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Crossbow / Dagger PvE Build Guide

Last Updated:December 30, 2024|Changelog

Welcome to the Crossbow / Dagger PvE Build Guide. Crossbow / Dagger allows for the highest single target burst damage in game. Due to the high number of hits from both weapons, you consistently reach 20 stacks of Thunderclouds to dish out explosive damage with frequent procs of Thunderclouds Bombing.

Crossbow / Daggers are both unique weapons in the sense that they are dual-wielded. What makes dual-wielding so unique in this game is that for every attack you do with these weapons, there's a chance to do it again with their "off-hand". Between Off-Hand attacks and how many hits in these skills, Crossbow / Dagger has the ability to do over 30-40 hits within a second. Crossbow and Dagger skills can be quite deceptive when it comes to damage numbers because of how many hits that are able to be thrown out.

End Game Crossbow / Dagger PvE Build

If you're interested in PvP, check out our Crossbow / Dagger PvP Build Guide!

Pros
  • High Mobility
  • Hybrid Damage Types
  • Highest Single Target DPS
Cons
  • High Mana Consumption

Skill Builds

Some skills appear different in the Tooltip due to its Skill Specialization.

  • Lightning Infusion = Inject Venom
  • Detonation Mark = Mortal Mark
  • Annihilation Barrage Shot = Wild Barrage
Fatal Stigma Version
Spin To Win Version
Full AoE Build

Active Skills

Damage Skills

  • Quick Fire - When paired with buffs, this Crossbow skill can have high damage output and uptime.
  • Thunderclouds Bombing - This is your core damage skill! You need to use this skill as soon as you reach 20 stacks of Thunderclouds to maximize your DPS potential.
  • Knife Throwing - Allows you to instantly stack high amounts of Thundercloud while lowering cooldowns drastically with Selfless Diffusion.
  • Fatal Stigma - Ideally used on bosses or tougher mobs that you can't kill within 3 seconds.
  • Cleaving Moonlight - Make sure to pair this with Consecutive Use and Attack Speed ▲ to increase your Attack Speed and to consistently get 20 stacks of Thundercloud.
    • Make sure not to use the consecutive use skill right away or lose the Attack Speed.

Buffs/Debuffs

  • Weak Point Shot - Making use of this as often as possible can increase your party's clear time by a substantial margin.
  • Wind Snatcher - You can swap Weak Point Shot with this skill when you want to increase your Attack Speed further by using it after Knife Throwing.
  • Lightning Infusion - With the ability to throw out so many hits, you get max stacks quickly.
  • Mother Nature's Protest - This skill synergizes well with so many of your skills including Knife Throwing. Each hit from this skill also procs your Mortal Mark bonus damage attack.
  • Selfless Diffusion - This is your key method of lowering cooldowns! Allows you to multiply your total damage anywhere from 1.5 to 4 times the amount due to offhand attacks being able to Crit and/or Heavy Attack as well.
  • Mortal Mark - The duration of this mark can be extended with Selfless Diffusion.
    • Appears as Detonation Mark due to the Skill Specialization changing it's name.
  • Mana Exchange - This is your only active skill for Mana Regen with this specific weapon combination. You can morph into Orc Brawler to regain 4% of your Max Health whenever you use this skill to lower the HP Cost.

Mobility Skills

  • Nimble Leap - While being a mobility skill, you can also reset Quick Fire. This interaction of skills makes for a great "filler" when waiting for other skills to come off cooldown.
  • Block Blade - You can use the stationary block version to instantly regain mana on fury attack blocks which becomes your primary source of Mana Regen.
  • Cleaving Moonlight - It's worth mentioning this skill is also considered a mobility skill. So, for example, it procs Nature's Power.

