Greetings, Adventurers!
New World: Aeternum is ushering in a bold new era of gameplay with the introduction of Seasonal Worlds. These limited-time worlds feature unique rulesets, with the first iteration having an always-on PvP configuration, accelerated leveling, and exclusive rewards. Here’s an inside look at what makes these worlds a game-changer.
The Vision
The first iteration of Seasonal Worlds introduces a PvP-focused ruleset where players are flagged for PvP at all times after reaching Level 15 or choosing a faction. This design encourages open-world conflict and strategic decision-making, while new Ethereal and Conquerors gear amplify the stakes with their drop-on-death mechanics.
But beyond the rewards, Seasonal Worlds offer something deeper: a fresh and exhilarating way to experience the game. It’s a chance to test your mettle in an environment where every encounter is charged with risk and every decision carries weight. The thrill of diving into an ever-changing world where strategy, skill, and adaptability reign supreme can be its own reward.
Whether you’re seeking the excitement of an entirely new ruleset, the camaraderie of battling alongside friends in a high-stakes environment, or the sheer fun of throwing yourself into the chaos, the Seasonal World invites you to step out of your comfort zone and rediscover the game in an entirely new light.
Are you ready to take on the challenge?
Challenges of Implementation
Building Seasonal Worlds wasn’t just about flipping a switch. It required rethinking server architecture and gameplay systems from the ground up. A robust safety net ensures items like Ethereal and Conquerors gear remain exclusive to Seasonal Worlds, preventing disruption to Aeternum’s economy. For those who already have four characters, don’t worry—an additional character slot will be added with Seasonal Worlds, allowing you to jump into the action without sacrificing your existing characters.
For gameplay systems, we wanted to revisit a risk vs. reward style gameplay loop and have developed Conquerors and Ethereal items as a way to revisit that feeling. To accomplish this, we have added durability and drop-on-death to these items as well as bonuses to incentivize players to want to use these items over normal items that do not have this functionality. Ultimately, we want players out in the open world wearing ethereal gear trying to obtain more Wrathstones, which is the material used to craft Conquerors gear.
We have done the following to help encourage an engaging risk vs reward gameplay loop on this world:
Ethereal and Conquerors items drop-on-death and have durability. Conquerors items lose much more durability on death compared to Ethereal items.
Ethereal and Conquerors items base are stronger than other items, weapons all have increased base damage of 20%, armor and jewelry all add 3% damage absorption per piece, and because of these changes, no gems can be added to these items.
Ethereal items give players access to Wrathstones, which are used to craft powerful Conquerors items. Though Wrathstones also drop-on-death, the only way to create or generate Wrathstones will be through wearing specific Ethereal gear while farming elite POIs, Darkness Breaches, and gathering resources.
Ethereal items, when broken down, yield Ethereal Dust and frequent crafting is advised due to high demand.
How to Obtain Ethereal Dust - Refining wood, ore, fiber, hide, and stone into Ethereal dust at a refining station. It can also be obtained by salvaging Ethereal gear.
How to Obtain Ethereal Animus - Ethereal Animus is crafted at refining stations for 100 Ethereal Dust.
What it does - Opening an Ethereal Animus gives ~2,500 player experience further speeding up the player level as well as a chance for each of the following item types every time you open an Animus:
Sandpaper, Tannin, Solvent, Flux, Wireweave, Ethereal Mount Food, Mount Straps and Shoes, all T4 Heartrunes, and crafting recipes for all Conquerors weapons.
A primary focus for seasonal worlds is also accessibility and a respect for players time. We want to put players on more equal ground while also mitigating some of the grind to engage at high levels quickly.
We have added the following items to help mitigate these type of issues:
All player XP, weapon mastery, and tradeskill XP gain is increased by 25% on this world.
We have created a new resource called Ethereal Dust. This resource can be obtained by refining core resources or by salvaging Ethereal gear. The higher value the resource or item is, the more dust you get. This resource is also the primary way you discover and unlock new Conquerors gear crafting recipes by crafting Ethereal Animus.
All Ethereal gear has a level 15 requirement and Conquerors gear has a level 20 requirement to use. That means if you manage to kill and take someone’s gear or you have powerful friends, you can be competitive even at lower levels with the right gear.
Ethereal gear is considerably cheap to craft and has a high gearscore at every tier. The crafting cost for ethereal items is half the material cost of the same tier item equivalent. T2 Ethereal items are gearscore 350, T3 are 600, T4 are 700, and T5 are 725.
