It's been two weeks now since the release of New World, Amazon's brand new fantasy MMORPG. The first few weeks of a new MMO is always an exciting time for players, spreading out and discovering the game's secrets. Unlike many MMOs, New World puts a special focus on gathering and crafting mechanics, and players will spend a lot of their time working on new gear.
New World's Trade Skills are divided into three categories, each for a different part of the production process. Gathering Skills allow players to harvest materials from the game world, Refining Skills allow them to turn those raw materials into usable ones, and Crafting Skills allow them to create new items from refined materials. While all parts of this process are important, the five Refining Skills can often be overlooked by players excited to Gather and Craft.
Smelting & Stonecutting
Of the five Refining Skills in New World, the two that players will probably need most often are Smelting and Stonecutting. This is because they refine very common materials, which are useful in a huge range of different recipes. Smelting allows players to use a Smelter to turn ores into metal ingots. Low level players will be able to refine simple ores like Iron and Silver, as well as create Charcoal from Green Wood. At higher levels, players will be able to refine top-tier metals like Voidbent and Asmodeum. Like most Skills in New World, Smelting is improved simply through using the Skill, and the XP given is based on the rarity of the ore smelted.
Stonecutting also improves through use, and XP scales with the rarity of the material. The Stonecutting Skill in New World allows players to not only create Refined Stone for use in Settlements and Fortresses at a Stonecutting Table, but also allows the cutting of Gemstones. Raw Gemstones are a rare drop from mining deposits, and when refined into Cut Gemstones they can be slotted into gear to provide powerful buffs.
Tanning, Weaving, & Woodworking
The remaining three Refining Skills are less extensive, but still essential to thrive on New World's island of Aeternum. Tanning allows players to use a Tannery to turn various kinds of Hide into Leathers for making armor and other equipment. Weaving is the equivalent skill for clothing, allowing players to use a Loom to spin Fibers into cloths like Linen, Silk, and Sateen. Both Weaving and Tanning are levelled up through use, and players should constantly be harvesting materials to help build these Skills.
The final Refining Skill is Woodworking, which allows players to use a Woodshop to convert raw wood into various kinds of Plank. Planks are an essential building tool in New World, and players will need a good supply for Weapons, Engineering, and Town Projects. Like all the other Refining Skills in New World, Woodworking is levelled through use, with top-tier Planks like Glittering Ebony giving much more XP than their low level equivalents.
New World is available now on PC.