The New World test server got Mutators earlier this month, and now the MMO’s January update is making them available to everyone. In addition to those, the update brings more streamlined leveling, quality-of-life improvements, and balance fixes.
Mutators are the biggest additions to the game. They change “the way encounters play out and what strategies players should consider before battle” with regular and named enemies during raids. In other words, a Mutated Expedition will give your foes new attacks, elemental affinities, and curses. There are 10 difficulty levels, each of which has different Mutator effects and greater loot. The less time you spend clearing an Expedition, the more kills you get, and other factors will be calculated toward your total rewards at the end of the session. These will rotate each week, so if you don’t succeed at one Expedition, you can try again when they swap out.
Crafting costs have been reduced, including various chisels, hearts, and tuning orbs. Fast travel also costs less now, and new fast travel points have been added to the map. Couple this with a number of bug fixes, economy tweaks, and UI changes, and you’ve got a long list of improvements with the January update. You can check out the full patch notes on New World’s website if you want every little detail.
