Adorned with cool pastels and warm fairy lights, this coastal town is like a big gift waiting to be unwrapped. Here, you can meet the Winter Wanderer – a big white yeti – and carry out his quests, within relatively safe surroundings. The area is fairly low level, making it a perfect place to start exploring if you’re new to the game or just want some peace and quiet. Even those fans who played last year will see some real changes as the whole area and the neighbouring settlement has had a bit of a makeover as of September.
The Brimstone Sands update made the whole area look a little more dramatic, with tall keep towers, steep rock faces covered in thick vegetation, and an overhaul to the exterior of houses. Everfall The nearest major location to this Winter Village is Everfall. Going east from here to the border with Reekwater, or fast travelling to the nearby Bearclaw Shrine, will put you squarely on its doorstep. Remember to look for the lights in the sky!
Once you’ve entered this snowy town draped in festive decor and piles of gifts, you’ll meet the Winter Wanderer once again. Follow his requests to get some seasonal goodies, and exchange your tokens in the Holiday Hut. Everfall is known for being fairly varied in terms of enemy strength, meaning that they can appear from level one through to 25. Those who are new to the game may not have ventured as far as
Everfall just yet, as the houses there are reserved for higher tiers, but the Winter Convergence Festival is a perfect opportunity to brave the snow and explore at igitems.
Weaver’s Fen The biggest settlement within reach of the third Winter Village is Weaver’s Fen, although the village itself straddles the border with Edengrove. Mallory’s Refuge is to the west of the village, giving players two waypoints to choose from. Living in either of these settlements gives you quick access to the Winter Convergence challenges and activities. The beasts that roam this area year-round won’t give up for the festivities, so be careful when you venture out this far. With a mob level of 30-40, you’ll want to make sure you’ve got your wits about you and some decent weaponry. What could be more festive? If you successfully dodge the enemies nearby, you’ll be able to chat with the Winter Wanderer and participate in festive events. Brightwood To the west of Brightwood, towards the great waters of Ebonscale Reach, is the final Winter Village. Decked out in bright colours and full of festive character, you’ll be hard pushed to miss its entrance.
Not quite as fearsome as Weaver’s Fen, but still a solid challenge, the mob level of the surrounding area is 26-35, so it may take a bit of grinding and stat checking before you’re completely safe here. This mystical forest is home to the Azoth Tree, but your pilgrimage will be more concerned with the Tree of Light, which will reward you daily from its Gift Pile. Speaking of gifts, you’ll want to look out for lost presents as you ride from one village to the next, as these can be exchanged for precious tokens. Keep your eyes on the sky for falling Gleamite, too, which will rain down at random points throughout the festival. Even if this is the first you’re hearing of New World, the Winter Convergence Festival is a great time to start playing. With a huge offering of activities and exclusive loot, there’s no better time to jump in (or jump BACK in) to New World’s frosty festivities.
Such is the case in Synced, an upcoming co-op rogue-looter shooter from Level Infinite. Here, you’re part of a small, underground resistance movement that’s remained on Earth in the wake of an apocalypse brought about by an AI that humanity itself built. It’s up to you and your teammates to take down the Nanos that the AI has built and acquire Nerva to keep humanity alive. Like any good sci-fi setting, Synced has a lot of new terminology to pick up and a huge backstory to dig into.
To help you get up to speed ahead of the open beta, we’re looking at some of the lore of Synced, how to tell your Nerva from your Nanos, and what it all means when you’re actually in the heat of battle. It’s the end outside In the world of Synced, a corporation called Shinar has developed an AI known as MIMIR, which – you guessed it – has gone rogue. MIMIR decided to take control of humans, and corrupted them with code that has turned the atoms that make up their body into a mixture of graphite, carbon fibre, and nanotubes – hence why they’re called Nanos. Pretty horrific stuff.
