New World: Rise of the Angry Earth has officially been unveiled, with the expansion coming on October 3rd, 2023. The expansion was announced back in February, and the MMO has been laying the groundwork in recent updates, with Amazon Games cutting off one of the first regions of Aeternum, First Light. Picking up the narrative, Adiana has effectively erected a Bramble Wall, barring entry into the region. Rise of the Angry Earth finally showcases what has been happening behind that wall all this time: Artemis has transformed First Light into a new region called Elysian Wilds.
Into the Wilds
First Light was actually the region I spawned into back when New World launched two years ago, though, like many players, the rush brought so many of us through the region and on into Windsward and Everfall. While part of the storyline back in the early days of the MMO did bring you through the region, I can’t remember the last time I stepped foot in it before Adiana, who we now know as the God Artemis, walled it off with her Angry Earth Bramble Wall.
While most MMOs will add a new zone to the game with an expansion update - New World did so with the Brimstone Sands update last year - taking First Light and transforming it into an end-game zone reuses the space and revitalizes it, it also has the added effect of keeping players close together.
“We want to grow the world in size, but we also want to make sure we’re getting the most out of what’s there,” game director Scot Lane told press during a round table interview.
“We want to grow the world with our players,” senior producer and expansion lead Katy Kaszynski continued, “not necessarily expanding the landmass, but taking maybe some of those areas that are less used by lower levels and keeping an eye to see what players are invested in and what they’re looking for. And we’re taking our time to identify where we can do that. And if it makes more sense to adjust part of a zone maybe, or if it makes more sense, create a whole new one.”
As a result, the newly formed Elysian Wilds looks completely transformed yet still retains some hallmarks of the old First Light region. Adiana has blocked things off and allowed the Angry Earth to grow unimpeded there since the events of Season 2 effectively.
Since First Light was a capturable region, Amazon Games had to decide where to move that gameplay to in the world of Aeternum. As a result, Edengrove now has a settlement and fort to capture, replacing that of First Light. In fact, it was from this new Yurt and Felt Tent-focused settlement in Edengrove that we started our adventure, learning how to make the tincture that gets us past that barrier and into the land that Artemis and the Beast Lords have taken over from the settlers of Aeternum.
It’s clear, too, stepping into Elysian Wilds, just how…untamed the landscape truly has become. Wilds is an apt way to describe what Artemis and the Beast Lords have done to reclaim the region from the people who settled there. Moving through the Bramble Wall barrier and into this untamed region was quite an eye-opener. We’ve seen examples of the Angry Earth taking over regions of Aeternum, but this was something else entirely.
It honestly reminded me of the first time I saw Morrowind in The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. It’s alien, with giant mushrooms, weird plants, and just an undeterred feeling that nature is still in the process of reclaiming the world and nothing will get in its way. Giant dandelion-esque plants are as common as sickly, bioluminescent bulbs along the ground, looking ready to burst with a noxious miasma at any point.
“We wanted to create something that was completely new to players,” Rosie Strzalkowski, Associate Art Director and the Lead for Elysian Wilds, said during our preview. “Some of the keywords were ‘alien,’ but it still needed to be set within the world of New World because obviously it couldn’t look like it came from outer space. So it’s alien, but from within, so it’s this takeover of this existing play space from within the magic of Aeternum.”
The team has nailed this, and as I moved along the road leading into Elysian Wilds proper, it felt like I was constantly going be pulled down by vines or the plant life nearby at any moment. The Razor Lotus has become an enemy to be feared in my brief hour playing some of the content thanks to how well it camouflages itself, only to strike out with razors when I went a bit too close to one.
And speaking of camouflage, don’t even get me started on how many times a chameleon jumped me. Also, elemental gorillas? Mammoths? Really, Amazon, we don’t need to deal with killer plants and untamed beasts. However, it does keep with the theme that the Beast Lords have awoken and are helping Adiana reclaim the land. These beats have to go somewhere.
Everything feels primal, almost like it’s walking the razor’s edge of restraint and devouring the land completely. It’s an imposing landscape and one that will be interesting to explore more fully in October.
Flailing Around
To combat the new enemies and challenges in Elysian Wilds, Rise of the Angry Earth brings with it the next weapon type in New World: the Flail.
