Zenless Zone Zero's big end-of-year update brings multiplayer combat, free Zhao, and the first dual-form Agent

Zenless Zone Zero' is saying goodbye to 2025 with a bang, as update 2.5 gets fully revealed.

Zenless Zone Zero’s latest Special Program has delivered the good news on Version 2.5, To Be Fuel for the Night. This chapter is a big deal for a few reasons, not least of which because it brings an end to Season 2.

To start with, Version 2.5 arrives on December 30, making it the game’s last major update of the year, which also means players are in for some freebies to celebrate the new year.

Of course, the biggest addition in Version 2.5 is Ye Shunguang, the game’s new Agent, who’s a Void Hunter, and also Zenless Zone Zero’s first dual-form Agent. Zhao also becomes a playable Agent as part of this update - two things HoYoverse teased last week at The Game Awards.

Ye Shunguang’s unique attribute is Honed Edge, through which she can enter an Enlightened Mind state. Ye Shunguang’s signature Ether Veil can deliver Honed Edge damage as she applies a vulnerability effect to enemies. She arrives alongside her sidekick, Bangboo Sprout, who keeps with her swordplay theme by calling down flying swords.

Zhao is the other playable Agent as mentioned, an S-Rank Ice Defence legend. Zhao is a fast and nimble attacker who uses her giant greataxe to suppress enemies. Zhao can trigger Ether Veil: Wellspring by using Frostbite she accumulates, which buffs the entire squad.

Narratively, this particular chapter will reveal the fate of Waifei Peninsula. The quest is gonna take the squad deeper into the Lumite Mine ruins, and the new Perception Technique is how you’ll uncover the answers hidden within.

There’s a gameplay component to that, too. Ye Shunguang's Bladeflash Mirage ability will come in handy during the story’s big investigation, which comes with unique rewards, including a new W-Engine.

Version 2.5 is also the one set to give players the first taste of multiplayer combat thought he limited-time Joint Investigation: The Divine Maze event. As part of that, you can have three-Agent squads face off against each other in unique combat challenges.

There’s even more to get excited about in this one. Proxy Outpost lets you create your own Outposts, and join those created by other. This is more of a social feature than anything, though.

HoYoverse is also making a series of updates to Soldier 11, Grace, Soldier 0 – Anby, Ellen, and Burnice, all of whom will see their mechanics updated and their effectiveness boosted. Similar updates are on the way for other Agents, which will arrive in future updates. Shiyu Defense and Deadly Assault has seen some adjustments to the gameplay loop, too.

Finally, HoYoverse is making it easier for players to jump into 2.5’s new story chapter using Advance Screening. Ye Shunguang and Zhao will be available for the entire update’s duration, and reruns in the second half will guarantee another S-Rank.

You’ll be able to pick from Alice, Soldier 0 – Anby, or Astra. Zhao will herself be available as a login bonus alongside 1,000 Polychromes, a new outfit for Jane, and more. If you’re looking to jump in on December 30, don’t do so without having a look at our Zenless Zone Zero codes page to get some freebies.

It’s official: Battlefield 6 is 2025's best-selling game, but Black Ops 7 still managed to be November’s top-seller

2025 will be remembered for many things, but in the ultra-competitive games industry, it’s going to be thought of as the year Battlefield 6 did what many thought couldn’t happen.

Circan’s November 2025 video game sales report has easily been one of the most anticipated. For one, November is always one of the most lucrative for the games industry, but this year in particular has seen several major hits - including new entries in two rival series.

We’re talking, of course, about Battlefield 6, and Black Ops 7 the latest releases in their respective multiplayer shooter series. The decades-old fight to claim the top spot has long been won by Call of Duty, but the latest Battlefield has achieved what many thought was impossible.

Cricana’s report covers spending on video game software, hardware, and accessories in the U.S. November 2025 saw spending fall by 4% compared to November 2024, bringing in a total of $5.9 billion.

