Best New World Aeternum builds

What are the best builds for New World Aeternum? Amazon’s New World is back with a beefy update to overhaul some core systems and nudge the MMO closer toward the ARPG genre. We’ve gone ahead and put together four great builds that fill a variety of different roles to help you through the mid-game and beyond, in both PvE and PvP.

The first choice you make in New World Aeternum is what archetype to pick; for that, you’ll want to read our New World Aeternum class guide. With all that information under your belt, you’re ready to branch out from those starting archetypes and begin following one of the builds below.

Best New World Aeternum Strength build

This is the best melee-focused Strength build, which uses the Great Axe and Greatsword:

Best archetype: Swordbearer or Destroyer

Alternate weapons: War Hammer, Sword and Shield

Attribute point goals:

• Strength: 250
• Dexterity: None
• Intelligence: 50
• Focus: 50
• Constitution: 150

Key skills: 

• Great Axe: Whirlwind, Maelstrom, Gravity Well
• Greatsword: Crosscut, Skyward Slash, Steadfast Strike

Key passives:

• Great Axe: Surrounded, Gravity, Mauler’s Fury
• Greatsword: Path of Onslaught, Unflinching Blade, Unrelenting Onslaught

This almost pure Strength build focuses on dealing with multiple groups of enemies with the utility to switch to the Greatsword for single-target damage when you’ve cut down enough foes. It has enough investment into Constitution to be played solo for much of the game; however, for harder fights, you’re going to want to bring a friend wielding a Light Staff or switch out the Greatsword for a Sword and Shield for more defensive utility.

If you’re planning on playing PvP, this Great Axe and Greatsword combo will prove potent, but you’ll have to ask yourself what your group needs most: more crowd control (War Hammer), defense (Sword and Shield), or damage (Greatsword). Invest in whichever weapon suits your situation and check below for suggested skills.

Best archetype

Archetypes don’t lock you into a weapon or a playstyle, so the choice really comes down to your preference for which weapon you’d rather wield at first and a massive bonus to a select three crafting skills. The best archetypes for this build are either Swordbearer or Destroyer, which come with the following kits and bonuses:

Swordbearer: Greatsword and Blunderbuss with Cooking, Fishing, and Leatherworking crafting bonuses.

Destroyer: War Hammer and Great Axe with Armoring, Skinning, and Leatherworking crafting bonuses.

It comes down to personal preference. We find Armoring, Skinning, and Leatherworking a bit more applicable to the overall build, so we recommend going with Destroyer.

Attribute points

This Strength-focused build is pretty straightforward to understand as you’ll mostly invest in Strength and Constitution with little need for the other attributes.

Invest in Strength and Constitution until you get both to the level 100 bonus threshold before moving on to raising Intelligence and Focus to 25 each and then to the 50 threshold. After that, continue raising Strength as much as possible while sprinkling in some Constitution.

250 in Strength will breach the threshold for +33% stamina regen rate while performing basic melee attacks, and 150 in Constitution will grant -10% critical damage taken. At the same time, Intelligence and Focus at 50 points will give a +5 damage increase to targets afflicted with a damage over time effect and +10% healing received, respectively.

Keep in mind that you’ll receive attribute bonuses from gear, as denoted by a blue-colored highlight in each attribute’s progress bar. 250 Strength and 250 Constitution are pretty much unreachable until very late in the game as it requires rare late-game items, so until then just focus on wearing equipment that raises either attribute.

Key skills

Each weapon in New World Aeternum allows you to have three active skills available at any given time, and you can switch between the weapons at will. Here are the following active skills you’ll want with each weapon for this build:

Great Axe:

• Whirlwind: Spin up to 4 times and attack all nearby foes
• Maelstrom: Spin and pull foes in close
• Gravity Well: Create a vortex that pulls and roots foes. The collapsing vortex deals damage after it ends

The Great Axe is used to deal with large groups of enemies by pulling them in with Maelstrom and/or Gravity Well while spamming Whirlwind as much as possible. Try not to get dizzy.

