With New World’s weapon system, players have free reign over what type of skill set and gameplay they will experience in Aeternum. Since the game lacks typical MMORPG classes or jobs, gamers must rely on their creativity and ingenuity to figure out the best combinations of weapons in their arsenal. One of the most prominent items adventurers might see in their travels is the Life Staff. Due to its usefulness in PvP and expeditions, many gamers go out of their way to find the best build for this particular weapon. This guide will help players create the most optimal sets for this healing equipment.
The Life Staff
The Life Staff is the only New World weapon focusing primarily on healing and supporting teammates. While some items can function as support sets in some capacity, the healing staff is the only one dedicated to this specific role. Players who use this thing are almost always pushed into the support role, whether they like it.
Players must first learn how to use this weapon to create the most optimal build with this weapon. This involves memorizing and understanding its abilities. Here is the list of all Life Staff masteries:
Healing
- Divine Embrace (25 mana cost) - heals a target based on 120% weapon damage
- Privilege – reduces the mana cost of Divine Embrace by 5
- Shared Struggle – heal one additional ally within 8m if you use Divine Embrace on a target with 50% HP
- Rebound – heal another ally with 8m of a teammate affected by Shared Struggle when they are below 50% HP
- Desperate Speed – reduce ability cooldown by 10% when you heal teammates with less than 50% HP (once every 5 seconds)
- Sacred Protection – increase the potency of incoming healing to all allies in the party by 5% when using a Life Staff
- Sacred Ground (15 mana cost) – summon an area with a 3m radius which will heal allies within the zone for 16% weapon damage per tick for 12 seconds
- Holy Ground – increase mana and stamina regeneration by 50% when standing in Sacred Ground
- Anointed – allies on Sacred Ground gain 50% more healing potency from any source
- Absolved – light and heavy attacks using a Life Staff no longer have a mana cost
- Mending Touch – heavy attacks passing through an ally remove 1 debuff
- Blissful Touch – light attacks passing through an ally heal for 16% weapon damage
- Revitalize – reduce Life Staff ability cooldowns by 5% on successful light attacks
- Intensify – increase healing effectiveness by 10% on successful heavy attacks (can stack up to 3 times)
- Splash of Life (15 mana cost) – heal yourself and any ally within 100m for 60% weapon damage
- Shared Recovery – recover 5% of your max mana for each ally healed when they are below 50% HP
- Purify –healing an ally with Splash of Life will remove 1 debuff
- Divine Blessing – heal 30% more when you cure an ally below 50% HP
Protector
- Orb of Protection (16 mana cost) – fire a light projectile that will provide 10% fortify for 20 seconds and heals a target for 8% weapon damage while dealing 146% weapon damage when it hits an enemy
- Protector’s Blessing – provides increased recovery by 6% of weapon damage per second whenever the Orb of Protection hits an ally
- Shared Protection – gain fortify and recovery when you successfully heal a teammate with Orb of Protection
- Aegis – affects all allies within a 3m radius when the projectile hits
- Bend Light – increase heal effectiveness by 20% for 5s after successfully dodging
- Protector’s Strength – increase heal effectiveness by 20% when affected by a buff
- Spirit United – increase your mana regeneration and your party by 3%
- Defensive Light – gain 5% max mana when you block a melee attack
- Protector’s Touch – light and heavy attacks increase fortify by 15% for 3s upon successful hits
- Balance – gain 10% increased haste for 5s upon getting hit while below 50% HP
- Glowing Focus – buffs using Life Staff last 20% longer
- Light’s Embrace (18 mana cost) - heals the target for 80% weapon damage and an additional 15% more for each buff active on the target
- Inspire – provides a target with 25 stamina when they are healed with Light’s Embrace
- Connection – gain 2% of your max mana for each buff active on a target that you heal with Light’s Embrace
- Magnify – extend the duration of buffs on a target by 2% when you heal them with Light’s Embrace
- Beacon (16 mana cost) - fires a light projectile that attaches to a target and heals allies within 3m for 16% weapon damage per tick for 10s while dealing 146% weapon damage to enemies touched by projectile
- Infused Light – the area of effect of Beacon is increased by 4.5m
- Radiance’s Blessing – Beacon lasts 5 seconds longer
- Speed of Light – allies affected by Beacon AoE now gain increased haste by 20% for 3 seconds
Best Healer Build in New World
You are always looked upon for support when you choose to use a Life Staff. Specific builds would help you become one of the best healers in the game. If you want to focus more on supporting friends in fights and expeditions and don’t care about dealing with damage, your set should contain survivability and sustain. Here are the best Healer Builds in New World:
For Large Scale Fights
Healing
- Sacred Ground
- Holy Ground
- Anointed
- Desperate Speed
- Sacred Protection
- Absolved
- Mending Touch
- Blissful Touch
- Revitalize
- Enchanted Justice
- Intensify
- Diving Blessing
Protector
- Orb of Protection
- Protector’s Blessing
- Shared Protection
- Beacon
- Infused Light
- Radiance’s Blessing
- Bend Light
- Protector’s Strength
For PvP and PvE
Healing
- Sacred Ground
- Holy Ground
- Anointed
- Desperate Speed
- Sacred Protection
- Absolved
- Mending Touch
- Blissful Touch
- Revitalize
- Enchanted Justice
- Intensify
- Diving Blessing
Protector
- Light’s Embrace
- Bend Light
- Protector’s Strength
- Spirits United
- Beacon
- Infused Light
- Radiance’s Blessing
- Speed of Light
Protection > Healing
Healing
- Absolved
- Mending Touch
- Blissful Touch
- Revitalize
- Desperate Speed
Protector
- Orb of Protection
- Protector’s Blessing
- Shared Protection
- Aegis
- Bend Light
- Protector’s Strength
- Spirits United
- Light’s Embrace
- Protector’s Touch
- Glowing Focus
- Beacon
- Infused Light
- Radiance’s Blessing
- Speed of Light
For Massive Single-Target Healing
Healing
- Divine Embrace
- Privilege
- Shared Struggle
- Rebound
- Sacred Ground
- Holy Ground
- Anointed
- Desperate Speed
- Sacred Protection
- Absolved
- Mending Touch
- Blissful Touch
- Revitalize
- Intensify
- Diving Blessing
Protector
- Bend Light
- Protector’s Strength
- Protector’s Touch
- Light’s Embrace
Best Pairings for New World Healers
Aside from choosing the right mastery build for the Life Staff, choosing the appropriate 2nd weapon is crucial in ensuring your survivability and effectiveness in battle. New World’s two-weapon system allows players to swap their items.