Software technically saw growth during the month, but declines in hardware, and accessories were mainly responsible for the drop in overall spending. Black Ops 7 continued Call of Duty’s 18-Year Streak in topping sales in its launch month.

However, this year’s game did not also top the year-to-date charts, something the series has done consistently, and more than any other top-selling game each year - with rare exceptions. Battlefield 6 is firmly in the lead there, cementing its claim as 2025’s best-selling title. Black Ops 7, fittingly, occupies in the #7 spot there.

Separately from the best-selling game title fight, November has actually been one of the worst for the industry in terms of hardware sales. The report notes that the three major platform holders - Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo have all seen their hardware sales decline.

Spending on hardware during November amounted to only $695 million, a massive 27% decline compared to November 2024. According to the report, that’s the worst dollar amount total for any November since 2005, when it comes to hardware specifically. All three current-gen consoles totaled 1.6 million units sold, which Circana also notes is the lowest for any November since 1995.

This all doesn’t bode especially well for the industry. November has always been a key holiday shopping month, but it’s clear the constantly rising console prices - and already high game prices - have had a big impact.

Arc Raiders' latest patch adds two of the most requested features, but kills Cred hoarding

The last major Arc Raiders update of the year has arrived, bringing several big new features to the game, but not without some bad news.

Embark has just rolled out patch 1.7.0 for Arc Raiders players everywhere. This is a significant patch for the extraction shooter for a number of reasons, not least of which because it kicks off a series of events under the Cold Snap banner, which introduces a new conditions to the game’s maps.

Dig deeper into the patch notes, however, and you’ll find even more to get excited about, including features players have been asking for since the game’s first public test.

To start with, today’s update finally adds an option toggle aiming down sights. This is especially relevant for PC players, most of whom play shooters with an ADS toggle, rather than hold. Another often requested feature has been the ability to reset the game’s skill tree.

This is now available for the cost of 2,000 Coins per skill point. It goes without saying that you’re going to need a whole lot of money to reset the entire thing, but it’s a useful option to have when you want to alter your path.

The next change is one that’s going to ruffle a lot of feathers. Arc Raiders now has a soft Cred cap of 800. This is now clearly shown on your Wallet screen, and the developer said the cap is necessary to prevent players from using their accumulated Cred to unlock new Raider Decks immediately after release.

The good news is that this won’t affect the Cred you may already have, but going forward, 800 is the most you can hold at any point. You’ll also notice that Shani has more stuff for you to buy with Cred, in case you want another way to spend what you have.

Patch 1.7.0 also brings a few other additions - and makes some changes - that are worth highlighting. You can now customise your Raider Tool, which likely means we’re going to see Raider Tool cosmetics going forward.

Speaking of items, the Aphelion weapon blueprint has been moved to Stella Montis, so you won’t be able to get it from taking down the Matriarch. The Bettina, and Rattler have both seen some balance changes.

The Bettina’s durability will now degrade a lot slower per shot, making it take 26 magazines to fully deplete durability. The base magazine size has been increased to 22, and the reload time has been cut to 4.5 seconds. Embark says this should make the weapon more viable in PvP, while also allowing it to stand on its own without the need for players bring a secondary weapon.

As for the Rattler, the only change it gets is an increase to its magazine size from 10 to 12. The idea is to make it about as effective as a Stitcher or Kettle at close ranges when it comes to PvP encounters.

And, of course, it wouldn’t be a big Arc Raiders patch without some tweaks to the game’s Arc enemies. This time, the Shredder gets all the love. The menacing unit now moves faster, turns more sharply and doesn’t get knocked back as much when shot.

The Shredder’s head now has more health, too, meaning you won’t be able to shoot it off early and confuse it. In general, the Arc unit should be smarter, especially when navigating narrow spaces. Finally, the Shredder now activates faster upon detecting (and being attacked by) players.

Beyond that, the main menu has seen a few changes to highlight ongoing events, make certain announcements quieter, make it easier to track Raider Quests and more. There’s a lot more in this update, too, such as changes to footstep loudness, several tweaks to loot and the value of certain items, and more besides. You’ll find the full change log on the official website.

