A weapon you are at ease with can make the difference between life and (temporary un-)death at the island of Aeternum, where both the surrounding environment and other players could pose a deadly threat. With this New World weapons tier list We've put each weapon in order in accordance with our experience, as well as added some additional information to help you select the weapon that is most effectively for your style of play.

Best New World weapons tier list

The most powerful weapons available in New World are:

S-Tier: Hatchet, Life Staff

A-Tier: Fire Staff, Great Axe, Sword and Shield, Void Gauntlet

B-Tier: Ice Gauntlet, Spear, War Hammer

C-Tier: Bow, Musket, Rapier

The majority of weapon types that are available in New World are all simple to obtain -In fact, you'll get the Sword and Shield during the Prologue quest, but once the game begins, you'll be able to collect many different weapons in no time. Stay tuned for more details about each weapon , and how we rate them as highly (or not so much) that we have.

Hatchet

Weapon Mastery: Berserker, and Throwing

Our time with both the open and closed New World betas taught us that the Hatchet is way better than it seems or even has any right to be. Even though it's not as polished as the other melee weapons with one hand however, the Hatchet is an absolute monster of a damage-dealer which makes it a highly sought-after PvP weapon even if it's a bit more indifferent in PvE situations. The Berserker Mastery path also gives you the ability to heal your character while the skill is on and is clearly desirable. When combined along with an item like the Life Staff, the Hatchet will quickly transform you into the one-stop-shop for damage and healing at high levels (which happens to be the only method in which you can play New World solo for any length of time).

Life Staff

Weapon Masteries for Healing and Protection

The most powerful weapon in the world is without doubt The Life Staff. It's one of the few weapons in New World which has the capacity to heal teammates, and , even though it's more effective to have a dedicated support character to wield it, it has offensive damage-dealing capabilities too. It's probably the most useful magical weapon in the game, however, it's not boring and you'll never be able to participate in any of the game's boss battles without having a Life Staff somewhere in your party.

Fire Staff

Weapon Masteries Weapon Masteries: Flame Mage and Pyromancer

Of the more offensive magic weapons of the range, The Fire Staff is the premier choice for pure damage (and in my opinion, is the best choice in this class on points of style too). If you're planning to create your fantasy character around a classic Mage archetype rather than being a the role of support, this could be your preferred weapon because it's more aggressive in comparison to the Life Staff.

Fantastic Axe

Weapon Masteries: Mauler and Reaper

The hands-down (pun meant) the winner of this category is the Great Axe. The fastest of two-handed melee weapons, it also has some of the most potent possibilities to control the damage and speed of any weapon used in the game. It's still not quite as comfortable to use as a single-handed weapon but, with time and a bit of spending on it's Mauler Mastery tree to increase the range of attack and AoE, it may be your preferred weapon in a tight situation.

Sword and Shield

Weapon Mastery: Swordmaster and Defender

The Sword and Shield technically class as a melee weapon with one hand as, even though they're always used together, you only have to use the sword using one hand. While they're not quite as impressive as the Hatchet the two are surprisingly robust, allowing you to do a good amount of damage while protecting yourself without compromising on attack speed. PvP enemies may be able to get around it, but any threats you encounter in PvE will struggle to outclass you with this combination.

Void Gauntlet

Weapon Mastery: Annihilation and Decay

The Void Gauntlet was the first weapon that was added to New World as part of an after-launch content update. Similar to the way that the Ice Gauntlet makes an ideal alternative weapon to the Fire Staff, the Void Gauntlet is a perfect complement to it with the Life Staff; pairing the game's magic weapons by this method can lead to some very powerful designs. The Void Gauntlet's balance between melee and ranged Void damage and healing capacities makes it a good option if you're looking to play the role of a mage/support.

Ice Gauntlet

Weapon Mastery Building and Ice Tempest

For all the Fire Staff's style (not sorry) however, the Ice Gauntlet makes for a useful secondary weapon because it's the only weapon that has the ability to replenish mana for other primary weapons with magical powers, or serve as a good backup weapon for defense if you're carrying two-handed melee weapons as your primary damage-dealer.

Spear

Weapon Mastery: Impaler, and Zoner

The Spear has the misfortune of finishing second in a prestigious category. It deals decent damage and has the capability to stun enemies by a swift knock-back however, it's not able to fool the real people that you'll encounter during PvP quite often.

