Greatsword / Dagger PvE Build Guide

Skill Builds

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

• Frost Cleaving = Gaia Crash
• Lightning Infusion = Inject Venom
• Cruel Smite = Valiant Brawl
• Thunderclouds Bombing = Brutal Incision
• Thunder Spirit = Umbral Spirit

Buffs/Debuffs

• Lightning Infusion - This is needed to gain increased Critical Hit against a target due to passives and to increase the damage of some of your Dagger's damage Skills.
• DaVinci's Courage - This should be used off cooldown every chance you get!
• Willbreaker - This debuff allows everybody in the party to increase their damage on a target. Perfect for Challenge Modes when you're up against the clock!

• Stunning Blow - You should always use this skill before your major damage skills due to the added Skill Damage Boost from the Skill Specialization.

Passive Skills

• Vital Force - Greatsword builds tend to lean towards having higher Health, so you get the best of both worlds. Tankier and more damage thanks to this passive!
• Cold Warrior - With the combination of Stunning Blow this passive is a no brainer!
• Robust Constitution - This synergizes well with Vital Force.
• Murderous Energy - When you're using Lightning Infusion it only makes sense to increase your DPS by using this skill.
• Wrathful Edge - Dagger allows for high Critical Hit, so there's no reason not to take this.
• Assassin's Instincts - Because you're sacrificing some Dexterity Stat Points for increased Health and Heavy Attack in Strength, this helps maintain high Critical Hit.
• Destructive Fang - This skill works well with Lightning Infusion since your uptime on Thunderclouds is almost 100%.
• Assassin's Step - This can be replaced with Victor's Morale for increased Mana Regeneration when killing mobs in the Open World.
• Victor's Morale - This can be replaced with Assassin's Step when fighting monsters in the Open World and also helps with Mana Regeneration when killing Bosses that'd normally take some time.

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

Greatsword / Dagger revolves around rotating your buffs into your DPS skills. Daggers have higher Attack Speed, so keeping them out may allow you to get additional attacks off in-between skills.

Stat Priorities

Use the following stat priorities when using this Greatsword / Dagger PvE Build Guide:

• Primary Stat
  • Strength
• Secondary Stats
  • Dexterity 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 prioritize with the given builds in this Greatsword / Dagger PvE Build Guide.

Greatsword / Dagger gains a number of buffs when stacking HP. The Greatsword's skills and passives also allow you to reach high amounts of Heavy Attack Chance. Due to these reasons, Strength is one of the most valuable Stat Attributes to stack.

Mid-Game

Your first goal is to hit 50 Strength. We care mainly about increased Damage so getting 50 Strength does that with higher HP which synergizes with Vital Force. 50 Strength also increases your chances of Heavy Attacks. 50 Dexterity is your next step so that you can reach a high amount of Critical Hit and Attack Speed if you have some Rune Synergies on your accessories. Without Rune Synergies, you're capped at 49 Dexterity which is okay because you still have high Critical Hit. Then toss some points into Perception until you reach 40, this grants increased Buff Duration which works on skills like DaVinci's Courage and Precision Dash.

End Game

With Purple Gear in the End Game, we can reach all of our desired Stat Breakpoints. 60 Strength for the added HP, and Heavy Attack Chance. 60 Dexterity grants increased Critical Hit, Bonus Damage, and high amounts of Attack Speed before using our buffs. 40 Perception grants increased Buff Duration so it's worth taking, and then if you get extra points, you can toss them into Wisdom until you get around 29 - 30 Wisdom for increased Mana and Maximum Weapon Damage.

Gear Progression

Early - Mid Game
Transition Build

Mid - End Game
Transition Build

End Game
Build

Archived
Builds

Early - Mid Game Transition
Greatsword / Dagger PvE Build

As you progress further into the game, you gather more gear with additional Stats to boost your raw damage. It's also more costly to trait due to the low supply in the early game.

You might find yourself still using green accessories and know THAT'S OK.

Slowly transition to Blue Gear or Dungeon Gear as you play the game and get the drops.

