Hatchet Guide and Builds (2024)

The Hatchet is one of the most universal and power secondary utility options in New World in PvP, and one of thetop primary damage options in PvE. It is a very forgiving weapon that has a simple playstyle. It is one of the bestall-purpose weapons there is. Whether it is leveling, PvP, or PvE, there is a use for the Hatchet. It does notmatter what your other weapon is, the Hatchet will be a valuable addition to a build.

When it comes to Great Axe builds all three armor weights can play any option. Traditionally, light will be focused onmobility and lockdown, but there are situations that can be beneficial for heavier armor weights.

• Feral Rush — This ability is perfect for targets who are trying to escape, or quick bursts ofmobility. You will leap and hit a target in the back for a large burst of damage, root them, and slow them if you haveits perk. This can also be used to escape abilities like Gravity Well.
• Berserk — In PvP, this can be used to get out of crowd-control, even stuns. This will also providemovement speed and free healing in addition to its damage increase.
• Social Distancing — This is mobility that can be used to escape roots or other crowd-control. But itcan also be used to root players who are attempting to escape.

In PvP, this should be seen as a "Get out of jail free card". It allows you cheat death by using Defy Death, get out of stuns or other CC with Berserk and gives you two sources ofmobility and roots to catch enemies who escape. It also has multiple passive empowers that will increasedamage output of these abilities.

Whenever you are in danger, and even if you are currently stunned, you should switch to your Hatchet,so you can take advantage of its potential defensiveness.

• Berserk — This is your main DPS cooldown. Try to activate this before large burst damage windows.It will also provide movement speed and self-healing.
• Raging Torrent — This will be your only real active weapon ability. It has great single targetdamage when used with maximum empower stacks, and does have AoE damage potential as it can hit multiple enemies.
• Rending Throw — This is your main source of Rend. It is only able to hit one target at a time, butit results in increased damage and is great for boss fights.

In all cases, this will be your primary source of damage in PvE environments.

When paired with a Hatchet this will make for one of the best PvP dive assassin builds. You will use theHatchet to play dangerously, dive behind enemy lines, and use the burst damage of the Greatsword to quicklysecure kills.

For more detailed information on Sword and Shield usage and other aspects of its gameplay, please refer to ourSword guide.

This is a great assassin build that can be used for surprise initiations with Leaping Strike. Youcan then get a target caught in a CC chain ending with Shield Bash. This then opens up a major single-targetdamage opportunity with the Hatchet to burst down priority targets.

Tanks will have the ability to flex into many builds, but here is a great build that can beplayed in a heavy or light tanking setup.

For more detailed information on Spear usage and other aspects of its gameplay, please refer to ourSpear guide.

It is commonly debated as to whether or not you should take Sweep or Vault Kick. Havingthe AoE crowd-control for trash packs with a Sweep is typically better than single-target stuns.

For more detailed information on Bow usage and other aspects of its gameplay, please refer to ourBow guide.

This is a fantastic PvP pairing that allows you to focus solely on high damaging bow abilities sinceyou can rely on the Hatchet to save your life.

This pairing is typically seen in PvE, but there are PvP options provided for those who would liketo use it and focus primarily on their Great Axe.

This can be used with a Hatchet in PvE to group enemies together and deal fantastic AoE damage on non-boss enemies.You then use your Hatchet for all single-target.

This is general standard build with this weapon combination.Use this build if you are wanting to stay in clumpsand continue fighting. You will be focused on increasing damage by stacking Mauler's Fury.

Use this while in light armor build when playing in a dive team, or a heavier setup where you are wanting more crowd-control.This is best for applying pressure to a single target.

Some healers prefer the life-saving potential of the Hatchet instead of the Rapier. To learn moreabout how to use a Life Staff, please refer to our Life Staff guide.

Due to the diversity of Hatchet builds, you will have to reference its build pages to know howto properly distribute your attributes.

Typically, you will want to prioritize a mixture of Strength and Dexterity with lower Constitution since you are ableto play more aggressively because of Defy Death. The exact splits can be found in their respective build guides:

Most Hatchet ability perks are somewhat optional. Nothing is truly needed or makes a drastic difference ingameplay.

