New World: Aeternum News

Greetings, Adventurers!

Your favorite Expeditions will offer less wait times and even more rewards when Cross-World Expeditions with Improved Group Finder releases on February 7. Through player feedback, the Activity Finder menu, and our matchmaking system, we have taken big steps toward our vision of more accessible instanced modes. We can’t thank our players enough for their patience as we took the time needed to get these cross-world systems in place. Here’s a walkthrough of each new feature, plus details on our new bonus rewards.

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[h2]THE ACTIVITY FINDER[/h2]
First, visit the “Activities” (formerly “Modes”) tab of the in-game Nav Bar. From there, you’ll see a new screen which gathers all of New World’s instanced content in one place for easier access.


[h3]CROSS-WORLD EXPEDITIONS[/h3]
Similar to Outpost Rush, any player from any world within the same region can be matched together to form a new instance. This means significantly less time spent finding groups and more time running Expeditions. You also no longer need to build your own group by hand. These new Activities screens finally allow you to view any Expedition Entrance screen and Lobby Finder from a single list, instead of the Map.


Note: You can still build your own Expedition group, enter Expeditions manually, and use the lobby-based group finder if you prefer.

[h3]HOW TO PLAY CROSS-WORLD EXPEDITIONS[/h3]

If you’re playing solo, or in a group of 4 or less Adventurers, you can enter the cross-world Expedition group finder in one of two ways.

1. Click Random to enter a queue for every Expedition you can currently access. This is the quickest way to find a group and grants a bonus upon completion (2x daily).
   
2. Use the check-boxes on the left of each Expedition to make a specific Expedition list and then click the Queue button. There is no daily bonus for this option, but you’ll have more control over the selected Expedition.
   

[h3]CHOOSE A ROLE[/h3]
Before you can enter the Expedition queue, you’ll need to choose a role. We introduced group roles along with our lobby-based group finder, but they were optional. Now they are mandatory since our Expeditions are designed around the classic trinity of DPS/tank/healer and there is no group leader to enforce this balance in the new system. This means that each Expedition group must consist of 3 DPS, 1 tank, and 1 healer.

Any player who signs up as a tank or healer will receive an additional role bonus when finishing the Expedition. In order to sign up as a tank or healer, you must pass a requirement check. These vary depending on the Expedition.

When entering as a group, all players must choose a role. The role selection screen will display each player’s selection.


[h3]WAIT IN THE QUEUE[/h3]
The queue is similar to 3v3 Arenas, visible from both in-game and the Activity Finder. You won’t be able to accept invites from other modes or enter a different queue, while waiting for a cross-world Expedition. Currently, the only information displayed in the queue is elapsed time—we will add more visibility to the queue status in a future update.


[h3]BUFFS AND BACKFILLS[/h3]
Once inside the Expedition, your random group will receive a 15% damage, healing, and max HP buff to compensate for the lack of familiarity when playing together.

If a group member drops, you won’t be able to send invites from inside a cross-world Expedition. Instead, after the dropped player’s 3 minute re-join grace period ends, the queue system will find the first available backfill. Backfills will always have the same role as the player who left. Players that prefer to avoid backfilling roles can opt-out of joining in-progress Expeditions via the toggle beneath the Queue button.



[h3]DESERTER PENALTY[/h3]
Players that leave the Expedition after 10 minutes without going through a group-voted Abandon will receive the Deserter Penalty. This penalty prevents players from queuing again for 10 minutes (this value may change). To initiate an Abandon Expedition vote, use the “...” menu in the Group HUD, or find the Abandon button on the Map screen of in the “Backfilling...” HUD.

[h3]MUTATED EXPEDITIONS[/h3]

Mutated Expeditions function like normal Expeditions, except for the following differences:

1. Elite (M3) difficulty is not available through the cross-world group finder. The main reason is to keep M3 competitive and maintain highly coordinated team play. You can still use the lobby-based group finder for M3s.
   
