New World: 'Season of the Guardian' Finally Adds Support for Controllers

Amazon Game Studios has recently announced the upcoming season for New World called "Season of the Guardian." This season is special because it finally adds something that a lot of players have been clamoring for, and that is native support for controllers.

Play with a Gamepad

PC games have always required players to use a mouse and keyboard. However, there are some people who prefer playing with controllers because such a control mechanism allows for a more comfortable experience.

That said, New World was supposed to have full controller support in 2021, but for some reason, Amazon Game Studios kept on changing their plans until now.

When Season of the Guardian releases on March 12, players will be able to enjoy New World using their preferred controllers. Now, there are some important things to keep in mind regarding gamepads.

For one, players who use ranged weapons will automatically have Aim Assist enabled when using a controller. This feature helps controller users to aim better by "snapping" on the target that is nearest to the reticle. In other words, players only need to move their crosshairs as close to the intended target as they can and Aim Assist will do the rest.

In addition, controller users are going to have Freeform Movement turned on by default. This enables players to run in all directions without any restraints. Players can go back to normal strafe navigation simply by activating target lock or holding the "Block" button.

Other features that are available to controller users include a Radial Wheel to quickly utilize emotes and gestures, "Shift" modifiers for easy access to combat abilities, and faster actions when navigating through the menus.

New Artifacts

Season of the Guardian is also bringing eight new Artifacts to the game. For those who do not know, Artifacts are a new class of items in New World that were introduced in the "Rise of the Angry Earth" expansion.

Having said that, there are some interesting new Artifacts that players can expect. One of the most notable is the Tempest Fury, which is a new Great Axe that has the "Momentum" perk. This perk allows players to gain a 3% movement speed boost for each successful attack that lands on the enemy. This effect can stack up to 10 times for a total of 30% increased movement speed!

Here is a rundown of the other Artifacts in Season of the Guardian:

Sin - Hatchet
- Corruption: Debuffs last 25% longer. (Works on both weapons)
- Defile: Deals 2% more damage per debuff on target. (5 stacks max)
Venom - Spear
- Poison Tipped: Heavy attacks with either weapon cause poison dealing 20% weapon damage for 5 seconds
Nature's Wrath - Medium Chestwear
- Nature's Blessing: Empower expires 200% faster but you deal 20% more damage.
Gilli's Gravity Gauntlets - Heavy Glove
- Whenever you take damage, gain a charge that increases the damage of your next attack by 3% (max 10 charges).
Ironheart - Heavy Legwear
- When not in heavy loadout, gain 20% more max health.
Creed Boots - Light footwear
- Ambush: Deal 15% more damage and 25% critical chance as long as you haven't hit the target within 20 seconds
Phoenix - Amulet
- Phoenix Revival: When you receive lethal damage, avoid death and become invulnerable for 2 seconds (180-second cooldown)