The Destroyer Class in New World Aeternum

The Destroyer class stands as a bruiser powerhouse in New World, wielding the Great Axe and War Hammer to dominate in PvP, especially in late-game content. With its heavy-hitting abilities, crowd control, and high sustain, the Destroyer excels in both offense and defense, making it an ideal choice for those looking to be the frontline force in Wars, Outpost Rush, and open-world skirmishes. However, while the Great Axe and War Hammer shine in PvP, PvE content may require a pivot to more meta-oriented builds, such as Spear or Greatsword, for improved versatility and consistent damage output.

Early Game: A Force to Be Reckoned With

The Destroyer class shines early in the game due to its sheer damage potential and tanky nature. With the Great Axe in hand, you can cleave through multiple enemies with abilities like Reap and Maelstrom, pulling foes in and dealing massive AoE damage. Meanwhile, the War Hammer’s crowd control abilities, like Shockwave and Wrecking Ball, allow you to stun and knock down enemies, providing excellent control over battlefield positioning.

This combination makes the Destroyer perfect for those who want to dominate the early levels with brute force, smashing through mobs and handling multiple enemies at once without much fear of death.

Why the Destroyer is Ideal for New Players:

  • High Sustain & Damage: With the Great Axe’s Reap and Gravity Well, you can consistently pull enemies in, dealing AoE damage and healing yourself with Reap's life steal.

  • Tanky & Hard to Kill: The War Hammer’s stuns and crowd control make it easy to lock down enemies, preventing them from dealing damage while you finish them off.

  • AoE Damage: Both weapons provide excellent AoE damage, allowing you to take on large groups of enemies with ease, making questing and PvE content more manageable.

Mid-Game and Pivoting to Meta Builds

As you progress into the mid-game, the Destroyer’s raw power remains effective in PvE, but PvE content like Expeditions and elite farming often requires more focused DPS and mobility. While the Great Axe and War Hammer continue to perform well in PvP, late-game PvE encounters call for a more refined build with meta weapons like the Spear or Greatsword.

The Spear offers excellent crowd control and consistent DPS, while the Greatsword provides high burst damage with added mobility, making them both strong choices for PvE content. Pairing these weapons with the Great Axe or War Hammer as an offhand keeps your bruiser identity intact while enhancing your effectiveness in different scenarios.

Why Pivot into Spear or Greatsword for PvE Late Game:

  • Sustained DPS & Crowd Control: The Spear offers knockdowns, interrupts, and rend effects, which are crucial in PvE content, where controlling enemies and sustaining damage is key. Meanwhile, the Greatsword’s versatility in stance-based abilities provides both high damage and survivability.

  • Mobility: The Spear and Greatsword offer more mobility than the War Hammer, allowing you to evade dangerous attacks from bosses and elite mobs, keeping you alive longer in PvE content.

  • Meta Relevance: The current PvE meta leans heavily toward weapons that offer crowd control and burst damage, making the Spear and Greatsword the go-to choices for top-tier content like Expeditions, Invasions, and open-world farming.

Late-Game PvP Domination

While you may shift to a Spear or Greatsword for PvE, the Destroyer class truly shines in PvP, where the Great Axe and War Hammer reign supreme. These weapons are critical in Wars and Outpost Rush, where crowd control, AoE damage, and durability are essential for team success.

The Great Axe’s Gravity Well is invaluable for pulling enemies together, setting them up for your team’s AoE damage. Pair this with the War Hammer’s Shockwave and Path of Destiny, and you become a walking crowd-control machine, locking down enemies and creating opportunities for your team to secure kills.

Why Stick to Great Axe and War Hammer for PvP:

  • Unparalleled Crowd Control: Both the Great Axe and War Hammer have some of the best CC abilities in the game, allowing you to dictate the flow of battle by controlling enemy movements and actions.

  • High Survivability: The life steal from the Great Axe’s Reap and the defensive fortify from the War Hammer’s Wrecking Ball keep you alive in the thick of battle, even when outnumbered.

  • Team Utility: In large-scale PvP, the ability to group enemies with Gravity Well or stun them with Shockwave is invaluable, often turning the tide of battle in your team’s favor.

Late-Game Rotation for Destroyers

In late-game PvP, your primary role is to control the battlefield and deal consistent damage. Start by engaging enemies with the Great Axe, using Charge to close the gap, followed by Gravity Well to trap enemies. Follow up with Maelstrom for a powerful AoE hit, then switch to the War Hammer to stun enemies with Shockwave and knock them down with Wrecking Ball.

In PvE, if you pivot to Spear or Greatsword, maintain high DPS and mobility by weaving in heavy attacks and crowd control abilities like Vault Kick (Spear) or Crosscut (Greatsword), while still relying on the Great Axe for grouping enemies with Reap or Gravity Well.