• Crippling Feral Rush — (PvP) This is valuable for any assassin build to add even more crowd-controlto a Hatchet build.
• Refreshing Torrent — (PvE) This increases ability usage in a PvE setting, but this perk is notoften needed in PvP since most players choose not to use Raging Torrent.
• Keen Berserk — (PvE) This can be useful at times in PvE, but is often not used.

• Vicious — This is a great damage boost since most attacks will comefrom behind in PvP, resulting in increased damage. In PvE this is also great with increasedcritical hit chance from passives and if you have Keen Awareness on your Ring.
• Keenly Empowered — Great PvP and PvE damage perk to see large burstsof damage.
• Attunement Perks — Free additional damage on every hit.

• Health — This provides free damage reduction against all sources and is one of the most beneficial PvP options.
• Shirking Heals — Incredible source of self-healing and allows for great survivability regardless of build.
• Shirking Fortification — Can be a great complement to Shirking Heals. Will add increased armor toimprove overall defensiveness.
• Freedom — This will allow you to play more aggressively by reducing the duration of crowd-control. You shouldplay with either 3 or 5 stacks.
• Elemental Aversion — Use this perk for elemental damage reduction from weapons like the Fire Staff.
• Refreshing — This can be an optional third perk when you want a source of cooldown reduction in your build.
• Harnessing Perks — Stack these for increased damage if you chose to forgo defensive options.
• Mortal Empowerment — This will be the preferred option for maximum damage output in PvP.

In most light armor builds, or ranged builds, it can be very strong to snowball kills with Mortal Empowerment,and drastically increase your damage potential. With that being said, it is important to note that this will not stack ifa the weapons have persistent damage source, or DoT, deal the final blow. This means if Attunement or any Runeglass gemsecure the kill, you will not receive a stack. This makes it inconsistent and not worth using in some builds.

When making this decision you also have to think about your likliness to be killed. If you are playing a light armorbuild, or one that is frequently diving into melee, you have high chances of dying. At that point if you lose your stacks,it is a wasted perk, especially if this happens multiple times, or in the middle of building stacks. As such, it may bemore advantageous to use Invigorated Punishment.

TLDR: If you are medium armor, want more consistent damage, or you have a high chance of death, Invigorated Punishment is the better option. If you want to snowball and have insanely high damage,you have a pocket healer, you are a dedicated ranged build, or you simply do not care and want to gamble, Mortal Empowerment is the better option.

• Elemental Aversion — This perk is a viable alternative in PvP as well, but is overshadowed by other PvP options.It provides great defensein mutated expeditions to help mitigate magical effects.
• Physical Aversion — Only projectiles that do physical damage will be mitigated by this perk. As such, it canbe useful in PvE as another potential option. It alsoprovides a small amount of PvP value, but Elemental Aversion andenemy Ward perks are certainly more defensive options.

• Health — This is the standard pick for all builds, it is free health that will add to the defensiveness of your kit.
• Stamina Recovery — This is a backpocket save when being focused and taking heavy damage. You will receive a burst of stamina that will allow you topotentially get a quick dodge that can save your iife and continue the fight.
• Thrust Protection — This acts as a third perk option thatprovides more defensiveness against Bows, Muskets,Blunderbusses, Spears, and Rapiers.
• Flame Protection — This acts as a third perk slot thatprovides more defensiveness against Fire damage, which will be prevalent in Season One.Great Axes, Hatchets, andSwords.
• Shirking Empower — Use this if you do not care about your defenses and want maximum damage output.

• Refreshing Toast
• Healing Heart
• Nimble
• Refreshing

There is no current hatchet artifact. It is in your best interest to pursue an alternative artifact weapondepending on your build.

• Tumbler Feetwraps
• Featherweight

• Ankh

For most builds that are looking to dive backlines, it is best to use Minor Heartrune of Stoneform to helpwith having additional survivability in addition to your Hatchet passives. This will save your life and allow foryou to escape frequently.