Passive Skills

  • Ambidexterity - Crossbow / Dagger is heavily reliant on offhand weapon attacks making this a must have.
  • Nature's Power - Mobility skills are quite easy to maintain so you can keep this buff up indefinitely.
  • Bloodlust Stack - With Crossbow / Dagger, your "Attack" skills are such low cooldowns, it's not difficult to maintain high stacks or max stacks.
  • Piercing Strike - Bonus Damage is done per hit dealt so this synergizes well with the number of hits you're doing. This adds a lot of extra damage as long as you're stacking Bonus Damage.
  • Destructive Fang - Bosses tend to have higher Defense so it's important to stack as much damage potential as possible.
  • Assassin's Instincts - Crossbow / Dagger weapons tend to have high variance in damage between min and max damage so it's important to get as much Critical Hit as possible.
  • Murderous Energy - This combined with Epic Inject Venom can help you keep your poisons up on a target almost indefinitely.
  • Wrathful Edge - Crossbow / Dagger relies heavily on landing Critical Hits so this is a must have for damage.

Active Skills

Damage Skills

  • The main difference between this version and the Fatal Stigma version is that you're using Annihilation Barrage Shot instead.

Active Skills

Damage Skills

  • Adding Frenzied Sword Dance paired with Thunder Spirit allows for high amounts of additional AoE.

Skill Prioritization

  • This is a general list of skills used across all forms of content that's recommended to upgrade.
    • Should there be a skill here that you don't ever plan to use in your build, skip it.
  • Use Quality Skill Growth Books to upgrade your skills from Green to Blue in the order shown below. Once all skills below are Green, use the rest on other skills used in the builds above.
  • Use Rare Skill Growth Books to upgrade your skills from Blue to Purple in the order shown below. Once all skills below are Blue, use the rest on other skills used in the builds above.
  • Prioritize getting all these skills to blue first before getting them to purple. These are universal skills you always use.
  • Upgrade the rest of your skills as you play the game.

Active Skill Priority

Passive Skill Priority

PvE Gameplay and Skill Rotation

PvE is all about getting 20 stacks of Thunderclouds and then using Thunderclouds Bombing to deal massive damage, repeating as often as possible.

Fatal Stigma Version
Spin To Win Version
AoE Version

Skill Rotation

  1. Lightning Infusion
  2. Mother Nature's Protest
  3. Selfless Diffusion
  4. Fatal Stigma
    • If this is going off before getting 20 Stacks back after using Thunderclouds Bombing, then wait to use it after using Thunderclouds Bombing.
  5. Mortal Mark
  6. Cleaving Moonlight
  7. Quick Fire
  8. Thunderclouds Bombing
  9. Knife Throwing
  10. Cleaving Moonlight
  11. Thunderclouds Bombing

Tips

  • Use Weak Point Shot every time the enemy uses a Fury Attack to maintain high DPS.
  • Use only the first attack of Cleaving Moonlight every time it's ready. The 2nd attack should never be used because you gain Attack Speed while it's up.
  • Use Mana Exchange whenever possible to maintain your Mana.
  • Block Blade is a solid source of gaining instant Mana if the opponent does a lot of Fury Attacks.
  • Dexterity is Key! Having high attack speed increases the animations of your skills allowing you to get more skills off per second greatly increasing DPS.
  • Use Nimble Leap to reset the cooldown of Quick Fire.
    • This is your filler DPS when other skills are on cooldown.

This version plays similar to the other however, now you're using the combination of Selfless Diffusion and Annihilation Barrage Shot to extend the duration of Detonation Mark for increased explosion damage. The Spin to Win Version allows for added AoE damage while farming packs of mobs as well.

Skill Rotation

  1. Mother Nature's Protest
  2. Lightning Infusion
  3. Selfless Diffusion
  4. Detonation Mark
  5. Quick Fire
  6. Cleaving Moonlight
  7. Nimble Leap
  8. Quick Fire
  9. Thunderclouds Bombing
  10. Knife Throwing
  11. Annihilation Barrage Shot
  12. Thunderclouds Bombing

Tips

  • If your Attack Speed is too low and the mark explodes before getting to Annihilation Barrage Shot, don't do the additional Quick Fire.
  • Knife Throwing while Selfless Diffusion is active helps to lower cooldowns.
    • Always make sure important skills and high damaging skills are on cooldown before using this combination.

