On December 12, the next patch Eternal Frost will be released in New World. This brings a new season along with an associated story, a new endgame dungeon, and further content. However, three highlights that were actually supposed to be included in the patch have been postponed to 2024, as Scot Lane explains in the video.
What does the patch bring? The major innovations are:
- A new season story in which you have to find and defeat a knight of the Round Table with the Silver Ravens.
- The new expedition Glacier Lake, aimed at players at max level 65.
- 8 new artifacts, including a bow that stuns enemies, an ice gauntlet that freezes enemies, a life staff that deals a bit more damage, and shoes that reduce your cooldowns.
- A new season pass with new challenges and rewards.
In the original roadmap for 2023, however, several other contents were promised. This includes cross-server dungeons, an update of the main story, season trials, and a revision of territory control. However, there are some delays here, as the game director explains in the video:
Cross-server dungeons will come before the next season, the trinket may even be dropped
Why were the contents postponed? Scot Lane first explains that the season trials are still planned, but will only appear with season 5 in the first quarter of 2024. The reason for this is that they wanted to focus on the new expedition and are still working on the details. The new trials are intended for 10 players but will come without a mutator.
The season trinket, on the other hand, has been postponed for a longer time because the artifacts were not planned as new equipment in the original roadmap at all. They are now focusing on bringing new artifacts and not overwhelming players with an additional equipment slot. It is possible that these trinkets will not appear at all.
However, the team is not satisfied with the main story, so they have decided to postpone this feature as well – to the upcoming season 5.
The revisions to the territory control are also being postponed because the developers have already made adjustments with the expansion and are still evaluating player feedback to provide a better gaming experience.
However, the cross-server dungeons and PvP arenas are expected to arrive earlier. They are planned as a mid-season update for the end of January or early February.
What else is in the patch? A highlight should be the new story. It revolves around a Varangian knight of the Round Table who has unearthed forbidden knowledge of the ancestors. His name is Mordret. We must fight him together with the Silver Ravens and a grumpy wizard named Daichi.
Within the story, there should be 4 solo boss fights, including against a giant ice dragon. There should also be a quest where you have to play on a chessboard.
Besides the expedition, the new artifacts, and the return of some seasonal events like the Winter Convergence festival, there are also small adjustments:
- You can now customize your inventory as you wish, such as adjusting the number of columns or the order of the individual categories (armor, weapons, gems, materials, etc.).
- You can also recycle multiple items at once by saying, for example: all blue, green, and purple weapons.
Overall, however, the patch is significantly smaller than the original season updates.
New group finder rewards you when you press the random button
What has been said about the new group finder? Together with the cross-server dungeons and arenas, a new group finder will also be implemented. This allows you to play both normal and mutated dungeons. You select a role as usual, with rarer roles like the tank receiving a small bonus in rewards.
Additionally, there is a triple reward for the first random dungeon per day. This is meant to motivate players to simply sign up randomly and be sent to the group that has been waiting the longest.
Moreover, groups that have formed completely randomly receive 15% more damage and 15% more healing to offset the disadvantage of not being coordinated.
What do you think about the upcoming patch, the planned innovations for season 5, and the new group finder? Are you still excited about the direction of New World or are you rather disappointed?
Those who want to quickly level their season pass before December 12 can find important tips here:
New World: With a trick, you can level up the Battle Pass super fast and get cool rewards
