Monday, June 16, 2025

Mario Ambassador Charles Martinet Clarifies He's Still Allowed to Perform Mario's Voice, but Won't Improvise Dialogue — and It's His Choice to Protect 'Integrity' of Nintendo's Iconic Mascot

Charles Martinet, the voice of Mario for almost 30 years, has clarified how he will perform in-character when meeting fans — and the reason why — after confusion sparked on social media following a recent convention appearance.

Now recognised by Nintendo as an official Mario Ambassador, Martinet is beloved for enthusiastically performing his Mario voices when greeting fans in-person. But a recent social media post by YouTuber Ricky Berwick prompted concern that Martinet had been restricted by Nintendo in what he could perform — until Martinet himself spoke up to offer clarification.

Following an appearance by Martinet earlier this month at the Phoenix Fan Fusion 2025 convention, held in Phoenix, Arizona, a social media post by Berwick — who has 6.25 million subscribers on YouTube and 14.1m subscribers on TikTok — claimed the voice acting legend "wasn't even allowed to do the voice of Mario or any of his iconic character's voices" while at the meetup. "It's a f**king shame," Berwick added.

The post caught the internet's attention, as it came just hours after it was revealed that Martinet's former Mushroom Kingdom colleague Samantha Kelly had been replaced as the voice of Princess Peach and Toad, with the actress told of the change by Nintendo on the day Nintendo Switch 2 launch title Mario Kart World launched without her in it.

Nintendo officially retired Martinet back in 2022, though provided the actor with a notable send-off in the form of a farewell video featuring Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto and the promise that Martinet would continue to work with Nintendo as Mario Ambassador going forward. Martinet himself later stated he wasn't really sure what that title bestowed, but has maintained a busy schedule of convention appearances in the years since.

Now, in response to Berwick's post, Martinet has responded to state that the issue in question here was that of him performing improvised dialogue as one of his former Nintendo characters (alongside Mario, Martinet also voiced Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi and others).

"Oh Ricky, I do the voice for every fan I meet," Martinet wrote in response. "I just don't improvise non-Mario phrases or dialogue."

Martinet went on to state that this was his own decision, born out of his own desire not to have Nintendo's character say things that weren't already a part of the company's games.

"That's my choice to be sure," Martinet continued. "I always maintain the integrity of the character. But come and visit me at any Comic Con or fan expo and you'll hear super Mario for sure! #woohoo"

Mario's voice is now provided by Kevin Afghani in all Nintendo video games — or Hollywood's Chris Pratt in the Super Mario Bros. Movie, which next year will get a sequel.

Photo by Isaiah Trickey/FilmMagic. Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social



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The Biggest Trailers of Summer of Gaming

The summer is a great period for games, but also kinda weird when you think about it: it’s a few weeks where we’re all more excited about watching trailers for games, rather than playing them. It’s all for a good reason, of course – the multiple big presentations, once the framework that held up E3, showcase the most exciting new games in development and often reveal new projects for the very first time. They’re our first taste of what we’ll be playing tomorrow and beyond, and so naturally they garner a huge amount of interest.

To see what’s really caught players’ attention, we’ve combed through every video posted to IGN over the last couple of weeks and picked out the 10 most-viewed trailers from the Summer of Gaming. There are some clear standouts, clocking up millions of views, as well as a mix of highly-anticipated returns and brand new surprises. You can see the biggest and best trailers below.

1. Resident Evil Requiem

View count: 2.1 million

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Resident Evil 9 was the big hit of Summer of Gaming 2025. Resi fans have been waiting a long time for this one, with Requiem’s predecessor – Resident Evil Village – having been released back in 2021. And with Ethan Winters’ story now over, the perspective is switching to a new character. This first trailer provides a solid introduction to FBI analyst Grace Ashcroft, and we couldn’t be more excited because it appears she’ll be heading to a bombed-out Raccoon City. While much of the trailer is set in Ashcroft’s office, the final segment goes hard on the dark and gnarly survival horror tone established in Resident Evil 7 – making it clear that developer Capcom is looking to scare us all silly. We can’t wait.

