Occultist

The Occultist Class in New World Aeternum

The Occultist is a mystical and enigmatic class that harnesses the raw elemental power of the Fire Staff and Ice Gauntlet. Combining high burst damage from the Fire Staff with the control and damage-over-time abilities of the Ice Gauntlet, the Occultist is a fantastic choice for players seeking a more strategic, methodical playstyle. This class excels in both solo play and group content, making it a versatile and powerful option as you progress through Aeternum. Let’s explore how the Occultist stands out in the early game and how it can seamlessly transition into late-game meta builds.

Early Game: A Master of Elements

The Occultist shines in early-game combat by utilizing both offensive and defensive abilities to control the battlefield. The Fire Staff provides high burst damage, excellent mobility with abilities like Burn Out, and powerful ranged attacks. On the other hand, the Ice Gauntlet brings crowd control through slows, roots, and area-of-effect spells like Ice Storm, allowing you to lock down enemies while whittling away at their health.

Why the Occultist is Ideal for New Players:

  • Sustained Damage & Crowd Control: The Ice Gauntlet's Ice Storm and Ice Shower provide long-lasting control over large groups of enemies, making it easier to avoid damage while dealing consistent DoT (damage over time).

  • Burst & Mobility: The Fire Staff’s abilities, like Pillar of Fire and Burn Out, offer massive burst damage and escape options, giving you both offensive power and defensive mobility.

  • Solo & Group Flexibility: The Occultist’s combination of AoE (area of effect) damage and crowd control makes it highly effective in solo play for questing and leveling, while still being invaluable in group content due to its ability to kite and control enemies.

Mid-Game and Pivoting to Meta Builds

As you progress through Aeternum, the challenges of PvE and PvP content grow more intense. While the Fire Staff and Ice Gauntlet remain potent tools, you may want to focus on specific builds to keep up with the meta in late-game content.

The Ice Gauntlet continues to provide excellent control and AoE damage, but as you face tougher enemies, mastering Fire Staff’s powerful single-target and AoE burst becomes critical. Focusing on maximizing your damage output with Fire Staff and Ice Gauntlet in mid to late-game content ensures you can handle both expeditions and elite zones, where AoE and control are highly valued.

Why Pivot into Fire Staff & Ice Gauntlet Late Game:

  • Unmatched AoE Control: The Ice Gauntlet's abilities, like Ice Storm and Ice Pylon, allow you to control large groups of enemies in dungeons or PvP encounters, making it an indispensable tool for crowd control.

  • Burst Damage & Mobility: The Fire Staff’s Meteor Shower and Burn Out offer incredible AoE and single-target damage, perfect for PvP and PvE, while maintaining mobility to dodge mechanics in tough encounters.

  • Synergy in PvP: The ability to combine freezing effects with high burst damage makes the Fire Staff and Ice Gauntlet combo a strong choice for both dungeons and Wars, where you can both control and eliminate key targets quickly.

Conclusion

Starting as an Occultist in New World offers a powerful mix of control, damage, and mobility, making it a fantastic choice for new players seeking a versatile, magic-focused playstyle. The combination of Fire Staff and Ice Gauntlet provides a well-rounded toolkit for both early and mid-game content, giving you everything you need to excel in solo and group encounters.

As you reach the late game, continuing to refine your build and mastering the synergy between the Fire Staff’s burst damage and the Ice Gauntlet’s crowd control will allow you to thrive in New World’s most challenging content. Whether you’re battling in PvP or taking on elite PvE expeditions, the Occultist’s powerful elemental abilities will ensure you remain a force to be reckoned with.

Skill Trees

Firestaff

Use abilities on cooldown and chain with ice gauntlet abilities , if you want more mobility you can switch out fireball for burnout

Pillar of Fire

This is a skillshot that deals damage to enemies within a 2.5m radius of where you aim the ability

Meteor Shower

Shoot an aoe barrage of fire balls at the target inflicting a large amount of fire damage , be careful as this ability can easily animation lock you to death.

