The developers of New World have released a new video in which they discussed the upcoming updates in January and February. There were new details about the mutators and the design decisions behind them. Additionally, at the end of the livestream, the PvP arenas were announced.
What is the video about? In almost 38 minutes, various developers talk about the upcoming content and the reasons for some decisions. Particularly interesting is the section right at the beginning, which discusses the upcoming mutators for dungeons:
- Regarding the mutators, they explained that the feature has been in development for a long time and is now set to release in January. However, Game Director Scot Lane admits that the change may come a bit too early.
- There are also mutators planned for the low-level dungeons, but there are still some balancing issues to address.
Furthermore, the developers also spoke about the upcoming February update:
- The February update will focus entirely on bug fixes. Planned adjustments include the weapon switch, which occasionally fails, and the wars.
- There will also be a strong focus on weapon balancing.
At the end of the video, “Small Scale PvP Arenas” are also discussed. Such an arena was already found in data mining before the release.
You can watch the complete video with the developers here:
No release date for patch 1.3 yet, but an approximate timeframe
What was said about the upcoming patch 1.3? Much of the video revolves around the significant January update and the contents of the patch. The developers could not specify a fixed release date, but the general plan is to bring updates about 2.5 weeks before the actual release to the PTR.
This statement rules out a release this week. However, since the update is still scheduled for January, the 26th and 27th of January are currently the hottest candidates for release.
Throughout the video, the developers also explained the reasons for the upcoming Shadow Shard system, which will allow equipment to be upgraded to armor value 625. This system is designed to prevent already farmed equipment from becoming worthless at high levels. Therefore, no equipment with such a high value was introduced, but a separate upgrade system.
Previously, they had also announced in the forum that equipment with armor value 590+ can also be upgraded with the Shadow Shards.
What about the low-level dungeons? The developers are currently working to bring the mutators to the low-level dungeons as well. However, there have been several issues:
- Some dungeons have different numbers of bosses and chests, which needs to be considered when balancing mutators.
- Additionally, there have already been some bugs and balancing issues concerning the mutators and the mechanics of bosses from the low-level dungeons. Some of these bosses were said to be “broken.” Fine-tuning is still needed.
February patch focuses on bug fixes, work is ongoing on bots and server transfers
What has been revealed about the February patch? The next major update after the mutators will not bring new features, but hundreds of bug fixes. Planned adjustments include:
- Adjustments to perks of weapons and armor
- Some adjustments to desync
- Fixes for the weapon switch, which should still not be cancelable
- Fixes for errors and performance in the wars
- Adjustments to quests where NPCs are missing or markers were set incorrectly
How are general problems being addressed? Alongside bugs and performance, work is also being done on other issues. A second token for server transfers is planned so that players will have another opportunity to find a different server.
There was also discussion about the topic of bots. This has high priority and is being addressed by different teams, including adjustments to support to ensure faster bans.
PvP arenas for small groups are planned
What was said about the arenas? At the end of the livestream, the developers revealed that they are working on PvP arenas for small groups. They are “definitely planned”. It was said that the arenas would initially be released with fewer features, which would then be expanded over time.
It’s still too early to go into details, but Scot Lane himself says he would like to play in a fixed 3v3 or 5v5, or in a “whatever numbers are used” scenario. The term “matchmaking system” was also mentioned in this context.
What do you think about the information from the livestream? Do the announcements appeal to you, or would you have preferred other features for February and beyond?
Just a few days ago, a player was the first to discover a hidden world boss, but received only pity from other players on reddit:
