New World Best Hatchet Builds: Tank, Life Staff And Bow
A detailed guide on the best Hatchet Builds in New World. With particular focus on tank, survivability and farming builds.
Although the Hatchet has its plus points, it offers no range or multiple target damage. So, you should have a well-rounded build if the Hatchet is your weapon of choice. This guide will give you the Best Hatchet Builds in New World for both PvP and PvE battles. Many players like to use the Hatchet for solo exploration and single-target damage.
- Hatchet: Short-range, multi-enemy damage. Scales with Strength and Dexterity. Berserker and Throwing skill trees.
- Tank Build: Great Axe and Hatchet. Distribute points equally in Strength and Constitution.
- Hatchet’s Berserker tree abilities: Berserk, Feral Rush, Raging Torrent. Throwing tree’s ability: Aimed Throwing.
- Great Axe: 2-handed, pulls enemies closer. Reaper and Mauler skill trees.
- Reaper abilities: Reap, Critical Gains (Passive), Charge, Keen Edge (Passive).
- Mauler abilities: Heavy Pull (Passive), Enduring Strike (Passive), Gravity (Passive), Gravity Well.
- Other builds: Life Staff and Hatchet, Bow and Hatchet.
Related: New World Best Bow Builds
Hatchet: Overview and Skill Trees
Before we go any further, let’s briefly overview the weapon and its skill trees. As mentioned before, the Hatchet is an excellent choice if you are not interested in a weapon with reach and can hit more than one target. Hatchets scale primarily with Strength and dexterity, and they have two skill trees, Berserker and Throwing.
Berserker
It has one of the best abilities in the game, the Berserk. As you unlock Berserk and its perks, the Hatchet will give you a 20% damage increase, a 20% increase in movement speed, health regeneration, and much more.
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Hatchet (Drawbacks)
Although it is possible to perform a ranged attack with your Hatchet using the throwing ability, it does not give you more than low or medium range. The damage upon throwing is also not as impressive. That is why you should pair it with another weapon that gives your character more versatility.
Tank Build: The Great Axe and Hatchet
The best way to build a tank with a hatchet is to pair it with the Great Axe. Combining these two weapons makes the best tank build for DPS (damage per second) and melee attacks, which is why this build is a great choice for PvP and PvE battles.
Attributes: You would always want to split your points between Strength and Constitution for this build. By reaching level sixty, you will have 200 points in Strength and 200 points in Constitution. The Strength attribute is important because both weapons will scale primarily with Strength.
Similarly, the Constitution attribute will give you a larger overall health pool. It will also allow you to sustain more damage before dying. That is why this attribute plays a crucial role in every tank build.
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The Hatchet
Before we get into the Great Axe skill tree, we shall discuss the Hatchet skill tree for this build. All the skills mentioned below are well suited to make a hatchet tank build and are particularly oriented for this tank build.
The Hatchet has two skill trees, Berserker and Throwing. Here are our recommendations for developing these skills to complete your build.
Berserker Skill Tree
This is the main skill tree that needs to be developed in the Great Axe and Hatchet build. The details of the weapon’s abilities and perks are given below.
| Ability | Description | Perk | Description |
| Berserk | During Berserk Mode, your damage increases by 20% for 12 seconds.
Taunt gem compatible. Hatchet will inflict Taunt if you have a Carnelian Gem equipped (taunt causes all monsters to focus on you) for 8 seconds on all enemies that are within 8 meters. The cooldown on Berserk mode will not start until the mode ends. The cooldown time on Berserk mode is 18 seconds. |
On The Hunt | While Berserk mode is active, it increases your movement speed by 20%. |
| Breserking Refresh | Restores health every 4 seconds while Berserk is active.
The health gained can be up to 30% of your maximum health. |
||
| Feral Rush | A leap followed by two successive strikes.
The first strike deals 115% weapon damage, and the second-strike deals 130% weapon damage. This ability has a 12-second cooldown. |
Dispatch | Increases the damage done by Feral Rush by 20% if your target is below 30% health. |
| Crippling Strikes | It inflicts Root on an enemy for 2 seconds if you hit them with the feral rush on their back.
The root will immobilize the target for 2 seconds. |
||
| Raging Torrent | Perform four fast attacks, each of which deals 90% percent damage.
Cooldown: 15 seconds. |
Aggressive Approach | Activates Haste when Raging Torrent hits a target.
(Haste increases movement speed by 20% for 6 seconds). |
| Final Blow | When pressing the light attack button, follow your Raging Torrent with a final attack.
