SPOTLIGHT
BRIMSTONE SANDS ZONE
Brimstone Sands is a new zone unlike anything else in Aeternum. Roughly the size of 2.5 Everfalls, it features new enemies to fight, a new territory to control, and new stories to uncover.
Death hovers over the scorched wastes of Brimstone Sands, its thirst still unsatisfied even after centuries of strife and war. The ancient Egyptians first encountered the godlike Ancients here and built monuments and vast cities that were part of a flourishing civilization thousands of years in the past. Their civilization has long fallen to ruin, and few of those original inhabitants remain except for the mysterious sorcerer Imhotep, with whom players must work with to solve the desert’s mysteries.
The most immediate threat in Brimstone Sands is posed by the deranged remnants of the Roman Empire's 19th Legion. What exactly befell the Romans must be discovered, but they have fallen to Corruption and now besiege the ancient ruins of a mysterious Pyramid known as Akhet. They are certain that, within, they will find the secret to their redemption and the long-awaited resurgence of the Roman Empire.
THE ENNEAD EXPEDITION
Delve into Ancient Ruins to face the vigilant Anubian Guardians and solve hieroglyphic puzzles to achieve new power.
Players will explore ancient mysteries with Imhotep, battle powerful Sand Demons, and perhaps, if they persist, restore the rightful ruler who can finally bring order and hope to the region after centuries of chaos.
REVAMPED STARTING EXPERIENCE
We’ve completely redesigned the early levels of New World, so players who start the game or roll a new character will experience brand new stories and quests. We listened to player feedback about the starting experience in New World, and made the following changes:
OPTIMIZED QUEST FLOW
- Quest flow through zones has been optimized, with NPCs who move around with a story that takes players through each region of the game, unlocking side content to pace out the experience.
NEW QUEST DYNAMICS
- We’ve added a variety of new quest dynamics, from wave events to tracking and traversal challenges, puzzles in the ruins, unique interactions with the world, and dynamic events players will encounter.
STREAMLINED STORY
- We’ve revised onboarding to stay focused on the central storyline, introducing the legacy of King Arthur in Monarch’s Bluffs and a curse and famine from the sorceress Medea in Windsward. Players will still converge on the Hermit Yonas to start on the path to becoming Soulwardens, but the Yonas quests have all been consolidated in Everfall. The Hermit himself is now more mobile, while the story and quest flow vastly improved.
ZONE UPGRADES
- We’ve also added a lot more character to the zones and settlements in Monarch’s Bluffs and Everfall, with new enemies, new major locations, and new challenges in the quests and open world.
NIGHTVEIL HALLOW
Shapes in the mist! Shrieks in the night! The demon Baalphazu, Marquis of Terror, and his horde of ghoulish Pumpkinites are spreading a living nightmare across Aeternum. Aid Salvatore the Mad in his quest to banish these foul terrors and collect a bounty of limited-time Nightveil Hallow rewards. This event will run from the launch of Brimstone Sands until November 1. Characters must be level 35 or higher to start the questline.
GREATSWORD WEAPON
Get ready for a new weapon — the Greatsword. This blade utilizes offensive and defensive stances. Adapt to different situations to survive in battle. Both Weapon Skill Trees feature versatile tactics for varied playstyles:- The Onslaught tree embodies relentless offense and focuses on defeating enemies before they can take you out.
- The Defiance tree excels at aggressive defense that can survive and deal damage against multiple opponents.
HEARTGEM ABILITIES
Adventurers can now further customize their playstyle through Heartgem Abilities:- Detonate: Overload yourself with Arcane energy to detonate and deal significant damage in a large radius around you. Players can move and attack while the ability is active.
- Grasping Vines: Punch your hand into the ground to unleash vines around you and root all nearby enemies.
- Stoneform: Turn yourself to stone and become immune to staggers, knockdowns, stuns, roots and slows. Players can move and attack while this ability is active.
- Cannon Blast: Whip out a large, handheld cannon and fire a cannonball that deals significant damage on impact.
- Dark Ascent: Sprout Corrupted wings and fly up into the air, hover briefly, and then slam back down into the ground, staggering and dealing damage to all nearby enemies.
WORLD EXPERIENCE
GENERAL
- Increased the vertical Logging animation speed to be closer to the horizontal Logging animation speed.
