In this New World Musket Build 2024 & Weapon Guide, we’ll be focusing on the Musket in both PvE and PvP. As one of the ranged weapons in the game, it primarily scales with Dexterity and also benefits from Intelligence, though it favors Dexterity more. If you’re aiming to create a predominantly ranged build using the Musket, you’ll want to prioritize Dexterity for the best results.

New World Aeternum Musket Build Information

• Scaling Stats: Dexterity (90%), Intelligence (65%)
• Damage Type: Thrust & Fire
• Standard Damage: 100%
• Taunt Gem Compatible: No
• Best Dexterity Weapon Pairings: Bow, Rapier, Spear
• Best Intelligence Weapon Pairings: Ice Gauntlet, Fire Staff

New World Musket Build 2024 – Overview and Strategy

To begin this New World Musket Build 2024; the Musket has a few advantages over the Bow, starting with its significantly longer range, making it easier to hit targets from afar. This is especially useful in PvP but also helpful during questing if you want to maintain a safe distance. The musket is also more forgiving with moving targets, as bullets travel faster than arrows, giving you a bit more control. However, it has a slower fire rate, with a noticeable gap between shots. One downside is that the musket struggles at very close range—if an enemy is right on top of you, the shot might not register since the barrel can pass through them, so you need to create some distance.

With the new lock-on feature, using muskets has become easier than before, making them an excellent weapon choice. However, while the lock-on assists with targeting, it doesn’t guarantee precise aiming, so you’ll still need to practice to consistently land headshots for critical damage.

Initially, ranged weapons like the musket required ammo, but since that was removed, these weapons now deal a 20% increase to base damage instead. Another key point is that the Musket deals thrust damage, making it effective against animals but less so against undead, which resist it. A crucial note for headshots—they grant critical hits, so aiming for the head is essential for maximizing damage.

A couple of tips: if you dodge while reloading, the animation cancels, forcing you to restart the reload, so make sure your weapon is reloaded before dodging. Unlike the bow, which can quick-fire without needing to reload, the musket relies on being fully loaded. Lastly, the Sticky Bomb and Powder Burn abilities are the only exceptions to the musket’s thrust damage, as the Sticky Bomb deals fire damage and Power Burn deals some Fire Damage over time, giving you a bit of variety in its damage output.

New World: Aeternum Musket Pros:

• Has the longest range
• Easier to use with Lock-on
• Bullet travel time is instant

New World: Aeternum Musket Cons:

• Low Mobility
• Weak in close combat
• Delays between shots because of reloading
• Almost exclusively single-target

Sharpshooter Skill Tree

Next for this New World Musket Build 2024, let’s dive into the skill trees. On the left side, you’ll find the Sharpshooter skill tree, which focuses on maximizing damage with your musket at range through buffs. If you plan to regularly engage players or enemies with your musket, investing in this tree is essential.

Powder Burn

The first ability you can unlock in the Sharpshooter tree is Powder Burn. This ability enhances your next shot, increasing its damage to 110% and applies a burning effect to the target for 7s, which inflicts significant damage over time—making it an excellent debuff against enemies and players alike. Progressing this skill line increases its damage and extends the debuff duration if you nail a headshot.

What’s interesting about Powder Burn and Power Shot is that the buffs they give don’t expire, even if you switch weapons. This means if you buff yourself with one of them, but find you need to swap weapons before firing, your next shot will be buffed when you swap back without having wasted the skill. Note that these skills used to cooldown immediately after using, allowing for back to back Power Shots or Power Burn in some cases, but no longer do, preventing this from happening.

Power Shot

Power Shot Overloads musket with gun powder, allowing your next shot to deal 160% weapon damage. It also has a 30% damage increase if you use it against a hostile non-player enemy. It’s beneficial to use these abilities strategically, so consider queuing one up whenever you’re in combat or on the move. Progressing this skill line grants you empower which increases your base damage by 10% when you successfully land a shot, as well as reducing its cooldown if you land a successful headshot.

Shooter’s Stance

The last ability in this tree is Shooter’s Stance, which allows you to take a knee and remain stationary while reloading 75% faster. This is especially useful when you know you need to make multiple shots to take down a target or if you’re dealing with fast-moving enemies. By using this ability, you can often dispatch targets before they reach you. It pairs well with your other buffs, allowing your first shot while kneeling to benefit from any active buffs you’ve applied, like Power Shot. If you’re leaning towards a sniper build or focusing heavily on ranged attacks, this ability is a must-have for quickly taking down tougher enemies. Progressing this skill allows you to shoot 5 times instead of 3 and hitting the same target three consecutive times reduces all your musket skill cooldowns by 25%.

