New World only left its beta two weeks ago, and since then, players have been experimenting with the various combinations of weapons in the game. Since there are 55 possible combinations of weapons that players could use, it is understandably difficult to sift through and find the optimal choices. Luckily, New World is relatively well balanced in its early days compared to most MMOs, meaning that the vast majority of builds are viable.
Of course, there is a distinction to be made between builds geared towards PvE content and PvP builds in New World, but any build that is effective in one is usually effective in the other, given a handful of tweaks. Also, when considering any build, it is important that players look at the corresponding attributes for each weapon as the best builds will normally combine two weapons that share primary and/or secondary attributes.
Great Axe and Hatchet
At this point, the Great Axe has firmly established its reputation as one of the best weapons in New World. The Great Axe and Hatchet build was arguably the most popular combination during New World's beta, and has managed to maintain that level of popularity through launch. Not only is this an incredibly effective setup, but it's also a relatively simple pairing for beginner players. The Great Axe functions as the player's high damage AoE option, while the Hatchet doubles as both ranged damage and amazing single target damage, with bonus healing from the Berserker tree.
This combination is easily one of the highest DPS builds in New World, and maintains a high degree of effectiveness in both PvP and PvE encounters. For PvP, players will want to focus their skill selection more on slowing their enemies and increasing their own mobility. For the Great Axe, this comes in the form of Charge and Reap. With the Hatchet, skills like Stay Back and Quick Power allow players to close the gap with one successfully landed throw.
Sword and Shield and Life Staff
While this build represents a relatively generic fighting style in New World, it's the most effective route to go for most solo players. The key focus for this build is survivability, players can drop a Sacred Ground underneath their feet, draw enemies with the Life Staff attacks, and fight up close with the Sword and Shield. It's a bit slow going compared to any build involving the Great Axe, Hatchet, or War Hammer, but it's unbeatable in its ability to solo bosses and difficult encounters.
Unfortunately, the main drawback to this setup is its relative weakness in New World's large-scale PvP encounters. Since the Life Staff's main attribute is Focus and the Sword and Shield scale off of Strength and Dexterity, it's difficult to strike an effective balance that lets players truly shine in PvP combat. While the Sword and Shield are certainly a viable PvP option, when dealing with group PvP situations, it's best to leave the healing to a player who has leaned heavily into the Focus stat and can really pump out effective numbers.
Spear and Bow
Following the New World beta, the Spear and the Bow were widely regarded as two of the worst weapon choices in the game. Now, after the frenzy surrounding the most popular builds has subsided and players have had the chance to experiment a little, the Spear and Bow are starting to gain a bit of traction. Beyond being a great choice for both New World's open-world PvP and PvE, the Spear and the Bow is an engaging combination. The Spear and Bow build requires a high degree of skill from players that decided to go this route, since it struggles against enemies that use lateral movement, but that's also part of its appeal — it's a high-risk, high-reward venture.
The Spear and Bow is an intriguing build because it relies heavily on DoT effects as well as AoE damage from the Spear's Zoner tree. The idea here is to pair this build with Medium weight armor and keep enemies at bay with slows and debuffs from the Bow while punishing them when they get too close with the Spear. Like most builds, a few simple changes can be made to adapt the Spear and Bow effectively to PvP with a focus on stuns and sweeps being optimal for PvP combat.
New World is available now on PC.