I’ve always said that the best way to murder someone in a fantasy setting, in pixelated form, is to smash a giant axe on their head so hard that the axe-head becomes hopelessly wedged in their cranium and impossible to remove – much like the sword Excalibur in “The Sword in the Stone”.
Much like Michael Scott, this is something that I live by which has yet to steer me wrong and has been the leading contributor to every success in my life thus far. To that end, I have decided to share this success with the world, leading to part ten of the weapon mastery system for Amazon’s new MMO, New World.
If you’re unfamiliar with the series, we’re going through every weapon that is available in the game, providing all the skills, passives, and augments that are available for each weapon type and their weapon mastery. So that when the game (finally) launches, you’re not starting from scratch when it comes to planning out your Great Axe-wielding character.
Using this guide you’ll know exactly what skills you should prioritize and which ones you’re going to have to pass up when it comes to your specific build.
If you’re wondering what statistical investment you’re going to need to follow to make the best of your Great Axe character, the weapon benefits only from your strength stat. As such, it pairs well with other weapons that do the same, so you don’t waste attributes diluting your character with other stat contributions. Given this, I’m going to recommend pairing it with the Hatchet which also benefits highly from a great strength stat, and the ranged portion of the weapon will give you another method of pulling foes toward you.
Now that we’ve covered your attribute decisions, we’re going to look at the weapon mastery for the Great Axe itself. In its Skill tree, the leftmost tree is referred to as “Reaper”, and this tree focuses on dealing heavy damage to a single target, while also providing some movement and life utility. The rightmost tree is referred to as “Mauler” and this one focuses more on AoE damage; hurting crowds and inflicting some CC as well.
We’re going to take a look at the active abilities of the Reaper skill tree first, and then the augmentations that you can select along with those actives, before swapping over to the Mauler tree and doing the same, and then going over the passives for both:
Reaper
Active Skill 1: Reap
Reach your axe out 5 meters, pulling foes impacted toward you, and dealing 110.0% weapon damage.
Reap Augments:
The Collector
Reap’s range is extended to 8 meters.
Hunger
Reap gains 30.0% life-steal.
Fatal Attraction
Once the pulling has completed, finish the attack with a spin of your Great Axe and deal 115.0% weapon damage.
Active Skill 2: Charge
Charge 10 meters forward, dealing 120.0% weapon damage when you impact the target or end the charge by clicking. Charge in uninterruptible.
Charge Augments:
Frenzied Momentum
Charge gains more damage the further you travel, to a maximum of 140.0%.
Unpredictable Strike
Right-clicking during the charge animation will cause you to swing your Great Axe, dealing 140-160 weapon damage to those hit, depending on how far you traveled before swinging.
Active Skill 3: Execute – Taz’dingo, baby!
Swing the Great Axe over your head and deal 200.0% weapon damage to those hit. Damage increased to 300.0% to foes hit under half health.
Execute Augments:
Unstoppable Greed
Execute gains Grit, making it unstoppable and unblockable.
Executioner
Execute will always inflict a critical hit when hitting foes below 30.0% health.
Mauler
Active Skill 1: Maelstrom
Perform a fast swinging spin attack that pulls those around closer to you and deals 110.0% weapon damage.
Maelstrom Augments:
Storm’s Reach
Extend the range of Maelstrom by 50.0%.
Absorb
Destroy all incoming projectiles while Maelstrom is active.
No Reprieve
Adds an extra spin attack that pulls foes and deals 110.0% weapon damage.
Active Skill 2: Whirlwind
Spin around and deal 50.0% weapon damage to those hit around you. Successfully connecting with a foe causes the whirlwind to spin again, to a max of four spins.
You can move while these spins occur.
Whirlwind Augments:
Gusting Winds
Increase max spins to 7.
Unending Winds
Movement speed during spins increased by 50.0%.
Surrounded
If you have three or more foes around during the Whirlwind, deal 30.0% more damage.
Active Skill 3: Gravity Well
Throw your axe up to 10 meters and create a whirlpool of gravity, pulling foes towards its center for 3.0 seconds. After that time, deal 125.0% to those caught.
Gravity Well Augments:
Crowded Well
Increase the final burst damage by 10.0% for each foe caught.
Unyielding
Allies gain 20.0% damage reduction whilst inside the well.
Passives
Executioner’s Speed
Hitting two or more targets with a single light attack grants you 20.0% increased movement speed for 3.0 seconds.
Greed Value
Successful light attacks with your Great Axe grant 5.0% increased damage for 5.0 seconds, to a maximum of 15.0%.
Death’s Embrace
Attacks against foes with lower than 50.0% health have their armor penetration increased by 10.0%.
Critical Condition
Great Axe attacks against foes below 30.0% health will have their critical chance increased by 15.0%.
Critical Gains
Critical hits gain 10.0% lifesteal.
Frustration
After your attack is blocked by an enemy, gain 15.0% increased damage for 10.0 seconds. Does not stack.
Keen Edge
Critical hit damage increased by 10.0%.
Feed
Great axe attacks against foes with less than 30.0% health gain 10.0% lifesteal.
Blood Lust
Aiming at a foe within 15.0 meters increased your movement by 30.0% and your damage by 15.0%.
Mauler’s Resolve
Taking damage whilst wielding your Great Axe below 50.0% health grants you 40.0 stamina.
Cooldown: 20 Seconds
Gravity
Pulls that you cause are held for 30.0% longer.
Center of Attention
Wielding your Great Axe with 3 or more foes within 4.0 meters, grants you 10.0% more damage.
Heavy Pull
Heavy attacks pull in foes around you.
Enduring Strike
Heavy attacks become unblockable and unstoppable and grant 20.0% during their animation.
Revenge
Blocking an attack with your axe grants 5.0% increased damage for 5.0 seconds, to a max of 15.0%.
Crowded Protection
Wielding the Great Axe grants 10.0% damage absorb when 3 or more foes are within 4.0 meters of you.
Mauler’s Fury
Successful attacks increase your damage by 3.0% for 3.0 seconds, to a max of 30.0%.
Closing
That just about wraps things up for our overview of the Great Axe mastery for Amazon’s new MMO, New World. We hope that you’ve found the information useful in planning out your character and look forward to seeing you online!
If you have any suggestions or comments, we’d love to hear from you on the MGN.gg blog, our YouTube channel of course, the new MGN twitter @MGN_TV, and our Discord – links for all of which can be found within the video description.
Read Next:
New World Weapon Mastery Guide Part 11 – Rapier
Credits
| Program | Founding Writers |
| Author | Luke Cowling |
| Publisher | MGN |
| Game | New World |