The Definitive New World Guide Everything there is to know about Amazon's New World MMO

Check out our item database, interactive map and guides for the New World Preview Event! A good starting point: The Ultimate New World Beginner's Guide!

Table of Contents

Background

Amazon's New World MMO takes place in Aeternum, a supernatural island which is home to a dark power. As the latest wave of explorers, players face not only the island's dangerous and corrupted wildlife, but also the undead remains of previous expeditions, that have been lying in wait for centuries.

There is another reason so many are drawn to Aeternum: Azoth - the same substance that can corrupt those who come in contact with it - is also a rare and powerful material which plays a vital role in the game as it can empower players, foes and items.

The game was originally framed in the mid-1600s colonization period, but has since shifted towards a more fantasy-focused setting. As a "Open World"-MMO it aims to set itself apart from other online games by offering players a vast world to explore and a lot of freedom when it comes to playstyles.

Gameplay

While the term "survival" has often come up when describing New World, the few survival elements that the game had in previous iterations have since been removed and the game has shifted to more traditional MMO features.

As players explore the map, they'll fight not only wildlife but also a variety of undead and supernatural enemies. Their main foe however is a faction called the "Corrupted". They are cultists empowered by the ancient corruption on the island, that have erected fortifications and seek to erase or enslave all life on the island.

Combat is inspired by Dark Souls, meaning there is no tab-targetting like in most other MMO games. Instead, action combat lets you freely engage enemies with aimed attacks, with blocking, dodging and general positioning and timing being main elements of PvE and PvP engagements. Ranged weapons also have to be aimed manually and the same is true for magic attacks. There is player collision.

Gathering and crafting play a vital role in the game, next to exploration and combat, and are explained in more detail in their own sections below. Another major focus is territory control and mass sieges - either against other players or hordes of Corrupted.

Classes and Progression

We have a list of all abilities and skill trees in our ability database!

There are no traditional classes in the game. While you gain experience and level up just like many players are used to from other MMOs, attribute and skill points can be freely distributed in whatever you want to focus on. There are traditional roles such as tank, healer and DPS in the game, through character and equipment customization rather than pre-determined classes and skills.

Progression systems in New World are Weapon Mastery, Trade Skills, Faction Reputation, Territory Standing, and PVP.

Weapon Mastery improves through usage of a particular weapon and there are 30 skills to unlock for each weapon. Each time you kill a monster using a weapon, that weapon gains mastery XP. Over time you unlock up to 20 skill points as you level up the mastery. Abilities can be unlocked using these points. The last ability in each tree requires you to spend 10 points in preview tiers of the same tree, meaning you can only fully unlock one tree, while still being able to spend some points in the other.



Weapon Mastery Skill Tree Weapon Mastery Skill Tree

There are more than a dozen different tradeskills.

As players level up, they can spend attribute points in Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Focus and Constitution. These improve their weapon damage, ability cooldowns, mana regeneration and health pool. Attributes have a soft cap at 60 points, after which additional points have diminishing returns.



Character Screen & Attributes Character Screen & Attributes

For example you could focus on heavy armor and shield and take the role of a frontline fighter. Or you can use leather and bow and stay behind your better-armored companions while you engage enemies from range. Magical healing gauntlets let you take on more of a support role, and we imagine all these roles can be mixed and matched using the free skill system. A plate armor wielding battlemage is possible in New World. The system allows you to specialize as you see fit using Weapon Masteries or even completely ignore combat skills and become a Master Craftsman or Trader. It's possible to respec (at least early on), allowing players to experiment with different combinations before choosing their path. The skill system is also said to allow for "endless progression".

It's currently not possible to have more than one character per server. This is partly because of the faction system and partly because the class-less system reduces the need for alts (alternate characters), unlike in a class-based MMO.

PvP

PvP is a major part of New World, although it has seen drastic changes since the first version of the game. While there is a possibility to engage in PvP with other players and even fight massive battles over territory control, it is also possible to completely opt-out of PvP.