2. Anyone placed into a difficulty level lower than what they’ve unlocked will earn a carry bonus upon completion of the Expedition.
   
3. The Random daily bonus is available once daily.
   
4. Entrance criteria and role selection validation are much more stringent.
   

Note: Rise of the Angry Earth is required to experience Mutated Expeditions.

[h2]BONUS REWARDS[/h2]
Keep an eye out for Daily, Role, and Carry bonus rewards at the end of the Expedition. Each one will be added to your inventory upon completion. Note that XP rewards are instantly received when defeating the final boss.

Rewards with daily limits reset at 5 AM local time. For example, if a player earns their second Expedition Bonus Cache at 4:58 AM, they’ll be able to earn another at 5:01 AM. The following values may change based on player feedback.



[h3]NORMAL EXPEDITIONS[/h3]
Expedition Bonus Cache (2x daily)
If player is under Level 65:

• 50% XP of current level - Granted upon Expedition completion
  
• 3 Vials of Azoth
  

If player is Level 65:

• 125 Coin
  
• 2500 Faction Tokens
  

Expedition Role Bonus Cache (2x daily)

• 50 Coin
  
• 500 Faction Tokens
  

[h3]MUTATED EXPEDITIONS[/h3]
Mutator Bonus Cache (1x daily)

• 150 Coin
  
• 10000 Faction Tokens
  

Mutator Role Bonus Cache (1x daily)

• 100 Coin
  
• 1000 Faction Tokens
  

Mutator Carry Bonus Cache (1x daily)

• 100 Coin
  

Thanks for your support and we’ll see you in Aeternum!

Greetings, Adventurers!

Before corruption plagued the ancient structures, citizens of Ebonscale Reach offered tributes for good fortune and blessings. Awaken the ancient dragon spirit once again on February 7 through 20, but watch out. The Corrupted Maiden lurks in the shadows, waiting to snatch blessings from unsuspecting Adventurers. Join Longtable Banquets, Tribute Offerings, and Firework Ceremonies for event-specific rewards like Fortune’s Gift Sacks. How will you celebrate the Year of the Dragon?

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[h2]LONGTABLE BANQUET[/h2]

The Longtable Banquet features a variety of festive cuisine for tribute. First, gather Red Meat from the set of banquet tables in Ebonscale Reach. Next, take your ingredients to the hotpot. Finally, fire up a wok full of boiling red broth and meat to craft a Spicy Hotpot item. Don’t forget to also taste the other culinary delicacies!

• Spicy Hot Pot: Grants +25% Faction Token gain and +15% Gathering yield.
  
• Platter and Pots: Four different attribute raising food.
  
• Roasted Gnufish: Strength +40
  
• Fried Albenaja: Dexterity +40
  
• Smoke Rib Cap with Cabbage and Barley Soup: Constitution +24, Focus +16
  
• Pork Belly Fried Rice: Constitution +24, Intelligence +16
  
• Steamed Ration: A bundle of recovery food.
  
• 3 Hearty Meals
  
• 1 Energizing Hearty Meal
  
• Each dish has a 1-day cooldown.
  

[h2]TRIBUTE OFFERING[/h2]

Ebonscale Tribute Offerings are one of the oldest traditions in Aeternum. Retrieve Heirlooms from the corrupted (2 of the following: Jade Bracelet, Ancient Scroll, and Century Wine) and locate the Tribute Table at 1 of 3 rotating POIs each day:

• Skysong Temple, Elevated Central Path
  
• Serenity Outpost, Upper Deck
  
• Imperial Palace, Waterfall platform
  

Offer both the Heirlooms and a tribute dish to call for the Dragon’s Blessing. Following a successful sacrifice, players will receive 1 Fortune’s Gift Sack. A Corrupted Maiden will then attempt to snatch your blessing. Defeat the boss for a named Dynasty New Year Gear (1 out of 5 Heavy Armor pieces, 675 Gear Score, upgradeable):

• Dragonscale Helmet
  
• Dragonscale Breastplate
  
• Dragonscale Gauntlets
  
• Dragonscale Trousers
  
• Dragonscale Greaves
  

[h2]FIREWORK CEREMONY[/h2]

Celebrate the festivities every evening in the town of Fortune’s Crossing with a firework ceremony.

