“At the beginning of your end step, if a land entered the battlefield under your control
this turn and you control a prime number of lands, create Primo, the
Indivisible, a legendary 0/0 green and blue Fractal creature token,
then put that many +1/+1 counters on it. (2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19,
23, 29, and 31 are prime numbers.)”
Whenever a creature you control with power 4 or greater enters, draw a card.
Does Garruk’s Uprising (and other cards like it) see Primo when it is first created as a 0/0 or do they only see it after the +1/+1 counters are added to it?
It’s been a long road to this point, or maybe it just feels that way. It’s a remarkable thing, you know: we only heard that EA’s next Battlefield would arrive before the ‘end of March 2026’ in May. May…It feels like an age has passed, and in that time, there were all kinds of leaks and rumors; however, the official Battlefield 6 release date is now known to be October 10, 2025.
I get it, Triple-A games are big business, big news, and we’re living through the Internet Age after all. Yet there are several reasons this Battlefield-liker is wary, or perhaps weary, of absorbing a relentless assault of tidbits and whispers. Because let’s not forget, folks, we’re looking ahead to a launch that’s only months away, so brace yourselves.
The Escapist recaps
Battlefield 6 arrives on October 10, 2025, a few days later than rumored.
The BF6 Official Reveal Trailer has had more than 8.5 million views.
A full campaign and extensive multiplayer are included in Battlefield 6.
Battlefield 6 will cost the industry-standard $70, instead of the rumored $80.
Traditional Battlefield classes are confirmed for the game.
Less information is more
The first time I came across Battlefield was in the early 2000s. I was killing time playing an assortment of games, including Football Manager, Pro Evolution Soccer, and a WWII-themed Counter-Strike mode called Day of Defeat. Some of the folks I was playing DoD with also played Desert Combat, a Battlefield 1942 mod released in 2004.
Before that introduction, I knew nothing of the game. That meant finding it felt like uncovering a rare gem, but I couldn’t give it enough hours. I already had my treasure, being committed to taking an English League 2 soccer team to the Champions League, and playing PES Master League with buddies.
Then, in 2010, I found Bad Company 2, again through someone already playing. Knowing nothing about it, I jumped in and had an absolute blast, before spending thousands of hours in both Battlefield 3 and Battlefield 4. Each time, I knew very little about the upcoming title…although my exposure to BF4 news ahead of release was the highest here, I was already playing and engaging on forums with interested parties.
Battlefield 1942, released in 2002. Image credit: JackFrags/YouTube
The price of entry
It’s not that ‘things were better’ then, let’s drop that trite and useless saying. But I can’t help but think the Battlefield 6 run-up is less a clear, insightful path to launch, more a debris-strewn assault of half-truths, controversy, and a drum-up of talking points to divide while the facts are absent.
Aside from the rising cost of Triple-A games – and you can believe I have thoughts on that – some folks have been quick to jump on a rumor that BF6 could cost $80. Thankfully, we now know that the Battlefield 6 price is the industry-standard $70 for the regular edition, and there’s also a $100 Phantom Edition for those so inclined. Not great, but better than paying over the odds, right?
It feels like we’re paying another tax anyway, with our energy and focus. Sure, if you asked me a month ago whether class-locked weapons were core to the next Battlefield, I would have suggested that I thought so. They, infamously, were not a part of the Battlefield 2042 experience; however, we have confirmation that Battlefield 6 classes are back to what we know and love: Assault, Engineer, Recon, Support – as it should be.
So, is worrying about whether I want to invest in a game based on such unconfirmed information (if I can afford it) sensible? I doubt it. That’s not to say I’m not interested in knowing about it, but I’m keen on facts or educated information. What I don’t want to do is pay for Battlefield 6 twice: once for unsubstantiated rumors, with the energy I need to keep up with work, laundry, cooking, and, you know, existing, and then again with my wallet.
One eye open
The official Battlefield 6 multiplayer reveal did not disappoint. Image credit: EA
EA perhaps could have done a better job of getting ducks in a row and releasing steady, and abundantly clear information to help quash false information. To its credit, it did put a copyright claim on the post of a recreated image of the ‘Battlefield Royale’ map, although the horse had already bolted.
