New World Trade Skills: how to level up engineering, armoring, arcana, and more

How do you level up Trade Skills in New World? Trade Skills are non-combat skills in New World — just about any activity your character takes part in that isn't tied to their weapons is linked to a Trade Skill. There are 17 of these skills in all, separated into three sub-categories: Gathering, Refining, and Crafting.

Every New World Trade Skill goes up to Level 200, meaning you'll be levelling up pretty frequently, although the real rewards for levelling up (better-tier materials and craftables) tend to kick in every 50 levels or so. Read on below for information on how to increase your skill levels in every practical activity New World has to offer.

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New World Trade Skills leveling

To level up a Trade Skill in New World, you simply need to use that skill over time. In New World as in life, practice makes perfect, and since there are no evening classes to attend on Aeternum, you just need to roll up your puffy renaissance sleeves and get started.

How to level up your Gathering skills in New World

Gathering skills are the ones that take you out into nature to explore and exploit Aeternum's abundant resources. Unlike most Refining or Crafting skills, you don't need to be in a Settlement to progress your talent for Gathering, and there are no fixed locations at which you can ply your craft — though you will still need some equipment.

Here's how to level up your Gathering skills:

• Fishing: Catch fish. Requires a Fishing Pole.
• Harvesting: Gather herbs and plants. Can be done without tools, although higher-tier resources require a Sickle.
• Logging: Chop trees. Requires a Logging Axe.
• Mining: Mine rocks. Requires a Pickaxe.
• Tracking and Skinning: Skin dead animals. Requires a Skinning Knife.

How to level up your Refining skills in New World

Refining skills are something of a midway point between Gathering and Crafting, but that's no reason to neglect them. Raw materials are all well and good, but if you want to craft something really high-end and durable, you need to refine your ingredients first. Refining stations can be found in all Settlements.

Here's how to level up your Refining skills:

• Leatherworking: Refine rawhide and leathers (obtained using the Tracking & Skinning skill) at a Tannery.
• Smelting: Refine metals such as iron (obtained using the Mining skill) into ingots at a Smelter.
• Stonecutting: Refine raw gemstones (obtained using the Mining skill) into cut gems at a Stonecutting Table.
• Weaving: Refine plant fibers such as hemp (obtained using the Harvesting skill) into fabrics at a Loom.
• Woodworking: Refine raw wood (obtained using the Logging skill) at a Woodshop.

How to level up your Crafting skills in New World

While every New World Trade Skill is vital to life on Aeternum, there's no denying that Crafting skills are the heavy-hitters, or at least the attention-grabbers. Crafting allows you to take all your lovingly Gathered and/or Refined materials and turn them into desirable items to make life on the island more pleasant (or at least less deadly) for your character.

Here's how to level up your Crafting skills:

• Arcana: Brew potions and tinctures, craft magical weapons and weapon coatings, and perform Elemental Infusions at an Arcane Repository.
• Armoring: Craft armor at a Forge or Outfitting Station
• Cooking: Cook rations using a variety of ingredients such as meat, fish, or turkey (obtained using the Harvesting, Fishing, and Tracking & Skinning skills) at a Campfire or Kitchen. (This can be worked on outside of a Settlement, unlike most other Crafting skills.)
• Engineering: Craft ranged weapons or their ammo at a Workshop, or melee weapons at a Forge.
• Furnishing: Craft furniture or storage chests to decorate your home at a Workshop.
• Jewelcrafting: Craft jewellery using cut gems (obtained using the Stonecutting skill) at an Outfitting Station.
• Weaponsmithing: Craft melee weapons at a Forge.

How to level up your Trade Skills fast

You can view your current Trade Skill levels by hitting "K" to bring up the Character screen, and then clicking on "Trade Skills". If you want to level up your Trade Skills quickly, I'd recommend getting the Well Rested bonus, and working in high-level Territories where you have good standing.

Somewhat counterintuitively, if you want to quickly grind through to higher levels of a Trade Skill, it's often worth focussing on repeating low-tier actions over and over rather than going for prestigious options. For example, as pointed out by New World forum member Chickenmanbb, crafting seven Iron War Hammers yields the same amount of Weaponsmithing and Engineering XP as crafting a Starmetal War Hammer. Thanks to the iron version's significantly easier-to-obtain materials, this is actually a much faster and less costly way of achieving the same end, if your goal is to level up skills rather than expand your arsenal.

If you're looking for advice on how to level up your character and their weapon skills, then be sure to check out our guide to levelling fast in New World. Or, if you want a more in-depth look at how character building works in the game, be sure to take a look at our New World best builds guide.