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The War Hammer is a powerful two-handed weapon in New World, Amazon's take on the MMO genre. This heavy weapon is a valuable asset for tanky players, as well as well-balanced for PVP and PVE content. It deals immense damage, can stun enemies with ease, and works as a great taunt weapon for tanks.

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If you love getting into the thick of combat, you'll want to give the War Hammer a try for your next build. This guide covers the best attribute points to use for the War Hammer, which weapon to pair it with for a successful build, and the masteries that suit each build the best.

Updated February 11, 2024, by Sean Murray: War Hammers mostly lend themselves to tank builds, which this guide details. We've also updated this guide with our current formatting and given it more links to other helpful New World topics.

Best War Hammer Build - The Tank

New World war hammer

We've covered a Tank build in-depth here, but there's no doubt that the War Hammer does favor a more tanky, Strength build. Here are the best masteries for the different styles of play.

Tank Masteries

PVP Masteries

Clear Out

Armor Breaker

Shockwave

Mighty Gavel

Path Of Destiny

Shockwave

In terms of armor, you can opt for a balanced heavy/medium armor comp. For PVP duels, it pays to have that extra mobility, although for the endgame PVE and large PVP battles, you might want to lean heavily into heavy armor to keep you alive in tricky situations.

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PvE And Leveling Tank Build

New World crowd crusher war hammer

The War Hammer excels at PvE thanks to its powerful AoE attacks. Both the Crowd Crusher and Juggernaut tree provide plenty in terms of scaling damage, and you'll make short work of large groups of enemies, even though the weapon attacks slowly.

This makes a great choice for Expeditions and for solo leveling.

Best Masteries For The War Hammer In PvE

There is a lot of freedom when it comes to picking masteries for the War Hammer. This suggested build makes use of the Crowd Crusher tree predominantly, but the Juggernaut tree - especially the Armor Breaker and its subsequent debuff passives - has its own strengths.

Skill

Effect

Recommended Masteries

Clear Out

  • Description: A wide swing that knocks enemies 4m back, dealing 115% weapon damage.

  • Power Cleaner: Grants you and nearby allies 10% Fortify for 6 seconds on hit.
  • Swing Away: Gain 30% increased movement speed for 3 seconds on hit.

Shockwave

  • Description: Slam the Hammer into the ground, creating a 3m earthquake that deals 80% weapon damage.
    • Targets hit are stunned for 2 seconds.
    • Taunt Gem Compatible: Hit targets are taunted for 6 seconds.

  • Frailty: Shockwave inflicts Weaken, reducing the damage of enemies by 10% for 10 seconds.
  • Meteoric Crater: Shockwave's radius is increased to 4m.

Path of Destiny

  • Description: Create a linear wave of energy, dealing 110% weapon damage to targets in the path.

  • Seismic Waves: Path of Destiny now staggers targets.
  • Stimulated Reduction: Each enemy hit by Path of Destiny reduces ability cooldowns by 5%.

Clear Out is the first active skill you pick up and is an essential skill. When used, you swing the War Hammer in front of you, knocking enemies back by four meters while dealing 115% weapon damage. It's great for making space and for getting out of a swarm of enemies.

Shockwave is another essential skill for a tank War Hammer build, especially because it is compatible with taunt gems to draw enemies toward you and away from your allies. It will stun enemies and with the second passive, Frailty, it will also inflict a Weakness debuff.

Path of Destiny is a brilliant PvE ability. It has no limit on how many enemies it can hit, and with the final mastery passive, Stimulated Reduction, you can get a serious cooldown buff if you land a hit against multiple enemies. Though this suggested build is dominated by the Crowd Crusher tree, you can experiment with the Juggernaut side of things, as well.

Other recommended abilities for the War Hammer include:

  • Mighty Gavel: this ability scales massively with its damage passives and is a key part of the Juggernaut tree.
  • Armor Breaker: debuffs galore, ideal if you're playing a more support tank role.

While leveling, consider pairing the War Hammer with the following weapons:

  • Bow: Gives a ton of movement speed and ranged DPS capabilities.
  • Hatchet: Allows you to dish out more damage and utilize Berserk during intense skirmishes.
  • Great Axe: Provides a good mix of crowd control and sustain that pairs nicely with the War Hammer.
  • Life Staff: Most Life Staff buffs persist when you swap weapons, making you virtually unkillable while leveling.