PvP is still a focus of the game, but only fair, consensual, organized and skill-based fights, not the type of griefing and player-killing that they saw in the first alpha.

New World now has a opt-in PvP system. You can switch between PvP-enabled/-disabled in your player house or a settlement, then venture out into the world either completely safe from others or able to freely engage those who have also enabled PvP. To be able to opt-in to PvP, you need to be at least level 10 and have joined a faction.

The Criminal System that was in place in earlier versions has been removed.

Players do not drop items on death, another change from previous versions.

There won't be PvP servers, at least not on release.

PvP is supposed to be "extremely rewarding", although details have not been revealed yet. Opting in to PvP grants bonuses such as increased experience gain in order to provide an incentive for the increased risk. On the other hand the risk is pretty low compared to other games, because of the lack of item drop on death.

PvP is very skill-based due to its action-oriented nature, and player stats and attributes don't play as much of a role as in other games. In fact even a 10-level difference in player levels is supposed to be surmountable, meaning a lower level player should be able to beat a higher level player purely depending on skill.

Open World PvP is largely driven by PvP faction missions as of the time of the preview event, which send players to specific locations. During these missions, players have to be flagged up for PvP, and dying will reset their missions progress. Being flagged up grants a minor XP bonus and killing another players grants a very small amount of coin.

There is no duel system right now, but it's something that is highly demanded by players. It's not planned for the game's release, but it's something AGS is working on.

PvE

You can find all the creatures in the game in our creature database!

There are four major enemy factions in New World.

The Lost are zombie-like creatures who are the remains of previous explorers stranded on Aeternum.

The Angry Earth are Dryads, beasts and other elements of nature that try to push back against the invading humans.

The Ancients are what's left over of an old civilization that existed on Aeternum long ago, who left behind temples and pyramid-like structures.

The Corrupted, who have been possessed by Azoth and are mounting invasions against the settlers.

Another feature that we already know about is Invasions, where hordes of corrupted or undead will assault player settlements.

There won't be any dungeons or raids in the game at release, although they may be added at a later date. New World will have world bosses.



One of several different Corrupted Breaches One of several different Corrupted Breaches

Corrupted Breaches are world events that appear in territories when they become too corrupted and provide additional PvE content. Players have to clear several waves of enemies and finally seal the breach using an Azoth infused staff. Breaches come in various difficulties and while some can be done solo, others require a group of players to tackle.

New World will have PvE arenas, which contain boss encounters and are meant as challenging PvE content for groups of 5 players. These require a balanced party of melee and ranged DPS as well as a healer.

To enter an arena in New World, players will have to first find a key. These keys will either drop from monsters or be attainable through other ways. If one player with the key uses it at the arena entrance, the entire group will be teleported inside as long as they are nearby. Once inside, players only have a set amount of time before their attempt to defeat the boss ends. If they don't succeed they will be teleported outside and have to find another key.

The first arena that has been revealed has a nature-theme and faces players off against the Spriggan, a high level boss and member of the Angry Earth faction. The Spriggan's attacks deal large amounts of stamina damage, breaking blocks with ease. It also switches between melee and ranged attacks, and has the ability to put up a healing shield that the group will have to break quickly before the Spriggan can regenerate too much health. Defeating the Spriggan rewards players with valuable loot and a chance at a legendary item, some of the best gear in New World.



The Spriggan The Spriggan

Invasions

Invasions are open to anyone above level 50, but you have to sign up for it and hope to get picked at random before the event starts. Only 50 players can participate, with 10 of them being chosen by the governor of the territory.

Invasions happen when the Corruption becomes too strong in a territory - roughly every 4 days - at which point the Corrupted will siege the fort. If the fort falls, the settlement loses upgrades such as crafting stations or fort upgrades.

