Trial of the Devourer
This guide is a work in progress, aimed at helping us defeat the Sandwurm which has helped us finally beat the Sandwurm pre-New World Aeternum. Huge thanks to Chrisdigitay from Ze Unbreakables, members of Don’t Die Alone, and friends on the Delos server.
Information has been gathered from a variety of sources, with special thanks to Katuii from the Hermanos and Kringled from the official New World discord. I was lucky enough to complete the Trial with the Hermanos and unlock the spinning perk on Tempest Fury, which you can see in this video:
We will also be aiming to skip the Mining Phase, so it’s important to have high DPS and Stalwart Firestorm heartrunes with the Cleansing Storm perk. Communication is key, so please listen for calls, especially for Lights, Popcorn, and Firestorm Heartrune coordination.
We don’t expect to succeed immediately, so be ready for some trial and error. I will update this guide with any lessons we learn on the way.
Contents
This is a long document, so navigation has been added to each section. Click on a heading to return to the link menu it belongs to.
The arena is a rough semi-circle. There is an upper deck with four pads on them, and a lower arena pit. When you enter the arena, there will be a drum in the centre of the pit. This is around the area that the Worm will spawn. There are two caves on each side of the pit, mobs will periodically spawn out of those.
Lights mechanic
There is a coloured light below each of the four pads, which will be either red or blue. This can only be seen from the pit, not the pads. Each pad has a red and a blue button. When the lights are called, the player on the pad needs to interact with the correct colour button.
Lights will be called from the point of view of the pit, going clockwise. So blue-red-red-red would mean:
- 1 – blue
- 2 – red
- 3 – red
- 4 – red
Players on the pads need to be good at listening and responding. Lights should be practiced before the fight to make sure everyone is on the same page.
Performing the lights mechanic successfully gives everyone a Shield Breaker buff that increases stamina damage and allows the shield around the Goldie Boys to be broken. If any button is pressed incorrectly, the presser will die, as well as anyone else in the near vicinity.
It’s good to be prepared, so we have an outline of what to expect. I’ve made some mud maps to try to illustrate concepts but it might be clearer if you also watch one of the videos.
Begin
When you first get into the Arena, go to your role position and wait for instructions. Take your consumables and make sure you’ve got the right gear and re-spec on. The fight starts when someone bangs the Drum – wait for the shotcaller to approve starting before anyone touches it. It’s good to practice lights before starting to make sure everyone can hear and follow instructions.
Phases and Mechanics
There are three main phases to the Trial.
During this phase, the Wurm is in the centre of the pit. All DPS should be in melee range behind it, except for the four ranged DPS on the lights. The main tank will stand to the far right, and the off tank will be with DPS unless they need to hold a Goldie Boy. Healers should be in with the DPS Zerg.
There are a number of mechanics that can occur during this phase.
The Wurm will spit acid at the player with aggro (hopefully that’s the Main Tank) and the players on the upper deck (this should only be the Lights). These should be dodged if possible but you can survive one if you’re not in acid burn. This is the most common mechanic.
The Wurm will spit three volleys of 5-6 large acid balls into the air. If these land, they will leave a large area of acid damage. It is a priority to shoot these while they are in the air, and the shotcaller will say “Look Up” to prompt the Lights and Main Tank.
The Wurm will rear forward and leave a long acid trail along the ground, which causes damage for a short time. This attack should be easy to see coming.
The Wurm will growl and summon two Goldie Boys and a large number of scorpions and other Angry Earth trash mobs. The melee DPS should kill one of the Goldie Boys and interact with the sword on the ground to get the sword buff. This adds empower and a stacking rend and is needed to maximise group damage. The Off-Tank should hold the second Goldie Boy until the first buff has almost worn off, to increase uptime.
Only happens in second and later main phases.
The Wurm will slam his head in a circle around the whole lower arena. Anyone close to the Wurm is safe. This is mainly risky for the Off-tank and anyone who is out of position.
We aim to skip this mechanic.
Only happens when the person who has aggro is close to the Wurm.
The Wurm will slam his head into the ground 2-3 times, doing very high strike damage. This is difficult to see coming and barely survivable with full strike gems, which is why all groups run a ranged tank.
