New World: Best Musket Build

Quick Links

New World, Amazon's new MMO, is currently in closed beta. While a lot will likely change before the game's full release, the Musket has already shown that it can be a key part of a strong and reliable PVP or solo leveling build.

RELATED: New World: Beginner Tips

This build has a big focus on Traps and often pairs the Musket with the Rapier. They're very useful in both PVP and for taking on large groups of enemies in the various PvE areas of New World, whether that be grinding quests or completing expeditions. Here's our rundown of the best Musket build in New World.

Musket Build In New World

The Musket has been most commonly paired with the Rapier during this closed access version of New World. Your Musket provides a great ranged opener – entering Shooter's Stance to get some shots off – and the Rapier provides the sort of mobility you need to get out of trouble. Thanks to NewWorldFans for the images of the different mastery trees. You can visit the site to try out builds of your own.

This is a very "glass cannon" build, with no points in Constitution at all. You should try not to take damage with this build.
The combat mechanics work with stunning your enemies, dodging damage, and disengaging to fire your musket.
This build exceeds at solo leveling and PVP, although it will struggle with larger PvE events, like certain Expeditions and questlines.

Best Masteries For The Musket/Trapper Build

Our version of the Musket build relies on three main active skills: Powder Burn, Shooter's Stance, and the Traps. You open a ranged engagement with a Shooter's Stance, place a Trap, and then hit a Powder Burn. In general, you should pick up Active skills first, then prioritize the passives based on your playstyle.

Shooter's Stance – This puts you into a different stance, boosting your weapon damage by 100 percent and granting a faster reload time. You can't move when you're in it, so best to do this before you engage with an enemy in PvE. You exit the stance after three shots.
Powder Burn – A great DoT ability, this applies a burn to your enemy. Several passives stack up over time if you've inflicted an enemy with a debuff. Powder Burn fits right into this build.
Traps – The main hallmark of this build, Traps are amazing for a solo player. Open with a Shooter's Stance, into Powder Burn, and then wait for the enemy to walk into the trap. Easy. In this build, you can't fit in the mastery point for double traps, but as long as you hit your Traps that shouldn't be a problem.
You should take the Sniper ultimate. It's very, very strong, especially for getting off those powerful headshots before engaging properly.

Best Masteries For The Rapier

The Rapier focuses on Tondo, Riposte, and Evade to give you the mobility you need to reduce the damage you take as much as possible. You could also opt for Fleche instead of Tondo. This build won't do too well if you get swarmed, so dodging and evading away from your enemies is essential.

Tondo – This applies a bleed with a lunge attack, not only does this deal good damage, it stacks with some of your debuff passives from the Musket tree. Bleed and burn? Yeah, it's pretty strong.
Riposte – This enters you into a defensive stance. If you're hit, it will stun the enemy, giving you a chance to back up and keep shooting with your Musket. An essential skill to pick up for this build.
Evade – You want to tier this skill up all the way to the Momentum ultimate. The consistent mobility you can get from this skill is essential with any ranged build, whether that be a Bow or a Musket. You can evade, sidestep, dodge, etc until you're a long enough distance away to survive.

General Tips For A Musket Build

Here are some general tips for using the Musket in New World:

The Musket relies heavily on hitting headshots. Passives, like Critical Reload (three headshots grant an instant reload), Chronic Trauma (if you hit a Powder Burn headshot the burn lasts much longer), and the Sniper ultimate granting 15 percent extra damage for headshots, all mean you really want to hit those shots.
You can't take too much damage with the Musket/Rapier combo because of your lack of defensive capabilities. You need to kite with the Rapier, instead.
The Musket scales with the Dexterity stat at a rate of 0.9x, although it does have a secondary stat of Intelligence at 0.6x.
The Rapier also scales with Dexterity primarily as well as that secondary Intelligence stat. This is one of the reasons why these two weapons make a good build.
Light Armor is recommended for this build. Extra mobility is crucial. You shouldn't be taking any damage anyway, so the extra defense shouldn't be an issue.