New World’s Director Dives Into Combat And PvP Balance, Admits Bow Is Too Powerful

Amazon's creative director for New World, Dave Verfaillie, recently dropped a solo episode of Forged in Aeternum to make up for his absence from the show earlier this week. In this episode, Verfaillie dives into the state of balance, combat, and the game's meta.

Verfaillie notes that the team is happy with the changes made to crowd control skills, grit, and armor mitigation, which has impacted player builds and magic weapons, especially in arena content and expeditions. But, he admits that bruisers still dominate War, and ranged builds overrun Outpost Rush (with melee suffering), which the studio is addressing. Interestingly, he mentions that bow users in OPR have poor win rates, so it might be time for a switch-up.

Looking ahead, the team is still focused on releasing large balance patches every season, as well as smaller monthly balance patches. The next big patch is expected to come in early May and will include a pass on underpowered abilities, potential nerfs for fire staff, fixes for extreme bow damage, buffs for medium and heavy armor, melee combos, and a long-awaited rework for the musket.