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Balanced War Hammer Build For PvP Tanking

New World pvp build war hammer

The War Hammer is not an easy weapon to use in PVP. Used correctly, you have a lot of CC and potential damage, but the slowness of the weapon and the lack of abilities that can close space between you and the enemy makes it difficult to use, especially for single-target PVP. Here's a suggested build to make it a little easier.

Skill

Effect

Recommended Masteries

Armor Breaker

  • Description: A powerful swing that penetrates 35% of the target's armor and deals 140% weapon damage.

  • Lasting Trauma: Armor Breaker reduces the target's damage absorption by 15% for 10 seconds.
  • Opening Act: Increases Armor Breaker's damage by 15% against targets at full health.

Wrecking Ball

  • Description: Strike the ground, dealing 120% weapon damage and throwing enemies to the ground.

  • Safety Measures: Gain 20% Fortify for 4 seconds on hit.
  • Breathing Room: All targets within 1.5m of the target hit are also thrown to the ground.

Clear Out

  • Description: A wide swing that knocks enemies 4m back, dealing 115% weapon damage.

  • Power Cleaner: Grants you and nearby allies 10% Fortify for 6 seconds on hit.
  • Swing Away: Gain 30% increased movement speed for 3 seconds on hit.

Armor Breaker is ideal for slicing through defensive enemies, and is the tank's method of taking down another tank. It penetrates armor and the second perk, Indomitable, adds Grit to the attack, which means it is unstoppable by block.

Wrecking Ball's CC is better for PVP than PvE, as it "flattens" the enemy in place for a short time. If you manage to land a successful Wrecking Ball the opponent will be held in place, which means you can hopefully land some extra heavy attacks or an Armor Breaker.

Clear Out is a valuable ability for PvE and PvP. The CC from the knockback can pin your enemy in place.

You have the option to play a more support-orientated role in large-scale PVP battles. Armor Breaker is the key ability for this kind of role. Both the Great Axe and War Hammer synergize well together, making this a powerful PvP loadout if you can close the gap.

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War Hammer And Sword And Shield

New World Sword And Shield

This is the build we discussed in our tank build guide, and it makes sense to pair the heavy CC of the War Hammer with the defensive abilities of the Sword, particularly under the shield's Defender tree.

Best Masteries For The War Hammer

New World pvp build war hammer

Skill

Effect

Recommended Masteries

Armor Breaker

  • Description: A powerful swing that penetrates 35% of the target's armor and deals 140% weapon damage.

  • Lasting Trauma: Armor Breaker reduces the target's damage absorption by 15% for 10 seconds.
  • Opening Act: Increases Armor Breaker's damage by 15% against targets at full health.

Clear Out

  • Description: A wide swing that knocks enemies 4m back, dealing 115% weapon damage.

  • Power Cleaner: Clear Out reduces the damage your allies take by 10% for 4 seconds.
  • Swing Away: Gain Haste on hit, granting 30% movement speed for 3 seconds.

Shockwave

  • Description: Slam your Hammer into the ground, creating a 3m AoE that deals 80% weapon damage and stuns for 2 seconds.
    • Taunt Gem Compatible: Hit targets are taunted for 6 seconds.

  • Frailty: Hit targets deal 10% reduces damage for 10 seconds.
  • Meteoric Crater: Shockwave's AoE is now 4m.

We'll be focusing heavily on the War Hammer abilities that debuff and stun targets, making this a fantastic back bar weapon for tanks.

Best Masteries For The Sword And Shield

New World Sword Tank Setup

Skill

Effect

Recommended Masteries

Shield Bash

  • Description: Deal 50% weapon damage and stun targets in front of you for 2 seconds.
    • Taunt Gem Compatible: Hit targets are taunted for 6 seconds.

  • Intimidating Bash: Shield Bash generates more threat and deals 100% more damage.
  • Concussive Bash: Shield Bash's stun now lasts for 3 seconds.

Defiant Stance

  • Description: For 8 seconds, reducing incoming base damage by 30%.
    • Taunt Gem Compatible: Enemies within 8m are taunted for 6 seconds.

  • Final Count Down: If your health is above 50%: damage reduction increased by 20%.
  • Restoration: Gain 15% of your max health when Defiant Stance ends.