This attack will deal 120% weapon damage. |
This is all you need initially from the Berserker skill tree, now moving on to the Throwing skill tree.
Throwing Skill Tree
Initially, you would only need one ability from this skill tree to complete your build.
| Ability | Description |
| Aimed Throwing | Replaces block with an aimed throw, which deals 95% weapon damage on hitting the target.
Hold the block button to enter the aimed stance and press light attack to throw your Hatchet. It costs twenty stamina points for each throw. |
This completes all the hatchets skills that you need for this build. From here, you can upgrade as you wish.
The Great Axe
Great Axes are huge two-handed weapons that can pull targets toward the player. They also allow the wielder to use charging attacks to close the distance between them and the target. The main selling point of the Great Axe is that they trade speed for brute force, which is why it is perfect for melee and tank builds.
The Great Axe has two main skill trees, Reaper and Mauler. Here are our recommendations on developing these skills to use with the Hatchet. Feel free to experiment with these skills if some other configurations are better, in your opinion.
Reaper Skill Tree
This is the first skill tree in your Great Axe. Apart from active abilities like Reap and Charge, it also has passive abilities like Critical Gains and Keen Edge, which are extremely important for PvP battles. The details of the abilities are given below:
| Ability | Description | Perks | Description |
| Reap | Extend your axe to 5 meters and pull your enemies towards you.
Deals 70 % weapon damage. |
The Collector | Increase your Reap range to 8 meters.
|
| Critical Gains (Passive) | Restores health as you engage in combat.
It gives you 10% of the total damage when performing a critical hit. |
– | – |
| Charge | Charge 10 meters while dealing 120% damage when you reach your target.
Charging can be stopped early by using the left mouse button. It gives you Girt (prevents you from staggering by incoming enemy attacks) The charge has a 20-second cooldown. |
Frenzied Momentum | Deals 120-140 % damage when added to Charge (damage inflicted depends on how far you travel while charging attacks). |
| Keen Edge (Passive) | Increases your critical damage by 10%. | – | – |
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Mauler Skill Tree
After unlocking the Keen Edge, we recommend moving on to the Mauler skill tree. This skill tree has some of the most overpowered abilities in the game, such as the Gravity Well and Enduring Strike.
| Ability | Description | Perk | Description |
| Heavy Pull (Passive) | Pull your enemies closer to you when performing heavy attacks with your Great Axe. | – | – |
| Enduring Strike (Passive) | Adds Girt to your heavy attacks performed using the Great Axe.
It also gives you a 20% damage reduction during heavy attacks. |
– | – |
| Gravity (Passive) | Roots your enemy for 0.25 seconds when you pull them closer to you. (An enemy under the effect of Root will be unable to dodge or move but can still attack). | – | – |
| Gravity Well | Perform a ranged attack with your Great Axe that can travel up to 10 meters.
It creates a tear in the air ahead of you; this tear in the air looks like a traveling vortex. The vortex will pull all enemies in a 4-meter range toward its center. All enemies caught in the vortex cannot dodge, and their movement speed will be reduced by 55%. Upon collapsing, the vortex will deal 125% weapon damage through a burst. The upward swing itself deals 99% damage. The cooldown on this skill is 30 seconds. |
Crowded Well | Gravity well burst damage is increased by 10% for every enemy caught in the vortex. |
| Unyielding | It gives your allies 10% Fortify (reduces incoming damage) if they stand in your Well. |
Your great Axe skill tree for the Best Hatchet Build in New World (tank) is complete. From this point onwards, you may develop as you wish.
The Life Staff and the Hatchet
Unlike the Great Axe and Hatchet, the prime focus of the Life staff and Hatchet build is survivability. Although not a Tank build, it can still inflict serious damage in PvP battles. This build heavily relies on the attack range of the life staff, while the Hatchet is used primarily for close-quarters combat.
Attributes
Suppose you start from level zero. Begin by solely increasing your focus. Once you have increased your focus to 150, move on to your Constitution. When you reach level 60, make sure you have 300 points in focus and 100 points in Constitution.
As far as your gear is concerned, you need to equip yourself with medium-category gear. The best gear setup for this is:
- Helmet: Heavy
- Chest Armor: Heavy
- Gloves: Medium
- Pants: Light
- Boots: Medium
This setup will give you a total of 22.9 kg weight,, which is below the heavyweight category.