There are two viable upgrade options:

• Cunning Heartrune of Stoneform provides two defensive buffs to reduce damage.
• Stalwart Heartrune of Stoneform provides one defensive buff and a significant healingover time effect.

Minor Heartrune of Detonate should be used when you are prioritizing burst damage.

There are two viable upgrade options:

• Brutal Heartrune of Detonate makes you more vulnerable, but will result in a massiveAoE burst of damage. This is the preferred option.
• Cunning Heartrune of Detonate will result in less Detonate burst.But you will not be as vulnerable and can deal more damage with your melee weapons.

Try to avoid using Brutal Heartrune of Detonate while you have low health or are being focused on.The goal is to start the ability and wait a short duration and attempt to dive in right asthe ability detonates so you can catch enemies off guard and not be bursted down.

You can activate your Detonate and then use Charge or another movement ability to "deliver"your explosion and time it right as you meet a clump of players. This will catch them off guard andwill not be dodged in many cases.

Save your Detonate for when there are multiple targets stacked on top of one another. Preferably the targets willalready be under some kind of CC effect, or exhausted and unable to dodge out of them. It is best paired with somethinglike Gravity Well or Shockwave.

When using Detonate try to time it right as you hit an enemy with another burst damage weapon ability, or somethingthat will CC the target, like Shockwave or Wrecking Ball. When pairing thiswith a Great Axe, use somethingto again burst the target, or pull them toward you, like Maelstrom or Reap. This canresult in a kill even when the target is full health.

When using Cunning Heartrune of Stoneform, or other variants, you should save this for times where you are stunnedor affected by other forms of CC. Alternatively, you can use this right before pushing through a doorway or chokepoint tonegate the potential of being affected by CC.

Take advantage of down time to charge your heartrune. For instance if you are far away you might as well continue to tryhitting targets or structures to build charge.

Your heartrune will charge fast. While it is obviously beneficial to hold for times where there are large clusters of enemies.Do not wait too long and continue to waste your cooldown when you would have had the time to get another one recharged. Get familiarwith how quickly you can get it back online and do not hesitate to use it to secure high priority kills.

A Heartrune in PvE is significantly different than PvP. This will charge incredibly fast due to the sustained damage output onsingle targets. When using something like Brutal Heartrune of Detonate this is best used on large numbers of enemies instead ofsingle target. With that being said, use this as many times as possible in a boss fight since it will be available and otherwisewasted.

For more information on how to manage your cooldown hotbar, whatconsumables to use, what foods should be eaten, or tips on how to be moreeffective with your consumables in PvP and PvE, please refer toHatchet Consumables guide.

Remember, Runeglass can only be slotted into armor pieces that are not jewelry items, and weapons.

For any type of bruiser build it will be best to use any Runeglass variant of Cut Pristine Opal that appliesa damage over time effect. For example : Runeglass of Arboreal Opal

In PvE it will be best to use Cut Pristine Diamond for maximum damage output.

In PvP combat your optimal resistance distribution is going to prioritize Slash resistance, then Physical,and lastly Elemental. This is the standard for any build where you will frequently be in melee range.

At times, it may not be beneficial to use a full Runeglass setup, for example using: Runeglass of Punishing Onyx. This results in marginal offensive gains for some because ofhidden internal cooldown effects. As such, it is preferred to take the defensive gains instead.(See FAQ).

To hit a 22.5 (Slash)/12.5 (Physical)/7.5 (Elemental) resistance setup you will need:

• Cut Pristine Onyx x5 + Cut Pristine Opal x3 + Slash Protection on Amulet

When using Runeglass, you will want to use a 20 (Slash)/10 (Physical)/7.5 (Elemental) setup:

• Runeglass of Punishing Onyx x5 + Cut Pristine Opal x3 + Slash Protection on Amulet

In PvE combat, more specifically mutators, elemental resistance is the main concern.

You can use the following gems in your gear:

• Elemental Resistance Gem x8 + Amulet Protection Perk (Based on mutator elemental effect.)

