The best weapon in any game is useless if a character can’t equip it or doesn’t have the skills to use it. Everyone knows anMMORPGthat requires a player to run around killing random beasts or monsters to “grind up their level” when they pick up a new type of weapon.New Worldalso includes this mechanic to some extent when it comes to mastering a character’s weapons of choice but the other guidelines when it comes to fundamentals like classes, professions, and weapon proficiency are lacking, so it’s easy for players to get confused or overwhelmed when presented with all of the options.
RELATED:New World: The Best Ranged Weapons & How To Get Them
Weapon MasteryinNew Worldis one of the most customizable parts of the game, and one that players collectively agreeis one of the MMO’s greatest strengths. The Weapon Mastery screen can be found under theCharactertab, which gamers can easily reach using the “K” key as a shortcut.
There are only a few types of weapons available inNew World, but so many variations on these choices that players won’t miss features like dual-wielding or items like crossbows. Since any player can pick up any weapon, that gives each individual even more options.
8Start Early, Craft The Basic Weapons
The introduction every new player has to Aeternum is a sandy beach, ragged with shipwrecks and teeming with undead. There’s a good chance that the weapon most players pick up first won’t be the choice they run with for the rest of the game, and it doesn’t have to be.
Even before players reach the first settlement, they can either make a camp or visit the one set up on the beach for new arrivals which can be used to craft some basic armor and tools. The only materials required for these early recipes are greenwood and flint, which can be harvested using only bare hands, so there’s no reason not to get started.
7Separate Tools, Separate Skills
There are a number of tools inNew Worldthat are used for trade skills like harvesting and gathering. These can’t be used as weapons and the character’s proficiency with them isn’t related to Weapon Mastery.
The hatchet, for example, is a one-handed weapon that has nothing to do with a player’s logging ax or their logging skill level. It would be nice to be able to use a sickle as a weapon butit’s strictly for harvesting vegetables, fruits, and useful plants.
6Separate Skills, Same Crafting
The Mastery Skills for weapons and tools are separate inNew World, but the crafting skills used to make them are the same. This is one of the reasons making tools and weapons as soon as possible is highly recommended.
Players level their Engineering skills when crafting items like skinning knives, sickles, and logging axes. That’s convenient because the same skill is used to make spears and muskets. The most basic wooden sword can be crafted at a Tier I level campfire, and it’s the ideal wayto start leveling the Weaponsmithing skill.
5No Classes Means No Restrictions
Unlike some RPGs, which limit their players strictly to the weapons assigned to their classes,New Worldhas no classes and therefore no restrictions on the weapons each character can use. The catch is that players would have to “respec” if they wanted to make a dramatic change late in the Weapon Mastery leveling process, and this requires spending Azoth.
Azoth is the substance used and collected in Aeternum that’s obtained from harvesting, crafting, enemy drops, and as a reward for completing quests. It’s used as a type of currency when fast-traveling, to upgrade items when crafting, and when re-speccing talent points for weapons. Players that anticipate changing their minds a lot would be wise to stockpile some of this valuable resource.
4Know Your Role
Characters shun the restrictions of classes inNew World. Instead, they rely on their party role regarding their specific weapon mastery build. Is this a character that heals, defends, controls the crowd, draws aggro, or does a whole lot of damage?
There’s more pressure on the player to build their character and conduct their group and solo play in order to define their character’s class. A big part of being a good healer, striker, or defender is Weapon Mastery, which in turn is related to a character’s ability scores.
3Weapon Mastery And Ability Scores
A clever way thatNew Worldsimplifies Weapon Mastery is by assigning each weapon a primary and sometimes secondary ability score. For example, players working towards weapon mastery with a rapier are considered to be a DPS class and will build up Dexterity as their primary ability score and Intelligence as their secondary one. These points can be found under the Attributes tab, and it costs gold to respec these points as opposed to Azoth.
Defenders with swords and shields will favor Strength and also keep their Dexterity skill up. Players who decide to be magic users only have to concentrate on Intelligence if they’re damage dealers with a Fire Staff or Ice Gauntlet, or choose Focus if they use a healing staff.
2Weapon Mastery Without A Master
Many games that include some RPG elements require a character to occasionally visit and usually pay for lessons to level up,and how far they can go andhow fast can also be scaled to their level. InNew World, all that a player might need to equip a weapon of any kind is a certain level, and all they have to do to gain Weapon Mastery is to use it.
Advancing a character level means three more points to use in whatever ability score is the best for the chosen weapon skill. Weapon Mastery skill levels separately, and every so often a player will be prompted to choose a new ability connected with their weapon. How good they are at using that skill depends on their ability scores, which in turn depend on the level and the specific build for each weapon.
1Weapon Mastery Talent Trees
In a game without classes, any details that can be used to further refine your character are that much more important. Each weapon skill tree includes a number of options for different abilities and skills that players can get for each weapon. This varies depending on the abilities of each weapon. Talent trees are organized by the character’s role and divided between ranged, melee damage, defense, or healing.
Hatchets, for example, have both melee and ranged abilities, so there’s a tree for each option. Sword-users can use their points for defending or attacking. Characters with a Life Staff can spec for Healing or as a Protector. Players can focus on one tree or use a combination of the two.
New Worldwas released on July 19, 2025, and is available on PC.