[h2]FORTUNE’S GIFT SACK GATHERING[/h2]

Players can obtain 1 Fortune’s Gift Sack from the Gift Sack pile and 2 in the tribute daily. Daily rewards reset at 5 AM local time.

• 15 Dark Matter
  
• 1 Pristine Gem
  
• 2 to 3 Dyes
  
• 10 Silk
  
• Gift of Fortune (88 Coins)
  
• 3 Large Dragon Fish
  

Thanks for your support! We’ll see you in Aeternum.

Greetings, Adventurers!

Loot Biasing offers you better drops to complement your current equipment. Join Lead Seasons Designer Patrick Smedley and Systems Designer Blake Philley for a technical overview of how it works, the development process, and more.

[h2]WHAT IS LOOT BIASING?[/h2]
Loot Biasing is a system that gives you more loot geared towards your current character’s equipment. It focuses on two of the biggest pain points for players—Attribute Perks and item type (things like armor weight class of armor and specific weapons).

[h3]GOAL[/h3]

Our primary goal was to reduce bad feeling results. Stuff like “I keep seeing Great Axes but the only weapons I use are an Ice Gauntlet and a Fire Staff” or “how am I supposed to use this new chestpiece? It has Focus on it, but I’m a damage dealer and don’t use any Focus on my character.” Those moments don’t feel great, especially after going through difficult content like Mutators or competitive modes like Arenas and Outpost Rush.

[h3]DEVELOPMENT PROCESS[/h3]

We understood our loot system was great at giving lots of stuff, just not always the items you specifically wanted. So, our implementation focused on removing less desirable options. We made other changes in the past as a guideline. For example, weapons previously had a pretty equal chance to drop with any Attribute Perk, even ones that wouldn’t be useful for their scaling. We couldn’t really do that in practice for all loot in the game, but it was a helpful starting point.

[h3]HOW IT WORKS[/h3]

Loot biasing focuses the odds of certain item types from your potential drops. For instance, if an AI out in the world can drop any weapon from a bucketed source (a type of generic ‘container’ that we can attach to a loot roll so that there are lots of potential options when you get loot from a specific source) then loot biasing comes in and actually removes certain entries from that bucket. Let’s say you have a Great Axe and a War Hammer equipped, then that bucket of potential weapons becomes weighted towards Great Axes and War Hammers.

[h3]BALANCE[/h3]

It’s a complex balancing act since our loot is managed in so many different ways. We’ve come at it with a mindset of trying to focus our loot better, especially around more competitive content. There’s a generic chance for loot biasing to kick in whenever you get loot, but we usually either increase that rate or flat out guarantee it for some content like PvP modes.

We’re making an educated assumption, but I think it’s a pretty safe one, since we’re assuming that you go into PvP content with your favorite gear. We’re trying to give you more of that loot type so you don’t feel like your loot is bad when you see a bunch of Bows on a Void Gauntlet/Life Staff character. There’s definitely still work to do here, and some of the loot biasing rates might have room for further improvement. We’re keeping an eye on how it feels for all of our players.

[h3]CHALLENGES[/h3]

The system isn’t perfect by any means. Named items cause a lot of potential issues, because many AI are setup to only have a few. Because biasing only allows certain types of equipment to drop, you might land a roll to get a named item or Artifact and not get it because you were farming for Featherweight with a Medium chestpiece on. We had to prevent Named Items and Artifacts from factoring into the system at all since they’re more unique cases than standard loot.

