New World Talks Combat Balance As David Verfaille Steps Back From Combat Design Role

Combat balance is the name of the game in the New World dev team’s latest Forged in Aeternum developer video. Creative director David Verfaille returns for another Balance of Power episode where he announced that he’s ing combat design responsibilities over to combat designer Josh Hurley and player experience (PEX) design lead J.R.

The trio proceed to discuss the January balance update, touching on the recently disabled artifacts, the “dodge spam” meta, equipment weights, the enhanced life staff skill trees, and potential weapon synergy changes, among others.

The team also revealed that it’s looking into overhauling the mana system, making heavy attacks more PvP-friendly, and adjusting character movement and animations to offer a better experience during combat. Judging from the community’s reactions on Reddit, the new combat design duo have their work cut out for them.