The Flail actually has the distinction of being New World’s first weapon with its own weapon animations. The head of the flail itself will move and animate as it’s swung and used in skills. This isn’t to say, though, that damage is dealt based on the animations' physics; it’s not. But the animations within the weapon itself give it a character and weightiness all its own compared to the static polearms, swords, and ranged weapons we’ve had thus far.
The animations add a ton of character to the weapon. Seeing the Flail’s head whip out of the hilt and fly toward an enemy, only to retract while prepping for the next swing, is pretty cool. Even though the physics of your move doesn’t actually affect how much damage an attack does, it still felt like it had some weight and meatiness behind each brutal strike.
As to where the Flail fits into the “role” department in the MMO, New World creative director Dave Verfaillie says it gives players a chance to live out their “Paladin” fantasy in Aeternum. Scaling with both Stregnth and Focus, the Flail (and Shield) allow for players to act as an “off-tank” or even an “off-healer” for a group.
According to Verfaillie, the Flail allows players to debuff enemies and buff allies, hoping that the arcane magic-fueled Flail will “disrupt” the meta in the MMO so far.
In practice, the Flail is a lot of fun. While our time with the weapon was limited, what I did play is making me rethink my love (and determination) to stick with the Rapier I’ve used since launch.
The moveset feels dynamic, with a ton of movement with each skill. On the Cleric side of the skill tree, which is the more off-healer variant of the weapon, Arcane Smite sees the player leap forward, slamming the Flail’s head to the ground. This was incredibly useful when closing the distance between myself and a pesky Gorilla that was charging at me, giving me the chance to get first blood.
Arcane Smite doesn't just deal weapon damage, but as Verfaillie mentioned, it debuffs enemies, giving them Impairment. Arcane Vortex also became a well-spammed skill, especially in the region’s Expedition, the Savage Divide. This sees the Flail spun around, dealing AOE damage and granting Empower to allies.
While the Flail itself doesn’t shoot a healing bubble or directly heal teammates, it can be useful to help heal a team in a pinch. The Cleric line’s ultimate, Better Together, sees yourself and allies within 4 meters gain passive healing every two seconds. This can help keep life totals up and helps to keep the Flail user in the thick of the action as well, taking the load off a main healer a bit during busy moments.
The Savage Divide
If you had “Mammoth with elemental lasers” on your enemy bingo card this year, raise your hand.
I see no hands raised because that’s just how incredibly outlandish this combination truly is - yet during the latter stages of New World’s next expedition, the Savage Divide, I fought one.
The Savage Divide is a level 62+ Expedition (yes, you read that level correctly - Rise of the Angry Earth increases the level cap to 65), and tasks players with tracking down the Beast Lords working with Adiana. The Expedition sees players confront at least two of those Beast Lords that have been seen during the MSQ, though this time around, they have “brutal new powers,” according to Katy.
This Expedition wasn’t easy. Despite being outfitted with high-level characters, we weren’t max-level characters. While the Savage Divide is available at level 62, Katy mentioned (more emphatically stressed) that you really should level 65 when you enter. Thankfully, the MSQ for Elysian Wilds should take you right up to level 65.
The inside of the Expedition looked just as alien as the takeover of First Light. The overgrowth and reclamation of the Angry Earth extend even to the region's deepest levels, with corridors being lit by bioluminescent plants, while ruins that used to dot the landscape now are overgrowth and crumbling under the powerful crushing power of the vines that crisscross the caverns.
It also doesn’t simply have a linear pathway through the Expedition, taking players from one fighting arena to the next. Oftentimes, we had to double back to retrieve Orbs that would solve puzzles, and even one point had to climb up vines that jutted out from the wall because the staircase was in tattered ruins.
Fittingly, I fell from that vine, having to backtrack nearly half of the Expedition to catch up. My Lord of the Rings Online Kinmates would be proud (falling from a height is a normal occurrence for us, masters of the Blood Port we be).
The toughest fight I think I’ve had in quite a while took place in The Savage Divide. This saw me completely respec my character at least twice so we could find the right combination of damage and mobility to tackle the giant Beast Lord Kurok.
Solving this enemy was a challenge in teamwork, communication, and just getting lucky, it seems. Yet we were determined to complete the challenge, fighting off the various elemental waves that Kurok threw at us. Dodging literal waves of lava, crushing blows from Kurok’s own mighty fists, and dodging when he decided to leap across, devastating my lightly armored self.
