Spear / Dagger PvE Build Guide
Last Updated:December 16, 2024|Changelog
Welcome to the Spear / Dagger PvE Build Guide! Spear Dagger, or Shadowdancer, is a high mobilty DPS class that specializes in fast-hitting combos and hard hitting bursts. Although not as complex as Crossbow Dagger, Shadowdancer still has quite a bit of complexity to its rotation and rewards mastery of the class.
Thanks to skills like Gale Rush, Fatal Precision and Death Knell, Shadowdancer quickly becomes one of the fastest attacking classes in the game. Combine this with Crit rate from Dagger and the Heavy Attack buffs from Spear for a potent combo comparable to the best PvE builds available.
Alongside its great damage potential, Shadowdancer also brings great party utility featuring Heavy Attack buffs fromSentinel's Bastion as well as plenty of crowd control from Tempest Strike and Abyssal Cleave. This ensures Shadowdancer is a welcome addition to any party in Throne and Liberty!
End Game Spear / Dagger PvE Build w/ Runes
If you're interested in PvP, check out our Spear Dagger PvP Guide coming soon!
Skill Builds
General
Mobbing
Dungeon Bossing
Gate of Infinity
- This is a general bossing build and can be used in most situations that require Single Target DPS.
- Something to keep in mind is both skill-sets can be pretty Mana hungry. If you find yourself struggling, make sure to use Quality Mushroom Stir Fry, Mana Regen Potion and Nature's Blessing from Longbow players.
Damage Priority
- Gale Rush -> Fatal Stigma Culling Arc x2 -> Abyssal Cleave -> Phoenix Barrage -> Rising Slash
- Use this opener to get out as much burst as possible.
- Culling Arc x2 -> Brutal Fury x3 or Culling Arc x2 -> Rising Slash
- Your bread and butter sustain DPS combos. Rising Slash is stronger when combined with the Ignite stacks from Phoenix Barrage so combine them when possible.
- Cleaving Moonlight and Brutal Incision are filler skills that should be used off cooldown.
Buffs
Below are a list of skills used mainly for buffing your damage or debuffing the enemies defenses. Best used at the start of your rotation unless otherwise specified.
- Sentinel's Bastion
- Inject Venom
- Umbral Spirit
- Use these three skills before any of your big burst combos to maximize damage.
- Abyssal Cleave
- Phoenix Barrage
- Abyssal Cleave gives the next skill cast increased Critical Damage and applies Shock. Phoenix Barrage gives increased Critical Damage for 3 seconds and gains damage against Shocked Targets thanks to Conditional Damage.
- This is your general-purpose AoE PvE clearing for the Spear Dagger PvE build. Spear has one of the best AOE clearing abilities in the game: Javelin Inferno. With proper grouping and the right buffs, you single-handedly delete entire groups of mobs.
Best AOE Combo
This is your bread-and-butter AoE clearing rotation.
- Lightning Infusion
- Thunder Spirit
- Sentinel's Bastion
- Explosive Fury x5
- Javelin Inferno x5
If anything is left alive after this combo, finish up with Flaming Arc x2 into Rising Slash. Make use of Bloodleech Aura to top yourself off while clearing.
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.
Stat Priorities
Use the following stat priorities when playing a Spear / Dagger build in PvE:
- 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.
Dexterity not only adds maximum Weapon Damage but also increases your Crit Chance, Evasion, and Attack Speed. Increasing Dexterity is your best method of increasing your damage output. Wisdom is the next best stat for improving your Weapon Damage. Each added point into Wisdom also provides extra Cooldown Speed and Mana Regen.
Mid Game
- 60 Dexterity is one of the first things to go for as Spear / Dagger heavily benefits from more Crit Rate and Attack Speed.
- Always try to have 30+ Strength to ensure you aren't made of paper.
End Game
- Aim for 70 Dexterity to further push your Attack Speed and Crit Rate to its limits while also gaining a large boost to Max Damage.
- 50 Strength gives access to an extra 100 Heavy Attack, scaling your damage even harder.
- The rest of the points go into Wisdom for more Max Damage and extra Max Mana.
PvE Gear Progression
If you plan on PvPing in the future, just use the PvP gear shown in our Spear / Dagger PvP Guide (coming soon) for PvE. For higher tiers of Challenge Dungeons, you want a full PvE set.
