New World Tank Build
New World Tank Build Introduction
Welcome to The Tank Club: New World Tank Build!
This is a Tank Build designed for completing PvE content in the New World MMO as a Tank and can be used for completing the hardest content including Mutated level 3 expeditions. For a more Beginner friendly setup take a look at the New World Beginner Tank Build.
There are many ways to Tank in New World with a variety of gear, weapon and ability options. In this guide you’ll find information on some of the most effective Tank setups for completing New World content.
Join The Tank Club Discord for all of your New World Tank help and discussion, and more details on New World Tanking see our New World Tank Guide.
New World Tank Build Attributes
The ideal setup for most PvE tanks is 300 Constitution (CON) with remaining points in Strength (STR).
- 300 CON grants Grit on Heavy Attacks, helping you avoid being staggered and maintain position, particularly useful as Tanks must Light and Heavy Attacks regularly for Stamina sustain due to the difficulty of maintaining a permanent block in New World. Though Grit has been removed from Light Attacks, it remains valuable for cooldown reduction on abilities through the Refreshing Move weapon perk.
- Magnify – Set your desired stat focus on the Attributes screen with the Magnify perk before allocating points to maximize its effect.
Attribute Breakdown:
- STR – Increases damage for most Tank weapons, aiding in Threat generation and Aggro control.
- DEX – Beneficial for tanks using Spear or Greatsword, as it boosts damage and specific perks.
- FOC – Enhances the Flail’s healing abilities with Cleric skills, providing reduced cooldowns and increased incoming healing.
- CON – Adds max health, armor, grit, and reduced incoming damage, supporting tank durability.
To maximize attributes, you’ll need to reach level 65, utilize stat-buffing food, and equip max-level gear.
Beginner Tank | General Tank | Great Sword/Spear Tank | Experienced Tank |
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*Put remaining points into Strength
New World Tank Build Weapons
Best PvE Tank Weapon Combinations:
- Sword & Shield + War Hammer – Ideal for general tanking and pulling adds.
- Sword & Shield + Spear – Best for focused boss fights.
- Flail & Shield + War Hammer/Spear – An alternative to Sword, though not necessarily stronger.
- Greatsword + Spear/War Hammer – Suited to experienced tanks, offering higher DPS but requiring skill to use effectively.
Primary Weapon Insights:
- Sword & Shield remains the safest and most reliable PvE tank weapon, providing strong damage reduction and higher DPS than the Flail. Choosing the Leadership perk adds passive group-wide damage boosts.
- War Hammer excels in add pulls, offering Rend, Weaken, and multiple Crowd Control options, making it invaluable for group utility and AoE damage.
- Spear shines in boss fights, delivering excellent DPS, Rend, and Weaken, though frequent dodging is required. Spear use is less essential if another group member has one.
- Flail & Shield is a newer option and can replace Sword & Shield as the primary tank weapon. It pairs well with War Hammer for general use or with Spear for boss fights.
- Greatsword is challenging yet rewarding for advanced tanks, providing enhanced group DPS. It works well with War Hammer for managing adds and with Spear for boss fights, though it requires speccing into Dexterity for optimal effectiveness.
Additional Tanking Weapons:
- Great Axe – Useful for groups lacking clumping control, though typically used by DPS.
- Hatchet – Beginner-friendly, with an anti-death passive.
- Ice Gauntlet – An unconventional tank option with defensive capabilities, range, and CC, occasionally used in niche or boss scenarios.
- Rapier – A high-DPS choice for optimized groups, requiring kiting and frequent dodging, suitable for highly skilled tanks.
New World Sword Tank Build
New World War Hammer Tank Build
New World Spear Tank Build
New World Flail Tank Build
New World Greatsword Tank Build
New World Great Axe Tank Build
New World Tank Build Gear
New World Tank Build Gear Perks
See More: New World Tank Gear Guide
For your gear you want to run Heavy Armor to achieve a Heavy Equip Load.
When you are experienced and have an organised group, using Light or Medium is also an option for advanced Tanking for score pushing and doing more DPS.
Best in Slot “BiS” gear will include perks that buff your weapon abilities such as Contagious Reverse Stab, Leeching Cyclone and Relentless Freedom. These are combined with both the Refreshing and/or Health perk. You can only use max 4 Refreshing perks.
Other useful gear perks include:
Protection perks are also very useful. To find out which Protection perks you need for each Expedition and each Boss, take a look at the New World Ward And Protection Article
New World Tank Build Heartrune
There are a few great Heartrunes to use with your Tank build for PvE.
Generally, the Brutal Grasping Vines is the best in slot Heartrune but mostly for add pulls since it offers group utility and benefits.
When you reach bosses the Stalwart or Greater Stoneform Heartrunes are very useful.
Read more: Best PvE Tank Heartrunes
New World Tank Build Consumables
To maximise your ability as a Tank you’ll want to use a range of consumables that give you a number of different boosts.
Most of the consumables benefit your damage, even as a newer Tank you should at least be using the Minor house Trophies since that’s 9% more damage to a certain enemy type depending on the Expedition and they are very cheap to buy.
Using Weapon Coating and Honing Stones are also good damage increases and pretty cheap options even when using lower graded items, it’s still extra damage.
With potions you should have Health Potions, Regeneration Potions and Ward Potions all slotted as you can use them all at the same time since they do not share a cooldown.
Incense is also good to use, Oakflesh Balm and Gemstone Dust are less important and it’s good to carry a few to use if they are needed but this is not always the case. See more about New World Damage Absorption