Greatsword:

• Crosscut: Slash 3 times and deal increasing damage with each strike
• Skyward Slash: Slash upward to stagger the target and apply rend
• Steadfast Strike: Impale your foe and deal damage thrusting in and pulling out. This restores stamina and draws aggression

Once your Great Axe skills are on cooldown or you’re up against a single target, switch to the Greatsword to apply rend (which increases damage taken by the enemy) with Skyward Slash before triggering Crosscut to deal massive damage. Steadfast Strike is here to draw aggression from allies and restore some stamina.

Key passives

Non-passive skills on each weapon skill tree typically buff playstyles or skills themselves. For this build, you’ll want to take the associated passives for each of your active skills, denoted by the arrows beneath each skill. These are the main ones to focus on obtaining:

Great Axe:

• Surrounded: Increase base weapon damage for each enemy above 3 near you by 15%
• Gravity: Root an enemy (keep them in place for the duration) after you pull a target with Maelstrom or Gravity Well
• Mauler’s Fury: Gain Empower from Great Axe attacks (3% increase in damage per stack)

Great Sword:

• Path of Onslaught: Enter an onslaught stance for ten seconds after using an Onslaught skill (this includes Crosscut and Skyward Slash)
• Cross Execution: Increase the damage of Crosscut on enemies below 50% health
• Unflinching Blade: Adds a bleed effect to charged heavy hits for more damage (Pairs with the +5% damage from investment in Focus)

Best New World Aeternum Dexterity build

This is the best ranged and damage-focused Dexterity build that uses the Bow and Hatchet.

Best archetype: Ranger

Alternate weapons: Musket, Spear

Attribute point goals:

• Strength: 100
• Dexterity: 200
• Intelligence: 50
• Focus: 50
• Constitution: 100

Key skills:

• Bow: Rapid Shot, Penetrating Shot, Explosive Arrow
• Hatchet: Berserk, Rending Throw, Social Distancing

Key passives:

• Bow: Hawkeye, Concussion, Arrow Range
• Hatchet: Uninterruptible Berserk, Defy Death, Stay Back

This Dexterity-focused build will keep you out of danger, dealing damage from a distance with well-timed shots. It leans much more into dealing damage to a single target rather than groups of enemies, meaning you’ll melt most foes before they can reach you. That said, if you’re going up against large mobs, you’re going to want a friend or two to draw aggression.

If you’re struggling to play solo PvE, consider switching to the Musket instead of the Hatchet as it has a few area-of-effect skills that can take down mobs quickly and also mostly scales off Dexterity. The Spear is another good option because it provides mobility options. When moving into PvP, stick with the Bow and Hatchet as they’re great for dealing damage to single targets. Be warned that this will most likely make you a target yourself.

Best archetype

The best archetype for this build is the Ranger as it comes readily equipped with a Bow, and it won’t be long before you find your first Hatchet; however, the Spear isn’t a bad choice in the early game.

The Ranger comes with a bonus to the Engineering, Logworking, and Woodworking crafting skills, so only choose a different class if you’re interested in a different set of bonuses.

Attribute points

This Dexterity-focused build isn’t difficult to grasp as it’s primarily focused on a single attribute rather than two.

You’ll want to focus on getting Dexterity to 100 and Constitution to 50 through both attribute points and gear before moving on to Strength for bonuses to light and heavy attacks. Then, circle back to raising Dexterity as high as you can while making sure not to neglect Constitution too much as, even though you’re a ranged character, you’re occasionally going to get whacked. Once you’re sorted, invest some points into Intelligence and Focus to receive the applicable threshold bonuses.

200 Dexterity will grant you a +10% bonus to headshot damage while increasing the damage output of both your weapons, while 100 Strength will give +5% light attack and 10% heavy attack damage. It also raises the base damage of your Hatchet. We want 50 in Intelligence to receive a small damage buff to targets affected by damage over time effects and 50 in Focus for some cooldown reduction and increased healing received. Moving into the late game, you’ll want to put points into Dexterity and then Constitution where you can.

