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New World's Musket is one of the best PvP weapons in the game, as long as you can hit your shots. The weapon is practically hitscan, which means there is no bullet drop. It's definitely preferred in PvP over PvE, even if the current meta is more Bow heavy rather than the Musket.

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Muskets dish out great damage, are hit-scan, and can even be used to apply a solid amount of crowd control (referred to as CC). 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 builds in New World.

Updated February 16, 2024, by Sean Murray: You don't bring a knife to a gunfight, which is why you should definitely learn all you can about New World's Musket builds. That's why we've refreshed this guide to have our newest formatting and also given it links to other helpful New World topics.

Fundamentals Of The Musket

new world fort battle

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

  • The Musket relies heavily on hitting headshots or crowd control. Passives either focus on headshots or stunning targets, so be mindful of which tree you focus on.
  • 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.
  • Light Armor pairs nicely with the Musket. Extra mobility is crucial. You shouldn't be taking any damage anyway, so the extra defense shouldn't be an issue unless you're using an aggressive melee weapon like the Hatchet.
  • The Musket is really only used for PvP. You can use it in PvE, but in most cases, the Bow outperforms it.
  • Muskets really do tend to get focused during OPR and Wars, because getting pinged with hit scan headshot damage can feel pretty bad. You'll need to stay on your toes with plenty of potions.

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The Best Musket Builds In New World

New World musket and zombie

Every Musket build in New World requires that you focus on one of two trees:

  1. Sharpshooter: Focuses on headshots and rapid reloading.
    • One of the skills applies a powerful burn debuff.
  2. Trapper: Focuses on crowd control and debuffs.
    • Passives give movement speed and bonus damage.

There are quite a few Musket builds that use either tree, and most builds take at least a few passives from each tree. Sharpshooter is known for the Sharpshooter's Stance ability, and Trapper is known for the Traps ability. The former focuses on damage output, while the latter is focused on crowd control.

We'll be looking at three builds that take full advantage of both playstyles.

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Musket And Rapier Build

New World rapier

The Musket and Rapier are an iconic duo in the New World meta. They both scale off of Dexterity, deal great base damage, and can synergize with each other if you use the right masteries. You'll have great mobility, DoT damage, and can damage targets from any distance. Let's dig into the various skills and passives you'll be using to dominate your opponents.

Thanks to NewWorldFans for the images of the different mastery trees. You can visit the site to try out builds of your own.

Best Masteries For The Musket

New World Musket Tree

Skill

Effect

Recommended Masteries

Shooter's Stance

  • Description: Crouch in place, reducing the reload time of your next three shots by 75%.
    • Each shot deals 100% weapon damage.
  • None

Powder Burn

  • Description: Your next shot deals 110% weapon damage and burns the target.
    • Burn deals 20% weapon damage per second for 9 seconds.
    • Does not stack with other overload shot effects.
  • Backdraft: Standard Musket shots deal 12% increased damage against targets on fire.
  • Chronic Trauma: If Power Burn is a headshot, extend the burn duration to 13 seconds.

Traps

  • Description: Throw a bear trap that lasts for 20 seconds. Enemies that stand on the trap are immobilized for 3 seconds.
  • Trapped Damage: Trapped targets take 20% increased damage for 3 seconds.
  • Scent of Blood: 100% of weapon damage done to trapped targets is gained as HP.

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. Empowering Shooter's Stance is ideal.
  • Powder Burn - Your next shot 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. Crippling Powder Burn is a great perk for this.
  • Traps - The main hallmark of this build, Traps are amazing for a solo player. Open with a Shooter's Stance, use 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.
  • Take the Sniper capstone. It's very, very strong, especially for getting off those powerful headshots before engaging properly.

Powder Burn and Shooter's Stance are pretty solid meta choices for the Musket, but you can experiment with the third ability.

Best Masteries For The Rapier

new world rapier tree

Skill

Effect

Recommended Masteries

Tondo

  • Description: Slash targets in a 5m arc, dealing 50% weapon damage and inflicting bleed.
    • Bleed deals 85% weapon damage over 12 seconds.
    • Bleed stacks x3.
  • Thirst for Blood: Applying the first bleed stack to someone with Tondo immediately resets its cooldown.
  • Proper Spacing: While 4m away from the target, Tondo deals 100% more direct damage.

Riposte

  • Description: While in this stance, the next hit you take will deal no damage and stun the target.
    • Taunt Gem Compatible: All enemies in 5m are taunted for 4 seconds.
    • You're briefly invulnerable after a successful Riposte.
  • Insult to Injury: Your attacks are uninterruptible for 3 seconds after a successful Riposte.
  • Lasting Consequence: Riposte stuns last 2 seconds longer.

Evade

  • Description: Sidestep in a certain direction, becoming invulnerable during the animation.
    • Light attacks made during Evade are performed much faster.
  • Allegro: Gain 20% movement speed for 3 seconds on use.
  • Crescendo: Individual successful light attacks reduce Evade's cooldown by 30% each.

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, dealing 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. Riposte is 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 a Bow or a Musket. You can evade, sidestep, dodge, etc., until you're a long enough distance away to survive.

The Rapier is primarily used as a defensive tool during Wars and OPR, as you will be focused by backline sweepers trying to clear out the Musket players. This is why we also recommend trying out Fleche instead of Tondo for that extra defensive mobility.

Best Attributes And Gear

  • Attribute: Dexterity (300), Intelligence (100+, 150 is ideal), Constitution (Max 50)
  • Armor: Light

The Musket and Rapier's damage both scale with Dexterity. For the purpose of this combo, you will want to stack as many points into Dexterity as you can. Aim to hit 300 points in total. You can use a Dexterity food, like Filet in Mushroom Sauce, to really max out your Dex points.

At this point, you have the option to scale into Constitution for more health or Intelligence for more damage. As for armor, light armor is necessary for mobility. For gear, you'll want to look for items that increase your important attributes and give perks that enhance any of the skills listed above.

The full 300 Dexterity and 150 Intelligence build for the Musket is an incredibly powerful glass cannon. Pair this with Attunement and Mortal Empowerment (perks for your gear and weapons) and you have one of the strongest builds for OPR and Wars.

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Musket And Fire Staff Build

New WOrld fire staff

Dominate opponents from range with the Musket and Fire Staff combo. Thanks to gems, you'll be able to focus mostly on Intelligence to scale the damage of both weapons. So long as you can keep your distance from foes, you'll be dishing out an absurd amount of damage without much effort.

Best Masteries For The Musket

New World Fire Staff Musket Setup

Skill

Effect

Recommended Masteries

Sticky Bomb

  • Description: Throw an explosive that sticks to surfaces. It detonates after 3 seconds, dealing 175% weapon damage in a 3m radius.
  • Unflinching Walk: Gain 40 stamina when Sticky Bomb damages a target.
  • Sticky Slow: Sticking someone with Sticky Bomb inflicts a 15% slow on them for 3 seconds.

Powder Burn

  • Description: Your next shot deals 110% weapon damage and burns the target.
    • Burn deals 20% weapon damage per second for 9 seconds.
    • Does not stack with other overload shot effects.
  • Backdraft: Standard Musket shots deal 12% increased damage against targets on fire.
  • Chronic Trauma: If Power Burn is a headshot, extend the burn duration to 13 seconds.

Traps

  • Description: Throw a bear trap that lasts for 20 seconds. Enemies that stand on the trap are immobilized for 3 seconds.
  • Trapped Damage: Trapped targets take 20% increased damage for 3 seconds.
  • Scent of Blood: 100% of weapon damage done to trapped targets is gained as HP.

This setup is focused on debuffs and crowd control. We'll be using three skills: Traps, Powder Burn, and Sticky Bomb.

You'll want to start every engagement by placing a Trap. This will root the target, allowing you to throw a Sticky Bomb and swap to your Fire Staff to cast some powerful AoE spells.

  • Sticky Bomb - An odd choice on the surface, this bomb deals excellent damage over a small AoE and slows anyone you stick. Since you'll be throwing this at trapped targets, anyone that survives your alpha strike will have a hard time escaping.
  • Powder Burn - We're using this to apply a powerful burn DoT onto the target. Inflict this debuff whenever you can.
  • Traps - This is the star of the show. You can throw two traps at a time, each rooting a target in place for a short time. Any damage you deal to the trapped target will heal you, so focus all of your attention on trapped targets.
  • Take the Lethal Combo capstone. When you can't damage enemies with your Fire Staff, the bonus Musket damage from Lethal Combo will help your DPS out.

Best Masteries For The Fire Staff

New World Fire Staff Tree w Musket Combo Alt

Skill

Effect

Recommended Masteries

Pillar of Fire

  • Description: A targeted spell that deals 134% weapon damage.
  • First Strike: Enemies at full health take 40% more damage from Pillar of Fire.
  • Arson's Advantage: Gain 10% of your max mana per enemy hit by Pillar of Fire.

Fireball

  • Description: Launch a projectile that deals 140% weapon damage and leaves burning ground on impact.
    • Burning ground deals 10% weapon damage per second. The ground lasts for 6 seconds.
  • Scorched Earth: Burning ground lasts for 9 seconds.
  • Catch: Direct hits with Fireball restore 10% mana and reduce Fire Staff cooldowns by 7%.

Burn Out

  • Description: Dash through targets, dealing 129% weapon damage and inflicting burn.
    • Burn deals 10% weapon damage per second for 8 seconds.
  • All In: Fire Staff cooldowns are reduced by 5% for each enemy hit with Burn Out.
  • Heat It Up! Burn Out travels 50% further.

This tree is a little strange when compared to other Fire Staff meta builds, but this combo allows you to dish out some absurd damage to trapped targets. You also have a fairly high critical chance with your fire spells and have incredible mana sustain. You'll be using Pillar of Fire, Fireball, and Burn Out as your main skills.

  • Pillar of Fire - This deals excellent damage over a small area and recovers your mana. What more could you ask for?
  • Fireball - Fireball deals immense damage against trapped targets, dealing high impact damage and good tick damage through the burning ground.
  • Burn Out - Use this to reposition or damage a tight group of enemies. You can also replace Burn Out with Incinerate if you need more damage and sources of burn.
  • Grab the Reheat capstone. When you switch to your Musket, your mana will regenerate very quickly.

Best Attributes And Gear

  • Attribute: Intelligence
  • Armor: Light

Intelligence will scale your Fire Staff damage and give a small boost to your Musket damage. You'll want to equip an Intelligence gem on your Musket to further its scaling with Intelligence, increasing your damage output tremendously. For armor, light is a good option since you'll be far away from harm and have excellent mobility.

As for perks, focus on getting a Fire Staff with critical stats and armor that reduces your ability cooldowns. Any perks that enhance your abilities are good too.

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Musket And Hatchet Build

It's no secret that the Hatchet is one of the strongest weapons in New World. But what if you pair that beast of a weapon with a good ranged weapon like the Musket? The result is one of the most reliable builds in New World, capable of shutting down enemies from any distance with ease. Rush into the fray with your Hatchet, or stay back and land multiple headshots to thin the herd.

Best Masteries For The Musket

New World Hatchet Musket Tree

Skill

Effect

Recommended Masteries

Shooter's Stance

  • Description: Crouch in place, reducing the reload time of your next three shots by 75%.
    • You can't move while in this stance.
    • Each shot deals 100% weapon damage.
  • Shoot More: Shooter's Stance applies to 5 shots now.
  • Marksman: If 3 consecutive shots hit the same target, reduce all other Musket cooldowns by 25%.