Less to EA’s credit, a two-minute Official Reveal Trailer posted on July 24 included absolutely no gameplay footage. It did include a seeming preoccupation with game-engine helicopters crashing or being included in destruction (seven scenes, I believe). What that trailer also did was reach, at the time of writing, over 8.5 million views.
That’s an impressive amount, and it will have got more people thinking about…well, very few specifics. What did we see? Battles? Check. Destruction? Check. Vehicles? Check. Not a lot to go on? Also check.
Even before this, and surely EA knows its BF6 path to release will be picked apart, the official Battlefield account posted on X, casually mentioning an Open Beta. That’s an open beta, which, until then, wasn’t confirmed.
The Battlefield X account also did this as a sub-topic to a post that adds more fuel to the class and weapons debate:
“Open Weapons vs Closed Weapons
Why not both?
Starting at Open Beta players can choose official playlists with Signature Weapons locked to class, or not.”
That was an odd way to announce something, and also to chime in on one of the hot topics that Battlefield fans past (and maybe even future) are keen to know credible information about. At this point, it’s hard to tell if it’s me with only one eye open through fatigue from rumors.
Or if EA has just one eye on its release cake, and the other is oblivious to the all-you-can-eat information buffets in neighbouring yards. Regardless, we’re finally out of the woods with all the Battlefield 6 rumors and speculation; I’ve seen the gameplay, and we’re only a handful of months away from a full release. I just hope the game lives up to expectations, because the wait has me feeling so tired.
Ask The Escapist
Can you pre-order Battlefield 6?
Yes, Battlefield 6 pre-orders are available on the Xbox, PlayStation, and PC platforms for the starting price of $70 for the standard edition and $100 for the Phantom Edition.
Is Battlefield 6 coming?
Yes, the Battlefield 6 release date is confirmed to be October 10, 2025.
Is Battlefield 6 free-to-play?
No, Battlefield 6 isn’t free-to-play; it costs the industry-standard price of $70.
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After over a decade playing hobby board games, I’ve grown a bit tired of the fantasy and sci-fi genres. Sure, I understand the appeal, but I feel like it becomes the default theme when designers and publishers can’t figure out what coat of paint to put on a set of mechanics.
But Junkyard Juggernauts has refreshed this board game trope with a fun melding of the two genres. Players take on the role of young heirs to a throne, skilled not just in magic, but also in the assembly of giant robots called Juggernauts. You must explore the land of Galmenni to take down enemies, complete quests, build up your skills, and eventually take down the evil Warlord. But watch out, because one of your crew will be enticed by the Warlord and may fall to the forces of evil…
Lots of Robot to Love
Let me start off by saying that there is A LOT to Junkyard Juggernauts. The designer, Francisco Ruiz, has obviously put a lot of time and passion into this project. It’s almost like a few different games smashed into one, all covered with a thick coat of solid storytelling. During the hours (yes, plural) that I spent learning how the game worked, I became more and more immersed in the lore of Galmenni and really enjoyed how every element ties together.
The story certainly has vibes of the stories told back on the NES, Genesis, and other older systems, and the pixelated artwork does a tremendous job of enhancing that feeling. You’ll kick things off by building your Juggernaut from parts (cards) that you find in the Junk Pile. There’s a good amount of variety in the cards that will serve as the parts for your Juggernaut, and each has enough detail and unique characteristics so that you feel your build is truly different from other players. I also like how these cards are literally piled, and players can only grab a card they can literally put their finger on. It’s a fun little mechanism that matches what a player is actually doing in-game that you don’t see in many other games of this scope.
Once everyone has drafted their cards, you have to be strategic in the way you put your mech together. You obviously want to get powerful arms to maximize your Attack level, but they can’t be more powerful than the leg that supports them on that side. You also want to try to find parts that match your character’s elemental mastery, whether it be Wind, Water, Fire, or Earth. If you match, that part’s power will be greatly enhanced.
And there’s even more to consider! You see, every card has four features depending on its orientation. They all have both arms and legs that can be added to your machine. They also have an Amplify ability, which can greatly… amplify… how you fight. They also feature potions, which are an integral part of the Dispel-Overpower Contests that can happen during battle. (Yeah, I don’t have the time or space to get into all that…) You’ll only be able to use one feature of a card at a time, so you’ll need to be sure you’re careful in your decision-making.
