The Ultimate Guide to Leveling Gear in New World: What You Need to Know
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Choosing the right gear is crucial for a smooth and efficient leveling experience in New World. While endgame gear focuses on maximizing stats for specific builds, leveling gear prioritizes practicality, speed, and survivability. It’s about making your journey to the level cap as painless as possible. So, what’s the best gear for leveling in New World?
In short, the best gear for leveling is not about chasing the highest gear score (GS). Instead, it’s about focusing on equipment that offers a balance of offensive and defensive capabilities, along with perks that accelerate your leveling process. Here’s a breakdown:
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Weapon Choice: Your weapon choice is paramount. The Hatchet and Bow combination is often cited for its mobility, sustainability, and damage output, making it a fantastic pairing for rapid leveling. The Hatchet provides excellent close-range burst damage and survivability with its self-healing, while the Bow allows for ranged engagement and mobility. Feel free to experiment with other combinations that fit your playstyle, but prioritize weapons that feel comfortable and enable you to dispatch enemies quickly.
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Armor Weight: Medium armor is generally considered the sweet spot for leveling. It offers a reasonable balance between protection and mobility, allowing you to dodge attacks effectively and maneuver through the world efficiently. While light armor provides excellent damage output, it can be risky during the leveling phase due to lower defense. Similarly, heavy armor, while offering excellent protection, can make you cumbersome.
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Perks: Don’t obsess over specific high-tier perks during leveling. Instead, look for simple perks that offer benefits for your playstyle. Perks that increase your damage against certain enemy types (e.g., Corrupted, Ancient), or provide health regeneration, can be exceptionally helpful. Perks that increase experience gain would be useful. Look out for any perks on gear that enhance your chosen weapons, such as those that increase damage, reduce cooldowns, or increase attack speed.
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Gear Score: Don’t get too caught up in chasing high gear scores while leveling. It’s more important to have a set of gear that complements your gameplay style. Gear score becomes more critical at the endgame. Instead, focus on using gear that has good perks rather than just high gear score. Keep your gear upgraded when possible to a reasonable level.
Leveling Strategy: Integrating Gear Choices
Effective leveling involves more than just the gear itself; it’s about how you use it. Here’s how to weave your gear choices into your leveling strategy:
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Embrace Side Quests: While the main story quests (MSQ) are your primary source of XP, don’t neglect side missions. They provide a significant experience boost and offer opportunities to acquire better gear. Ensure you are using your gear in a variety of scenarios and different enemies types.
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Faction Missions: Joining a faction not only gives you a community but also provides access to faction missions. These can offer decent XP and rewards if done efficiently. Don’t focus on them if they’re not worth your time in that moment.
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Weapon Mastery: Actively work on leveling your weapon mastery. The Hatchet and Bow combination is a great starting point, but exploring other weapons can broaden your combat options and provide additional advantages.
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Gathering and Crafting: While not directly related to combat gear, gathering skills (Mining, Logging, Harvesting) can provide you with resources for crafting gear and consumables, which are crucial for sustainable leveling. Cooking also helps, giving you access to food that provides buffs. Crafting good gear might be important when you’re at a plateau in your leveling.
Optimizing Your Leveling Process
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Don’t Get Stuck: Don’t get too attached to any single piece of gear while you are leveling. The focus should be on your character level, not gear score. Don’t obsess over the perfect item, but instead, focus on perks that will actively help you to level up quickly.
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Utilize the Trading Post: If you are stuck, consider using the trading post for affordable gear that can bridge any gaps you might find. Often, you can find viable leveling gear for cheap.
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Regularly Check Your Equipment: Keep an eye on your gear as you level up, replacing items that fall behind in stats or perks. Don’t be afraid to discard old gear.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Here are 15 frequently asked questions related to leveling gear in New World:
1. What is the fastest way to level up in New World?
The fastest way to level up involves completing main story quests, supplementing them with side missions, and participating in faction missions, focusing on efficient gameplay and utilizing experience gain buffs where possible.
2. What weapon combinations are best for leveling?
While the Hatchet and Bow combination is highly recommended, other great combinations are the Fire Staff and Ice Gauntlet for ranged damage or the Great Axe and Warhammer for melee. Choose weapons that suit your playstyle and are effective for clearing mobs quickly.
3. Should I focus on gear score while leveling?
No, gear score is less important than having gear with helpful perks and an appropriate weight. Focus on perks that enhance your leveling speed and combat efficiency. You can worry about gear score when you are at level 60.
4. What armor weight should I use for leveling?
Medium armor offers the best balance of defense and mobility during the leveling process. Light armor is too risky and heavy armor can slow you down.
5. What are the most important perks to look for when leveling?
Prioritize perks that increase your damage against specific enemy types, boost your experience gain, provide health regeneration, or enhance your chosen weapon abilities.
6. How do I get good leveling gear?
Leveling gear can be obtained through quest rewards, drops from enemies, the faction vendor, and the trading post.
7. What is the gear score cap in New World?
The gear score cap is 625, but reaching this is primarily an endgame goal, and does not affect leveling.
8. Can I buy leveling gear?
Yes, you can use the trading post to purchase gear, but don’t spend excessive gold on leveling gear. Be cost-effective.
9. How often should I upgrade my gear while leveling?
You should upgrade your gear whenever you feel that your current gear is lagging behind your level, or if you are facing difficulty with the current enemies.
10. Is it important to level my crafting skills while leveling?
While not essential, leveling your crafting skills can be very helpful. You will be able to craft consumables and gear as needed. Cooking is particularly useful for gaining experience and providing necessary buffs.
11. What are the best tradeskills for making money?
Armoring, Jewelcrafting, and Weaponsmithing are some of the best trade skills for making money in New World when you’re at the endgame.
12. How long does it take to level to 60 in New World?
It can take between 100 to 200 hours of playtime to reach level 60 in New World.
13. What should I do when I reach level 60?
Once you hit level 60, focus on completing the Brimstone Sands storyline quests, upgrading your gear, and engaging with endgame activities like dungeons and PvP.
14. What are Umbral Shards?
Umbral Shards are used to upgrade your gear from 590+ gear score to a maximum of 625. You will only need to worry about these when you are level 60 and at the endgame.
15. Does New World have an endgame?
Yes, New World’s endgame includes PvP, Wars, dungeons, and a variety of quests that you can continue to participate in.
Conclusion
Choosing the right gear for leveling in New World doesn’t need to be complex. By focusing on a balanced approach that prioritizes mobility, damage, and relevant perks, you can ensure a smooth and enjoyable leveling experience. Remember to experiment with different playstyles and equipment, adapt to the challenges you encounter, and enjoy the journey to the top level!