Powder Burn

  • Description: Your next shot deals 110% weapon damage and burns the target.
    • Burn deals 20% weapon damage per second for 9 seconds.
    • Does not stack with other overload shot effects.
  • Backdraft: Standard Musket shots deal 12% increased damage against targets on fire.
  • Chronic Trauma: If Power Burn is a headshot, extend the burn duration to 13 seconds.

Traps

  • Description: Throw a bear trap that lasts for 20 seconds. Enemies that stand on the trap are immobilized for 3 seconds.
  • Trapped Damage: Trapped targets take 20% increased damage for 3 seconds.
  • Scent of Blood: 100% of weapon damage done to trapped targets is gained as HP.

This setup allows you to deal some absurd damage from a distance, rooting targets before landing five quick headshots. You'll need Shooter's Stance, Powder Burn, and 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 - Your next five shots reload much faster, allowing you to deal some absurd burst DPS against a stationary target. Root an enemy with your Trap skill, then unload your Musket rounds into them.
  • Powder Burn - When you can't trap and use Shooter Stance to kill something, use Powder Burn to inflict a powerful ignite on the target for a few seconds.
  • Traps - Use this on a player or tough enemy to root them. Any damage you deal to them is increased and heals you, making this an absurdly good sustain skill.
  • Take the Sniper capstone. When you get used to the zoom, you'll be able to chain headshots with little issue.

Best Masteries For The Hatchet

New World Hatchet Berserker Tree

Skill

Effect

Recommended Masteries

Berserk

  • Description: Gain 20% attack damage for 12 seconds.
    • Taunt Gem Compatible: Taunt all enemies within 8m for 8 seconds.
    • Swapping weapons ends Berserk early.
  • On the Hunt: Move 20% faster while in Berserk.
  • Uninterruptible Berserk: While in Berserk, you cannot be interrupted or staggered.

Feral Rush

  • Description: Leap forward, attacking twice with your Hatchet.
    • The first attack deals 115% weapon damage.
    • The second attack deals 130% weapon damage.
  • Dispatch: Feral Rush deals 20% more damage to targets under 30% HP.
  • Crippling Strikes: If Feral Rush hits a target's back, they become immobilized for 2 seconds.

Raging Torrent

  • Description: Attack four times in quick succession, each hit dealing 90% weapon damage.
  • Aggressive Approach: Gain 20% movement speed for 6 seconds after landing a hit.
  • Final Blow: Press light attack to attack a fifth time, dealing 120% weapon damage.

If you've used the Hatchet before, this tree shouldn't surprise you. You'll be going all-in on the Berserker tree, using Berserk, Feral Rush, and Raging Throw to dish out some absurd damage.

  • Berserk - Effectively an "I win" button, Berserk increases your damage, movement speed, heals you, and prevents you from being interrupted for 12 seconds. You can even use it out of combat to make traversal a little bit faster.
  • Feral Rush - This is your mixup tool. You can use this to leap onto enemies or to disengage. Try to hit a target's back to stun them.
  • Raging Torrent - Dish out an absurd amount of damage with this skill. Use Raging Torrent on rooted targets (Feral Rush or Traps) for the best results.
  • Grab the Defy Death capstone. If all of that wasn't enough, you can also ignore death once every 75 seconds.

If you want to see additional builds that take the Hatchet to its fullest potential, check out our best Hatchet build guide.

Best Attributes And Gear

  • Attributes: Strength and Dexterity
  • Armor: Medium

You'll want to focus on Strength and Dexterity for this build. The Hatchet scales from both, causing it to deal some absurd damage when you reach endgame. If you find yourself in melee combat more than ranged, go for more Strength. Otherwise, go for Dexterity first. For armor, we recommend medium since it strikes a good balance between damage and defense.

As for gear, you'll want anything that increases your Strength and/or Dexterity. Perks that enhance your abilities or cooldowns are always welcome.

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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.