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New World Saltpeter locations: how to gather Saltpeter Ore in New World

Where to find Saltpeter Ore, a key component in crafting gunpowder

Where can you find Saltpeter in New World? In New World, Saltpeter is used to craft gunpowder, which in turn is a key component in crafting musket cartridges. Depending on your chosen character build and the weapons you favour, this could be an absolutely essential resource for you. But exploring Aeternum in search of a specific resource can be an intimidating prospect due to the sheer size of the island, so we've put together this guide to help you find the best Saltpeter spawn locations.

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Where to find Saltpeter in New World

Fortunately, it's easy to predict where Saltpeter is going to spawn in New World. Unlike some other resources, Saltpeter isn't native to any particular region of the map. Instead, Saltpeter Ore nodes spawn in caves across Aeternum. Caves in New World tend to cluster around the coast, as you might expect, but you can find them inland as well, particularly at higher elevations (which show up on the map as dark brown terrain).

The only real drawback to finding Saltpeter once you're inside the caves is that it looks quite a bit like any other rock. Saltpeter Ore is often slightly darker in color than its surroundings, has a slightly mottled appearance, and protrudes from the floor a bit more; but it's still not hugely obvious. However, the good news is that within the confines of a cave, you should see the interaction text identifying Saltpeter appear on-screen if there's any nearby.

A New World character finds Saltpeter in a dark cave.

For exact spawn locations, we recommend the excellent New World Map website, which allows you to apply filters to find the spawn locations of individual resources.


How to make Gunpowder in New World using Saltpeter

In order to craft ranged weapons and ammunition for them, you need access to a Workshop, a type of crafting station that can be found in large settlements. To craft Gunpowder, the Workshop you use needs to be Tier 2 or better. To upgrade Workshops and other crafting stations, you need to finish the relevant Town Upgrade Quests, which you can find on the Town Project board.

Gunpowder can be crafted at Engineering skill Level 0, meaning that with access to the right ingredients and crafting station you can make it without prior experience. Crafting Gunpowder will build 96 Engineering XP each time.

Mixing one piece of Saltpeter with two pieces of Flint and five pieces of Charcoal will net you five pieces of Gunpowder — so a bit of Saltpeter goes a long way!


That's everything you need to know to begin harvesting Saltpeter in New World! If you're crafting weapons and ammo, you might also be interested in our guide to where to find iron in New World.

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Rebecca Jones avatar

Rebecca Jones

Former Guides Writer

Rebecca is now geeking out about multi-platform games on VG247, but rumour has it that if you chant "Indiescovery podcast" three times in front of your PC monitor, she'll reappear in the RPS comments section.

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