The Blunderbuss is a new ranged weapon in New World that is designed to offer some flexibility. It's designed for mobility and will scale on strength and intelligence, making it a good companion for bruiser builds or mages.

The two trees for the Blunderbuss are Chaos and Containment. Chaos is focused on keeping distance between you and the enemy and using many explosive AoE attacks to let loose. Containment puts you in position to get in closer, unleash attacks and get out of there. Each of the abilities in both trees has potential upgrades that apply to both specific skills and overall. Some of these will reduce cooldowns, increase damage, or extend your chambers. So in this article, let's take a look at each of the abilities.

Containment Abilities

Net Shot - 20s Cooldown. Fire a large net of the blunderbuss that deals 40% weapon damage and slows targets it hits by 40% for 2.5s. If standing still or moving backward, the recoil from this attack will knock you further backward. If moving sideways or forwards, you will continue forward unhindered.

Claw Shot - 20s Cooldown. Shoot forward a four-pronged claw attached to a chain from the muzzle. The projectile will be up to 14m and cannot pull you upwards more than 3m. If it connects to an enemy, it will deal 40% weapon damage and inflict root for 1s before quickly pulling you towards them. The pull can be canceled by any ability use or primary fire. The root ends early if the target is hit 4 times. This ability is Taunt Gem compatible.

Azoth Shrapnel Blast - 14s Cooldown. Fire 5 shots in a horizontal fan in front of you while pushing yourself backward. Each shot will deal 58% weapon damage. Every consecutive hit on the same target will deal 15% less damage than the previous hit.

Additional Upgrades

Future Endeavors - If you land 4 or more pellets in a single shot, restore 1 stamina per pellet hit.
Run and Gun - Reloading gives you a speed boost of 40% that decays over 1s.
Ramp - Reloads give you a damage boost of 4% for 6s. Stacks up to 4 times.
Deep Load - The last shot loaded into the blunderbuss will do 15% increased damage.
Fortifying Aggression - Successful hits within 3m grant Fortify, increasing damage absorption by 10% for 2s.
Unload - The next shot fired within 6s after triggering an ability will have 9 pellets instead of 6.

Chaos Abilities

Splitting Grenade - 30s Cooldown. Shoot a grenade out of the blunderbuss that can bounce up to 4 times. The Splitting Grenade will detonate after 1.5s but can be detonated early be reactivating its ability key within this time period. Upon detonation, it will create 3 mini grenades that will disperse and explode 1s after landing, dealing 85% weapon damage in a 3m area. Each successive grenade hit against the same target deals 40% less base damage.

Mortar Charge - 18s Cooldown. Load the blunderbuss with heavy canisters. For the next 15s or 3 shots, shots will no longer fire multiple pellets but instead will fire a heavy, fast, diving, mortar-style canister that causes a tall explosion upon impact, dealing 100% weapon damage in a 3m area. If the target is 10m away or further, they will take 35% increased damage from the mortar.

Blast Shot - 30s Cooldown. Blast immense wind out of the blunderbuss knocking down any target immediately in front of you. Blast Shot deals 70% weapon damage.

Additional Upgrades

Future Planning - Using an ability reduces all other ability cooldowns by 4% of their remaining time.
On A Roll - Triggering an ability decreases all damage taken by 3% for 10s. Stacks up to 5 times.
Bite Back - Every pellet that is a headshot reduces all cooldowns by 0.5%.
Buckshot - Deal 10% increased damage to any target as long as you have not damaged them in the last 8s.
Artillery - Direct damage from abilities is increased by 15% if the victim is 10m or further away.
Last Chance - Whenever you take a hit and your health is below 50% gain 50% damage reduction for 4 seconds. 30s cooldown.
Extended Chamber - Holding onto 2 loaded ammunition for 2 seconds after a reload will load a 3rd active ammunition.
Double Down - Once every 30 seconds, your next ability used will have its cooldown reduced by 50%.

For the full Blunderbuss rundown, head over to New World. And if you want to know more guides to level up your online gaming experience, feel free to browse here!