New World has a varied combat depending on your weapon of choice. You can either go strictly as a tanky attacker, as a magic user, or in some other cases, as a ranged DPS that can avoid getting close to their enemies. Today we’re gonna talk about the Bow, a ranged weapon that will keep you away from the battle, while you unleash hell on your enemies.
Bow - Mastery Tree
For the Bow, we're aiming for the skills Penetrating Shot, Rain of Arrows, and Evade Shot. The first two skills are great attack tools that hurt really hard and even provide crowd control in the case of Rain of Arrows, and Evade is an excellent evasive resource that will help you to avoid being hurt as you use the other two offensive skills.
Bow - Attributes and Stat Focus
Dexterity is your main focus to invest points in since the Bow is a ranged weapon that scales with that stat, with your only other concern being Constitution to be able to take some hits and not die too easily. That being said, you have to keep in mind which kind of secondary weapon you want to use in your build setup. Pairing the Bow with weapons like the Rapier is highly recommended since it scales with Dexterity as well, or you can ignore the close combat and go for the Ice Gauntlet, and aim to build a defensive setup on the magic side.
In synthesis, your focus should be:
- Dexterity
- Intelligence (only if paired with magic weapons)
- Constitution (at least 50 points)
Read More: New World Guide: How to Get Azoth
Bow - Recommended Gear
As a Bow user, you want to get Medium or Light Armor, depending on your secondary weapon. At the end of the day you are a ranged DPS, so Medium armor will help you to not be too feeble, especially if you want to use a Rapier o any other close combat weapon as a secondary. Otherwise, the Light Armor will provide a well-received boost in damage and dodging, in case you want to go for a fully offensive setup complemented by a magic weapon.
Bow - Gems and Perks
The Gems you're looking for cover examples like Diamond, Amethyst, or Topaz, which will buff your damage output while also adding some useful Damage Absorption bonuses, either Elemental or Physical. The Perks you must choose are, of course, the specific Bow ones related to the skills you're using in this build.
Recommended Gems
- Diamond - Deals more damage while at full health, and also provides Elemental and Physical Damage Absorption.
- Emerald - Deals more damage while the enemy is at less than 30% health, and also provides Elemental and Physical Damage Absorption.
- Opal - Deals more damage while your stamina bar is not full, and also provides Elemental Damage Absorption.
- Amber - A portion of your damage is converted to nature damage, and also provides Elemental Damage Absorption.
- Amethyst - A portion of your damage is converted to void damage, and also provides Elemental Damage Absorption.
- Aquamarine - A portion of your damage is converted to ice damage, and also provides Elemental Damage Absorption.
- Ruby - A portion of your damage is converted to fire damage, and also provides Elemental Damage Absorption.
- Saphire - A portion of your damage is converted to arcane damage, and also provides Elemental Damage Absorption.
- Topaz - A portion of your damage is converted to lightning damage, and also provides Elemental Damage Absorption.
Recommended Perks
- Energizing Evade Shot - Gain 2-18 Stamina after hitting a target with Evade Shot.
- Refreshing Penetrating Shot - Penetrating Shot kills reduce this ability's cooldown by 3-14%.
- Fortifying Rain of Arrows - Hitting a target with Rain of Arrows grants Fortify on self, increasing damage absorption by 5-6% for 19-22 seconds.
And that's it, now you know everything you need to fish in New World! While you're here, you can also check our useful guides on every Animal, Mineral, and Fungi Locations!