How New World Weaponsmithing works and how to level up

New World Amazon Games image player using forge
(Image credit: Amazon Games)

Improving your New World Weaponsmithing skill is important to make sure you’re armed with the best gear to fight off all the mystical foes on Aeternum. The new colonial MMORPG from Amazon Games is full of skill levelling systems and crafting mechanics, with Weaponsmithing being one of the most important, particularly if melee weapons are your preferred tools. To craft weapons, you’ll need to gather plenty of resources, refine them into the materials you need, and take them to a Forge to create weapons. Here’s what you need to know about Weaponsmithing in New World.

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How New World Weaponsmithing works

New World crafted iron war hammer from forge weaponsmithing

(Image credit: Amazon Games)

In New World, you’re able to craft weapons for yourself at a Forge using some of the resources you’ve undoubtedly been collecting as you’ve been exploring Aeternum. As you create weapons at a Forge, you’ll also be levelling up your Weaponsmithing skill, which will allow you to craft better weapons. You can also enhance your crafted weapons by applying Azoth to increase the chance of getting random Perks, Attributes, or Gem Slots. You can also add Special Resources to your weapon as you craft it to apply a particular Perk.

The Forge can only be used for crafting melee weapons, so if you want to craft some of New World’s more technical, or even magical, weapons like the Musket or Ice Gauntlet, you’ll need to look elsewhere. If you’re a melee weapon enthusiast, here are the weapon types that you can craft:

  • Great Axe
  • War Hammer
  • Spear
  • Rapier
  • Hatchet
  • Round Shield
  • Longsword

These weapons obviously can’t be conjured out of thin air, so you’ll need the right materials in your inventory to craft certain weapons. You’ll also need to make sure you meet the Weaponsmithing skill level requirement and must be using a Forge that has been upgraded to an appropriate tier. You can check all this information out when using a Forge in New World. Pick the weapon you want to craft from the list on the left, then check the requirements list towards the bottom-right corner. You can also check your Weaponsmithing skill level and what you can craft under the ‘Trade Skills’ tab of your Character menu.

New World weaponsmithing forge requirements

(Image credit: Amazon Games)

New World Weaponsmithing resources and materials

New World player mining for iron ore

(Image credit: Amazon Games)

First of all, you need to gather resources that will then need to be refined into proper crafting materials that you can use to craft weapons. When you use a Forge and choose a weapon to craft, you can see the material types you need in the middle of the screen. Generally, you’re going to need some kind of metal, wood, and leather for more basic weapons that are good in early levels of New World. You can get metal ores from ore deposits, wood from bushes and trees, and hides from skinned animals.

New World Settlement smelter for refining metals

(Image credit: Amazon Games)

These resources then need to be refined into usable materials at their respective Crafting Stations. You can refine wood into timber at a Woodshop, hides into leather at a Tannery, and ores into metal ingots at a Smelter. Take these materials to a Forge and you’ll be on your way to crafting some weapons.

New World weaponsmithing tier 2 metals and primary ingredients

(Image credit: Amazon Games)

You’ll notice that there aren’t necessarily any specific materials required to craft a particular weapon, but instead broad material types split into primary and secondary ingredients. The materials you use will also affect the stats of your weapon. Each weapon has a primary ingredient, usually a metal, that determines the tier of the weapon. For example, iron is a tier 2 metal, so you’ll craft a tier 2 weapon with it. Secondary ingredients, which can be a range of different things such as wood, leather, and magical materials, will affect the score of your crafted item. If you need your weapon to be made from certain materials, you can change the materials by clicking a material’s box to open a dropdown list of other materials you could use, provided you have them.

New World weaponsmithing azoth

(Image credit: Amazon Games)

In the same middle panel, you can also apply Special Resources to add a particular perk to your weapon, or you can add varying amounts of Azoth to improve the chances of getting Atrtibute points, Perks, or Gem Slots on your crafted weapons. Special Resources can be found pretty much anywhere in New World where you get loot. Your main source of Azoth will be from quest rewards, but it can also drop from defeated enemies at higher levels.

How to level up your New World Weaponsmithing skill

New World weaponsmithing trade skill character page

(Image credit: Amazon Games)

Levelling up your New World Weaponsmithing skill is important as it allow you to craft more powerful weapons of higher tiers and with higher gear scores. You’ll also gain access to superior weapon recipes and some of your existing ones will improve too.

Unsurprisingly, your Weaponsmithing skill is increased by smithing weapons. Any weapon or weapon-related item you craft at a Forge – you can craft armor and other items at Forges but they will level up different skills – will give you XP towards your Weaponsmithing skill. When you craft an item, you can see exactly how much Weaponsmithing XP you’ll gain just under the ‘Craft’ button. Bulk-crafting iron weapons in the early levels seems to be one of the best ways to level up your Weaponsmithing for the fewest materials. Remember to salvage low-tier items to get a small refund on materials, Coin, or Repair Parts.

For some of the best weapons in New World, Weaponsmithing isn’t the only skill you’ll need to level up though. High-level weapons use a lot of exotic materials that you need to gather to make various alchemical ingredients or magic metals, so your Harvesting and Arcana skills need to be pretty high too. As you mine for metals, you’ll also be levelling up your Mining skill. Having a higher mining skill means you’ll be able to mine for better metals and you’ll be able to see ore deposits tracked on your compass.

How to upgrade New World Forges for Weaponsmithing

New World Settlement Forge for crafting melee weapons

(Image credit: Amazon Games)

You’ll be doing all your melee weapon crafting at a Settlement’s Forge, which needs to be levelled up to a high enough tier for certain weapons to be craftable. While you’re responsible for getting materials and levelling up your Weaponsmithing, annoyingly, Forge tiers are largely out of your control.

Upgrading Crafting Stations in Settlements is dictated by the Company in control of the Settlement. If the Forge is being upgraded, you and other players can contribute to upgrading any Crafting Stations by completing missions from the Town Projects board.

When using a Forge though, it’s best if you can find one that is at least Tier 3 and is in a region controlled by the Faction you belong to. Crafting anything costs a Coin fee which can be vary a lot depending on how it’s managed by the Company in control. If you’re in a Settlement controlled by your Faction, you might get a bit of a discount and find the fee to be quite low. However, if you’re using a Forge controlled by a rival Faction, things might be a bit more expensive for you.

Will Sawyer
Guides Writer

Will Sawyer is a guides writer at GamesRadar+ who works with the rest of the guides team to give readers great information and advice on the best items, how to complete a particular challenge, or where to go in some of the biggest video games. Will joined the GameRadar+ team in August 2021 and has written about service titles, including Fortnite, Destiny 2, and Warzone, as well as some of the biggest releases like Halo Infinite, Elden Ring, and God of War Ragnarok.