2. Invincible VS

View count: 2.1 million

Prime Video’s animated version of Robert Kirkman’s Invincible comics has proven exceptionally popular, so naturally an Invincible video game has captured the imagination of many gamers this week. Invincible VS is a 3v3 tag fighting game that really does seem to capture the bone-crunching, bloody violence of the TV show – more than clear during the shot where Invincible causes Bulletproof’s head to detonate. While the promise of a city-destroying Invincible vs Omni-Man showdown is enough to sell us on the idea, seeing other characters turn up for the tag-style matches – including Atom Eve and Rex Plode – really has us eager to learn more.

3. Game of Thrones: War for Westeros

View count: 1.5 million

People may grumble about Game of Thrones’ final season to this day, but that doesn’t mean the fantasy series has lost any popularity. That’s proven by the massive number of views on the War for Westeros trailer, which acts as something of a “what if?” scenario. The cinematic trailer sees Jon Snow face off against the Night King in a one-on-one duel, a thrilling event that never happened in the HBO show. As the fight continues, we see other exciting but similarly non-canon moments play out, such as Daenerys and Drogon being shot out of the sky by a huge ballista, and Jaime Lannister fighting in what appears to be a four-way battle between his army, Stark bannermen, the Unsullied, and the White Walkers (the first hint of this being a real-time strategy rather than an action game). The big surprise, though, is seeing Jon killed and turned into a wight. As many in the trailer’s comments have said, this is the big finale season 8 could have been.

4. ILL

View count: 1.3 million

Resident Evil understandably got the most love of any horror reveal this year, but we’re delighted to see the grotesque gameplay trailer for ILL also struck a chord. This terrifying, rusty-looking survival horror is full of some of the freakiest enemies we’ve seen recently, including multi-limbed monstrosities, bobble-headed babies, and zombies with a desperate need to see a dentist. All of them can be torn apart thanks to an "advanced dismemberment system". Despite all that grossness, ILL knows how to crack a good joke: over in the equally engaging SGF trailer, the whole sequence ends with a zombie toddler being kicked in the face and punted into a pile of barrels. A little dark humour to brighten up your Summer of Gaming, there.

5. The Expanse: Osiris Reborn

View count: 1.2 million

RPG experts Owlcat Games is back with a new project, set in the world of The Expanse. But Osiris Reborn is very different from Owlcat’s previous projects – where the studio usually develops isometric RPGs that take inspiration from both games like the original Baldur’s Gate and tabletop adventures, this new Expanse game looks a lot like a modern-day Mass Effect. And considering how long it’s been since we had a good Mass Effect, it’s no wonder the internet has gone wild for this lengthy trailer, which combines exciting cinematics involving flying grenades and face crystals with a healthy gameplay montage demonstrating some good cover-shooting mechanics.

6. 007 First Light

View count: 835,000

IO Interactive’s Bond game was announced years ago, but we finally got to see it in action as part of PlayStation’s State of Play stream. The coolest thing about this trailer is how it treats First Light as if it were a brand new 007 film, introducing us to the new cast playing the likes of M, Q, and – of course – James Bond. Our super spy hero is much younger and greener than we’re used to, but it’s clear that IOI knows everything that’s required for a hit Bond mission. There’s exotic locations, expensive watches, a vintage Aston Martin, and more high-stakes action than the entire Hitman trilogy combined. It seems like IOI really does have a license to thrill.

7. ROG Xbox Ally X

View count: 822,000

New hardware is always going to draw significant interest, and so it's no surprise to see a handheld Xbox among the most-watched trailers. Of course, the ROG Xbox Ally X isn’t quite a true handheld Xbox – this portable PC is developed by Asus rather than Microsoft itself, and is an extension of its existing line of ROG Ally devices. However, it’s still the next step in Microsoft’s “This is an Xbox” project, which aims to allow you to play Xbox games anywhere from your console to your computer, TV, phone, and (presumably, one day) your fridge. And a powerful handheld PC that can directly interface with Xbox Game Pass and the Xbox cloud services is certainly nothing to be sniffed at.

8. Atomic Heart 2

View count: 796,000

The first trailers for the original Atomic Heart were big hits with the IGN audience, but a sequel was never a sure thing – reception of the first game was mixed, and it wasn’t quite the BioShock spiritual successor that the trailers suggested. Nevertheless, Atomic Heart 2 seems to be doing it all over again. This time around things look significantly more expansive; there’s space stations, wall-running, hang-gliding, mechs, and more vehicles, plus what looks like a much more active world with a larger array of characters. It’s all rendered in Atomic Heart’s signature, retro-futuristic Sovietpunk art style, which really is unlike anything else out there. Well, apart from The Cube, a multiplayer game set in the Atomic Heart universe that was also announced at Summer Game Fest this year.

9. Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds

View count: 720,000

You’d think that the only kart racing game anyone would care about in June 2025 would be Mario Kart World, but the latest trailer for Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds has truly popped off. That may be down to Sonic going through what is undoubtedly his most significant popularity spike in many years (no doubt thanks to the movies), but it also helps that this new trailer shows off some exciting guest additions to the character roster: Hatsune Miku, Like a Dragon's Ichiban Kasuga, Persona 5's Joker, and Minecraft's Steve. There’s even Minecraft-themed courses, which hints to even larger ambitions when it comes to cross-dimensional races.

10. Chronicles: Medieval

View count: 708,000

There’s very little gameplay in the trailer for Chronicles: Medieval, but those brief few seconds reveal that we’ll be leading an entire army from horseback. That promises an epic scale, perhaps one similar to that explored by the Mount & Blade series. The CGI cinematic proceeding that glimpse of gameplay showcases the life experiences of a medieval warrior, from simple village life, to forging weapons, to bracing against cavalry charges. If Chronicles: Medieval can capture all that, then all the excitement around this trailer will be well-rewarded.

Honourable Mentions

There are also a few other trailers that demand honourable mentions. Naturally, much-demanded sequels and remakes always do well in trailer showcases, and so it hasn’t been surprising to see both Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater and High on Life 2 clock up over half a million views each. It’s been far too long since we had a new MGS game, and while Delta isn’t a brand new entry, it is at least a shiny remake of arguably the best game in Kojima’s back catalogue. High on Life, meanwhile, was a breakout hit for Squanch Games back in 2022, and clearly people are excited about wielding even weirder weapons with faces in a sequel.

Marvel has also had its fair share of success, but it wasn't ambitious PlayStation 4v4 tag team game Marvel Tokon Fighting Souls that drew in the crowds. Instead it was Deadpool VR and its kinetic, violent action. It really seems like an authentic Deadpool experience, from hacking a guy's head off with a katana and then bowling it at another enemy, to forcing someone’s face into a propeller. And because it’s VR, you know this is all player-controlled stuff rather than canned animations. We can’t wait to see the horrible possibilities.

But returning favourites are perhaps not as exciting as the truly new, and joining MGS, High on Life 2, and Deadpool in the “over half-a-million club” is Blood of the Dawnwalker and Clockwork Revolution. The former is a new RPG from former CD Projekt Red developers, and looks a little like a new take on The Witcher's recipe with bloodthirsty vampires. The latter, meanwhile, is from the RPG longbeards at InXile, and the five-minute-plus trailer dives deep into its steampunk world, roleplaying mechanics, and time-travel systems.

IGN is, of course, not the only place people go to for trailers on the internet. We’ve also taken a look at the official YouTube channels for PlayStation and Xbox, and you’ll see similar stats there. 007 First Light was the big winner at PlayStation, with almost three million views, closely followed by Resident Evil Requiem. ILL and Silent Hill f also pulled in over a million views each, and Gears of War: Reloaded – which marks the series’ arrival on a Sony console for the very first time – saw in excess of half a million views. As for Xbox, the brand new ROG Xbox Ally X handheld PC was the leader with over a million views, while Persona 4 Revival, Super Meat Boy 3D, and Beast of Reincarnation all clocked up hundreds of thousands of views.

But what was your personal favourite trailer of the event? Let us know in the comments, or vote in the poll below.



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Sunday, June 15, 2025

The Best Deals Today: Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Nintendo Switch OLED, and More

Father's Day is almost here, and now is the time to score some last-minute gifts, as well as catch some popular item restocks. We've rounded up the best deals for Saturday, June 14, below, so don't miss out on these limited-time offers.

Save $20 Off Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Premium Edition

Today, you can save $20 off Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Premium Edition, which is normally priced at $99.99. This edition of the game includes both the base game and the upcoming Order of Giants DLC expansion, set to release on September 4. If you've yet to pick up one of the biggest games of 2024, now is the perfect time!