We aim to skip this mechanic.
Only happens in third and later main phases.
The Wurm will sink into the ground and throw explosive objects all over the arena. They need to be interacted with (or “mined”) before they explode and do arena-wide damage and stun. These mines could land anywhere, including in acid or on the platforms. If the Wurm has 20% or more damage at mine phase, this is likely a wipe.
In the second phase, the Wurm will become invulnerable and each of the side caves will spawn a large Scorpion. These must be kept separated or they will grow in size and become empowered. At this time, the upper deck becomes filled with acid, so the Lights DPS must come down into the pit.
While the Scorpions are alive, the Wurm will periodically pop up and create large pools of high-damage acid. This is easy to see coming and should be dodged, but the Scorpions need to be killed quickly. Once the last Scorpion is dead, the Wurm will pop up one more time and then move to the Shield Phase.
At the beginning of the Scorpion Phase, the group should move to the left side cave and attack the first Scorpion. The Tank or Off-tank should keep the second Scorpion away from the first. The group should move in a horseshoe direction around the pit and loosely keep together. This phase should end with the group in the pit below lights 1 and 2.
The Wurm moves back to its normal position in the centre of the pit, but now has a large stamina bar and damage shield. The pit is filled with high-damage acid-fog, and there is also acid on the upper deck but it ticks at a lower rate. The group needs the Shield Breaker buff from the Lights to break the stamina bar.
Lights need to get back to their pads immediately, to get the Shield buff for this phase.
The zerg group should position on the upper deck between lights 1 and 2 and use ranged heavy attacks to break the stamina bar. Wait for the tank to have aggro to minimize Acid Spits at the group. The Raid Leader will call when to attack.
The Wurm returns to Main Phase after the stamina bar is broken.
All In Method
The zerg group should move back to the Wurm’s original position and heavy melee attack to break the shield. Four Cleansing Fire Storm heartrunes should be assigned and coordinated to cleanse acid during this phase.
We’ll refer to the enemies by specific names, so this is just a section to help you understand them.
Shah Neshen the Devourer (the Sandwurm) is the main boss in this Trial. The majority of his moves are described above in the Main Phase mechanics section.
His melee attacks are Strike and his ranged attacks are Acid. He is slightly weak to Thrust and nothing else, and is classed as a Beast. He has over 34 million health.
The Wurmsign Nephilim are the Brimstone Angry Earth mobs with the big sword. They will have a gold shield around them and the Lights need to get the Shield Breaker buff to break it before they can be damaged.
When killed, they drop a sword that can be interacted with to grant an Empower and stacking Rend buff, which the DPS should pick up.
They do Slash and Strike damage, which is why we protect against these with our jewelry.
These are the two large scorpions that spawn during the Scorpion Phase. They need to be kept apart or else they will become empowered. New World Buddy isn’t entirely clear on this one, so I don’t want to link the incorrect information. They do Thrust and Strike damage and are weak to Fire and Slash, but are not significant enough to change your gear over.
This fight is all about maximising damage, so it’s important not to be cheap with your buffs. If you can’t afford consumables, please contact your Raid Leader and see if anyone can supply some for you.
Trophies
You will need three Wildlife trophies and three Angry Earth trophies – minimum Basic, prefer Major.
See below for some guidelines for each role. Anything marked with a double asterix (**) is essential.
List of roles (click on a role heading to return to this list)
About your gear
It should not be too expensive to gear up for this Trial. The recommended average gear score is 675+, so please don’t go crafting expensive BiS pieces just for this, unless you want to. The armour in particular should be fairly cheap, just something you can put some Chitin Padding in. Perks listed in your Role guide are just suggestions, except for those marked with double asterix (**), as mentioned above. The main things you need to worry about are:
- Weapons
- Ring
- Protection amulet
To avoid the high-damage head-slam move by the Wurm, the main tank needs to use a ranged weapon and keep both distance and aggro.
- Taunt with off-hand weapon to establish aggro then maintain with Bow damage.
