New World has been out for about a week, and its still daunting players with the sheer amount of stuff packed away on its fresh fantasy islands ready to be explored. And most of us haven’t exactly been getting in lots of playtime due to insane server queues. And if your GPU isn’t overheating, then there’s a lot to enjoy about the first big game from fledgling game publisher Amazon — there’s a vast island to make your own by joining factions, fighting for territory, and making a custom character that fits your exacting specifications.
And there’s so much you need to know in New World. There are 10 levels straight of tutorials, but even that isn’t enough. New World really isn’t quite like any other games out there — it isn’t exactly an MMO, and it isn’t exactly a survival game or an open-world RPG. This is a game you need to get invested in, and casual players might feel lost in their early adventure. While we can’t cover everything you need to know (that could fit a novel) we will offer 15+ tips and tricks we’ve picked up online from fellow New World explorers.
More New World guides:
How To Earn Money Early | How To Craft 600 Gear Score | How To Earn Unique Buffs For Your Faction | Best Ways To Earn XP & Reach Max Level
Quick Tips & Tricks For New World Beginners
- Armor type doesn’t determine your Armor Status. That means you can wear some Medium Armor while still having the Light Weight Status — you just need to stay within the equipment load threshold. You can equip a Medium Armor helmet or other pieces with your Light Armor and still have Light Weight Status — same goes for Heavy. You’re much more open to customization than you might initially think.
- While under Heavy Weight Status, you can’t dodge-roll. If you need to move faster through an area, you can unequip your armor to lower your Equipment Load temporarily and dodge-roll forward to move faster.
- You can also use the Berserk Ability while under Heavy Weight Status to move through an area much faster.
- There is no reason to equip a shield in New World if you aren’t specializing in Sword & Shield combat. Unlike other open-world games like Skyrim, there is no benefit to equipping a shield. Without the specialization, you will not gain the defense stats or perks on your shield. All it does is add weight load to your character.
- You don’t need to always repair broken gear. Broken gear still provides full Physical and Elemental Resistance. When gear is broken, you only lose the bonus Perks and Buff Stats — basically, you don’t need to repair gear until much later in the game. Early players can ignore it and wear broken equipment.
- There are two settings to help moving around in the open-world easier. Turn on “Auto-Traverse” in the Gameplay settings. While in Auto-Run, your character will attempt to jump over or get around small obstacles without your input. Very hand for hands-free traversal.
- If you fall off a high ledge and don’t want to go back the long way, you can use the “Unstuck” button in the Menu. Often, you’ll teleport right back to the top of the cliff. It can’t hurt to try!
- The Bow and Musket Specializations both have skills that allow you to move faster. Hustle under the Trapper (Musket) skill tree gives you a 10% movement boost for 3 seconds after each dodge. Dodge and Weave under the Skirmisher (Bow) skill tree gives you a 10% movement boost for 2 seconds after each dodge. Both are very good choices for gatherers, crafters, or playing that just want to get around a little faster.
- Want more XP? Make sure to log-out in a town / settlement. You’ll earn Rested XP while you’re offline. If you don’t play often, always make sure to log-out where you’ll gain Rested XP so you gain your next levels much faster. Unlike other online games or MMOs, you’ll only get Rested XP in certain locations.
- To improve your Gathering runs, craft Encumbrance Potions so you can carry more. Aim for larger gathering nodes to get more materials, and craft Iron / Steel tool ASAP to speed up your gathering. The bigger the nodes you gather from, the more materials you’ll get — it really is based on the size of the node.
- To earn more money from Gathering / Crafting, you can travel up to higher-level areas right from the start to use Tier 3 Crafting Stations, even at the start of the game.
- Make sure to check the Marketplace (AH) and search for All Marketplace prices to see where gathered materials are selling high. You can make a lot of money just by travelling to Marketplaces where certain materials are in high demand.
- Certain materials can be easily acquired from any town. Towns have wells where water can be collected, cows to get milk, or honey nodes — these are all on a timer, so make sure to harvest all the free nodes in a town while you’re visiting.
- Fast travel costs Azoth, a currency you can earn by completing Breaches. The more inventory you’re carrying, the bigger the Azoth cost when fast-travelling. Dump everything into storage (if you can) before fast-travelling to make it cheaper. You can also just die and respawn at your camp / nearest town to travel faster without the Azoth cost.
- Fast travel is also much cheaper in territories your faction controls.
- You can earn way more Azoth by finding / purchasing / crafting tools with Azoth Extraction Perks. If you do a lot of gathering, you’ll collect environmental Azoth all the time. Great for a little boost.
- As you level up, you’ll get Vials of Azoth. Keep these in your inventory! That way, you can carry more than the 1,000 Azoth max.
- While PVP Flagged, you can hide your nameplate by going prone. Going prone makes your nameplate disappear over a distance — and going prone in tall grass or bushes makes you invisible, even to nearby players. The perfect method for ambushes.
- After joining a faction, you can earn Standing in each territory and unlock Faction Standing Cards for buffs. XP Cards might sound good, but they’re totally worthless in the end-game once you reach max level, and there’s no way to swap out Standing Cards — pick Standing Cards that are always useful like Inventory Buffs.
- Watch out for Marketplace (AH) fees / Housing Fees! Once a Company takes over a territory, they can set the fees for housing and for the marketplace. Your first house always comes at a 50% discount, so don’t rush to buy a house until you’ve figured out (generally) where you want your home base, and where your faction is strongest.
- And always check the Marketplace fees! If they’re high, you can always go to a different territory to sell / trade all your stuff. Profit margins are important!
- If you want to avoid crafting fees, create a camp and craft all your potions there. Or, you can sell directly through the chat window. If you Alt-Click an item in your inventory, you’ll create a link in text chat — if you have something valuable or just want to sell faster, this is a great way to unload your goods. And you’ll see plenty of other players doing it. Now you know how to do it too.
