New World News Digest №8 (08.02.2022)

Hello and welcome. I’m really glad to see you, the reader of my digest. Yes-yes, you. I might not express my gratitude personally (but I’d love to if I could), but I really appreciate and I am thankful for everyone who’s reading my articles.

Four days have passed since my last digest, and some things are going on in New World.

The Hardcore Mode suggested by The Comeback Kids I mentioned in my Digest #7 becomes more popular, and there is at least one more participant, 5waze, who started on Orun (NA East) on Monday, February 7.

He chose his weapons and faction by the Wheel of Fortune and got the Sword and Shield as a primary and a Great Axe as a secondary weapon. In his last video, 5waze ended up taking the quest “No Mere Shot Across the Bow,” which requires level 24. Let’s wait and see how he’s going to complete it.

The most discussable topic about the February PTR Announcement is still on the changes of the Gravity Well. Is it a total nerf that will kill the Great Axe? Or is it a buff that allows you to pull enemies to the center of the ability for some huge clumping and AoE potential?

The opinions are divided. Guess the truth is somewhere between. The change of Gravity Well will leave the Great Axe in its current role of a nice supportive weapon for mass PvP and Expeditions but might decrease the number of players who use it as a main weapon.

As for the game mechanics news, we have a clarification from u/Fink41 on how the Shield Expertise affects the Average Expertise. Shortly said, the Shield Expertise impacts your Average Expertise but doesn’t affect your Average Gear Score if the Shield is not equipped. 

I can also add that each piece of Gear carries a different weight towards your Average Gear Score, so you’re going to want to level up your gear in the correct order. There’s an Umbral Shard Gear Optimizer to help with this. 

If you need more information about the Expertise System or Umbral Shards, please check our guides. 

The first world merge of 2022 was announced 3 days ago and is going to happen today. Ramaja will be merged into Avalon in Vanaheim Psi – Central EU (DE/EN).

This is definitely not the last merge. Since we might also have new Server Transfer Tokens soon, remind that the server population service is back online, so you can check which servers are more or less populated. If you need a guide on server choosing, we have one.

P.S. For those who’re wondering where to find the ghost ship from the preview image – it’s near the First Light. There’s always something new you can find in New World.