New World Is Getting A Ton Of New Content: Here's How To Try It Before Launch

New World is getting a massive update later this month, and the update is adding so much that Amazon is launching a Public Test Realm (PTR) to put the new content through its paces first. A number of video games have PTRs to test updates before they go live for everyone, including some MMOs. New World's PTR is going live later today and will give players a chance to test out these upcoming features – which include a new weapon, new quests, and new enemies – for themselves.

To start, it should be noted that all of the new content detailed in this article is not going live in the game yet, only on the PTR. The PTR itself is opening later today, at 12 PM PST/3 PM EST, with two servers, one on US East and one on Central Europe. That, as New World players have likely already guessed, means that access to the PTR will be limited.

Everyone who owns a copy of New World will find that the New World PTR has been added to their Steam libraries. I don't see it in my Steam library at the moment, so the rollout may be taking Amazon longer than anticipated. In any case, the New World PTR will be a standalone application that needs to be installed before users can join.

Like other games that offer a PTR, New World's PTR won't always be accessible. Instead, Amazon will open it up for predefined test periods, and at the end of those test periods, the servers will be closed, and progress will be wiped. Amazon also asks those who join the PTR to submit feedback on the PTR sub-forum or through the in-game feedback tool.

The inaugural PTR patch has a significant amount of new content in it. This update introduces a new weapon called the Void Gauntlet, which scales with both Focus and Intelligence. While that Intelligence scaling makes it a good choice for any mage players out there, the Focus scaling means that players using Life Staff now have a more offensive tool at their disposal for the times they aren't frantically healing their friends and party members.

Amazon explains that the Annihilation tree for the Void Gauntlet will center on close-range damage with the Void Blade, while the Decay tree will be more support-based with the Orb of Decay, which can heal allies and place debuffs on enemies.

The update also introduces a new enemy type – Varangian Raiders consisting of Hewers, Scouts, Knights, and Archers – and has increased enemy variety. The announcement of greater enemy variety will likely be a welcome one among New World's player base, as the lack of variety has been a sticking point for some since launch.

The Varangian Raiders will also be the subject of two new quests, the first of which can be obtained by Abigail Rose in Western Everfall. Since Amazon says the level range of these new enemies will be 16-20, the quests associated with them will likely be similarly low-level. Those who have reached the level cap may not want to bother seeking out these quests, but it may not be a bad idea for those having some trouble earning gold in the endgame.

This update also contains new content for endgame players in its new Legendary Weapon Quests for the Void Gauntlet. You'll need to be level 60 and have the Void Gauntlet's level maxed before you can start this quest, and when you've accomplished that, you'll want to find Antiquarian Abbington in Reekwater to begin.

With this PTR update, Amazon has also made some improvements to main storyline quests, implemented some changes to PvP missions, and has linked all of the trading posts in the game – something it signaled it would do last week. We don't have any indication of when this update will be hitting live servers, but you can read more about it and the PTR over on the New World website.