next year will be even better.
]]>I've never got into a Monster Hunter game, but I love the idea of not just fighting enormous beasties, but cooking restorative meals and hanging out around campfires beeforehand. That's what I'm hoping for from Dauntless [official site], a four-player co-op action RPG coming in 2017. There's an announcement trailer below.
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