New World Guide: Optimal Gems for Armor and Weapon
In the world of New World, there is a wide variety of Gems available. These Gems act as free upgrades for your character, providing additional benefits that are crucial for your build. However, it’s important to note that different Gems offer different benefits depending on whether you slot them into your armor or weapon.
Optimal Armor Gems in New World
The Onyx gem is considered the best option for armor, as it absorbs 2.5 percent of physical damage. This is particularly useful since most character builds in New World utilize physical weapons, making physical absorption on your armor highly beneficial.
Other good gems for armor include Malachite and Diamond. Malachite increases your resistance to elemental damage and provides some resistance to physical damage as well. Diamond, on the other hand, grants additional resistance to physical damage and a small amount of resistance to elemental damage. By using four malachite gems and four diamond gems in your armor, you can achieve roughly equal resistance to both physical and elemental damage, resulting in a 10% increase in resistance.
If you specifically desire physical damage resistance, especially for tank characters, the onyx gem provides approximately 20% resistance. It’s important to note that you only have 8 pieces of gear where you can slot gems to boost your armor. Also, don’t forget about your rings, amulets, and earrings, as you can stack gems on them as well.
Optimal Weapon Gems in New World
The best gem for weapons in New World is the opal. This gem increases your damage by 15% when your stamina is not full, allowing you to deal extra damage with each dodge.
Following opal, the malachite gem is the second best choice for weapons. It increases your damage by 12% against targets with a crowd control effect, such as a stun or slow.
For tank characters using a sword or hatchet in PvE mobs, the carnelian gem is highly recommended. It is the only gem that can taunt enemies throughout the game.
Other gems, such as amber and intelligence gems, have specific uses for healers and magic characters, respectively. Amber is especially useful for healers who want to add damage to their weapon, while intelligence gems are suitable for magic characters with physical weapons.
Best Life Staff Gem in New World
The best gem for a Life Staff in New World is amber. It converts natural damage and scales with focus, making it highly effective for Life Staff builds. Players who choose the Protection specialization, particularly those using the Beacon talent, will greatly benefit from this gem.
Another great gem for Life Staff builds is the Diamond Gem. It provides additional healing from all sources when your HP is at 100%.
For more details on the best gems for Life Staff in New World, read on.
New World: Best Life Staff Gem
The Amber gem converts natural damage and scales with focus, making it one of the best gems for a Life Staff. It is especially beneficial for players who choose the Protection specialization and use the Beacon talent.
Another great gem for a Life Staff build is the Diamond Gem, which grants additional healing from all sources when your HP is at 100%.
Best Gems for Life Staff in New World
Abyssal, Arcane, Ice, Fire, Lightning, or Nature
A character using a Life Staff is often targeted by elemental powers. To protect yourself from them, consider adding any of the following defensive gems to your equipment: Abyssal, Arcane, Ice, Fire, Lightning, or Nature.
Calming
The Calming gem is an ideal choice for PvE, as it helps tanks maintain the attention of enemies. It ensures that every angry enemy focuses on you, allowing your team to deal damage safely.
Elemental Ward
The Elemental Ward gem increases your resistance to a broad spectrum of elemental damage, allowing you to have spare slots for your secondary weapon.
Physical Ward
The Physical Ward gem protects against all types of physical attacks, preventing you from being overwhelmed and allowing your allies to assist you.
Rally
The Rally gem increases your healing effectiveness when you have full health, making it a valuable choice for Life Staff users.
Spectral Ward
The Spectral Ward gem significantly boosts elemental damage absorption and provides a small boost to physical damage absorption.
Wilderness Ward
The Wilderness Ward gem works similarly to the Spectral Ward, but with a focus on physical damage absorption rather than elemental damage absorption.
What happens if I put an intelligence gem on a Life Staff?
Adding an intelligence gem to a Life Staff doesn’t have a significant impact. The Life Staff primarily scales with focus, so while adding intelligence to your attributes will increase your overall stats, it doesn’t affect the Life Staff’s scaling.