During the invasion you will face 8 waves of Corrupted with different skills and even boss encounters. Players will have to prevent them from breaching the gates and destroying the fort claim. To do this, they will be able to use a number of items that they can buy with battle tokens during the preparation phase of the siege as well as the fort's siege weapons.



Siege Utilities that players can buy with tokens Siege Utilities that players can buy with tokens

There are rewards in the form of experience, gold and loot, depending on how many waves players managed to defeat.

Invasion Mobs:

Grunts pose little threat but when they swarm, they can quickly take down any target. They focus on destroying structures. If they can't reach one of them, they begin to attack players. After a period of time, they start to frenzy, creating fast, intense, and increased damage while also burning themselves out. We recommended destroying Grunts as quickly possible.

Raiders are the shock troops of the invading forces. They are skilled, tough and well-equipped. They are more than capable of handling themselves in melee combat. They focus on attacking players but will attack structures if there are no players in range.

Snipers hang back and take pot shots of players from afar. The prioritize targets on the ramparts and are effective at suppressing turrets. They are also evasive, dodging and ducking to avoid player attacks.

Bombers are runners with explosives strapped to their back. They run at structures and then blow themselves up, dealing significant damage. It is highly recommended to take them down using ranged weapons because they explode on death.

Brutes are huge, hulking beasts that smash structures. They will occasionally attack players that annoy them but are otherwise focused on destroying defenses. Brutes are very tough and require multiple players in order to defeat.

Bosses can vary. Some are focused on destroying structures while others focus on attacking players. In addition, some of them apply buffs to other invading forces or debuffs to players.



One of the more dangerous foes you will face One of the more dangerous foes you will face

Settlements

Settlements are one of the major selling points of the game. Players can create organizations in the form of companies (guilds or clans in other games), and take over several of the claims that are scattered around the world map - if they are strong enough. These claims can be developed into full-blown player cities, with crafting stations, fortifications and a tax system.



One of New World's Many Settlements One of New World's Many Settlements

Settlements and forts are part of territories, which player companies can govern.

Settlements will also allow for player housing, even granting access to players outside the owning company to build their houses and farms there, in exchange for taxes and support in war.

These settlements cannot be built freely like in previous versions but come pre-built. Crafting stations and other features such as fort defense can however be upgraded through town projects that are activated by the controlling company and can be contributed to by any player. This involves completing quests that award XP and currency.

Settlements can be attacked by other companies during war or by NPC invasions. If a settlement is unclaimed (at the start of the game), it can be claimed by simply paying a fee at the territory's fort.

Settlements require the controlling company to pay upkeep and might downgrade if it is not paid or if players fail to defend against invasions by the Corrupted.

Companies gain taxes from settlement residents and crafting or trading activity, and can set the tax rate.

Players can join a settlement by purchasing a house in it. Houses are not affected if settlement ownership changes.

A territory fort is the structure that players have to fight over in order to take control of a settlement/territory.

Items in storage of player housing are safe even if the settlement is conquered by an opposing company.

Sieges

Sieges are a way for companies to remove their enemies' claims from the world map and take over their settlement. They are pitched as massive 50 vs 50 battles between companies. To prevent third-parties from interfering with the war, the settlement will be "shielded" from outside influence, making it impossible to participate if you are not invited by one of the two parties.

During the war, attackers and defenders gain points that can be used to upgrade defenses or get access to siege equipment or gear.

The siege ends either if the attackers manage to breach the walls and claim the flag in the center of the claim or if time runs out.

Players can "sign up" to participate in sieges even if they don't belong to a company.

Player settlements can only be sieged during a 1-hour time window that the owning company can define, making sure that players don't have to be on alert 24/7 in order to protect their claim.

Players could previously use Siege Hammers or Powder Kegs to overcome the settlement's defenses. More siege weapons have been added since then that can be unlocked and constructed during a siege.

There are several capture points that attackers have to take in order to advance and win the siege.

