What Skills Should You Level First in New World? A Comprehensive Guide

Stepping into the vibrant, dangerous world of Aeternum for the first time can be both exhilarating and overwhelming. With a plethora of skills to master, knowing where to focus your initial efforts is crucial for a smooth and efficient journey. So, what skills should you prioritize leveling first in New World? The short answer is: focus on your gathering skills, specifically Mining, Logging, Harvesting, and Tracking/Skinning, while concurrently developing Smelting as your initial refining skill. This foundation will set you up for success, regardless of your long-term goals.

Why These Skills First?

The reasoning behind this initial focus is straightforward: these skills provide the raw materials and resources essential for nearly everything else in New World. Here’s a more detailed look:

Gathering Skills: The Foundation of All Progress

• Mining: This skill allows you to extract valuable ores from the landscape, like iron, silver, and gold. These ores are crucial for creating ingots, which in turn are fundamental for crafting weapons, armor, and tools.
• Logging: Provides you with wood, a cornerstone resource in the game. Wood is needed for crafting furniture, tools, and refining into other usable materials, like planks.
• Harvesting: Lets you gather a variety of plants, herbs, and other vegetation. These are necessary for crafting potions, tinctures, and cooking consumables.
• Tracking & Skinning: Focuses on gathering resources from wildlife. Leather, hides, and other animal parts are vital for crafting armor and gear.

These gathering skills are interdependent; you’ll need them regardless of whether you want to be a powerful warrior, a skilled craftsman, or a savvy merchant. Leveling these early ensures you’ll be self-sufficient and less reliant on purchasing basic materials from other players or the Trading Post. By focusing on these from the start, you can also accumulate materials for your crafting skills, allowing you to level these in tandem.

Refining Skills: The Next Essential Step

• Smelting: While you should focus on gathering skills first, start developing smelting early and alongside mining. Smelting converts raw ores into ingots, which are essential for crafting. Leveling smelting allows you to refine your own resources, unlocking another layer of self-sufficiency and saving you money. Smelting pairs perfectly with mining, making them natural skills to focus on together.

Why Not Crafting Skills First?

While crafting skills are tempting, they heavily rely on refined materials, which you’ll obtain through gathering and refining. Trying to level crafting skills before focusing on gathering means you’ll either be buying your raw resources or leveling extremely slowly. It’s more efficient and cost-effective to gather your own materials first.

Prioritizing Your Approach

Once you’ve established a base in gathering and smelting, you can then think about the following crafting skills based on your playstyle:

• Weaponsmithing: For crafting melee weapons. A good choice for those who enjoy close-quarters combat.
• Armoring: Enables you to craft armor from ingots, leather, and cloth. Vital if you plan to be a tank or prefer a more defensive play style.
• Jewelcrafting: Great for creating rings, amulets, and other jewelry. Helpful to boost your character’s stats.
• Engineering: Essential if you plan on using ranged weapons like bows or muskets.

Keep in mind that while these are good to work on later, focus on the core gathering and refining skills early on to streamline your character’s progression in the game.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What are the most profitable skills in New World?

On your way to level 65, the most profitable gathering skills are typically mining, harvesting, and skinning. For refining, smelting is incredibly useful early game, and as you progress, stonecutting becomes valuable, particularly for higher level crafting and housing. Trading for crafted items later in the game is profitable but requires more time to develop your skill to that level.

2. What is the hardest skill to level in New World?

Furnishing is generally considered the most difficult crafting skill to level due to the complex recipes and often higher material requirements. This is why focusing on simpler, more essential skills first is crucial.

3. Is it better to focus on one crafting skill or spread out?

It’s generally better to focus on a couple of crafting skills in the beginning and level them up in parallel to your gathering skills. Spreading too thin can slow your progress in all skills. Focus on what you need most: armor, weapons, or jewelry.

4. What is the fastest way to level gathering skills?

The fastest way to level gathering skills is to continually gather resources, focusing on nodes that provide the most experience. Additionally, using gear with perks that enhance gathering yield and speed will increase the amount of experience gained and speed up leveling. Maximize your luck by consuming gathering buffs to find rare items.

5. Which weapon is best for leveling in New World?

The Hatchet and Bow combination is known for being one of the fastest ways to level up. This is due to the movement speed buffs and sustainability it offers, allowing you to explore and complete quests efficiently.

6. What should I do when I reach max level in New World?

At level 60, your primary focus should shift to increasing your gear expertise from 500 to 600. Utilize the gypsum system to obtain gear and upgrade it to the cap to make your character more competitive.

7. How long does it take to reach max level in New World?

It typically takes between 100 and 200 hours of gameplay to reach the max level of 65. This timeframe varies depending on your playstyle, efficiency, and if you join a group.

8. What are the best areas for leveling gathering skills?

Look for areas with dense resource nodes and a good variety of them. Areas with a concentrated amount of iron or fiber are great places to grind. Pay attention to where high-level resources are located and come back to these as you get your gathering skills up.

9. What faction should I join in New World?

The choice of faction depends on your preference. While each faction offers access to faction gear and quests, joining the faction that controls the region you are spending time in offers benefits.

10. Should I do town board quests while leveling?

Avoid town board quests when leveling, as they often require significant travel time for relatively small experience gains compared to main story quests. Once you have your gathering skills leveled up these are useful later for improving town standing.

11. How important is character discipline in New World?

Discipline is crucial in New World as leveling can be a grind. Maintaining focus, adhering to your plan, and pushing through less enjoyable tasks is essential for efficient progress in the game and life.

12. What are the benefits of leveling refining skills?

Leveling refining skills allows you to process your raw materials into usable crafting ingredients. This not only saves you money but also gives you greater control over your production chain.

13. Is it too late to learn a trade skill in New World?

It’s never too late to learn a new trade skill in New World. The game allows you to adjust your approach at any point.

14. How do I master weapons quickly in New World?

The best way to level up your weapon mastery quickly is by going to a concentrated area of enemies, like Channelview Post. By aggroing multiple enemies, and killing them in large groups you will gain weapon experience fast.

15. What is the max gear score in New World?

The maximum gear score in New World is 625, and this is only achievable through expertise and upgrading your gear.

Conclusion

By prioritizing gathering skills (Mining, Logging, Harvesting, and Tracking/Skinning) alongside Smelting at the beginning of your New World journey, you will establish a firm foundation for all your future endeavors. This approach allows for greater self-sufficiency, faster progression, and more control over your character’s development. As you level, you can start layering in the crafting skills that align with your chosen playstyle. Remember, discipline and consistency are key, and with a strategic approach, you’ll thrive in the ever-changing landscape of Aeternum.