New World: Aeternum News

Greetings, Adventurers!

Season 2 - Blood of the Sands will introduce a new PvP Reward Track for players to make the most of the upcoming PvP content. Earn exclusive, new emotes, weapons, and armor for playing your favorite PvP activities. How will you level up your Reward Track?

Join the Development Team for a look at how player feedback inspired the Season 2 PvP update and then read on for a glimpse into the design of the new 3v3 Arenas map:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h2]SEASON 2 PVP REWARD TRACK[/h2]
The Season 2 PvP Reward Track will feature more Named items, Umbral, and Gypsum earlier in the track. Alongside the Season Pass Reward Track changes, we've curated the PvP Reward Track to bring you better, more frequent equipment and resources throughout your PvP progression. Let's highlight some of the new Season 2 rewards.

[h2]NEW REWARDS[/h2]
The new rewards include emotes, Prestige Jewelry, and 600 Gear Score Prestige weapons and armor.

[h3]PREDATOR WEAPONS[/h3]

• Longsword: Predator’s Brand
  
• Rapier: Predator’s Sting
  
• Hatchet: Predator’s Saw
  
• Spear: Predator’s Fang
  
• War Hammer: Predator’s Mallet
  
• Great Axe: Predator’s Hook
  
• Greatsword: Predator’s Razor
  
• Bow: Predator’s Web
  
• Musket: Predator’s Salvo
  
• Blunderbuss: Predator’s Brooding
  
• Fire Staff: Predator’s Match
  
• Life Staff: Predator’s Widow
  
• Ice Gauntlet: Predator’s Frostbite
  
• Void Gauntlet: Predator’s Hollow Grip
  
• Round Shield: Predator’s Pod
  
• Kite Shield: Predator’s Shell
  
• Tower Shield: Predator’s Husk
  

[h3]NEW ARMOR[/h3]

• Grand Overseer (light armor)
  
• Grand Undertaker (medium armor)
  
• Grand Dominator (heavy armor)
  

[h3]NEW EMOTES[/h3]

• Doff Cap Emote
  
• Traffic Guide Emote
  
• Facepalm Emote
  
• Something Stinks Emote
  

[h2]NEW ARENA DESIGN[/h2]


Combat Designer Matthew Nickerson walked us through his design process for the new 3v3 Arenas map:

“As an avid PvP player, I was ecstatic to create a new Arenas map,” Matthew said. “Very little instructions were given except for the line, “Blood and Sand”. I knew instantly what I wanted to build — A gladiator themed arena in a giant sand pit!"

“Compared to the original arena, we wanted to deliver a far more dynamic experience for both range and melee players. There were some challenges like line of sight breaks to prevent instant kills at the start of each match, hence the central elevated fountain. This three-tiered vertical layout provides countless angles and positional advantages, especially for teams that are proactive at taking space.”



“The idea for a new map originated when we saw the roadmap feedback from PvP players. They said there were few new PvP features, so I pushed for it. I’m extremely proud of our hard-working team for making it happen. All that said, we are very excited to provide this unique experience to players and look forward to the carnage.”

What PvP update would you like to see next? Let us know in the YouTube comments or on Discord. Thanks for your support! We’ll see you in the Arena.

Greetings, Adventurers!

Get ready for Aeternum’s greatest challenge yet and an all-new event in wave 2 of the Blood of the Sands PTR.

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!

During this wave of the PTR, we look forward to hearing your playtest feedback on the following changes:

[h3]Release 2:[/h3]

• Sandwurm Trial
  
• Siege of Sulfur
  

Check out an in-depth breakdown of the update in our official announcement and stay tuned to our social channels for updates. You can also find more information on the previous PTR Patch Notes in our Wave 1 article.

To help players in the PTR in testing our new Elite Trial we have included a Status Effect available through the backstory. This simulates the bonuses players would experience in Live against Beasts with 3x Major Wildlife Combat Trophies. This does not stack with placed Trophies.

[h2]World Experience[/h2]
[h3]Quests[/h3]

• The Runed Haft, the Staff Head, and the Angry Earth Seed will now disappear from the player’s inventory when they are not on a quest that specifically needs or uses them.
  
• Once the player has collected enough scrolls for the quest A Curious Child, additional scrolls will no longer appear collectable.
  
• Scrolls are now easier to spot at Shattered Obelisk for the quest A Curious Child.
  