Fire Ball

Shoots a heavy fireball damaging all enemies in a 3m radius

Pilon

Pilon is both your best friend and worst enemies in battle, be mindful of where you place pilon so it wont accidently agro mobs you weren’t planning on fighting

Ice Gauntlet

The ice gauntlet had very strong cc and damage capabilities , use your ice wall to block enemies and drop ice storm on them for aoe damage, use your ice pilon off to the side for consistent damage or use it as a shield to take mobs agro if in dangerous situations

Ice Wall

Ice wall can be use strategically to stop and also group up mobs on edges of walls ect to then get the most out of you aoe abilities, ice wall can also apply a small rend or be used to give you space to escape tight situations.

Ice Storm

Ice Storm is a large aoe abilities chilling and damaging enemies that are inside of its radius, using this on a tight group of mobs especially combined with meteor shower from the fire staff can lead to some quick kills.

Attribute Points

Attribute Breakdown for Occultist:

The Occultist class, which relies on Intelligence as its primary stat, is focused on dealing high damage with magic, making it a potent offensive class in both PvE and PvP. While the class scales entirely with Intelligence, there are benefits to adding some Constitution for survivability, especially in high-end content. Here's a breakdown of how to allocate your points effectively.

Intelligence:

Since Intelligence is the main scaling stat for the Occultist, it’s crucial to maximize it to ensure you’re outputting as much damage as possible. You’ll want to aim for 400-500 Intelligence depending on how tanky you need to be in certain scenarios.

Constitution:

While Intelligence is the primary focus, having a baseline of Constitution is important to avoid being too fragile, especially in PvP or challenging PvE encounters like Expeditions. The exact amount of Constitution you choose depends on your comfort level with survivability.

Constitution Breakpoints:

  • 5-50 Constitution: This is the absolute minimum for a glass cannon build.

    • Perk at 50 Con: 10% increased health regeneration while out of combat, offering minor sustain between fights but no major survivability.

    • This setup is for maximizing damage, but it leaves you vulnerable to burst attacks. Suitable for players who can consistently avoid damage.

  • 100 Constitution: A more balanced choice for general play, offering enough health to survive a few hits without sacrificing too much damage.

    • Perk at 100 Con: 10% increased max health. This threshold is ideal for PvE leveling, casual dungeons, or PvP where you’re not expecting to take constant damage.

  • 150 Constitution: This is the sweet spot for PvP-focused Occultists or endgame PvE content.

    • Perk at 150 Con: +10% physical armor, which provides a solid increase in survivability, especially against physical-based enemies and players.

    • This is the preferred breakpoint for tougher content like Expeditions, Wars, or Outpost Rush, where staying alive longer makes a significant difference.

Dexterity and Focus:

While Dexterity and Focus can provide minor bonuses to certain weapon abilities and ability cooldowns, they are generally not worth investing in heavily for the Occultist class. A small investment, such as 25 points, might help if you're using a secondary weapon that scales off Dexterity, but otherwise, it's best to keep these minimal and focus on Constitution and Intelligence.

Example Attribute Spreads for Occultist:

Glass Cannon Occultist (Max Damage for PvE and PvP):

  • Intelligence: 450-500

  • Constitution: 50

    • This build maximizes your damage output, but you’ll need to rely on dodging and positioning to avoid damage. It’s ideal for experienced players who prefer dealing as much damage as possible in shorter fights, where survivability isn't the main focus.

Balanced Occultist (PvE/PvP Mix):

  • Intelligence: 400

  • Constitution: 100

    • This build strikes a balance between damage and survivability. With 100 Constitution, you’ll have enough health to survive a few hits, making it suitable for most content in the game, whether it’s leveling, Expeditions, or PvP.

Tankier Occultist (For PvP ):

  • Intelligence: 350

  • Constitution: 150

    • For players who need to endure more damage in PvP or high-end PvE, this build sacrifices some damage for extra health and physical armor. It’s ideal for Wars, Outpost Rush, and late-game Expeditions where survivability is critical.

Final Thoughts on Constitution Levels:

  • 50 Constitution is for those who want to go all-in on damage.

  • 100 Constitution offers a safer middle ground for most players.

  • 150 Constitution is the go-to choice if you need to be tankier, especially in PvP


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

Important Weapon Perks

  • Vicious

  • Enchanted

  • Empowering Fireball / Meteor Shower

  • Unending Thaw

  • Refreshing Move

  • Keen

    Examples below

Weapons

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

  • Pilon Burst

    Elemental Band Artifact matched with Nimble Coat or Grey Wizards hat is very strong for this build

    Armor Artifacts

    Jewelry Artifacts

Armor