Factions

There are three factions in the game that players can join, which form the basis for open-world PvP and territory control.

Players have to choose a faction once they reach level 10 and the decision is permanent. They can only join a company of the same faction.

The three factions are the Marauders (militaristic faction), the Syndicate (secretive), and the Covenant (religious themed). These factions offer missions for gear and other rewards.

Faction and territory standing is gained by simple playing the game in a particular area and unlock rewards specific to that location (additional XP in that territory, reduced trade tax, etc).

Players can take on faction quests to increase their factions influence in a territory. There is a choice between PvE quests (defeat certain monsters, acquire specific resources or items) and PvP quests, which will automatically flag players for PvP and fail if they unflag or die during the mission. Completing any faction quest will reward players with gemstones, a currency used for faction-specific items.



Faction Quests - PvE & PvP Faction Quests - PvE & PvP

To keep control of a territory or to make it vulnerable to siege, factions have to gain influence in the area. Once an opposing faction has gained enough influence to throw the territory into a contested state, companies who had a certain activity during the influence contest will then be able to declare war. Of all the companies who declared, one will be chosen at random as the vanguard. This company will lead the siege over the territory's fort and can invite others to join them. If they win the siege, the territory falls to them.



A territory map showing faction influence A territory map showing faction influence

Companies

Companies are player-created organizations that offer a hierarchical structure. Companies are limited to 50 players and it is not currently known if they can form alliances with other companies. They can however declare war on each other, during which players can launch a siege on their territory.

Companies have different ranks, the highest being the Governor, and second-in-command being the Consuls. Governors will typically be able to set taxes or start settlement projects.

Companies belong to one of Aeternum's player factions, depending on the faction of the player who created the company.

Twitch Integration

Twitch integration is planned, which would allow streamers to interact with their viewers in-game and invite them to "streamer armies". Streamers can also flag themselves in-game so other players know who they are interacting with and can look them up on Twitch. Not much more is known.

World Map

Click here for the Interactive World Map

The map of Aeternum is large and can hold over 1000 players at the same time. Areas have different types of resources and biomes.



The World Map from 2018 The World Map from 2018

Crafting

Looking for crafting recipes? Check out the crafting page!

Crafting is a major focus in New World and has endless progression. Reaching higher levels in these trade skills allows gatherers to track higher level resources, gain bonus materials while refining, and crafters will be able to craft items with higher gear score and more perks, which rival the best items to be found in the game. Perks on crafted items are mostly random but can be influenced using special resources.



Trade Skill Progression Trade Skill Progression

Gathering Skills:

Mining

Skinning

Logging

Harvesting

Refining Skills:

Crafting Professions:

Weaponsmithing: Melee Weapons

Armoring: Light, Medium and Heavy Armor

Jewelcrafting: Trinkets and Gems

Engineering: Ranged Weapons and Ammo

Arcana: Potions, Tinctures, Magical Weapons

Cooking: Meals and Drinks that provide buffs and health regeneration

Furnisher: Furniture, Storage and Trophies for player houses

When gathering materials, players have a chance to find special resources that improve crafted items.



Crafting a Shield Crafting a Shield

Crafted items can have different tiers and quality that influence an item's gear score and stats. Higher tier items of the same type require additional crafting components.

Items can be salvaged to get some of their base materials back. There is also a repair skill.

Crafting in New World is very in-depth. Make sure to read the New World Crafting guide with all the details from the official blog post.

Housing

Players can buy houses and decorate them. They can also acquire trophies and mount them on the walls of their house, offering bonuses that may help them in combat against certain creatures. One of the pre-order bonuses is a pet for your player house.

You can purchase a house at level 20 and another at level 40 and 60. There is a property tax that is paid to the company controlling the settlement. If you don't pay the tax, certain features of the house will be disabled.

Housing is instanced, with several different types of houses available in each settlement.

You can fast travel to your house via recall, gain buffs by placing certain trophies in it, and visit other players' houses.