Shield Rush

  • Description: Rush forward 5m, knocking back foes and dealing 125.4% weapon damage.

  • Improved Rush: Hit enemies deal 10% reduced damage for 4 seconds.
  • Intimidating Rush: On hit, all enemies within 5m are slowed by 30% for 4 seconds.

The entire purpose of a tank build is to draw enemies away from your main damage dealers and healers. The taunt-compatible Shield Bash and Shield Rush are essential for this. Shield Rush also provides that extra bit of mobility that the War Hammer seriously lacks on its own.

If you're interested in learning more about each Sword and Shield ability, consult our best tank builds guide.

Best Attributes And Gear

  • Attribute: Constitution
  • Armor: Heavy

You can't be an effective tank without speccing heavily into Constitution, increasing your character's HP and other defensive capabilities through point thresholds. If you have enough points through high-level armor, consider investing points into Strength.

As for armor, heavy is the way to go for tank builds, granting an immense amount of damage reduction. For gear, you're looking for anything that increases your character's threat or reduces your cooldowns.

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War Hammer And The Bow

New-World-sword-and-shield-at-the-start-of-the-game-1

This is a PVP build that some players experimented with during the closed beta. It's tricky to use, mostly because it blends the roles of a tank with a more evasive or duelist type of play.

Best Masteries For The War Hammer

New World pvp build war hammer

Skill

Effect

Recommended Masteries

Armor Breaker

  • Description: A powerful swing that penetrates 35% of the target's armor and deals 140% weapon damage.

  • Lasting Trauma: Armor Breaker reduces the target's damage absorption by 15% for 10 seconds.
  • Opening Act: Increases Armor Breaker's damage by 15% against targets at full health.

Wrecking Ball

  • Description: Strike the ground, dealing 120% weapon damage and throwing enemies to the ground.

  • Safety Measures: Gain 20% Fortify for 4 seconds on hit.
  • Breathing Room: All targets within 1.5m of the target hit are also thrown to the ground.

Clear Out

  • Description: A wide swing that knocks enemies 4m back, dealing 115% weapon damage.

  • Power Cleaner: Grants you and nearby allies 10% Fortify for 6 seconds on hit.
  • Swing Away: Gain 30% increased movement speed for 3 seconds on hit.

We'll be using the PvP War Hammer setup we mentioned earlier for this build. It provides excellent crowd control and outputs an immense amount of damage.

Best Masteries For The Bow

New World bow and war hammer

Skill

Effect

Recommended Masteries

Evade Shot

  • Description: Leap back 5m and shoot an arrow, dealing 125% weapon damage.

  • Evasive Knockback: Evade Shot causes 2m of knockback.
  • Go the Distance: Move 15% faster for 5 seconds after using Evade Shot.

Rain of Arrows

  • Description: Shoot a barrage of arrows 7m wide that deals 150% weapon damage.

  • Barbed Arrows: Rain of Arrows causes bleeding, dealing 85% weapon damage over 12 seconds. Caps at x3 stacks.
  • Hooked Arrows: Rain of Arrows slows targets by 15% for 4 seconds on hit.

Penetrating Shot

  • Description: Shoot an arrow that deals 150% weapon damage and passes through targets.
    • Continues up to 100 meters.

  • Blood Soaked Arrow: Deals 10% increased damage for each hit (caps at 50%).
  • Deep Strike: Penetrating Shot deals 20% more damage to targets 20m or more away.

Evade Shot is the key mobility skill, and it's one of the best to use during single-target PVP. Being able to disengage works wonders for the War Hammer, especially as you can back off and wait for your CC cooldowns to recover.

Rain of Arrows is useful because of its bleed and slow when you max out its mastery tree. Throw this ability down whenever you need to deal some solid AoE damage.

Penetrating Shot is a great opener in PVP. If you manage to land the shot, it'll deal massive damage—especially if it's traveled a long distance before hitting the target.

We also want to include Poison Shot as a valuable option for any Bow build. It's an incredibly powerful ability in PVP, especially with the number of Great Axe warriors we saw charging around. Create a Poison cloud in front of you, and you'll be able to zone aggressive players.

