KEY POINTS

  • Bows excel at dealing consistent damage from a distance at a relatively quick pace
  • Bows have a number of area-of-effect abilities that are excellent at clearing monsters
  • Area attacks are very valuable inside Expeditions, where enemies tend to spawn in big groups

Bows are great for players who want to keep their distance when fighting in “New World.” These weapons deal great chunk damage when hitting headshots and unlike muskets, bows can reload and fire at much faster rates.

The bows’ unique skill trees allow for varied playstyles that suit certain scenarios more than others. With this in mind, the Bow can be specialized as a mobile skirmishing weapon or an AoE tool for both Expeditions and large-scale PvP.

As far as Expeditions go, bows are great for dealing good damage at range while pelting enemies with area attacks and damage-over-time effects. Here’s a sample bow build for efficient dungeon DPS.

Team up with friends to conquer New World's many dangerous Expeditions
Team up with friends to conquer New World's many dangerous Expeditions Amazon Game Studios

Bow Skills

Bows have access to more AoE attacks than the musket. Area attacks are extremely important in Expeditions because monsters always spawn in large groups. Having a DPS party member eliminate groups of monsters faster means that the team’s tank will take less damage and the healer will spend less mana topping everyone off. For faster AoE clears, take the following:

  • Active Skills
    • Penetrating Shot
    • Rain of Arrows
    • Poison Shot
  • Priority Passives
    • Evasive Tactics
    • Barbed Arrows
    • Direct Hit
    • Long Range
    • Blood-Soaked Arrow

This build focuses on dealing as much damage to as many targets as possible. Rain of Arrows and Poison Shot can inflict damage-over-time effects that can stack with each other, making them great for both groups and single targets.

Players should try to take advantage of Evasive Tactics and Long Range whenever possible. Try to dodge before using abilities to maximize their damage potential.

Penetrating Shot should only be used when a perfectly lined shot against a group of enemies can be taken to make full use of the Blood-Soaked Arrow passive. This skill can be replaced with Evade Shot if players find themselves constantly getting swarmed by enemies.

If single-target DPS is too low, consider taking Aim True passive to boost the damage of fully drawn shots and as always, try to aim for the head as much as possible.

For secondary weapons, players can opt for either the Spear or the Rapier. Spears will help players knock enemies down while rapiers can add some extra mobility and dueling power.

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