New World Aeternum Season 10 New Leaked Artifact

As Aeternum's veil thins in Season 10 Nighthaven update, launching October 13, 2025, developers have unveiled a gothic realm of vampires, ancient ruins, and shadowed alliances. This free expansion elevates the endgame with a level cap at 70, gear score up to 800, and sweeping gear overhauls like perk charms and set bonuses.

For those diving into the darkness, bookmarking reliable guides can streamline your prep. And for a smoother ascent, check our New World Aeternum shop for Gold Coins, Trophies, Matrix, and more to fuel your artifact hunts.

Contagious Plague

Leading the charge is the brand-new Contagious Plague bow, a fresh artifact designed to weaponize pestilence in Nighthaven's fog-shrouded battles. Its hallmark perk elevates Poison Shot into a cataclysmic event: a direct strike erupts a vortex reeling enemies into a 5-meter infectious cloud that persists for 10 seconds, inflicting 25% weapon damage per second to all ensnared. This ranged Gravity Well analog excels at dictating engagements, yanking foes from safety into DoT hellscapes.

Synergies amplify its lethality—Plague Strike hampers healing to starve sustain, Stain Infliction supercharges DoTs for exponential scaling, and Poison Shot's 21% damage reduction renders victims feeble. An offensive slot invites further aggression, while S-tier Dexterity scaling (E Strength) favors sniper hybrids primed for one-shots. In Nighthaven's PvP arenas, this bow could eclipse standard rotations, transforming OPR into plague-ridden quagmires and wars into attrition sieges. Ranged enthusiasts should prioritize its acquisition; its crowd-disruption potential rivals no other newcomer.

Lifetaker's Evolution

The returning Lifetaker greatsword artifact receives a pivotal rework, retaining its Negative Energy passive for a disintegrating DoT on strikes that corrodes foes relentlessly. Now boasting balanced B scaling in Dexterity and Intelligence (around 70–75% efficiency each), it demands hybrid stats, shifting from pure specialization. This setup pairs devastatingly with Muskets as an off-hand, where crits detonate like ordinance, vaporizing threats in OPR flanks.

Key perk adjustments bolster endurance: Leeching supplants Life Stealing, yielding 3.2% healing from damage dealt, stackable to five times—a leap from the prior single 7.1% instance, forging vampiric resilience in marathons. Abyssal Attunement dips to 11% damage (non-stackable), curbing bursts modestly. Distinction fine-tunes crits for precision. In Nighthaven's hybrid-friendly meta, with dual-stat weapons like Strength-Intelligence Fire Staves emerging, Life Taker elevates greatsword-musket duos to tactical nukes. Commit to the stat split; the stacking heal turns attrition into ascension.

Old Crown

The venerable Old Crown medium helmet endures a contentious rework, its Royal perk slashed to +6 all attributes—a 25-point reduction from Season 9's +11, halving utility from 55 to 30 total points amid global attribute nerfs to 530 cap. This 50% hit sidelines it from generalist staples, favoring aggressive specs over bloat.

Yet redemption arrives via its inaugural gem slot, unlocking infusions like resilience or crit amps—the first such feature in Season 10 gear. Timeless passives Elemental Ward and Physical Ward persist for hybrid mitigation against Nighthaven's void curses. The defensive slot puzzles for an offensive icon, perhaps steering it toward warden roles veiling allies amid hatchet barrages. Devs appear to reposition it for balanced hybrids, but DPS purists may bench it. Experiment with a fortification gem; it could reclaim niche as a fortified bulwark in tank lines.

Freya's Francisca

Freya's Francisca (often called Freya's Hatchet) solidifies its meta stranglehold with refinements, its Sundering Stacks perk enduring to apply Rend every 0.5 seconds for 6 seconds, eroding armor like Nighthaven's crumbling spires—marginally toned from Season 9 but synergistic with bleed emphases. Empowering Rending Throw grants 33% damage uplift on afflicted targets (from 40%), a 7% trim, though gear score 800 may restore parity—speculate for Strength-Dexterity tossers.

