Mutated Expeditions (also known at Mutations) are an End-Game progression activity that provides players with exclusive loot. To access Mutated Expedition's player use the Activities menu. You must own the New World expansion, Rise of the Angry Earth, to participate in Mutated Expeditions.
Mutated Expeditions are a more challenging and engaging version of existing Expeditions. These expeditions have been effected by a series of Mutators that augment the enemies found within, increasing the difficulty. Which Expeditions are Mutated and which Mutators they gain varies each week. There are 3 Expeditions that are Mutated each week, with reset time at Tuesday 5:00AM.
There are 3 levels of difficulty for each Mutated Expedition, abbreviated as "M1" (Intermediate), "M2" (Hard), and "M3" (Elite). Before participating in a Mutated Expedition, the character must have first completed the "regular" version of that Expedition at least once.
At the end of each Mutated Expedition, the group receives a score-based rank: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Normally, a rank of Silver or Gold is required to access the next M-level in the matchmaking system. Each M-level also has a Recommended Gear Score. You must meet the Recommended Gear Score to queue via the matchmaking system, but can enter the Mutation directly as group of 3 to 5 players with a lower than recommended Gear Score. Players may attempt up to 35 Mutated Expeditions per week.
Scoring & Rewards[]
Completing Mutated Expeditions rewards items such as rare gear, weapons, and crafting materials. The more difficult the expedition, the better the loot.
There are no chests to loot throughout the Mutated Expeditions, they are all found at the end.
Score is performance based, taken from a combination of categories. Score is also a shared value for group members.
The following categories count towards the group’s overall score value:
- Time: The better the time, the better the score. Calculated at the end of a run.
- AI Kills: A target value for killing a predetermined amount of enemies within the expedition.
- Takedowns: A target value for killing “Named Enemies” within the expedition.
- Team Wipes: Each team wipe during a boss fight reduces the score by a significant amount.
- Respawns: Each respawn reduces the score by a moderate amount.
There are also Bonus Multipliers for run efficiency, minimal respawning/wiping, speed, and taking down all targets. These are calculated at the end of the Expedition run. The score ranks are Bronze, Silver, and Gold.
Players are also rewarded with Dark Matter depending on their completion rank.
| Mutation Level 1 | Mutation Level 2 | Mutation Level 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
 Bronze
|
8 | 16 | 24 |
 Silver
|
16 | 24 | 32 |
 Gold
|
24 | 32 | 40 |
Mutation Effects[]
As the difficulty increases the Mutators will also increase. M1 versions will have an Elemental Mutation only, M2 will have Elemental Mutation & Promotion, and M3 will have Elemental Mutation, Promotion, and a Curse.
Elemental[]
Elemental mutations infuse enemies in the Expedition with a specific elemental damage type, increasing their resistance to that damage type, converting a large portion of their damage to that type, and giving them powerful elemental-based abilities.
Hellfire: Hellfire infuses enemies with fire, allowing them to burn players who oppose them.- Eternal: Eternal infuses enemies with void, granting them them abilities that debuff players or buff their void-infused allies.
- Icebound: Icebound infuses enemies with ice, inflicting damage and a slow to those far from them and rooting those that break an ice pillar.
Promotions[]
Promotion mutations grant creatures in the Expedition powerful new abilities.
- Savage: Savage AI apply healing reduction and cast damaging beams around themselves.
- Indomitable: Indomitable creatures persist through damage with life-stealing abilities and are able to summon a phalanx, blocking all incoming player projectiles.
Curses[]
Curse mutations apply dangerous effects to players, forcing them to work together to overcome the curse’s power. At the highest difficulties, Curses become Empowered, creating additional tactical challenges.
- Desiccated: Desiccated players will occasionally combust with elemental energy. When the curse is empowered, players will need to cleanse themselves by approaching the combusting player.
- Censored: Censored players will find their abilities turning against them. After players in the group have used a certain number of activated abilities, explosive silence zones will appear on all players. When the curse is empowered, players will lose natural mana regeneration and must enter the silence zones to regenerate their mana.[1]
History[]
Mutators were released in January 2022 with 10 difficulty levels per Expedition Mutation. Many online strategy guides were written during this time, and a group of players form M11 which became known for in-game testing to find the most effective build combinations.
https://www.newworld.com/en-us/news/articles/behind-the-scenes-expedition-mutators
In Oct 2023 the number of Mutations was reduced to 3 to make group finding easier.