Staff / Dagger PvP Build Guide

Ranged Playstyle

Melee Build

• The meta in Arena and Small Scale PvP is currently high Melee Evasion. Because of it, you won't be able to hit geared players with your Melee skills. Thus, you want to use a playstyle that incorporates mostly Staff skills as Magic Evasion is harder to have as much of unless opponents use a Dagger for Shadow Walker.

Priority Buff

• Victorious Energy is necessary during engages for the extra Hit Chance and Evasion.
• Always use mobility skills like Block Blade Roll or Frost Smokescreen to proc Shadow Walker.
  • You always want to upkeep high Ranged and Magic Evasion to reduce the chances of getting caught.

Mana Burn (Ranged Build)

This is your Mana Burn Combo that you can cut short easily. It's not necessary to use all 3 charges of Serial Fire Bombs.

1. Serial Fire Bombs
2. Inferno Wave
3. Fireball Barrage

Melee Combo (Melee Build)

This combo easily shuts down healers if you land the Silence on them.

• Shadow Strike
• Ankle Strike
• Cleaving Moonlight x2
• Thunderclouds Bombing

Other Skills

• Use Knife Throwing to reduce Healing on a target.
• Phantom Smokescreen is your get out of jail free card. If you're being focused down by Ranged and Magic users, cast it to gain a brief window of time to recover and analyze your situation.
• Use Icebound Tomb to remove essential targets from the fight.
• Ice Spear Bombardment is your bind skill which you can follow up with Chain Lightning or Judgment Lightning.

• This build gives you the option of going into Melee and fighting from range. Players will still be somewhat clumped, so you slot AoE Specializations when you can.
• Being able to use Camouflage Cloak more in these open world fights is essential. Remember that evading attacks in Phantom Smokescreen will activate Assassination Stance.
• You're an effective single target nuker with Ice Spear Bombardment and Judgment Lightning as well.
• Icebound Armor is used just for extra survivability against Greatsword users.

Trying to PvP with blues at this stage of the game is asking to get farmed. You want to transition as fast as possible to your Mid Game build. This will let you stand somewhat of a chance against other players until you reach End Game gear.

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. You can use a trash blue gear piece and fill it up with cheap traits before transferring it over to a purple piece in the same slot.

Transition Blues

• You don't see many blue accessories or blue cloak here in these builds. That's because most of them are not worth using. Before transferring to a Purple piece, you can fully upgrade and trait out any trash blue accessory.
• If you want to skip directly to purple armor pieces and weapons, fully upgrade and trait out the cheapest blue you can find.

Your Goals

• You should do contracts immediately to acquire Contract Coins so you can buy Quality Lithograph: Weapons, Quality Lithograph: Armor, and Quality Lithograph: Accessories to craft Green Gear to complete Lithograph Book entries for Blue Gear.
• Farm accessible gear by doing Open World Dungeons.
• Trait those accessible gear.
• Extract traits from gear to sell in the Auction House for Lucent.
• Turn valuable gear into Lithographs and sell them in the Auction House.

Stats

• Your Ranged Evasion and Magic Evasion with Master of Evasion, Shadow Walker and Victorious Energy reach 1800+.

Traits

• Trait this gear as best as you can. You don't need to go hard until you start acquiring Purple Gear.
• If transitioning to Purple Gear immediately, fill up a blue item with cheap traits before transferring.

Dungeon Gear Sources

• Lequirus's Wicked Thorns from Cave of Destruction
• Sapphire Dimensional Band
  • Precious Epic Accessory Selection Chest
    • Requires Recipe: Dimensional Essence: Salvation to craft.
  • You must do each Co-Op Dungeon at least 3 times to acquire enough tokens to craft it.
• Shadow Harvester Boots
  • Carmine Rage Island
  • Avolos Tracker in Sanctum of Desire

Open World Dungeon Gear Sources

• Ant's Nest
  • Elusive Hexweaver Hat from Worker Ant
• Shadowed Crypt
  • Hermit's Shroud from Dark Enforcer
    • Precious Epic Equipment Chest: Shadow
    • Cloak that Protected a Hero
• Sanctum of Desire
  • Staff of the Umbramancer from Avolos Geomancer
    • Precious Epic Equipment Chest: Desire
  • Shadow Harvester Tunic from Avolos Tracker
  • Shadow Harvester Boots from Avolos Tracker
• Saurodoma Island
  • Duskblood Gloves from Reptilian Lancer
  • Phantom Wolf Breeches from Reptilian Soldier

• Rune Synergies here give you the option of sticking with Bracers of the Primal King to hit 70 Perception and increasing your base CC Chance to 450 or using Skillful Oppress Bracelet for more Attack Speed. They are interchangeable.

Budget Option

Budget Staff / Dagger PvP Build w/ Runes
Alt Ring: Etched Alabaster Band

• Ancient Saurodoma Bracers is a good replacement if you want more Ranged Evasion. Lower your Perception to 60 and put the rest into Dexterity.

Budget Offensive or Defensive Builds

Without saying, your Budget build should be cheaper to trait but will lack Band of Universal Power.

