New World Hatchet Build - Best for Beginners and Veterans Alike!

New World offers a unique approach when building your character. Instead of a traditional class system seen in every MMO, New World takes plenty from single-player RPGs like Skyrim. If you want to get better at a particular weapon, you simply have to use it. As you level up, you’ll unlock mastery points that can be assigned to powerful abilities and buffs regarding your weapon of choice.

Each weapon scales with different attributes, so keep that in mind when planning your build. For example, you won’t be investing in Intelligence when you want to wield a powerful one-handed weapon. Working out a combination that synergizes well with your weapon choice is crucial if you want to deal consistent damage.

This is the most basic stuff for building any character, but I wanted to point it out for any beginner out there. However, this guide will cover everything you need to know about hatchet build for beginners and veterans alike.

Benefits of Playing Hatchet Build

Hatchet build focuses on survivability and damage and is excellent for solo players. It’s also fantastic for expeditions, group play, and PvP, making it one of the best all-around builds in New World.

Hatchet is a powerful melee weapon with ranged attacks that we will utilize. It’s an extremely versatile weapon, regardless if it’s in your main or secondary slot. Here are all the benefits of using Hatchet:

Hatchet synergizes well with Berserker skill tree due to its movement speed buff and health regen. It makes it an ideal choice for solo-leveling and completing quests.

In the right hands, it’s a viable weapon in PvP matches. Remember, though, that it can be easily outclassed by War Hammer or Great Axe in 1v1 situations.

Hatchet scales primarily with Strength but also Dexterity.

You can use whatever you prefer, but medium armor works best with Hatchet builds. You’ll be too squishy with light armor, while with heavy armor, you’ll be too slow.

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Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Fast attacking.

• Health regeneration.

• Berserk is one of the best abilities in the game.

• Great for fighting at a distance or in melee range.

Cons:

• Awkward attack rotation when min-maxing.

• Throwing tree is considerably weaker than Berserker tree.

• Basic attacks rarely hit multiple targets.

• Limited range.

Hatchet Skill Trees

As I’ve mentioned earlier, Hatchet is an excellent choice for players who recently started their adventure in Aeternum. Due to its versatility and self-explanatory skills, it’s hard to pick another build that is easy to learn and yet so effective. You can invest skill points into two trees, and both are highly viable options.

Berserker. A purely offensive skill tree that utilizes powerful melee attacks and increases your attack damage for a short period of time. Additionally, it grants you self-sustain passives. The buff will be removed if you weapon swap or sheath your weapon.

Throwing. This skill works best if you use Hatchet as your secondary weapon. With abilities from this tree, you can damage targets from afar, draw aggro or apply pressure.

All in all, Hatchet works well with all sorts of weapons. You can pair it with Fire Staff, Bow, Rapier, Ice Gauntlet, Great Axe, etc. It's so useful and versatile that almost all builds can make good use of it. However, there are combinations better than others, which we will focus on in this guide.

Hatchet & Great Axe Build

This is hands down the best Hatchet build you can play. It utilizes the Berserk skill to deal incredible damage in 1v1 situations. Hatchet has one of the most single target DPS in New World, and Berserk improves it even further while you heal yourself over time.

With this build, you’ll be able to close the gap between you and your opponent, group enemies together, and finish them off all at once.

 Hatchet Masteries

Skill	Effect	Recommended Masteries
Berserk	For 12 seconds, Increases all attack damage by 20% while active. Taunt Gem Compatible: Taunts enemies within 8m for 8 seconds. Switching to other weapons end this ability early.	On The Hunt: Increases movement speed by 20% while in Berserk mode. Uninterruptible Berserk: Cannot be staggered or interrupted while in Berserk mode.
Feral Rush	Leap forward and strike twice. First hit deals 115% weapon damage. Second hit deals 130% weapon damage.	Dispatch: If the target is below 30% health, Feral Rush deals 20% more damage. Crippling Strikes: Hit opponent from behind with Feral Rush to immobilize him for 2 seconds.
Raging Torrent	Deal four fast attacks, each hit dealing 90% weapon damage.	Aggressive Approach: Gain 20% movement speed for  6 seconds when you hit someone with Raging Torrent. Final Blow: Press light attack at the end of the combo for an additional attack that deals 120% weapon damage.