Keep in mind that you’ll receive attribute bonuses from gear, as denoted by a blue-colored highlight in each attribute’s progress bar. 200 Dexterity is pretty much unreachable until very late in the game as it requires rare late-game equipment, so until then just focus on wearing gear that raises it.

Key skills

Each weapon in New World Aeternum allows you to have three active skills available at any given time, and you can switch between the weapons at will. Here are the following active skills you’ll want with each weapon for this build:

Bow:

• Rapid Shot: Shoot 3 arrows that consecutively increased in damage
• Penetrating Shot: Shoot a powerful arrow that passes through targets
• Explosive Arrow: Deals damage and then explodes, dealing fire damage to all nearby enemies

The Bow is your primary damage dealer, cycling between Rapid Shot, Penetrating Shot, and Explosive Arrow if there’s a group of enemies. Otherwise, you’ll be aiming and trying to nab headshots for extra damage from passives like Concussion.

Hatchet:

• Berserk: Increase all attack damage for 12 seconds.
• Rending Throw: Deal damage and apply rend (reduce enemy armor)
• Social Distancing: Deal damage and apply slow to enemies

The Hatchet is a utility weapon to switch to when your Bow skills are on cooldown, applying useful debuffs like rend and slow as well as Berserk to increase your bow output damage when you switch back.

Key passives

Non-passive skills on each weapon skill tree typically buff playstyles or skills themselves. For this build, you’ll want to take the associated passives for each of your active skills, denoted by the arrows beneath each skill. These are the main ones to focus on obtaining:

Bow:

• Hawkeye: Health a percentage of health with each headshot
• Concussion: Headshots deal more damage
• Arrow Range: Distance before arrows drop off greatly increased

Hatchet:

• Uninterruptible Berserk: Your attacks can’t be interrupted and you can’t be staggered
• Defy Death: When you receive lethal damage, become invulnerable briefly and restore HP. (Note: this passive requires ten abilities in this tree, so take the non-skill-related abilities to reach it)
• Stay Back: Social Distancing will root enemies in place for one second

Best New World Aeternum Intelligence build

This is the best Intelligence-based build primarily focused on dealing consistent damage with the Fire Staff and Ice Gauntlet; however, it can be swapped into a support role as you see fit.

Best archetype: Occultist

Alternate weapons: Void Gauntlet, Life Staff

Attribute point goals:

• Strength: 0
• Dexterity: 0
• Intelligence: 250
• Focus: 150
• Constitution: 100

Key skills: 

• Fire Staff: Fireball, Incinerate, Flamethrower
• Ice Gauntlet: Ice Storm, Ice Pylon, Entombed

Key passives:

• Fire Staff: Runes of Helios, Catch, Trial by Fire
• Defiant Freeze, Ultimate Frost, Empowered Frost

This Intelligence-based fire-and-ice build has everything you could ever want in a caster: amazing damage output – some of the highest in the game with Flamethrower – and great defensive utility to keep on melting enemies. It doesn’t struggle in most situations, but this build will draw enemy attention in PvP and doesn’t have the best defenses, so keep that in mind if you decide to take on other players or run up against difficult bosses solo.

If you’re with a group that needs less damage and more support, it’s quite easy to switch out the Fire Staff to either the Void Gauntlet or Life Staff as you already have points invested into Focus; however, this will greatly decrease your damage output in favor of debuffs or great healing skills. Doing so is not recommended for solo PvE content.

Best archetype

The best archetype for this build is the Occultist, as it comes with both a Fire Staff and an Ice Gauntlet right from the beginning, so you don’t need to wait to find either one later.

The Occultist receives crafting bonuses for Jewelcrafting, Mining, and Smelting, which aside from the first aren’t particularly great for this build. Consider running the Mystic for a bonus to Arcana, Harvesting, and Weaving to get a head start on those more applicable crafting disciplines.

Attribute points

This Intelligence-focused build also requires Focus to cast spells with, so we can’t neglect that stat.

Invest in Intelligence primarily until level 100 while sprinkling some points into Focus and Constitution until they reach about 50. Then, you’re going to want to level Intelligence as much as you can, aiming for the +30% duration to damage over time effects that 250 points nets you – imperative for this fire-heavy build. The main target for Focus is 100 points, which gives a massive bump to mana regeneration. After that, if you find yourself dying too often, consider investing more into Constitution.