- Reduced Hearty Buff from 50% to 25% increase in health (per player feedback).
- Traitor's Hold rope rail now has consistent collision.
- Improved voiceover sync for NPCs Nessa Harrower and Cornil Reynolds.
- Replaced a mountain lion with a grizzly bear south of Clearview Crypt.
QUALITY OF LIFE
- Adjusted XP curves for multiple gameplay aspects:
- Character Leveling: Greatly reduced character XP required after level 20.
- 140% reduction through Level 45, then 160% reduction through Level 60.
- Town Projects: XP rewards have been reduced by 75%.
- Faction Missions: XP rewards have been increased by 125%
- Lore Notes: XP rewards have been increased by 200%.
- Gathering: XP rewards have been increased by 200%.
- POI Discoveries: XP rewards have been increased by 200%.
- Gathering Trade Skills: XP rewards have been increased by 125%.
- Corruption Portals: XP rewards have been increased by 150%.
NOTABLE FIXES
- Fixed an issue that caused Magistrate Bond to play their voiceover in the incorrect language.
- Fixed an issue that caused the voiceover for Sule Bankole in Brightwood to not play.
- Fixed an issue that caused the Cat Den point of interest icon to appear as the Wolf Den icon.
- Fixed an issue that caused player weapons to not fade out during cutscenes.
- Fixed an issue that caused the camera to spin around uncontrolled.
- Fixed a rare crash bug that sometimes happened when first loading into world.
- Fixed an issue that caused performances to desync with the player.
- Fixed an issue that caused the Town Board and Journal to display incorrect information after leaving an Expedition.
- Fixed issues with collision and illumination in The Montore Expedition area.
- Fixed an issue that caused Music Performances to not start properly.
- Fixed an issue that caused the player to hold their primary weapon while playing an Instrument.
- Fixed an issue that caused the unsheathing sound to not play when selecting an Instrument in Musical Performances.
- Fixed an issue that caused players to fall off of Fort walls when exiting turrets in War.
EXPEDITIONS
- BARNACLES & BLACK POWDER
- Fixed an issue that caused Admiral Blackpowder to play his intro with his cannon in his hand instead of his back.
- Added collision so players can no longer use the hut near the pier as a safe spot.
- Adjusted collision in Crows Nest to prevent players from leaving the combat zone.
- AI can no longer be aggroed onto the Nereid.
- Fixed an issue that caused status effects from the Nereid to persist after death.
- Fixed an issue that caused Nereid's spears to not clean up after a team wipe.
- Fixed an issue that caused some VFX for Nereid to not apply correctly.
- Fixed a client crash during movement inside the Expedition.
- Fixed an issue that made players unable to use unstuck at certain locations.
- THE DEPTHS
- Fixed an issue that caused the fight with Captain Thorpe to not start.
- TEMPEST HEART
- Fixed the position for Antiquated Coffer that was hidden under geometry.
- Reduced the perception radius of Ekheke so that he no longer targets respawning players.
- GARDEN OF GENESIS
- Fixed an issue that prevented the Alluvium Marl encounter from starting correctly in Mutated versions.
- Fixed an issue that caused water flickering issues with the environment.
- Added collision to prevent players from going out of bounds in the Genesis Caretaker fight.
- DYNASTY SHIPYARD
- Fixed an issue that caused room names to not update on the map.
- Fixed an issue that caused the Commander Chen mini-boss to leash to an incorrect position if pulled far enough beyond his initial spawn.
- Fixed some pathing issues in the Commander Chen fight in Dynasty Shipyard Expedition.
- Fixed an issue that caused animation stutter during the Barracks encounter.
- Fixed an issue that caused Joven or Oro to become stuck in their cages.
- LAZARUS INSTRUMENTALITY
- Fixed an issue that caused Cilla to not initiate her encounter.
- STARSTONE BURROWS
- Tightened up some areas where players could lose AI aggro.
- Fixed an issue that caused water flickering issues with the environment.
- The protection bubble in Starstone Burrows now plays music when activated.
Brimstone Sands Release
A new zone, Expedition, revamped starting experience, weapon, seasonal event, and combat mechanic are coming to Aeternum.
www.newworld.com