One of the most recent entries into the unforgiving arena of MMORPGs, Amazon's recent offering to the fray, New World, has had some interesting highs and lows. As the game continues to evolve, so does the choice of weapons. Characters are able to carry any two weapons at a time, so naturally, there's a lot of debate among players as to which combinations are the best.
This isn't about dual-wielding weapons, which isn't an option in the reality-based combat and gameplay of New World. The debate rages on as to whether or not dual-wielding will ever be an option, but so far it's seen as intrinsic to the fantasy RPG genre and it's not likely. The best weapon combos are about which weapons will scale with whatever Attributes are the character's strongest. After a few months of trial, error, and drama, here are some of the best weapon combos in New World.
Updated on November 16, 2022, by Kristy Ambrose: A recent expansion, along with several major patches to fix pressing issues, has given New World some new life. The game has always had a unique charm among other MMOs, and despite a bumpy start, it has attracted a loyal player base and kept public interest and gamer participation alive. A big part of the appeal of New World is the potential for character customization, and with the new patches and expansions that have introduced yet more to the game when it comes to weapons, players have even more options for combinations and class creation.
There are no classes in New World and therefore no restrictions for what weapons and gear players can equip, giving adventurers in Aeternum an array of interesting choices. These weapons can either be crafted by players, given as quest rewards, or dropped by slain foes.
12 Musket, Rapier (Ranged/Melee DPS)
The musket and rapier combination is one of the first and oldest that players discovered and developed in New World. These weapons have been available since the beta, and despite some minor tweaks in recent patches, they remain basically the same right down to the Talent Trees. The Attributes that determine a character's skill with these weapons are based on both Dexterity as a primary score and Intelligence as a secondary one, which streamlines the leveling process.
It remains one of New World's nest weapon combos in 2022. The popularity of this combination is also due to how straightforward it is. No matter what Talent Tree is used for either of these weapons, every role is a variation on damage per second, or DPS rating, making it easier to experiment with different builds.
11 Blunderbuss, Void Gauntlet (Healing/Ranged DPS)
The blunderbuss is a fairly new addition to the New World Armory. It was introduced in the Heart of Madness patch and scales with Strength and Intelligence, which means it's a versatile choice that goes with several different combinations. The Void Gaunlet scales with Focus and Intelligence, so there's some overlap with the Attributes that allows a character to level that much faster.
This build can combine the powers of damage and healing, and depending on what Talents are chosen, the character can specialize in either or both. A build that focuses solely on magic use can swap out the Blunderbuss for a Fire Staff or Ice Gauntlet and save the Attribute points for Intelligence instead. It's one of those unique New World weapon combinations that keep players interested.
10 Warhammer, Sword, And Shield (Melee DPS/Tank)
Players who value Strength as an Attribute instead of Intelligence can carry these impressive weapons. This build forgoes ranged damage abilities, but this type of role is more about PvP and party-based content like Expeditions and Corrupted Invasions, so it's a fair trade. This is one of the best New World weapon combos for party defense and taking damage.
As with many of the ideal combinations, both of these weapons share the same primary Attribute scores. The Warhammer is the more efficient of the two, relying only on Strength and no other score. Sword and shield proficiency also relies on Dexterity as a secondary Attribute score.
9 Life Staff, Void Gauntlet (Healing/Ranged DPS)
The main healing weapon in New World is also the sole beneficiary of the Focus Attribute score. This is why the combination with the Life Staff is going to be one of the more difficult to determine. However, a high Focus skill also means improved mana recovery and spellcasting rates, so it makes sense to equip another magical item as a secondary weapon.
The Void Gauntlet, a new entry to the New World weapons' chest, fits nicely here. It's the first weapon in the game that scales with both Intelligence and Focus. It has some healing abilities, so this combination is one of the best new World weapon pairings for a pure healing build. The Ice Gaunlet is also a fair choice but that weapon is more about crowd control (CC) as opposed to DPS and only uses Intelligence as its main Attribute, so the choice depends entirely on the character's unique build.
