Despite the fact that Amazon Game Studios' New World has been going through a rough patch in terms of glitches and issues that led to the population constantly decreasing over the six weeks since the game's launch, there is hope for the future of this MMO. In fact, Amazon has been very active lately with patches and fixes, and engaging in discussions with the community has led the developer to figure out what the main concerns surrounding New World are at the moment. Among them, one of the most commonly heard complaints within the community is that the game lacks variety when it comes to quests and enemy types because of how New World was created with more limited assets when compared to other big MMOs.
However, recycling assets is often done in the industry of video games in order to save precious development time and focus on more pressing matters before releasing a new product. New World is no exception, but Amazon is trying to remedy this by adding more varied enemy types to the game in future patches, and especially so in the early parts of the game where it's crucial to remain engaged. Another interesting addition to New World's PTR is the Void Gauntlet, an entirely new weapon that was planned for a while now, and the allure of it is that it will change the MMO in many ways thanks to a fun skillset and interesting attributes it scales off of.
Why New World's Void Gauntlet is So Interesting
The Void Gauntlet is a game-changer because it is the first weapon to scale damage and healing with Focus aside from the Life Staff, but it is also a magical weapon, and as such, it scales off of Intelligence as its main attribute. This makes it an incredible pick in any build in New World because of the fact that Dexterity weapons like the Rapier and the Musket do scale with Intelligence as well, and any other non-Intelligence weapon in the game can scale off of Focus if paired with an Amber gem. In fact, Amber gems have been rather popular since New World first launched because they allow players to make hybrid builds that use any weapon and a Life Staff, which is currently considered one of the best weapons in the entire game due to how well it heals in solo and party play alike.
Because the Void Gauntlet's healing perks all scale with Focus alone, it does make sense to at least build characters in a way that allows players to have a total of 150 points into Focus and up to 300 for maximum efficiency. By making Focus one of the primary attributes in builds using the Void Gauntlet, players inherently have an incredible option to heal themselves that's not recurring to the Life Staff, which is almost purely focused on healing oneself and others. New World's Void Gauntlet is not, though, and it has a damage-oriented tree and a support-oriented one, meaning that players can easily get the best of both worlds when picking this weapon.
Furthermore, another feature that makes the Void Gauntlet so interesting is that it has an innate action that New World players can perform, which makes them sacrifice their own health and obtain mana in return. This is particularly great for those who want to play the new weapon alongside another magical weapon that uses mana as a resource, as the Void Gauntlet itself can heal its users in various ways and the damage taken is rather manageable.
Of course, the Void Gauntlet is going to be an excellent choice for Life Staff users as well thanks to the synergy of continuous healing and damage dealt, and it would also solve most mana problems healers can run into. Ultimately, New World's meta is going to change with a new weapon around, especially because the Void Gauntlet has a diverse kit that includes damage skills, crowd control abilities, and healing all in one place—something many other weapons in the game lack.
New World is available now on PC.