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Image via Amazon Games

New World starter guide: What to do first

Take the new world head on.

After years of development and multiple extended beta periods, New World has finally launched. The huge MMO project from Amazon Studios has rocketed to the top of the charts on its first day, dominating the rankings on both Steam and Twitch.

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If you’ve made it past the queues and into the game, then congratulations, your journey is now set to begin. Rather than walk you through the controls like the tutorial will do, we’ve put together a guide of tips and tricks to follow as your New World journey begins.

Your starting area

After completing the brief introductory tutorial, the game will drop you off at one of four starting areas. These areas are marked with watchtowers on the main map and can be found on the coasts of Monarch’s Bluffs, First Light, Windsward, and Everfall.

Unfortunately, you have no choice in the matter regarding which area you start in. And since you can’t party up before making a character, there’s a good chance you won’t spawn near your friends. If you do want to play together, pick a starting area (we’d recommend Everfall or Windsward), and after you turn in the quest you spawn with, don’t accept the next one. Set a marker for the watchtower you want to start at, then walk there.

What to do during your first questline

Once you have your preferred starting area, then you can start the questline given by the quest giver at the watchtower. This line of quests will give you some basic gear and teach you more about the game. But here are some extra tips to make the most of this time.

The quests will see you make a skinning knife using wood and flint, but you should also make all the tools you can using these resources. That includes the sickle, the pickaxe, and the logging axe in addition to the knife. While you complete quests, you should harvest as many resources as you can. This way, you can arrive at the main settlement with some crafting materials already and you’ll have already started on increasing your gathering professions.

This is the time in which you should be experimenting with all the different weapon types as well since you’ll earn and find a few as you’re completing the quests. Don’t be afraid to focus all your attributes to fit one weapon build. It’s free to reset your points up to level 20.

Post-tutorial tips and tricks

Once you make it past the initial questline and into the main settlement, the core of the game begins with a main questline and company/town missions that you can repeat daily.

Early on, you’ll be limited on inventory space, so here are a few pointers on stopping yourself from carrying too much.

  • Store all your crafting materials in storage. As long as you’re crafting in the same town, you can grab materials directly from storage.
  • Equipped items don’t count toward your inventory, so keep items like shields, bullets, or arrows equipped, even if you’re not currently using them.
  • Try selling unbound green items in the first few days. Once the market gets overwhelmed, then you can just salvage them.

When it comes to choosing a faction, there’s really no wrong option. None of them have any buffs or benefits that the other doesn’t. The only thing to consider is what faction your company belongs to since you obviously have to be in the same faction to join.

Another tip for you is to make use of the respawn system. Completing one of the main questlines will teach you how to create campsites. And since fast travel can be costly and the inn recall has such a long cooldown, it can save you time. Place a campfire outside of the settlement where you’ll turn in all your quests, then after you complete all them, just let some enemies kill you and you’ll respawn right outside of town.

Other New World guides

Weapons

Finding resources

Trade skills


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Author
Image of Scott Robertson
Scott Robertson
VALORANT lead staff writer, also covering CS:GO, FPS games, other titles, and the wider esports industry. Watching and writing esports since 2014. Previously wrote for Dexerto, Upcomer, Splyce, and somehow MySpace. Jack of all games, master of none.