Spear / Crossbow PvE Build Guide

Skill Builds

Skill Prioritization

• Use Quality Marind Ore to craft Quality Passive Skill Growth Book and Quality Active Skill Growth Book
• Use Rare Marind Ore to craft Rare Passive Skill Growth Book and Rare Active Skill Growth Book.
• Prioritize getting all these skills to blue first before getting them to purple.
• This is a general priority list. Should there be skills that aren't used by your unique build, skip them.

Active Skills Priority

Passive Skills Priority

Stat Priorities

Use the following stat priorities when playing a Spear / Crossbow PvE Build:

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

You have 49 Stat Points you can freely allocate to any of the 4 primary Stats. Once you put 20 points into an individual Stat, it takes 2 points to increase the Stat by 1. Do not put more than 20 points into a Stat unless you are trying to reach a certain breakpoint.

You get bonuses for every 10 Stat Points you invest from 30 to 60. You invest your points based on acquiring these bonuses.

Strength is one of the only ways to get additional Heavy Attack Chance so it's integral to increasing your Damage Output. Dexterity not only adds maximum Weapon Damage but also increases your Crit Chance, Evasion, and Attack Speed. Because of these stats gained from Dexterity, it's your second-best method of increasing your Damage Output. Perception allows for increased Buff Duration which helps out as Spear / Crossbow has a few Buffs in its kit which helps increase Damage Output.

Mid Game

• 50 Strength is one of the first things to go for as many of Spear / Crossbow's attacks scale well with Heavy Attack Chance.
• Always try to have 30+ Dexterity as Critical Hits are important to maximize damage.
• 40 Perception is the lowest of priorities however, this does increase your Buff Duration which means more up time on Heavy Attack Chance.

End Game

• 50 Strength
• 60 - 70 Dexterity allows for high Critical Hit and Maximum Weapon Damage.
• 30 Wisdom is really the main difference between Mid Game and End Game builds. The additional points into Wisdom helps with Mana Regen and additional Maximum Weapon Damage.
• 40 Perception

PvE Gear Progression

• The next time the Spear / Crossbow PvE builds will be revamped entirely is when T2 Epic gear comes out.
  • No more changes will be made to this gear until T2 gear comes in January or earlier.
• With Material Transmutation out, every piece of accessory is accessible. Thus, there aren't any "No Field Boss" gear versions.
  • To learn more about Material Transformation and how to get ahead on the Spear / Crossbow PvE Builds, check out our guide!
• Hover over pieces of gear for additional gear sources.

Early to Mid
Transition

Mid to End
Transition

End Game
Builds

End Game
Archboss

Story Gear Spear / Crossbow PvE Build

This is really only used as you just start the game. I don't recommend spending much on traits as these are soon replaced.

One item that is used for a while is Violent Signet. Feel free to trait this item out whenever possible.

Lithograph Book Entries

• Violent Signet
  • Complete the Elemental Rings Lithograph Book Entry.
• Glade Stalker Boots
  • Complete the Offroad Footwear Lithograph Book Entry.
• Deadeye's Cloak
  • Complete the Beginner Cloaks of Victory Lithograph Book Entry.

Spear / Crossbow PvE Build

Your Mid Game build is the point from where you should farm Co-Op Dungeons and the Open World Dungeons for gear. This build can perform well in all content that allows you to farm for the End Game Builds.

Before transferring or upgrading your Purple pieces, fully trait and upgrade a Blue gear piece first and use it to transfer over to your Purple piece. A fully traited blue piece will give you 960 Blessings for you to use.

Your Goals

• Farm accessible gear by doing Open World Dungeons and Co-Op Dungeons.
• Extract traits from gear for Lucent.
• Turn important Purple Gear acquired from Co-Op Dungeons into Lithographs and sell them on the Auction House as long as they aren't items used in the End Game Builds.

Check out our Dungeon Guides before diving into dungeons to learn all the mechanics and speed run methods!

Traits

• Prioritize damage traits.