- Main Phase: Help shoot popcorn
- Scorpion Phase: Shoot with bow, block with Ice Gauntlet
- Shield Phase: Stand between Pad 3 and Pad 4 for long lick acid. Then move to Pad 4 area.
Note: You will be out of range of the healers for most of the fight. Be ready to dodge when the Sandwurm spits acid at you, and use potions to heal yourself. Essence Rupture should be up on the Wurm to help your attacks heal you.
Position
Initial taunt then stand at far left corner of arena.
Attributes
Con 50-100 | Str 25 | Foc 25 | Dex 450+
Your total attributes will vary based on your gearscore and whether you are using any artifacts. Don’t go any higher with Con but feel free to distribute other points for maximum damage.
Weapons
You will be using a Bow as your main weapon, which does not have a taunt. Slot a Carnelian to increase threat. Your offhand weapon is recommended to be an Ice Gauntlet, but you could choose to use Hatchet, Rapier, or Void Gauntlet instead.
Ice Gauntlet Perks
- Cut Pristine Carnelian
- Vicious (or Enchanted)
- Any damage perks
Heartrune
Use this to cleanse Acid Burn from yourself and your team mates.
Jewelry
Armour
It is really important to maximise damage, so everyone should be in Light armour. This is not a matter of personal taste but a requirement of the Trial. Gearscore should be 675+.
You can try Nature’s Wrath as your artifact, as seen in Katuii’s Main Tank POV video below.
Perks
There’s not much in the way of named light armour with Elemental Aversion and Dex/Mag. Admiral’s set from Barnacles and Black Powder is probably the closest. Otherwise random drops should do.
Main Tank Point of View
This role serves as a DPS for most of the Trial, except during the Goldie Boys spawn. Their job is to taunt the second Goldie Boy to keep them away from the Zerg until the first Empower Sword buff is almost finished.
They can also shoot stray trash mobs to get them into the Zerg.
Only one weapon should have a Carnelian slotted, which is used to taunt. The other weapon is used to do damage and should have a Diamond.
Position
The Off-Tank stands with the DPS Zerg unless holding back the second Goldie Boy.
Attributes
Con 100 | Str 25 | Foc 25 | Dex 450+
Your total attributes will vary based on your gearscore and whether you are using any artifacts. Don’t go any higher with Con but feel free to distribute other points for maximum damage.
Weapons
We are recommending Bow and Ice Gauntlet for this role, however on some servers they use a Rapier for DPS and Void Gauntlet to taunt.
Ice Gauntlet Perks
- Cut Pristine Carnelian
- Vicious (or Enchanted)
- Any damage perks
Heartrune
Use this to cleanse Acid Burn from yourself and your team mates.
Jewelry
Earring
- NOT Regenerating
- NOT Despised
- Healthy Toast
- Refreshing Toast
- Cut Pristine Moonstone, or
- Cut Pristine Jasper
e.g. Riptide Earring
Armour
It is really important to maximise damage, so everyone should be in Light armour. This is not a matter of personal taste but a requirement of the Trial. Gearscore should be 675+.
This is a key role and all four Lights players need to be in discord and good at listening and following instructions.
During the main and shield phases, the Wurm will spit acid at you. Be ready to dodge.
- Highest priority – shoot down popcorn, especially any over Zerg or tank. Explosive arrow is good for this.
- Lights mechanic – make sure you’re in place during all phases except Scorpion.
- Main phase – kill mages and out of Zerg scorpions, then DPS Wurm.
- Scorpion phase – help boost damage by casting Oblivion on DPS Zerg.
- Shield phase – Pad 1 & 2 use Firestorm heartrune to cleanse for main tank and DPS group.
- Only use Oblivion once adds are down, otherwise you’ll get aggro from adds.
Note: You will be out of range of the healers for most of the fight. Be ready to dodge when the Sandwurm spits acid at you, and use potions to heal yourself. Essence Rupture should be up on the Wurm to help your attacks heal you.
Position
During all phases except the Scorpion Phase, the Lights stand on the pads around the upper deck.
Attributes
Con 50-100 | Str 25 | Int 25 | Foc 25 | Dex 425+
Your total attributes will vary based on your gearscore and whether you are using any artifacts. Don’t go any higher with Con but feel free to distribute other points for maximum damage.