Keep in mind that you’ll receive attribute bonuses from gear, as denoted by a blue-colored highlight in each attribute’s progress bar. 250 Intelligence is pretty much unreachable until very late in the game, as it requires rare late-game equipment, so until then just focus on wearing gear that raises that attribute, while nabbing Focus bonuses where you can to reach 100 for the mana regeneration buff.

Key skills

Each weapon allows you to have three active skills available at any given time, and you can switch between the weapons at will. Here are the following active skills you’ll want with each weapon for this build:

Fire Staff:

• Fireball: Hurl a fireball that deals a large amount of damage
• Incinerate: Deal damage and inflict smolder on targets in a radius around you. Stagger them
• Flamethrower: Shoot a jet of flame that deals consistent damage and stacks smolder

The Fire Staff is your main way to deal damage, particularly Flamethrower. Incinerate helps as Flamethrower requires you to be within four meters of a target; if they aggro to you, you can stagger them and move away. Fireball helps with targets at a distance; however, you can also cast it close-up.

Ice Gauntlet:

• Ice Storm: Create a storm at the targeted area that deals damage and slows enemies within
• Ice Pylon: Summon a pillar that fires projectiles at enemies and creates a frosted area
• Entombed: Become invulnerable and greatly increase mana regeneration

The Ice Gauntlet gives this build some much-needed defenses, slowing targets to keep them in range of Flamethrower and Incinerate or giving you a brief moment of respite to wait for cooldowns and mana regeneration. Typically, you’ll want to begin each encounter by casting Ice Pylon to maximize damage and initiate mana regeneration, as standing in the frosted area it creates will grant mana for each attack when combined with the Empowered Frost passive.

Key passives

Non-passive skills on each weapon skill tree typically buff playstyles or skills themselves. For this build, you’ll want to take the associated passives for each of the active skills above, denoted by the arrows beneath each skill. These are the main ones to focus on obtaining for this build:

Fire Staff:

• Runes of Helios: Fire Staff skills plant a damage-boosting rune on the ground (requires ten skills invested in the Fire Mage tree – pick the non-skill-based passives other than Fireball to reach it)
• Catch: Direct hits with Fireball resorts mana and lowers skill cooldowns
• Trial by Fire: Deal fire damage to all nearby enemies when hitting a target

Ice Gauntlet:

• Defiant Freeze: Increase armor after using an Ice Gauntlet skill
• Ultimate Frost: Increases Ice Pylon’s health and frosted area size
• Empowered Frost: Gain mana for each attack performed in a frosted area

Best New World Aeternum tank/support build

This is the best support build that uses the Sword and Shield and Flail and Shield. It will surely make you a lot of friends.

Best archetype: Soldier

Alternate weapons: Great Axe, Life Staff

Attribute point goals:

• Strength: 100
• Dexterity: 0
• Intelligence: 0
• Focus: 200
• Constitution: 200

Key skills:

• Sword and Shield: Upheaval, Shield Bash, Defender’s Resolve
• Flail and Shield: Arcane Smite, Arcane Vortex, Warding Bludgeon

Key passives:

• Sword and Shield: Tactician, One with the Shield, Final Blow
• Flail and Shield: Leader of the Pack, Better Together, Spiky Impairment

This tank/support hybrid build is perfect if you’re playing with a group, granting a lot of buffs while taking hits for your friends. The Sword and Shield is the de facto tank weapon in New World Aeternum, with a lot of skills and passives that increase defenses, stagger foes, and otherwise protect allies. The Flail and Shield, on the other hand, inflicts impairment on enemies to weaken them while increasing the damage output of nearby allies exponentially.

This build is great for both PvE and PvP but not ideal for flying solo. Consider switching out the Sword and Shield for a high-damaging Strength weapon if you’re going it alone. We recommend the Great Axe, though the War Hammer also works. If your group also needs a healer, this build has enough investment into Focus for you to switch the Sword and Shield out for a Life Staff.