Life Staff and Void Gauntlet
This combination allows healers to deal damage from afar while healing their teammates when needed. Void Gauntlet has some of the most consistent DPS fused with considerable CC abilities. Paired with the Life Staff, these two weapons make healers the ultimate support with their incredible healing and utility potential.
Life Staff
Healing
- Divine Embrace
- Privilege
- Shared Struggle
- Rebound
- Sacred Ground
- Holy Ground
- Anointed
- Desperate Speed
- Absolved
- Blissful Touch
- Revitalize
- Intensify
- Diving Blessing
Protection
- Beacon
- Infused Light
- Radiance’s Blessing
- Bend Light
- Protector’s Strength
- Protector’s Touch
Void Gauntlet
Annihilation
- Oblivion
- Withering Oblivion
- Invigorating Oblivion
- Keen Humility
- Empowering Proximity
- Refreshing Frailty
- Keen Confidence
- Refreshing Precision
- Efficient Harvest
Decay
- Orb of Decay
- Draining Orb
- Slowing Orb
- Detonating Orb
- Essence Rupture
- Invigorating Rupture
- Overflowing Essence
- Radiant Efficiency
- Mending Evasion
- Refreshing Harvest
Life Staff and Rapier
While many people might get confused seeing a Rapier paired with the Life Staff, this set is viable for pure healers. The fencing weapon has one of the best movement and maneuverability skills in the game, which players can take advantage of if they want to create space between themselves and enemies. Life Staff users mainly use the Rapier for escapes and kiting to ensure they don’t get locked down by foes.
Life Staff
Healing
- Divine Embrace
- Privilege
- Shared Struggle
- Rebound
- Sacred Ground
- Holy Ground
- Anointed
- Desperate Speed
- Absolved
- Blissful Touch
- Revitalize
- Intensify
- Diving Blessing
Protection
- Beacon
- Infused Light
- Radiance’s Blessing
- Bend Light
- Protector’s Strength
- Protector’s Touch
Rapier
Blood
- Refreshing Strikes
- Engarde
Grace
- Riposte
- Insult to Injury
- Priority
- Lasting Consequence
- Evade
- Crescendo
- Allegro
- Adagio
- Breathe In
- Fleche
- Quick Lunge
- Backside
- Interruption
- Red Curtains
- Controlled Breathing
- Swiftness
- Momentum
Note: The mastery tree of the Life Staff for both builds can vary depending on your preference. You can alternate the allocation for different scenarios like large-scale wars, PvP fights, and expeditions.
Alternative Combinations
- Sword and Shield – Both Sword and Shield and Life Staff provide exceptional buffs to teammates. Using both makes healers viable tanks too. However, the drawback is that some passives can’t be used when a specific weapon is active.
- Spear – While it lacks the extreme maneuverability of the Rapier, the Spear does a decent job maintaining your distance from enemies. This weapon is great for knocking down and harassing foes trying to come near you, which is an excellent pair for the Life Staff.
- Ice Gauntlet – When you’re not healing, you can use the Ice Gauntlet to provide strong crowd controls for your team. While it doesn’t do any significant damage, your usage of abilities sets up the stage for teammates to fight smoothly.
Things to Remember About the Life Staff:
- The Life Staff is one of the few weapons that scale only with one attribute. This makes this item exceptionally good for starter players since it doesn’t need much investment.
- Passives like Sacred Protection and Protection only work while the Life Staff is actively being used. Sheathing this weapon will remove the buffs.
- Buffs that require you to heal people won’t work on players with full HP, so you should be mindful of who and when you cast your spells.
- Critical Chance can increase the potency of single-target heals like Light’s Embrace.
- You should try to aim for 200 Focus to increase the duration of buffs from abilities like Orb of Protection and Intensify.
Experiment With Your Build
While this guide provides a decent list of viable masteries and combinations, exploring the weapon by yourself can help you understand how to use it even better. By trying out different allocations and sets, you can find synergies and results that might work better for you. You might even make up a build that can dominate the field on your own.
