New World Update 1.1 is set to deploy today on live servers after a brief stay on the Public Test Realm. This is the biggest patch to date for Amazon's MMORPG, adding the first new post-launch content to the game in the form of a brand new weapon, new enemies, and new quests.
NEW WEAPON: VOID GAUNTLET
The Void Gauntlet has manifested in Aeternum. Manipulate the powers of the Void to support your allies and debilitate your enemies with this magical damage/support hybrid weapon. It’s the first weapon to scale on both Intelligence and Focus, making it a great pairing with the Life Staff and other magical weapons. Adventurers will be able to progress through two weapon mastery trees, allowing the player to manipulate Void magic in different ways:
The Annihilation tree focuses on maximizing damage at close-range and revolves around Void Blade, a summoned blade of corrosive void energy.
The Decay tree offers ranged healing and debuffs and revolves around Orb of Decay, a dual phase projectile that can debuff enemies and heal allies.
With its arsenal of buffs and debuffs, the Void Gauntlet is perfect for group combat and can significantly bolster your allies at the expense of your enemies.
NEW ENEMIES: THE VARANGIAN KNIGHTS
The Varangians are a force of invading knights currently raiding Southeastern Aeternum. They are led by Lord Commander Attalus, a Gaul with a reputation for brutality and a twisted sense of humor. Commander Attalus and the Varangians are vassals to a powerful warlord named Varik “The Hammer” Iznov. They have been sent to Southeastern Aeternum in search of magical artifacts and arcane lore left behind by the Crimson Sorcerer. Their goal is to secure magical weapons that will help their lord in his conquests. The Varangians are fiercely competitive and will vie with one another to curry favor with Lord Commander Attalus.
Why these fearsome warriors have arrived is a question to all. Face off against multiple new types of enemies, including the Varangian Hewer, Varangian Scout, Varangian Knight, and Varangian Archer as you ascertain what they are chasing in Aeternum.
There's lots more, though, if you skim through the New World Update 1.1 notes. There are new three brand new PvP mission types; all trading posts have been linked, allowing for a unified action house; Expedition bosses will now reward a lot more coin; running on roads will now provide a 10% movement speed buff (if the player is not in combat, of course); flagging yourself for PvP will now give you a 10% drop luck bonus and 30% gathering luck bonus on top of the existing 10% XP bonus; changing your faction now has a cooldown of 60 days, instead of 120; and, of course, there's a plethora of balance changes and fixes to various bugs.
Interestingly, dataminers have also provided some insight into what might be coming in the future to New World. A new zone called Brimstone Sands was found in the patch files, including the first screenshots, which show a desert biome (missing from the existing Aeternum map). There are also mentions for six new Expeditions (Isabella's Lair, Eridanus Caverns, Unholy Depths, The Ennead, Frozen Passage, and Barnacles and Black Powder), a Group Finder, a PvP Spectator Mode, a system for dungeon mutations, and even some horse gear that might be a hint towards mounts.
Still, we'll have to wait for an official word from Amazon before taking these leaked New World additions for granted.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief.
In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews.
Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications.
His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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