Best archetype

The best archetype for this build is the Soldier as it comes with a Sword and Shield and defensive armor to keep you alive in the early game.

The Soldier’s crafting bonuses are Weapon Smithing, Mining, and Smelting, which are all handy for this class. Other archetypes do not have a Sword and Shield or Flail and Shield, so unless you’re keen on other crafting types, stick with the Soldier.

Attribute points

This tank/support build invests primarily in Constitution and Focus with a secondary investment in Strength, making for a buff-heavy build capable of still hitting hard enough.

You’re going to want to prioritize Strength in the early goings to keep your damage output at a reasonable level, whether or not you’re playing solo. Getting Strength to about 50 before raising Constitution to 100 is a good bet before doing the same for Focus. You don’t need to touch Dexterity and Intelligence, even though the Sword and Shield scales a little off the former – you’re not going for damage.

From there, getting Strength to 100 will give you some basic attack buffs and ensure both your weapons hit hard enough. That said, this build isn’t focused on damage output, so raising Focus to 200 will dramatically increase the duration of your empowerment buffs; furthermore, raising Constitution to 200 will not only keep you alive but also apply a +10% bonus to physical and elemental armor.

Keep in mind that you’ll receive attribute bonuses from gear, as denoted by a blue-colored highlight in each attribute’s progress bar. 200 Focus and Constitution are pretty much unreachable until later in the game as they require good equipment, so until then just focus on wearing gear that raises either attribute.

Key skills

Each weapon allows you to have three active skills available at any given time, and you can switch between the weapons at will. Here are the following active skills you’ll want with each weapon for this build:

Sword and Shield:

• Upheaval: Deal massive damage and reduce cooldowns (with the Tactician passive)
• Shield Bash: Deal damage, staggering and stunning foes
• Defender’s Resolve: Reduce incoming damage and reduce attacker’s stamina while blocking

The Sword and Shield is your main weapon to use when facing strong opponents that you do not want targeting your squishier allies; using Shield Bash and Defender’s Resolve can buy you precious seconds as you’re healed and your damage-dealing friends do their thing. Upheaval is great for a little bit of damage while reducing cooldowns of Shield Bash and Defender’s Resolve with the Tactician passive.

Flail and Shield:

• Arcane Smite: Leap forward and deal damage to targets in the surrounding area, impairing them (dealing damage over time and weakening them)
• Arcane Vortex: Deal damage four times to surrounding enemies while empowering nearby allies
• Warding Bludgeon: Strike targets after a leap and grant yourself and nearby allies fortify (increased armor)

The Flail and Shield, on the other hand, is great to begin combat with to spread out empowering and fortifying buffs to allies while sapping the enemy’s strength and inflicting them with damage over time from the impairment status effect. Switching back to it from the Sword and Shield, using these skills, and then switching back again gives you enough time to wait out the cooldowns of both weapons.

Key passives

Non-passive skills on each weapon skill tree typically buff playstyles or skills themselves. For this build, you’ll want to take the associated passives for each of your active skills, denoted by the arrows beneath each skill. These are the main ones to focus on obtaining:

Sword and Shield:

• Tactician: All cooldowns are reduced after using Upheaval
• One with the Shield: Grants a bonus depending on the type of shield equipped
• Final Blow: The third hit of the light attack chain increases threat (aggro from enemies)

Flail and Shield:

• Leader of the Pack: When no allies are nearby, gain a damage buff. If allies are nearby, give them a damage buff
• Better Together: Grant passive healing based on weapon damage to nearby allies. Radius is determined by equip load
• Spiky Impairment: Being hit or blocking a melee attack above 90% health inflicts impairment on the attacker, dealing damage over time and lowering their base damage

And that’s it – a perfect build no matter how you like to play your MMO action RPGs. Don’t hesitate to deviate from these builds to suit the needs of your adventuring party or if the going gets a bit too tough while playing solo; New World Aeternum is far more forgiving with respecs than some of the best MMOs and best RPGs on PC, and it has even more weapons, like the Void Gauntlet and the Musket, that we didn’t really touch on here.