[h3]THE IMPACT FOR NEW, RETURNING, AND CURRENT PLAYERS[/h3]

We wanted to help preserve the broader swathe of loot for newer players so they have more opportunities to experiment with different items. Running around the world and finding a new type of weapon is pretty fun, but we tune up the loot biasing odds for higher level players. Generally we assume that higher level players, it’s more pronounced as you get closer to the level cap, have settled down on certain weapons and armor weights, so they’re more likely to look for loot that’s similar to what they equip. We expect the system to have a much bigger impact on returning and current players than newer players.

We’ve seen loot biasing help players gear up a lot faster and more effectively. Overall, it’s helping players find specific loot for their characters. We’re still evaluating our system because Rise of the Angry Earth made some major changes to the ways players acquire loot, but so far loot biasing looks to have been a solidly positive part.

[h3]THE FUTURE OF LOOT BIASING[/h3]

We’re still evaluating what we’d like to do for future improvements, but don’t have anything to share right now. Hopefully we’ll be able to better target every player individually. At the moment it’s only able to gather data about your current attributes and equipment types for weapons and armor at the surface level. It can’t read into player desires or intentions yet. It’s possible that you have weapons or armor equipped but are looking for something else entirely. Maybe you joined a group as a healer to fill a slot for a friend, or you’re wearing a different armor weight setup than what you typically prefer.

New World is an ongoing work so we’re always evaluating our systems and looking for ways to improve your experience. Let us know which topics you’d like us to cover in future deep dives. Thanks for your support and we’ll see you in Aeternum!

Greetings, Adventurers!

New World Update 4.0.3 downtime will begin at 11:00PM PT (7:00AM UTC) on January 23 and last approximately 1.5 hours. The shadow of Roman tyranny has been abolished, putting an end to the Legacy of Crassus. This update includes a variety of bug fixes, plus changes to Legendary Fish, the seasonal narrative, and more. You can even enter a transmog contest for a chance to win Marks of Fortune. Check out the full release notes, including another episode of Patch Notes Breakdown, below.

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[h2]WINTER FASHION WEEK CONTEST[/h2]
Join our Discord and enter the Winter Fashion Week Contest for a chance to win Marks of Fortune. First place will receive 20,000 Marks of Fortune, second will receive 10,000 Marks of Fortune, and third will receive 5,000 Marks of Fortune. Winners will be announced in our next weekly update article and also receive a spotlight.

[h2]BONUS COMMUNITY Q&A[/h2]
Multiple servers have a low pop which makes it challenging to find players for content. Merges were initially planned but canceled due to community feedback, similar to how Eridu’s merge was canceled. Why cancel merges for a small portion of the population, especially without cross-server Expeditions and Arenas, also impacting open-world content like ECRs and events? – Prasinos333

Thank you for your feedback. We recognize that low server populations can present challenges in maintaining a strong company, achieving success in Wars/Invasions, and forming groups for Expeditions, particularly during non-peak hours. To address this, we've implemented cross-world play features like Cross-World Outpost Rush in Season 2 and the upcoming Cross-World Expeditions, featuring an enhanced Group Finder to streamline player grouping, regardless of the time of day or overall population of your chosen game world.

Regarding world merges, a new batch is in the planning stages. Look forward to more details in the future. Our last set of merges occurred in late November. However, at the time we omitted some smaller/mid-tier worlds based on substantial player feedback, to enable newer players to experience end-game competitive modes in a more forgiving and accessible environment.

After a holiday break in December, our teams are back in full swing for 2024. Our latest checks signal that some of these worlds have outlived their initial goal. While we strive for a seamless user experience, mergers do involve substantial backend work, including migrating sensitive character information, company rosters and storage, and leaderboard rankings.

As the game evolves and more cross-world features are introduced, we anticipate a reduced need for merges, or at least a reduced urgency. We hope that different sub-communities will be better accommodated on specific worlds without adversely affecting the availability or accessibility of certain game modes. Thank you for your continued support as we strive to improve your experience in Aeternum. Please let us know which game modes you’d like to receive cross-world matchmaking next.

