New World Blunderbuss build: Tanking, melee PvP & ranged PvE

Here is a look at the New World Blunderbuss builds you can expect to synergize well with other weapons.

Table of Contents Table of Contents

Thanks to the March update, the Blunderbuss is the latest weapon to get added to New World. After having some time to play with the weapon, it appears that the Blunderbuss makes for an interesting tanking and PvP weapon for a variety of reasons. Below you’ll find a few possible builds that could make this weapon interesting to you.

New World Blunderbuss Builds

The Blunderbuss is an interesting weapon, with the Containment tree of the weapon being primarily a CC themed playstyle. Meanwhile, the Chaos playstyle is an AOE themed skill set, which is all about turning your blunderbuss into an artillery/cannon piece. With that said, the Containment tree makes for a very interesting PvP or tanking utility themed. On the other hand, the Chaos tree seems to be a more PvE focused spec, but it can be used for niche situations for PvP. Keep these factors in mind while we explore the different New World Blunderbuss builds that can work for different situations.

This weapon scale with Strength and Intelligence attribute stats is also worth mentioning. So, we are going to try and pair this weapon up with Strength and Intelligence weapons.

New World Blunderbuss tank build

The New World Blunderbuss can be used as an accompanying weapon for any tank players who don’t fancy an LS, GA or WH anymore. Instead, the Blunderbuss has some decent ranged tanking tools, largely thanks to the Net Shot and the Claw. The Net Claw inflicts a root to an enemy, and then drags you closer to them, while the Net Shot can slow an enemy to 50% for five seconds when upgraded.

It finally addresses a solution that some tanks have when they have the annoying ranged enemy doing whatever it wants, or a safe way to pull dangerous packs rather than having to get in close, swiping and shield walling. Moreso, if it gets too tough, you can get defensive themed passives thanks to the Fortifying Aggression passive, along with the Last Chance and On a Roll passives in the Chaos tree. You can also get huge movement speed buffs to kite with the Run and Gun passive and the Lingering Flow effect from the Blast Shot. This ability is worth picking up as it gets mobs off your face if you find yourself in a dangerous spot.

New World Blunderbuss PvP builds

For the most part, any New World Blunderbuss PvP build is likely going to follow the same setup as the tank build, minus a few passive shakeups. The idea behind the Blunderpuss in PvP is to use the Blunderbuss as a weapon that can keep locking down your opponents. 

It makes it a good weapon to pair with the Warhammer for that added gap closing and staying as close to them so you can keep swinging at them. Meanwhile, the Great Axe makes a good weapon, thanks to the Great Axe charge, followed by the Blunderbuss’ hook shot,  into heavy swing pulls. Meanwhile, if you find you blunder your combo, the Blast Shot makes for a good get away from danger emergency skill.

However, you could pair this weapon with the hatchet, since the hatchet is more of a fast-moving weapon. Compare this with the movements speed Run and Gun passive reload, then you can go quite fast. You can also take the cheat death skill, and when it is due to expire, use Blunderbuss’s Blast Shot to begin your getaway. 

Overall, the Blunderbus seems to be a very supportive CC weapon that accompanies a lot of the prominent strength themed builds in PvP.

New World Blunderbuss PvE Build

As for PvE, you are likely going to find quite a lot of use with the Chaos tree. You can make this a decent pair up with the Musket, with the musket being the primary weapon, or the Fire Staff. The reason why si down to the range buffs you get to the Chaos playstyle.

There is one standout passive in the Chaos tree called Artillery, which buffs your damage as long as you are 10 meters away from the target So, ideally, you want to 10 meters away at all times. Meanwhile, the Mortar Charge skill itself gets a damage buff if they are 10 meters away. So, the 10-meter range is the minimum deadzone for this build.

We also recommend not using this weapon for its light attacks or heavy attacks either. The reason why is because the light and heavy attacks are fairly close range. There is a build where you can get closer, and land as many headshot pellets as possible. However, that means pushing through that Artillery passive, in favour of reducing cooldowns of your Blunderbuss skills. Remove the Artillery passive if you want to opt for this playstyle.

As for the other weapons, you then want to use a Musketfor the light attack damage boost as your main way of dealing damage outside of your Blunderbuss Skills. Alternatively, you can run a skill-based build by going a Fire Mage build, pumping out skills, and continuing that combination of fire and gunpowder range caster playstyle.

This concludes the New World Blunderbuss build ideas. For more New World content, feel free to check out the New World hub for more content.