New World developers should create an in-game dump for all of the junk armor you can find. Most dropped legendaries do not have an ideal combination of perks, and at times don’t have a sensible combination of stats. However, there are indeed sets and pieces worth farming, and we’ll rank them by their usefulness on this list.
Similar to my weapons list, individually crafted armor pieces for high-rolls won’t be included here. Players can craft or pay crafters repeatedly until they get the perfect combination of armor perks they want on every piece they please. This list is geared towards those who’d rather not spend a bunch of time and gold doing so. Though I think it’s worth mentioning that most dropped armor sets/pieces aren’t optimized and min-maxers will want to go the crafting route.
This also assumes 600 Gear Score versions of all items.
5. Archmage and Avenging sets
We start with two armor sets that serve a similar purpose: the Archmage and Avenging sets. They take the number five spot with their balanced distribution of caster and melee stats respectively, in addition to every piece having the ever-useful Refreshing perk. They also possess a strong combination of anti-Corrupted perks, which makes clear that they are intended for Corruption events like Invasions and portal runs. However, this makes the sets somewhat niche for said player versus environment (PvE) events, and aren’t valuable outside of them.
What makes the Archmage and Avenging armor sets great:
- Maximal stats for casters and melee across the board
- Refreshing on each piece, one of the most useful perks in the game
- Corrupted Ward and Corrupted Resistance for massive Corrupted damage mitigation
- Empty Gem sockets gives players freedom to choose extra perks
How to get the Archmage and Avenging armor sets: the pieces for these sets drop from various mobs and bosses in the Great Cleave area. More specifically, players will have to farm enemies at Mangled Pox, Stranglepitch Road, Svikin’s Stand, Nihilo Visage, and Balebane Maw for the full set.
Archmage and Avenging set details:
https://nwdb.info/db/item/lightchest_elitepoi_archmaget5
https://nwdb.info/db/item/heavychest_elitepoi_avengingblacksmitht5
(you can see the full sets to the right of the linked chestpieces, and following links will follow this format)
Dishonorable Mention: the Fearless Spy set unfortunately does not make the cut, because despite having the same perks as the other two, its stat distribution is a bit nonsensical. The set attempts to distribute Focus, Intelligence, Constitution, and Dexterity across its pieces, but ends up suffering from the “master of none” effect. This should have been a straight Dexterity and Constitution set instead of wasting item real estate on a bunch of unspecialized stats.
However, individually the pieces are decent and some players may choose to mix and match for different armor weight classes.
4. Faction Sets
Next up are the faction sets. I know I know, they’re not 600 Gear Score items, but the endgame faction armor has some of the best combinations of player versus player (PvP) perks and stats players can find. They’re so good in fact, that many players will opt to use them over 600 Gear Score items. They are also easily attainable, especially if players save up faction tokens during that endgame leveling push.
These sets would be near the top of the list if it weren’t for their 520 Gear Score. Nevertheless, they’re great starting pieces for fresh level 60s who want to jump into PvP as soon as they can.
What makes the Faction armor sets great:
- Specialized stats for all roles
- Resilient and Refreshing perks on each piece make them perfect for PvP combat
- Empty Gem sockets gives players freedom to choose extra perks
- Can buy different faction seals to put preferred stats on any piece, effectively allowing players to use any weight class to match their playstyle
How to get the Faction armor: First, players must fully rank up their reputation with their chosen faction. Then, they will have to purchase each piece with a combination of gold and faction tokens, the latter of which is obtained by completing faction quests or open world PvP.
Faction set details:
The only difference between Faction sets is purely aesthetic.
3. Voidbent Sets
Ah yes, we’ve all seen these rhinos running around town. The Voidbent armor sets are some of the most popular legendary sets players covet, and are fairly easy to obtain from crafting. I’ve included these crafted sets on the list because their stats and perks are consistent across the board; players do not pay crafters to randomly roll perks over and over until they get the combination they want.
Rather, Voidbent armors specialize in pure Constitution, Dexterity, or Strength on their heavy, medium, and light sets respectively. They come with an odd combination of perks which makes them fairly effective in both PvE and PvP, but are clearly more geared for PvE dungeon grinding.
- What makes the Voidbent sets so great:
- Maximal stats for most roles, though casters will lack Focus and Intelligence stats
- Resilient on every piece is useful for tanking PvP burst damage
- Invigorated on each piece reduces the duration of commonly-encountered debuffs in PvE and situationally in PvP
- Luck on each piece means players have a higher chance to find coveted items during PvE events
- Empty Gem sockets gives players freedom to choose extra perks
How to get the Voidbent armor sets: players just have to gather the materials required for each piece and have them crafted by a rank 200 armorsmith. The list of materials for each set can be found here.
Voidbent armor details:
2. Harbinger Sets
At number two we have the Harbinger armor, of which there are three sets: Constitution, Dexterity, and Intelligence stats spread across heavy, medium, and light weight classes respectively. Their attribute distribution is similar to Voidbent, but these rank slightly above because of their more useful perks and dedicated caster set.
All items in this set have the Angry Earth Ward perk, which makes them ideal for running Garden of Genesis and it’s soon-to-be mutated variants. Regardless, they all possess the Refreshing perk as well, which gives them greater value in both PvP and PvE contexts.
What makes the Harbinger sets so great:
- Maximal stats for melee, rangers, and casters alike
- Refreshing on each piece, one of the most useful perks in the game
- Invigorated and Angry Earth Ward makes this ideal for mitigating damage in Garden of Genesis
- Empty Gem sockets gives players freedom to choose extra perks
How to get the Harbinger sets: the pieces drop from bosses or mobs in the elite zones of Shattered Mountain or Reekwater. The drops in each location are as follows:
- Ambusti Inferior: glove and chestpiece
- Eternal Pool: leggings
- Spire of Melpomene: boots and helmet
Harbinger set details:
1. Augur and Corrupted Rage Sets
Finally, in first place we have two sets: Augur for spellcasters, and Corrupted Rage for the melee-minded. Both possess well-balanced stats for their respective roles without simply specializing in any one attribute like Strength or Dexterity.
They also pair two of the most universally favorable perks in New World on each piece of the set: Refreshing and Freedom. The one outlier is the Ancient Ward perk, which is a very specific damage mitigation most useful in the Lazarus Instrumentality expedition.
Additionally, there is a medium armor set with an identical combination of perks that suffers the same problem as the previously-mentioned Fearless Spy; the stats simply don’t mesh across the entire set and is essentially useless for Dexterity characters. Nonetheless, the Augur and Corrupted Rage sets stand strong on their own.
What makes the Augur and Corrupted Rage sets so great:
- Perfect balance of Constitution + Strength for melee and Constitution + Intelligence + Focus for casters
- Refreshing on each piece, one of the most useful perks in the game
- Freedom on each piece reduces the duration of frequently-encountered crowd control effects in PvE and PvP
- Ancient Ward for Lazarus Instrumentality damage mitigation
- Empty Gem sockets gives players freedom to choose extra perks
How to get the Augur and Corrupted Rage sets: like the last sets, most pieces drop from bosses or mobs in the elite zones of Shattered Mountain or Reekwater, though some also drop in Edengrove. The drop locations for each set are as follows:
Augur Set:
- The Tangle: Leggings
- Opulence: Boots
- Greater Tribulation: Gloves
- Upper Harrow: Chest piece
- Caminus: Helmet
Corrupted Rage Set:
- The Tangle: Helmet and Boots
- Malevolence: Leggings
- Myrkgard Cathedral: Gloves
- Forecastle Drift: Chest piece
Augur and Corrupted Rage set details:
