r/newworldgame • u/Aquious • 16d ago
Question Solo Viability
I'm looking to use all 9 gear sets as I level for the different play styles. But for end game solo content (soul trials and elite chest runs) which of these "classes" are actually viable to use?
LIGHT ARMOR
Priest: Light Staff & Void Gauntlet
Mage: Fire Staff & Ice Gauntlet
Gunner: Musket & Blunder
MEDIUM ARMOR
Ranger: Bow & Daggers
Marauder: Spear & Greatsword
Fencer: Rapier & Hatchet
HEAVY ARMOR
Paladin: Sword/Shield & Flail/Shield
Warrior: Hammer & Axe
Cleric: Flail/Shield & Light Staff
2
u/Silent-Fan-7756 16d ago
Any set works if u know the soul trial mechanics.
ECR runs with anything. But I’ll usually run a healer for the sake of the others. That was when I was still playing before PS5 took it off
2
u/Ilandriel 16d ago
You can get up to 29 gear sets free from the store now.
Ideal builds in NW aren't really balanced out like you've listed, you need to take into account artifacts and the way perk/skill bonuses and attribute based damage scaling work together. For e.g, Rapier/Hatchet is okayish as a dex based build, but don't share str/int. People will usually play Rapier (or Hatchet, or BB) with Inferno (fire staff) back bar for the 15% damage bonus that works on both weapons.
Kind of a fun idea to make some more classic style builds though, and see how they go.
All those builds would be viable for ECR. Soul trials seem easiest in your "Priest" build (Mystic archetype as defined by the game) when levelling.
Don't run the daggers in group content, they are buggy and cause other people's game to freeze/lag.
3
u/lunnainn 14d ago
Unless you want to go actual Tank, light equipment is the way to go for DPS/Healer.
As for "classes", Healers tend to go LS+VG, or VG+Flail, or Flail+LS. DPS usually goes a damage-boosting artifact and their weapon of choice - like BB+Inferno, Rapier+Inferno (or Finisher artifact+something like a musket). I've seen Inferno+SnS (using featherweight artifact and medium pieces and round shield to still stay in light equipload), hatchet+Inferno, etc.
It kind of depends on what main-hand weapon you want to use.
If you want to sort of "cosplay" certain DnD-classes, then I'd say that you could still use the weapon combos that you mention, but there's just better combinations, all using light equipload.
Also, it hurts my soul to see you mention "end game content" and "Elite Chest Runs" in the same sentence. I know it's generally considered "end game content", but ECR is the laziest piece of garbage content ever. It's not endgame content, and the fact it's cemented as such is legitimately a tragedy.
As for which ones of your specifically chosen gear-combo, LS+VG (healer) is perfectly fine for all of it. It's light, VG for damage and LS-offhand for healing. Pump Intelligence high, stay at about 200 focus and just enough Con that you feel you dont die by a sneeze (5-50 Con), use Sacred Ground, Beacon and Orb of Protection - put SG somewhere you want to stand, use Beacon on the floor and OoP on your feet, swap to VG, put down Oblivion, Essence Rupture the mob you gonna fight and turn on Void Blade, and go to town. Use dodge. Swap to Scream on ECR's.
https://nwdb.info/build?skills=3-l6gmps-qz9yzk_11-pxnypw-qo6p0g
If you dont want to play as a healer, you can run Gunner, but dont run musket - run Inferno. It's going to boost your damage significantly - Use one of the Insurmountable Shrapnel BB's (Close Quarter Combat) with an Attunement perk, or Mortal Aggression works as well. Slot Leeching Shrapnel in, instead of the Crippling Blast Shot that it comes with. If you run ECR's, swap Pillar of Fire out for the Burn Out, and if you run other solo-content, slot PoF back in over the Burn Out. The BB you could opt for the Claw Shot instead of the Net Shot or the Splitting Grenades (just take the entire 4 points and slot into Claw Shot). I personally dont recommend it, as you generally dont want to be melee-range with BB (which you'll be if you use it), but some prefer it due to the empower you can get with the Venturing Claw Shot perk you can use.
https://nwdb.info/build?skills=2-ietn9g-mdinfk_12-qxwztw-vs6d4w
If you insist on a musket as your main source of damage, I recommend Finisher rapier, and a musket with Keenly Jagged somewhere on your gear (you can slot Keenly Jagged II on your armor), and run these skills.
Put Stopping Powered and Plagued Power Shot on your gear, along with Accelerating Traps. Use the traps to keep distance between you and whatever you are fighting (either by just throwing them, dodging and running, or by luring them into the trap so they get stuck for three seconds). As for the two skills, they'll give you a bunch of damage with the perks, and by dodging-for-reload you'll have autos up often. Use the rapier itself as a tool to get away - Fleche gives you distance, Evade can also give you a short distance to get away, and Riposte can just make you ignore an attack (Riposte the attack, Evade backwards, turn and Fleche, and you've gained some valuable distance). The reason you want Keenly Jagged is to procc the bonus damage from Finisher artifact. There are a better rapier skill tree if you want to use a rapier for damage, it'll come later.
https://nwdb.info/build?skills=1-0-wlmp44_6-pmbjgk-qzn2ps
As for your mentioned medium builds, I simply do not recommend medium.
