New World has five main attributes that players can increase with every level up. These are Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Focus and Constitution. Attribute points are also bestowed by gear, which becomes important once you’ve hit the level cap and can’t earn any more. Weapons scale off of certain attributes, with some gaining increased damage based on a single one while others can scale off of a primary and secondary attribute. Choosing the right weapon is about which attribute you want to focus on along with the activity (fishing, skinning, etc) that’s most appealing.
But the real build customization comes from hitting certain thresholds with attributes. Let’s take a look at all of the bonuses they provide along with the weapons that scale with them, starting with Dexterity. Dexterity serves as a single attribute for Bows; a primary attribute for Rapiers, Muskets and Spears; and a secondary attribute for Hatchets and Swords. Here are all of its threshold bonuses:
- 50 Dexterity – Five percent increased critical hit chance and 10 percent increased skinning speed.
- 100 Dexterity – Five percent increased thrust damage. Also, after skinning, gain 20 percent increased Haste for three seconds.
- 150 Dexterity – Dodge costs 10 less stamina. Weight of skinned items is also reduced by 10 percent.
- 200 Dexterity – 10 percent increased backstab and headshot damage. Skinning speed also increased by 10 percent.
- 250 Dexterity – 10 percent increased bonus critical damage on stunned, slowed, or rooted enemies. Yield from skinning is also increased by 10 percent.
- 300 Dexterity – After a dodge roll, deal a guaranteed critical hit (occurs once per 10 seconds). Ammo also has a 15 percent chance of being refunded.
Next up is Strength. As you’d expect, many of the melee weapons benefit from increases to Strength. The Great Axe and War Hammer scale of Strength alone; the Hatchet and Sword use it as a primary attribute; and the Spear uses it as a secondary attribute. Its threshold bonuses are:
- 50 Strength – Five percent increased damage with Light melee attacks. Mining speed is also increased by 10 percent.
- 100 Strength – Increases encumbrance by 20 and also deal 10 percent increased damage with Heavy melee attacks.
- 150 Strength – Weight of mined items decreased by 10 percent. 50 percent increased stamina damage from Light and Heavy melee attacks.
- 200 Strength – Stunned, slowed, or rooted enemies take 10 percent increased damage. Mining speed is increased by 10 percent.
- 250 Strength – Faster stamina regeneration after melee attacks and 10 percent increased mining yield.
- 300 Strength – Melee attacks gain Grit, which briefly prevents interruptions to attacks. A white aura becomes visible when Grit is in effect. Also gain 25 percent increased chance to mine ore with only one swing.
Focus is an interesting attribute since it only increases damage for one weapon type – the Life Staff. Its threshold bonuses are:
- 50 Focus – Mana regeneration rate is increased by 10 percent. Fishing line tension is also increased by 10 percent.
- 100 Focus – Gain +20 mana. Salvaging yield is increased by 10 percent.
- 150 Focus – 20 percent increased healing output. Carry weight of fish reduced by 10 percent.
- 200 Focus – Duration of buffs that the player casts are increased by 20 percent increased.10 percent increased fishing line tension.
- 250 Focus – Gain +30 mana when the player or group nets a kill. Caught fish size increased by 10 percent.
- 300 Focus – At zero mana, gain 200 percent mana regeneration for 10 seconds (with a 60 second cooldown on the same). Inn fast travel cooldown is also reduced by 10 percent.
Next is Intelligence which is a single scaling attribute for the Fire Staff and Ice Gauntlet, and a secondary attribute for the Rapier and Musket. Its bonuses are:
- 50 Intelligence – 10 percent increased damage to Light and Heavy attacks with magic. Harvest speed is also increased by 10 percent.
- 100 Intelligence – Critical damage increased by 10 percent. Chance to gain one Azoth while harvesting is increased by five percent.
- 150 Intelligence – Elemental damage increased by 15 percent. 10 percent reduced weight of harvested items.
- 200 Intelligence – Gain +10 mana after dodging. Harvest speed is also increased by 10 percent.
- 250 Intelligence – Duration of damage over time spells increased by 30 percent. 10 percent increased harvest yield.
- 300 Intelligence – Gain 30 percent increased damage on the first hit to a target at full health. 10 percent reduction in Azoth fast travel cost.
Finally, we have Constitution. This doesn’t affect the damage of any weapons but is tied to your overall health and damage resistance. Its thresholds are as follows:
- 50 Constitution – All health consumables are 20 percent stronger and logging speed is increased by 10 percent.