• There's a tower door that is unlocked during the quest Hope Springs Eternal at Skyview Repose. Once opened, this door will now remain unlocked forever, allowing players to return for any chests they may have missed after the quest.
  

[h3]Notable Fixes[/h3]

• Fixed an issue that caused players to teleport under their house after recalling.
  
• Fixed an issue that caused Smelter Chimneys to not animate when the player spawned into the area.
  
• Fixed an issue in the quest Guardians’ Secrets that created an extra empty bullet point.
  
• Removed a Grey Box from the First Light wall.
  

[h3]General[/h3]

• Reduced the collision height on the Brimstone Sands settlement bridges.
  

[h3]Expeditions [/h3]
General

• Fixed an issue in some Expeditions that caused particle effects to appear larger than intended.
  

The Depths

• Fixed an issue that prevented multiple players from looting Thorpe's key.
  
• Reduced the health of Apocalypse Mines in Mutator mode.
  

[h2]AI[/h2]

• Revised Expedition Elite enemies to remove pushback applied from player attacks that don't cause a stagger (Ex - light attacks)
  
• Fixed an issue that caused Grunts to not move toward players when attacked from a distance.
  

[h2]Game Modes
[/h2]
[h3]Outpost Rush[/h3]

• Fixed a UI alignment issue with the Corrupted Portal Timer.
  

[h3]War[/h3]

• Fixed an issue that caused the attackers in War to not be able to purchase siege weapons.
  

[h3]3v3 Arenas[/h3]

• Players will no longer hear the Announcer voice lines like, "I'll dredge up a few more challengers, Let's wait, there's no challenge in an uneven fight or do I have any eager spectators who wish to try their luck" when waiting to start matches.
  

[h2]ECONOMY, PROGRESSION, & GEAR[/h2]
[h3]Notable Fixes[/h3]

• Fixed an issue that prevented the Azoth Staff from maxing out its tier at Legendary.
  
• Fixed an issue that prevented players from getting max rank tokens.
  
• Fixed an issue that allowed inapplicable Craft Mods to be selectable on Fishing Poles.
  
• Fixed an issue that caused crafted Winter Convergence items to lack event tags.
  

[h3]General[/h3]

• Doubled the cap for Faction tokens at all levels. The new cap at maximum reputation with your Faction is now 150,000.
  
• Renamed Old Jewelry to Exemplary Jewelry and added a description.
  
• Weaver's Fen Faction Control Bonus has been changed from "-10% Global Tax Value" to "+10% Global Refining Yield". This was previously assigned to First Light.
  

[h3]Base Weight Weapon Changes[/h3]
Changed the base weight of the following weapons:

• Swords to 3.
  
• Rapiers to 2.5.
  
• Hatchets to 4.
  
• Greatswords to 8.5.
  
• Hammers to 8.5.
  
• Great Axes to 8.
  
• Spears to 6.
  
• Bows to 6.
  
• Muskets to 7.
  
• Blunderbuss to 7.
  
• Fire Staffs to 7.
  
• Life Staffs to 7.
  
• Ice Gauntlets to 3.
  
• Void Gauntlets to 3.
  

[h3]Gear Changes
[/h3]
Equipment items that drop in the world of Aeternum have been updated to use new perk buckets based on content types. Players should no longer see perks like Resilient, Family Wards, and Banes dropping together on gear. Following these changes:

• You can now replace Gems in Invasion and Breach Closer Trinkets
  
• Fixed some inconsistencies in the way some families of AI rolled perks when providing loot. All AI families should now roll loot more consistently.
  

Corrupted Breaches rewards have also been updated with new armor and weapons:

• These new items are guaranteed to always roll 1 Family Bane or Ward perk when dropped for players, and use the appearances of previous Corruption Breach items.
  
• The old armor and weapons will no longer drop.
  
• New Elite items can now drop, plus Family Bane/Ward perk crafting mods.
  

Updated the following Named Equipment that drops from Corrupted Breaches:

• Ice Gauntlet, Glacial Rage - Updated to always drop at 590 Gear Score, Kind swapped to Pylon Burst, and added a 5th perk, Keenly Empowered.
  
