“We wanted to avoid players having to restart the whole game, because it’s a very heavy narrative experience,” Larian’s Nick Pechenin said during today’s livestream. “There’s a character you might meet—you will most likely meet—that will allow you reset your class, and reinvest all of the levels.”

And it’s not just about recovering from mistakes in character creation. Support for multiclassing in Baldur’s Gate 3 will enable players to mix up classes pretty much as they like—if you’ve ever wanted to be a berserker-bard, here’s your chance. Multiclass characters can be extremely powerful, but they can also be, well, the opposite of that. Pechenin said support for respeccing gives players an opportunity to be really creative with their builds, because if their cool idea turns out to be not so cool after all (like, say, a berserker-bard), they’ve got an escape hatch.

“In multiclassing, there are a lot of really cool combinations, there are some combinations that don’t quite work, and we want the players to really experiment with what is possible,” Pechenin said. “And respec really helps with that.”

Personally, I don’t think respeccing belongs in Dungeons and Dragons: You put thought into who and what you want to be, and then you carry the consequences of your choices through to the very end, no matter how bitter it might be. But I’m also of the opinion that six classes—fighter, mage, thief, cleric, monk, bard—is more than enough, and frankly I don’t think the monk really needs to be there. I mean, he’s just a fighter who forgot where he left his sword, right? So let’s call it five.

But this is new D&D, I guess, and I have to admit that it’s a little more complicated than it was back when I was following Gorion through the forests outside Candlekeep in 1998.

The question of whether Baldur’s Gate 3 will, or should, allow respeccing has been kicking around amongst fans for quite a long time. This three-year-old Reddit thread, for instance, goes deep on the topic, and while the OP is generally against the idea, there’s real thoughtfulness to their opinion, and in the discussion that followed—which was mostly in favor of a respec option.

“I grew up playing BG1 when it launched WAY back in the day on CDs (so I’ll admit I’m biased),” Maz437 wrote. “In those games, and in tabletop, you play the character you create. There’s no switching half way through to something else, and personally I think BG3 should be the same. My vote is for no respec in the game.

“There is a beautiful simplicity to that decision. Your characters are set in stone, and you truly can get inside the mind of each character you play … If you play as a fighter, you’re going to take different companions with you than if you play as a wizard. If you do an evil playthrough, you’re not going to have Minsc in your squad. By locking the characters you add to the replay value of the game, and that is what always kept me coming back. The game just played so differently if you ran a melee focused party, vs a magic focused party. If you can respec your character and companions during the game, you’ll never experience that.”

Redditor FlamingoBasher countered that point with what I have to admit is a pretty convincing reply. “This isn’t DnD—I find the option to respec in a videogame pretty much a must-have in 2021, especially in a game where a build is so important,” they wrote. “A huge benefit on [Divinity: Original Sin 2] was the respec mirror that you could access early in the game. It encourages builds, playing around with the game, and getting EVERYTHING out of a party composition.

“[Tabletop] is a lot more forgiving and a DM can work around a shitty build with specific encounters, cheering rolls, and other stuff. If I want to tank some stats and make Gale a glass cannon, I should be able to do that.”

Now the matter is settled: You’ll have to put in the effort to find the relevant NPC, but aside from that, respec is in. And, my own reticence notwithstanding, that’s probably a good thing. Baldur’s Gate 3 comes out for PC on August 3.

I don’t think his reputation ever has or will recover from that farrago and, clearly bruised by the experience, Molyneux has been relatively quiet in recent years. The man is a mess of contradictions: he seems genuinely visionary at times, even now, and at others like a huckster. And now he and 22Cans are back but, in a familiar-feeling way, hyping something up without quite being able to back it up.

“So in days gone by, I would just start telling you about the whole game and the whole game design and why it was going to be the most brilliant game in the world,” Molyneux told GameReactor in a new interview. “And people looking at this would then get very annoyed and angry. So I’m not going to do that.”