Best Gem to pair with a Life Staff for healing
The best gem to pair with a Life Staff for healing is the Diamond gem. It increases healing and damage when you are at full health, making it an excellent choice for supporting your team.
Best Gem for Great Axe in New World
The best gem for the Great Axe in New World is the emerald. It increases damage against enemies with low health, making it highly effective for finishing off foes.
Additionally, you can use the opal gem on your armor to boost fire and ice elemental damage absorption.
If your secondary weapon is the war hammer, then the malachite gem is a good choice. It increases damage against enemies afflicted with crowd control.
For the Great Axe build, it’s recommended to prioritize strength as the primary attribute and invest the remaining attribute points into constitution for increased health. Wearing heavy armor will also improve your defense.
Tank build with Great Axe
The best skill for a tank build with the Great Axe is Reap. It extends your Great Axe out 5 meters, pulling enemies towards you and dealing 110% weapon damage. When used with a Carnelian Gem, Reap taunts the enemy for 4 seconds upon hit.
Best Hatchet Gem in New World
The best gem for the Hatchet in New World is the emerald. It increases damage against enemies with less than 30% health, making it highly effective for executing weakened foes.
Additionally, you can use the opal gem on your armor to boost fire and ice elemental damage absorption.
If your secondary weapon is the war hammer, the malachite gem is a good choice. It increases damage against enemies afflicted with crowd control.
Keep in mind that both the Great Axe and Hatchet rely on strength as their primary attribute. Allocate the majority of your attribute points to strength, with the remaining points in constitution to improve health. Wearing heavy armor will also enhance defense.
How Do You Taunt in New World?
You can taunt in New World by equipping a weapon with a Carnelian Gem. This gem adds the taunt effect, causing enemies to focus their attacks on you.
Best Gem for Rapier in New World
The Rapier is a versatile weapon that allows you to use various skills. Some skills are better suited for PvE, while others are more effective in PvP. One skill that shouldn’t be ignored is Evade, as it enhances auto attacks. The Rapier is also the only melee weapon that scales secondary damage based on Intelligence, making it even more powerful when combined with an intelligence-based gem for damage conversion.
To maximize your Rapier’s potential, focus on scaling Intelligence as much as possible. Find a Rapier with a gem slot and equip it with a Topaz Gem to deal lightning damage while scaling with intelligence.
If maximum damage is your goal, it’s recommended to wear light armor. However, if survival is a concern, consider using medium armor.
For a Rapier and life staff combo, prioritize Focus as the main attribute and use an amber gem to partially convert the Rapier’s damage to scale off focus. The secondary attribute should be constitution.
If you’re using a Rapier and fire staff build, consider using a gem that converts part of the Rapier’s damage to intelligence, such as a ruby.
It’s important to note that Rapiers predominantly deal thrust damage, which is less effective against Angry Earth and The Lost. Ice and nature damage are effective against The Lost, while fire damage is effective against Angry Earth. Choose the appropriate element as a secondary attribute based on the enemies you’ll be facing.
Best Gems for a Dexterity Rapier/Musket Build
For a dexterity-based Rapier/Musket build, the best gem for the Rapier is the emerald, which increases damage against targets with less than 30% health.
For the Musket, the best gem is the onyx, which deals more damage against targets with full health.
A mix of onyx and opal gems in your gear would be great, providing both physical and elemental absorption, respectively. The upper stat on the gem applies to the weapon, while the lower stat applies to the gear.
If you have a gem slot, use an onyx gem to boost your damage against full health opponents. This can enhance the damage of your initial shot by up to 30%!
Best Gem for Ice Gauntlet in New World
To make the Ice Gauntlet scale off focus, use an amber gem. Get an Ice Gauntlet with a gem slot and equip it with an amber gem.