Magic: The Gathering - Final Fantasy Cards Available at Amazon

Magic: The Gathering finally released its Final Fantasy collaboration this week, and this has been a hugely popular set amongst longtime and new fans. If you've never played Magic: The Gathering before, the Final Fantasy collaboration is the perfect time to jump in. The Starter Kit includes everything a beginner needs, and the Play Booster Box is perfect if you're aiming to pull some rare cards.

Nintendo Switch OLED for $249.99

With Nintendo Switch 2 very hard to find, it's no surprise that Nintendo Switch consoles are starting to pop up on sale. Woot this weekend has the Switch OLED - White Edition available for $249.99, which is seriously a great deal. This is the best Nintendo Switch model available, featuring a gorgeous OLED display that captures colors signficantly better than Nintendo Switch. Nintendo has already confirmed multiple Switch games set to release later this year and in 2026, so you can count on new releases to keep your console active.

Dan Da Dan Season 1 Blu-ray for $24.49

Dan Da Dan was one of my favorite anime series of 2024, and the fact that you can take home all of Season 1 for just $24.49 is an absolute steal. Following Momo Ayase and Ken Takakura, Dan Da Dan is a comedic adventure that throws together aliens, spirits, and so much more.

Apple AirPods Pro for $169

Apple's newest AirPods are all on sale and would make a great gift idea for Father's Day, which lands on June 15. Starting with the highest end model, the second generation Apple AirPods Pro wireless noise-canceling earbuds is $169 shipped (normally $240). The next step down, the Apple AirPods 4 with ANC (active noise cancelation) is down to $148 (normally $179). Finally, the value-packed AirPods 4 without ANC drops to $99.99 (normally $129).

LEGO Star Wars Ahsoka Tano’s Duel on Peridea Set for $43.99

This LEGO set takes inspiration from one of the most memorable scenes of Ahsoka, and you can save 20% off this weekend. 382 pieces are included in this set, as are five total minifigures: Ahsoka, Ezra, Thrawn, Morgan, and Night Trooper.

Pre-Order Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter

Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter has officially opened pre-orders at Amazon, with both PS5 and Nintendo Switch copies available for $59.99. If you're unfamiliar with the Trails series, this is a remake of the very first Trails game, making 2025 the perfect time to jump into the series for the very first time. NIS America is set to bring the latest game in the series, The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon, to North America and Europe later this year, which is the first time ever the series will be caught up worldwide.

Donkey Kong Bananza Now Available to Pre-Order at Amazon

For quite a while, Nintendo's first-party games have not been available for purchase at Amazon. That changed yesterday, though, as upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 games like Donkey Kong Bananza finally went live for pre-order. If you've been holding out on pre-ordering one of the biggest Switch 2 games revealed so far, now you have yet another option for retailer.

Darkest Dungeon II for $20.75

Darkest Dungeon II for PlayStation 5 is just $20.75 at Amazon right now. One of the biggest features and upgrades of this game from its predocessor is the token system, which opens up your gameplay in entirely new ways. This game generally retails for $29.99, so this weekend is a great time to pick it up.



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Dying Light: The Beast – Chimeras Explained | IGN First

Our latest exclusive on Dying Light: The Beast during our all-June-long IGN First "cover story" coverage is a video from Dying Light franchise director Tymon Smektala explaining what the Chimeras – aka the twisted, skinless, gigantic boss creatures you'll encounter – are all about.

If you missed our other two exclusives so far this month, we had an exclusive hands-on preview (that included a fight with one of the Chimeras), and we kicked off June with a whopping 30 minutes of gameplay. Take a look at that video below.

Dying Light: The Beast will be released on August 22 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. Stay tuned to IGN all June long for more exclusive coverage.

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN's executive editor of previews and host of both IGN's weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He's a North Jersey guy, so it's "Taylor ham," not "pork roll." Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.



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Xbox’s Next Generation of RPGs Unlock the Absurd Character Choices of Our Dreams

Once BioShock Infinite’s protagonist Booker DeWitt arrives in the floating city of Columbia, the local police set about getting a description of the False Prophet they’ve anticipated for so long. Only trouble is, they’ve spent years whipping the populace into a frenzy of xenophobic fear. And when they speak to eyewitnesses, bigoted terror is all they’re getting back.

We hear on the radio that Booker is either a mixed-race dwarf, or a French man with a missing left eye - no more than four foot and nine inches. And when DeWitt stumbles across a sketch artist putting together a facial composite, the overheard conversation is farcical.