Weapons
Main weapon should be bow and we are recommending Lifetaker as the secondary but you could also choose Finisher for extra damage against bleeding targets.
Heartrune
Pads 1 and 2. Use this to cleanse Acid Burn from yourself and your team mates.
Pads 3 and 4. Use this for extra damage.
Jewelry
Earring
- NOT Regenerating
- NOT Despised
- Healthy Toast
- Refreshing Toast
- Cut Pristine Opal
e.g. Riptide Earring
Armour
It is really important to maximise damage, so everyone should be in Light armour. This is not a matter of personal taste but a requirement of the Trial. Gearscore should be 675+.
Perks
There’s not much in the way of named light armour with Elemental Aversion and Dex/Mag. Admiral’s set from Barnacles and Black Powder is probably the closest. Otherwise random drops should do.
The Main Healer heals the DPS Zerg and Off Tank, with a focus on adding damage, buffs and debuffs with the Void Gauntlet.
- Keep Essence Rupture up so Ranged Tank and Lights can get heals.
- 1st Firestorm – use early to remove Siege DoT
- 2nd Firestorm – hold for Shield Phase to remove Acid Burn
- Stand in the Sacred Ground with the DPS Zerg to protect from adds.
- Scorpion Phase – heal Off Tank.
Position
Stand in the DPS Zerg behind the Wurm.
Attributes
Con 100 | Int 150 | Foc 350+
Your total attributes will vary based on your gearscore and whether you are using any artifacts. Don’t go any higher with Con but feel free to distribute other points for maximum damage. If you’re close to a milestone, take some points off Foc. 499 Foc 25 Int is better than 500 Foc 24 Int.
Weapons
You may swap the weapon ability perks on Life Staff and armor, if you prefer.
Life Staff Perks
Void Gauntlet Perks
Heartrune
Use this to cleanse Acid Burn from yourself and your team mates.
Jewelry
Earring
- NOT Regenerating
- NOT Despised
- Healthy Toast
- Refreshing Toast
- Cut Pristine Moonstone, or
- Cut Pristine Jasper
e.g. Riptide Earring
Armour
It is really important to maximise damage, so everyone should be in Light armour. This is not a matter of personal taste but a requirement of the Trial. Gearscore should be 675+.
The main role of the Off Healer is to DPS with Void Blade and keep Oblivion up as much as possible.
- You are mainly on Void Blade – spam Oblivion and Essence Rupture.
- Throw Life Staff abilities on the Zerg then back to VG.
- Use Heartrune when VB ability is available, so you can re-cast VB afterward.
- 1st Firestorm – use early to remove Siege DoT
- 2nd Firestorm – hold for Shield Phase to remove Acid Burn
- Stand in the Sacred Ground with the DPS Zerg to protect from adds.
- Scorpion Phase – heal Main Tank.
Position
Stand in the DPS Zerg behind the Wurm.
Attributes
Con 50-100 | Foc 250 | Int 250+
Your total attributes will vary based on your gearscore and whether you are using any artifacts. Don’t go any higher with Con but feel free to distribute other points for maximum damage.
Weapons
If you have a life staff with Keen Beacon on it, you can use that, otherwise any weapon ability perk will do. If possible, the Void Gauntlet should be the artifact Lifetaker.
Life Staff Perks
Heartrune
Use this to cleanse Acid Burn from yourself and your team mates.
Jewelry
Earring
- NOT Regenerating
- NOT Despised
- Empowering Toast
- Refreshing Toast
- Cut Pristine Moonstone, or
- Cut Pristine Jasper
e.g. Riptide Earring
Armour
It is really important to maximise damage, so everyone should be in Light armour. This is not a matter of personal taste but a requirement of the Trial. Gearscore should be 675+.
^ that’s my butt in the preview, hehe 🙂
- The main task for this role is to keep Enfeebling Skewer and Perforate debuffs on the Wurm as much as possible.
- Dodge before using abilities to reduce cooldowns.
- Shield Phase – use heavy attacks with bow after callout to attack.