A World Worth Exploring
Once you’ve got your mighty robot completed, you’ll do your best to dive into the world of Galmenni. The map provides many different options for how you can play your game. Maybe you’ll seek out Quests, which often have you moving to different locations on the map and completing a task, usually with a risk of damage. It will be worth it, though, because you’ll do the game’s version of leveling up, and you’ll have the opportunity to gain specializations that give you more attacking and defensive options. When I first reviewed these in the rulebook, I thought that they might be a useless distraction from the core of the game, but I quickly found myself focused on Quests so that I could make myself more powerful and better prepared for the battles.
But you might call me a coward and instead jump right into the fighting. You have the option to fight Beasts, but you’ll primarily focus on the Junk Golems. These smaller mechs (two arms and one leg) are each aligned with one of the Elements, and they have their own special powers and skills that make them a challenge. They will also vary from game to game, as their parts come from the top of the Power Card deck left over after your own construction.
Battle Bots
Fighting is a huge mechanic of this game, and Ruiz has put a lot of thought into crafting a substantial system. The power in your legs and arms represents that part’s Mettle, and not only is it that part’s Attack or Speed, but it’s also its health. When a part is damaged, it becomes less powerful. It’s important to keep this in mind as you plan how you attack an enemy. Maybe you’ll want to take out a very powerful arm first so that the enemy’s attacks won’t be as powerful. However, maybe it’s a better idea to take out the leg so that it has no Speed. But if you target just one part, you have a chance of your attack missing, so it might be better to just go with a Total Attack and take a little off of each part. You also have to keep in mind the Reaction options that your enemy has which might enable it to diminish your attack power or maybe even avoid it completely. You’ll have Reaction options of your own that you’ll need to use wisely as you plan your defense.
You have the ability to team up with other players when you go into battle, so you’ll want to work together so that you maximize your effectiveness. I think about it like in traditional video game RPGs – you don’t necessarily want every character to attack the same part, but instead to focus on what strengths each Juggernaut has and lean into it. You also don’t want to forget the Amplify abilities that the cards in your hand can provide. These enhancements can be even better if your character or the parts of your Juggernaut match the elemental type of the Amplify card, as you’ll roll dice to determine some benefits you’ll get, like extra Potions, increased Health, and more. And I haven’t even gotten into Charges, which can enhance your Juggernauts or be used in attacks and attached to enemies, putting them at a disadvantage.
I’ve written so much, and yet there’s still so much more to this game. Different locations on the map have unique actions that you can take. Some paths on the map can be perilous and might cause damage as you go through them. There’s a whole Corruption mechanic that works a little like viruses in Pandemic, spreading along paths on the map. You can pick these up and ‘purify’ them for bonuses AND to prevent them from being used by the Warlord at the end of the game in your big final bout.
Oh yeah, the Warlord. There’s a betrayal mechanic in this game, too! After the first Junk Golem is defeated, one of the players is going to find out that they are an Acolyte of the Warlord. After the defeat of the next Junk Golem, the Acolyte is revealed, and the other players will work to discover the Warlord’s Lair while the Acolyte seeks to advance the Warlord’s cause. I didn’t get to play with this mechanic as I only tackled the single player mode, but it sounds like another fun and unique addition to the overall gaming experience.
Mechs Can Be Pretty Complicated
I want to be clear: this game is not for the faint of heart. It took me several hours to learn the rulebook, and I was still CONSTANTLY referring to it, especially during battles and as I visited each city. It took me several hours to play through one solo campaign, and I can imagine it’s a full day experience if you’re taking a four player approach. It’s certainly not going to be everyone’s cup of tea.
But for those looking for more depth to their experiences, or maybe an alternative to some TTRPG gaming, Junkyard Juggernauts is worth considering. It’s got the lore and it’s got the mechanics and systems. The artwork is great, and the components are solid. Even my pre-production copy featured great standees, an inlay for cubes on the main board(!), and high quality materials throughout. The game’s creator has also shown an incredible amount of care in the game. Even as I was playtesting, he reached out about some improvements to the rulebook that he was implementing and asked me for feedback from my experiences.
So if you’re looking for some sci-fi in your fantasy… or maybe some additional structure to your role-playing… perhaps a game with a legacy feel that plays one session at a time…
Then maybe give Junkyard Juggernauts a shot.
Junkyard Juggernauts is in the last few days of its Kickstarter campaign. Check it out!
