As part of an event, MeinMMO editor Alexander Leitsch was able to try out the first dungeon of New World. Originally, New World was supposed to be a game focused on PvP and aimed to completely avoid instances and many classic PvE content. Now, dungeons have been announced quite suddenly. Can this really work?
What’s the deal with the dungeons? In a major alpha update in March, New World announced the expeditions. These are instances where 5 players can experience a story together and face bosses.
Meanwhile, two more new dungeons have even been announced that New World will receive.
What is the problem with dungeons? In an initial version from 2018, New World offered hardly any PvE content and focused on PvP battles and even some survival elements. At the end of 2019, the concept was surprisingly completely overhauled and the open world with PvE quests and world events became the focus.
However, the PvE content could not convince during the first open test in summer 2020. The quests consisted mainly of tedious kill tasks, sometimes supplemented by the need to collect additional materials. The Spriggan, a boss in an instanced PvE arena, was even defeated by the first guilds during the test and did not seem to be a major challenge.
I was therefore quite skeptical about the announcement of the dungeons:
- On one hand, I am excited that New World is increasingly becoming a theme park MMORPG. PvE elements are important for a successful MMO and new PvP content has already been announced.
- On the other hand, New World announces 3 dungeons just 5 months before release, which did not exist so far. I was worried that the dungeons had been created in a knee-jerk reaction and were not well implemented.
But after the test, I have a completely different opinion. Especially the visuals of the dungeon and the various mechanics of the bosses impressed me, making me eagerly await the beta in July.
You can watch the complete dungeon run in our video on YouTube:
Bosses impress with challenging mechanics
How is the first dungeon structured? The Amrhein excavation dungeon is aimed at players of level 25 and is thus accessible while still in the leveling process. It is a dark kind of mine where various creatures roam:
- On one hand, you encounter the “Lost”, which are lost souls that died on the island and are trapped in a world between the living and the dead.
- On the other hand, you encounter the “Ancient”, beings that populated the island of Aeternum thousands of years before humans.
Within the dungeon, you will face various boss opponents and repeatedly find diary entries that shed more light on the story of the Amrhein excavation.
In the test, I set out with an Amazon employee and two colleagues from GameStar. The agreement was that the Amazon employee would take on the healer role while I would play somewhat defensively, thus taking on the role of tank.
New World does away with classes and makes your gameplay dependent on the equipment and the unlocked skill trees. However, specialization also comes with consequences. Those wearing heavy armor lose mobility and cannot dodge as well anymore. This is also a disadvantage for tanks.
The way to the first boss: In the first few minutes, we mainly fight against small trash mobs and behave like a wild bunch of chickens. The dynamic yet very tactical combat system requires quite a bit of practice. About 70% of our attacks go nowhere, and blocking animations needs to be trained first.
Here I already develop a love for the game that I had already felt back in summer 2020. I immediately realize that my low damage or loss of health points is my fault and not because my equipment isn’t good enough or that I need to grind more. I feel that “I’m lacking the skill,” which motivates me to instantly get better in the MMO.
An additional highlight on the way to the first boss consists of a puzzle we need to solve. First, we must defeat certain enemies, and then we need to activate platforms by standing on them. Once that is done, a new bridge appears in a small cutscene leading us to the boss.
Why the first boss is so cool: The first boss is one of the ghosts and caught us off guard with some mechanics:
- He can summon pink AoE fields from which you should quickly move away.
- He also regularly summons his ghost army, which runs from one side of the battlefield to the other and knocks us down in the process. Dodging skillfully is required here.
- Finally, he has a powerful strike that should definitely be dodged and cannot be blocked.
In the fight, group members die one after another, but we can immediately respawn and rush back into battle – just from the entrance of the dungeon. As long as at least one player is alive, the boss does not reset.
By the way, such a mechanic does not work with the final boss. Here, a thick door blocks the way.
This is what the final boss offers: After some more trash mobs, we reach a large door with the final boss of the dungeon behind it. Until then, we had spent about 40 minutes in the dungeon.
The final boss is named Simon Grey and is a huge colossus in metallic armor. For the tank, it is important to keep moving and avoid the sluggish but very dangerous attacks of the boss.
In addition, the colossus has some minions around him that must be taken out first. Throughout the fight, he summons the adds multiple times, so you will be overwhelmed if you do not get them under control early.
In our run, we unfortunately did not manage to defeat the final boss, partly because we were only 4 players instead of 5. However, I have already seen an official video from Amazon in which the boss was defeated. The fight lasted about 7 minutes.
Those who defeat the boss will receive personal loot consisting of potions and various equipment at the end.
Dungeon run gives hope for good PvE content
How has New World developed? In recent months, details about the development of New World have been shared repeatedly:
- The MMO has received 4 new weapons compared to summer 2020
- The quests are to be completely overhauled and fully voiced
- Two new endgame areas have been opened
- Fishing has been introduced as a new skill in the game
- For PvP, a new game mode and incentives for open-world PvP have been created
- Almost all systems of the MMO – including crafting, combat, class balance, UI, and enemy behavior – have been revised
But much of that has not been seen yet. The current alpha test is still under NDA. Therefore, it has been difficult to gauge whether the PvE in New World truly has a future.
What does the dungeon mean for PvE? First of all, a lot of good. Because Amazon has shown with the Amrhein excavation that they can create boss mechanics and challenging PvE fights. And this was just a level 25 content. I am now really looking forward to endgame dungeons.
However, this experience should also be approached with caution. A good dungeon does not automatically mean that the quests and events in the open world will now be much better. But at least my hopes regarding New World and the PvE content are currently greater than ever.
New World is not the only MMO set to be released in 2021. We would like to know in a survey which games you are most looking forward to: Which new MMORPGs are you most looking forward to in 2021?