- Respec Perforate to the ability perk only, with no extensions to the skill. This give a different Rend to stack than full Perforate.
Position
In the Zerg behind the Wurm.
Attributes
Con 5-15 | Str 350 | Dex 200+
Your total attributes will vary based on your gearscore and whether you are using any artifacts. Don’t go any higher with Con but feel free to distribute other points for maximum damage.
Weapons
You will be on the Spear for the majority of the time, only using ranged during the Shield phase. You could use the Sin Artifact as Throwing Hatchet instead of Bow if you prefer.
Spear Perks
- Cut Pristine Diamond
- Enfeebling Skewer**
- Vicious (or Enchanted)
- Any Damage Perk
Bow Perks
- Cut Pristine Diamond
- Vicious (or Enchanted)
- Any Damage Perk
Heartrune
Extra damage. Beware of armour reduction while charging – stay behind the mobs.
Jewelry
Earring
- NOT Regenerating
- NOT Despised
- Empowering Toast
- Refreshing Toast
- Cut Pristine Moonstone, or
- Cut Pristine Jasper
e.g. Riptide Earring
Armour
It is really important to maximise damage, so everyone should be in Light armour. This is not a matter of personal taste but a requirement of the Trial. Gearscore should be 675+.
This role is giving a Leadership buff to their group and applying Rend with the hatchet.
- You should be using your Sword & Shield 80% of the time.
- Heavy attack once then switch to light attack chain to apply both Rend cycles.
- Switch to Hatchet for Rending throw and Infected throw then swap back.
- Shield Phase – use ranged attacks with Throwing Hatchet after callout to attack.
Position
In the Zerg behind the Wurm.
Attributes
Con 5-15 | Str 350 | Dex 200+
Your total attributes will vary based on your gearscore and whether you are using any artifacts. Don’t go any higher with Con but feel free to distribute other points for maximum damage.
Weapons
The most important perk for your Sword is Trenchant Rend.
Sword Perks
- Cut Pristine Diamond
- Vicious (or Enchanted)
- Any Damage Perk
Hatchet Perks
- Cut Pristine Diamond
- Vicious (or Enchanted)
- Any Damage Perk
Heartrune
Extra damage. Beware of armour reduction while charging – stay behind the mobs.
Jewelry
Earring
- NOT Regenerating
- NOT Despised
- Empowering Toast
- Refreshing Toast
- Cut Pristine Moonstone, or
- Cut Pristine Jasper
e.g. Riptide Earring
Armour
It is really important to maximise damage, so everyone should be in Light armour. This is not a matter of personal taste but a requirement of the Trial. Gearscore should be 675+.
This role is applying rend with both weapons and adding a Bleed debuff.
- You should be using your Greatsword 80% of the time.
- Use Skyward Slash for Rend and spam heavy attacks in between cooldowns.
- Switch to Hatchet for Rending throw and Infected throw then swap back.
- Scorpion Phase – just used ranged, not Great Sword in case of Onslaught death.
- Shield Phase – use ranged attacks with Throwing Hatchet after callout to attack.
Position
In the Zerg behind the Wurm.
Attributes
Con 5-15 | Str 350 | Dex 200+
Your total attributes will vary based on your gearscore and whether you are using any artifacts. Don’t go any higher with Con but feel free to distribute other points for maximum damage.
Weapons
The most important perk for your Sword is Trenchant Rend.
Hatchet Perks
- Cut Pristine Diamond
- Vicious (or Enchanted)
- Any Damage Perk
Heartrune
Applies Rend on use, reducing target’s armour by 20% for 5 seconds.
Jewelry
Earring
- NOT Regenerating
- NOT Despised
- Empowering Toast
- Refreshing Toast
- Cut Pristine Moonstone, or
- Cut Pristine Jasper
e.g. Riptide Earring
Armour
It is really important to maximise damage, so everyone should be in Light armour. This is not a matter of personal taste but a requirement of the Trial. Gearscore should be 675+.
This role’s main job is to apply Rend with both weapons.
- Spam Heavy Attack with War Hammer.
- Use Sundering Shockwave and/or Sundering Clearout when up.