- The next time these builds get revamped entirely will be when T2 Epic gear comes out.
- No more changes will be made to this gear until T2 gear comes in January or earlier.
- This doesn't mean I won't add gear.
- With Material Transmutation out, every piece of accessory is accessible, negating the need for "budget" options.
Gear
Game
Ghost Wolf
Field General
Story Gear Spear / Dagger 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 / Dagger PvE Build
Your Mid Game build is the point from where you should farm 1-Star Co-Op Dungeons and the Open World Dungeons for gear.
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.
You can use the cheapest Blue gear pieces you can find with the cheapest Traits. You can use any Blue accessory you want because there is no recommended Blue piece for accessories. Just make sure it's easy to trait the item.
Your Goals
- Farm accessible gear by doing Open World 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.
Traits
- Prioritize damage traits.
- Evasion traits are excluded from the builds because they are unimportant for Bossing. If you want Evasion traits, trait Melee Evasion first and the rest afterward.
- Acquire Trait Unlockstone through Recipe: Common Trait Unlockstone Bundle.
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.
- Tyrant's Isle
- Butcher's Canyon
Open World Dungeon Sources
- Ant Nest
- Sanctum of Desire
Spear / Dagger PvE Build w/ Runes
Ghost Wolf
The primary goal with this gear set is to take advantage of the Bonus Damage granted by 2 set Ghost Wolf Set. With all of the multi-hitting skills from both Spear and Dagger this bonus damage adds up to a large increase in overall DPS.
Lequirus's Wicked Thorns Should be up 100% of the time thanks to the relatively short Cooldown of Cleaving Moonlight when each use is spaced out.
Two set Death Set is a no brainer for this build due to the high Crit Rate and Crit Damage.
Spear / Dagger PvE Build w/ Runes
Hover over (PC) or Tap (Mobile) items in the Plannner to see sources for gear pieces.
PvE Stats and Traits
- Hover over each item to see the specific traits recommended.
- Prioritize the Offensive Traits on Weapons and Accessories.
- The main Offensive Stats to focus are Crit Hit, Heavy Attack and Attack Speed for the most damage.
- Next up is Mana / HP Traits on Armors and Accessories.
- Evasion is good defensively as it helps evade attacks from NPCs.
PvE Runes
PvE Runes are straightforward. You want the most damage output, so use Boss Heavy Attack Chance and Skill Damage Boost. Skill Damage Resistance and Max Health also help you survive Challenge Dungeons.
Spear / Dagger PvE Build w/ Runes
Field General
The primary goal with this gear set is to push your Melee Heavy Attack Chance to its limit thanks to the 2 set bonus from Imperator Set in combination with 50 Strength and the Heavy Attack boost from Sentinel's Bastion.
Lequirus's Wicked Thorns Should be up 100% of the time thanks to the relatively short Cooldown of Cleaving Moonlight when each use is spaced out.
Two set Death Set is a no brainer for this build due to the high Crit Rate and Crit Damage.
Spear / Dagger PvE Build w/ Runes
Hover over (PC) or Tap (Mobile) items in the Planner to see sources for gear pieces.
PvE Stats and Traits
- Hover over each item to see the specific traits recommended.
- Prioritize the Offensive Traits on Weapons and Accessories.
- The main Offensive Stats to focus are Crit Hit, Heavy Attack and Attack Speed for the most damage.
- Next up is Mana / HP Traits on Armors and Accessories.
- Evasion is good defensively as it helps evade attacks from NPCs.
PvE Runes
PvE Runes are straightforward. You want the most damage output, so use Boss Heavy Attack Chance and Skill Damage Boost. Skill Damage Resistance and Max Health also help you survive Challenge Dungeons.
Guardians
Guardians are special transformations that add offensive or defensive buffs or attacks to your character for 30 seconds. These are the recommended Guardians for this class.
- Shade Revenant Stheno is the best Guardian for all PvE situations.
Summary
- Spear Dagger is a high skill DPS weapon combination with great mobility and AOE potential.
- Use skills such as Javelin Inferno, Brutal Fury and Phoenix Barrage to output massive damage for both single target and AOE.
- Both Heavy Attack and Bonus Damage have great synergy with Spear Dagger thanks to its hard hitting burst and rapid strikes.
Credits
Written by Nymphellas
Reviewed by Tweekz