New World has presented the upcoming update Blood of the Sands. This is the second major quarterly update, which brings a lot of content, but also removes one piece of content. We at MeinMMO present it to you.
What’s in the update?
- There are new story quests that you will experience together with the Silver Ravens from the last patch.
- In the “Arena of Snah Neshen”, a raid boss will be introduced, which is designed for 20 players and is said to be very difficult. Generally, so-called “Raid groups” for 20 players will be introduced.
- There is a special seasonal activity where 10+ players compete against waves of enemies to earn new rewards.
- The Outpost Storm will now work across servers to reduce wait times.
- There will be a new 3vs3 arena and a new Heart Rune ability.
- A new season pass is coming into the game and replaces the previous one.
- Throughout the season, the Summer Medleyfaire and the new event Sulfur Siege will take place. While the first event focuses more on music and coziness, the siege is all about a group activity for 10+ players.
Additionally, the patch brings a transmog system, which is not expected to be activated until mid-season. With the help of transmog tokens, you can adopt the appearance of any equipment collected in the world. How exactly to obtain these tokens is currently unknown. However, this system has been desired since the release.
The developers have also decided to deactivate the area First Light. You will not be able to enter it anymore starting in July.
When will the update be released? Blood of the Sands will be released on July 6. However, if you can’t wait until then, you can use the PTR starting May 25 at 7:00 PM. There, the update can be tested in advance.
A giant desert worm as a raid boss and one less area for a few months
What’s behind the raid boss? Shah Neshen the Devourer is a giant desert worm that haunts the latest area Sulfur Sand Desert. He could already be seen in the game from time to time, but you couldn’t fight against him. That will change.
You can challenge him in his own arena. There you will fight with a group of 20 players against him. Each participant must have reached at least the max-level.
Many details are still missing, such as whether the fight has further requirements or what rewards are available and how often they can be obtained. These questions should be clarified in a few days on the PTR.
What’s the deal with the area? With the update, First Light will be temporarily removed from the game. A thorn wall will be created around it. It will be completely overhauled and then reactivated with the first expansion in autumn. The roadmap for 2023 already hinted at this.
The developers say they have “big plans” for the area. What exactly will change is currently unknown.
However, a blog post explained in detail what will happen to the contents of the area:
- All housing items will return to storage and can be found under the tab “Old First Light” in every storage shed.
- All trading post orders in First Light will eventually expire, but no new orders can be placed in this area.
- Companies that control First Light at the time of withdrawal will receive a refund for their losses.
- The bonus for the faction control point (FCP) of First Light has been moved to the Weaver Moor and the FCP bonus of the Weaver has been temporarily suspended.
What do you think about the changes from the update? Are you looking forward to the raid boss and the new seasonal content? Or is New World currently rather cold for you?
Why exactly the season pass was a good innovation, you can find out here: I haven’t had this much fun in New World for a long time, and the battle pass is to blame.