With Ashes of Creation Alpha 2 Phase 3 finally on the cusp of launch, developer Intrepid Studios has lifted the lid on arguably its most significant features, towns and crates. The highly ambitious MMORPG is about to make its settlements much bigger and more impressive, and is introducing a new in-game representation of goods transportation that will be a key part of player guilds building and managing these towns. To talk through the features, creative director Steven Sharif and director of communications Margaret Krohn are joined by director of design Bill Trost and senior game designer Chris Justo.
As Intrepid continues to hone Ashes of Creation, the step into its next phase of alpha testing makes a major jump forward with the introduction of level-four nodes (the individual regions on each server realm). This will allow players to build full-scale towns to rival even the developer-made equivalents found in many of our best MMORPGs. The livestream starts with discussion about the ongoing improvements Sharif previously mentioned when he announced the Phase 3 delay, including the Anvils starting area, server performance, time-to-kill, and the first-time user experience. The real meat we’re here for begins at the one-hour mark, however.
“This is exciting because we haven’t had an update to node stages in quite some time,” Sharif remarks. The team recently cut one of its planned tiers, ‘metropolis,’ from the settlement progression, meaning that towns are now the penultimate stage before we eventually reach full-scale cities. Right from the start, towns are immediately a huge change from the current villages, as our in-game preview starts outside the towering stone walls of a place named ‘Kal Torhum’ and its imposing main gate.
“Towns are significantly bigger,” Justo says, doubling the size from the two in-world ‘cells’ of villages up to four for towns. When factoring in static, in-node housing, that number could well double again. I’m immediately taken by the scale as the developers ride through the entryway; stone-brick buildings line the cobbled streets, and it strongly reminds me of visiting old medieval towns across the United Kingdom. Sharif has something else in mind, however, calling quick attention to the packs everyone is carrying on their backs.
This is the crate system in action, a fundamental new part of Ashes of Creation that’s a more grounded overhaul of cargo. These boxes range from personal crates to store your own gear to construction crates filled with building materials, and commodity crates that can be taken to ports, other nodes, or into lawless zones as requested to earn rewards. Crates are designed “to make more and more things feel like they are happening in a real world,” Trost explains, although adds that this comes with the caveat of “always favoring gameplay over reality.”
Crates represent resources being physically moved around Verra, and come in various sizes. You’ll be able to transport them on your back as you travel, or put them onto ships or caravans. They’re visible in game, meaning other players can see what you’re carrying, although killing someone to steal their supplies is considered a hostile PvP action and will inflict the same corruption mechanics as any regular instance of troublemaking in Ashes of Creation.
The team are carrying construction crates today, and Justo leads them over to a laboratory in town wrapped in scaffolding and tarps. It’s close to completion of an expansion, and a menu shows that just three crates are required to finish the project. In total, it looks like three different resource types have been delivered already – 100 crates of one, 33 of another, and 64 of the 67 needed from the variant being submitted now. Once everything’s turned in, there’s a short period while the upgrade finishes.
Sharif then opens the node menu and looks through Kal Torhum’s bulletin board, where he can inspect all of the building plots individually. Here you can see the required weekly maintenance costs, along with big upgrade trees for each structure that let you choose how you want to specialize. “We’re going to need a lot more crates,” Trost jokes. You’ll also see smaller ‘node XP’ construction projects that appear automatically around the town, which will provide a bump of experience to the overall node when completed.
Next, we look at a commodity crate, more specifically a ‘Crate of Succulent Fruit.’ This, the tooltip explains, can be delivered to the market commodity vendor in a given node to sell it for gold. With a click, Sharif pulls up a pricing comparison, showing how far away each node is and what it’s currently prepared to pay for the goods in question.
The towns are certainly impressive, offering a level of player-led creativity that outstrips anything seen in the new World of Warcraft housing or FF14’s Island Sanctuary. I’m most reminded of my time building a guild stronghold in Neverwinter, but on an even bigger and bolder scale. There’s still a long, long way to go before Ashes of Creation reaches its full release, but what’s already here makes me eager to see if Intrepid can pull it off.
Ashes of Creation Alpha 2 Phase 3 launches on Tuesday August 26. Taking part in the ongoing alpha requires a key starting at $100, which also includes future beta access, a month of game time, and $15 worth of Ashes of Creation’s in-game marketplace currency, Embers.
In the meantime, the best building games will let you put those construction skills into practice. Want to make sure you’re able to do all that scale justice? Perhaps it’s time to grab the best graphics card for your budget in 2025.
You can follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides. We’ve also got a vibrant community Discord server, where you can chat about this story with members of the team and fellow readers.
Gacha, gacha everywhere. Everything seems to be gacha these days – including the new mech game Mecharishi that came out the other day and has managed to hold my attention for longer than much of this sort of thing does.
One of the longer-term and more successful examples out there at the moment is the popular Honkai Star Rail, which has just announced the arrival of its latest 3.5 update. But when is it, what will it bring, and what news has been released so far?
Honkai: Star Rail Version 3.5 “Before Their Deaths”
When is it out?
HoYoverse has announced that we can expect the version 3.5 update to arrive on August 13th, so less than two weeks away from the time of publication.
This update officially kicks off the second half of the Amphoreus story. Trailblazers will encounter new companions, confront fresh enemies and events, and witness old friends in entirely new forms. Hysilens and Cerydra will also make their long-awaited debut as playable characters, joining players in the next leg of the Amphorean trailblazing expedition.
Version 3.5 introduces two powerful new characters to the team of Trailblazers. The first is Hysilens, commander of the holy city’s knights and a 5-star Physical-Type character following the Path of Nihility. Hysilens excels when paired with characters who specialize in DoT.
The other 5-star Wind-Type character following the Path of Harmony, Imperator Cerydra, is the holder of the Law Coreflame and the initiator of the first Flame-Chase Journey
HSR V3.5 will see the limited 5-star characters Stellaron Hunter Kafka and Silver Wolf return in the first and second halves of the Version 3.5 warp event
Voice actor features
This is an interesting one. Version 3.5 brings a toggle to the in-game audio that allows you to toggle between the original in-game dub and the original licensed voice actors. This is being added to help increase immersion for players.
Honkai Star Rail has so far passed an astonishing 150 million downloads across PC, iOS, and Android. That is a lot of potential income for HoYoverse when you consider it sits beside its other gacha behemoth, Genshin Impact.
You can download the new Honkai Star Rail update on August 13th, and we will update this page with go-live times once they are released.
The Escapist is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more about our Affiliate Policy
If I attack with Jor Kadeen, can I play Embercleave for 5 (-1) before the attack trigger resolves, making them a 4/4 and drawing 1? or do I have to pay the full 6 and play it earlier?
The attacking/blocking phase timings have changed multiple times in my play memory.. so more generally, are creatures considered attacking immediately when they are declared attackers, do their triggers need to resolve first (step change), or something else?
Jor Kadeen, First Goldwarden has a trigger “Whenever Jor Kadeen attacks ..” and Embercleave counts attacking creatures “This spell costs {1} less to cast for each attacking creature you control.” and can be played instantly due to Flash.
Jor Kadeen is also clear in their rulings that their desirable calculation is done once during ability resolution (hooray) “The value of X is determined only once, as the triggered ability resolves. If the number of equipped creatures you control changes after that time, it won’t change the bonus granted.”
August 2, 2025: We’ve added the names of new crops from the Grow a Garden trading and cooking update.
Need a Grow a Garden value list? If you’re wondering if it makes sense to bankrupt yourself by buying that super rare seed you’ve got your eye on, our list of Grow a Garden crop prices should help you out. Though weight, mutation, yield, and growth time all play a part in the value of a fruit, vegetable, or flower, there’s some simple logic to keep in mind.
New to the world of Roblox horticulture? Check out the latest Grow a Garden codes for some free seeds to get you started. Once you’ve established your allotment, take a peek at the Grow a Garden seeds tier list to see what’s worth ditching once your planting space starts to fill up with valuable perennials.
