Masses of people have already jumped the New World ship, but the game’s first major update might be enough to pull some players back in. Launched today, this is more than a couple of new quests and bug fixes–players can expect new weapons, PvP options, enemies, and overall improvements in just about every category. Is it enough to take care of every issue that has popped up since launch? Probably not, but it’s a massive step in the right direction. A new weapon type is here, called The Void Gauntlet, and is meant to up magic damage while adding plenty of helpful support options.
The Decay mastery tree will favor players who prefer ranged players, while the Annihilation tree will spec well with close-range damage dealing. Plenty of changes have been made to tree masteries as a whole, so it’s a good idea to double-check which is best for you before continuing forward.
Players have complained about the lack of mounts since the launch of New World, and while they still aren’t making an appearance, a 10% movement speed increase is being given when traveling on roads. This will happen once a player has been running on a road for at least three seconds, and will disappear if a weapon is drawn or if you are otherwise pulled into battle. There will be less of a shock when your gear needs to be repaired, as additional tooltips and a damaged gear indicator have been added to the inventory screen.
The Varangian Knights will be the new enemies players can encounter–a group looking for magical artifacts with an incredibly cruel leader. Those invested in PvP will now have new faction missions, and durability lost from PvP deaths has been reduced by 10%. Tweaks have also been made to the game’s economy, with items only being able to be placed on the trading post for 14 days, down from 28. The housing tax will now be deducted every seven days instead of five, as well. See the full patch notes for complete details. Will you be jumping back in?
New World is now available to play on PC. It’s unclear if this will be enough to lure back some of the title’s massive day-one player base, but at this point, any fixes are much appreciated.