New World Aeternum Beginner Guide Part 2

In New World, mastering your weapon skill tree and optimizing your gear score is key to enhancing your performance in combat and progressing efficiently. Whether you're leveling up or diving into high-end PvP or PvE content, understanding how to allocate your weapon mastery points best and equip gear can significantly improve your gameplay.

Weapon mastery is an essential system in New World, allowing you to tailor your combat abilities by spending skill points. Each weapon comes with its skill tree, and for the first few levels, it's generally best to focus on one side of the tree. This strategy lets you quickly unlock powerful abilities (known as ultimates) that can greatly enhance your combat effectiveness. However, don't stress too much about making perfect choices from the start. You can always respect your weapon mastery and attributes later if you try a different build.

When you're just starting out, allocate your initial points based on the abilities you think will benefit your playstyle the most. If an ability from the tree's opposite side looks appealing, you can certainly grab it. However, early on, focusing your points to unlock ultimates quickly tends to be more efficient.

For a complete breakdown of where to spend your weapon mastery points for each weapon, check out our in-depth video guide linked in the top right and the description below. We cover the best builds, optimal playstyles, and recommended stats for each weapon in the game.

New World's crafting system is vital to your character's progression, allowing you to craft powerful gear and generate income by selling items to other players. Each archetype receives bonuses for gathering, refining, and crafting trade skills. These trade skills are crucial for creating weapons, armor, and other essential items.

Gathering: Collect raw materials such as wood, ore, or plants.

Refining: Use stations like the smelter or tannery to refine raw materials into more usable forms.

Crafting: Create powerful gear, weapons, potions, and other items using refined materials.

For instance, while leveling up my Ranger archetype, I focused on gathering wood and engineering to craft powerful bows and spears. Not only did this strengthen my character, but it also provided me with more efficient gathering tools, which accelerated my material collection and crafting process.

Crafting isn't just about making gear—you can also craft instruments, bags, jewelry, and even consumables like potions. These crafted items are often comparable to high-end loot you would earn from dungeons or PvP, making crafting a valuable way to enhance your character outside of combat.

Gear score is critical in determining how effective your equipment will be. A higher gear score means better stats, more armor, and increased weapon damage. You can view your gear score in your character inventory by hovering over specific items to see their gear score.

As you progress, you'll want to prioritize gear with a higher gear score as it provides better stats. However, always consider whether the item's stats align with your build. For example, if you're playing a strength-based archetype like the Destroyer, a piece of gear with high focus (which benefits healing) may not be as useful as a lower gear score item with more strength or constitution.

In the early stages of the game, you'll come across gray (common), green (uncommon), and blue (rare) items. While higher rarity items offer better stats and perks, gear score is usually the more important factor. Green items typically provide one stat bonus and one perk, while blue items give two perks or one perk and a gem slot.

When deciding between a high-rarity item and a high-gear-score item, the general rule is to choose the higher gear score, unless the perks on the lower gear score item are exceptionally powerful. This decision becomes more nuanced in later stages of the game, particularly as you encounter higher-rarity items like purple and gold gear.

New World divides armor into three weight classes: light, medium, and heavy. Each weight class offers distinct advantages and disadvantages:

Light Armor: This significantly bonuses your damage and healing output and allows you to perform a dodge roll. This is ideal for agile classes, but you must rely on evasion since light armor offers limited protection.

Medium Armor: Balances mobility and defense. You'll take less damage than in light armor but still retain the ability to dodge. It's a great option for versatile playstyles.

Heavy Armor: Provides maximum protection and block stability but limits your mobility, making it harder to dodge attacks. Heavy armor is best suited for tanks or players focused on survivability.

Switching from medium to heavy armor may grant you more protection, but it also changes your dodge ability to a slower shuffle. Consider your weight class carefully when equipping new gear, as it can significantly impact your combat style.

To recap, your goal in New World should be to consistently upgrade your gear score while considering how each item's stats and perks fit your build. Keep an eye on your armor's weight class to avoid accidentally switching to a heavier load that might affect your combat abilities.

Crafting is a valuable tool for making powerful gear and making money by selling items to other players. Engaging with the crafting and trade skill systems will make your leveling experience smoother and provide you with valuable resources.

Stay tuned with MMOJUGG for more news and guide about New World Aeternum.