The full offensive build uses a 4-Pc Shadow Harvester setup for max Base Damage, Range, and Heavy Attack Chance.

• You can swap the chest piece with Phantom Wolf Tunic for more base Evasion.
• If you still like the 4-Piece setup, using Shadow Harvester Tunic and Heroic Hood of the Resistance should give your more Hit Chance and Ranged Evasion.
• Heroic Tunic of the Resistance is also an option if your want more Hit Chance.

The full defensive build offers much higher Evasion, reaching 2300+ Ranged and Magic Evasion with Victorious Energy, Master of Evasion, and Shadow Walker.

• With Rune Synergies allowing you easier breakpoints, Ancient Saurodoma Bracers can be used for more Ranged Evasion as well.

Defensive and Support Runes

You will see that Max Health is taken for most Defensive Runes slotted in these builds. This is interchangeable depending on what you need and your server meta.

• Use Ranged Evasion Runes if your server is heavy on Longbow users.
• Use Magic Evasion Runes if your server is heavy on Staff users.

When you get a Rare Chaos Rune: Ring with a good stat, replace the Support Rune in your Rings.

PvP Stats and Traits

• Hit Chance, Critical Hit Chance, Heavy Attack Chance, Skill Damage Resistance, Skill Damage Boost, and Evasion are your most important traits.
• If you decide you don't need the Mana Regen trait, use Max Mana instead for Redemptive Barrier for a larger shield.
• Your accessories have the option of using either Collision Resistance or Debuff Duration. It depends on whether you get hit by Collision skills or more debuffs.
• 48%+ Buff Duration allows Victorious Energy to last ~6+ seconds longer to around 18 seconds.
• Victorious Energy, Master of Evasion, and Shadow Walker lets your Ranged and Magic Evasion reach over 2000.
  • This lets you evade over 50% of Ranged and Magic skills versus someone with 1000 Hit Chance.
• Unbuffed, you reach ~1000 Hit Chance with full purple gear.
  • With Victorious Energy you will hit 1400+ Hit Chance.

Gear Sources (Click Me!)

Co-Op Dungeon Sources

• Beast King's Gilded Bracers from Cave of Destruction
• Ancient Saurodoma Bracers from Tyrant's Isle
• Phantom Wolf Tunic from Island of Terror and Tyrant's Isle
• Band of the Chosen One from Island of Terror
• Swirling Essence Robe from Island of Terror
• Phantom Wolf Gloves from Voidwastes
  • Also from Demonhoof Tracker in Syleus's Abyss 5F-6F
• Shadow Harvester Boots from Carmine Rage Island
  • Also from Avolos Tracker in Sanctum of Desire
• Slayer's Quicksilver Pendant from Valley of Slaughter
• Reaper's Interring Pants from Torture Chamber of Secrets

Field Boss Drops

• Reaper's Interring Pants from Junobote
• Tycan's Bloodlust Belt from Aridus or Material Transmutation

Open World Sources

• Necklace of Cold Strength
  • Arena Merchant for 9 Arena Coin
• Skillful Oppress Bracelet
  • Arena Merchant for 9 Arena Coin
• Special Resistance Hawk Hood
  • Black Boar in Purelight Hill
  • Crown Blessed by Moonlight
  • Precious Blessing Pouch
  • Craft Recipe: Precious Lithograph: Heroic Hood of the Resistance.
• Phantom Wolf Gloves from Demonhoof Tracker in Syleus's Abyss 5F-6F
• Shadow Harvester Boots from Avolos Tracker in Sanctum of Desire

• This build is mainly for Arena PvP and Small Scale PvP where Melee users dominate.
• With Master of Evasion and Victorious Energy, you reach over 2000 Melee Evasion.
• Victorious Energy, Master of Evasion, and Shadow Walker lets your Ranged Evasion reach over 2000 as well.

Defensive and Support Runes

Most defensive runes here have Melee Evasion slotted. Feel free to use Ranged Evasion Runes if you feel you need more.

When you get a Rare Chaos Rune: Ring with a good stat, replace the Support Rune in your Rings.

Gear Sources (Click Me!)

Budget Gear Sources

• Visor of the Infernal Herald from Death's Abyss
• Ancient Saurodoma Bracers from Tyrant's Isle
• Ebon Roar Sabatons from Tyrant's Isle
• Collar of Decimation
  • Marienne's Necklace Collection Lithograph Book
  • Kowazan
  • Lycan Kowazan
• Duskblood Gloves from Reptilian Lancer
• Resolute Crusader Greaves from Avolos Guardian
• Belt of Combat Prowess from Shade Wizard in Temple of Sylaveth

Expensive Gear Sources

• Talus's Resonance Staff from Talus
• Helm of the Field General from Chernobog and Valley of Slaughter
• Gauntlets of the Field General from Aridus and Voidwastes
• Shock Commander Plate Armor from Precious Epic Equipment Selection Chest: Abyss and Island of Terror
• Forbidden Sacred Chain from Carmine Rage Island

Bellandir Large Scale Build

• These were the old End Game builds.
• The main difference between the new builds and the old builds is the increased Attack Speed.
• You can still spec out Rune Synergies for this build.