- Switch to Hatchet for Rending throw and Infected throw then swap back.
- Shield Phase – use ranged attacks with Throwing Hatchet after callout to attack.
Position
In the Zerg behind the Wurm.
Attributes
Con 5-15 | Str 500
Your total attributes will vary based on your gearscore and whether you are using any artifacts. Don’t go any higher with Con but feel free to distribute other points for maximum damage. If you’re close to a milestone, take some points off Str. 499 Str 25 Dex is better than 500 Str 24 Dex.
Weapons
The most important perk for your Hammer is Trenchant Rend. Sundering is a bonus.
Hatchet Perks
- Cut Pristine Diamond
- Vicious (or Enchanted)
- Any Damage Perk
Heartrune
Applies Rend on use, reducing target’s armour by 20% for 5 seconds.
Jewelry
Earring
- NOT Regenerating
- NOT Despised
- Empowering Toast
- Refreshing Toast
- Cut Pristine Moonstone, or
- Cut Pristine Jasper
e.g. Riptide Earring
Armour
It is really important to maximise damage, so everyone should be in Light armour. This is not a matter of personal taste but a requirement of the Trial. Gearscore should be 675+.
This role requires Finisher.
- Do not swap to offhand during the Main phase fighting, or you will cause damage loss. You may cast Pylon when getting the sword buff, then back to Rapier.
- Do not place Pylon in front of the Zerg as it blocks damage from others.
- Shield Phase – use ranged heavy attacks and Pylon after callout to attack.
Position
In the Zerg behind the Wurm.
Attributes
Con 5-15 | Int 250 | Dex 300+
Your total attributes will vary based on your gearscore and whether you are using any artifacts. Don’t go any higher with Con but feel free to distribute other points for maximum damage.
Weapons
If you don’t have Finisher, have a look at the Evade Rapier build.
Ice Gauntlet Perks
- Cut Pristine Onyx
- Pylon Burst
- Any Damage Perk
Heartrune
Extra damage. Beware of armour reduction while charging – stay behind the mobs.
Jewelry
Ring
e.g. Soulpollen with Blood Letting added or Red Hot Slag with Thrust Damage added.
Earring
- NOT Regenerating
- NOT Despised
- Empowering Toast
- Refreshing Toast
- Cut Pristine Moonstone, or
- Cut Pristine Jasper
e.g. Riptide Earring
Armour
It is really important to maximise damage, so everyone should be in Light armour. This is not a matter of personal taste but a requirement of the Trial. Gearscore should be 675+.
Perks
e.g. Azoth Crystal – might also need some non-magnify to get the attribute split.
This is the main DPS of the raid. However, as you will mainly be on your Rapier, a limited number of these may use Tempest Fury as the Offhand weapon.
- Spam Evade and light attack.
- Do not swap to offhand during the Main phase fighting, or you will cause damage loss. You may cast Pylon when getting the sword buff, then back to Rapier.
- Do not place Pylon in front of the Zerg as it blocks damage from others.
- Shield Phase – use ranged heavy attacks and Pylon after callout to attack.
Position
In the Zerg behind the Wurm.
Attributes
Con 5-15 | Int 250 | Dex 300+
Your total attributes will vary based on your gearscore and whether you are using any artifacts. Don’t go any higher with Con but feel free to distribute other points for maximum damage.
Weapons
The main perk you need is Omnidirectional Evade, which you could put on something like a Deepriver Rapier. You can also use Finisher and put Omnidirectional Evade on your armour.
Ice Gauntlet Perks
- Cut Pristine Onyx
- Pylon Burst
- Any Damage Perk
Heartrune
Extra damage. Beware of armour reduction while charging – stay behind the mobs.
Jewelry
Ring
e.g. Soulpollen with Blood Letting added or Red Hot Slag with Thrust Damage added.
Armour
It is really important to maximise damage, so everyone should be in Light armour. This is not a matter of personal taste but a requirement of the Trial. Gearscore should be 675+.
If you are using Finisher, put Omnidirectional Evade on a piece of armour.
Perks
e.g. Azoth Crystal – might also need some non-magnify to get the attribute split.
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