It seems to me Molyneux has rather missed the point, and things don’t get much better. “I do think, though, we have stumbled, and it feels like stumbling on a mechanic that has never been seen in a game before,” said Molyneux. “I feel like we are exploiting that mechanic in a world and an environment which may be familiar to people. And because it is in a familiar environment, it’ll be a lot fresher. And a lot of this is very mystical because I’m trying to avoid to tell you what it’s like. But it’s going to be a lot more like a kind of Fable / Black and White / Dungeon Keeper kind of experience.”

Ooook. “Never been seen in a game before” is what one might call classic Molyneux, a kind of wibbly-wobbly woo promise that could have something to it or be complete manure. The point is to create excitement without showing anything. Anyone else getting slight deja vu.

Molyneux goes on to say that, unlike many 22Cans titles, the target platform for this game is consoles and PC “mainly because we need the power.” He then goes on to another Molyneux speciality, the combination of excitement and some sort of faux holding-back lest he spilleth the beans.

“Yeah. I mean, I’m so tempted just to tell you about or show you that the pitch video we’ve been showing… But that would be the start of the slippery slope of telling everyone” said Molyneux. There is one interesting tidbit though, which is that he’s rolled up his sleeves for the first time in decades: “The only thing I can say is that, firstly, this game is the first game really that I’ve been a coder on since Black & White. it makes it very special for me. And secondly, it has been evolving and we’ve been exploring ideas about it for almost five years now. So, you know, it’s very, very close to my heart […] Every part of me wants to tell you everything about it. But, you know, that would be silly.”

Hm. The name-dropping of the various Lionhead titles seems just that, because there’s no real link between Fable (humorous action RPG), Dungeon Keeper (isometric base-building game) and Black & White (weird semi-god sim), and the best you could say is that they all have some common link to fantasy archetypes (expressed in very different ways). It comes across more like Molyneux trying to remind people hey, I was involved with some great stuff too.

One other interesting tidbit was Molyneux’s comments on the new trailer for Playground’s Fable, which I loved. Important note: Molyneux was involved from the start with Fable and directed the original game, but didn’t create that world and setting (that would be Dene and Simon Carter).

“I thought the casting of Richard [Ayoade] … I thought the casting of him was perfect, making him obsessed about vegetables was very Fable,” said Molyneux. “Like you, I would have loved to see more gameplay, but I loved when the hero threw the fireball. I loved the sensation of the impact. I thought it was truly promising. So yes, my expectations are high.”

“You know, the thing about Fable is you’ve got to remember, I can remember sitting when we were designing Fable originally and saying, I think we all agreed that Fable would be funny because of what the players does. It’s not funny because it’s got lots of jokes. It actually didn’t have any jokes really, but it was really funny because we allowed the player to react in ridiculous ways, and that ridiculousness still seemed to be there in the trailer.”

So it’s a thumbs up for the new Fable, so far at least, and actually I agree: that trailer had good vibes, and I’d love to see Playground do something truly worthy of Lionhead’s masterpiece (Fable 2, no I will not be taking questions). The series may well have a bright future. As for its onetime helmsman… well, everyone deserves a second chance, but Molyneux’s on his fourth or fifth by now and seems to be repeating some of the same mistakes while saying “I won’t be making those mistakes again.” Fingers crossed 22Cans really does have something decent, because no-one wants to see round two of the Curiosity and Godus nonsense.

Today’s Wordle took some serious thought to work through, as my yellows stayed the same colour for a long while, no matter how much I shuffled them around. Once I’d eliminated where they definitely couldn’t go, things got much easier, even if today’s Wordle answer wasn’t a word I’d normally consider.

Today’s Wordle hint

A Wordle hint for Wednesday, July 5

The answer to today’s Wordle is often confused with poison, and injected into its victims by bites and stings—from a snake’s fangs, for example. There are two vowels to uncover in this word.  

Is there a double letter in today’s Wordle? 

No, there is no double letter in today’s puzzle.  

Wordle help: 3 tips for beating Wordle every day 

Playing Wordle well is like achieving a small victory every day—who doesn’t like a well-earned winning streak in a game you enjoy? If you’re new to the daily word game, or just want a refresher, I’m going to share a few quick tips to help set you on the path to success: 

• You want a balanced mix of unique consonants and vowels in your opening word. 
• A solid second guess helps to narrow down the pool of letters quickly.
• The answer could contain letters more than once.

