The May 2022 New World update has finally arrived, introducing 3v3 PVP Arenas, a new PVP Rewards Track, New Expedition Mutators, and more.
Earlier this month, Amazon Games gave us a brief overview of some of the new content we could expect to see in the May 2022 update for New World. That update has finally arrived as of this morning and it's packed with some interesting new goodies -- especially for PVP players.
May 2022 New World Update is a Feast for PVP Players
The latest New World update has a little something for everyone, but PVP players are making out like bandits with a bunch of interesting additions for that portion of the game, starting with the introduction of 3v3 PVP Arenas that you can jump into at any time as long as you're Level 20 or higher.
"It's basically on-demand PVP," New World Player Experience Lead David Hall said last week. "So, you can just jump into the game, go to the mode screen, press 'Join Queue,' and get yourself put into a match very quickly. You can queue up by yourself if you want, you can queue up with your friend, or with both friends and just have a full team of three."
PVP is being further supplemented with the addition of a new PVP Rewards Track system. Playing PVP now grants PVP XP and a new kind of currency called Azoth Salt. This PVP XP will progress you on the Rewards Track which has "Checkpoints" at the 2,000, 5,000, and 10,000 XP milestones. When you hit a Checkpoint, you can use your Azoth Salt to buy one of three random rewards. These rewards will be appropriate to your character level, and the rewards get better as you increase your PVP Rank.
Also arriving for PVP players is a set of new PVP Perks:
- Penetrating Backstab (PvP Only) - Backstabs penetrate 10% of a player’s armor.
- Penetrating Headshot (PvP Only) - Headshots penetrate 7% of a player’s armor.
- Fractured Rend (PvP Only) - When block breaking a player, inflict rend, reducing damage absorption by 12% for 4s.
- Purifying Crits (PvP Only) - Critical hits remove 1 buff from a player (Cooldown 10s)
- Exhausted Exploitation (PvP Only) - Hits against Exhausted targets inflict Slow, reducing movement speed by 15% for 4 seconds (Can not re-trigger on same target)
- Alacritous Punishment (PvP Only) - Deals 8% additional damage to players with Haste.
- Sturdy Fortification (PvP Only) - Blocking attacks add a stack of 4% fortify on self for each blocked hit (Max Stack 5)
- Shirking Heals (PvP Only) - After successfully dodging an attack, heal for 100 health. (Each armor piece with this perk adds a stack)
- Siege Ward (PvP Only) - Receive 6% less damage from siege weapons.
- Mortal Empowerment (PvP Only) - Player kills grant a persistent 1% damage bonus that lasts until downed, death, game mode exit. Duration refreshes on re-application. (Stacks up to 30 times, can not be cleansed).
- Invigorated Punishment (PvP Only) - Ability deal 3% bonus damage per buff on target. (Cap of 8)
- Shirking Empower (PvP Only) - After successfully dodging an attack, obtain Empower, increasing damage dealt by 4% for 10s, refreshes when new stack is applied. (Stacks 4 times)
Mind, PVE players haven't been left out in the cold -- two key additions have arrived for people who are content to fight the game's NPCs. Firstly, Vartangian Knights Episode 2 has arrived, featuring four new Varangian enemies: the Crusher, Spearman, Hound, and Mage. The episode 2 quest chain can be started by speaking to Abigail Rose outside of a new Varangian Camp located at Sorcerers Delver in Everfall; player level 25-30 is recommended for these new quests.
Another batch of Expedition Mutators has arrived as well -- you can now experience The Depths as part of the weekly Expedition Mutator Rotation. Furthermore, an additional 3 new Mutator types have been added to the pool of possibilities:
- Overgrown - Focuses on Nature Damage and Resistance. Overgrown adds effects like Toxic, a pool which tracks down players, and Compost which turns trash into healing areas for their allies.
- Barbaric - Focuses on Physical Damage. Adds Berserk, an enrage effect, and Shattering which deals Stamina Damage.
- Fiendish - Curses that focus on the nocturnal. Fiendish adds Weary, which will weaken players with Rend and make them vulnerable with Slow. It also features Blood Offering which stacks damage over time.
You can read about all of today's additions in detail in today's news post about the May 2022 New World update. If you're itching to try out a new MMO, you can buy New World for PC via Steam starting at $39.99 or your regional equivalent.