“He was taller than that… slimmer. His eyes were further apart. Bigger than that. Squinty. His hair was… hmm, red and curly? He looked Irish to me. Yes, like that. Oh, he was certainly an anarchist. You can spot them anywhere, you know.”

It’s silly, but it’s one of BioShock Infinite’s subtlest touches - a way for developer Irrational Games to demonstrate how a backward society is undone by its own narrow belief system. And it sprung to mind during this summer’s Xbox Showcase, where Clockwork Revolution finally got an extensive reveal.

BioShock Infinite was the immediate and obvious reference point for a first-person action game dealing in turn-of-the-century Victoriana and time-twisting mechanics. While we’ll be “playing in the mud”, not up in the skies, InXile’s new game depicts a society where power imbalance has led to a powder keg atmosphere. Here, shootouts are fought with old-timey rifles and temporal magic on factory floors. With a flick of your wrist, you can turn a pile of rubble back into a wall, then take cover behind it. It’s all very consistent with our memories of Irrational’s swansong.

There’s even an early scene in which an aristocrat, fizzing with outrage in the lobby of a police station, offers an eyewitness description of a burglary suspect. “Tall… built rather slim,” the lord mutters to a mechanical constable. “Well, muscular. Was very quick, agile. With a moustache. No, larger!”

This time, though, the takeaway is very different. It’s not bigotry that InXile is highlighting, but the flexibility of its character creation tools. Because at its core, Clockwork Revolution isn’t a first-person shooter, but a western RPG in the tradition of Wasteland, The Bard’s Tale and Planescape: Torment - all the games the studio has delivered successors to in the past.

At the outset of a campaign, you can define your background as a Gearsmith who scavenged their way through life, or a Bookwarden who was saved from the orphanage by a wealthy sociologist. You’ll pick from traits with names like Street Stalker and Steam Whisperer, and distribute attribute points to determine your resistance to chemicals or flair for conversation. Your journeys back to the past will send ripples into the future, changing the nature of the city around you - a tantalising prospect for fans of RPG reactivity.

The over-the-top tone actually helps support the RPG systems. It creates room for character decisions that don’t just conform to the greatest hits of the genre.

In fact, despite initial appearances, Clockwork Revolution has less in common with Ken Levine’s opus than it does with The Outer Worlds 2. Obsidian’s upcoming sequel, also featured in this year’s Xbox Games Showcase, is similarly focused on reactive worldbuilding and the many little custom quirks that make up a truly unique player character. As game director Brandon Adler explained during The Outer Worlds 2’s Direct, you’re cast in the role of an Earth Directorate agent - basically a sky marshal. But the game doesn’t lock down your character’s background or personality. You might have joined the Directorate to escape outstanding warrants for crimes you’ve committed. Or you may be a fraud, coasting on a deadly reputation you earned through an accidental killing. You can’t be a Gearsmith, but you can be a Roustabout who fails upwards.

Both games also share a Wizard-of-Oz quality to their art direction, with slightly garish palettes and over-ornate armour designs that look as if they could have been picked out by Jon M. Chu. They don’t scream to be taken terribly seriously - particularly not when, in Clockwork Revolution, a mechanical doll is screaming to “keep your filthy pickers off me”. In each case, that over-the-top tone actually helps support the granular RPG systems. It creates room for character decisions that don’t just conform to the greatest hits of the genre.

For a tangible example of that last point, take a look at Flaws in The Outer Worlds 2. If you take Bad Knees, you’ll move faster throughout the game - but your joints will pop every time you stand up from a crouch, signalling your position to nearby enemies. And if you’re a Kleptomaniac, your character will sometimes nab an item you’re looking at in a shop without warning - leaving you with the task of explaining yourself to the guards. Is that tradeoff worth the better prices you’ll get when selling loot? Only you can decide.

In an unconventional power fantasy, you can choose to be Dumb in Obsidian’s RPG - allowing you not only to embarrass yourself in conversation, but to fix a computer by shoving a tin of hot dogs into the fuse box. This scope for wilfully idiotic decision-making is definitely reflected in Clockwork Revolution, too - as when, in the trailer, the protagonist repeatedly ignores an intimidating shopkeep named Uncle Alfie to talk to his underling Errol instead. A couple of unwise dialogue choices later, poor Errol is splattered across the floor, his head bashed in with a candlestick by his agitated employer. “Brains,” chuckles Alfie. “If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it.”

