New World Hunter Build: Bow And Hatchet
Build Introduction
The Hunter Build is a perfect combination of Long Range stopping power and medium to close range combat prowess. This build will be fantastic for Solo play in New World, whether you are questing, leveling up or just want to explore the massive open world! Plenty of options are here!
Best Attributes
The core attribute you will want to focus on for the Hunter build is Dexterity. This is because Dexterity is the primary attribute for boosting the damage of our Bow – and you definitely want your Bow to do as much damage as possible on this build! Maxing out your Dexterity also comes with some great passive bonuses such as increased critical chance and headshot damage.
Putting points into Constitution is aslo recommended for increasing your Maximum Health, especially early on in the game. Having at least 50 points in Constitution results a fantastic healing perk great for all builds that increases the effectiveness of your potions.
As a secondary Attribute, some Strength will be useful for improving the melee damage of our Hatchet, so if you come across bonus Strength on Weapons or Armor those will be worth slotting as well.
Armor Choices
New World has a detailed Armor Weight and Equip Load system which provides different bonuses and drawbacks depending on your overall build weight. For the Hunter Build I prefer a Light Equip Load as this gives us the best overall damage and mobility. Just be careful because you will also have fairly low armor rating which will result in you taking more damage when hit.
Light Armor builds have the following passive bonuses in New World:
Light Equip Load
- 20% Bonus Healing
- 20% Bonus Damage
- Farthest Dodge Distance: the Dodge Roll
- Lowest Physical and Elemental Resistance
To get the best Physical and Elemental resistance possible on a Light Armor build make sure to equip the following pieces:
- Head – Light
- Chest – Medium
- Gloves – Light
- Legs – Light
- Feet – Light
Armor Attributes
Remember, when looking for gear pieces for this build to focus on our Primary Attribute: Dexterity. Some pieces with Constitution or Strength will also be good.
Primary Weapon
The Primary Weapon for the Hunter Build is the Bow. This allows us to do powerful opening shots against single enemies, sometimes killing them in one to two hits! This weapon also offers plenty of options for comboing abilities for even more damage if needed as well as great speed and mobility.
Best Traits
The best traits for a Bow in New World would be Enchanted or Vorpal.
Once you find a Bow with a Gem Slot you will be able to dramatically increase your killing power with the help of a Cut Onyx Gem. This increases your damage against Full Health targets substantially, adding even more power to our initial Bow snipe.
More information on Onyx Gems can be found here.
Secondary Weapon
The Secondary Weapon for the Hunter Build is going to be the Hatchet. This weapon is a fantastic choice for any build in New World due to its massive damage output and potential for self-healing through Berserk.
Bow Skills
The Bow Skills we’ve selected for this build are centered around powerful damage combos and mobility.
Click each skill name below to learn more about that skill and its upgrades.
Skill #1
Penetrating Shot
Shoot an arrow dealing 150% weapon damage that passes through targets and continues for 100 meters.
Cooldown: 18.0
Weapon Tree: Hunter
Tier I
Skill #2
Rapid Shot
Shoot 3 consecutive arrows. The first two dealing 100% weapon damage each. The last shot causes a knockback and deal 125% weapon damage.
Cooldown: 20.0
Weapon Tree: Hunter
Tier III
Skill #3
Evade Shot
Leap back 5m and shoot an arrow dealing 125% weapon damage.
Cooldown: 15.0
Weapon Tree: Skirmisher
Tier I
Hatchet Skills
The Hatchet skills we’ve selected for this build center Taunt, Healing and Damage.
Click each skill name below to learn more about that skill and its upgrades.
Skill #1
Berserk
Triggers a Berserk Mode that increases all attack damage by 20% while active. Berserk Mode will be active for 12 seconds. Cooldown will trigger once Berserk ends.
Taunt Gem Compatible: If you have a Carnelian Gem equipped in your Hatchet, this ability causes an 8s taunt to all enemies within 8m. Taunt causes monsters to focus on you.
Cooldown: 18.0
Weapon Tree: Berserker
Tier I
Skill #2
Feral Rush
A sprinting melee attack that causes the player to leap forward, hitting twice. The first hit deals 115% and the 2nd deals 130% weapon damage.
Cooldown: 12.0
Weapon Tree: Berserker
Tier II
Skill #3
Raging Torrent
Perform four fast attacks each dealing 90% weapon damage.
Cooldown: 15.0
Weapon Tree: Berserker
Tier III
Combat Basics
Damage
Usually we want to initiate combat on the Hunter Build from as far away as possible using the Bow to Snipe our targets. Remember that fully charged heavy attacks (draw back and hold the bow while you aim) deal much greater damage and are a great way to start a fight. Don’t forget to aim for the head!
From there, using Penetrating Shot followed up with Rapid Shot is a massive damage dealing combo and will be enough to kill most enemies you encounter.
Mobility
Stamina regenerates fairly quickly in New World, so remember to use it! You should be Dodge Rolling away from enemies in order to keep your distance or gain new angles of attack. You can also use skills like Evade Shot to gain additional space from enemies that are closing in on you or use Feral Rush when you need to get in close for Hatchet combat.
Self-Healing
Whenever you are in Melee Combat you should use Berserk for a strong heal over time effect. Other than that you can use a combination of Health Potions and Food to keep your HP topped off.
Important Passives
Passive Skills in New World are extremely important, especially for damage dealers. You’ll notice a massive increase in power on the Hunter Build starting at around Weapon Level 8, mostly due to the strength of these Weapon Passives.
Bow
- Long Range
- Aim True
- Finishing Shot
- Opening Strike
- Surprise Attack
- Hawkeye
- Bullseye
- Evasive Tactics
- Impale
Hatchet
Consumables
Food
You’ll want to start this build off with a basic food option such as Light Rations or Travel Rations. This food is helpful at all times, whether you are in a group or playing Solo as it slowly restores your Health over time. Keep in mind you can also consume this food for a faster heal over time for a few seconds if you are not getting hit.
Potions
For Potions, Weak Health Potions will be fine at first, but you will eventually want to upgrade these to Common Health Potions and Strong Health Potions. Strong Health Potions especially can be a real life saver.
Build Leveling Options
The Hunter Build is fantastic for leveling up quickly in New World. You’ll want to unlock the recommended skills as quickly as possible to give you the most options in Combat, then begin progressing the main story.
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Hack The Minotaur (HTM) is a professional Gaming Blogger and Youtube Creator with decades of experience in Gaming. Hack is the owner of HackTheMinotaur.com - an Elder Scrolls focused site for character builds and guides, and now RPGDOJO.com - your source for upcoming RPG news, builds, guides and more!
Hack loves gaming content, particularly Traditional RPG's, Action RPG's and MMO's. Go check out his YouTube Channel for even more builds and guides on popular series like the Elder Scrolls, Fallout and Cyberpunk and make sure to check out his social media for updates on what content is coming next!
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