Grow a Garden value list
Below is a complete list of the average selling price of every crop in Grow a Garden you can still obtain as a seed from the shop, seed packs, and time-limited shops and chests:
Crop
Average value
Carrot
22
Strawberry
19
Blueberry
21
Orange Tulip
792
Tomato
35
Corn
44
Daffodil
988
Watermelon
2905
Pumpkin
3,854
Apple
266
Bamboo
3,944
Coconut
2,670
Cactus
3,224
Dragon Fruit
4,566
Mango
6,308
Grape
7,554
Mushroom
142,443
Pepper
7,577
Cacao
10,456
Beanstalk
18,788
Ember Lily
71,533
Sugar Apple
55,658
Burning Bud
79,254
Giant Pinecone
77,143
Maple Apple
83,457
Spiked Mango
TBD
Hinomai
87,112
Soft Sunshine
TBD
Zen Rocks
179,440
Zenflare
TBD
Taro Flower
131,443
Serenity
33,385
Monoblooma
26,404
Elder Strawberry
98,432
Enkaku
TBD
Sakura Bush
TBD
Lucky Bamboo
4233
Dezen
TBD
Grand Tomato
TBD
Tall Asparagus
TBD
Tacofern
TBD
Sugarglaze
TBD
Veinpetal
TBD
Twisted Tangle
TBD
Crown Melon
TBD
Jalapeno
TBD
Artichoke
TBD
Onion
TBD
Note that these Grow a Garden crop values are based on those from the in-game Sell counter and the NPC who runs it. It does not reflect the price you should expect another player to pay when trading.
They reflect the base price of the produce, either observed by us or approximated by adding the increased value that comes with its average weight to its minimum possible value. Check out our Grow a Garden mutation list to factor in mutation multipliers.
Also note that many Grow a Garden seeds produce crops for as long as they’re planted. This makes almost every seed profitable over a long period.
If a crop sells for a price close to the cost of its seed, it likely only produces a single crop before disappearing. This makes their profitability difficult to guarantee unless planted in anticipation of a weather effect, event, or with a tool (like a sprinkler or wand) in mind.
Bored of waiting for your beanstalk to sprout? Take a look at the best Roblox games we’ve found over the years, or the best Minecraft seeds to set up a garden in a similar sandbox game. And if you’re looking for a slightly different take on the horticultural experience, the best farming games could be worth a shot.
Thornbite Staff has “Whenever a creature dies, untap this creature” as one of its equip effects, and Fanatical Firebrand has “T, Sacrifice this creature: It deals 1 damage to any target.”
Since Fanatical Firebrand Tokens would have Haste, would that untap Kiki-Jiki when I sacrifice a token of Fanatical Firebrand, causing it to loop?
If so, would that also work with Bile Urchin, or any creature with a zero-cost “Sacrifice this creature” effect, like Flame-Kin War Scout?
Destiny 2 players have been begging for a shooting range to test their builds ever since the Tribute Hall was removed back in Shadowkeep. Bungie has finally delivered in The Edge of Fate. It doesn’t disappoint either, offering everything you could want from such a feature, allowing you to damage test with your various builds to get just the right damage and rotations.
While impressive, the Shooting Range can be a little overwhelming at first. There’s a lot to it, and learning how to make the most of it all is essential to ensure you’re optimising all the information you can glean from it. However, if you can master it, it will make you an infinitely better player, so it’s well worth understanding. Here’s everything you need to know.
The Escapist recaps
Destiny 2: The Edge of Fate was released on July 15th, 2025.
The expansion kicks off a new saga for the Destiny narrative, called ‘the Fate Saga’.
In Destiny, big damage numbers are what every self-respecting Guardian wants, and the Shooting Range lets you hone that process.
This new feature is excellent for trying new ideas and putting your new builds to the test
The Shooting Range is full of great options, but it can be overwhelming to get your head around all of it.
Rally Flag
This work just as you’d imagine any rally flag might. Image credit: Bungie
The first thing you’ll want to do is rally at the flag found on the right side of the Shooting Range. Doing so will refresh your abilities and give you max ammo for all of your weapons. Using this does not consume any Raid Banners, so feel free to rally as many times as you want.
Prismatic Wellspring
This is your one-stop to activate transcendence. Image credit: Bungie
While rallying resupplies almost everything, it won’t give you Transcendence. For that, you’ll need to stand in the Prismatic Wellspring on the left of the entrance to build up both Darkness and Light energy.
This can be utilized on both Prismatic builds and other subclasses, but the energy will decay rapidly unless you are using Prismatic. After entering Transcendence, you deal 5% more damage, take 20% less damage, gain access to a class-specific grenade, and have significantly increased ability regen.
Self-damaging Laser
In some instances, being low health can activate perks, so using this, you can test those numbers out. Image credit: Bungie
Directly opposite the Flag Rally, you’ll find a self-damaging laser that can be used to lower your health quickly. This is useful for testing the effects of perks or Exotics that are only relevant when you have reduced health, like Heal Clip and Mechaneer’s Tricksleeves.