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In short, when fighting groups of enemies, you want to deal as much AoE damage with your Battle Axe and finish them one by one with Hatchet and Berserk ability.

Berserk is your bread and butter skill, and you should be using it as often as possible. It increases your damage and movement speed, regens health, and makes you uninterruptable while attacking. It’s hands down one of the best abilities in the game. Use it whenever it’s off cooldown or when you want to catch up to other players in PvP. Additionally, you can use it when traveling across Aeternum for a significant speed boost.

Feral Rush should be used as a gap closer between you and your opponent. Combine this with Crippling Strikes to hit your target in the back and immobilize him for 2 seconds. It’s more useful in PvP than PvE, but overall it’s a great ability to stun any opponent and deal serious damage afterward.

Raging Torrent is used to deal high DPS damage in quick, consecutive strikes. It works wonders when paired with Berserk and can end any 1v1 battle in a matter of seconds. However, it can be interrupted easily by any crowd control, wasting the ability. For best results, activate Berserk, use Crippling Strikes, and finish with Raging Torrent for devastating damage. 

Great Axe Masteries

Skill	Effect	Recommended Masteries
Reap	Extend your axe 5m, pulling foes to you and dealing 70% weapon damage. Taunt Gem Compatible: If you have a Carnelian gem equipped in your great axe, this ability inflicts taunt for 4s when it hits.	Hunger: Reap heals for 30% of the damage done. Fatal Attraction: After pulling in a target, perform a spin attack for 115% weapon damage.
Charge	Charge 10m towards the target, dealing 120% weapon damage. Can be canceled early by using light attack. Charge is uninterruptible.	Frenzied Momentum: Based on the distance traveled, Charge can deal 120-140% weapon damage.
Maelstorm	Fast-spinning attack that pulls targets closer to you and deals 110% weapon damage.	Storm’s Reach: Maelstorm pulls 50% further. No Reprieve: Perform an extra spin attack, pulling in foes and dealing 110% weapon damage.

Reaper tree is the best for this build, as it has great AoE abilities, health regeneration, and plenty of gap closers. You’ll be using this skill tree to hit as many foes as possible. Maelstorm is very useful in this case, as it allows you to group targets.

Reap is an outstanding ability if you’re mainly focusing on the PvE aspect of the game. It also allows you to pull targets closer to you and heals for a small amount. You’re going to use this quite often to pull aggro and hit as many enemies as possible.

Charge is mainly used for PvP, though it’s also useful in PvE. You're going to use it to gain an advantage against players who want to keep their distance or catch players running away. If you don’t play PvP at all, you can even skip this ability and only focus on Maelstorm.

Speaking of Maelstorm, its AoE hits twice when fully upgraded. It’s a no-brainer when facing multiple enemies, either in PvE or PvP. Although it works great only in large-scale battles – if you’re more of a 1v1 player, consider swapping it with Reap.

 

Hatchet & Bow Build

If you don’t care about numbers that much and only want to have fun, this build might be just for you. It’s not the best out there when it comes to clearing or PvP, but it's viable enough for every ranged weapon enthusiast. Remember that weapons like Great Axe or War Hammer will always be better for PvE farming and quest completion. However, Hatchet and Bow are perfectly capable of doing that, too. It will only take a bit longer.

