If you’re playing New World and you reached level 60, you’re probably interested in how to upgrade your gear to the maximum level. Being intrigued by the fashion to upgrade your character and get the best possible equipment, you’ve probably heard the word “Watermark” being mentioned here and there. Watermark corresponds to the current and highest level of looted gear score.
In New World, each player has its database table tied to every looted item. The commodity of that item comes into play, too, also known as gear score. What differs from other games is that the loot distribution is related to the character gear score he currently wears (snapshot of the current item level). Instead, it’s bound to the highest item level the character had looted in a specific category (gloves, chest, head, type of weapon, etc.). So, what is Watermark referring to in New World, and how to increase the chance of getting higher-level items?
New World Gear Watermark and how to increase the chance for better item drops?
New World’s Watermark is like a carved stamp printed out once you pick up an item. Let’s say we start with an item gear score of 520. Once you kill a mob eligible of dropping gear above that gear score, for example, lvl 64+ mobs, you will get a higher item level score or item level 521. Once you get that higher item level, the game database “watermarks” your current looted gear score to 521, giving you a chance of looting an item with a gear score of 522.
The Watermark feature is only available for players with level 60.
So, the way the game is made it’s purely grindy. It requires immense dedication and playtime before you become eligible for looting high-gear score items. This design does not account for items gained from completing quests. Instead, it is related to world drops from high-level mobs, dungeons (expeditions), and elite chests.
So how to do that? Well, I believe some players have already started organizing runs through the entirety of Shattered Mountains to loot the elite chests in that high-level area. Others have found an efficient farm in the south of Reekwater, which is very beneficial to upgrade your item level drops. The two mobs down there drop every category of item, so that’s why everyone’s doing it nowadays. Judging by my experience, it took five days of 8+ hours farm to get to 591 on some gear categories. But we’ll talk more about that in our detailed Reekwater Watermark Upgrade Farm guide, which is currently being worked on.
Advice: If you’re already doing this, we would advise you to avoid doing high-level dungeon runs before you become eligible for looting item level 591 by doing the Reekwater Gear Score farm.
So, that’s all, folks. If you want to upgrade your drops to consist of higher item levels, you should get your sweatpants on, forget about your life for a bit and play the game as much as you can doing high-end content.
