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Welcome to my PVE Bow Build guide for New World Aeternum Season 7! After extensive testing, I’ve come up with the most effective and straightforward build for bow enthusiasts looking to maximize damage in PvE scenarios. In this guide, I’ll go over why I chose the Boltcaster bow, which perks and gems to prioritize, and the ideal armor and weapons to pair with it. Let’s dive in!

Why Boltcaster is the Best PVE Bow

After testing various bows, including the Hoplite Bow and a damage-focused CH or Kleo variant, I found that the Boltcaster is by far the most effective for PVE damage. This bow shines with its lightning damage and unique perks, making it ideal for burst damage in fights like raids and elite zones. Here's why it outperforms the competition:

· Lightning Damage: The Boltcaster converts 99% of its damage to lightning, which is extremely powerful in PVE. The added bonus of electrified increases basic attack damage by 20% when you land a shot with the bow, making your light attacks significantly stronger.

· Shock of Lightning: The Boltcaster also has a great ability that triggers after three consecutive hits, releasing an 80% damage shock. This bonus lightning damage is a major DPS boost.

· Enchanted Perk: The Enchanted perk adds another 5% damage, which further amplifies your burst damage. This is incredibly useful when clearing mobs or tackling bosses in high-level content.

· Kinley Empowered: To complement the Enchanted perk, I recommend using the Kinley Empowered perk for 5% additional damage. This perk ensures you get consistent damage output without relying on less reliable debuffs like Keenly Jagged or Disdained Infliction, which are better suited to other builds.

Weapon Pairing: Rapier for Burst Damage

The Rapier is a powerful secondary weapon to pair with your bow, especially for burst damage during moments when your bow's cooldowns are high. I prefer the Lifing Rapier for its backstab damage and burst potential. This is essential for maximizing DPS when you’re behind the boss or in situations like the Hive of Gorgon raid.

· Vicious Rogue: This perk enhances your backstab damage, ensuring that you deal huge damage when positioned properly behind the boss, especially during raids or elite mob farming.

· Omnidirectional Evade: This perk is perfect for a bow user who needs to avoid heavy hits while maintaining DPS. The evade ability grants bonus burst damage, which is especially useful when you need to dodge and reposition frequently during combat.

Armor Setup: Maximize Lightning Damage

For the armor, I’m going with a setup that boosts my damage and survivability, focusing on lightning damage and damage mitigation. Here's a breakdown:

· Lightning Harnessing: This gem is essential for any PVE bow build. It grants a 4% damage bonus for every piece of armor that includes it, significantly boosting your overall DPS.

· Electrified Cal: The Cal gem provides 1.5% bonus damage against taunted enemies. In group content with a tank, this gem adds huge value when fighting raid bosses like Typhoon or Sandworm.

· Penetrating Rapid Shot: For your bow, this perk gives you bonus armor penetration, which is fantastic for dealing with enemies that have high defense. While it’s not effective on all enemies, it’s still a great option for bosses that have armor, such as Hive of Gorgon bosses.

· Gorgan Crafted Light Headwear: This headgear is fantastic for lightning damage and grants bonuses to rapid shots and lightning harnessing, perfect for our setup.

Jewelry: Flexible and Maxed-Out Damage

When it comes to jewelry, you'll want to prioritize damage-dealing perks and damage resistance to ensure you can survive longer fights without losing your edge. Here’s what to consider:

  · Amulet: The Cal gem is key here, but don’t forget to focus on damage type resistance depending on the content. For instance, when running the Hive of Gorgon raid, use an Amulet with Strike Protection or Ice Protection depending on the damage types you’re up against.

  · Rings: Prioritize Lightning Harnessing and Refreshing on your rings to reduce your cooldowns. The Refreshing perk is especially useful for bow users, as bow cooldowns can be longer compared to other weapons.

  · Bracelet: For the bracelet, I like to go with Leeching Flurry, which provides leeching health and immunity, especially in tight situations like Gorgon’s Hive.

Perfecting the PVE Bow Playstyle

To truly excel with the bow in PVE, you need to master your combat rotation. Here's how to get the most out of your bow:

  · Light Attacks Over Heavy Attacks: Focus on light attacks rather than heavy attacks. Heavy attacks are often inefficient, wasting time on charging shots. Instead, spam rapid shots and alternate with light attacks to keep up a constant DPS flow.

  · Cooldown Management: Use Refreshing to reduce your cooldowns and keep your rotations fluid. This ensures you’re always dealing damage and not waiting too long between shots.

  · Positioning: Positioning is key in PVE. Stay behind the boss or use your evade to maintain safe distances. With the Rapier, get in close to maximize your backstab damage and use Omnidirectional Evade to avoid incoming hits.

Conclusion

With the right setup, the Boltcaster bow paired with the Lifing Rapier provides a powerful PVE DPS toolkit for New World Aeternum Season 7. By focusing on lightning damage, armor penetration, and damage amplification through key perks and gems, you’ll be able to deal devastating damage in group content, raids, and elite zones. Remember, your positioning and cooldown management are key to maximizing your output, so always be aware of your surroundings and adjust accordingly.

Happy hunting in Aeternum, and may your arrows always find their mark!