Greetings, Adventurers!
This article was updated on March 22: Season of the Guardian will release on Tuesday, April 2. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we continue to resolve issues based on PTR feedback and work together towards even more enjoyable experiences in Aeternum. You can also look forward to the full release notes at the end of next week.
Survive the Winter Rune Forge, master Cooking Trade Skill changes, experience the updated Shattered Mountain main story quest, and play with a controller when Season of the Guardian releases on March 12. There are also new combat optimizations for smoother combat in PvP modes like Wars. Check out the next PTR for an early preview of our latest features.
Join the Development Team for an in-depth breakdown of Season of the Guardian:
Major Updates
The Winter Rune Forge, new Artifacts, Mounts in Outpost Rush, some Journey tasks, and a few of the Challenges will all require Rise of the Angry Earth to experience.
New Seasonal Trial: Winter Rune Forge
Join up to 10 max-level players in a bone-chilling gauntlet of increasingly difficult enemies. This Seasonal Trial requires teamwork to overcome Rune puzzles, slay an Icey Construct, and fell an Ancient Ice Guardian for unique rewards.
New Artifacts
Grab 8 new Artifacts that excel through unique playstyles. Here are some of their key traits:
Sin - Hatchet
Corruption: Debuffs last 25% longer. (Works on both weapons)
Defile: Deals 2% more damage per debuff on target. (5 stacks max)
Venom - Spear
Poison Tipped: Heavy attacks with either weapon cause poison dealing 20% weapon damage for 5s.
Tempest Fury - Great Axe
Momentum: Successful attacks gain 3% movement speed for 3s. (Works on both weapons and stacks 10 times).
Nature’s Wrath - Medium Chestwear
Nature’s Blessing: Empower expires 200% faster but you deal 20% more damage.
Gilli’s Gravity Gauntlets - Heavy Glove
Whenever you take damage, gain a charge that increases the damage of your next attack by 3% (max 10 charges).
Ironheart - Heavy Legwear
When not in heavy loadout, gain 20% more max health.
Creed Boots - Light Footwear
Ambush: Deal 15% more damage and 25% critical chance as long as you haven’t hit the target within 20s.
Phoenix - Amulet
Phoenix Revival: When you receive lethal damage, avoid death and become invulnerable for 2s (180s cooldown)
New Season Pass
Season of the Guardian introduces a new Season Journey, new Activity Card, new Challenges, and new rewards including cosmetics and consumables.
Cooking and Other Trade Skill Changes
Look forward to ingredient updates, revamped Cooking progression, Legendary Fish recipe tweaks, the removal of split attribute food, and more. We’ll have additional details to share in a future Deep Dive article.
Upgraded Combat & Animation System
We’ve upgraded our old combat and animation system to improve performance in high traffic areas with many players like Wars and OPR. This new system will also make it easier to improve on our combat going forward. We’ve done our best to keep the feel of the game the same or better, but would definitely like to hear about things that don’t feel right after the upgrade.
Controller Support
Controller support is coming to New World! Select from two pre-set controller layouts to make your New World experience even more immersive. As part of optimizing the game to play well with controller, we've introduced the following new features and settings:
Aim Assist: Helps with aiming ranged attacks. (Controller only, AI only)
Target Friction: Slower reticle speed on roll over of a valid target (Controller only)
Enemy Target Lock: Allows you to lock the camera onto an enemy (AI only). Move the right stick to swap between multiple targets. (Works on both controller and mouse & keyboard with middle mouse button and mouse wheel up/down)
Freeform Movement: Allows running in all directions including towards the camera. Holding block or activating target lock will revert to normal strafe navigation. (Defaults to ON with controller, OFF with mouse & keyboard)
Use Camera Direction for Melee Attacks: If this is off it allows melee attacks and blocking in the direction of your input/character facing instead of your camera facing. (Defaults to OFF with controller, ON with mouse & keyboard)
Improved feature accessibility:
Radial wheel for quick access to features like player emotes, issuing commands and setting up camp.
Shift modifiers to allow for quick access to all combat abilities.
Improved UX navigation with gamepad for faster actions.
Main Story Quest Fully Updated
The entire New World main story quest is now fully updated based on player feedback and improvements made to the revamped starting experience. Experience fresh narratives, more quest variety, and a few new surprises as you put an end to Isabella’s campaign of corruption.
Mounts in Outpost Rush
Ride your favorite mount into battle, gain control of fortifications and resources, and strike down foes in this 20v20 game mode for Level 60+ players.
