In the current alpha of New World, there are two active dungeons, called “Expeditions”. In a blog post, the developers explained the goals they pursue with the PvE experience and what players can expect.
What are Expeditions? There is a lot of work being done on Amazon’s MMO “New World”, and just recently there was a huge alpha update that changed a lot of content.
In the alpha, “Expeditions” are now available. According to the developer update, these are instanced dungeons that can only be tackled with teamwork. Originally, alternatives to such PvE dungeons for New World were planned, but now the developers presented this type of challenge.
This is how the Expeditions are supposed to work in New World
These are the current Expeditions: In the alpha, which is under NDA, the currently available Expeditions are “Amrhein Excavation” and “Garden of Origins”.
- The Amrhein Excavation is playable from level 25 and is intended to serve as an “introduction” to the Expeditions. It is an excavation site where players investigate the disappearance of an archaeological team. The dungeon is expected to offer puzzles and AI enemies that should be gentler compared to the second expedition.
- The “Garden of Origins” is the second expedition, aimed at players at level 60. The developers describe it as an endgame expedition featuring different types of puzzles, various AI enemies, and further challenges.
This is what makes Expeditions special: What these Expeditions have in common is that they are always aimed at multiple players. The dungeons are generally expected to require groups of three to five players, with the difficulty level aimed at five players of the recommended level.
So teamwork is essential if players want to secure the loot from the dungeons. However, it should be worth it as the Expeditions offer unique loot and equipment as rewards.
Gameplay-wise, these challenges should provide a change of scenery from the rest of the game world. Each Expedition tells its own story, and the gameplay content should vary: “From expedition to expedition, the enemies do not just become tougher, but there are also different game mechanics and puzzles. For example, Expeditions have different AI settings for bosses and minibosses, and each has unique loot tables.”
The developers emphasize in the post that they want to use the data from the alpha test to optimize the content and add further Expeditions to New World. So, there is likely to be more content in the pipeline.
The Expeditions are just one of many changes that New World has recently undergone: MeinMMO editor Alexander Leitsch summarized how New World is increasingly transforming from a PvP MMO to a theme park MMORPG.