Arc Raiders' Cold Snap update brings snow storms to most maps, new events and a new Raider Deck

Arc Raiders has delivered a big new update that's very fittingly on theme, and it's not without new mechanics.

Arc Raiders is kicking off its last major event of the year. The Cold Snap update arrives moments from now, and it’s perhaps the game’s biggest since its momentous launch in late October. We’ve known about the existence of Cold Snap for a while, of course, but we finally have a solid idea about what to expect.

Cold Snap is made up of different components - including new content - that all players have access to.

As the name suggests, of course, Cold Snap introduces the new snowfall Map Condition. As part of this, maps will be covered in snow, thanks to snowstorms sweeping across them. For one, snowfall makes it harder to see enemies, but it also turns all lakes solid.

There’s a new mechanic associated with this, and it’s actually similar to Battlefield 6’s Winter Offensive update. Staying outdoors for too long will cause you to catch frostbite, which slowly drains HP. Embark says you’re going to need to bring more healing items with you on raids, and it doesn’t look like there are firepits that could keep you warm - though staying indoors for a while will help.

Cold Snap arrives alongside limited-time events that will be available until Tuesday, January 13. The snowfall visual update and new frostbite mechanics are available on Dam Battlegrounds, Buried City, Spaceport, and The Blue Gate.

One of the new events is Flickering Flames, which comes with its own progression track of 25 levels. Content is, of course, unlocked using Merits, which are earned from XP in matches. The other event is the Candleberry Banquet Project, which requires you to donate items found on the surface (including Candleberries).

You’ll earn rewards each time, and each stage completed will reveal a new scene on the banquet table. Likewise, there are cosmetic rewards as part of each stage, and you can use it as a source of Merits, too.

While on the subject, the new update also kicks off a new Raider Deck (battle pass). Available from December 26, The Goalie Raider Deck is pretty much what you’d expect. You’ll find several pages of cosmetic and useful items. The new Deck will be available to all players for free.

The highly-anticipated follow-up to Baldur's Gate 3 is more Divinity, but it's not technically Original Sin 3

Larian has returned to tease a grand vision for its next major project, a new Divinity.

Larian Studios has delivered what was arguably the biggest reveal of The Game Awards 2025 showcase. The Hellstone, the mysterious monolith in the desert that’s been generating a lot of speculation in the lead-up to the show was indeed teasing the studio’s next game.

The Belgian developer is returning to the series it created with Divinity, a non-numbered sequel that’s designed for new and veteran players alike. The announcement was entirely cinematic, setting the tone for what looks to be the next big thing in the space.

Larian calls Divinity its most ambitious title ever, with the studio striving for a level of depth and breadth we’ve not seen before. This is the next project from the Baldur’s Gate 3 team, after all, so there’s understandably immense anticipation for it.

Divinity is a standalone RPG, and does not require you to have played Divinity: Original Sin, or Divinity: Original Sin 2. If you did, however, you’re going to find the journey extra special because of the continuity it offers.

“We’re ready to bring everything we’ve done previously into one place,” said founder and game director, Swen Vincke.

“This marks the beginning of something with more breadth, depth, and intimacy than anything we’ve created before. We’ve been building toward this moment ever since we took our fate into our own hands. This is the Divinity we’ve always wanted to make and you're going to have loads of fun with it.”

Beyond that, there’s precious little that’s been revealed for Divinity so far. We don’t know what platforms it’s going to be coming to, nor do we even have a release target. We do know it’s an RPG, so you can very much expect something similar to earlier games in the series, and, of course, Baldur’s Gate 3.

Diablo 4's next expansion is bringing two new classes to the game, one of which you can play right now

Lord of Hatred may finally make good on the Mephisto arc of Diablo 4's campaign, which started in the original game and carried through Vessel of Hatred.