In PvP and PvE you can still use Punishing Runeglass variants of your gems if you only care aboutraw damage, and not effective damage based on survivability. For example, you would use Runeglass of Punishing Onyx x5 in PvP

The age old saying, "A dead DPS does no DPS", should come to mind when making this decision.

For more information on how to manage your cooldown hotbar, whatconsumables to use, what foods should be eaten, or tips on how to be moreeffective with your consumables in PvP and PvE, please refer toHatchet Consumables guide.

In PvP, a Hatchet will typically be used for its utility, and not oftenfor its light and heavy attacks. In PvE, its attacks are much easier to takeadvantage of and capitalize for high damage.

• Use Berserk if you are stunned, rooted, slowed, or impacted by any formof crowd-control. This can also be used for mobility and healing.
• If you are about to die, swap to your Hatchet, even when stunned, to use Defy Death.
• Use Social Distancing if a target is at range and trying to escape, or for quick mobility.
• Use Feral Rush if a target is in melee range and trying to escape, hit them from behind.Alternatively, this can be used for mobility to escape Gravity Well.
• Swap weapons for filler attacks and damage

• Use Berserk to increase damage.
• Use Rending Throw to increase damage output.
• (If you are NOT using Refreshing Torrent Use Raging Torrent.
• Light attack until Berserk falls off and goes on cooldown.
• (If you are ARE using Refreshing Torrent) Use Raging Torrent to reduce cooldowns.
• Light attack with Hatchet on single-target fights.
• Swap to secondary weapon on AoE fights.
• If you are about to die, swap to your Hatchet, even when stunned, to use Defy Death.

To learn how to use your second weapon properly, and complete rotation,please refer to our PvE and PvP build pages:

It is important to recognize when you are about to die because of Defy Death. If you arerunning away, it is best to swap to this weapon just in case you are hit by bursts of damage fromranged weapons that would have otherwise killed you.

The most important tip is to know that you can swap to your Hatchet even when you are stunned orknocked down so that you can use it to save your life even if it is not actively out in your character'shands.

Swapping your weapon in times of danger will save you more times than you can count.

Some weapons have abilities that will lock you into long animations. Fortunately for some,there are ways to avoid the animation by chaining it into another ability, a roll, or even alight attack.

Berserk is one of those abilities at times that is very valuable to have for speed anddamage in a chase. If you roll, and immediately active Berserk while almost instantaneouslyactivating Feral Rush, you will chain the abilities together without having to stand stilland go through the normal animation. This can be very beneficial to increase your damage and haveadditional speed when trying to pursue a target with Feral Rush.

While this may seem odd, the best way to do the most damage with a Hatchet in PvE is to simplylight attack as much as possible within a Berserk window. It is actually a DPS loss to Heavyattack, even though it does give you an empower. Its abilities are not the prime source of damage.Instead, use your abilities to buff your light attacks, and save Raging Torrent to reducecooldowns so that you can re-activate your damage cooldowns.

The Hatchet has many subtle forms of movement that are not primary movement abilities. Berserk, Social Distancing, and Feral Rush, all have movement capabilities that allow a player toescape crowd-control like Ice Shower or Gravity Well. For Social Distancing and Berserk, use these as a quick jump to avoid danger, or to quickly get into cover. Berserkshould be used to break out of crowd-control, and then prioritized for long-distance movement, such asrunning away.

Make sure that when you use this ability you hit a target who is at least 6 meters away in order to getthe root.

When using it to escape danger, do your best to always hit a target with it so that you receive its passivestamina.

In PvE use this on cooldown for a damage buff.

In PvP, hold this for when you receive hard crowd-control, such as a stun. You can swap to your Hatchet, evenwhile stunned, and still use the ability so that you can break out of the effect.

If you have no potions available, this can be used while you are out of line of sight so you can regenerate health.

This ability will leap farther than you would think. Always use this while behind an enemy to get a potential of twohits from behind. If you hit them like this, it will also root them so you can secure a kill.

You can feint attacks with melee weapons, such as any weapon you may pair with the Hatchet in PvP,to try and bait an enemy into dodging and wasting their stamina. This can be done to try an exhaustenemies so that you can get free hits in. To do so, charge a heavy attack and block before the attackis initiated. This will make it look like you are swinging, and then you cancel the attack until you canstrike at the correct opportunity.

