New World’s January update is finally upon us – and yes, this is the one headlined by mutator dungeons, which essentially insert gearscore-dependent, randomized, challenging versions of the game’s existing dungeons – with new loot, of course – into the PvE cycle.
“We are introducing a new end-game feature: Expedition Mutators! Mutators change the familiar by augmenting “Normal” and “Named” Enemies found within expeditions, changing the way encounters play out and what strategies players should consider before battle. And as combat changes, so do the rewards! New bespoke gear and resources can be found, providing additional means to increase your power level. This system is intended to rotate through a unique combination of Expeditions and Mutations each week, with 10 difficulty levels per Expedition Mutation. Players will be challenged to climb the ladder, with the aim of eventually reaching the max difficulty.”
Today’s update also includes the umbral upgrade system to integrate with the new gearscore caps, crafting tweaks, and much-needed reductions in expedition key costs and travel costs as well as housing taxes. Devs also buffed lowbie damage against highbies in PvP. Also? “To stimulate the post-holiday economy, we’ve added a limited-time rare drop called Bag of Juniper Berries which gives players coin and Juniper berries. It has the potential to reward between 50-150 coin per acquisition and you can only find 3 per day.”
The servers are down as I type this but should be back up around 10 a.m. EST, per social media. And don’t forget that the patch after this is all about fixing things: “This next month in February we’re focusing solely on fixing bugs, bots and balance to ensure players have a smooth gaming experience.”
