Language Used - XML, C++ (Proprietary scripting)
Tools used - Lumberyard (Azoth Engine), Visual Studio
Role - AI Combat Designer at Amazon Games
Release - Oct 2023

https://www.newworld.com/en-us/news/articles/rise-of-the-angry-earth

Rise of the Angry Earth is New World's first DLC that released in Oct 2023 which features a revamped zone called Elysian Wilds. This zone is mainly dominated by the Angry Earth and many beasts, and also features some elite zones and the Savage Divide Expedition.

For this zone, I've created some special creatures that players will encounter across the zone, and also aided in the development and testing of the Elysian Wilds main story quest and the Savage Divide expedition.

Creatures Developed:

Hercyne Boar:









The Hercyne Boar is a humanoid creature that's half human and half boar formed by the power of the Angry Earth. They behave like semi-tank characters and deal thrusting damage with their body. Their melee fighting style includes heavy punches and slams. Their signature ability is to charge like a wild boar and knock down players.

Alpha Boar - The Alpha Hercyne attacks more aggressively than the regular boars, and has a special signature ability called the Thorn Hide which grants the boar spikes across the body. While using this ability the Boar is immune to knockdowns and deals return damage to players when being attacked. After a certain duration the boar will cause a mini-explosion spraying these thorns on players.
The Alpha Boar acts as a pack leader for the Hercyne Boars, and thus grants a temporary Thorn Hide to nearby Hercyne allies.

Hercyne Reindeer:  










The Hercyne Reindeer is a humanoid creature that's half human and half reindeer formed by the power of the Angry Earth. Unlike a typical reindeer, these creatures teleport around very often to confuse their opponents. Their combat style is primarily ranged and uses melee attacks once in a while.
The signature move of the Hercyne Reindeer is the ability to summon Briar Turrets that keep shooting spikes at players. The Reindeer uses this turret to split the player's focus and then either commands the turrets to root players with tangles, or burst into spikes.

Alpha Reindeer - The Alpha Hercyne Reindeer behaves more aggressive by teleporting more often and summoning turrets more frequently. And being a good pack leader, the Alpha Reindeer spawns an extra turret for a nearby Hercyne ally.