Greetings, Adventurers!
One of the most exciting new features coming is our first-ever 10-player raid, the Hive of Gorgons. After defeating Medusa in New Olympus, players will learn of a new threat. The Gorgons have risen, and they’re raising an army of the Hercyne. To stop them, you’ll have to assemble a team of powerful players, enter the hive, and navigate a gauntlet of challenging puzzles and epic boss battles.
Get an inside look into the Hive of Gorgons before it releases on October 15 alongside New World: Aeternum.
The Pinnacle of Endgame PvE Content
When it comes to endgame PvE content in New World: Aeternum, this raid is the pinnacle. It’s definitely a step above Mutators and even though it’s similar to the Sandwurm Trial, there are more complex mechanics. Our main goal is to layer together a lot of familiar mechanics, while raising the bar for both difficulty and rewards.
We wanted to make sure the effort is worth the time so we’ve included some of the strongest possible gear and increased the maximum Gear Score to 725. We even added 3 powerful, new Perks (1 for weapons, 1 for armor, and 1 for accessories) exclusive to the Hive of Gorgons raid.
We didn’t want to leave crafting totally out of the loop. The Hive of Gorgons raid drops a special new crafting material that players can use to craft 725 Gear Score equipment. There’s some prep work though, so its vast magical power doesn’t overwhelm the materials, plus one more very rare type of crafting item that will remain a secret for now.
Epic Encounters
We expanded our 10-player content to a longer-form raid to bring players something special. When developing content this large, there has to be a solid foundation, so we documented extensively before jumping into production. Our philosophy was actually to keep things simple rather than overcomplicate it. We think about a few things when designing raid bosses:
Responsibilities for players beyond just hitting the boss to help each other and feel like a team.
Wholly new mechanics that challenge players in ways they haven’t experienced before.
Moments of real spectacle where we want players to appreciate these unique, epic encounters.
Echidna is our biggest boss to date, with more verticality than any other encounter. She’ll stomp and thrash around while reshaping the arena, which can both be an opportunity and a hazard. The second boss, Typhon, is the ferocious guardian of a massive elevated bridge. He’ll unleash thorny traps for intruders and ravenously devour all who attempt to cross.
The raid’s climax against the Broodmother shows Medusa in her final form — grotesquely mutated, commanding the spread of toxic spores, and hatching a horde of Hercyne spawn.
From Blockout to Roman Bath
Elysian Wilds left us with a certain curiosity about Medusa and her plot to bring the Hercyne to power. That desire to expand on her story helped inspire the Hive of Gorgons.
We were fortunate to identify the types of areas we wanted to create early in this development cycle: a Desert Canyon, Roman Baths, and an Ancient Tomb. For each, we got some wonderful concept art, which really helped us create a blockout that was very close to the shipped product. It is easy to get lost in complexity when blocking, or using simple shapes to design a rough draft of the level, in a level this large.
Raid ‘Chapters’
To keep the pacing crisp and gameplay varied, we decided there would be three ‘chapters’ to the raid. Every chapter would have a section of enemies, a puzzle or action sequence, and a boss. Following this formula, we were able to focus on each action sequence or puzzle without it bleeding into something else. The action sequences presented their own challenges and went through multiple iterations of playtesting and development.
The main differences between our original design document and the final version were more iterative than sweeping changes. One feature we added was teleporting players who join late to the most recent boss. Immediately making progress is far more fun than running through cleared sections.
A big thanks to our internal playtest experts. The group was electric when we finished the raid for the first time. Everyone’s cheers, pats on the back, and laughs made all of the many, many wipes worth it.
Player Progression
This raid will be the next step in furthering progression and overall equipment power. From the original main story quest to Brimstone Sands, Elysian Wilds, and now the revamped Cutlass Keys zone, we’ve continued to create content bands for players to explore as phases of their experience on Aeternum.
Banding content into Gear Score ranges requires us to carefully consider the accessibility of powerful equipment within each band. While the current strongest gear will no longer be at the top when the Hive of Gorgons releases, they’re by no means less powerful against any of the existing content. We try to avoid changing endgame loot since receiving each piece is an achievement in and of itself. Our philosophy isn’t changing too much, but we plan to keep giving players new heights to achieve in the future.
We look forward to seeing players react to the Hive of Gorgons when it releases on October 15 alongside New World: Aeternum. Check out our other major updates coming in the Season of Opportunity. Thanks for your support and we’ll see you in Aeternum!