We wiped so many times on this boss I almost thought we wouldn’t complete the Expedition - which, to be honest, has been par for the course in New World press previews. I’m not sure up to that point, I’ve ever finished an Expedition with the devs during a preview.
However, our healer was absolutely one of the best I’d ever played with, and my fellow journalists and I were not about to give up. Swapping from my usual Rapier/Spear combo, I opted for a completely ranged get-up, using a musket and bow build that gave me mobility and pure DPS. Solving the puzzle as well (I won’t spoil it here) in order to bring the power of Kurok down also helped, and we finally downed him.
I swear I felt like I needed a shower after this fight.
From there, we just gelled as a group. The Laser Mammoth, Mahantaram, was a challenge, but after Kurok, it didn’t seem like much of one. Either that, or we were just on fire. Probably both. Considering the Expedition is still being tested and tweaked, it could be that when Rise of the Angry Earth hits the Public Test Realm Mahantaram, it will force me to shower in between runs.
Mounts!
While we have a separate article on the mount experience in New World, I’d be remiss not to mention it here as well. Mounts were my number one requested feature after my review in 2021, and indeed, the lack of mounts in Aeternum actually kept me from playing for quite a while. I just loathed having to run everywhere, and even though there were shrines to help get me some of the way there, it still didn’t remove the friction I felt, especially in some of the larger end-game zones.
I mean, come on, Brimstone Sands is a huge place. A camel wouldn’t go amiss.
Thankfully, mounts in New World don’t break the flow of the MMO like many around me told me it would back when I was chanting for them in my playgroup. Instead, they feel like they really should have been there from the start.
You can earn a Horse, Direwolf, and Lion mount, though Katy states that there could be more mount types coming in the future. The Riding Skill also allows you to make your mount faster, and while you can ride your mount anywhere (even in town!), you do incur a speed penalty when you go off the beaten path.
I cannot wait to see chest runs with players cresting a hill, all mounted, playing out the Ride of the Rohirrim when New World’s expansion launches.
Quality Of Life Changes, Progression and Loot
As mentioned above, the new level cap in New World is level 65 when the expansion launches. As a result, the trade skill and gear score caps have risen as well. Gear Score has been increased to 700, while trade skills can rise to 250 when the new expansion hits.
There will also be more attributes to earn throughout these additional five levels, meaning there are more opportunities to boost your character's power.
Changes are also coming to the loot system, specifically removing friction points players have long maligned in New World. The Expertise and Umbral upgrade grinds are going away now, and the changes to the Wards and Banes have already been announced.
A big change coming to the loot system is that end-game gear can now drop with any end-game activity. As Dave mentioned in our presentation, you can get a jackpot moment basically right after you hit 60; there’s no longer a need to do mandatory grinds to get some of the end-game gear.
Loot biasing is also coming, making it so the perks on the weapons that drop are good and make sense. It also weighs what type of weapon you’re using and bases the drop on your playstyle. As a result, this will hopefully make loot more meaningful instead of simply being an instant salvage when it hits a player’s bag.
Artifact Gear is also coming with Rise of the Angry Earth, dropping named weapons, armor and trinkets in loot for end-game activities. These are gaming-changing items that bring some incredibly special and unique perks when they are being used. In fact, when the team says these perks are unique, they truly are, as each Artifact will have one perk that isn’t found on any other item on the perk table.
One of the items Dave mentioned is an Artifact Weapon called The Abyss, which is a sword that has damage scale of Intelligence instead of Stregnth and turns that damage into 100% Void damage. Artifacts themselves are so powerful at end-game that Verfaillie says the team has to limit the amount players can actually use, so you can only have three Artifacts equipped at a time - one of each type.
Revamped Leveling
A while ago, New World revamped its early game leveling, bringing a more streamlined MSQ to players for those first levels. However, when the streamlining ended, players just hit a wall with the original grindy progression back in full force.
With New World’s Rise of the Angry Earth, that streamlining, focus on its storytelling, and leveling revamp has been continued, bringing it up to level 50, which should see players around Great Cleave and Edengrove. However, there is still a bit left to go, though Scot Lane is confident that the developers will add the final ten levels by the end of the year.
After a few hours of hands-on with New World: Rise of the Angry Earth, I’m pretty excited about where Amazon is taking things. The MMORPG has a clear focus for where it wants to go, and I’m eager to see more once the expansion releases on October 3rd for $29.99.
Full Disclosure: Travel and Accommodations to this preview event were provided by Amazon Games.
