Shadowraze, a Russian rapper and streamer, was recognized as one of the Top 10 rappers of 2022 by Genius, a website that claims to have the world's largest collection of song lyrics and music knowledge. Shadowraze has gained popularity for his love of the video game Dota 2, releasing several music videos inspired by the game, including ‘astral step,’ which reached the top of the Spotify weekly chart in Russia for two consecutive weeks.

Shadowraze boasts 428.26K monthly listeners on Spotify with “astral step,” the song that incorporates multiple aspects of Dota 2’s Void Spirit such as his spells receiving over 36M plays on the website.

Shadowraze’s affiliation with Dota 2

The Russian rapper has had a long history with Dota 2 releasing multiple tracks related to the game including ‘adaptive strike’, ‘Chronosphere’, ‘psiblades’, ‘juggernaut’, and ‘shadowfiend’ garnering millions of streams.

He also regularly streams his Herald Dota 2 pubs on his Twitch channel: razedoto.

Earlier this year, he was put in the spotlight for reaching the top of the Spotify weekly chart in the Russian region for two weeks in a row with ‘astral step.’ The song had more listens on Spotify in Russia than any other track in February, raking in 972,990 streams in the first week of the month and 969,568 in the week before. Originally released on 29th Oct 2021 on YouTube, the rap has crossed 2.5 million views at the time of writing.

Overall, Shadowraze's combination of musical and gaming talent has helped him establish a dedicated fanbase and earn recognition as one of the top 10 rappers of 2022, according to Genius' rankings.

The top 10 rappers of 2022, as ranked by Genius, are:

1. Kendrick lamar ( 19.5 million views )

2. Kanye west ( 17.5 million views )

3. Juice wrld ( 14.9 million views )

4. Drake ( 14.2 million views )

5. Eminem ( 13.5 million views )

6. YoungBoy Never Broke Again ( 7 million views )

7. Oxxxymiron* ( 6.8 million views )

8. Tyler, the creator ( 5.4 million views )

9. Future ( 5.4 million views )

10. shadowraze ( 5.2 million views )

While some may reel at the idea of Diablo 4 followers, like them or loathe them, the helpful companions have become a staple part of the action RPG game‘s combat. I asked Blizzard what its plans are for aides in Diablo 4, and while they didn’t say too much, it looks like followers may join the roster at some point.

Speaking to lead class designer Adam Z. Jackson in the wake of the Diablo 4 gameplay preview, I asked whether or not the follower system would be more akin to that of Diablo 2 or Diablo 3 – if there was one at all.

For those unaware, in Diablo 2 you would hire followers to descend on the gates of hell with you, but when they were killed you had to rehire them with cold hard cash. A new follower appeared in each zone, meaning some were absolutely better than others.

This evolved in Diablo 3, where instead of hiring mercenaries you acquired three different companions during the story campaign. You had the Scoundrel, Sorceress, and Templar, who represented ranged DPS, tank, and magic user respectively.

In my Diablo 4 adventure I only encountered helpful NPCs who stuck around for a dungeon or two then rode of into the sunset. When I asked Jackson how the game’s follower function will work, they stated “for the launch version of the game we do have some places in the story in particular where you will have certain named NPCs following you and helping you out as you figure out what Lilith is doing in the world.

“We don’t have anything to announce about the Diablo 2-type follower that you hire – we’re sticking it to the campaign for now.” Emphasis on the for now.

With a wry smile they continue “stay tuned, we may have something in the future to announce but no promises.” This immediately prompted a response from dungeon producer Ash Sweetring, who channelled her inner Mr. Burns with an ‘interesting’ hand motion in the background. Now that’s what I call sus.

If any iteration of the follower system makes it into Diablo 4, I would rather it was the Diablo 2-style hired gun instead of omnipresent companions. I liked the vast array of different abilities followers brought to the table in Diablo 2 and would love to see this innovated upon. It opens up yet more space for different builds, as well as awesome demon-slaying ability chains.

For now, though, you may want to read up on the Diablo 4 classes, as it’s them we’ll be playing as primarily. In a separate interview with game director Joe Shely, however, it was implied that this roster may expand – after all, nothing is eternal in Sanctuary.

Torchlight: Infinite has a brand new trailer for its next season, coming in January, that gives a peek at the Blacksail update and the start of a new adventure for the ARPG. From new skill options, new features, to endgame content, January looks packed.

If you've been playing Torchlight: Infinite for a while and you're hungry for some new content, there's more on the way. Expect the new Blacksail story content, where Aemberons eat each other in the Sea of Void, leading to wandering souls trying to rejoin the living. Blacksail gets pulled by these efforts to try to take over even more worlds under the Lord of Void Sea.

In season 2, there will be new skills introduced, as well as something called Hero Relics, that will let you progress and develop your builds with additional loot and loadout slots for additional variety. There's also something called Hero Memories. Every character can equip one Hero Relic, which will give you three slots to fill with Hero Memories. What these memories do is provide affixes related to your specialization. You get to pick which ones are the most helpful for you, and there will be five new main skills when the new season starts. XTD is also adding some new gear.

When it comes to the endgame content, you'll be able to earn loot drops with special affixes, Void Sea Night Flame when you kill monsters in the Netherrealm map. Collect those until you can eventually break some seals to take on the endgame challenges, including the final boss, the Lord of Void Sea himself.

The new update will feature some tech updates and quality of life changes, including the ability to play with controller on PC. Other improvements include better robot optimization, an updated info panel, and even a customizable minimap that you can display as semi-transparent.