[h2]GENERAL[/h2]

• Fixed a rare issue that prevented players from transferring characters between Worlds. We will continue to investigate this issue and implement additional fixes as necessary.
  
• Fixed an issue that caused crashes when leaving and entering Expeditions.
  

[h2]SEASONS[/h2]

• Balanced the seasonal narrative difficulty to help newer players experience the full story:
  
• Decreased Daichi Saito's health by 30% and damage dealt by 60%.
  
• Reduced the damage and health of Mordred in the Eternal Frost Soul Trial by 25%.
  
• Reduced the damage of the Ophidian Construct boss in The Winter Rune Forge Soul Trial by 30%, and its health by 60%.
  
• Reduced the Solo Trial Ice Guardian's health and damage by 30%.
  
• Fixed an issue that caused The Ice Cold Killer task in the Journey tab (Kill 150 players in PvP) to count more than 1 kill if other players assisted with the elimination.
  

[h2]COMBAT[/h2]

• Added additional transition frames when canceling the Rain of Arrows Bow ability to prevent an exploit.
  
• Fixed an issue that caused players to lose attributes from the Magnify Perk upon entering a game mode or teleporting. We will continue to monitor this issue and make further updates if necessary.
  
• Fixed an issue that preventing blocks from canceling heavy attack charges.
  
• Fixed an issue that prevented Elemental Conversion gems on weapons with a PvE/PvP damage split from applying the damage equally.
  

[h2]LEGENDARY FISH[/h2]

• To set the groundwork for Cooking Trade Skill changes coming next season, Legendary Fish will now require a higher Luck stat to catch.
  

[h2]WORLD AI[/h2]

• Fixed an issue that caused Corrupted Breach enemies to spawn underground.
  
• Fixed an issue that caused Lasers to vanish when moved, but still damage players as if they were visible.
  

[h2]PERKS[/h2]

• Fixed issue that caused the Winged Shoes to always extend the duration of Haste when equipped instead of upon the effect's activation.
  

[h2]WORLD EXPERIENCE[/h2]

• Fixed an issue with Yonas that prevented players from proceeding to The Corpse Crone quest upon completion of The Curse of Dun quest.
  
• Fixes an issue that caused the map pin for Ser Loth in the Glacial Tarn Expedition to show the incorrect coordinates.
  
• Fixed an issue that prevented players who abandoned the Season 1 quest Canon and Coin partway through from completing it.
  
• Zander will now re-appear for players that were previously stuck.
  
• The achievement state for the quest will also reset for those players.
  
• Fixed an issue in the Rage of the Mammoth and the Garden of the Gorgon quests that will allow players to skip the Soul Trial sequences if either quest resets after completion.
  
• The number of PvP flagged players allowed near Influence Towers and Forts will be decreased to test performance improvements. We will continue to monitor performance and make additional changes if necessary.
  
• Fixed an issue that caused Summer Medleyfaire event quests to appear outside of the event. These quests will be removed and players who held summer event quests will no longer have a broken journal screen.
  

Thanks for your support! We’ll see you in Aeternum.

Greetings, Adventurers!

Aeternum is an ever-evolving world, and as such, we continue our efforts in providing our players with an assortment of ongoing new features, content, and changes. Join the next PTR for a preview of Cross World Expeditions with improved Group Finder.

[h2]PTR[/h2]
The Public Test Realm (PTR) is a limited-availability server-set that grants an early look at upcoming features. These preview builds are snapshots of upcoming major releases and are not final versions — you may encounter bugs, crashes, missing text, or other issues. Between our internal testing efforts and your reports, we hope to catch and resolve all serious issues before they reach the live servers. Hundreds of changes have already been made — with more to come — and the full release notes will be shared on release day. However, not every bug or feedback piece will be actioned on before release — some changes need time to be investigated further, and may arrive in a subsequent patch or two.

To help with the feedback process, all newly created PTR characters will have the opportunity to instantly level to select level-ranges outfitted with appropriate gear and items.

