New World Aeternum Cooking Guide: Mastering the Culinary Trade Skill

Cooking in New World Aeternum is more than just a fun pastime; it’s an essential Trade Skill that benefits players by providing boosts, health, and stamina recovery through a variety of meals. Whether you’re a new player or a seasoned veteran returning to Aeternum, levelling up Cooking is one of the most rewarding aspects of the game, and it can provide significant advantages in both PvE and PvP content.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll dive deep into how you can power-level your cooking skill, find rare ingredients, set up efficient farming routes, and learn about the best recipes to make your journey in New World Aeternum smoother. We’ll also explore related trade skills like Fishing, Harvesting, and Skinning, which enhance your cooking experience.

How Cooking Works in New World Aeternum

Cooking in New World Aeternum has undergone some changes since the game’s early days, but the core mechanics remain the same. The Cooking skill revolves around crafting food and dyes using resources gathered from the world of Aeternum. The food you cook not only restores health and mana but also provides buffs that increase stats like Dexterity, Constitution, and Intelligence.

To get started with Cooking in New World Aeternum, you’ll need access to a Cooking Station in a Settlement or your personal Camp. Cooking Stations range from Tier 1 to Tier 5, depending on the level of the settlement’s Kitchen. The higher the Tier, the better the food you can cook. Keep in mind that each recipe has a tier requirement, and you’ll need the corresponding tier of Cooking Station to craft higher-level meals.

If you’re using a PC, press E to access the Cooking Station. For console players, use Triangle (PS5) or X (Xbox). You’ll see a menu of recipes categorized by tiers. The more recipes you craft, the faster you’ll gain Cooking Experience (XP), levelling up the Trade Skill and unlocking new, more advanced recipes.

Best Ways to Level Up Cooking Faster

Levelling up your Cooking skill in New World Aeternum can take time, but there are strategies to speed up the process. Below are some tried-and-true methods to quickly gain Cooking XP:

1. Crafting Basic Recipes in Bulk

Focus on creating simple, low-tier recipes like Travel Rations or Light Meals using readily available materials. Although these recipes offer fewer XP points compared to higher-tier dishes, they are easy to mass-produce, and the materials are abundant. Aim to craft these until you unlock the next tier of recipes.

2. Gathering Ingredients Efficiently

To level up Cooking, you’ll need a wide variety of ingredients, such as meat, vegetables, fish, and herbs. Establishing an efficient farming route is crucial. Some of the best farming routes for beginners include:

• Monarch’s Bluff and Windsward for Herbs and Game.
• Hurtfang Hole and Pirate Coves for chests and crates containing essential cooking materials like Salt, Milk, Rye, and Rice.
• Farms for produce like vegetables, fruits, and berries.
• Fishing Hotspots near Amrine Temple or Windsward’s Coast for high-tier fish.

3. Using Proficiency Boost Potions

Proficiency Boost potions help you gather more resources in a shorter amount of time. These potions can be crafted or purchased, and using them will allow you to gather the ingredients you need to craft more meals, thus levelling up Cooking faster.

4. Loot Provision Crates

Provision Crates found throughout the world are an excellent source of rare cooking materials. These crates often contain spices like Salt and Sugar, which are necessary for crafting more advanced dishes.

5. Trading Post

If you have the gold, consider purchasing materials from the Trading Post. This will save you time from gathering everything yourself, though it may require a significant investment.

Advanced Cooking: Tier 3 to Tier 5

Once you’ve gathered enough XP and are ready to move beyond basic recipes, you’ll start crafting higher-tier meals. Recipes in Tier 3 and above often require special ingredients and more complex combinations of materials. Here are some tips for progressing from Tier 3 to Tier 5:

• Craft Compound Materials: You’ll need to create ingredients like Pasta (from Flour and Eggs) and Spices (from Herbs) to cook more advanced dishes.
• Focus on Rare Ingredients: Keep an eye out for Provision Crates and certain rare animals, like Boars and Lynxes, to gather ingredients like meat and vegetables.
• Unlock Fishing Hotspots: Fishing becomes increasingly important as you progress. Hotspots in areas like Windsward and Amrine Temple offer rare fish, which can be salvaged into cooking materials.

