New World Beginner’s Guide: Combat, crafting and factions tips for new players

Lloyd Coombes

Amazon’s MMO, New World, has finally arrived. Here are some handy tips to help you get settled in Aeternum with our New World Beginner’s Guide.

After multiple delays (and a very successful beta), Amazon’s New World has arrived. As an MMO, players can expect plenty of systems to learn, loot to find, and quests to embark on with friends, but New World’s emphasis on frontiersmanship helps set it apart from others in the genre.

With a focus on crafting, factions, and a flexible weapon system, there’s a lot to learn at once. This New World Beginner’s Guide should help you find your feet, though, so here are a few things to know before jumping into New World.


Contents


New World Beginner's Guide
New World offers a complex array of systems. Here are some hints to get you started.

Experiment with weapons

Unlike most MMOs, New World doesn’t actually use classes in the traditional sense. Instead, players are left to build their own characters through equipment and abilities earned through leveling up your skill with your chosen loadout.

That means that if you want to create a stealthy archer, you can equip a bow, but you can also switch to a magic staff to throw spells. You can equip two weapons, too, allowing much more flexibility than similar titles.

Every weapon type in the game has its own Mastery level, so be sure to mix and match to earn yourself new abilities for as many as you can.

Unlock fast travel

New World Beginner's Guide Exploration
Exploration is a huge part of New World – who knows what you’ll find?

Part of New World’s charm is the way it leans into the outdoorsman fantasy with hunting, gathering, and camping.  The latter is particularly important, because they act as your very own respawn point if you’re killed while adventuring, and can act as a crafting station once leveled up (more on crafting in a moment).

If you do fancy spending some time in an inn, though, you can check-in and then teleport there from wherever you are for the next hour. Once that time is up, you’ll have to make the journey back yourself, but it’s a nice way of getting out of a dingy cave with a button press.

Once you’ve made some money, you can do a similar thing with your own house once you’ve got on the property ladder. Depending on the house, you can fast travel there within two to four hours of leaving.

Finally, keep an eye out for Spirit Shrines. Once visited, you can use them to move between other Spirit Shrines, outposts, and more.

Embrace crafting

New World crafting
Crafting is a core part of New World

One of the most important things you can do in New World’s early hours is take everything that’s not nailed down. The game places a greater emphasis on crafting than many MMOs, and you’ll want all the ingredients you can get.

Grab wood, flora, fauna, and animal hide from hunting wherever you can. Doing so can unlock new weapons and items earlier than anticipated, and if you end up with too much you can sell it at a trading post – or even sell items you’ve crafted.

Still, you really can never have too much in the way of materials, so pilfer away, adventurer – but be sure to come back for the rest of our New World Beginner’s Guide, of course.

Pick a faction

Factions are a key part of New World, and you’ll be able to align yourselves with one of them when you hit level 10 and reach the game’s first real settlement. The choice between The Covenant, The Marauders, and The Syndicate is an important one whichever way you go, as players won’t be able to join Companies (New World’s Guild equivalent) if they’ve picked a different faction – something to consider when playing with friends.

Whichever one you opt for, you’ll be able to start tackling faction quests to improve its standing in the region. Once a faction takes control of a region, you’ll get discounts and XP buffs when you’re there, and reduce the trading tax you’ll pay. And once you reach territory standing level 10, you can buy a plot of land and settle down.


So there you have it, our New World Beginner’s Guide. Of course, there’s plenty to learn still, so be sure to check back on some of our other guides.

New World faction guide | How to get the Waning Crescent staff | Life Staff mastery tree | Fiber and Linen guide | Fishing guide | Where to find sheep | Candied Strawberries | AoE Mage guide | Ice Gauntlet build | Leveling guide | Crafting guide