Hatchet Masteries

Skill	Effect	Recommended Masteries
Berserk	For 12 seconds, Increases all attack damage by 20% while active. Taunt Gem Compatible: Taunts enemies within 8m for 8 seconds. Switching to other weapons end this ability early.	On The Hunt: Increases movement speed by 20% while in Berserk mode. Uninterruptible Berserk: Cannot be staggered or interrupted while in Berserk mode.
Feral Rush	Leap forward and strike twice. First hit deals 115% weapon damage. Second hit deals 130% weapon damage.	Dispatch: If the target is below 30% health, Feral Rush deals 20% more damage. Crippling Strikes: Hit opponent from behind with Feral Rush to immobilize him for 2 seconds.
Raging Torrent	Deal four fast attacks, each hit dealing 90% weapon damage.	Aggressive Approach: Gain 20% movement speed for  6 seconds when you hit someone with Raging Torrent. Final Blow: Press light attack at the end of the combo for an additional attack that deals 120% weapon damage.

Similar to the previous build, you’re going to spend most of your points on the Berserker tree. It possesses the exact same skills as Hatchet and Axe build since these are the best skills for Hatchet overall.

Berserk is your main skill and grants you a multitude of buffs, as we described earlier. Use it whenever you can to gain the upper hand in every fighting situation.

Feral Rush grants you mobility and can be used as a gap closer, disengage tool, or a move speed tool to move faster around the map. You can combine this with Crippling Strikes if you quickly get behind your enemy.

Raging Torrent is your DPS tool to dish out damage in quick succession with a haste bonus after successfully landing it. The 20% movement speed bonus is excellent for kiting enemies, and it also synergizes well with the light attack passives in the Berserker tree. 

Bow Masteries

Skill	Effect	Recommended Masteries
Evade Shot	Leap back 5m and shoot an arrow dealing 125% weapon damage.	Evasive Knockback: Evade Shot knocks back targets 2m. Go To The Distance: Evade Shot grants 15% movement speed for 5 seconds.
Poison Shot	Shoot an arrow that creates a 3m poison cloud, lasting for 6 seconds. Poisoned targets take 10% weapon damage per second for 20 seconds.	Infected Arrows: Poison deals 12% weapon damage per second. Direct Hit: Direct hits with Poison Shot deal 200% more damage.
Penetrating Shot	Shoot an arrow that deals 150% weapon damage and penetrates armor. The arrow can travel up to 100m.	Blood Soaked Arrow: Increased damage by 10% after each hit (caps at 50%). Deep Strike: Penetrating Shot deals 20% more damage to targets 20m or more away.

Instead of dealing absurd amounts of damage, this build focuses on mobility and fast light attacks. Bow is an excellent weapon for that, as the Skirmisher tree provides you with all the mobility you’ll ever need.

Evade Shot is the prime example of trading brute force for mobility as it builds some distance between you and your enemies. It’s not a massive damage dealer but a lifesaver if you ever get cornered.

Poison Shot excels in PvP, as it can deal bonus damage over time, so you can watch your enemy’s health bar slowly disappearing. For PvE, it’s best to group your targets first before using Poison Shot to deal as much damage as possible.

Based on the distance, Penetrating Shot deals the most damage out of all abilities. It’s best to start fights with this ability and follow up with the rest for the most damage output.

Alternative Abilities For Both Builds

We believe the abilities described above are the most effective in either PvP or PvE. However, the final decision is always yours, and we understand that they may not suit your playstyle. To respond to the expectations of most players, we’ve included a list of other abilities that are also useful in the long run.

Rending Throw: Throw an axe dealing 110% weapon damage and applying Rend, reducing target's damage absorption by 10% for 10s.

Infected Throw: Throw an axe that deals 150% weapon damage and triggers Disease and weakens target for 10 seconds.

Aimed Throw: Replaces block with an Aimed Throw that deals 95% weapon damage. Hold RMB to enter aimed stance. Each throw consumes 20 Stamina.

Relentless Fury: After a successful Heavy attack: gain Empower granting a 30% damage increase for 3 seconds or after 4 stacks.

Defy Death: When you receive lethal damage: Avoid death, reduce to 50 HP and gain immortality for 30 seconds.

Social Distancing: Throw an axe forward as you dodge backwards, dealing 120% weapon damage and slowing targets by 15% for three seconds.