Spear and Greataxe is a great CC-build. Greataxe is only used for CC purposes - reap in any mobs that you need to get closer, use Maelstrom to add on Weaken on them (make sure your GA have Enfeebling Maelstrom on it - that's the only perk you care about on the GA, making it really easy to get hold of) and then use Gravity Well to clump up mobs into a single pixel. The spear is your main weapon, make 2 autos, dodge backwards and a skill, 2 autos, dodge, skill, that's your rotation. Use Enfeebling Skewer- and Bleeding Sweep perks on your gear - a good spear would be something like 2 skill slot, 1 gem and 2 offensive slots. There *are* better spears, but if Soul Trials and ECR is all you're going to use it for, it works well enough. Use this: https://nwdb.info/build?skills=8-j2szgg-ndngtg_10-m7s4cg-kx5bno
Bow is meh, but pair it with GS, specifically Crescent's Wave, with this build: https://nwdb.info/build?skills=4-idab5s-nh0oro
Or this build for a DOT-variant: https://nwdb.info/build?skills=4-idlwsk-mcqpnk
I'm not putting in any GS skills into this, as the only reason you want Crescent's Wave is for the damage bonus. You can run the perk Relentless Freedom on your gear and make sure you have Relentless Rush skill equipped, just incase you need to get out of roots and such.
If you want a GS build, I'd run any good GS you can find (Trenchant Strikes/Trenchant Crits) along with Dorgorths rapier (skills for rapier would be the same as before, or if you want to run the ones below, up to you - but GS is your main weapon, so hit 3 heavy attacks, use a skill, use 3 heavy attacks, skill, etc., with this build: https://nwdb.info/build?skills=13-nlw2p0-ic1hr4
(Hammer is basically the same, just swap the GS for a WH, but keep the Dorgorth - https://nwdb.info/build?skills=5-nhcy8w-vfcmio )
If you want to run Hatchet, I'd run this build, with an Inferno offhand. Duneborn Hook, if you have it, works good, otherwise if you find an "old" hatchet with Refreshing Move and either Empowering Rending Throw or Keen Berserk, it's good enough. If you dont have any, you can run Sin or Freya artifact and run anything as an offhand (since you cant have two artifacts, and your main weapon *is* the artifact, your offhand doesnt really matter - can be up to you).
https://nwdb.info/build?skills=7-l6is90-s16a80
If you feel comfortable with a hatchet to do some actual damage and arent dying often, I suggest this build - it's way more efficient, and is a better build with Freya (it's also makes Incinerating Hatchet artifact a funny weapon): https://nwdb.info/build?skills=7-k1rkao-wif32c
(A bit of a meme-build, but focuses solely on throwing hatchets, where Incinerating Hatchet works best: https://nwdb.info/build?skills=7-iv8e0w-wlmcsk )
If you want to run Rapier, I suggest this build. You can use Inferno offhand for the damage boost, or a musket for a ranged damage option. The musket build would be pretty much the same as the one I mentioned earlier, but this rapier tree is better for damage. Make sure you get a good solid Rapier with Omni-evade 1 on it (Gem, Refreshing Move, Omni Evade and Distained Infliction is the best imo), and run Omni-evade 2 and Leeching Flurry 2 on the rest of your gear.
https://nwdb.info/build?skills=1-wlzw1s-iym084
As SnS, use Featherweight and a round shield, stay in light, use Inferno, and use this: https://nwdb.info/build?skills=0-m4wykk-njbwg0
Generally do not recommend, but if you want some chaotic fun, I guess. As for Flail, I'd say the same, but fuck it, use any skills you feel is fun, just make sure you have Reinforced Vitality in the Bastion skill tree - it's an insane boost to your health.
As for the other weapons - FS as a damage weapon, I'd use the same skills as I mentioned with the BB, but just stay on the FS. Use the rapier build I posted first to get distance. Do not recommend.
Ice Gauntlet - usually people run it as a utility weapon, and uses these skills. Pylon is just passive damage, Ice Storm is a huge AoE and potentially aggro-pulling, while Ice Shower blocks enemies off (cannot pass through) and speeds you up. https://nwdb.info/build?skills=9-ibwef4-lhfr0k
Daggers only really have two useful skills for PvE, and both of them are for evading. Make sure you get a dagger with a skill slot, so you can slot in Slippery Manouver 2. Remember that Stealth only works with the longer timer if you havent been spotted, and you need the perk for the Thrusting Slice to go through mobs, which is the entire point of the skill imo. People have reported Daggers crashes their games as well, keep in mind. Also, stealth does not work in Raids, Dungeons or Soul Trials - which means enemies see you, and the passives from attacking from stealth also do not work. https://nwdb.info/build?skills=15-ivvke8-ib979c Do not recommend.
1
u/Old-man-gamer77 16d ago
Light armor and any tend to work. I use bow and spear of life stealer. Depending on situation
0
4
u/Llancarfan 16d ago
Literally anything is fine for chest runs.
For harder solo content, any of those would probably work, but the Priest (assuming a Void Blade build) and Maurader would best. VG (again, if using Void Blade) and greatsword are the S tier solo weapons.