The Hatchet
Since this build uses the Life Staff for ranged attacks, we don’t need to develop the Throwing skill tree. All we need for this build is the Berserker skill tree for the Hatchet. The development of the Berserker skill tree is the same as the Hatchet and Great Axe build. However, you can make your changes if you think some other configuration is better. The details are mentioned in the table below:
| Ability | Description | Perk | Description |
| Berserk
|
During Berserk Mode, your damage increases by 20% for 12 seconds.
Taunt gem compatible. Hatchet will inflict Taunt if you have a Carnelian Gem equipped (taunt causes all monsters to focus on you) for 8 seconds on all enemies that are within 8 meters.
The cooldown on Berserk mode will not start until the mode ends.
The cooldown time on Berserk mode is 18 seconds.
|
On The Hunt
|
While Berserk mode is active, it increases your movement speed by 20%. |
| Breserking Refresh
|
Restores health every 4 seconds while Berserk is active.
The health gained can be up to 30% of your maximum health.
|
||
| Feral Rush
|
The feral rush consists of a leap followed by two successive strikes.
The first strike deals 115% weapon damage, and the second-strike deals 130% weapon damage.
This ability has a 12-second cooldown.
|
Dispatch
|
Increases the damage done by Feral Rush by 20% if your target is below 30% health. |
| Crippling Strikes
|
It inflicts Root on an enemy for 2 seconds if you hit them with the feral rush on their back.
The Root will immobilize the target for 2 seconds.
|
||
| Raging Torrent
|
Perform four fast attacks, each of which deals 90% percent damage.
This has a 15-second cooldown.
|
Aggressive Approach
|
Activates Haste when raging Torrent hits a target,
Haste increases movement speed by 20% for 6 seconds.
|
| Final Blow | Follow your Raging Torrent with a final attack when pressing the light attack button.
This attack will deal 120% weapon damage. |
If you followed this through the ability order mentioned above, you must have noticed a few skills still left on the chart (the Throwing skill tree is empty). So, as you progress, feel free to unlock the other abilities as you wish.
The Life Staff
With the Hatchet out of the way, let’s move on to the second weapon, the Life Staff. There are two skill trees in the life staff Healing and Protector. We shall unlock abilities from both skill trees in this build, focusing on PvP and PvE battles. Towards the end, we shall also discuss why this build is one of the Best Hatchet Builds in New World regarding survivability.
Healing Skill Tree
The abilities in this skill tree are mainly for healing and enhancing your Life Staff attacks. Sacred ground is an especially good ability for team battles. Here is a detailed Table of all the abilities you need to unlock for this build.
| Ability | Description | Perk | Description |
| Absolved (passive) | Light and Heavy attacks on the life Staff do not consume mana. | – | – |
| Sacred Ground | Create a circle on the ground in a 3-meter radius for 12 seconds.
Allies in the area are healed for 16% of weapon damage every second.
Cost: 15 Mana.
20-second cooldown. |
Holy Ground | Increase Stamina and Mana regeneration by 50% in the Sacred Ground. |
| Blessed | When allies are in Sacred Ground, they are healed 50% extra from all healing. | ||
| Desperate speed (passive) | Life Staff cooldown is reduced by 10% when you heal an ally under 50% health.
Con only be triggered once every 5 seconds. |
– | – |
| Revitalize (passive) | Reduce life Staff ability cooldown by 5% when you hit a light attack. | – | – |
| Intensify | When landing a heavy attack, Gain a 10% bonus to healing effectiveness for 10 seconds.
Max 3 stacks |
– | – |
Protector Skill tree
Like the Healing skill tree, the Protector is centered around damage and healing. Beacon is a great offensive and support ability that damages the target and heals your allies. The detail of all active and Passive abilities is given in the table below.
| Ability | Description | Perk | Description |
| Bend Light (passive) | After a Dodge, all your heals are 20% more effective for 5 seconds. | – | – |
| Beacon | Shoot a projectile that deals 146% weapon damage.
Attaches to enemies and heals nearby enemies for 16% weapon damage each. Lasts for 10 seconds. Costs 16 mana. 35-second cooldown. |
Infused light | The area of effect for the beacon is increased by 50%. |
| Radiance Blessing | Beacon lasts 5 Second longer. | ||
| Light’s embrace | Heal target (Ally) for 80% weapon damage.