Scenarios like these are laugh-out-loud surprising - rare in an RPG genre where character and conversation choices are often overfamiliar. More to the point, they simply wouldn’t belong in the more serious universes of Obsidian’s Avowed, or InXile’s Torment: Tides of Numenera. In other words, the absurdity of these settings is helping to keep the genre varied and fresh - and can perhaps even push it forward.

Of course, zaniness is an acquired taste, and there’s a chance these games may overstep into tonal territory that becomes grating rather than gratifying. But the nature of choice-driven RPGs is that their most extreme aspects are optional. Nobody’s forcing you to wield the Spectrum Dance sabre, a musical sword in The Outer Worlds 2 that rewards you with damage bonuses if you can strike enemies on the beat. It’s your choice, and the tone of your experience can be tuned to your tastes.

For now, I’m looking forward to building up a composite of my very own cockney criminal in Clockwork Revolution - with the help of a robot constable who gets suspicious as I pump points into Social skills. “Why do you think they’re so charismatic?” he asks, warily. “Are you sure this wasn’t a jilted lover?”

Jeremy Peel is a freelance journalist and friend to anyone who will look at photos of his dogs. You can follow him on Twitter @jeremy_peel.



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Saturday, June 14, 2025

The Best Deals Today: Magic: The Gathering - Final Fantasy Cards, Apple AirPods Pro 2, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and More

Father's Day is almost here, and now is the time to score some last-minute gifts, as well as catch some popular item restocks. We've rounded up the best deals for Saturday, June 14, below, so don't miss out on these limited-time offers.

Magic: The Gathering - Final Fantasy Cards Available at Amazon

Magic: The Gathering finally released its Final Fantasy collaboration this week, and this has been a hugely popular set amongst longtime and new fans. If you've never played Magic: The Gathering before, the Final Fantasy collaboration is the perfect time to jump in. The Starter Kit includes everything a beginner needs, and the Play Booster Box is perfect if you're aiming to pull some rare cards.

Dan Da Dan Season 1 Blu-ray for $24.49

Dan Da Dan was one of my favorite anime series of 2024, and the fact that you can take home all of Season 1 for just $24.49 is an absolute steal. Following Momo Ayase and Ken Takakura, Dan Da Dan is a comedic adventure that throws together aliens, spirits, and so much more.

Donkey Kong Bananza Now Available to Pre-Order at Amazon

For quite a while, Nintendo's first-party games have not been available for purchase at Amazon. That changed yesterday, though, as upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 games like Donkey Kong Bananza finally went live for pre-order. If you've been holding out on pre-ordering one of the biggest Switch 2 games revealed so far, now you have yet another option for retailer.

Apple AirPods Pro for $169

Apple's newest AirPods are all on sale and would make a great gift idea for Father's Day, which lands on June 15. Starting with the highest end model, the second generation Apple AirPods Pro wireless noise-canceling earbuds is $169 shipped (normally $240). The next step down, the Apple AirPods 4 with ANC (active noise cancelation) is down to $148 (normally $179). Finally, the value-packed AirPods 4 without ANC drops to $99.99 (normally $129).

Pre-Order Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter

Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter has officially opened pre-orders at Amazon, with both PS5 and Nintendo Switch copies available for $59.99. If you're unfamiliar with the Trails series, this is a remake of the very first Trails game, making 2025 the perfect time to jump into the series for the very first time. NIS America is set to bring the latest game in the series, The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon, to North America and Europe later this year, which is the first time ever the series will be caught up worldwide.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 for PS5 Is In-Stock

As one of the most popular games of the year, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has been very hard to find at retailers, especially for PS5 copies. Today, Amazon has put the PS5 copy of the game in-stock, and you can still score a copy at this time. This is the perfect opportunity to pick up a physical copy if you loved the game, and it's also a great time to enter the world of Clair Obscur if you haven't already.

Darkest Dungeon II for $20.75

Darkest Dungeon II for PlayStation 5 is just $20.75 at Amazon right now. One of the biggest features and upgrades of this game from its predocessor is the token system, which opens up your gameplay in entirely new ways. This game generally retails for $29.99, so this weekend is a great time to pick it up.



