Nighthaven Day 1

 The Nighthaven update for New World is now a full day old and as of this morning one bug fix patch better.  I put in a few hours last night and made some progress through the new zone and story quests.  Here are some quick thoughts.

• The visual are amazing and it is a treat to run across the zone and explore the numerous locations.  Multiple locations have spyglasses at their highest points that give a cinematic view of nearby locations which has driven me to immediately go explore further.
• Sound is bugged and in some instances deafening as loud bell sounds or loud metal grating sounds override everything else.  This makes combat feel off and required me to reduce over all volume in the game to save my sanity.  It seems to mostly be an issue in indoor areas.
• Doors.  So many doors.  There are several haunted castles and catacombs that are interconnected mini-areas separated by doors. Some doors open and you walk through; others are a teleport.  I am not the biggest fan of this design choice; I'd prefer all doors work equally the same.
• I made level 70 at the end of my play session.  I still am in progress on the main story quest and have multiple side quests in the new zone to pick up yet.  I won't complain about fast leveling but had hoped I'd of needed to invest a little more time and effort to max my level.
• I was able to upgrade one item to 780 GS with the umbrals that I achieved via the quests and a few PvP arena matches.  Per the dev notes we should be able to get 5 pieces upgraded to 800 each week which means likely 2 weeks for a full set.
• Holy gear drops! Everything is dropping gear.  I have so much stuff in my inventory and I didn't even take advantage of the bugged super loot party that they patched out!  Since the new gear and upgrade system is new I am not sure what to salvage and what not to, but I am going to need to spend some time here because I can't keep going at this pace filling up storage!
• Attributes were squashed and with it the amount of damage players are doing is way down.  PvP encounters last longer and feel less spikey.  Also heavy armor players feel less tanky.  We are all still on old gear so I am sure this will change as we all move towards 800 GS.
• Performance has been great for me in the open world but FPS dips 

Things I still need to try:

• Catacombs; the new 3 person procedural dungeons
• The launch version of the new OPR map; Tower of Calomel
• Playing around with perk charms

Some screenshots to go with the adventures

 

Let's goooooooo!

My first werewolf encounter

The scene that greets players as they begin their adventure into Nighthaven

Don't mind my pumpkin helmet; I will get your thingy back!

Yep; there were lots and lots of players.

And I mean lots and lots and lots of players.

Underwater swimming was added.  Notice the missing health?  That's because I can't dodge the underwater lasers...

Wolves eating a dead deer; little touches like this are found all over the zone.

The first of many spooky haunted house/mansions I ventured into.

The first solo soul trial of the new story questline;  Part puzzle and part combat.  Was not a difficult fight with my best in slot 725 gear.

After most solo soul trials a portal is provided to the player to make quick travel out of the point of interest.  A nice touch.

Unlocking my first tarot card.  These cards let you open chests in the zone.  1 down and 24 more to go!

Lots of amazing sites tucked away in different areas.  Had to stop and take a no-UI screenshot.

Another tarot card.

A mini cinematic after using a spyglass to check out the next spooky-looking place to visit.

Big and gothic are the theme here!

A new gatherable, the Anima Quartz, that I found tucked in under a waterfall.

Instead of a normal town Nighthaven features a giant gothic castle for it's settlement.  Players can buy rooms that serve as a house and all of the services of a settlement are available from crafting stations to an inn to call home.

The bridge leading to the new settlement.  Ironically I ended up entering the settlement from the back and not via the scenic bridge route so I got this screenshot on my way out of town.

One of many rooms I explored inside the many buildings the main quest takes players through.

Nice!  Yes I am a young dumb gamer at heart still (pun intended).

During the quest players teleport into a shadow-like realm with a jumping puzzle as a path to get between rooms in a castle.  The jumping is easy enough so I made it through after a couple tries.

Another vista from a looking spyglass.

Eventually players end up at the carnival which serves as a small hub town (no housing, limited stations, but has a recall).  Here you get to meet the jester and other characters.

Meeting the jester who is the first boss in the new end game raid in Nighthaven.

Absolutely no abuse of a never ending loot drop here... sorry for those that missed out on this.  As they say; abuse early / abuse often.  Note: it was just trash gear drops that mostly get salvaged so you didn't miss much.

My first OPR after hitting 70.  My team got steamrolled as I tried to solo it myself.  Ended up in first over all which is sort of impressive as I was basically solo without any team support the entire time.