Utilizing buffs like Thunder Spirit to make all your melee attacks do AoE, and then using AoE Melee attacks to double up on the AoE dealt allows for consistent AoE

Skill Rotation

  1. Mother Nature's Protest
    • Be certain that this is toggled on.
  2. Lightning Infusion
  3. Selfless Diffusion
  4. Thunder Spirit
  5. Fatal Stigma
  6. Frenzied Sword Dance
  7. Lightning Throw
  8. Cleaving Moonlight
  9. Thunderclouds Bombing
  10. Annihilation Barrage Shot

Tips

  • Use the Skill Specialization Aggro ▼ on Selfless Diffusion if you're taking too much aggro and dying from all the mobs.
  • Turn off Mother Nature's Protest to conserve Mana while spinning with Annihilation Barrage Shot.
  • Position Lightning Throw to hit as many of the mobs as possible.

Stat Priorities

Use the following stat priorities when playing a Crossbow / Dagger build in PVE:

  • Primary Stat
    • Dexterity
  • Secondary Stats
    • Strength and Perception

You have 49 Stat Points to distribute however you see fit, and gear gives additional stat points that you cannot change. It's free to reset the Stat Points so that you can "respec" whenever you need to as you progress and swap out items. Above are the main Stats you should be attempting to reach with the given builds in this guide.

Crossbow / Dagger excels when stacking very high Critical Hit, Attack Speed, and Maximum Weapon Damage. All three of these things are given to you by stacking Dexterity!

Mid-Game

Your first goal is to hit 50 Dexterity. For PvE, we care mainly about increased Critical Hit, Attack Speed, and Maximum Weapon Damage so place enough points to reach 50 Dexterity. Then allocate points into Wisdom up to 50, for higher Weapon Damage, Cooldown Speed, and Mana Regen. Last, you're going to place points into Perception to reach 40, this grants us increased Buff Duration which works on skills like Selfless Diffusion and Lightning Infusion.

End Game

With Purple Gear in the End Game, you can reach all of your desired Stat Breakpoints. 50 Dexterity grants increased Critical Hit, Bonus Damage, and high amounts of Attack Speed before using our buffs. 50 Wisdom is the next goal as it also increases your Maximum Weapon Damage while increasing Mana Regen and Cooldown Speed. 40 Perception ensures high Buff Duration as well as enough Hit for the PvE content currently in the game.

Gear Progression

The additional Attack Speed trait from Rex Chimaerus's Rake Bow in combination with the increased Weapon Damage item effect from Lequirus's Thorny Edge make these the highest performing weapons in PvE.

If your goal is to PvP, use our Crossbow / Dagger PvP Build Guide as all PvE content can be done with PvP Gear!

  • The next time these builds will be revamped entirely will be when T2 Epic gear comes out.
    • With the confirmation of runes, more build variations were added on November 26th. The variations included were the 4-piece Death Set for more damage.
    • No more changes will be made to this gear until T2 gear comes in January or earlier.
  • If you already have most of the build in the Archived section, stick with it until T2. You can use Rune Synergies with it as well.
Early - Mid
Transition
Mid - End
Transition
End Game
Build
Archived
Builds

Early Game Build for Crossbow / Dagger

If you followed our Leveling Guide for Crossbow / Dagger, you may have some of these pieces already.

  • Most of these gear pieces come from Open World Dungeons, or Lithograph Book entries so it's easy to get.
    • Don't stress over traits if you are not planning to PvP as many of these items are replaced by Dungeon drops.
      • If PvP is something you want to do, use our PvP builds instead as you can do all PvE content with your PvP gear.
  • Elusive Hexweaver Hat comes from killing Worker Ants in Ants Nest Open World Dungeon.
  • Elusive Hexweaver Pants comes from killing Acid Ants in Ants Nest Open World Dungeon.
  • Glade Stalker Boots is a Main Story Quest.
    • Can also be obtained by completing the Lithograph Book entry, Offroad Footwear.
  • Heroic Tunic of the Resistance is a reward from the Main Story Quest.
    • Can also receive by completing the Lithograph Book entry, Mysterious Shadows in the Fog.