To be able to purchase a house in a settlement, you need to have enough standing in the territory. You can own more than one house in each settlement.

Houses have different features, looks and cost.

Houses can be decorated and your house will have a score depending on its decoration to compete with other home owners. The house with the highest score will be visible in the settlement, while the others merely exist in their own instance.

Read more about player housing in our dedicated New World Housing guide!

Mounts

There are no mounts or naval battle but both might be added in the future if players want it.

Weapons, Armor and other Equipment

ALL of the weapons as well as other items can be found in our database!

The following weapons and off-hand items are confirmed at launch:

1-hand Swords.

2-hand Hammers.

Throwing Axe.

2-hand Staves (Fire & Life).

Bows and Muskets.

Shields.

The following weapons have been teased in screenshots or shown in concept art and might be added after launch:

1-hand Rapier

2-hand Swords.

2-hand Greataxe.

Polearms.

Spears.

Maces.

More 2h Staves for different magic schools.

Magical Gauntlets.

Pistols.

Torches.

Armor comes in many different sets of Cloth, Leather and Heavy Armor.

Trapper Set

Duelist's Set

Explorer's Set

Witch Hunter's Set

Plague Doctor Set

Sage Set

Officer Set

Soldier's Set

Heavy Set

Inquisitor Set



Inquisitor Set Inquisitor Set

Officer Set Officer Set

Plague Doctor Set Plague Doctor Set

Soldier Set Tier 3 Soldier Set Tier 3

Soldier Set Soldier Set

Soldier Set T5 Soldier Set T5

Trapper Set Trapper Set

Duelist Set Duelist Set

Explorer Set Explorer Set

There are also rings and amulets that provide bonuses to resistances and other attributes, as well as potions and poison coatings.

Food and drinks can be crafted or looted and provide health recovery as well as other buffs. These buffs range from increased stamina recovery or defense against certain creatures to bonuses to crafting professions. Other consumables such as potions and tinctures can give access to quick healing, increasing carry weight or defense against elemental attacks.

Another category of consumables are weapons coatings which provide extra damage against certain types of enemies and can be crafted at a camp.

Items have a tier, gear score, and a wide range of different defense and absorption bonuses against physical and magical attacks. Items with a higher gear score are more powerful, with increased base damage or mitigation. Items also have up to three perks, with higher gear score increasing the chance to get more and better perks. The number of perks also determines the items rarity: "Common" (no perk), "Uncommon" (1 perk), "Rare" (2 perks) and "Epic" (3 perks).



Item Rarity in New World Item Rarity in New World

Items can also have a gem slot, in addition to perks. Gems can be crafted by Jewel Crafters and provide further bonuses such as extra attribute points.

Each item has a different weight, and the overall weight of your equipment determines whether your equip load is light, normal or heavy. In light load you have a more evasive play style with bonus resistances to elemental and magic damage, while heavy load makes you less mobile but increases your physical resistances. There is a lot of room for mixing and matching different items to experiment with different equip loads and resistances.

Some of the best loot comes from PvE arenas in the form of legendary equipment.

You can also find legendary and named items from other sources. These come with pre-determined gear score, perks and gems.



Legendary Hammer in New World Legendary Hammer in New World

There are trinkets such as rings, earrings and amulets that come with a gem that cannot be replaced. There are also other items like duffel bags, that increase the amount of weight you can carry in your inventory.

There is a dye system so players can customize their gear.

Inventory and Banking

The inventory is limited by weight and so is the equipped gear. Banking is available in player settlements in the form of storage buildings. Equipped weapons have to be dragged to the hotbar in order to be used.

You can unlock three quick-swap weapon slots.

The hotbar allows for up to 4 consumables to be equipped at a time, such as food buffs or healing potions.

Magic

Magic will be in the game and magical gauntlets and staff weapons have been shown as concept art or in screenshots.

