This is a guide on the damage types and effects in New World. Read on to learn New World's damage mechanics, differences between the damage types, effects and ailments, and more!

New World's Damage Mechanics

Damage Mechanics Explained

In the above image, the sword has the default Slash as its physical damage type. It also has a Lightning elemental damage type due to its Chain Lightning perk.

New World's damage mechanics consists of two damage types: Physical Damage and Elemental Damage. Hovering over your weapon in the Inventory lets you see its Physical Damage Type, as well as any perk that adds an additional Elemental Damage Type.

Some weapons allow you to use a secondary physical damage type. For example, Swords have a Slash damage type when using its light attack. However, its heavy attack is a Thrust damage type.

Certain Weapon Skills also allow you to change a weapon's damage type when activating an abillity.

Critical Hit Chance and Damage Modifier

All weapons in New World have a Critical Hit Chance and Critical Damage Modifier.

Critical Hit Chance determines the chance of landing a critical hit to an enemy while Critical Damage Modifier determines the extra damage dealt when doing so.

You can increase these two stats using perks or adding points to a certain attribute.

Backstabs and Headshots

Landing a critical hit causes the floating damage counter to appear with an orange color.

Backstabbing or hitting an enemy in the head is a guaranteed critical hit.

Backstab works by hitting an unsuspecting enemy from behind. This works best against stationary enemies such as the Corrupted in abandoned farmlands or the Lost sailors in shipwrecks.

Headshots work by aiming at an enemy's head using a ranged weapon such as the Bow or Musket.

Take advantage of these maneuvers when facing PvE and PVP enemies.

Resistances and Weaknesses

Resistant	Neutral	Effective

When dealing damage to an enemy, a floating damage counter number appears briefly showing your damage output. The color will vary depending on the enemy's resistance and weakness.

Resistant damage values are displayed with a blue color along with double arrows pointing downwards (⯯). This indicates that the physical or elemental damage is ineffective against the enemy.

Neutral damage values are displayed with a white color and a physical or elemental damage type icon used to attack the enemy. This means that the damage type is neither weak nor resistant against the enemy.

Effective damage values are displayed with a yellow color with double arrows pointing upwards (⯭). This means that the physical or elemental damage is effective against the enemy.

Enemy Type Resistances and Weaknesses Chart

Every enemy type in the game is weak or resistant against certain damage types. Knowing these will help you defeat enemies easier and create effective DPS builds.

See the chart below to learn each of the enemy type's resistances and weaknesses.

Enemy Type	Resistant	Neutral	Effective
Ancient	・Slash ・Fire	・Thrust ・Ice ・Nature ・Arcane	・Strike ・Lightning ・Void
Angry Earth	・Thrust ・Lightning	・Strike ・Ice ・Nature ・Void ・Arcane	・Slash ・Fire
Beast	・None	・Slash ・Strike ・Fire ・Ice ・Lightning ・Nature ・Void ・Arcane	・Thurst
Corrupted	・Thrust ・Ice	・Slash ・Fire ・Lightning ・Void	・Strike ・Nature ・Arcane
Lost	・Thrust ・Void	・Slash ・Fire ・ Lightning ・Arcane	・Strike ・Ice ・Nature

Physical Damage Types

Slash

Effective Against:	・Angry Earth
Neutral Against:	・Beast ・Corrupted ・Lost
Weak Against:	・Ancient

Slash is the primary physical damage type of Swords, Hatchets, and Great Axes.

Strike

Effective Against:	・Ancient ・Corrupted ・ Lost
Neutral Against:	・Angry Earth ・Beast
Weak Against:	・None

Strike is the primary physical damage type of War Hammers.

Thrust

Effective Against:	・Beast
Neutral Against:	・Ancient
Weak Against:	・Angry Earth ・Corrupted ・Lost

Thrust is the primary physical damage type of Spears, Muskets, Bows, and Rapiers. Swords can also inflict thrust damage when using its heavy attack.

Elemental Damage Types

Fire

Effective Against:	・Angry Earth
Neutral Against:	・Beast ・Corrupted ・Lost
Weak Against:	・Ancient

Fire is the primary elemental damage type of Fire Staves. You can also equip a gemstone on a weapon to add a secondary fire elemental damage.

Perks that add a Fire Damage Type

Ignited III	Ignited IV	Ignited II
Ignited I

Ice

Effective Against:	・Lost
Neutral Against:	・Ancient ・Angry Earth ・Beast
Weak Against:	・Corrupted

Ice is the primary elemental damage type of Ice Gauntlets. You can also equip a gemstone on a weapon to add a secondary ice elemental damage.

Perks that add an Ice Damage Type

Frozen IV	Frozen III	Frozen II
Frozen I

Nature

Effective Against:	・Lost
Neutral Against:	・Ancient ・Angry Earth ・Beast
Weak Against:	・None

Nature is the primary elemental damage type of Life Staves. You can also equip a gemstone on a weapon to add a secondary nature elemental damage.

Perks that add a Nature Damage Type

Arboreal I	Arboreal IV	Arboreal III
Arboreal II

Arcane

Effective Against:	・Corrupted
Neutral Against:	・Ancient ・Angry Earth ・Beast ・ Lost
Weak Against:	・None

Arcane is a secondary elemental damage type that you can equip as a perk on a weapon. Certain weapons such as the Faeforged Musket has this as its primary damage type.

Perks that add an Arcane Damage Type

Empowered IV	Empowered III	Empowered II
Empowered I

Lightning

Effective Against:	・Ancient
Neutral Against:	・Beast ・Corrupted ・Lost
Weak Against:	・Angry Earth

Lightning is a secondary elemental damage type that you can equip as a perk on a weapon.

Perks that add a Lightning Damage Type

Electrified II	Electrified IV	Electrified III
Electrified I

Void

Effective Against:	・Ancient
Neutral Against:	・Angry Earth ・Beast Corrupted
Weak Against:	・Lost

Void is a secondary elemental damage type that you can equip as a perk on a weapon. Certain weapons such as the Longsight has this as its primary damage type.

Perks that add a Void Damage Type

Abyssal I	Abyssal IV	Abyssal III
Abyssal II

New World Related Guides

Tips and Tricks: Beginner's Guide to New World

Tier Lists
Best Weapon Combos	Best Starter Weapons
Game Mechanics
How to Set Up and Upgrade Camps	Factions Guide
Fast Travel Guide	Repair Guide
How to Play with Friends	Gem Sockets Guide
How to Cleanse Portals	Azoth Staff Guide
Crafting Guide	How to Gain Territory Standing
Respec Guide	Stats Guide
Leveling Rewards	AFK Timer Guide
How to Sell Items	How to Enable PvP
How to Create and Join a Faction Company	New World Keybinds
How to Split Item Stacks	Housing System
List of Damage Types and Effects	Outpost Rush Guide
Guides
Character Creation Guide	Leveling Guide
Controller Support	How to Get Azoth
How to Track Resources	List of Marauder Gear and Resources
List of Syndicate Gear and Resources	List of Covenant Gear and Resources
Trading Post Guide	How to Farm Faction Tokens
Money Making Guide	List of Legendary Weapons
Timeless Shards Guide	Gypsum Guide
Trade Skill Aptitude System
FAQs
What Happens When You Die?	What to Do With Old Gear
How to Use Voice Chat