8 Warhammer, Void Gauntlet (Combo Class)
Players that are building classes like Paladins and Clerics want to have some access to every party role, which means they can heal, defend, or deal damage from either a ranged or melee position. The disadvantage of this kind of build is that it requires the largest spread of talent points, so it takes longer for a character to be effective in all three roles, but this combination only requires three, making it one of the best New World weapon pairings for combo classes.
The Warhammer scales with Strength and the Void Gaunlet requires points in Focus and Intelligence. The Void Gauntlet is both a DPS and healing weapon depending on the talent tree, so swap it out with a Life Staff to build a more focused healing class.
7 Blunderbuss, Rapier (Ranged/Melee DPS)
A steampunk-type build for those that are interested in the aesthetic, this is a combination that puts one of New World's earliest weapons with one of the newest. Both of these weapons scale with Intelligence with the rapier also using Dexterity and the Blunderbuss relying on Strength.
Unlike the musket, which is more precise and has a longer range, the blunderbuss is more about short-range damage and crowd control, the latter being a specialty of the Containment talent tree. The Chaos tree has more options for long-range damage and AoE abilities if that's what the player would prefer, but then a combination with another long-range weapon, like the Spear, would make more sense.
6 Hatchet, Great Axe (Melee DPS)
The hatchet isn't exactly the most dramatic or eye-catching weapon in New World, especially compared to the great axes and hammers, which is why it tends to get overlooked. However, it's one of the best weapon combos in New World for Strength builds, and although a player can equip any Dexterity-based weapon here, it's just more fun and looks better to go full ax.
Unlike other builds that rely almost entirely on Strength, characters that equip this weapon combination have a ranged ability provided they put a few points in the Throwing section of the ax Talent Tree.
5 Ice Gauntlet, Musket (Ranged DPS)
The Ice Gauntlet has been a favorite magical weapon since the start of the game, and it shares a few handy Attributes with another popular choice for ranged DPS, the musket. This is a nice combination for players who would prefer not to rely solely on mana or melee weapons when it comes to doing damage.
The musket relies on Dexterity as its primary Attribute and Intelligence as its secondary one. The Ice Gauntlet uses only Intelligence. Both have abilities that are focused on ranged damage, and it's necessary to utilize the Trapper section of the Musket Talent Tree to give a character some extra crowd control abilities.
4 Life Staff, Hatchet (Healing)
For players that still want to be dedicated healers but keep their options for melee damage open, it makes sense to combine a Life Staff with a handy hatchet provided your secondary ability score is either Strength or Dexterity. Another decent choice here would be a rapier in place of the hatchet if the build has more of a Dexterity focus.
Smaller weapons like the hatchet give the player a better dodge rating and make them faster on their feet when it comes to engaging in or trying to avoid an enemy. That's a good skill to have for a healer, who often needs to avoid blows and put a lot of points in Constitution for the extra health.
3 Fire Staff, Ice Gauntlet (Ranged DPS)
There aren't any definitive classes in New World, but players working in Rangers, Shamans, or other variations on the mixture of elemental powers and ranged DPS should look at this combination of ice and fire. This is one of the options for a pure magic build, with the fire staff leading the way for damage and the Ice Gauntlet for CC.
Being a pure magic build, these powers and abilities rely entirely on one Attribute, Intelligence. That makes it easier to raise the character's Constitution score and get all kinds of extra hit points, making the lack of armor less of a problem.
2 Spear, Bow (Ranged/Melee DPS)
Building a Barbarian, a Trapper, or a Survivalist? Then it makes sense to equip a character with the most basic of weapons as they cut a path through the wilds of Aeternum. The spear and the bow have a lot in common when it comes to Attributes, sharing Dexterity as the primary one.
The Bow skills rely only on Dexterity, so the player is free to give the character a few extra points in Strength. This is the secondary Attribute of the Spear and improves its damage-dealing abilities.
1 Life Staff, Sword, And Shield (Tank/Healing)
No classes in New World means that players don't have to choose between Taking and Healing anymore. The Life Staff only requires Focus when it comes to Attributes, so the player is free to put a few more points in Strength, the primary score for a sword and shield.
This combination isn't just a great way to create your favorite build and play it, but it's also a nice build for solo players who want some healing abilities for PvE content.
New World is available on Microsoft windows.