Very much when we expected it, Blizzard has officially revealed Diablo 4’s next major expansion at The Game Awards. Lord of Hatred delivers a new campaign that continues the mainline story, picking up from where Vessel of Hatred left off. Mephisto, the eponymous Lord of Hatred, has seemingly finally escaped imprisonment to rule over Sanctuary.

Lord of Hatred is the second Diablo 4 expansion, and it will be available on PC, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on April 28.

It’s always a big deal when we get a new Diablo expansion, especially for a game as starved of fresh (major) content as Diablo 4 has been. But perhaps the biggest piece of news out of the Lord of Hatred reveal is that the expansion is bringing not one, but two new classes to the game.

The first of which is The Paladin, whereas the second is being kept under wraps. Even more surprising is that The Paladin is playable right now for anyone who pre-purchases the expansion. This is a well-timed shadow drop, especially given that Diablo 4’s latest season has just kicked off.

The expansion adds a new region to the world: Skovos, which is where the events of the new campaign will be taking place. This is the first time Skovos has been in a Diablo game. The region is of major significance to the world and lore of the series, as it is the birthplace of the firstborn, home of Lilith and Inaruis.

Lord of Hatred brings a decent number of major systems to Diablo 4. The endgame is getting a big overhaul, headlined by the new War Plans feature. Through this, you can effectively design your own endgame grind, creating challenges based on the activities you like and earning rewards along the way.

Endgame activities now also feature their own skill trees, which can be progressed through by creating War Plans for your character featuring each activity. The new endgame activity, Echoing Hatred, is something of horde mode where you must defend against unrelenting waves of enemies.

None of that matters without loot, of course, and the upcoming expansion is bringing back the Horadric Cube, and adding set bonuses using the Talisman system. The long-awaited and highly-requested Loot Filter is also coming to the game with the release of the expansion.

Beyond itemisation, each class’ skill tree will grow with new bonus skill variants. In fact, the entire skill system is being reworked for all classes - though details are a little sparse at the moment.

You can also expect the level cap to go up, which is very likely necessary to fit all the new skills and various systems. Blizzard offered a deep dive into the new Paladin class, which you see on the official blog.

No more teasing, Arknights: Endfield finally has a January release date

Arknights: Endfield has been one of the most anticipated free-to-play 3D strategy games on the horizon, and it will be in our hands in the not-too-distant-future.

The Game Awards 2025 ceremony brought us yet more gacha game news, this time a big announcement for Arknights: Endfield. The free-to-play game set in the the universe of Arknights has been in various forms of closed tests for a while, but it finally has a release date.

The game is set to arrive simultaneously across PC, PS5, and mobile (iOS, Android) on January 22, and pre-registrations continue to be open.

Gryphline broke the news on The Game Awards stage alongside a chunky trailer featuring a new OneRepublic song. It actually ends up being a nice tone piece for the world of Arknights, showing a lot of cinematics alongside the music itself.

The developer-publisher also announced that so far, Arknights: Endfield has had over 30 million pre-registrations worldwide since pre-registrations went live. Some players have been able to play early, of course, with the most recent opportunity being Beta Test 2.

If you’ve been following the game’s development, you’ll know that it was pretty clear we’re closer than ever to the official launch. The most recent beta build showed off polished content, with new animations and cutscenes.

We’ve been playing it ourselves, and we think you’re going to agree with our Arknights: Endfield character tier list. You can expect more coverage from us as we get closer to launch, and when the game actually arrives.

Though it might seem like it came out of nowhere, the game is based on the Arknights universe, itself a massive mobile game with over 100 million downloads. Endfield brings a different flavour to that world, with a mix of strategy, exploration and real-time combat, not unlike the many games created by HoYoverse.

You can pre-register yourself on the official website.

Zenless Zone Zero shows off Ye Shunguang gameplay for the first time at The Game Awards, teases the Angels of Delusion faction

You may not come to The Game Awards for HoYoverse news, but the developer decided to surprise Zenless Zone Zero fans anyway and deliver some big news.

Zenless Zone Zero brought some hot new information and a first look at its next major faction as part of The Game Awards 2025 ceremony. As part of the showcase, we got a glimpse of Ye Shunguang and Zhao - two upcoming Agents.