There’s no time pressure beyond making sure it’s done by the end of the day. If you’re struggling to find the answer or a tactical word for your next guess, there’s no harm in coming back to it later on. 

Today’s Wordle answer

What is the #746 Wordle answer?

Another day, another Wordle win. The answer to the July 5 (746) Wordle is VENOM.

Previous Wordle answers

The last 10 Wordle answers 

Knowing previous Wordle solutions can be helpful in eliminating current possibilities. It’s unlikely a word will be repeated and you can find inspiration for guesses or starting words that may be eluding you. 

Here are some recent Wordle answers:

• July 4: IRATE
• July 3: HOTEL
• July 2: MOSSY
• July 1: BLEEP
• June 30: STRAW
• June 29: DINER
• June 28: TRACT
• June 27: ABOUT
• June 26: GUEST
• June 25: RODEO

Learn more about Wordle

Wordle gives you six rows of five boxes each day, and it’s your job to work out which five-letter word is hiding by eliminating or confirming the letters it contains.

Starting with a strong word like LEASH—something containing multiple vowels, common consonants, and no repeat letters—is a good place to start. Once you hit Enter, the boxes will show you which letters you’ve got right or wrong. If a box turns ⬛️, it means that letter isn’t in the secret word at all. 🟨 means the letter is in the word, but not in that position. 🟩 means you’ve got the right letter in the right spot.

Your second go should compliment the starting word, using another “good” guess to cover any common letters you missed last time while also trying to avoid any letter you now know for a fact isn’t present in today’s answer.  After that, it’s just a case of using what you’ve learned to narrow your guesses down to the right word. You have six tries in total and can only use real words (so no filling the boxes with EEEEE to see if there’s an E). Don’t forget letters can repeat too (ex: BOOKS). 

If you need any further advice feel free to check out our Wordle tips, and if you’d like to find out which words have already been used, you can scroll to the relevant section above.

Originally, Wordle was dreamed up by software engineer Josh Wardle, as a surprise for his partner who loves word games. From there it spread to his family, and finally got released to the public. The word puzzle game has since inspired tons of games like Wordle, refocusing the daily gimmick around music or math or geography. It wasn’t long before Wordle became so popular it was sold to the New York Times for seven figures. Surely it’s only a matter of time before we all solely communicate in tricolor boxes. 

Following the new US proposal to ban the sale of Nvidia’s most advanced AI chips to Chinese businesses, China has announced new controls on the export of various gallium and germanium materials and products. According to Bloomberg, these controls will come into effect on August 1. Companies exporting the metals must apply for licenses and provide information about who they’re selling to and what the metals will be used for.

The reason for the controls are to “safeguard national security and interests” according to a statement released by the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China.

These metals are vital to the manufacturing of semiconductors. Germanium was a critical component of early transistor design before being replaced by silicon, though it’s seeing a resurgence when combined with silicon to produce silicon-germanium alloys. Among other things, it’s also used in the manufacture of high efficiency solar panels, optical fiber, high intensity automobile headlights and the backlights of LCD monitors.

According to Bloomberg, 94% of the world’s gallium production comes from China. Gallium is much more relevant to chip manufacturing, but it’s also an important component of mobile phones, wireless communications products and notably, blue LEDs. 

China is by far the largest producer of both metals, though this position is more about cheaper production costs than the abundance of the metals themselves. Christopher Ecclestone, principle at Hallgarten & Co. told Bloomberg: “When they stop suppressing the price, it suddenly becomes more viable to extract these metals in the West, then China again has an own-goal.”

Though China is not blocking export of the two metals, It remains to be seen what impact this move will have on the wider tech industry. Chip manufacturing is a forward looking process and there will be stockpiles and reserves of important components in case there’s a supply side shock. But these materials are used for more than just chipmaking, and there’s every chance there will be some ripple effects and price hikes on some products in the months ahead.

One thing we can be sure of: this tech war has the potential to escalate a lot further. Advanced technologies including AI, quantum computers and sub 1nm nodes contain secrets that countries do not want to share.