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Friday, June 13, 2025

Path of Exile: Check out Maxroll’s New PoEPlanner Tool, New & Updated League Starters, and 3.26 Content Update Overview

On June 13th, the new Mercenaries of Trarthus league launches alongside the Secrets of the Atlas Expansion. To help you tackle the new content, Maxroll has released a major update including their new PoEPlanner tool, new and updated league starters, PoB import/export, and much more!

Mercenaries of Trarthus

In the Mercenaries of Trathus Challenge League, players encounter one special Mercenary per zone, each with their own personalities, different skills, items, and builds. You may also find "Infamous" Mercenaries, which are far less common but carry far better items. Mercenaries have a lot of interesting buildcraft implications that we look forward to exploring more after the league launches.

Defeat Mercenaries to gain different rewards based on which option you picked before the duel:

  • Hire
    • Players pay an upfront gold cost before the duel begins
    • Upon defeat, the Mercenary joins the player in combat
    • Freely change their items once they join your team or dismiss them
    • Only one Mercenary can accompany you at a time, with up to 2 more waiting in Town to swap between them
    • Their level is locked to the area level you find them in so frequently upgrading them is recommended
    • Revive fallen Mercenaries in Town for a Gold fee
      • They do not lose items upon death
  • Take Item
    • Select one of the Mercenary’s items to drop on death, including currency items they're holding
    • Mercenaries can spawn with special "Of Trathus" versions of Skill Gems, which are similar to Transfigured Gems
      • These can be selected as a reward
    • "Infamous" Mercenaries may wear special Rares with the "Infamous" item modifier, granting brand new exclusive effects
  • Exile
    • An exiled Mercenaries archetype is blocked from appearing for the next ten encounters
    • Up to two Mercenary attribute types (STR/INT/DEX) can be exiled at once

Learn more about Mercenaries of Trarthus and Secrets of the Atlas with Maxroll’s reveal overview post! Or take a deeper dive by reading the PoE 3.26 patch notes.

Build Guides

Here are all of the new and updated league starters for the 3.26 Mercenaries of Trarthus and Secrets of the Atlas update, straight from the experts at Maxroll.

New League Starters

Volcanic Fissure of Snaking is shaping up to be one of the most popular league starter picks for Mercenaries of Trarthus. Maxroll has 2 guides for this: a Berserker setup from Crouching_Tuna which is focused on speed and damage, plus the Slayer version from Carn that has continuous leech effects.

Zizaran’s new Earthquake Gladiator is a big bonk bleed build. Earthquake’s Aftershocks hit hard, making them perfect for inflicting a large bleed on tankier enemies. Gladiator provides explosions thanks to Gratuitous Violence, and easy defenses through Block scaling nodes like More than Skill.

The new Rolling Magma Mine Saboteur from Goratha is a hot league starter that unleashes bouncing balls of fiery destruction. This build takes advantage of the new Shrapnel Specialist node from Saboteur to push Rolling Magma and your GPU to the max!

The Glacial Cascade Elementalist from Aer0 takes advantage of all the golemancer buffs to bring a personal support squad to any fight. When you position correctly, Glacial Cascade deals immense damage with its final burst.

The Tornado of Elemental Turbulence Inquisitor from Velyna fills the screen with deadly vortexes that sweep across the battlefield. Thanks to the Inquisitor ascendancy, this build leverages both life and energy shield for a comfortable mapping experience.

Updated League Starters

Explosive Arrow Ballista Ignite has long been a league start staple in Path of Exile. You can play it as a tanky Champion from Zizaran, which excels in both Hardcore and Solo Self Found, or take advantage of the Elementalist buffs to play a higher damage version of the build from Palsteron.

Another ignite setup (more focused on the SSF experience) that benefits from the Elementalist buffs is Zizaran’s Wave of Conviction Ignite Elementalist.

Next up, Goratha’s Eviscerate Bleed Gladiator turns the entire screen into explosions of blood and monster guts. This mapping-focused build is all about going fast and clearing screens.

Maxroll’s Necromancer-in-Chief HelmBreaker has updated all 3 of his minion guides. The classic Poison Summon Raging Spirits is still a great choice in 3.26. Alternatively, if you want to go all in on the minion fantasy, use the Chaos Minion Army Necromancer to roleplay as a battlefield commander while your mindless dead kill everything for you. Last up, if you’re feeling a bit more experimental, check out the Poison Ranged Animate Weapons Necromancer build.

