New World has a lot of weapons that work very differently and scale by investing in different stats, whether it's one specific stat or more possible choices. The Rapier is a melee weapon and one of those cases of dual scaling, making it a very versatile choice for close combat that lets you kill your foes with swift and violent attacks.
Rapier - Mastery Tree
For the Rapier, you have to somewhat follow a specific Mastery Tree, the Grace one. That being said, while you can rely on the skills Fleche, Riposte, and Evade and build the rest of passive skills upon that, you can also use Flourish and Finish if you want to have a bit of crowd control. Both Fleche and Riposte provide attack/counterattack skills that are necessary for this build, with Evade being the perfect tool to keep you as far from harm as you can.
Rapier - Attributes and Stat Focus
A melee weapon that scales with Dexterity and Intelligence, the Rapier will scale fine if you invest in any of these two stats, but you must remember the remaining weapon you want to use in your setup. The Rapier goes exceptionally well with the Musket, another one that scales with both Intelligence and Dexterity, the Bow if you want a full Dexterity build, or the Fire Staff for a more magic approach by investing entirely in Intelligence. Never forget to invest at least a bit in Constitution, at least 50 points, since you want to be able to take some punches in combat.
In synthesis, your focus should be:
- Dexterity (only if paired with ranged weapons)
- Intelligence (only if paired with magic weapons)
- Constitution (at least 50 points)
Read More: New World Guide: How to Get Azoth
Rapier - Recommended Gear
In this context, it’s recommendable to use Medium or Light Armor depending on what do you want to use as a secondary weapon. Since you will be focusing on close combat, you should be fine enough with Medium armor to not be squishy, in case you want to use another melee or a ranged weapon as a secondary. If you're going for a magic tool like the Fire Staff or Ice Gauntlet, you must assume you're going full glass cannon, so the Light Armor will provide the boost in damage and dodging capabilities that you need so you can finish your enemies before they get to hurt you.
Rapier - Gems and Perks
The Gems you want to get are the usual damage-boosting ones with added damage absorption, but you can always go for the ones that suit your gameplay more efficiently. On the Perks side, you must focus on the ones related to the three Weapon Skills discussed above.
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
- Omnidirectional Evade - Evade's Adagio upgrade is applied when evading in any direction.
- Refreshing Fleche - Hitting a target via a Crit Backstab with Fleche reduces this ability's cooldown by 5-19%.
- Sundering Riposte - Riposte grants Rend, reducing damage absorption of target by 5-14% for 10 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!