Sword and Shield / Spear PvE Build Guide
Last Updated:December 16, 2024|Changelog
Welcome to the Sword and Shield / Spear PvE Build Guide. This is the big brawler Tank in Throne and Liberty. The build leverages the strengths of both weapons for a ton of Attack Speed and Heavy Attack Chance.
Sword and Shield / Spear has some of the best AoE farming potential in the game due to passives like Spectrum of Agony and active skills that can cleave off each other such as Phoenix Barrage and Javelin Inferno.
For bossing, Spear provides a very strong offensive buff Sentinel's Bastion which provides tons of Heavy Attack to your party.
End Game
Sword and Shield / Spear PvE Build w/ Runes
If you're interested in PvP, check out our Sword and Shield Spear PvP Guide (coming soon)!
Skill Builds
General
Mobbing
Dungeon PvE Build
- This is a general bossing build. It has very fast attacks and tons of multi hitting abilities.
- This is a Mana intensive build when you are fighting against mobs. Once you encounter bosses you will not have any mana issues if you're blocking attacks.
Global Cooldown Priority
- Sentinel's Bastion
- Gale Rush
- Make sure to use this on cooldown on boss encounters as it gives max attack speed stacks with Intiative Blitz.
- Abyssal Cleave
- Always make sure to use this to give yourself the crit buff.
- Provoking Roar
- This will give you additional damage and hold aggro, you most likely will not need to re apply unless the boss does a mechanic. Make sure this is on the boss always.
- Phoenix Barrage
- Slaughtering Slash
Damage Rotation
- Sentinel's Bastion -> Gale Rush -> Provoking Roar -> Piercing Strike -> Abyssal Cleave -> Phoenix Barrage -> Slaughtering Slash -> Explosive Fury x5 -> Flaming Arc x2.
- This is your general-purpose AoE PvE clearing for the SNS Spear 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.
- Great Fury
- Provoking Roar
- Sentinel's Bastion
- Explosive Fury x5
- Javelin Inferno x5
If anything is left alive after this combo, finish up with Flaming Arc x2 into Slaughtering Slash.
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 Sword and Shield / Spear PvE Build:
- Primary Stat
- Strength
- Secondary Stat
- Dexterity, 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 not only adds maximum Weapon Damage but also increases your Max Health and Defense. This is your single most important Stat as a tank.
Early to Mid Game
You want to reach 30 Strength for the extra Health and Defense. 30 Dexterity will give you more damage to speed up Dungeons.
Mid to End Game
The ultimate goal here for defense is reaching 60 Strength for the additional 900 Max Health and Heavy Attack Chance. 40 Perception will give you 5% additional Buff Duration. Your last goal is to reach 30 Dexterity. Put points into Wisdom if you want more Mana Regen.
PvE Gear Progression
If you plan on PvPing in the future, just use the PvP gear shown in our Sword and Shield / Spear PvP Guide (coming soon) for PvE. For higher tiers of Challenge Dungeons, you want a full PvE set.
- The next time these builds will be 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.
Game
Game
Early Gear Sword and Shield / Spear PvE Build
Your blue armor for PvE doesn't matter. You can use whatever blues you want. The blues that this guide recommends are mainly for optimal tanking and DPS. What you want to do is to move towards your Mid Game and End Game as fast as possible.
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 to a purple piece in the same slot.
Accessory Sources
You don't need these accessories specifically. Use any other green or blue accessory you want.
- Sophia's Strength Necklace
- Complete Syleus's Abyss 1F-2F Exploration Codex.
- Sophia's Strength Bracelet
- Complete Temple of Sylaveth Exploration Codex.
- Sophia's Bracelet of Strength
- Story quest reward.
Gear Sources
- Lethal Fortune Ring
- Rustic Mother Nature Rings
- Elite Sharpshooter's Cloak
- Cloaks that Wield Victory
- Dark Assassin in Shadowed Crypt
- Berserk Charge Blade
- Shade Enforcer in Temple of Sylaveth
- Halberd of the Resistance
- Story Quest Reward
- Corrupt Witch's Hat from Worker Ant in Ant Nest
- Elusive Hexweaver Pants from Acid Ant in Ant Nest
- Alacritous Invoker Shoes from Charging Ant in Ant Nest
- Duskblood Gloves from Reptilian Lancer in Saurodoma Island
Sword and Shield / Spear 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.
Co-Op Dungeon Sources
- Death's Abyss
- Karnix's Netherblade
- You can also pity craft Karnix's Netherblade using 2 Dimensional Essence: Salvation instead of relying on RNG.
- You must do each Co-Op Dungeon at least 5 times to acquire enough tokens to craft 2 Dimensional Essence: Salvation.
- Karnix's Netherblade
- Cursed Wasteland
- Lethal Fortune Ring
- Shaikal's Mindveil Harpoon
- Cave of Destruction
- Bracers of the Primal King
Open World Dungeon Sources
- Shock Commander Plate Armor from Precious Epic Equipment Selection Chest: Abyss
- Also from Island of Terror
- Shadow Harvester Boots from Avolos Tracker in Sanctum of Desire
- Also from Carmine Rage Island
- Abyss Conqueror's Necklace from Precious Epic Equipment Chest: Abyss
- Etched Alabaster Band from Demonhoof Tracker in Syleus's Abyss 5F-6F
Budget
Sword and Shield / Spear PvE Build
Expensive Nirma
Sword and Shield / Spear PvE Build
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.
As you approach End Game, you complete the build with Death Set and the Imperator Set.
- You're already tanky as it is with all your passives and armor. Considering that, you use Death Set for more damage to help speed up the run of your Dungeons.
- Greaves of the Field General completes your Imperator Set for the extra 150 Heavy Attack Chance.
Gear Sources
- Gauntlets of the Field General
- Aridus
- Reptilian Soldier in Saurodoma Island
- Voidwastes
- Shadow Harvester Boots
- Carmine Rage Island
- Avolos Tracker in Sanctum of Desire
- Band of the Chosen One
- Island of Terror
- Bracers of Unrelenting
- Valley of Slaughter
- Greaves of the Field General
- Lycan Kowazan
- Torture Chamber of Secrets
- Belt of Bloodlust
- Aridus
- Nirma's Corrupt Sword
- Nirma
- Heroic Polearm of the Resistance
- Lithograph Book
- Gallu Knight
- Shadow Harvester Mask
- Adentus
- Valley of Slaughter
- Forsaken Embrace
- Junobote
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 DPS Guardian in PvE. No other explanation is required.
- Lady Knight Kamarshea is a useful Guardian while you learn new dungeons. It helps in dangerous situations as an emergency button to survive mechanics that deal a significant amount of damage. Not many other situations arise where this is necessary.
Summary
- Both Sword and Shield and Spear have passives that complement each other perfectly making for a highly effective PvE tank build.
- The bossing build revolves around buffing your team with Sentinel's Bastion provide high amounts of Heavy Attack while also dealing punishing single target damage with your multi hit skills.
- The AoE farming capabilities of this combo are extremely high. With a very high attack speed and a great ability kit, open-world farming will be a breeze.
Credits
Written by Tweekz
Reviewed by Nymphellas