After A Delay, New World Season 5, Season Of The Guardian, Is Finally Live

New World's Season 5, Season of the Guardian, is finally here (after much delay).

The developers over at Amazon Game Studios said they have listened to player feedback from the Public Test Realm and acknowledge the need for more time to address issues highlighted during MMORPG's testing — particularly regarding the upgraded combat and animation system. Check out a full patch notes spotlight for all the nitty gritty.

The largest additions are the much awaited controller support, a new Winter Rune Forge seasonal trial challenging 10 players in an increasingly difficult puzzle/combat combination, eight new artifacts, the addition of mounts to Outpost Rush PvP, the completion of a main questline revamp, cooking changes, and a new season pass.

This is on top of the Slayer Script changes to combat and animations, something we speculated was the primary reason for the update's delay.

Concerns were raised regarding the Phoenix Amulet's invulnerability perk potentially overpowering certain player roles. In response, the perk has been modified so that upon receiving lethal damage, players temporarily avoid death, become invulnerable for a brief period, then succumb to the damage. Changes have been made to the Venom Spear too, limiting its Damage Over Time effect to heavy melee attacks. Discussions are ongoing regarding potential balancing adjustments between PvP and PvE scenarios as well.

On the other hand, the Nature's Wrath Chestwear has not been changed. The team also addressed divided opinions on certain perks and trade-offs within the game's mechanics, stating their intention to monitor usage and make further revisions if necessary. And improvements to controller support and adjustments to the Cooking Trade Skill have been made.