It’s important to understand that the conversation gems only modify the elemental damage component of your weapon. They do not scale the entire weapon with the associated attribute, such as intelligence or focus. Instead, they provide elemental/magic damage that scales with the corresponding attribute.
Best Second Weapon to Pair with Ice Gauntlet
The Rapier is an excellent complement to the Ice Gauntlet. With the Ice Gauntlet, you can immobilize enemies and burst attack them with the Rapier. The Rapier’s high crits and bleeds, combined with the Ice Gauntlet’s frost dots, make this combination highly effective. The Rapier’s speed enables you to strike quickly and disrupt opponents, while the Ice Gauntlet provides crowd control.
Where Can I Get the Ice Gauntlet?
You can obtain the Ice Gauntlet from faction merchants or the market.
Ice Gauntlet Combinations
- Rapier: This combo offers incredible mobility and crowd control. Use the Ice Gauntlet to immobilize enemies and follow up with the Rapier for burst attacks. While you may lose a small amount of damage with the Rapier due to scaling with intelligence, the overall versatility makes this combo worthwhile.
- Fire Staff: This combo combines ice and fire elements, unleashing immense firepower. The Ice Gauntlet sets up enemies for the Fire Staff’s abilities, making it a devastating combination. Keep in mind that this combo lacks a melee option and relies on mana for damage.
- Life Staff: If you want to partially scale the Ice Gauntlet with focus, use an Amber gem in this combo. It allows you to focus on healing with the Life Staff while still dealing respectable damage with the Ice Gauntlet.
Best Gem for Musket in New World
The best gem for the Musket in New World depends on your playstyle and focus. Here are some options:
- Abyssal, Arboreal, Electrified, Empowered, Ignited, or Frozen: These gems convert a portion of your Musket’s damage into a specific elemental type, such as fire or ice. The choice depends on your preferred element and the enemies you’ll be facing.
- Brash: This gem deals more damage to targets at full health. It’s particularly effective in both PvP and PvE encounters.
- Calming: The Calming gem reduces the likelihood of NPCs targeting you directly in PvE combat, allowing you to focus on dealing damage from a safe distance.
- Cruel: Cruel increases your damage against opponents with crowd control effects, making it beneficial in various combat scenarios.
- Gambit: Gambit increases your damage output while your stamina is not full, encouraging active movement and agility during fights.
- Opportunist: With Opportunist, you deal extra damage to enemies with less than 30% health, enabling you to finish off weakened opponents effectively.
- Rally: Rally allows you to deal more damage while at full health, supporting your team’s efforts in PvP battles when you’re not the primary target.
Musket and Fire Staff Build
For a Musket and Fire Staff build, invest in intelligence to scale your Fire Staff damage and slightly boost your Musket damage. Equip an intelligence-based gem on your Musket to maximize your damage output.
Do Gems Stack in New World?
Yes, gems can be used to stack defensive buffs in New World. For example, the Carnelian Gem, which permits taunting, is a must-have for tank builds.
How to Find Gems in New World
Gems can be obtained in various ways. You can improve your mining skill and luck to increase the chance of finding valuable gems. Early on, mining Iron and Silver ore has a chance to drop gems, with Silver ore having a better likelihood. Additionally, farming the Amrine Temple Expedition is an excellent way to obtain gems. Consider using items or consumables that enhance mining luck to improve your chances of finding gems.
How to Attach Gemstones in New World
Attaching gemstones to your gear in New World is simple. Just drag a cut gemstone onto the appropriate gear slot from your character inventory page.
There are some rules to keep in mind when attaching gemstones to weapons. You must match the gemstone with the weapon’s damage type and any specific abilities. Make sure the gemstone aligns with the weapon’s current damage type to ensure compatibility.
Can You Remove Gems in New World?
Once a gemstone is removed from an item in New World, you cannot retrieve it. However, you can replace it with another gemstone to modify the item’s effect. Plan your upgrades carefully, as gemstones cannot be recovered once removed.