Greatsword / Dagger PvE Build Guide
Last Updated:May 7, 2025|Changelog
Welcome to the Greatsword / Dagger PvE Build Guide! Greatsword / Dagger at first glance may seem like just another Bruiser archetype however, thanks to passive skills like Vital Force and Cold Warrior its damage output can be high, closer to a Melee Assassin.
Once fully built, Greatsword / Dagger can reach over 300 Skill Damage Boost and 500+ Heavy Attack Chance!
Combining the increased damage from a Greatsword's skills with the increased Critical Hit and Critical Damage from Dagger's skills, you have no problem keeping up in DPS alongside other weapons.
End Game Greatsword / Dagger PvE Build
If you're interested in PvP, check out our Greatsword / Dagger PvP Build Guide!
Gear Progression
If you plan on PvPing in the future, just use the PvP gear shown in our Greatsword / Dagger PvP Build Guide for PvE. Unless you're going for record clears, you can use the PvP gear to clear all content.
- There is no "Best Build", Talandre Gear allows for a wide variety of builds leading to different metas depending on your Server.
- Use the builds as a base, and swap different pieces around to gain the specific stats you desire.
Chaos Harbinger Set
- 4 Piece Chaos Harbinger Set gives 100 Critical Hit + 9% Crit Damage.
- Use Monster Bird of the Plains: Solar Stone and Monster Bird of the Plains: Lunar Stone to further increase Weapon Damage by up to 30!
T2 Early Transitional Buiild
- This build is used just as a transitional phase to get started with T2/Talandre.
- 2 Pieces of Death Set and Abyss Slayer Set ensure high damage output.
- Abyss Slayer Set items are from 2 Star Dungeons so no milestones needed to unlock.
T2 Full Build
- This build reaches high levels of Critical Hit so Abyss Slayer Set helps to further the Maximum Weapon Damage being used on those Crits!
- The Imperial Seeker Set allows the user to gain even higher Critical Damage!
- The tooltip is wrong, gain a base 15% Critical Damage with 1% extra per stack (up to 10 stacks)
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
- Higher Dexterity = Higher Crit Chance
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
Skill Builds, Rotations, and Mastery
Greatsword / Dagger revolves around rotating your buffs into your DPS skills. Daggers have higher Attack Speed and grant additional damage thanks to Merciless Form. Keep your daggers out for highest DPS possible.
The greatsword mastery, Power Grip, has a bad translation. It lowers HP gained from the passive by half and adds Weapon Damage based on the passive's skill level.
Buff Phase
- Umbral Spirit
- DaVinci's Courage
- Inject Venom
Damage Phase
- Precision Dash
- Stunning Blow
- Cruel Smite
- Fatal Stigma
- Mad Sword Dance
- Frost Cleaving
- Mad Sword Dance
- Death Blow
- Guillotine Blade
- Brutal Incision
Tips
- Precision Dash grants increased Heavy Attack Chance and should not go through Bosses.
- Replace with Willbreaker if there's trouble with positioning.
- Having high Attack Speed allows you to get your damage off quicker because it lowers the time of the animations resulting in more skill activations per second.
- Use your buffs whenever they come back up to ensure the highest possible damage output on your damage skills.
- Be sure to have 20 stacks of Poison before using the second attack of Inject Venom to ensure highest possible damage.
- Against regular mobs, you can just use one or two buffs into a damage skill to kill.
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
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.
- Daggers have higher Attack Speed and grant additional damage thanks to Merciless Form.
- You gain increased damage even when stacking HP thanks to Vital Force.
Credits
Written by Bloo
Reviewed by Dredscythe