- 100 Constitution – Max health increased by 10 percent of total physical armor. Tool durability loss is is reduced by 10 percent.
- 150 Constitution – 10 percent reduced critical damage taken. Weight of logging items reduced by 10 percent.
- 200 Constitution – Increases armor by 20 percent. Logging speed also increased by 10 percent.
- 250 Constitution – Gain 80 percent damage reduction when at full health (with a 60 second cooldown) and 10 percent logging yield increase.
- 300 Constitution – Gain +20 duration to spells that deal stun, slow, and root status. 25 percent increased chance of chopping down a tree with one swing.
How to Access Expeditions
Expeditions are one of the main endgame activities in New World, and are akin to dungeons in other MMOs. The process of getting into them isn’t super straightforward though. First, you need to complete the Main Story quest “Destiny Unearthed.” This opens up the first Expedition, Amrine Excavation. You’ll then need specific Tuning Orbs for each Expedition which must be crafted or earned from quests. Let’s take a look at all of the Expeditions along with their recommended levels:
- Amrine Excavation – Requires level +25. Located in Windsward and accessed with an Amrine Tuning Orb.
- Starstone Barrows – Requires level +35. Located in Everfall and accessed with a Starstone Tuning Orb.
- The Depths – Requires level +45. Located in Restless Shores and requires Depths Tuning Orb.
- Dynasty Shipyard – Requires level +51 and located in Ebonscale Reach. Requires Dynasty Tuning Orb to access.
- Lazarus Instrumentality – Requires level +60 and located in Reekwater. Requires Lazarus Tuning Orb to access.
- Garden of Genesis – Requires level +60. Located in Edengrove and requires Genesis Tuning Orb.
Expeditions must be tackled with a group of five players with at least one healer, tank and DPS required. These can be located with the Party Finder or created by partying up with friends. Thankfully, only one player is required to have a Tuning Orb for the entire group to access the instance. In terms of rewards, players can net some good weapons and trinkets scaled to their level along with rare crafting materials, EXP and gold.
How to Play Corrupted Invasions
As a faction’s influence and Settlement grows stronger in a captured territory, the Corrupted begin to take notice. Eventually, they’ll invade, swarming player forts in great numbers as part of Corrupted Invasions. This happens about every four days or so with up to 50 players capable of taking part (sign-ups start 24 hours in advance). The Governor is then tasked with selecting up to 10 players for the battlegrounds.
Once the Invasion begins, the player will teleported to a fort and can use Battle Tokens to purchase supplies like ammunition, siege weapons, potions and so on. Additional Tokens are earned by killing the Corrupted, repairing any damaged defenses or siege weapons, and helping allies. Invasions last for eight waves with different objectives but your basic goal is to prevent the Corrupted from breaching the fort.
Completing a Corrupted Invasion will reward Azoth, materials, XP and loot. Keep in mind that this is a level +50 activity so don’t go waltzing in under-leveled. Also, as a Governor, make sure to prioritize different projects for fort defense – the quality of defenses in an Invasion will be based on the same.
Tips and Tricks
Finally, there are a few things to keep in mind while playing. The Camp is very useful and provides a respawn point if you’re felled while exploring the world. This saves quite a lot of time since you don’t have to respawn at a Settlement. The Camp can be upgraded after gaining and completing a quest at level 15 which provides more crafting recipes. Speaking of which, always ensure you’re eating food to gain benefits to health, damage and mana regeneration. It’s a fairly common thing in MMOs but still worth remembering.
Always prioritize buffs from captured regions and territories as per your needs. For example, regions that provide an XP boost are fairly useless in the endgame when you’ve hit the level cap while reduced Azoth spent while traveling, gathering speed and so on are more preferable. Check out our full guide on buffs from captured regions here.
With regards to harvesting tools, always craft the basic Iron ones instead of buying them. Check the Auction House occasionally for blue tools and pick them up if they have decent perks. Certain crafting resources can only be founded in certain types of environments. All of this information is specified on the map so keep checking it as per your requirements. Always harvest crates whenever possible since you can never have enough resources for crafting.
Along with being sure that your weapon properly scales off of your best attribute, keep an eye on stats for bonus damage dealt to specific enemy types. This will ensure the maximum amount of DPS in the more important activities. Also when stuck with excess armor and weapons, salvage them for repair parts and other resources instead of deleting or selling them.
For more details on New World, check out our review here. It’s currently available for PC.