Sludge Life 2

Steam‌ ‌page‌ ‌
Release:‌ June 28
Developer:‌ Terri Vellmann, Doseone
Launch price:‌ ‌$15 |‌ ‌£12.79 |‌ ‌AU$21.95

Chris enjoyed the first Sludge Life, and how couldn’t you? It was a photography and vandalism sim set on a shitty little island surrounded by sludge. This sequel follows the same format, with surrealistic first-person exploration and lots of bizarre interactions with listless NPCs. In Sludge Life 2 you’re tasked with looking for Big Mud—a rapping frog—in the “sprawling” Ciggy City Suites, so sprawling that it even has its own beach (Ciggy Beach!). If Sludge Life 2 is for you, you’re almost certainly sold already, but to make matters better this instalment has double jump and a Portable Launcher, all the better to hurl yourself through the majestic Ciggy Suites with ease. A weird game. Kinda like if Hubert Selby Jr and Todd Solondz collaborated on an Adult Swim cartoon.

Pekoe

Steam‌ ‌page‌ ‌
Release:‌ June 29
Developer:‌ Kitten Cup Studio
Launch price:‌ ‌$14.39 |‌ ‌£12 |‌ ‌AU$21.20

If Sludge Life 2 has too much edge for you, why not offset it with the suffocating cheerful whimsy of Pekoe? It’s a “cat-filled tea-making simulator” that has you running a teahouse. In addition to brewing tea and concocting new and experimental tea combinations, you’ll get to build and kit out your own teahouse. As you meet new townsfolk (all of whom are cats, by the way) you’ll need to work hard to make the kind of tea that best suits their palette. It’s a game about making tea for cats, OK? Incomprehensible that it’s never been done before. Pekoe is in Early Access and will launch into 1.0 in early 2024, and it’ll get new modes, ingredients, recipes and more in the meantime.

SlavicPunk: Oldtimer

Steam‌ ‌page‌ ‌
Release:‌ June 29
Developers:‌ Red Square Games
Launch price:‌ ‌$17.49 |‌ ‌£14 |‌ ‌AU$25.54

Here’s a stylish isometric shooter based on the novels of Polish author Michał Gołkowski. SlavicPunk is a gritty sci-fi affair following the conundrums of Yanus, whose job as a private investigator sees him coming into regular conflict with gangsters and corporate stooges. Thankfully, Yanus knows how to handle a gun. The action looks satisfying, but the studio’s attempts to imagine an Eastern European equivalent to “Blade Runner’s L.A. or Akira’s Neo Tokyo” sounds especially interesting (Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, anymore?). 

Shogun Showdown

Steam‌ ‌page‌ ‌
Release:‌ June 27
Developer:‌ Roboatino
Launch price:‌ ‌$9 |‌ ‌£9 |‌ ‌AU$13.05

Nowadays the words “rogue-like” and “deck-building” in the same sentence makes my eyes glaze over, but Shogun Showdown seems to have found a substantial audience in an utterly saturated market. Launched into Early Access last week, studio Roboatino isn’t afraid to mention Into the Breach, Darkest Dungeon and Slay the Spire on its Steam page, but this game does have some flair of its own, with gorgeously detailed pixel art and atmospheric music. The Early Access period is expected to last a year, while a bunch of new stuff is added including new playable characters, skills, locations and much more. Sure, the genre is saturated, but it’s also very moreish, so this looks like a worthy contender for enthusiasts.

A Long Journey to an Uncertain End

Steam‌ ‌page‌ ‌
Release:‌ June 29
Developer:‌ Crispy Creative
Launch price:‌ $21.24 |‌ ‌£17.84 |‌ ‌AU$31.02

This is a narrative-driven management space opera where you play as a spaceship—not its pilot, not its crew, but the spaceship itself. The problem is, sentient spaceships are frowned upon in this fictional universe (probably would be in this real one, too), so it’s important to have a good, sympathetic crew on your side. As a result, a big part of A Long Journey… is about gathering and coordinating your crew. It would seem sentient spaceships can also have relationships too: “Take any job you can to keep one step ahead of your abusive ex, and keep flying towards freedom,” reads the Steam description. This looks fascinating.