Best Two-Handed Melee Weapons In New World: Aeternum

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New World Aeternum has introduced several changes to how weapon skill trees work. And even though most players will barely feel the change, some of these differences between the previous version of the game and the new release will impact the weapons' power and utility.

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These examples are the best two-handed melee weapons, with all their particularities, the best skills, and the best ways to combine them to create cool and powerful builds. From one of the favorite weapons for Dexterity players to the definitive weapon of mass destruction, capable of breaking apart opponents en-masse, and buffing its user to resist damage more efficiently.

The Spear's main strength resides in its ability to close the gap between players and their opponents, causing severe CC, as well as many status effects that diminish mobility, armor, and resistance. It can also cause bleeding, as well as increase the damage output of the user. The Spear is an all-rounder weapon, with not too many mitigation choices though. Spear users are exposed to counter-attacks from their opponents, especially when attacked from behind, and lack the versatility of other weapons like the Great Axes and War Hammers that can clear out huge groups of opponents in one strike.

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It's especially effective against Creatures and Animals since it causes Trust Damage, but less effective against Undead enemies. It is also good for PvP, though mainly as a complement to ranged weapons like Bows and Muskets. Since its primary stat is Dexterity, having another weapon that scales with said stat is the optimal choice for spear users. They can even go Rapier/Spear, although that's not a recommended build for the current meta.

The Spear has two branches of skills: Zoner and Impaler. The first one focuses on crowd control effects, like pushing and throwing opponents prone. It also has a reliable Javelin-Toss ability that turns the Spear into a throwable weapon, considerably deadly for those players with extreme precision. The second branch, Impaler, is all about causing damage to a single target, as well as bleeding and chasing down opponents thanks to its Vault Kick ability that serves as a gap closer. The more negative effects the Spear user causes on their opponents, the more the Impaler skill branch shines, dealing even more damage and empowering attacks.

A good choice for those who enjoy raw unbridled power, the Great Axe has the highest slashing damage of all the melee weapons, but it's a bit slower than War Hammers and Greatswords. With sweeping attacks, Slash Damage, and powerful skills, the Great Axe excels at picking up single targets in PvE and dealing considerable damage. In PvP, the Reaper kit shines as a beacon of crowd control thanks to its Gravity Well skill, which even in New World: Aeternum is an absolute game-changer.

The best kit to beat down opponents in single combat is Marauder, with access to chase abilities and the powerful Execute skill that resets every time players slay an opponent. The great thing about the Marauder branch is not only its access to extra mobility (that with strength-based builds becomes critical) but also its powerful passives that turn the player into an off-tank capable of resisting quite a lot of punishment before they even start to flinch. On the other hand, the bad thing about the majority of Great Axe skills is that none except Execute grant Super-Armor (the ability to resist interruption), and players become vulnerable to stuns, blocks, interruptions, and other crowd control effects. But it is a great weapon, fun to play, and feels powerful enough to satisfy those with a thirst for blood.

The Greatsword is nearly perfect. With great balance between damage and tankiness, players building to get the hang of this spectacular two-handed weapon will feel all the power of a heavy tank, and the powerful skills of a bruiser in an all-in-one kit. The major strength of the Greatsword lies in its ability to shift between "stances" upon using skills from each of its branches, so players might feel the need to build a hybrid between the two specializations to get the perfect combos that suit their needs.

Along with leveling up their character and weapons, New World: Aeternum players can also improve their reputation in the world's territories.

The particularity of the stances is that each of them has a different effect. Onslaught turns the player into a berserker, which trades his own defense in exchange for damage. The Onslaught passives also grant life steal. Then, the Defiance Stance offers more damage reduction, while also reducing the damage the player causes, but automatically blocking incoming attacks when charging a Heavy Attack. This gives Greatsword users a lot of tactical advantages to outsmart their opponents both in PvE and PvP, especially when they become the frontline in the absence of better tanks or Shieldbearers. The downside is that these weapon mechanics are quite hard to master, especially for new players, and finding the right equipment to accompany a Great Sword build can be a problem too.

With a huge and raw piece of metal (or stone) at the end of a long handle, War Hammers in New World: Aeternum are a representation of strength and pure unbridled power. Capable of powerful and long-reaching attacks that break the foes' defenses, War Hammers boast the strongest attack power of all melee weapons in the game. Both of the Warhammer's ability branches are powerful for tanking, but the best among them is the Crowd Crusher branch.

With access to supreme crowd control, overreaching AoE effects, and a great deal of damage, Crowd Crusher is the perfect skill tree for those who want to slam the ground and send every foe flying away. On the other hand, Juggernaut has quite an assortment of mitigation skills, which combined properly can turn the player into the ultimate tank that can withstand any attack in the game. Perhaps the War Hammer's only flaw is that since it's a pure strength weapon, there are not too many combination possibilities, and a pure strength build can leave the players exposed to being squishier in the end game. Nevertheless, there's not a single doubt that the War Hammers are the strongest two-handed melee weapons in New World: Aeternum.

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