Best Attributes And Gear

  • Attribute: Strength
  • Gear: Medium

Since this build focuses on using your War Hammer, you'll want to focus on increasing your Strength. This does mean that your Bow is going to be weak, but you're using it mostly as a mobility tool at this point.

For armor, we recommend medium since it strikes a great balance between defense and mobility. You can also run light if you love fast-rolling, or you can run heavy if you want longer stuns. For perks, you want anything that enhances any of the abilities tied to this build and grants cooldown reduction.

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War Hammer And Great Axe

new world

This is an incredibly popular build during the open beta that still sees frequent use today. The crowd control provided by both weapons is something to marvel at, making this an excellent build for PvE and PvP content.

Best Masteries For The War Hammer

New World Great Axe Hammer Tree

Skill

Effect

Recommended Masteries

Armor Breaker

  • Description: A powerful swing that penetrates 35% of the target's armor and deals 140% weapon damage.

  • Lasting Trauma: Armor Breaker reduces the target's damage absorption by 15% for 10 seconds.
  • Opening Act: Increases Armor Breaker's damage by 15% against targets at full health.

Wrecking Ball

  • Description: Strike the ground, dealing 120% weapon damage and throwing enemies to the ground.

  • Safety Measures: Gain 20% Fortify for 4 seconds on hit.
  • Breathing Room: All targets within 1.5m of the target hit are also thrown to the ground.

Mighty Gavel

  • Description: An overhead leaping attack that deals 160% weapon damage.

  • Summary Judgment: Mighty Gavel deals 20% increased damage to targets under 30% HP.
  • Expedite: After a successful Mighty Gavel attack, gain 30% movement speed for 3 seconds.

This setup focuses heavily on dealing as much damage as possible, allowing you to reduce enemy armor with Armor Breaker while dealing some absurd finisher damage with Mighty Gavel. Use Wrecking Ball to create space between you and your opponents.

Best Masteries For The Great Axe

New World Hammer Great Axe Tree

Skill

Effect

Recommended Masteries

Reap

  • Description: Extend your axe 5m to pull foes toward you, dealing 110% weapon damage.
    • Taunt Gem Compatible: Enemies you hit are taunted for 4 seconds.

  • Hunger: Reap heals you for 30% of damage dealt.
  • Fatal Attraction: After you pull a target, perform a spin attack that deals 115% weapon damage.

Charge

  • Description: Charge 10m, dealing 120% weapon damage when you reach the target or press LMB.
    • Cannot be interrupted while using Charge.

  • Frenzied Momentum: Charge deals 120-140% weapon damage based on how far you traveled.

Gravity Well

  • Description: Create a 10m vortex that pulls targets to its center for 3 seconds.
    • The vortex explodes after 3 seconds, dealing 125% weapon damage.

  • Crowded Well: Increase burst damage by 10% for each enemy in the vortex.
  • Unyielding: Allies gain 10% Fortify while in the vortex.

As for specific skills, you can replace Gravity Well with Maelstorm if you prefer its CC capabilities. Ultimately, most of your points should go into the Reaper tree to enhance your damage.

This build is the ideal combination for PVP. The War Hammer and Great Axe collectively provide some of the best one-v-one CC in the game. As long as you can close the gap with a ranged or duelist character—the Axe helps with this—then you will be able to chunk down the opponent's HP.

You have options for solo leveling, PVP tanking during sieges, or specializing in a build that works well in Duels. The Mighty Gavel ability for the War Hammer pairs well with the CC of the Great Axe. This is an all-around build that is super fun to use.

Best Attribute And Gear

  • Attribute: Strength and Constitution
  • Armor: Heavy

Strength is your main attribute for this build, which is fitting since you're wielding two massive weapons. Both weapons will deal more damage as you invest in Strength, so get your Strength attribute as high as possible.

If you can, also try to put a few points into Constitution to stay alive during 1vX situations. For armor, heavy is the way to go. It provides excellent damage mitigation and extends the duration of your CC effects. Any perks that enhance your abilities, cooldowns, and critical effects are recommended.

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In Closing

If you want to experiment with your own builds, you can use NewWorldFans—the same platform we used to show these builds off to you. You can also check out some of our other build guides here:

New World Complete Guide
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New World: Complete Guide And Walkthrough
This guide hub for New World includes links to the best builds in the game, the best weapons, and other general news and updates.