After a short delay, New World got the Heart of Madness update. The update brings the main storyline to a conclusion, adds the new Tempest’s Heart Expedition to close out the original main story content, along with new Blunderbuss. The team is holding a double XP weekend to mark the release, which kicks off tomorrow.
The double XP weekend will net you double XP for your characters doing whatever they do to earn XP, as well as double Weapon Mastery XP. You should also be able to take advantage of rested XP.
This weekend should come in handy for anyone that wants to wield the Blunderbuss and potentially unlock the new Legendary Weapon Quest for it. If you reach level 60 and max out mastery on the Blunderbuss, head to Wang Tang Zhi in Ebonscale to be one of the first to tackle this new feature.
Another small change will make Juniper Berries no longer spawn. We will continue to function the way they always have but won't drop anymore due to a change that replaces them with something called Earthly Hidden Stashes.
The XP bonuses should also help with the new NPC challenges spread throughout Aeternum for mid-game play. These include yetis in the Great Cleave for your level 45 characters, along with Unbound Island’s new challenge on, and Stinky the Hunter in Weaver’s Fen for level 30s. The loot collector Rafflebones has also been added as a spawn in various locations around all the territory. If you find him, you’ll get 45 seconds to kill him before he flees. If you succeed, though, you’ll get a named weapon, and level 60+ players will also get Gypsum. If he spawns in places that go above 60, you’ll also get 500 Umbral Shards.
Double XP will run from 12:01 AM PDT / 3:01 AM EDT on Friday April 1st and will wrap up on April 4th at 11:59 PDT/2:59AM EDT.
For more, see the update notes here, and the double XP weekend announcement, both over at New World.
