So you've conquered the Living Lands, saved (or doomed) everyone you met, and now you're staring at that tantalizing New Game+ option. What exactly carries over? How much harder do enemies hit? And most importantly, how do you build an absolute powerhouse character the second time around?
Avowed's anniversary update introduced New Game+ alongside the PS5 launch, giving veterans a reason to dive back into Obsidian's action RPG. This mode rewards mastery and experimentation, but jumping in blind can leave you frustrated. Here's everything you need to know before starting your second adventure.
What Transfers to New Game+?
Understanding what you keep versus what you lose is critical for planning your approach. The good news? Your character's power foundation stays intact. The bad news? You're starting fresh on resources.
Avowed New Game+ Guide: What Carries Over and Best Strategies
Items You Keep in New Game+
Your unique weapons and armor transfer over, though they reset to level 1. This means your favorite legendary gear needs upgrading again, but you retain access to items that might have taken hours to find. All unlocked enchantments remain available, letting you immediately buff your reset equipment.
Every necklace, ring, and trinket you collected comes along for the ride. Your unique gloves and boots transfer too. If you had common weapons or armor equipped when starting New Game+, those specific pieces carry over (also reset to level 1).
Items and Progress You Lose
Here's where things get painful. All gold, upgrade materials, and enchanting materials vanish. Your stockpile of food ingredients, potions, consumables, and quest items disappears completely. Companions must be recruited again through story progression, though they retain their talent points while starting at level 1.
Fast travel points and map exploration reset entirely. Those god totems and trinkets tied to story progression? Gone. You'll need to earn godlike abilities again through natural gameplay.
How Do Enemies Change in New Game+?
New Game+ isn't just a victory lap. Enemies receive significant buffs across the board, and a new modifier system adds unpredictable challenges to encounters.
Elemental Modifiers Explained
Enemies can now spawn with elemental immunities that completely negate specific damage types. A fire-modified enemy ignores your Burning status effects and deals fire damage with every attack. The same applies to frost, shock, poison, and bleed modifiers.
Avowed New Game+ Guide: What Carries Over and Best Strategies
Physical Modifiers That Change Combat
Beyond elements, enemies gain physical modifiers that demand tactical adjustments:
- Haste enemies move faster, attack quicker, and recover abilities sooner
- Glass Cannon foes deal massive damage but die faster
- Colossal opponents have enormous health pools
- Life Steal enemies heal themselves with each hit they land
- Sturdy targets resist stuns and interrupts
- Vindictive enemies deal more damage as their health drops
What's the New Attribute Cap?
Your attribute cap increases from 15 to 30 in New Game+. This change fundamentally alters build possibilities, letting you create hybrid characters that weren't viable before.
With double the attribute ceiling, you can max out two primary stats while still investing heavily in supporting attributes. A character could realistically hit 30 Might for raw damage while pushing 20+ Dexterity for attack speed.
How to Prepare Before Starting New Game+
Create a Completion Save
Since New Game+ was added post-launch, you need a proper completion save. Load any save from the point of no return or later, then finish the main story. This creates the New Game+ option.
Optimize Your Equipped Loadout
Remember that only equipped common items transfer. Before triggering New Game+, open your Inventory and equip your preferred common weapon and armor set. These reset to level 1 but save you from hunting replacements early.
Avowed New Game+ Guide: What Carries Over and Best Strategies
Unlock Key Enchantments First
Enchantments carry over permanently. If you haven't unlocked crucial enchantments for your build, farm them before starting New Game+. You'll have immediate access to powerful buffs even with level 1 gear.
Best Strategies for New Game+
Diversify Your Damage Portfolio
Elemental immunity modifiers punish one-dimensional builds. Carry weapons covering at least three damage types. A physical melee weapon, an elemental ranged option, and spells of varying elements ensure you're never completely countered.
Prioritize Healers and Casters First
This advice from the base game becomes even more critical in New Game+. Enemy healers with modifiers like Haste or Colossal become nearly unkillable if ignored. Target priests and shamans immediately, then eliminate ranged threats before engaging melee fighters.
Use Custom Difficulty Modifiers
The anniversary update added granular difficulty options. Access them through Settings > Game and scroll down. You can adjust player damage, enemy health, companion effectiveness, and dozens of other variables.
Exploit the New Species Bonuses
The anniversary update added Dwarves, Orlans, and Aumaua as playable species, each with stat bonuses. Combined with background bonuses, you can start New Game+ with significant attribute advantages.
Aumaua characters gain +2 Might, making them ideal for strength builds. Orlans receive +1 Perception and +1 Resolve, perfect for hybrid caster-fighters. Pair species bonuses with backgrounds like War Hero (+2 Constitution) or Arcane Scholar (+2 Intellect) for optimized starts.
How to Handle the Early Game Resource Shortage
Losing all gold and materials hurts most in the opening hours. Here's how to recover quickly.
Dismantle Everything
Pick up every weapon and armor piece you find, regardless of quality. Hold X (controller) in your inventory to dismantle items into upgrade materials. Transfer excess gear to your camp chest with a single button press to avoid encumbrance.
Explore Aggressively
Avowed's maps hide upgrade materials, lockpicks, and valuable equipment off the main paths. Listen for the chiming sound indicating nearby treasure. Use high vantage points to spot distant loot locations.
Skip Skull-Marked Quests Initially
Quest difficulty indicators matter even more in New Game+. Avoid two-skull or higher missions until you've upgraded your reset equipment. Complete easier side content first to rebuild your resource base.
Is New Game+ Worth Playing?
Absolutely. The raised attribute cap enables builds impossible in the base game. Enemy modifiers create genuinely fresh combat encounters. And carrying over your hard-earned enchantments and unique gear provides satisfying progression continuity.
New Game+ transforms Avowed from a one-and-done RPG into a replayable experience where mastery actually matters. Your knowledge of enemy patterns, quest solutions, and exploration secrets combines with mechanical advantages for a distinctly different adventure. Now get back to the Living Lands and show those modified enemies what a true Godlike can do.