Dungeon Farming Priority

Whatever blue armor pieces you wear don't matter for PvE, as they are placeholders until your End Game gear. Use whatever blue pieces you want.

1. Cursed Wasteland
2. Temple of Slaughter
3. Cave of Destruction

Open World Dungeon Sources

1. Both Elusive Hexweaver Hat and Elusive Hexweaver Pants come from Ant's Nest Open World Dungeon.
2. Duskblood Gloves comes from Saurodoma Island Open World Dungeon.

Crit Damage + Melee Heavy Attack Version

• This version prioritizes increasing the Critical Damage and the chances of landing Heavy Attacks from your Spear.
• Between 50 Strength, Swirling Essence Robe, and Unyielding Sentinel the additional 150 Melee Heavy Attack Chance isn't really as strong as it seems.
  • However, this build does result in higher Maximum Weapon Damage and slightly higher Attack Speed.

Crit Damage + Bonus Damage Version

• This version prioritizes increasing the Critical Damage while increasing Bonus Damage which synergizes well with Shadowdancer.
• Bonus Damage is flat damage added per hit on attacks.
  • Both weapons from Spear / Crossbow have high amounts of hits which is why the Bonus Damage synergizes so well.

PvE Stats and Traits

• Hover over each item to see the specific traits recommended.
• Prioritize the Offensive Traits on Weapons and Accessories.
• Next up is Mana / HP Traits on Armors and Accessories.
• Evasion is good defensively as it helps evade attacks from NPCs.

Runes for PvE

PvE Runes are straightforward. You want the most damage output, so use Critical Hit Chance and Skill Damage Boost. Without Daggers, Critical Hit leans toward the lower end and the Offensive Runes are a way to increase that. Mana Cost Efficiency is a great way to reduce Mana Consumption as Shadowdancer consumes a ton of Mana. Skill Damage Resistance and Max Health also help you survive Challenge Dungeons.

Gear Sources (Click Me!)

Most items are easier to obtain by farming 2-Star Dungeons. Click on the links to see the mechanics for each of the dungeons.

• Valley of Slaughter Co-Op Dungeon
  • Shadow Harvester Mask
• Island of Terror Co-Op Dungeon
  • Greaves of the Field General
    • This is for the Melee Heavy Attack Build.
  • Phantom Wolf Breeches
    • This is for the Bonus Damage Build.
• Voidwastes Co-Op Dungeon
  • Eldritch Whispers
  • Gauntlets of the Field General
    • This is for the Melee Heavy Attack Build.
    • Also drops from mobs in Saurodoma Island.
  • Phantom Wolf Gloves
    • This is for the Bonus Damage Build.
    • Also drops from mobs in Syleuss Abyss Floors 5 and 6.
• Torture Chamber of Screams
  • Swirling Essence Robe
  • Band of the Silent One
• Carmine Rage Island
  • Shadow Harvester Boots

The only things in this build that can't be dropped from Dungeons are two accessories.

• Band of Universal Power
  • Drops from Queen Bellandir.
• Girdle of Spectral Skulls
  • Drops from Adentus.

While these items can be dropped from bosses, it's recommended to use Substance Transformation or purchase from the Auction House as they're quickly falling in price every week.

Crit Damage + Melee Heavy Attack Version

Crit Damage + Bonus Damage Version

Guardians

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

• Shade Revenant Stheno
  • This is the premiere DPS Guardian available.
  • The projectiles do proc Mother Nature's Protest so consider turning this skill off while using if Mana Sustain becomes an issue.

Summary

• Spear / Crossbow is combo oriented when it comes to bossing.
• Spear / Crossbow's AoE Combos are relatively simple but very Mana intensive.
• Bonus Damage synergizes well with Spear / Crossbow due to its many hits.
• Heavy Attack Chance pairs well with Spear's high damaging abilities.
• PvP Gear is able to be used for most PvE content in the game however, for higher tiers of Challenge Dungeons (T20+), it's recommended to get a full PvE set.

Credits

Written by Bloo
Reviewed by Tenkiei