Conclusion

The Destroyer class in New World is the quintessential bruiser, dominating in both PvE and PvP with the powerful combination of the Great Axe and War Hammer. In the early game, this class excels at dealing heavy damage while controlling enemies, making it perfect for those who enjoy being on the front lines.

However, as you reach the late game, consider transitioning into meta builds like the Spear or Greatsword for PvE content, while retaining the Great Axe and War Hammer for PvP dominance. This hybrid approach allows you to maintain your bruiser identity while adapting to the demands of late-game content, ensuring that you’re always a valuable asset to your team in any situation.

Skill Trees

Great Axe

Use your abilities to group enemies tightly before cc locking them in place.


Reap

Pull mobs into you from up to 8m away.

Gravity Well

Grav well is an aoe that will draw in enemies into the center of the mass , aim between the mobs you want to pull in to draw them together

Maelstrom

A fast spin that will pull in surrounding mobs, do be careful though you can trap yourself in the centers

Hammer

Shockwave

Shockwave is one of the best abilities in new world ccing and knocking down all mobs around you while giving you healing though your croud crusher healing

The hammer is one of the best value weapons in the game allowing you to almost permanently CC enemies by chaining light or heavy attacks between your abilities to proc cooldown reductions

Clearout

Swinging your hammer in a radius around you knocking back enemies and fortifying alies, in large packs this will cooldown very quickly allowing you to chain cc enemies

Armor Breaker

A powerful swing penetrating the enemies armor and rending the target greatly increasing the damage they take

Attribute Points

Recommended Attribute Points

As a bruiser, your focus is on dealing significant damage while being durable enough to survive in the front lines. The Great Axe and War Hammer both scale primarily with Strength, so most of your points will be invested in Strength to maximize damage output. Constitution (Con) is your secondary stat, providing health and survivability for both PvE and PvP scenarios. Here's a breakdown of the recommended attribute distribution based on different phases of gameplay.

Early Game (Level 1-20)

  • Strength (Str): 100-150

  • Constitution (Con): 50-100

At lower levels, aim to prioritize Strength to boost your damage output while investing some points into Constitution for durability, especially if you're soloing PvE content or engaging in small-scale PvP skirmishes. By level 20, a 60/40 split between Strength and Constitution is a balanced approach, giving you enough health to survive but still hit hard.

Mid Game (Level 30-50)

  • Strength (Str): 250-300

  • Constitution (Con): 100-150

As you approach mid-game, you’ll start taking on more challenging PvE content like Expeditions or group activities like Wars and Outpost Rush. Here, you want to ramp up your Strength significantly to maximize damage output from both the Great Axe and War Hammer, but you’ll also need to maintain a solid base of Constitution to withstand the incoming damage. A typical distribution is around 250-300 Strength and 100-150 Constitution, depending on how tanky you need to be.

Late Game (Level 60-65)

At max level, your stat distribution should vary based on the specific type of content you're focusing on. For general PvP and PvE content, the ideal balance is 500 Strength and 100 Constitution, but for tankier builds, you can adjust this distribution to suit your needs.

Balanced DPS Bruiser (PvE/PvP)

  • Strength (Str): 500

  • Constitution (Con): 100

This is the standard setup for most bruisers in late-game. With 500 Strength, you’ll maximize your damage potential, making your Great Axe and War Hammer hits devastating, especially in group PvP like Wars or Outpost Rush. The 100 Constitution provides enough health to sustain in battle without sacrificing too much damage.

Tanky Bruiser (Wars/Invasions/High-End PvE)

  • Strength (Str): 400

  • Constitution (Con): 200

For content where you need to survive longer and tank for your team, shifting points into Constitution becomes crucial. In large-scale PvP battles (like Wars) or difficult PvE content (such as Expeditions and Invasions), running 200 Constitution provides extra health and survivability. With 400 Strength, you still maintain solid DPS, but the added tankiness allows you to hold your ground and stay alive longer in critical fights.

Heavy Tank Bruiser (Extreme Durability)

  • Strength (Str): 300

  • Constitution (Con): 300

If you’re expected to be the frontline tank, soaking up damage in high-intensity content, go for an even split between Strength and Constitution. This setup sacrifices some damage output but allows you to tank effectively, especially when paired with perks and abilities that offer damage mitigation. While this is not the optimal DPS bruiser setup, it can be a lifesaver in situations where team survivability is critical.

Weapons

In the early game you wont be able to get the best gear possible but focus the main damage perks

Important Weapon Perks

  • Thwarting strikes

  • Enfeebling Maelstrom

  • Plagued Strikes

  • Sundering Shockwave

    Examples below

Armor

Refer to the Armor pages for armor recommendations, this class plays best with a LIGHT armor weight but medium also is viable for more survivability.

Recommended Armor Perks In order of importance

  • Enchanted Ward

  • 4x Refreshing

  • Health

  • Sundering Clear-out

  • Insatiable gravity well