The segment also teased the new Angels of Delusion faction, though details on that are slim.

The gameplay reveal for Ye Shunguang and Zhao was very much the highlight of what was ultimately a smaller segment. Ye Shunguang is Zenless Zone Zero’s first dual-form Agent. She’s a Void Hunter who hails from Yunkui Summit.

Shunguang is a master swordswoman, and she can shift between two different forms. Her combat looks smooth and stylish, with a lot of aerial attacks and fast sword play. Zhao should be familiar to anyone who plays ZZZ. The rabbit Thiren has a bit of a slippery playstyle, quickly weaving across the battlefield to deliver attacks with her greataxe.

Before the trailer ends, we get the Angels of Delusion teaser, which didn’t offer much, but it’s certainly something for us to look forward to in the new year. In case you missed it, Zenless Zone Zero’s latest update - Version 2.4 - is live, having arrived over two weeks ago.

As ever, make sure to check out our updated Zenless Zone Zero codes if you plan to jump in over the next few weeks. Currently, ZZZ V2.4 is expected to run on a slightly truncated five-week schedule, with Version 2.5 now anticipated on December 30.

The time has arrived for another Arc Raiders update, and Embark has certainly delivered. Today’s patch, version 1.6.0, is among the smallest the game has received so far, focusing almost exclusively on disabling map exploits.

Perhaps more important than the patch itself, however, is the announcement the developer made around it.

Starting off with patch 1.6.0, it takes out a particular zipline on Stella Montis, the game’s most recent addition ot the map roster. Some players used said zipline to get out of bounds, something the game has been battling on several of its maps.

On Blue Gate, the patch fixes a collision issue that allowed players to vault through a wall, and fall to their death. The map fixes continue with another on Spaceport Launch Tower, which takes out a gap in collision that players have been able to shoot through.

The last change in this update affects gameplay feel around Arc enemies. Certain materials in the game’s world weren’t blocking their vision - or fire - when they should have, and this has now been fixed.

Alongside today’s patch, Embark also announced that going forward, we’re going to see fewer patches for Arc Raiders. The game has been getting updates almost every Thursday since it launched in late October.

Now that most of the major problems have been fixed, the studio is shifting to a slower patching cadence. Critical fixes will still be issued as soon as they’re developed, but don’t expect a patch each week going forward.

Embark also revealed that patch releases and in-game store rotations will now occur on Tuesdays. You should also expect the next few weeks to be quiet, as members of the team go on holiday breaks.

But, before everyone goes away, the game is going to get one more big update. The last item on Arc Raiders’ roadmap, revealed in early November, is the Cold Snap event. This is on track for Tuesday, bringing some new content alongside a few other fixes.

Battlefield 6's latest update dubbed the game's simultaneously best and worst patch as it runs into all kinds of issues

What's likely going to be the last major Battlefield 6 update of the year has launched with a number of unexpected issues.

There’s been a lot of anticipation for Battlefield 6’s version 1.1.3.0 patch. The patch kicks off the third and final phase of the game’s first season, adding some new holiday-themed content. More the new content itself, the update’s biggest additions are almost entirely gameplay-related.

Unfortunately, for as much as the changes in 1.1.3.0 have been well received, the launch has been marred by a series of technical issues, some of which are a little unusual.

Immediately after patch 1.1.3.0 went live, players on PC started reporting massive stutters that would occur every few seconds. The issue is especially pronounced in Redsec Battle Royale, but much deadlier in traditional multiplayer.

Battlefield Studios quickly acknowledged it, pointing out a workaround that appears to be working for players on Steam. According to those players, going offline on Steam’s friends menu has fixed stuttering for them.

The issue remains for other players on PC, however, and the developer said it’s working on a proper fix.

Perhaps the most disrupting problem the patch has caused is one that prevents players from being able to interact with the game’s menu. Tiles become unresponsive, or outright unselectable when you try to hover near them.