Gear Sources

• Elite Resistance Broadsword or Elite Resistance Knife  is obtained from the Main Story Quest.
  • Whichever one wasn't obtained, can be receive by completing their Lithograph Book entries.
    • Bigger, Better Greatswords
    • Sharp Blades that Cut Through Darkness
• Elite Resistance Visor
  • Chapter 6 Main Story Quest Reward
  • Complete Overhead Protection Lithograph Book entry
  • Sandworm in Sandworm Lair
  • Orc Brawler in Fonos Basin
• Elite Gladiator's Cloak
  • Orc Spearmaster in Akidu Valley
  • Living Armor Foot Soldier in Syleus's Abyss 3rd and 4th Floor
• Dark Destruction Iron Gloves
  • Death's Abyss Co-Op Dungeon
  • Cave of Desperation Co-Op Dungeon
• Special Resistance Tactical Armor
  • Chapter 10 Main Story Quest Reward
  • Gallu Archer in Shattered Temple
  • Complete Armor of Unfaltering Protection Lithograph Book entry
• Elite Resistance Leather Pants
  • Chapter 8 Main Story Quest Reward
  • Complete Slayers' Reliable Pants Lithograph Book entry
  • Hermit Crab in Daybreak Shore
  • Kotori in Purelight Hill
• Moonlight Grace Leather Boots
  • Chapter 9 Main Story Quest Reward
  • Complete Power that Pushes Through Lithograph Book entry
  • Specter's Abyss Co-Op Dungeon
  • Cave of Destruction Co-Op Dungeon
  • Sluggish Zombie in Ruins of Turayne
• Lethal Fortune Ring
  • Complete Rustic Mother Nature Rings Lithograph Book entry
  • Cursed Wasteland Co-Op Dungeon

Mid - End game Transition
Greatsword / Dagger PvE Build

• This build is just replacing older gear with T1 Epic items that are found in Co-Op Dungeons and/or completing Lithograph Book entries.

Gear Sources

• Focusing on obtaining Weapons first will be a huge upgrade in Damage.
  • Magnaduke's Berserk Blade
    • Butcher's Canyon Co-Op Dungeon
  • Lequirus's Thorny Edge
    • Cave of Destruction Co-Op Dungeon
  • If luck isn't on your side just craft them with Dimensional Essence: Salvation Tokens by doing all the T1 Dungeons.
    • Each Weapon requires 2 of these to craft.
• Eternal Ring of Dimension
  • Craft Recipe: Precious Epic Accessory Selection Chest
• Archpriest's Devotion
  • Cave of Destruction Co-Op Dungeon
• Plate of the Field General
  • Death's Abyss Co-Op Dungeon
  • Island of Terror Co-Op Dungeon
• Specter's Frost Bracers
  • Tyrant's Isle Co-Op Dungeon
• Clasp of the Conqueror
  • Craft Recipe: Precious Epic Equipment Chest: Abyss

Full Runes Version

Archboss Version

• Hover over the Weapons and Accessories to see the Recommended Runes.
• Tevent's Warblade of Despair is the only Archboss Weapon worth using in PvE.
  • The passive from Lequirus's Wicked Thorns is too strong not to keep in the current state of the game.
• Previously, it was recommended to go 50 Wisdom instead of Dexterity. This was to get significantly higher Cooldown Speed; however, some players prefer the Dexterity. This build allows for the user to choose between high Dexterity or 50 Wisdom for the Cooldown Speed.
  • Higher Dexterity = Higher Crit Chance
    • Normally, NPC's and Bosses don't have much Endurance so stacking really high Critical Hit isn't normally worth it.
  • Higher Wisdom = Higher Cooldown Speed

No Runes Version (CLICK ME)

No Runes Version

• The main difference between Runes and No Runes is the Dexterity amount

Gear Sources

• Reaper's Black Mask
  • Valley of Slaughter Co-Op Dungeon
  • Drops from Adentus Field Boss
• Shadow Harvester Boots
  • Carmine Rage Island Co-Op Dungeon
  • Avolos Trackers / Umbramancers in Sanctum of Desire
• Gauntlets of the Field General
  • Voidwastes Co-Op Dungeon
  • Reptilian Butchers / Soldiers in Saurodoma Island
• Wrapped Coin Necklace
  • Grand Aelon Field Boss
• Adentus's Barbaric Blade
  • Adentus Field Boss
• Tycan's Bloodlust Belt
  • Aridus Field Boss
• Breeches of the Executioner
  • Abyss Specters in Shadowed Crypt
  • Craft Recipe: Precious Epic Equipment Chest: Shadow
• Band of the Chosen One
  • Island of Terror Co-Op Dungeon

End Game
Greatsword / Dagger Build

Global Launch
Greatsword / Dagger Build

Original No Field Boss Build

Guardians

Guardians are special transformations that add offensive or defensive buffs or attacks to your character for 30 seconds.

• Lady Knight Kamarshea - This guardian lowers your cooldown while also giving you a damage shield equal to 50% of your maximum Mana. This is a strong defensive guardian whenever you're struggling to survive.
• Shade Revenant Stheno - This guardian launches projectiles every second that can Crit and Heavy Attack! Since you're stacking so much Heavy Attack Chance, it's a clear decision to choose this Guardian!

Summary

• Greatsword / Dagger allows you to play like a Bruiser and/or a Melee Assassin in Throne and Liberty!
• Greatsword's skills allow you to stack very high amounts of Heavy Attack Chance, Hit, and Skill Damage Boost!
• Dagger's Passives allow you to have a high amount of Critical Hit.
• You gain increased damage even when stacking HP thanks to Vital Force.

Credits

Written by Bloo
Reviewed by Dredscythe