In its March 2022 update, dubbed “Heart of Madness,” MMORPG New World by Amazon Games receives its biggest update since release. New World started off strong, even breaking some Steam records on launch. However, as months went by, player count dwindled and combat was described as buggy, prompting server merges and more. Hopefully this update to New World makes for a better playing experience.

A new weapon, new storyline, new expedition, and bug fixes, big gameplay changes, and more are in Heart of Madness. Read on for the highlights of the changes.

Main Storyline Finale Quest & Tempest's Heart Expedition

The main story questline picks up as you pursue Isabella back to Shattered Mountain. The final quest, The Heart of the Tempest, is given by Yseult Meredith, located at Mountain Home Outpost in Shattered Mountain. Additional repeatable quests can be taken from Mara Rosa, in the cathedral just south of the Expedition entrance.

The final showdown against Isabella has arrived, as you delve deep into the Tempest’s Heart Expedition. Pursue the Tempest into a corrupted dimension of reality, through the twisted capital city of Myrkgard. Discover the secrets of her past while you dive deeper into her corrupted mind.

The Tempest’s Heart is an endgame expedition for 5 players. Recommended for level 60 players with Gearscores between 550 and 570.

New Weapon: Blunderbuss

The Blunderbuss is a ranged weapon that offers high-mobility coupled with potent close-to-mid range damage. It’s the first weapon to scale on strength and intelligence, making it a good companion for bruiser or mage builds.

Adventurers will be able to progress through two weapon mastery trees, allowing the player to choose between two distinct playstyles.

  • The Containment tree is all about closing the gap and unloading hot lead into your enemy’s face.

  • Conversely, the Chaos tree focuses on keeping your distance and bombarding areas with explosive AoE damage.

Alongside the release of the Blunderbuss weapon itself, we’re also releasing a new Legendary Weapon Quest series. Upon reaching Level 60 and the maximum skill level with the new firearm, players should seek out Wang Tang Zhi in Ebonscale Reach settlement to start this epic endeavor.

Rewarding Exploration

New experiences have been added across the world for players to discover.

World Paintings – Vista Views

  • Two easels can be found in each territory. Upon interacting with these easels, players will be given a painting of the view for their house. If a player loses their painting they can reacquire it by visiting the same easel again 24 hours later.

Rafflebones The Loot Collector

  • Rafflebones rummages around Aeternum for lost treasures and goods. He will spawn all around the map at various levels in every territory. When players encounter Rafflebones they will have 45 seconds to kill him in order to get rewards or else he’ll flee! Players will always be awarded a named weapon. Additionally, level 60 players will be given Obsidian Gypsum on kill of any level Rafflebones. Rafflebones that are found in zones that go above level 60 will award level 60 players 500 Umbral Shards.

Stinky The Hunter

  • Stinky the Legendary Hunter can be found wandering around the swamps of Weaver's Fen throughout the day, while at night he retreats to his humble abode. Stinky can drop three named items for level 30 players: Stinky's Keepsake, Stinky's Sharpshooter, and Stinky's Hatchet.

The Forgotten Yeti

  • A population of yeti didn’t get the memo that the Winter Convergence has passed and can be found wandering the frozen wastelands of the Great Cleave. These Yeti drop level 45 standard elite rewards.

Roadside Encounters

  • New random roadside encounters can be found along routes in Weaver's Fen and Restless Shores.

Unbound Island

  • Revamped the layout and encounter experience for Unbound Island in Cutlass Keys. Go forth and uncover the curse of Benjamin Boatswain’s ill-gotten treasure! (For early level 30 players).

Andrometus

  • Revamped the layout and encounter experience for Andrometus in Weavers Fen. Blight continues to spread from Lepus, threatening to consume Aeternum. (For mid level 30 players)

Open World

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  • Doubled the storage bonus for all tiers of Storage Chests. Chests that used to provide 200 weight of bonus storage now provide 400 weight, etc.

  • Adjusted the description on Storage Chests to better indicate the benefit they provide.

  • Adjusted the description on Trophies to better clarify the actual benefit provided by these items.

  • For the starting beach experience in Windsward, the Watcher now offers players a choice of 4 weapons from a weapon rack to better suit their playstyle.

    • Players can choose between a Warhammer, Fire Staff, Bow, or Hatchet.

    • Each weapon also comes with chest armor, light healing potions, and some rations.

  • Durability loss has been updated. Now only your equipped items will take durability loss when you die.

  • Territory Storage

    • Removed the cost associated with moving items between territory storage

    • Your faction no longer needs to own both territories in order to transfer items between your storages

  • Player to Player collision

    • Player to Player collision removed from Open World, Expeditions, and Invasion.

  • Fast travel is now more responsive when traveling short distances.

Expeditions

  • Updated the queue requirements for Expeditions to require only 1 person at the entrance, allowing the other members to enter from their current location in the world.

  • Fixed an issue where boss music would stop playing after a party wipe in the Dynasty Shipyard Expedition.

  • Updated Expedition Victory banners to play unique SFX.

Quests Updates

  • New soloable quest options are available for the MSQ to allow players to progress without running certain expeditions.

  • New quests leading players to the Legendary Blunderbuss weapon reward have been added.

  • New Faction Missions targeting Corruption Breaches can now be found in all zones.

  • Starting beaches were updated and weapon racks added to give players more choices on their preferred combat direction.

  • Added Gypsum as a reward to level 60 quests in Shattered Mountain, Reekwater, and Ebonscale Reach.

  • Added map pins for Trial Quest NPCs for the Faction Advancement quests.

  • Removed the level threshold requirements from Main Story Quests.

  • Updated the “Intro to Factions” to be more streamlined and include new map/overhead icons for NPCs.

  • Moved the NPC for the “Down Payment” quest away from Corrupted Portal spawn location.

General AI Updates

  • Updated AI target acquisition in the open world to avoid targeting players who are not actively engaged in a fight.

    • Initial target acquisition remains unchanged with the AI attacking the first player they detect.

    • Once an AI has their initial target, they will only evaluate additional players if they take an aggressive act (attacking the AI, taunting, healing a player fighting the AI, etc).

    • Expedition, Invasion, and Outpost Rush AI do not use these new target acquisition rules. Those AI will acquire targets as they have in the past.

  • Introduced a grace period to AI aggro on spawn.

    • This will prevent AI from aggroing on players until 5 seconds after their spawn begins, or until they are damaged.

    • This delay affects AI that spawn naturally in the open world. Expedition AI and AI spawned by events (such as Corrupted Breaches) are unaffected by this change.

  • Fixed an issue causing AI to target players who used a taunt ability just prior to entering Death’s Door.

  • Fixed an issue preventing AI from targeting another player after their target vaulted over an object.

This New World Update also includes updates to the enemy AI, as well as some combat updates and changes to most weapons. UX and UI changes, bug fixes, and QoL improvements are also in this update. Players an also expect changes to Economy, Crafting, and Rewards. All of the details can be found in the full patch notes here.

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