Mount Skill is unlocked automatically at level 15 without having to do the quest. Craft your first mount and special Ethereal mount food at any camp to get riding ASAP. You can also obtain high end mount straps and horseshoes from Ethereal Animus.
The Heartrune equip slot is unlocked by default on this server without having to do the quest. You have a chance to earn top tier Heartrunes from consuming Ethereal Animus, though you will still need to be level 65 to equip these.
Rewards and Progression
Seasonal Worlds offer more than just a fresh start—they’re packed with opportunities to earn unique rewards. Players can craft Ethereal gear, which comes with powerful perks and opens the door to crafting Conquerors items, a new type of powerful equipment.
From character creation, players will be able to craft powerful Ethereal versions of weapons, armor, jewelry, and tools. These items have curated PvP-focused perks, high gear score, low level requirements, and have special perks that allow players to generate Wrathstones from specific activities. Ethereal gear is incredibly cheap to craft but comes with the risk that they are dropped-on-death and will eventually break with enough play. Players will start out with recipes to craft Conquerors Swarm heavy armor that they are able to craft with Wrathstones, and will be able to unlock additional Conquerors weapon recipes through drops from the Ethereal Animus.
Some Examples of Conquerors Weapons include:
Crescent's Wave - Greatsword
Crescent Wave - while above 50% health, heavy attacks consume 20 mana to cast a wave projectile forward dealing 150% weapon damage.
Refreshing Move - Light and Heavy attacks reduce your active cooldowns by 2.5% (0.2s cooldown).
Leeching Crosscut - Heal for 72% of the damage dealt by the final strike of crosscut.
Trenchant Strikes - Heavy Melee attacks deal +23% Damage.
Yeeterson's Hammer - War Hammer
Yeet - +400% push distance, and +30% base damage to all War Hammer knockbacks. Clear out will ignite the first target hit, turning them into a projectile causing 150% weapon damage to all enemies they pass through.
Sundering Clear Out - Inflicts 24% Rend for 7s on targets hit with clear out
Plagued Strikes - Heavy attacks inflict disease for 8s, decreasing incoming healing by 27%, and outgoing healing by 14%.
Refreshing Move - Light and Heavy attacks reduce your active cooldowns by 2.5% (0.2s cooldown)
Progression is fast-paced, offering experience boosts across leveling, weapon mastery, and crafting. In addition, players will have an alternative or supplemental way to level up utilizing Ethereal Dust and Ethereal Animus.
Seasonal-exclusive rewards like titles, mount attachments, and skins are designed to make your time on these worlds unforgettable. They are obtained through a new Journey for the Seasonal Server inside of the Season Pass and Seasonal Server specific leaderboards. To obtain rewards from the Seasonal Server Journey, you must purchase the Premium Pass.
Seasonal Endgame
Compete with your company or by yourself against other players to earn unique rewards on Seasonal Server-specific leaderboards, such as mount attachments, a helm skin, a tent skin, and a new PvP-focused housing trophy. This unique PvP housing trophy provides a bonus to PvP experience when equipped in your house. Players will be able to earn this trophy first before it's made available to all players in a future season. You can also claim territories and utilize Ethereal and Conquerors gear to their maximum potential in wars and shake up the meta of territory control. Respawn timers in PvP have been extended, and open-world leaderboards track the most fearsome conquerors and skilled crafters. It’s not just about brute strength—it’s about being smart, resourceful, and fearless.
When the season concludes, players won’t lose their progress. Characters can transfer, ensuring the effort invested on Seasonal Worlds carries over. Items like Ethereal and Conquerors gear will be converted to competitive item replacements with perks focused on PvP and gearscore that will have an impact at the tier level of gear. These items will be bound to your character. As an example Conquerors gear will be converted to GS 715 items while T5 Ethereal gear will convert to 705 GS.
Looking Ahead
Seasonal Servers mark the beginning of a new chapter for New World: Aeternum. With Season 7 including fast-paced progression, high-stakes PvP, and unique rewards, it promises to capture the imagination of both veteran players and newcomers alike.
Will you rise to the challenge, forge legendary gear, and dominate the leaderboards? One thing is certain: your time in this evolving world will leave a mark on Aeternum forever.
Join the fight and prove your worth on Seasonal Servers.
We’ll see you in Aeternum!