Enemy Factions
Want to test your build against a specific enemy action? Here’s how you choose that. Image credit: Bungie
To the left of the Shooting Range, you’ll see a board with the symbols of eight different enemy factions. Shooting these symbols will spawn enemies from that faction, allowing you to test out your build against one of the following: Cabal, Dread, Fallen, Hive, Scorn, Taken, Vanguard Training, and Vex.
Notably, the bottom right symbol spawns Target Frames that have infinite health. This is ideal for DPS testing, as they can never die regardless of how much damage you deal. In contrast, most other enemy types have limited health and won’t be much use for figuring out what DPS rotation works best.
Enemy Options
This is excellent for using your build against enemies who actually want to hurt you. Image credit: Bungie
To the right of the Shooting Range, you’ll see a different board with three symbols. Activating these will trigger various effects, with the first symbol resetting your DPS Scoreboard, the second symbol activating enemy behaviour, and the third symbol clearing all combatants from the range.
Combatant Selection
Choosing the right enemy for the right test is important. Image credit: Bungie
There are five large plinths scattered throughout the Shooting Range that can be used to spawn specific types of enemies. To use these, interact with them after choosing any Enemy Faction except for Vanguard Training. For example, you could select Vex and then use these plinths to spawn in Goblins, Minotaurs, or Wyverns.
Not only does this let you test out your build against a range of combatants, but your damage dealt also takes into account each enemy’s unique traits. For example, most bosses take around 30% less damage from weapons, which is accurately reflected in the Shooting Range.
DPS Scoreboards
Knowing how much damage you’re doing is very important when it comes to finding your best builds. Image credit: Bungie
Hanging above the Shooting Range, there is a large scoreboard that tracks damage per second (DPS) and total damage (DMG). This is one of the most important features in this area, as it allows you to test and compare the potency of different builds, weapons, and perks against one another.
Additionally, there are six smaller boards found below the large board. These track DPS and DMG for up to six different Guardians in the Shooting Range. This is convenient for Fireteams looking to test their team damage and the specific impact of various buffs and debuffs that are more team-oriented.
Display Distance on Target
Sometimes distance matters to your damage, so this is a great way to put it to the test. Image credit: Bungie
This panel is found on the far left of the Shooting Range and can be toggled to show how far away an enemy is when you aim at them. The main use for this is for testing PvP weapons, as understanding damage fall-off in the Crucible is essential to becoming a better player.
Single Combatant
This is the panel you’ll want to hit if you want to go against one enemy. Image credit: Bungie
This panel is also found on the left of the Shooting Range, and activating it spawns in a single combatant of your choosing. More specifically, the enemy that spawns will always match the Enemy Faction and Combatant Selection previously set.
Combatant Wave
It’s not all boss damage; at times, you’re likely going to want to see if your build can deal with many enemies. Image credit: Bungie
Found on the right-hand side of the Shooting Range, this panel spawns in a wave of combatants of your choosing. Much like the Single Combatant panel, the enemies that spawn will match the Enemy Faction and Combatant Selection previously set.
Champion Combatant
Champions are always tough, so making sure you can deal with them goes a long way. Image credit: Bungie
This panel is located on the far right of the Shooting Range, and activating it will spawn a Champion based on whatever Enemy Faction is selected. Interacting with this panel multiple times cycles between Barrier, Overload, and Unstoppable Champions, with each faction having access to at least two of these.
More so than anything else, this can be used to figure out exactly what stuns you have access to on a given build. It’s especially handy for figuring out if Anti-Champion artifact mods work with whatever Exotic or weapon you want to use, which isn’t always as obvious as you would think.
Ask The Escapist
Is the Shooting Range free for everyone?
Yes. The Shooting Range is available to all players, whether they have paid for any content or not. It exists in the Tower and is selectable through that menu.
Is this the first Shooting Range in Destiny 2?
Sort of. Back in Season of Oppulance, there was the Tribute Hall, which had some use as a Shooting Range. This is a far more extensive feature now, though.
When will the next expansion launch?
After The Edge of Fate, the next expansion, Renegades, is expected to launch on December 2, 2025.
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Published: Aug 2, 2025 11:32 am