The passive cements supremacy: axe throw cooldowns shrink, now infusing 25% Nature damage in a 5-second AoE pulse around impacts. Offensive and gem slots explode customization—embed bleeds for squad-wiping tempests. This morphs lone throws into zonal annihilators, excelling in OPR ambushes or war clusters. In Nighthaven's feral skirmishes, hatchet wielders will eviscerate packs, meshing with Contagious Plague for venomous volleys. Secure it for throwable mastery; its reach redefines melee projection.

The Abyss Great Axe

The Abyss great axe artifact holds its 15% damage surge below 100% mana—ideal for Nighthaven's drain-heavy incantations—but grapples with B Strength and B Intelligence scaling, a pairing untethered to any weapon sans potential hybrids like Strength-scaling Ice Gauntlets. Absent dev surprises, it risks irrelevance, compelling suboptimal respecs.

Perk flux signals turbulence: Refreshing Move evaporates (echoing artifact-wide trends, possibly clashing with charms), supplanted by Thwarting Strikes—potent on axes but mismatched here. A global Refreshing Move cull could upend light-attack chains, thrusting heavier rotations. For Abyss users, it's a high-stakes pivot: mana-exhaust niches thrive, but scaling snags may doom it unless Fire Staffs gain melee affinity. In Nighthaven's arcane brawls, hybrid hopefuls should monitor PTRs; otherwise, pivot to pure casters.

Electrifying New Perks: Critical Storm, Thwarting Stun, and Chain Lightning Unleashed

Nighthaven injects volatility via perk revamps, with charms enabling swappable offense/defense inserts atop fixed uniques. Critical Storm charges every 0.5-second crit with a Storm stack (max 6, 13-second duration), unleashing a lightning cascade at 100% bonus per stack on hit—unthinking fury that flourishes in New World's brawl ethos, turning 1v1s into electrocution lotteries and zergs into tempests.

Thwarting Stun exploits grit: uninterrupted Grim lands yield 5% base damage and a stack, max 10 triggering a 1-second stun (10-second cooldown). A bruiser scourge—countering Great Axes or Warhammers—it fizzles versus evasive Rapiers or Staves, birthing feast-or-famine volatility.

Chain Lightning beckons daredevils: magic ability damage every 10 seconds arcs to five targets at 50% weapon damage, offset by 30% self-recoil. With healer anchors, it's pyrotechnics—synergize with Ice Gauntlet freezes or Fire Staff blasts to incinerate warfronts. These integrate with infix rarities, like dodge-vacuums, fostering conditional mastery over blanket boosts.

Nighthaven heralds flux: the demise of Move's Refreshing Move, dual-scaling mandates, and zonal nukes compel reinvention. Target plague pulls, francisca spreads, and storm bursts for PvP supremacy—PTR testing essential amid balances.

FAQs on Season 10 Nighthaven Artifact rework

1. How does Contagious Plague redefine bow metas in Season 10?

As a new artifact, its vortex-DoT fusion delivers remote crowd control with 25% ticking damage, synergizing with anti-heal perks to dismantle teams in OPR and expeditions.

2. What impacts Life Taker's rework on greatsword-musket hybrids?

B Dex/Int scaling requires balanced investment for DoT crits, but 5-stack Leeching (3.2% heal per) cements sustain supremacy in extended wars.

3. Does the Old Crown's attribute nerf ruin its viability?

The +6 drop stings utility, but the gem slot and wards revive it for defensive hybrids, though DPS may favor specialized helms.

4. Why does Freya's Francisca dominate throwable builds?

Sundering Rends and 25% AoE Nature on throws (5s CD) shred groups, with slots for bleed amps making it war-essential.

5. Can The Abyss overcome its scaling issues in Nighthaven?

B Str/Int mismatches hinder without new hybrids, but low-mana bursts excel in curses; monitor for Fire Staff tweaks or relegate to niches.

Thanks for Reading

Stay tuned to MMOJUGG for more deep dives into New World Aeternum's evolving world.