Effective movement is incredibly important in a build like this, especially when playing in medium. Do not panic and use your entire stamina barand exhaust yourself, as it may result in death. You can take advantage of jumping, diving (going prone while moving), and changing direction byquickly moving your mouse or taking advantage of quick inputs on your movement keys.

There are many movements in New World that will stagger you in place for a moment when quickly changing direction. If you move left and rightor if you jump left and right you will notice there is a momentwhere you will be standing still. To prevent this you will need to use a keyinput while your character is in the animation. For example, if you hold your left directional key and jump then right before you landyou hit your right directional key and jump, you will quickly jump left and right. If you simply run left and right using your directionalkeys your character will respond similarly. To avoid this you can move left and then right before you pivot to go right, hit the backwarddirectional key and instantly follow up with your right directional key. If you continue doing this back and forth you will avoid the slidinganimation.

The Greatsword is an incredibly strong PvP and PvE damage weapon. It will most often be paired with the Hatchet in PvP because of thesurvivability it provides so that a player can dive deep into enemy lines. It is not often paired with Hatch in PvE because both are primarydamage weapons.

To learn more about ability usage and how to use the Greatsword, please refer to our Greatsword guide.

When deciding to use a Sword and Shield with your Hatchet, this will always be for a PvP assassin build.You can use the engage and crowd-control of the Sword and Shield to setup your Hatchet for large windowsof burst damage. It can also be used for PvE tanking.

Please refer to our Sword and Shield tips for more on this playstyle.

The Great Axe is generally a PvE pairing with the Hatchet. It has phenomenal AoE damage that can be used to cleartrash packs before boss fights.

Please refer to our Great Axe tips for more on this playstyle.

Some players in PvP prefer to use the Hatchet as their secondary weapon because of Defy Death. When caught outin squishy Dexterity builds, sometimes the Rapier is not enough for survivability. As such, the Hatchet allows them tocheat death, break out of crowd-control, be healed, and get some movement speed.

Please refer to our Bow tips for more on this playstyle.

In PvE, the Spear is a great weapon for applying Rend, damage over time effects, or crowd-control, but italso can be great for damage. It can be used on trash packs when paired with a Hatchet because of abilities like Sweep.

In PvP, the Spear can have incredibly high damage output and crowd-control. It is paired with the Hatchet for theexact same reason as any other melee dive build would be, it just has fantastic survivability.

Please refer to our Spear tips for more on this playstyle.

Similarly to the Bow, some healers do not prefer the mobility of the Rapier, and would ratherhave the survivability passives of the Hatchet. This can be a strong secondary when be focusedby other players.

Please refer to our Life Staff tips for more on this playstyle.

Generally, in any Hatchet build, unless you play a medium variation, you will typically be in light armor and willsee the most benefit while using Refreshing.

When playing a physical damage build it will be tempting to use Runeglass of Punishing Onyx. While this will provide a damage increase, there isan internal cooldown which will only allow it to proc every other hit. So, this will not actually be as much of a damage increase as it was thought to be.In most cases, just use regular gems for more defensiveness. The marginal damage loss will be made up for by survivability.

It is best practice to use a magic damage type that is the least likely to be countered. While most players tend not to focus on a specific magic damage type likethey do for physical damage, it is still possible. In most cases, players may use extra Ice damage protection due to the Ice Gauntlet,or Fire due to the Fire Staff or Blunderbuss. As such, Nature, Arcane, or Lightningdamage can be beneficial options. Nature specifically is beneficial because it will always work in PvE environments because it is never weak to any enemy types.

The Hatchet is very strong for speed leveling a character because of its abilities and passives. Berserk is a very strongdamage cooldown, gives movement speed, and heals, which all help with leveling. It also has Defy Death for any time you needto escape and put yourself into a difficult situation.

Most importantly, it has Against All Odds which makes it a viable leveling option for any weapon since it increasesdamage with more enemies around. So, even when using a Life Staff, you will have high damage output.