The New World team wants you to know about 3v3 Arena PvP and they’ve been excitedly touting the new feature in the recent dev update video, in the community, and in update previews. Now there’s a new behind the scenes devblog all about what you need to know about the coming mode.
When it comes to the PvP Arena, you have to be prepared to bring your teamwork skills to the challenge. The 3v3 design is intended to be easy to get into, regardless of time and server population. The mode unlocks at level 20 and will pair you with players around the same level using level bands. This can be a perfect introduction to New World PvP, as other modes unlock much later. There are consumables given to all, and there is level scaling, but it is based on the highest level player in your party, so if you are level 20 and you bring along your level 60 friend, you should prepare for an almost impossible fight.
Aesthetically, they wanted to create a battleground that was connected to the lore of Aeternum, so there’s corruption in the outer section but a cleaner ring. The PvP Arena also comes with an announcer. In a way, it's an idea to make the arena fight more of a spectacle, and also caters to those watching these matches on Twitch. Like a sporting event, the announcer and fans will be present to cheer on the sides.
Originally, the arena was bigger, but this gave an unfair advantage to ranged combatants, so with help from the PTR and community testing, they reduced the size of the arena and adjusted some of the pillars. Another balance change came after testing showed that players were all but reliant on the Life Staff being present. While there are 12 weapons to use, having one of the three teammates effectively required to use Life Staff and at least one knowing how to fight against it, they’ve introduced a healing debuff. Their intention is that this mode be more about outsmarting each other rather than just focusing on weapon use.
Amazon does emphasize that this is still, and will continue to be, a work in progress. You can read the full devblog over at New World.