War Hammer

Weapon Masteries: Crowd Crusher and Juggernaut

It's true that the War Hammer isn't quite in the same category as The Great Axe, but as part of the right configuration, it can be effective. Because of its slow attack speed you can't depend on using the War Hammer alone, but when you pair it with a defensive secondary weapon like the Ice Gauntlet can offset its disadvantages and allow you to take advantage of its very large damage potential.

Bow

Weapon Mastery include Hunter and Skirmisher

There are many different New World weapons are equal and, to be brutally honest, ranged weapons tend to be the most useless category in general. However, for our purposes it is the bow that is the best choice, especially for PvE and exploration purposes. Additionally, with perseverance and a commitment to upgrade points, the Skirmisher Mastery tree lets you to add AoE effects your archery shots, which makes it much easier and more satisfying weapon to utilize.

Musket

Weapon Masteries: Sharpshooter and Trapper

Slow reload times and the requirement of a precise aim to do consistently damaging damage, means that the Musket in particular is not the best choice to a well-balanced melee weapon in virtually every situation. However every weapon in New World is without its uses. In the event that you or your companions are engaged in one of New World's huge-scale PvP fights it's an excellent secondary weapon, due to its massive damage per shot, but it's vital to carry a primary melee weapon to perform crowd-control. (Trust us: don't bother with the musket's own secondary melee weapon.)

Rapier

Weapon Masteries: Blood and Grace

The Rapier is undeniably very quick and can do some impressive damage, but being nearly impossible to tackle multiple enemies at a time using this weapon limits its usefulness, particularly in PvP. It's quite good in one-on one combat with a variety of defensive options while you await the perfect opportunity to strike back offensively, however, the abilities aren't able to be used for crowd control.

New World weapons: How to choose your weapons

There are no classes for characters within New World, so there are no limitations on which weapons your character can equip. Instead, we recommend you try out every weapon you can in order to get a feel for the ones you prefer, then incorporate your preferred way of playing into your character build by following the path of the Weapon Mastery of your favourites. Each weapon has two routes for you to master as well as a tree of skills for each.

In New World you can carry and equip two weapons simultaneously. Even though it's tempting just to take your two most loved weapons, it's a good idea to choose two weapons that complement one other, rather than sticking to one category.

Different weapons are useful in different situations. In the case of a PvP combat, you'll need to be able to move swiftly, which means ideally you should go for lighter weapons without compromising on damage. In PvE you're free to sacrifice some of that speed in exchange for more powerful damage-dealing capabilities.

Selecting weapons for PvP and PvE

In choosing weapons for PvP It's crucial to strike a balance between the potential to cause your enemies harm and the likelihood that a weapon can slow you down. Weapons with a slow sweeping attack or just a single shot can be powerful in the right hands, however, unless you're an entire group of strong players with dedicated supporting roles You must possess a weapon that allows you to immediately defend yourself against attacks from the other side. This is why the Great Axe and Hatchet are widely accepted to be the best options here but I'm also partial to the offensive/defensive mix that is offered by weapons like the Sword and Shield. It's not hard to see the value of an Life Staff will be in PvP scenarios, as it pairs a decent damage-dealing ability with the capability to help both the wielder and their companions.

Realistically it's much easier to carry a bag for the PvE excursion than the typical PvP fight on the New World, because of course the AI isn't going to be as savvy as your fellow players are to the meta. I prefer to think of PvE as a great opportunity to test the weapons I'd like improve my skills with but there are certain weapons that work in PvE better than other ones. Magical weapons aren't as effective against wild boars as other players, for instance however it's definitely not worth spending your mana on. However, a well-placed and shot from a distance can take large chunks of health from an AI opponent and the result is that they're more likely than a human adversary will give an opportunity to refill before completely demolishing you in return. But, whatever the circumstances, it's the Hatchet along with the Great Axe that continue to be the most powerful weapons in the New World.

Weapon rarity

Another factor to be considered when choosing your weapon is their rarity. Despite the opinions that we've outlined in this article it isn't possible to find any weapon types that are found in New World that are completely in the same way as any other. There are however, five different levels of rarity that are applicable to any weapon, regardless of which one you choose to prefer,