Amazon Games has officially launched Season 8 of New World: Aeternum, titled Season of the Divide. The update is now live, introducing a variety of new features across both PvE and PvP gameplay, including a hardcore seasonal server, new maps and modes, artifact gear, and weekly rotating World Boss events.
Capture the Flag and Coral Divide
One of the central additions this season is Capture the Flag, a new 10v10 PvP mode focused on fast-paced objective control. Players compete to retrieve and return flags while navigating jump pads and collecting powerups in an effort to maximize captures within a limited time.
The Coral Divide map debuts as a new setting for Outpost Rush, offering vertical combat design and tactical flank routes in an ocean-themed arena. It will serve as the only Outpost Rush map early in the season. A new Barebones variant removes gear advantages, placing all players at max gear score and stripping away perks for a purely skill-based format.
In addition, the 3v3 arena mode receives a new large-scale map set in a temple grove, featuring an earlier collapse of the death fog to shift advantage from ranged to melee combat.
PvP maps now rotate hourly, starting with 3v3 Arenas. The original Outpost Rush map, Nauthynos Island, will rejoin the rotation later in the season with updates to the Sol outpost layout.
Hardcore Seasonal Server Launching in June
Season 8 also introduces New World’s first hardcore seasonal server, set to arrive in June. In this mode, death has serious consequences: players who die lose access to the final tier of Season Journey rewards and must delete and restart their character to regain eligibility. However, players receive attribute bonuses with each death (up to five times), creating a risk-reward dynamic.
The server also streamlines levelling, quest progression, crafting systems, and Artifact access to facilitate faster progression. Rewards earned during the journey, including exclusive cosmetics, materials, and gea, can be claimed by one character on either a seasonal or legacy world at the end of the season.
Expeditions and World Boss Events
A new seasonal event series called Expeditions Unleashed brings open-world World Boss battles to Aeternum. Each week, a new level 70 boss appears with loot up to Gear Score 725. These bosses reward coordinated groups with high-end equipment and consumables.
Artifacts and Combat Updates
Seven new Artifacts have been added, offering unique effects like healing auras, lifesteal, and mobility boosts. Examples include:
- Old Crown: Helm with bonus gem compatibility and +10 to all attributes
- Vampire Vestments: Chest piece enhancing lifesteal and mana synergy
- Chaos: Blunderbuss that launches enemies with explosive blasts
The update also introduces five new Survival Potions, expanding defensive strategies. These include potions that grant grit, lifesteal bonuses, and temporary uninterruptible status.
Target lock and aim assist mechanics have been rebalanced to preserve skill-based play, especially for controller users. The update reduces accuracy on moving targets when locked and introduces improvements to aim friction outside of Target Lock.
Season Pass and Barbershop
The Season 8 Pass features free and premium reward tracks. The Free Track includes corruption-themed cosmetics, two new Artifacts (Lich Gloves and Vampire Vestments), and transmog tokens. The Premium Track, priced at 20,000 Marks of Fortune, adds weapon and armor skins, exclusive emotes, rare resources, and additional customization items.
The long-requested Barbershop feature also arrives this season. Players can now fully update their appearance using a Barbershop Token from the in-game store.
New Gems, Perks, and Armor Bonuses
Combat build variety expands with new gem types and equipment perks:
- Jade Gems: Introduce disease status effects
- Turquoise Gems: Provide armor penetration and durability bonuses
- New Perks: Include stacking rend, stamina regeneration, movement speed boosts, and more
Players can further personalize builds with armor perks that enhance potion effectiveness, haste, and status effect resistance.
And even more changes
The latest patch brings a wide range of adjustments across combat, perks, consumables, artifacts, and specific weapon behaviors. Many weapons have seen increased base damage in PvE, with separate PvP adjustments to maintain balance. Several bugs and animation issues have also been addressed, and perks have been reworked to provide more consistent and balanced gameplay. For the complete and detailed list of changes, check out the official site.
Season 8 marks one of the most feature-rich updates to New World: Aeternum to date, aiming to revitalize competitive gameplay and endgame progression while introducing a seasonal challenge mode. Additional limited-time events and content updates are expected to roll out throughout the season.
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