• Longsword, Moonless Night - Mortal Lifesteal swapped to Human Bane
  
• War Hammer, Portalsmasher - Mortal Lifesteal swapped to Enchanted
  
• Fire Staff, Flames of the Breach - Mortal Fortification swapped to Empowering Incinerate, Keenly Fortified swapped to Keenly Empowered
  
• Great Axe, Dark of Night - Mortal Lifesteal swapped to Keenly Jagged
  
• Rapier, When They Come - Mortal Fortification swapped to Keenly Jagged
  
• Musket, Breach Bloodied Rifle - Mortal Lifesteal swapped to Refreshing Power Shot
  
• Ice Gauntlet, Frostbitten Mitt - Siphoning Blow swapped to Unbroken Winds, and Mortal Refreshment swapped to Keenly Jagged
  
• Added a new Tier 5 Blunderbuss, Cannonade, that can drop from Corruption Breaches.
  
• The previous versions of these items will remain unchanged in the player’s inventory.
  

[h3]Season Pass[/h3]

• Crafting with Infused Orbs at the Gypsum Kiln will now grant small amounts of seasonal XP.
  
• Fixed an issue that allowed any song to complete the "Call of the Ancients" Season Journey task.
  

[h2]UX/UI [/h2]
[h3]Notable Fixes[/h3]

• Fixed an issue that caused the exit button to not work after renaming a character in the Main Menu.
  
• Fixed an issue with the alignment of the play button on the 3v3 Arenas tab.
  
• Fixed a typo in the Silver and Gold Ingot descriptions.
  
• Fixed an issue where flagging for PvP caused the notification to move on top of pinned Quests in the HUD.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Lock Icon in the inventory was too low of a resolution.
  
• Fixed an issue with Main Story Quest icons were not prioritized over other quest icons when zooming out of a settlement on the map.
  
• Fixed an issue with low resolution icons associated with emotes on the PvP Tracker.
  
• Fixed an issue that caused the Crafting Trade Skill milestone banner to show the recipe result instead of the recipe name.
  
• Fixed an issue that caused the map pin to disappear on the quest Adiana's Fountain, if the second and third tasks were completed, but not the first.
  
• Fixed an issue that prevented visuals from appearing on interactable objects.
  
• Fixed the item type tooltip for the Artisan Shield.
  
• Fixed the item type tooltip for the Artisan Greataxe.
  

[h3]General[/h3]

• Swapped the schematic icon on weapon schematic recipe items. It is now a blank schematic icon to reduce confusion for players.
  
• Increased Musket reticle marker speed to improve clarity during chaotic battles.
  
• Improved pinning for the target POI in the quest 'Down Payment'.
  

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

Greetings, Adventurers!

Exclusive New World consumable items are now available through Prime Gaming until July 12, 2023. If you are an Amazon Prime member, make sure to pick up the Gilded Supply Chest!


“Where these items came from isn't important. What matters is they're yours now!"
The Gilded Supply Chest contains:

• Vial of Suspended Azoth x10
  
• Runestone Stopwatch x1
  
• Umbral Shards x500
  
• Iron Guardsman’s Insignia x1
  
• Polished Marble Storage x1
  
• Powerful Honing Stone x3
  

With Prime Gaming, Amazon Prime members enjoy tons of free, exclusive content for their favorite PC, console, and mobile games. Plus, they can claim a collection of PC games for free every month that are theirs to keep forever, and a monthly Twitch channel subscription. Prime Gaming’s selection of in-game content and free PC games is always growing and rotating to stay fresh, with new items and free games added every month.

Players who are not currently Amazon Prime members that are interested in accessing the exclusive New World loot can sign-up for a free, 30-day trial on the Prime Gaming website.

Stay tuned, as we’ll have more content for Prime Gaming members in the future.

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

Greetings, Adventurers!

Gear up for a fresh selection of sand wurm themed loot. The Blood of the Sands Season Pass will feature new rewards like Transmog Tokens, cosmetics such as the Dry-Blood Armor Set, and emotes, including the Worm Dance. There are two reward tracks — free and premium — each with 100 tiers of unlockable rewards. Check out the highlights below and then read on to learn how player feedback influenced the Season 2 rewards.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h2]Season 2 Reward Highlights[/h2]

• Transmog Tokens
  
• Premium Welcome Pack
  
• Briar Rose Weapon Skins
  
• Dry-Blood Armor Set
  
• Sun-Bleached Armor Set
  
• Desert Prowlers Tools
  
• Free and Premium Season Champion Packs
  
• Worm Dance Emote
  
• Pocket Sand Emote
  
• Expedition Chests
  
• Mutator Chests
  
• Marks of Fortune
  
• Dye Packs
  
• Gypsum Orbs
  
• Umbral Shards
  
• Coin
  
• Premium Furniture Chest
  
• Decor Box
  
• Perfect Salvage Scrap Box
  
• Jewelry Gift
  
• Corrupted Wards
  
• AE Coating
  
• Azoth Vials
  
• Perfect Salvage Fragment Chest
  

[h3]Reward Selection Process[/h3]
System Designer Joel Clift walked us through the reward selection process:

“We use feedback and data from previous seasons to update our rewards and improve their quality,” Joel said. “Each season’s theming also helps identify what makes sense as both fun and functionally appropriate rewards. The Pocket Sand emote is a thematically appropriate and hilarious example.”