30% percent more for each buff on the target. Costs 18 mana. Has a cooldown of 4 seconds. |
– | – |
| Protector’s Strength (passive) | Heal for 10% more if you have a Buff | – | – |
| Glowing Focus | Life Staff Buffs last 20% longer. | – | – |
That was all you needed to know about the Hatchet and Life Staff build in New World. Before we move on to the final build, here is a note on gems for this build.
Equipping Gems
The gems you need for your equipment are as follows:
Life Staff: Dimond Gem
Hatchet: Amber Gem
Gear (Amulets and rings): Onyx gems
The Hatchet and Life staff scale with different attributes for those who don’t know. Since our build is centered around the focus attribute, we can use these gems to change the attribute with which our gear scales. Due to this, we can do even more damage than normal builds.
Now that that wraps up, our second-best Hatchet Build in New World for healing and support. Let’s move on to the last build.
Bow And Hatchet
The Bow and Hatchet build is aimed at leveling and farming. This build relies on the Bow for ranged attacks and uses the Hatchet for close combat. This build is especially useful for fighting mobs and PvE scenarios. The main emphasis of this build is to keep a distance from your target and inflict damage from a distance; once your target closes in, use your Hatchet to mow them down.
Attributes
The attribute point distribution for this build is as follows:
No matter which level you start, get your dexterity to 200 and build 50 points in the Constitution. Around level 60, you should have 300 points in dexterity and 100 points in Constitution. The armor on this build should be light because you will be dodging a lot. We would recommend that you go for a light armor set.
Use a medium chest piece and keep all the other equipment light.
The Hatchet
The format of the Hatchet skill tree is the same as the one in the Life Staff and Hatchet Build. So to avoid repetitiveness use the table from the previous build as a reference.
The Bow
Like all the other weapons mentioned above, the Bow has two skill trees: the Skirmisher and the Hunter. The Skirmisher emphasizes passive abilities that continuously affect the enemy, while the Hunter skill tree is more damage-heavy. The piercing shot in the Hunter skill tree is easily one of the best abilities to have in all PvE situations.
The Skirmisher Skill Tree
This skill tree mainly focuses on giving you passive abilities during combat. Evade Shot and Poison Arrows are the only active abilities in this skill tree.
The description of all the abilities and their perks is as follows:
| Ability | Description | Perk | Description |
| Evade Shot | Leap 5 meters back and shoot an arrow that deals 125% weapon damage.
Cooldown: 15 Seconds |
– | – |
| Evasive Tactics (Passive) | It deals 20% more damage for 5 seconds after dodging. | – | – |
| Impale (Passive) | Targets with 100% health are affected by 10% slow for 2 seconds upon hitting. (Slow reduces movement speed) | – | – |
| Dodge and Weave (Passive) | Dodging gives you 10% haste for 2 seconds. (Haste increases movement speed) | – | – |
| Poison Shot | Shoot poison arrows that deal 50% weapon damage on impact.
Poison arrows create a poison cloud of a 3-meter radius upon hitting or landing. Poison cloud lasts for 6 seconds. All enemies entering the poison cloud take 10% weapon damage per second for the next 20 seconds. This ability cannot get a headshot. Cooldown: 30 seconds. |
Infected Arrows | Poison does 12% weapon damage per second for 20 seconds. |
| Mark (Passive) | Deal 10% more damage to foes suffering from a de-buff. | – | – |
| Archer’s Speed (Passive) | Gain 10% haste when you swap to your Bow.
Haste lasts for 5 seconds. Cooldown 10 seconds. |
– | – |
The Hunter Skill Tree
This skill tree has one of the best abilities for PvP and PvE scenarios, the Penetrating Shot.
The details of the abilities and their perks are given below:
| Ability | Description | Perk | Description |
| Penetrating Shot | Shoot an arrow that deals 150% weapon damage.
Arrows pass through targets.
Range 100 meters.
Cooldown: 18 seconds. |
Blood Soaked Arrow | Penetrating Shot deals, 10% increased damage after each hit.
Maximum five stacks. |
| Deep Strike | Penetrating shot deals 20% more damage to targets 20m or more away. | ||
| Long Range | Deal 20% to targets to targets at least 10 meters away. | – | – |
| Finishing Shot | Deal 20% more damage to targets below 50% health. | – | – |
Equipping Gems:
Use the following gems on your gear to ensure they level up with the right attributes:
- Bow: Opal Gem.
- Hatchet: Opal Gem.
- Gear: Onyx Gem.
This concludes our guide. Please let us know in the comments below if you found any of this information helpful.
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Been hard to find recent builds. Not sure older builds are still viable.