The PTR will officially open on January 16. If you encounter a bug, exploit, or have suggestions to improve a feature or piece of content, we’d love to hear your feedback on our Discord (you can also utilize our in-game feedback tool). We will do our best to address as much of your feedback as possible before the content update makes its way to our live servers. Your participation will help us to deliver awesome content and updates in the future!

[h2]CROSS WORLD EXPEDITIONS WITH IMPROVED GROUP FINDER[/h2]

Team up with players from any world within a region to overcome challenges within the depths of Aeternum. The new, one-click Group Finder will automatically assemble a role-balanced, cross-world group—no more lobby management required!

1. Go to the ‘Activities’ tab in the nav bar (formerly ‘Modes’).
   
2. Find Expeditions and Mutated Expeditions at the top of the new Activities menu.
   
3. Use the “Random” button to queue for any Expedition you qualify for, or use the checkboxes to the left of each Expedition to build a specific Expeditions list and enter with the Queue button. Note: M3 is not available through the cross-world group finder.
   
4. Once in an Expedition, after the instance has been live for 10 minutes, you must use ‘Abandon’ to leave without incurring the Deserter Penalty.
   
5. Explore the menu’s tooltips and item descriptions to learn more.
   

Jump into the PTR on January 19 at 4PM PT for a chance to run Expeditions with members of the New World Development and Community Teams.

[h2]PTR CLIENT ACCESS[/h2]
This special preview client will be made available for download through the stand-alone Steam application, “New World Public Test Realm” (which should already be in your Steam library if you own the main game). When the test period is complete and the main New World game is updated with the previewed content, the PTR world will shut down and may be wiped clean. You will continue to see the New World PTR application in your Steam library, but there will not be an active server until the next time we announce a public test.

[h3]PTR BACKSTORY LOADOUTS[/h3]
Upon character creation on the PTR, players will be given multiple caches of special armor and weapons. Each cache has a designation based upon a general build and a main attribute: CON, DEX, INT, FOC, and STR.

To help manage the sudden onset of new items, do not open all provided caches at once, or you’ll risk becoming encumbered! Instead, equip all provided bags and then follow-up with opening each cache deliberately. Any undesired caches can be dropped or deposited into your personal settlement storage.

[h2]PTR FAQ[/h2]
[h3]HOW DO I ACCESS THE NEW PTR?[/h3]
Everyone with a copy of New World will be automatically granted access to the secondary PTR app. The PTR is not compatible with the live game, so you will need to download a separate client (and have the hard drive space required to support it). From there, we will have special worlds available within supported regions. Not all regions will initially be supported. Access is on a first come, first served basis. There may be queues.

[h3]CAN I PLAY WITH OR TRANSFER MY LIVE CHARACTERS TO THE PTR?[/h3]
Unfortunately, no. These are separate ecosystems, so at this time it is not possible. However, to make testing easier, we will occasionally provide our play-testers with special accommodations such as instant levels, special gear, etc.

[h3]CAN I PROVIDE DESIGN FEEDBACK REGARDING WHAT’S INCLUDED ON THE PTR?[/h3]
Preview game builds on the PTR are finished with their core development and are in their final phase of testing and bug fixing. Our main focus at this phase is improving quality, although we will appreciate any feedback you have to share.

[h3]I HAVE A PROBLEM; HOW CAN I CONTACT CUSTOMER SUPPORT?[/h3]
Our policies and Code of Conduct cover the PTR, and in-game moderation will continue to be supported. Unfortunately, due to the temporary and potentially unstable nature of the PTR, general Customer Service assistance through both Live Chat and through the Support Website will not be available.

[h3]I DON’T WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PTR, CAN I REMOVE THE APP FROM MY LIBRARY?[/h3]
Don’t worry, no offense taken. Players can manage visibility of the New World Public Test Realm Steam Library entry. Opening up the game options (right-click > Manage) offers the “Hide Game” function.

Thanks for your support and participation! We'll see you in Aeternum.