New Player Help for New World aims to assist new players as well as veteran players in better understanding various aspects of the game. On this page, players can find tips and tricks, basic guides, and recommended strategies that will help with improving the capabilities if playing New World.
Useful Links:
- Lore: Understand the setting of New World.
- Quests: Guides on starting quests, objectives and progression.
- Factions: An overview of the three Factions in New World and various related mechanics.
- Settlements: An overview of the Settlements mechanic, which forms the backbone of New World's social aspects.
- Crafting: Understand how to craft and check the various items that can be crafted in the game.
- Controls: An overview of the game's default controls regarding the basic combat and movements.
New World New Player Help
Character Creation
Upon starting up New World, you will be required to create a character. This is a straightforward process and unlike many MMORPGs, the customizations you can make to your Character are purely cosmetic. There are no Races or other special traits to choose from and customization is fairly limited. You can choose from two body types, either male or female and then select from preset options for your Face, Hair, Skin Tone and Facial Hair. Furthermore, you can select more customizations such as Markings, Tattoos and Scars. While these options do not affect gameplay, because you will potentially be spending hundreds of hours playing this one character, you should take into account their aesthetics and mold them to your liking while you can.
For further details on customization options, see the Character Creation page.
Starting Out
After creating your Character, you will be treated to a cutscene that ends with you shipwrecked somewhere with the gravely injured Captain Thorpe just a few feet ahead. Approach the Captain to begin a series of tutorials to introduce you to the game's basic movement, combat and equipment mechanics. Follow the fairly linear path as you learn the ropes fighting off the few enemies at the Ship Graveyard. Eventually, you will end up in a short boss encounter with a Corrupted Captain Thorpe. After fending him off, you will be transported to Aeternum to begin your adventure.
At this point, you will spawn in one of four beaches in either First Light, Windsward, Monarch's Bluffs or Everfall. Note that your starting location is completely random but the starting experience is largely similar regardless of which location you spawn in. Each beach will have a Watchtower located nearby, and an NPC that will guide you towards the next step in your starting quest.
*An important note for players who wish to play through the starting areas with friends or simply change starting areas:
While not immediately obvious, it is possible to change your starting location or at the very least, travel to the starting location of your friends. After washing up on the beach, make your way to the watchtower and hand in your quest to the NPC there. However, do NOT accept any further quests from this NPC. Once you do, you will be locked into this area until the completion of the entirety of the starter quest chains. If you wish to change starter zones, hand in the initial quest and check your map. You will notice that you can accept the next step of the quest from NPCs in any of the other zones. You will need to make the trek towards whichever area you choose but each starting zone is adjacent and fairly easy to get to. This is useful for players who wish to play in a group from the beginning. Otherwise you will have to wait til the starter quest chains are completed.
When choosing a starting location, it should be noted that Everfall will generally have slightly higher-level enemies roaming around and can make the first few hours of questing a little more difficult. First Light is recommended for the easiest time while Windsward and Monarch's Bluffs strike a fair balance. Overall, starting in any of these locations will prove to be largely the same but players can make this minor choice early on to get on easier.
Early Goals
New World is a large, living game world with many moving parts and while you are largely free to play the game as you wish, the large amount of systems and mechanics can be quite daunting, especially to newer players. A quick summary and a guide on how to spend your early hours is as follows:
- Begin introductory quest chain
- Head to the closest Settlement
- Complete Introductory quest chain
- Begin Faction Quests
- Choose a Faction
Upon your arrival on Aeternum, your first goal should be to complete the introductory quest chain which will acquaint you with questing, basic survival mechanics and will eventually lead you to one of the Settlements, opening up a plethora of activities to take part in, and new goals and milestones to achieve. These quests are fairly straightforward and are a good way to earn levels quickly in the early game, which should also be one of your main goals. By the end of the introductory quest chain, you should have attained, or be close to attaining Character Level 10. At this milestone, you will be given a set of quests that will introduce you to, and eventually task you with choosing to join one of the three Factions.
Factions in New World are several groups of like-minded individuals united under one organization and name, each with their own motives and schemes for the future of Aeternum. Players can join one of the available Factions and their choice will determine who they fight with and against in PvP scenarios. Joining a Faction can also provide benefits to the player if their Faction controls Settlements and Territories.
So which Faction should you join? That depends on several factors. At the basic level, Factions serve a cosmetic purpose. Each Faction will offer a large selection of equipment which are unique to each. While each Faction has an equivalent piece of equipment in terms of combat stats, they will have a unique appearance. At the very least, you should choose the Faction whose looks appeal to you if you are looking to utilize Faction gear.
More complex is a Faction's role in the game world. Factions are a means with which players can take over Territory. Aeternum is a land in constant conflict as each Faction is vying for control of its territories and resources. Territorial control is a persistent mechanic players will encounter whether they choose to invest in PvP activities or not and being in control offers many benefits to all aspects of a player's journey. The following are some of the benefits of being in a Faction and controlling territories:
- Ability to take on Faction Missions to gain Faction standing and a special currency for rewards. Also allows for progression of a Faction's attempt to take over other territories or defend currently controlled territories.
- Ability to take on Town Projects for additional XP and to progress Settlement Upgrades including Crafting Stations, Defenses and other quality of life upgrades.
- Ability to take part in War and Invasions - Core gameplay mechanics that operate on the taking over and defense of Settlements and Territories.
- Access to various facilities such as Crafting Stations, Housing, Storage Sheds, Trading Posts and more.
- Buffs and bonuses while within the affected Territory such as improved Gathering efficiency and bonus damage against certain enemy types.
- Quality of life features such as Fast Travelling and reduced taxes.
As New World is a highly social game, a Faction's most important role is to serve as a community for players to achieve the same goals. It should be noted that your Faction determines who you PvP with. However, you can do PvE and Expedition content with anyone. As such, it is important to choose a Faction your friends belong to if you wish to play PvP content with a group. Lastly, your choice in which Faction you join can depend on your server state. Some servers may have the Marauders dominating in territorial control, while others may have the Covenant or Syndicate being the strongest players. While there are systems in place to ensure that no Faction is utterly undefeatable, it may be a good idea to join a Faction that is in a good position, especially in the early stages of the game.
For more details and a complete guide to Factions, see the Factions page.
Advanced Adventuring
After joining a Faction, your next steps should be familiarizing yourself with Settlements and Territories, as well as the various systems that tie into them. Settlements will serve as your home base where you can retreat to relative safety between quests. Settlements provide various facilities that can be upgraded - a task which is a collective effort from all players within the same Faction. Upgrading your Settlements will give you a strong foothold with which to conquer Territories. The more Territories you control, the stronger your Faction is. Settlements are a key component of both PvE and PvP activities including War and Territorial Control, Crafting, Housing and more.
For details and a complete guide on Settlements, see the Settlements page.
Crafting is also one of the major systems that players will gradually come across. New World offers a robust Crafting system that drives the economy and allows players to create a massive variety of items ranging from weapons and armor to food and furniture. Players will naturally encounter the Crafting mechanic during their time on Aeternum. There are 7 Major Crafting Disciplines: Weaponsmithing, Armoring, Engineering, Arcana, Jewelcrafting, Cooking and Furnishing. Additionally, there are also the Gathering and Refining skill lines which serve as companion skills to Crafting. Players have access to all Crafting, Gathering and Refining disciplines from the start and there are no limits to how many you can peruse or how much you want to invest in them. Do note, however, that Crafting is a huge time investment. While you are free to level each and every one, it may be a good idea to focus on a couple at first.
For details and a complete guide to Crafting and related skills, see the Trade Skills page.