Lightning Arrow Deadeye is an incredibly consistent league start choice for players who enjoy bow builds. This setup from Crouching_Tuna gets you off to a strong start and can later be converted into Elemental Hit of the Spectrum.

If melee is more of your style, check out Carn’s Ground Slam of Earthshaking Slayer, a titanic build designed to shatter foes with ease.

Aer0’s Ice Trap Trickster creates icy doughnuts of destruction, trapping monsters within an icy grave. While a bit less tanky than some of the above builds, Ice Trap is easy to get off the ground and frozen enemies can’t fight back.

If you prefer mines to Traps Aer0’s Ice Shot of Penetration Deadeye is a glass cannon screen-clearing machine. Fire a barrage of icy arrows that explode into smaller projectiles, covering your screen in icy explosions.

Another miner on offer is the Exsanguinate Miner Trickster from CptnGarbage. This build leverages all of Trickster's “don’t get hit” energy and combines it with Exsanguinate, a spell that chains through the entire screen in an instant.

Maxroll's PoE Leveling Builds

Breeze through the campaign with leveling guides set up by the Path of Exile racing legend, Havoc616, to get you to maps quickly and easily.

Maxroll Currency Guide Revamp

In addition to the build guide updates, Maxroll is revamping their currency strategies to cut out the fluff and present more of the meta farming options. Check out the Maxroll Currency section, and keep an eye out for more updates to the currency guides in the future.

For example, Crop Rotation Harvest is a strategy for the Harvest League Mechanic where you play a mini-game of buffing your crops to get the most juice out of a single plot!

Maxroll's PoEPlanner

Maxroll’s new PoEPlanner tool is fresh off the presses for 3.26. This tool works very similarly to their popular PoE2Planner tool, allowing Path of Exile players to theorycraft and share builds with ease while also providing a public build database to browse other people's creations.

Getting started is straightforward; you can either select your ascendancy on the left to begin making a planner from scratch or link your Path of Exile account to import a character directly using the large blue button on the right. The gear on the right side is also where you go to save a profile.

The Maxroll PoEPlanner supports a lot of modules, but you don't need to use all of them. If you leave a section blank, it won't be visible when people browse the build. The exception here is required sections like passives, skills, or gear; don't leave these blank!

  1. This is your passive tree; you can set your ascendancy nodes and even create variants. Add Jewels to your tree by left-clicking on the socket.
    • Click the box in the top right to expand.
  2. Give the build a rating: red = bad, green = good.
  3. Write notes about your build. You can use this section to give people tips or explain the nuances of gearing and playing the build.
  4. What is the build good at? Where does it struggle?
  5. Include all of the skills and supports you are using. If you want to show build progression, you can do so by creating additional steps.
  6. Explain the order in which people should use their skills for optimal DPS.
  7. Select a major and minor Pantheon.
  8. Select equipment set(s) here. The PoEPlanner supports multiple equipment sets (created via the edit button on the top right) and stat weights for each set.
  9. What bandit should players use, or is the plan to kill them all?
  10. Link a Lootfilter, or if you want to go above and beyond, link multiple Loot Filters.
  11. Like with the Passive Tree, the Atlas Passive Tree supports multiple variants,
  12. The build's author (hey, that's you!)
  13. Link a build Showcase on Youtube, best practices include clear explanations of the mechanics and showing gameplay.
  14. If there's a related build, link the relevant planner here.
  15. Changed the build? Update everyone with a changelog entry.

Want even more builds? Then check out more builds from the Maxroll Path of Exile team, or browse the Community Builds section to see what other Exiles are cooking up.

Example Builds

Here are a few planners from the Maxroll Path of Exile Team:

More Path of Exile News

PoB Import / Export

In addition to the new tool, Maxroll partnered with the Path of Building team to support importing and exporting directly from this popular community tool. You can see build information, including configuration settings at a glance. You can find this on Maxroll’s PoB page.

PoExchange

C3ntrax has updated the PoExchange tool. The most prominent feature is direct integration to the Maxroll website. This means getting notifications for sales even when you’re browsing build guides or using the planner and seamless switching between PoExchange and the rest of Maxroll.

Written by IGN Staff with the help of the Maxroll Path of Exile Team.



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