“Another factor is the content being added to the game. For instance, we added a few chests with chitin themed rewards to go alongside the release of the sand wurm.”

[h3]Fixed Rewards[/h3]

“In Season 2 we want to give players more fixed rewards,” Joel said. “As an example, the furniture chests from Season 1 had a chance at some really valuable furniture items but the randomness of these chests caused frustration. One of our first changes here was to update the furniture chests so that the free reward track gives everyone the same static furniture pieces and the premium reward track gives schematics for those same pieces. All players can still earn these furniture pieces in the world as drops but the season pass becomes a guaranteed way to get these items.”

[h3]Personal Highlights[/h3]
Game Designer Patrick Smedley discussed his personal highlights, the team’s inspiration, and the importance of player feedback:

“I’m excited for the Worm Dance emote, the seasonal skins, and the Transmog tokens on the pass.” Patrick said. “I’m a player who enjoys collecting cosmetics and the Season Pass gives me a wide variety to collect over the course of a season. I like the silly nature of the worm dance and I fully expect to be worm dancing while capturing Faction Control Points in the near future. Transmog is a feature I’ve been looking forward to for quite a while, so having some tokens ready to go prior to the launch of the feature means I’ll be ready to Transmog my Neishatun’s armor set the day the feature goes live.”

[h3]Reward Inspiration[/h3]

“When we’re planning our skins and emotes for any given season, we look at the theme and work backwards from there,” Patrick said. “With Blood of the Sands, we wanted to tell a story that took the player back to Brimstone Sands and explored the mysterious Sand Wurm. That meant the skin concepts leaned heavily on the fantasy of a desert wanderer that might reside within Brimstone Sands or be apart of the Blood of the Sands sect. For the emotes, we like to lean into ideas that are more on the fun side. Doing the worm and throwing some pocket sand both felt like natural fits for the season.”

[h3]Player Feedback[/h3]
“As with Season 1 rewards, we’re eager to hear your feedback,” Patrick said. “Player feedback on the Season 1 Pass directly impacted the development of the Season 2 Pass and we learned some great lessons. Please use the in-game feedback tool or reach out on the New World Discord to give us your thoughts on the Season 2 Pass.”

Look forward to the full reward list in a future article and the launch of Season 2 on July 6. Thanks for your support! We’ll see you in Aeternum.

Greetings, Adventurers!

Join the New World Development team for answers to your most common questions about Season 2 - Blood of the Sands. Topics include Transmog, First Light Retraction, additional Outpost Rush maps, and Trophies, plus discussions on more difficult music, Expedition damage tallies, and PvP rewards.

Check out the video below for the team’s full Q&A session:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h2]BONUS QUESTIONS[/h2]
We caught up with Live Lead Katy Kaszynski to include even more community questions:

WHAT'S THE PLAN FOR FL TERRITORY WARS ONCE FL IS CLOSED?

• First Light will no longer be available to claim starting in Season 2, so no wars will be fought over it. However, in Season 3 along with the Influence changes that are in development, we have a surprise for you that we have not yet shared which directly relates to your question. Maybe you can guess? More details to come later.
  

THANK YOU FOR ADDRESSING WHAT WILL HAPPEN WITH FIRST LIGHT'S FCP BUFF IN THE PATCH. I DIDN'T SEE MENTION OF THE ALBENAJA AND MAGENTA PRISMABLOOM FROM FIRST LIGHT. WILL THOSE BE RELOCATING AS WELL?

• We are making a change to where Legendary fish are caught in the world, so you’ll still be able to get the Albenaja. The Magenta Prismabloom can’t be uprooted so easily. It really digs the soil in that part of the world, so it won’t be available to harvest during Season 2, but will return soon after.
  

What else would you like the team to cover? Let us know on Reddit, Discord, or the YouTube comments section. Thanks for your support! We’ll see you in Aeternum.