The capstone for this skill tree, Deadeye, grants a 15% damage increase to all headshots. It also inflicts bleed to to enemies that get hit when a single musket attack hits multiple enemies. If you’re confident with landing headshots, then you can get this capstone. Otherwise, go for Lethal Combo.

Trapper Skill Tree

Next for the New World Musket Build 2024; the Trapper tree takes a different approach compared to the Sharpshooter tree. Its focus is more on utility rather than just damage, allowing you to trap targets and inflict damage in alternative ways.

Stopping Power

One of the key abilities here is Stopping Power, which works differently to Power Shot and Powder Burn. You don’t load it into your weapon, and then fire, but instead it fires instantly upon use. This ability deals 90% of your weapon damage and is particularly effective for fending off charging enemies, giving you extra time for another shot. It synergizes well with Shooter’s Stance, as you can knock an enemy back with your first shot, allowing you to quickly fire off additional shots before they close in. Progressing this skill line allows you to inflict exhausted to your targets, reducing their stamina regeneration by 10% as well as inflicting them with slow.

Traps

Traps is another valuable ability that lets you set a trap that lasts for 30s, dealing damage and inflicting root on an enemy for 3s. You can place the trap in front of you, especially if you anticipate an enemy will charge at you. Many enemies rush toward you when you fire, so deploying a trap just a few feet ahead creates an excellent opportunity to shoot at them while they’re immobilized. This makes landing headshots and dealing critical damage much easier, particularly against humanoid enemies. Progressing this skill line allows you to inflict rend on an enemy, heal you for the amount of damage the trap dealt, and allowing you to deploy 2 traps.

Sticky Bomb

The Sticky Bomb ability deals an impressive 210% fire damage instead of thrust damage, but it can be challenging to use effectively if you don’t lock-on. It has a limited throwing range, making it difficult to accurately target foes. It also has 3s before it detonates which is something you’ll need to take note of. You might find yourself aiming high to throw it further, but this complicates the process of sticking it to an enemy. Typically, you’ll want to use it in conjunction with traps: first, trap an enemy, then throw a Sticky Bomb to unleash a significant burst of damage. Progressing this skill line gives you 40 stamina whenever you damage someone with this skill as well as inflicting them with a 15% slow for 3s.

One passive ability worth highlighting in this tree is Tactical Reload. This allows you to reload by dodging once every six seconds, which is a game changer. As mentioned earlier, dodging while reloading cancels the animation, but with Tactical Reload, you can avoid that reset. This can be crucial for getting off that last shot against an enemy closing in on you, making it a must-have regardless of your musket build.

The capstone for this skill tree, Lethal Combo, increases musket base damage by 17% against targets who are affected by your musket skills’ debuffs. This means all Abilities but Power Shot or Shooter’s Stance will trigger this once fully upgraded, so take that into consideration when selecting this capstone.

New World Musket Builds 2024

Solo PvE & Solo PvP Musket Build – New World Aeternum

Group PvE Musket Build – New World Aeternum

Group PvP Musket Build – New World Aeternum

New World Aeternum Musket Build – Weapons & Armor

Since New World: Aeternum Musket Builds scales off both Dexterity and Intelligence, you have plenty of options for pairing it with other weapons depending on your playstyle. Some players might lean into a pure ranged setup by combining the musket with a Fire Staff, focusing more on Intelligence than Dexterity. Others might prefer a hybrid approach, mixing the musket with weapons like the Rapier or Spear for a balance of ranged and melee combat. All of these combinations can work effectively.

For PvP, it’s generally not advisable to go 100% ranged unless you’re playing in a large group, because you’ll eventually find yourself in close-range combat. Without a solid melee option, you might struggle in smaller groups. The same applies to questing—if you pull multiple enemies in a camp and don’t have a melee weapon, you’ll quickly find yourself overwhelmed. So, pairing the musket with a Spear or Rapier is a smart choice, giving you flexibility when the situation requires you to fight up close. However, you can also mix it with an Ice Gauntlet or Fire Staff if you want some AoE abilities to handle groups of enemies more efficiently.

When it comes to armor, it’s best to go with Light Armor when using a ranged weapon like the musket, Bow, or staff. The extra 15% damage bonus from light armor is crucial for maximizing your damage output, especially since you’ll likely be engaging enemies from a distance and aren’t expecting to take too many hits. Every shot will count, so you’ll want that added damage boost.

The musket is one of the most enjoyable weapons to use in the game, especially in PvP. Whether you’re solo or in a group, the musket offers plenty of fun, from its satisfying sound effects to the challenge of landing precise shots. It’s definitely worth giving this weapon a try!

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Keep an eye out for more weapon guides as we cover every type in New World: Aeternum. If you have any additional questions about the game, feel free to visit our New World Wiki. So, what do you think about the musket? Do you prefer it for PvE or PvP? How do you use it, and what are your best tips? Share your thoughts in the comments!