Mid - End Game Transition Gear

As you work towards your End Game build, here are some transitional pieces available to use earlier on. Focus on weapons first as they have the highest damage increase.

IF YOU GET ANY ITEMS THAT FIT THE "END-GAME" BUILD, USE THEM IN PLACE OF THESE.

Gear Sources

  • Insightful Ring of Dimension
    • Craft Recipe: Precious Epic Accessory Selection Chest
      • 10 Tokens from each Co-Op Dungeon are required to craft Recipe: Dimensional Essence: Salvation
  • Temple of Slaughter Co-Op Dungeon
    • Rex Chimaerus's Crossbows
  • Cave of Destruction Co-Op Dungeon
    • Lequirus's Thorny Edge
    • Beast King's Gilded Bracers
  • Cursed Wasteland Co-Op Dungeon
    • Violent Signet
    • Feathered Drakeskin Mask
      • Can also be obtained from Roaring Temple Co-Op Dungeon
  • Butcher's Canyon Co-Op Dungeon
    • Belt of Endless Slaughter
  • Duskblood Gloves
    • Reptilian Lancers in Saurodoma Island
  • Clasp of the Conqueror
    • Craft Recipe: Precious Epic Equipment Chest: Abyss
  • Sapphire Dimensional Band
    • Craft Recipe: Precious Epic Accessory Selection Chest
      • Requires crafting 1 Recipe: Dimensional Essence: Salvation
  • Hover over the Weapons and Accessories to see the Runes.

Full Build w/ Runes

  • This build is an improved version utilizing 2-Star Dungeon Gear that'd otherwise drop from Archbosses and be nearly unobtainable for some.
  • Before having Runes, just lower your Dexterity and keep 30 Strength, 50 Dexterity + Wisdom, and 40 Perception.
  • Fully trait your blue gear before transferring over to purple gear. A fully traited blue piece will give you 960 Blessings for you to use.

Alternative

Gear Sources

T2 Dungeon Release

  • Original T2 Dungeon Release Build.

Global Launch PvE Build

  • Original Launch Build

No Field Boss Alternative End Game
Bonus Damage Build

No Field Boss Alternative End Game
Crit Damage Build

Guardians

Guardians are special transformations that add offensive or defensive buffs or attacks to your character for 30 seconds. For damage purposes, Shade Revenant Stheno is the best option for Crossbow / Dagger.

  • Shade Revenant Stheno is a Guardian that shoots projectiles against all enemies around you for 30 seconds. The reason this Guardian synergizes so well with Crossbow / Daggers is because the projectiles that hit enemies proc the Thunderclouds Weaken from Lightning Infusion, additional projectiles from Mother Nature's Protest, and even the bonus damage procs on Mortal Mark.

Gameplay

Summary

  • Crossbow / Daggers PvE revolves around getting 20 Stacks of Thunderclouds and then using Thunderclouds Bombing to explode them for high damage as frequently as possible.
  • Getting stats around 50 Dexterity, 50 Wisdom, and 40 Perception, this build gains high Attack Speed, Cooldown Speed, Buff Duration, and Critical Hit outputting the highest damage possible as fast as your fingers can press your skills!
  • Skills like Selfless Diffusion help lower your cooldowns to the point where you're constantly rotating through your skills with little to no downtime between cooldowns.
  • Selfless Diffusion increases the chance for these two weapons to proc Offhand Attacks increasing your damage by 200-400%. This is something only Crossbows and Daggers can do.
  • Crossbow / Daggers can utilize Bonus Damage, unlike any other weapon combination due to the high number of hits you're able to throw out.

Credits

Written by Bloo
Reviewed by Dredscythe

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