New World Update Brings QoL Changes, Spices Up the Endgame Content

Players of Amazon Game Studios’ New World have been craving more end-game content for the MMORPG for quite a while. Well, it seems players are finally getting the chance of spicing up the endgame experience, with Amazon releasing a new update that shakes it up. The patch notes are quite big, so buckle up, as we look at some key changes.

For starters, the new update brings in an expedition modifier called Mutators. Mutated expeditions will let players face off against augmented enemies that they have previously faced off against, making them think and adapt to new strategies to subdue them. Completing a mutated expedition will reward players with newer and better rewards, which will let you increase your gear score.

The endgame Umbral upgrade system has also been tweaked, letting players upgrade individual gear pieces by spending Umbral shards. With mutated expedition getting added, it has become an efficient way to farm Umbral shards.

You can read the patch notes in their entirety from the official website for a more detailed overview, or have a look at a selection below.

New World January Update Key Changes

Umbral Upgrade System

• Players can upgrade individual gear pieces from GS 590 to GS 625, by spending Umbral Shards. Note we reduced this requirement from GS 600 to GS 590 based on PTR feedback and the desire to require Legendary items to engage in the Umbral System.

• The ability to upgrade items of any type is unlocked when players hit 600 Expertise for that item type.

• Players can acquire Umbral Shards via three methods:

  • Expedition Mutators are the most efficient way to earn Shards. The higher the difficulty level and the higher the Score Rank achieved the the more Shards a player will earn.

  • Opening Gypsum Casts, once the expertise of that type has reached at least 600 Expertise.

  • Crafting 600 GS items, once the expertise of that type has reached at least 600 Expertise.

• Upgrading any item via Umbral Shards binds the item to player.

Expertise System Updates

• Players raise their Expertise from 590 to 600 through the current means; Gypsum Casts and random open world bumps.

• Expertise is increased from 600 to 625 via the Umbral System.

• Expertise Gear Scaling

  • Any item that is purchased from the trading post or acquired through P2P after the January patch will have its effective gear score scaled down to the mid point of players Expertise and the items gear score if their Expertise is lower than the item’s gear score.

General Enhancements & QoL Improvements

• Whenever you craft a GS 600 item, if your Expertise for that item type is under 600 it will trigger an Expertise bump. This will be another great way for crafters to get their expertise to 600 (in addition to the already released Emerald Gypsum from Trade Skill Aptitude Reward containers).

• If you get an Expertise bump from random drop in the open world, the loot ticker will now show which item gave you the Expertise bump.

• If you get an Expertise bump from opening a reward cache, the opening sequence will highlight which item gave you the bump.

• You can now craft the Topaz Gypsum Attunement Potion at any Arcana Station as well as any T5 Camp.

• Increased the odds of getting Topaz Gypsum when killing enemies and attuned.

• We addressed an issue where Gypsum casts were only providing +1 bonuses when opening above gear score 585 for an item. Now, upgrades from Gypsum Casts from 585 to 600 should be at least +2 except when expertise is 599.

• To allow players more access to use Gypsum more freely as they acquire it we’ve removed the crafting cooldowns on Gypsum Orbs.