Seasonal Events
Rabbit’s Revenge
The plague of rabbits has returned once again, only now, they are more perilous than ever. Watch out for explosions as you hunt for event-specific loot.
Springtide Bloom
The Time of Awakening has arrived. Springtide Bloom calls its children to share an ancient secret capable of granting true freedom. Help the enigmatic Bloom Herald unravel the mysteries of the ethereal Wispybloom and collect Springtide's fertile bounty of event-specific rewards. Harvest with caution, as swarms of vile Wispy Wasps guard the blooms with fury!
PTR
The Public Test Realm (PTR) is a limited-availability server-set that grants an early look at upcoming features. These preview builds are snapshots of upcoming major releases and are not final versions — you may encounter bugs, crashes, missing text, or other issues. Between our internal testing efforts and your reports, we hope to catch and resolve all serious issues before they reach the live servers. Hundreds of changes have already been made — with more to come — and the full release notes will be shared on release day. However, not every bug or feedback piece will be actioned on before release — some changes need time to be investigated further, and may arrive in a subsequent patch or two.
To help with the feedback process, all newly created PTR characters will have the opportunity to instantly level to select level-ranges outfitted with appropriate gear and items.
The PTR will officially open on February 15. If you encounter a bug, exploit, or have suggestions to improve a feature or piece of content, we’d love to hear your feedback on our Discord (you can also utilize our in-game feedback tool). We will do our best to address as much of your feedback as possible before the content update makes its way to our live servers. Your participation will help us to deliver awesome content and updates in the future!
During this iteration of the PTR, we look forward to hearing your playtest feedback on the following changes:
Winter Rune Forge
Season 5 Artifacts
Main Story Quest Update
Controller Support
Upgraded Combat & Animation System
Weapon Balance Updates
Mounts in Outpost Rush
Season 5 Rewards Track
Cooking Trade Skill changes
This content will be tested in rolling waves. Stay tuned to our Social channels and Discord for the full schedule.
PTR CLIENT ACCESS
This special preview client will be made available for download through the stand-alone Steam application, “New World Public Test Realm” (which should already be in your Steam library if you own the main game). When the test period is complete and the main New World game is updated with the previewed content, the PTR world will shut down and may be wiped clean. You will continue to see the New World PTR application in your Steam library, but there will not be an active server until the next time we announce a public test.
PTR BACKSTORY LOADOUTS
Upon character creation on the PTR, players will be given multiple caches of special armor and weapons. Each cache has a designation based upon a general build and a main attribute: CON, DEX, INT, FOC, and STR.
To help manage the sudden onset of new items, do not open all provided caches at once, or you’ll risk becoming encumbered! Instead, equip all provided bags and then follow-up with opening each cache deliberately. Any undesired caches can be dropped or deposited into your personal settlement storage.
PTR FAQ
HOW DO I ACCESS THE NEW PTR?
Everyone with a copy of New World will be automatically granted access to the secondary PTR app. The PTR is not compatible with the live game, so you will need to download a separate client (and have the hard drive space required to support it). From there, we will have special worlds available within supported regions. Not all regions will initially be supported. Access is on a first come, first served basis. There may be queues.
CAN I PLAY WITH OR TRANSFER MY LIVE CHARACTERS TO THE PTR?
Unfortunately, no. These are separate ecosystems, so at this time it is not possible. However, to make testing easier, we will occasionally provide our play-testers with special accommodations such as instant levels, special gear, etc.
CAN I PROVIDE DESIGN FEEDBACK REGARDING WHAT’S INCLUDED ON THE PTR?
Preview game builds on the PTR are finished with their core development and are in their final phase of testing and bug fixing. Our main focus at this phase is improving quality, although we will appreciate any feedback you have to share.
I HAVE A PROBLEM; HOW CAN I CONTACT CUSTOMER SUPPORT?
Our policies and Code of Conduct cover the PTR, and in-game moderation will continue to be supported. Unfortunately, due to the temporary and potentially unstable nature of the PTR, general Customer Service assistance through both Live Chat and through the Support Website will not be available.
I DON’T WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PTR, CAN I REMOVE THE APP FROM MY LIBRARY?
Don’t worry, no offense taken. Players can manage visibility of the New World Public Test Realm Steam Library entry. Opening up the game options (right-click > Manage) offers the “Hide Game” function.
Thanks for your support and participation! We'll see you in Aeternum.