By the time you reach Tier 3, you’ll find the XP requirements much higher, meaning it will take more materials and time to level up. This is where patience and a steady farming route will pay off.

The Best Recipes in New World Aeternum

While leveling up Cooking, you’ll come across a variety of recipes, each providing unique buffs and benefits. Here’s a quick look at some of the most useful and powerful cooking recipes in New World Aeternum:

• Carrot Cake – Increases Dexterity by 44
• Fruit Salad – Increases Intelligence by 44
• Banana Parfait – Increases Constitution by 44
• Roasted Prismatic Fillet – Boosts your highest stat by 48

These recipes offer great stat boosts and are particularly useful in end-game content, where every little buff can make a difference.

Secondary Trade Skills for Cooking

To truly master Cooking in New World Aeternum, it’s essential to develop other Trade Skills that complement your culinary expertise. Fishing, Skinning, and Harvesting are three key skills that will enhance your cooking efficiency.

• Fishing: Catch fish that can be salvaged for cooking materials like Fish Filet and Fish Oil. You can find great fishing spots in Windsward and Amrine Temple.
• Skinning: Hunt wild game like Turkeys, Boars, and Rabbits for meat and eggs. Skinning is a natural partner for Cooking, and it’s easy to level up while gathering materials.
• Harvesting: Collect fruits, vegetables, and herbs that are used in many cooking recipes. Herb gathering is especially important for creating spices, which are essential in high-tier Cooking.

Using Dyes in New World Aeternum

In addition to cooking food, players can craft dyes to customize their armor and shields. Dyes are created using pigment, and each armor piece can be dyed in up to four different slots: Primary, Secondary, Accent, and Tint.

Here’s how to dye your equipment in New World Aeternum:

1. Open your Inventory.
2. Right-click on any armor piece or shield and select the Dye option.
3. Choose the dye for each slot from the menu, then confirm your choices to apply the dye.

Note that dyes are consumables, meaning each application uses up one dye unit, and you’ll need to craft or purchase more if you want to change the colour of multiple slots.

Maximizing Crafting Efficiency and Yield

As you level up your cooking skill, you’ll notice that the efficiency and yield of your crafting improve. At Level 200, you’ll have a 20% chance to create additional items when crafting food or dyes. Using higher-tier materials also increases the chances of producing extra items, and certain equipment can further boost your crafting yield.

Power-Levelling Cooking: Step-by-Step Guide

To efficiently level up your cooking skill in New World Aeternum, follow this step-by-step guide:

1. Start with Travel Rations: Craft basic Travel Rations until you hit Level 50. These are easy to craft and require simple ingredients like Berries and Meat.
2. Craft Light Meals: From Level 50 to 100, focus on crafting Light Meals using higher-tier raw foods like Cabbage, Squid Meat, and Venison.
3. Satisfying Meals: At Level 100, switch to crafting Satisfying Meals, which require Tier 4 raw foods.
4. Hearty Meals: Once you reach Level 150, start crafting Hearty Meals until you max out at Level 200.

FAQs

What is the highest cooking level in New World Aeternum?
The maximum Cooking level is Level 200, which unlocks the most powerful recipes and increases crafting efficiency.

What are the benefits of high-level Cooking?
High-level Cooking provides access to stronger food buffs, increased crafting efficiency, and a higher chance of creating extra items during crafting.

What Trade Skills should I level alongside Cooking?
Fishing, Skinning, and Harvesting are essential trade skills to level up alongside Cooking to gather the necessary ingredients for your recipes.

Can I dye weapons in New World Aeternum?
No, currently, weapons cannot be dyed, but you can dye your armor and shields.