The Full Rundown on New World: NightHaven, the Next Major Expansion

New World is set to receive its next significant expansion, NightHaven, which is slated to drop on Monday, October 13th, and brings with it major endgame progression changes, a new zone, and increased level caps.

This forthcoming content is described as a “free update” for players who purchased the game on console or who bought the base game on PC after Rise of the Angry Earth. However, for legacy PC players (those who purchased the game prior to the Rise of the Angry Earth expansion), you will still need to acquire that paid expansion to gain access to the NightHaven content, as the latter is bundled into that price. This appears to be Amazon’s strategy to maintain a unified progression path for all players.

Progression and Exploration

The new expansion increases the maximum potential power of your character and introduces a new, thematically distinct region to explore.

Level Cap and Gear Score Increase

The primary progression curve is being extended, which will require players to pursue new content to maximize their build potential:

• Level Cap: The current maximum level of 65 is being raised to 70.
• Gear Score (GS) Cap: The maximum Gear Score is being increased from 725 to 800.

To reach the new level cap, players will engage in a new main story line titled The Tier of Gia, which focuses on the character Mor’Gain.

The NightHaven Zone

This expansion introduces a new area called NightHaven. While data mining suggests it will be situated in the bottom-left region of the map, this has yet to be officially confirmed. The zone itself has a distinct visual theme, leaning heavily into a classic gothic atmosphere:

• Theme: The area is centered around vampires, werewolves, and castles, evoking a style similar to Castlevania or V Rising. It looks to be a suitably gloomy and spooky environment to traverse.
• Content: The zone will contain the new main story quest line required for leveling to 70.

We will be showcasing all the New Area and Boss locations on our New World Map: https://metaforge.app/new-world/map/

New PvE Content

NightHaven is introducing two distinct new forms of PvE content designed to challenge players at the new maximum gear and level score.

Isle of Night: The New 10-Person Raid

The premier endgame activity in the expansion is the new 10-person raid, Isle of Night. This content is set in what was once a grand kingdom whose inhabitants have now become “Lost” enemies—likely featuring the new vampire and werewolf adversaries.

The structure of the raid is described as being similar in length and format to the existing Hive of Gorgons raid:

• Structure: It will feature three different bosses, multiple new enemy types, light puzzle mechanics, and set-piece encounters.
• Difficulty: Amazon is positioning this as the single hardest content in Season 10, demanding both high gear and strong player coordination. If it is as well-designed or better than the current Hive of Gorgons raid, which is strong PvE content, it should be a welcome addition.

Catacombs: The Extraction Roguelike

A brand-new game mode called Catacombs is being added, featuring an interesting blend of PvE and roguelike mechanics.

• Format: This is a three-player PvE extraction game mode.
• Gameplay Loop: Players enter procedurally generated dungeons to battle a wide variety of enemies and bosses. The run involves collecting unique mode-specific power-ups (adding a roguelike element) and gathering “cursed resources” and currency.
• Extraction Risk: The core mechanic involves racing to successfully exit and cleanse their treasures before time runs out. Failure to make a safe exit results in the loss of the vast majority of collected treasures. Interestingly, only one player needs to safely extract to save the group’s loot.
• Risk/Reward: Players will have a decision point after defeating a boss: either bank the loot they have acquired or proceed deeper for better rewards but more challenging enemies. This game mode is expected to be a major source of some of the best new items in the NightHaven expansion.

The Endgame Progression Revamp: Deep Customization

The most substantial changes coming with NightHaven revolve around endgame itemization and gear progression, focusing on increased player customization and build diversity.

Attribute System Overhaul

A significant mechanical change is the removal of attributes from gear. Previously, items like rings or weapons would grant a static bonus to Strength or Constitution.

• The New System: Items will no longer grant attributes. Instead, those points are added to a larger manual pool, which players can assign directly via the attribute screen. A max-level player will have a much larger pool of points (around 500–600) to distribute as they see fit. This means gear slots previously used for attributes will instead house a new perk slot. This change grants players much more freedom to customize their stat spreads without being locked into specific items.

Charms and Perk Customization

The system for modifying an item’s perks is being heavily expanded.

• Customizable Sockets: Gear can now have up to four empty sockets (up from the previous single gem socket).
• Charms: These new perk modifiers, called Charms, can be installed into these sockets. This effectively allows the player to choose four perks for a piece of gear, instead of being bound to static rolls.
• Categories: Charm sockets will be categorized into Defensive, Offensive, and Skill slots, presumably limiting players from stacking multiple identical or overlapping modifiers.
• Acquisition: Charms can be found fully refined, but more commonly will need to be crafted using rare materials dropped from the new endgame content. The hunt for these Charms is essentially the new endgame loop for maximizing a build.

Umbral Shard System Returns (with a Caveat)

The system for upgrading the Gear Score of existing items is being simplified and standardized through the return of the Umbral Shard system.

• Upgrade Path: Any gear that is at least 700 Gear Score can be upgraded to the new 800 GS cap using Umbral Shards. This is a much more straightforward system compared to the current process involving Gypsum Kiln, Dark Matter, and other materials.
• Time-Gating Concern: There is a cap of 1,000 Umbral Shards, and the amount a player can earn is limited weekly. This time-gating, while likely intended to pace progression, could pose a challenge for new players trying to reach the new 800 GS requirement for the Isle of Night raid, potentially leading to a grind that spans several weeks to fully deck out a new set.
• Unanswered Questions: The video noted that the fate of current high-value endgame currencies like Dark Matter, Chromatic Seals, and Coconut Inductors remains unknown.

Set Bonuses and Infixes

New avenues for build theory crafting are being introduced to enhance customization further:

• Set Bonuses: Ultra-rare set items will be available from pinnacle content (the new Raid, Catacombs, and PvP Rewards Track). These sets will offer bonuses based on the number of pieces worn, coming in two configurations:
  • Even: Two or four pieces.
  • Odd: Three or five pieces. This allows for mixing and matching set bonuses (e.g., wearing two pieces of one set and three pieces of another) for deeper build specialization.
• Infixes: This refers to unique gear pieces containing rare and powerful perks that function similarly to the unique perks currently found on Artifact items.

Perk Design Philosophy

Amazon is doing a “complete sweep” of all existing perks, focusing on structural changes to ensure that perk selection is “conditional and thoughtful”.

• Targeted Perks: This will involve the removal of certain perks that are currently considered mandatory or have no real drawback. The common examples cited are Hearty on rings (extra stamina) and Refreshing on armor (cooldown reduction), which have become near-automatic inclusions in most endgame builds. This is a necessary step to encourage genuine build diversity, though it may be disruptive to existing optimal strategies.

New PvP Outpost Rush Map

Finally, the popular 20v20 Outpost Rush game mode is receiving a new map called The Tower.

• Layout: It will feature three capture points and play like a classic Outpost Rush map, but with a theme consistent with the spooky, gothic NightHaven aesthetic. This map will join the hourly rotation of existing Outpost Rush maps.

For players looking for more details on Season 10 and the specifics of the new systems, a developer video is scheduled to release in early October. The combination of a new level cap, deeper progression with the Charms and Set Bonuses, and challenging new PvE/PvP content indicates that NightHaven aims to be a substantive addition to the New World experience.