Offensive magic has been revealed through a short video clip showing off a firestorm / meteor shower spell, which seems to be a channeled AoE.

Social Features

New World will have in-game voice chat. There are also emotes and in-game titles.

Alpha

Alpha is currently running with public invites going out at random since February 13th 2020. The alpha is under strict NDA. Access to the official forums is currently restricted to active testers.

A closed Alpha under NDA was running from the second half of 2018 until June 2019, with a version of the game that was vastly different from the current game.

Beta

A closed Beta without NDA will start in Spring 2021 (after being delayed from its initial April 2020 target). You can sign up here for a chance to get invited or pre-order New World for guaranteed access. There is also a 1-week preview event for all pre-orders starting August 25th 2020.

Release

New World release is set for Spring 2021 and the game will be available on Steam. It was initially set for a May 26th 2020 release, but has since been delayed twice. You can buy it directly from Amazon, but even then you will get a Steam key and launch the game through Steam.

There will be optional in-game microtransactions.

Pre-order



Pre-order the New World Standard Edition Pre-order the New World Standard Edition

Pre-order the New World Deluxe Edition Pre-order the New World Deluxe Edition

There is a Standard Edition ($39.99) and a Deluxe Edition ($49.99).

Pre-ordering gives you the following bonuses:

Closed Beta access. Secure access to the Closed Beta in April 2020.

Isabella’s amulet. Equip Isabella’s amulet to gain additional constitution to weather attacks and deal additional damage against certain types of supernatural enemies.

Unique title. Proudly display your “Expedition One” title as part of the initial wave of explorers to hit Aeternum’s shores.

Emote. Greet your fellow adventurers with the Fist Bump emote.

Guild crest set. Three unique guild crests featuring axes, muskets, and armor.

Pre-ordering gives you a Steam key even if you go through Amazon. You can also get the game on Steam directly.

Business Model

There is no subscription but the game will have a cash shop. The shop offers in-game cosmetic items and skins, but is supposed to not be pay-to-win. There are also exclusive skins for Twitch Prime members.

Development

The New World MMO is developed using the Lumberyard engine, Amazon's own proprietary game engine which they have based on the popular CryEngine. It's also of course backed by Amazon's own cloud on AWS. When the project was started, Jeff Bezos supposedly issued a challenge to the team to make an MMO that could only be made possible by leveraging the power of AWS. A lot of calculations apparently happen entirely on the server side, instead of relying on clients with the server only verifying the result.

Development supposedly started around 5 years ago, along with several other titles, of which some have since been canceled. Next to New World, Amazon is also working on a Lord of the Rings MMO and on Crucible.

PC Specs

New World MMO is only available on PC.

Recommended Specs are:

CPU - Intel® Core™ i7-2600K, AMD Ryzen™ 5 1400

GPU - NVIDIA® GTX 970, AMD Radeon™ R9 390X

Mem - 16GB RAM

Disk - SSD

OS - Windows®10 64-bit, DirectX 12

Minimum Specs are:

CPU - Intel® Core™ i5-2400K, AMD CPU w/ 4 physical cores @ 3Ghz

GPU - NVIDIA® GTX 670 2GB, AMD Radeon™ R9 280

Mem - 8GB RAM

Disk - 7200 HDD

OS - Windows® 8 64-bit, DirectX 11

Videos

Websites

Official Website

New World on Steam

New World Fans

New World Tavern

New World Forum (German)

New World Community (Spanish)

New World Roleplaying Community

New World Brasil

Community

StudioLoot (guides, Youtube content & New World To Go podcast)

New World Order Podcast

New_World_MMO Reddit

NewWorldGame Reddit

Discord

There is no official Discord, but you can join several community-run discord servers.

"New World" Community Discord: https://discord.gg/Xyg4tPf

"New Worlders" Discord: https://discord.gg/zbf7k9P

New World Order Podcast Discord: https://discord.gg/XpR8Xbd

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