Ironically, the top set of tiles designed to make it easy for players to quickly jump into the new content has been the most affected. Restarting the game sometimes fixes the issue, and some players report that it only happens upon first launch after installing the update.

But Battlefield Studios later clarified that, unsurprisingly, there’s an actual reason behind the bug. Once again, a fix is being investigated, and the developer will offer an update once some progress has been made.

A little further down the list of importance is an issue that stops players from being able to skip tiers within the new Winter Offensive bonus path in the game’s battle pass. BF Studios took out the feature entirely while it works on a fix, so while you can continue making progress in the bonus path, you won’t be able to skip tiers.

This is all a shame to see. Outside of all the problems, the meat of the new update has been almost universally praised. The visibility improvements, and netcode updates have been celebrated. Many players were also happy to see meaningful updates to footstep audio and overall clarity.

It’s also unusual for a Battlefield 6 patch to run into so many issues at launch. The sentiment around 1.1.3.0 so far is that it’s the game’s best and worst update yet. Hopefully those issues will be fixed before the development team breaks for the holidays.

Where Winds Meet already has a staggering amount of content, but that’s not the end of what we can expect. Developer Everstone Studio just revealed a host of new additions coming to the game this month.

It’s clear that the developer is committed to the free-to-play action RPG, and the game’s recent success on Steam, and PlayStation has more than likely solidified the team’s plans for the future of the game.

On the official Where Winds Meet account on Twitter, the developer shared a brief roadmap of some of what we can expect over the course of December. The roadmap is split into the four weeks of the month, covering everything from smaller quests to more larger additions.

The first week started off a little light, with two new Jianghu Legacy Quests: Twelve Years of Feuds, and An Unholy Prophecy. Both quests are currently available in the game.

The biggest addition, of course, is the new Roarding Sands region, which becomes available the same day as the RPG’s global launch on mobile devices during the second week. Roarding Sands arrives December 11, along with a new campaign boss dubbed River Master.

We also expect a new boss, Feng Ruzhi, to be added to the game during the same week, as well as the arrival of the Velvet Shade Sect. Two limited-time activities kick off during the same week, too; The Fortune Beyond Parlor, and The Great Faceologist.

The third and fourth weeks of the month bring us the Scarlet Shock Sword Trial, as well as the new Blazing Gale Dance Hero’s Realm activity. Where Winds meet wraps it all up on December 30 with the Fireworks Festival.

If you just got started in this massive RPG, we have a host of incredibly useful Where Winds Meet guides. Some of the most common questions have been how to join the Silver Needle sect, how to to get Celestial Seize, where to find and unlock Mystic Arts.

The answers to those, and many more, are yours at the link. We recently updated our codes page with new codes, too, so definitely check that out for some in-game freebies.

Tomorrow’s Battlefield 6 patch is the first step towards improving footstep audio, and it might actually fix the settings reset bug

The next major Battlefield 6 patch is nearly upon us, and Battlefield Studios is promising a bounty of changes - including a couple of fixes to some big bugs.

Battlefield 6 is about to receive a new update. Version 1.1.3.0 is set to arrive tomorrow, December 9 to kick off the third and final phase of the game’s first season. Winter Offensive brings some holiday-themed new content to the game, but it’s not the most interesting part of the patch.

That honour goes to a couple of the high-level changes Battlefield Studios has included with the new patch, which range from a major pass on audio to a fix for a particularly annoying bug that’s been seemingly introduced with a recent patch.

Thew new content takes the form of a limited-time version of the game’s Empire State map, which covers it in snow and tweaks its layout slightly. To go along with that there are new limited-time modes for both multiplayer and Redsec’s Gauntlet. The event mode will be available in Conquest, and Domination.

The Ice Climbing Axe is the only new weapon in this drop. The battle pass gets a new Winter Offensive bonus path, just like we’ve seen with previous seasonal stages. This is how you unlock the axe, too.

Easily the most interesting change in this update is the range of improvements to audio across the board. First, footstep audio received a big pass that should make it easier to hear enemy footsteps, easier to locate them, and across different surfaces.

