New World Aeternum: 20 Level Mastery Spear Guide

In New World Aeternum, the spear is one of the most flexible and accurate melee weapons on the market, combining attack range, control, and critical strike power. Whether you prefer to control the battlefield through control or like to launch swift and deadly attacks, mastering the spear skill and reaching level 20 will bring you a rich PvE and PvP experience. This guide will guide you to the best way to improve the spear specialization!

Understanding the Weapon Trees: Zoner vs Impaler

The Spear has two distinct mastery trees:

1. Zoner Tree (Control & Area Denial)

Focuses on crowd control and pushing enemies away or knocking them down. This tree is ideal for PvP and tanky frontline setups in group PvE content.

Key Zoner Skills:

Sweep: Performs a wide swing that knocks enemies down. Essential for setting up damage or getting a breather in tight fights.

Cyclone: Deals AoE damage and knocks back enemies while applying a slow. Great for peeling off foes or creating space.

Javelin: A ranged throw that knocks down enemies on impact. A good initiator or finisher.

Key Passives in Zoner:

Strong Conditioning: Increased stamina regen while holding a spear.

Invigorating Crits: Gain stamina on crits, supporting infinite kiting potential.

Deadly Distance: Bonus damage at longer Javelin throws.

Zoner is excellent when you want to control engagements, manage adds in PvE, or dominate skirmishes in Outpost Rush and Arenas.

2. Impaler Tree (Bleed & Single-Target Damage)

This tree focuses on sustained pressure, bleeds, and stacking debuffs. It's ideal for PvE boss fights and aggressive PvP plays.

Key Impaler Skills:

Perforate: Executes a three-hit combo that applies Rend and bonus crits. Great for shredding armor and boosting your damage.

Skewer: A quick thrust that applies a Bleed. Excellent opener in both PvE and PvP.

Vault Kick: A leaping stun that interrupts enemies and resets cooldowns via passives. Excellent for initiating or escaping.

Key Passives in Impaler:

Exacerbating Crits: Crits increase debuff durations — crucial for maintaining uptime on Bleeds and Rend.

Finishing Blows: Deal increased damage to targets below 30% HP.

Refreshing Precision: Reduce cooldowns when landing light attacks on debuffed targets.

Impaler offers a relentless playstyle focused on debuff uptime and damage over time.

Best Mastery Progression Path (Level 1–20)

Here's a recommended path to follow as you level your Spear mastery to 20, combining both damage and utility for flexible builds.

Levels 1–5: Early Game Control and Utility

Sweep → Get Coup de Grace for follow-up damage.

Perforate → Start applying Rend to make early PvE easier.

Pick up Refreshing Precision for cooldown reduction.

Levels 6–10: Mid-Game PvE Dominance

Vault Kick for stun and initiate.

Unlock Finishing Blows and Exacerbating Crits for burst and debuff synergy.

Take Deadly Distance if using Javelin for ranged play.

Levels 11–15: Building Sustain and Damage

Get Invigorating Crits and Merciless Strength for stamina and crit bonuses.

Skewer can replace Sweep for a full Impaler rotation in PvE (Bleed + Rend).

Aggressive Maneuvers (Vault Kick passive) for cooldown resets.

Levels 16–20: Max Mastery Synergy

Finalize with Exploit Weakness for 10% increased damage to debuffed enemies.

Max out cooldown reduction, stamina regen, and Rend-related passives.

By level 20, you should have a refined loadout with Vault Kick, Perforate, and Skewer, supported by powerful cooldown, crit, and debuff synergy passives.

Best Secondary Weapon Pairings

The Spear shines when paired with a weapon that covers its weaknesses—typically range, AoE, or self-healing.

1. Bow – High mobility, range, and bleed synergy (both are DEX-based).

Use Bow to soften enemies before Spear engagement.

Poison Shot and Rapid Shot apply pressure between cooldowns.

2. Hatchet – Offers self-sustain and a reliable backup for PvE.

Berserk mode helps survive high-damage scenarios.

Feral Rush stuns combine well with Vault Kick for lockout chains.

3. Musket – A precision-based PvP pair for ranged harassment and control.

Traps, sticky bombs, and headshots allow zoning before committing with the Spear.

Gear, Stats, and Perks

Primary Stat: Dexterity (DEX)

Secondary Stat: Constitution (CON) for survivability, especially in PvP.

Ideal Perks for Spear:

Keen Vault Kick – Increases crit chance of Vault Kick.

Refreshing Move – Reduces cooldown on light/heavy hits.

Rogue / Vicious – Bonus backstab and crit damage.

Bleeding Sweep / Fortifying Perforate – Enhance your core skills.

Armor Type:

Medium offers a balance of protection, damage, and dodge distance.

Light maximizes damage and mobility but requires high precision and positioning.

PvE and PvP Tips

PvE Tips:

Use Perforate to open fights on elites and bosses to apply Rend.

Vault Kick into Skewer ensures Bleed uptime with cooldown refresh.

Sweep and Coup de Grace are excellent for AoE trash clearing.

PvP Tips:

Chain Vault Kick into Perforate for quick crowd control and armor shred.

Kite enemies with light attacks and Javelin throws.

Use Cyclone to disengage and reposition during group fights.

Final Thoughts

The Spear is a deadly and accurate weapon where powerful skills, precise timing, and precise positioning are crucial. Whether you're darting between duels in PvP or taking down high-health bosses in Expeditions, mastering the Spear to level 20 will significantly increase your combat effectiveness. For players who want to master the Spear at level 20, you can now buy New World Gold and New World Boosting services from MMOexp! This will help you dominate the battlefield!

MMOexp New World Team