New World is an MMO that diverges from the traditional formula in many ways but that doesn’t mean you won’t find some similarities. Whilst you won’t be selecting a specific class and you can customise your character to play how you want, the traditional MMO role trifecta of tank, DPS and healer still apply.
As New World continues to grow in popularity we are beginning to see the meta evolve, with certain builds becoming dominant for the time being at least. Here are the top New World builds for each role, so if you need a little support getting started on your New World journey, you’ll find help right here.
Best New World Tank Build
Like other MMOs, New World’s tanks rely on controlling the flow of battle to save their party members from danger. This New World tank build is called ”The Faithful Tank” and focuses around two things – taunting enemies so they’re attacking you, and using your abilities to keep enemies from moving around too much.
Through a combination of Shield Bash, Defiant Stand and Shockwave, you’ll be able to keep the enemies focused on you whilst keeping them rooted to the spot with Shield Rush, Path of Destiny and Armor Breaker. Slap on some heavy armour and grab a warhammer, and you’ll soon be a valuable tank in any party.
Best New World DPS Build
The Axe Man is a great build which excels in dealing damage either through scoring critical hits, or by utilising berserker talents to go wild and destroy the enemy.
This New World DPS build works well both in parties and when playing solo. When in a party you’ll be able to position yourself behind enemies, using your great axe to deal huge damage via critical hits. If you grab the right passive abilities you’ll even heal yourself as you deal damage, helping to manage your healer’s stress levels.
When solo, you’ll be relying on your berserk rage. And when in a rage, you’ll be simply unstoppable. Wear medium armour to boost your dodges and equip a hatchet to make the most of your berserker skills.
Best New World Healer Build
One of the most popular New World healer builds is one simply entitled “Support Healer”. Two weapons will be the focus of this build – life staff and the hatchet.
Life staff is something any healer will be familiar with, as it’ll allow you to keep your friends alive for longer. With the New World life staff build, you’ll be able to toss out buffs to your party’s health, as well as deploy area of effect heals using skills such as Sacred Protection and Sacred Ground. As you specialise you’ll find many of your heals also buff your friends, making you an invaluable asset.
For the hatchet you’ll be well-placed to throw out debuffs, keeping enemies off balance and improving your team’s survivability and damage. You’ll be able to apply damage over time effects, diseases and slow effects to your enemies, all of which can add up to a very bad time indeed for your opponents.
Best New World PvP Build
The final build we’re looking at today covers New World’s PvP. The Duelist Ice Gauntlet Rapier build is making waves right now, combining devastating ice attacks to harry your foe with quick rapier slashes which see you always on the move.
The Ice Magic skills you take will see you able to put down area of attack ice abilities, dealing damage over time combined with a slowing effect. If you’ve ever played PvP in an MMO before, you know that being slowed can be a death sentence for anyone.
The other side of this build is the rapier, which focuses on attacks that see you leaping through the air or gaining movement buffs. This means you’ll be much harder to target and take down, evading enemy attacks with casual ease. Additionally, Rapier skills allow you to enter a defensive stance, further boosting your survivability.
Overall, New World is maturing quickly into a robust MMO with a strong meta. As the game develops we’re sure we’ll see more builds arise that will further take advantage of the game’s systems, but for now these builds should be a great way to get to grips with the game’s different roles.