Some of the bugs that caused certain sounds to simply vanish have been fixed. This was especially prevalent in battle royale matches. BF Studios explained in the patch notes that it has adjusted memory priorities for in-game sounds in order to prioritise the most crucial ones. This is not the end of the road on audio, however, as the developer continues to work on making the soundscape more stable and reliable.

Some of those audio changes are the result of recent testing done in Battlefield Labs, which is also responsible for another exciting addition in this latest patch: improvements to hit registration.

While BF6 has had solid and stable netcode, certain situations would sometimes create uncertainty about how you died, and why certain actions seemingly failed to perform at that particular moment.

The focus in this update is to improve the reliability of how actions in close-quarter combat are translated, which includes firing before fully going into ADS, quick aim changes and more.

Speaking of close-range, the patch also brings another pass to soldier visibility to make it easier for enemies to stand out from the background. This is particularly relevant in areas with low contrast, or busy environments with lots of particle and visual effects.

1.1.3.0 also brings yet another set of weapon handling and gunplay tweaks, this time focusing on accuracy issues with first shots. You can also expect more tweaks to attachment behaviour with regards to recoil.

Something else worth highlighting is that vehicle gameplay is getting several smaller tweaks that have to do with how they interact with the world, how their HUDs behave and more. Finally, your settings should no longer be reset after applying an update. BF Studios says there are still some instances where that might happen, but the issue should be fixed for the majority of players.

You can read the full change log on the Battlefield blog.

HoYoverse just hosted a sizeable Honkai: Star Rail Special Program, revealing more than just the game’s next major update. Version 3.8 was the big highlight, of course, with the new release arriving soon, on December 16-17 depending on your server region.

Alongside showing everything coming with this next update, the developer also announced that 3.8 will go on for eight weeks, rather than the usual six. V3.8 is dubbed "Memories are the Prelude to Dreams", and it brings an end to the Amphoreus journey.

The story in "Memories are the Prelude to Dreams" takes place after the final battle of Amphoreus, where Constance "The Dahlia" appears to deliver a twist: the Trailblazer's memories are scattered, with many parts missing.

This final quest revolves around finding them in order to piece together the mystery, and involves a return to Penacony. This memory-hunting adventure is told from the perspective of Firefly, which will also explain how she entered the dreamscape initially and met the squad.

The new playable character is The Dahlia, whose power is linked to the the Remembrance path, which allows her to fabricate memories. Despite taking her powers from the Remembrance, The Dhalia actually follows the Path of Nihility in-game: she’s a 5-Star character who shines in teams dealing Break DMG.

The Dhalia can unleash a Gloomy Zone that causes Toughness Reduction inflicted by allies to trigger Super Break DMG, even before you break your enemies’ Weaknesses. The Dahlia can also invite one teammate to become her Dance Partner, which allows them (and her) to deal additional Super Break DMG each time they attack an enemy. If you trigger her Ultimate after picking a Dance Partner, she applies Type Weaknesses of both partners to enemies.

While The Dahlia is the only new character appearing in this final Amphoreus update, there'll be reruns aplenty, with an unusual third banner phase to make up for the extra long wait for 4.0. Appropriately for her role in the story, Firefly will make her return alongside The Dahlia in Phase 1, while Fugue and Lingsha will both have banner reruns in Phase 2, which is expected on January 7th. A bonus two-week-long Phase 3 will then begin on January 28th, seeing brief reappearances for popular returning characters Aglaea and Sunday, before things (presumably) go back to normal with the new annual update.

Something else to look forward to in 3.8 is The Chrysos Awoo Championship, which invites players to become chimera trainers and compete in team-based battles. The Remnants of Twilight event kicks off with the new patch, too, featuring its own set of challenges. However, HoYoverse have confirmed that there won't be an extra event during Phase 3 — but hopefully that'll give you some time to wrap up the last of the Amphoreus story content, which is longer than the previous four chapters put together.