New World burst onto the scene, amassing tons of players upon its release and having to create a slew of servers just to cut down on the immense queues that gamers were enduring. Now things have calmed down considerably, but players are still flocking to get in on Amazon's attempt at the MMORPG genre.
Unfortunately for some, especially those that have never stepped into an MMORPG, New World can be downright daunting. There are a lot of mechanics to learn, things to see, and weapons to try. To help remedy this information overload, here's a look at some New World beginner tips that players should consider when starting their journey.
Updated on November 21, 2022, by Kristy Ambrose: After more than a year after it was released, New World has gone through several fixes and patches, even some of the basic game mechanics have been updated. A recent expansion, the Brimstone Sands, has added new content to the game that includes dungeons, gear, and quests, and fills out more of the lore of Aeterneum and the main storyline. That means more information regarding a New World starting guide.
13 Focus On Weapon Experience Early
New World is different than most traditional MMORPGs because it doesn't focus on classes, instead opting to allow players to be whatever they want to be and tying skills to weapons rather than "jobs." Players will need to amass weapon XP in order to unlock skills and the only way to gain the applicable experience is to slay enemies with the appropriate weapon equipped.
Because of this, it's an important New World tip for beginners to decide what weapons they like and want to use before their journey starts. The longer a player uses a weapon, the more proficient they'll become and the more skills they'll have at their disposal.
12 Pick A Tradeskill And Stick To It
There are a lot of Tradeskills and resources to be found in New World. Players that want to get the most out of crafting are going to have to work on a variety of gathering proficiencies to snag the necessary materials before they can make the gear they want.
Unfortunately, it's easy to become "spread too thin" and players that are scattered when gathering and crafting will find themselves much farther from their goals. Instead, it's a smart New World beginner tip to focus on one discipline and put all of the effort into it. Materials are used across a variety of jobs, meaning players will effectively be "stealing from themselves" if they hop crafting jobs constantly. It's better to focus resources on one thing and level it up before moving on.
11 Take Time For Resources
Once a player has decided on their character's crafting specialties, they need the materials to level those skills. Time, gear, and sometimes money is required to farm, gather, and refine the required materials. Additionally, if a player wants to level their skills, they may have to travel to a different part of the map or a hostile zone, but this gets easier as more waypoints are discovered which allows fast travel between certain parts of the map.
Experienced players that are used to the game will find it easier to integrate the daily resource farming with quests and other productive activities. The daily faction quests often include gathering raw materials or resources of some kind, which is another good reason to get them finished.
10 Understanding Attributes
When it comes to building a class in New World, the key is knowing how to use and combine the Attribute scores. These are the stats that determine how strong, fast, agile, or smart every character is and it correlates with what kind of weapon or crafting skill suits them best.
There are only five Attributes in New World, making it more efficient than other RPG games, and only four of these are related to weapon use. Constitution determines the number of hit points a character gets and isn't tied to any weapon use, but a player who takes a defensive or melee role needs to put extra points in this stat. Strength and Dexterity cover most of the weapons that physical damage dealers use, while Focus and Intelligence cover the weapons with magical abilities.
9 Pick Weapons That Compliment Each Other Early
New World offers up a lot of "build freedom" for players but those that are looking to level effectively during the early game should opt for weapons that have the same stat boosts. Weapons come in a variety of flavors but will always use a specific attribute, or multiple with one dominant.
Take, for example, the Great Axe and Warhammer, which both use the Strength attribute to boost their damage capabilities. A New World beginner tip is that both of these weapons will always have strong strikes so long as they specialize in Strength. It's not recommended to use a wide array of damage types as players will need to spread their points around, making them weaker overall as they level up.
8 Do Faction Missions Regularly
Players will need to pick one of three factions as they progress through their journey, although it's possible to do things without joining a faction. Once players have decided on which faction they want to represent, they need to be sure to take faction missions daily. The first time these missions are completed for a day, they offer a massive XP bonus. This can help players level quickly.
Faction Missions, which are snagged from the appropriate faction representative in each town, also reward players with Faction Points. These are used to purchase specific gear and weapons.
7 Don't Buy The Cheapest House First
Owning a house is one of the coolest parts of New World but many players make the mistake of purchasing the cheapest house as soon as they possibly can. The reason this isn't recommended is that players get a large discount on their first home purchase, as much as 50 percent off.
It's a much smarter and more economical New World beginner tip for players to buy a larger home since they will receive such a deep discount on the purchase price and taxes. Larger homes come with better perks, allowing players to place more items, larger storage chests, and even fast travel to their location more often.
6 Try Not To Craft In Towns Owned By Other Factions
New World's endgame is built on warring factions that control towns and dictate how much players are taxed for a variety of services. Those that engage in crafting will have to pay a fee to the town and Companies that own these locations can decide how much they want to tax each Faction individually.
Sometimes it's impossible to avoid crafting in another town or city that isn't owned by your faction as players will need access to more advanced or larger crafting stations to build better items. For the most part, players can avoid paying obnoxiously high fees by sticking close to towns that are the same color on the map as their faction.
5 Always Keep Food Readily Available
Food is important in New World. Although food is considered a "buffing element" in other MMORPGs, it goes much further in Amazon's open-world adventure. Players that regularly consume food and travel rations will receive the Well-Fed buff, which lasts for 30 minutes and is responsible for triggering health regen.
Players without the Well-Fed buff will notice that their health doesn't actively regen unless they enter a town or rest at a campfire. There are additional foods that can boost stats but players should always have enough nourishment on them to keep their health-regen buff active.
4 Take Every Quest You See
There are a lot of side quests, town missions, and faction missions scattered throughout New World. The main story is entertaining in its own right but players should always snag and complete any applicable quests they see.
It is possible to level up simply by crafting and slaying enemies but quests reward a massive amount of XP by comparison. On top of that, players will receive level-appropriate gear, helping them to earn better armor and weapons.
3 Learning The Lore
It's not essential to know the story of Aeternum or understand why any of the players or NPCs are here, but it's a big improvement for the immersion factor. Recent patches and expansions have opened some of the mystery boxes that players have discovered in the past year and some of the plotlines are actually interesting.
King Arthur's name is now part of the history of Monarch Bluffs, and other familiar references have been added elsewhere in the game. Brimstone Sands, the most recent expansion, adds another layer to the island's mysterious past with an ancient Egyptian aesthetic.
2 Don't Aggro Too Many Enemies At Once
Players who frequent MMORPGs will likely want to corral a bunch of enemies and take them all down at once to amass as much XP as possible. While this practice is doable in New World, it's much harder than in other games.
Enemies have the ability to stagger the player out of certain moves and it's easy for players to become completely overwhelmed by their foes, unable to heal or dish out damage. Instead, players should take down their enemies systematically, ensuring they don't aggro too many at one time.
1 Enjoy The Journey
Players may be tempted to attack New World with the same fervor as they do other MMORPGs. It's tempting to rush into the release with the mindset of reaching the endgame as quickly as possible but the gameplay in New World is designed to be more of a slow burn. Instead, players should sit back and enjoy the journey, leveling at their own pace and immersing themselves in the character they're playing.
Amazon will likely start to push out a few more major updates and give players more endgame content to tackle. For now, players should simply enjoy the sights and enjoy the variety of classes and crafting options.
New World is available on PC.