New World allows players to equip two types of weapon, each with its own Mastery tree and skills.
The Rapier is a pretty versatile weapon, drawing its strength from both Dexterity and Intelligence. It allows players to specialise in dodging and darting, applying devastating bleed effects in the process.
How to get a Rapier
In New World, there are various ways to obtain a Rapier.
- Dropped by mobs or found in crates
- Purchased through the it in the Trading Post
- Crafted by Weaponsmiths
Which weapon to pair with the Rapier
Given the Rapier's versatility, you have plenty of choices for your secondary weapon.
For maximum synergy, we've gone for a ranged weapon that has heavy aggro, and a melee weapon that builds on the bleed capabilities of the Rapier.
Bow
Given the Rapier uses Dexterity, the Bow is perhaps the best choice of all secondary weapons.
Thanks to quick-firing abilities, you'll be able to start battles from distance and then finish them off with your nimble Rapier at melee distance.
Here are the skills we recommend for the Bow when paired with the Rapier.
Spear
Another weapon that benefits from Dexterity, the Spear is ideal in compounding the bleed damage of the Rapier through skills such as Skewer.
Stack bleeds with the Rapier, then sit back and zone your enemy with the Spear until they drop.
Pick up these skills in order to maximize the Rapier-Spear pairing.
The best build for the Rapier
Our guide focuses on builds that offer ideal balance between the PvE and PvP sides of the game.
It is intended for players who don't wish to waste resources when it comes to allocating skill points.
Upgrade this skill three times.
Slash so quickly that it extends the reach of your blade up to 5m. This strike deals 50% direct weapon damage but also applies a bleed that will deal 85% weapon damage over 12 seconds. This can stack up to 3 times refreshing previous applications.
Upgrade
○ Thirst for Blood: When applying the first bleed stack to an opponent this cooldown is reduced by 10%.
○ And Again: If you hit only one target, even on a blocked hit, this cooldown is reduced by 25%..
○ Proper Spacing: Improve your direct damage from Tondo by 100% if you are 4m away from your target or more.
Upgrade this skill four times.
Flourish performs an attack knocking back enemies. Pressing 'Light Attack' at the end of Flourish will continue this ability by automatically performing 'Finish'. Finish lunges forward, consuming all Rapier bleeds on any target hit dealing 110% of their damage immediately.
Upgrade
○ With Flair: Gain Grit on both Flourish and Finish.
○ Swagger: +20 stamina when successfully hitting a target with Finish.
○ Fuel: Each tick of damage from Tondo's bleed reduces the cooldown of this ability by 3.5%.
○ Bloody End: Finish deals 150% of theRapier's bleed damage instead of only 110%.
Upgrade this skill four times.
Enter a posed stance and unleash a series of five quick thrust attacks with each strike dealing more damage. Flurry can be dodge canceled at any time. Cooldown: 16.0 seconds.
Upgrade
○ Overwhelm: Each hit of Flurry does 25% more block damage.
○ Fleeting Strikes: Each hit of Flurry reduces the cooldown of this ability by 7%.
○ To the Bone: Each hit of Flurry extends the Rapier's bleed by 1 seconds. This will also apply to future stacked applications of the same bleed extending the entire stack.
○ Finalize: The last hit of Flurry will cause the enemy to stagger.
Passive Tree Build
Reduce all cooldowns by 1% on any hit.
Deal 10% more damage when your target has greater than 50% health.
Deal 5% more damage to targets with a Rapier bleed.
Deal 10% more damage when your stamina is below 40%.
Deal 10% more damage when your health is full.
Critical strikes reduce all cooldowns by 5%.
Why did we choose this build?
Although the Grace branch of the Rapier is an interesting prospect, the bleed effect is much more effective for both PvP and PvE content.
Building a Spear as a secondary weapon will make for an exceptionally fast character, who darts in and out applying the bleed for slow, painful deaths. The Blood branch skills are quicker to learn than the Grace tree, which requires some mastery of parrying blows.
Debuffs are your strength with this build, so take advantage of them whenever possible.
Stat Point Allocation
For both Rapier and secondary weapon, you'll want to put the majority of your points into the Dexterity stat, so that you have adequate damage.
You'll still need some Constitution, so that you can survive the blows should enemies manage to close the gap from your darting and zoning.
When it comes to gear, focus on Dexterity and Constitution.
How to level up the Rapier
Levelling up equipment is pretty easy in New World -- the more you use the weapon, the more experience it will gain.
Be mindful that the weapon doesn't gain experience if you don't use it, so even if you bring it out for a single hit, you'll benefit from the XP.
