Great Axe PvP Builds for New World

In PvP, the Great Axe is known for its damage output and strong abilities. It is most commonly seen in builds paired with a War Hammer to play as a medium or light Bruiser. While it is mainly known for playing in the front lines, it can be paired with a variety of other weapons for interesting dive damage builds in light armor, and it can be adapted to medium variants too. It does not matter what type of PvP content you are in, there is a very high chance there will be a Great Axe. It is a weapon that is easy to learn and very forgiving, but it can be hard to learn how to synergize it with a second weapon. Nonetheless, this is a strong counterpart to any melee build.

Please note: Bruisers (Great Axe and War Hammer) builds are the most commonlyused builds for 50v50 wars. If you are interested in participating in wars as a DPS player, utilizing the Melee Bruiser build below will put you in a strong position to get slotted.

This is the standard melee build in New World: Aeternum. This is one of the most commonly played setups, and is the most commonly seen build in large-scale PvP modes (such as Wars). It is very defensive in any armor weight, has a plethora of crowd control options, and has incredible damage output on single targets or in an AoE scenario. This is a great build for beginners, and those eager to get into wars.

• Wrecking Ball
• Shockwave
• Path Of Destiny

• Charge or Whirlwind
• Maelstrom or Reap
• Gravity Well

This is a very unique, yet fun build that utilizes the The Abyss Great Axe artifact, which scales directly with intelligence, allowing users to use the Void Gauntlet as a secondary weapon. This build is considered a "chase" build, as you will be able to chase down your opponents, and deal a great amount of burst damage to quickly take them down, and take a step back to recover to rinse and repeat.

This build is fun for 3v3 arenas, Outpost Rush matches, and open-world PvP, but is not recommended for wars due to how vulnerable it is. This can be considered a form of a "Glass Cannon" build, meaning that's it's focused on dishing off as much damage as possible.

• Petrifying Scream
• Void Blade
• Baleful Tether

• Charge
• Reap
• Execute

This is an extremely fun build that is most effective for large-scaled open world PvP and Outpost Rush matches. By utilizing the Tempest Fury Great Axe artifact, you will be able to create a true spin-to-win build in New World: Aeternum. This artifact grants you a range of unique perks, including Momentum, where succesful attacks gain 3% movement speed for 3s (stacking up to 10 times), and Endless Spin, which makes the Whirlwind ability continuously spin up to 12 times (even without hitting an enemy).

This build is most effective when paired with the War Hammer, and is very, very fun when done correctly. If you are within a group that has a healer, it will be extremely difficult for your enemies to take you down due to the consistent stacks of fortify being applied to yourself every time you spin.

With the War Hammer as your secondary weapon, you'll be able to control the groups of enemies surrounding you by stunning them or knocking them back with certain abilities, as well as utilizing the Path Of Destiny ability with its weapon perk to regain health if needed.

The video above shares a deep-dive on the specific attributes, gears, and combos needed to pull this build off.

Please note: It is extremely important to utilize the Tempest Fury artifact weapon for this build to be most effective. Without this artifact, this build will not be as effective.

• Charge
• Whirlwind
• Maelstrom

• Shockwave
• Wrecking Ball
• Path Of Destiny

This is a great build for diving into backlines and being able to setup clumps of enemies and then follow it up with high burst damage. It has great AoE and fantastic single target, an arsenal of ways to keep enemies close and chase them down, but it lacks hard crowd-control like stuns and knockdowns. It is best played in light armor, but can be a medium armor option if adapted properly.

• Relentless Rush
• Skyward Slash
• Steadfast Strike

• Charge
• Reap
• Gravity Well

This is another great build for diving into backlines and being able to setup clumps of enemies and then follow it up with high burst AoE damage. It excels with its single-target crowd-control thanks to the CC chains you can take advantage of on the Sword and Shield. You can be an absolute menace to healers or other priority targets, and you have many options for mobility. While it does not have the highest burst damage, it can still be used to pick up quick kills and chase down anyone who has low health.

Leaping Strike

Shield Rush

Shield Bash

• Charge
• Reap
• Gravity Well