Best Dagger / Sword and Shield Build (PvE)

This is a guide on the Dagger and Sword build for PvE in Throne and Liberty (TL). This guide shows how to effectively use the Dagger and Sword to clear hordes of enemies and bosses, including the best gears to equip, skill rotations, runes, traits, and more.

Attention!	This build is based on the Korean version of the game with some adjustments to match the features available in Global. We’re working on updating our builds to be fully accurate for the Global release. Thank you for your patience!

Dagger / Sword Build Overview

Build Summary

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Summary				Skills				Weapons
Equipment			Mastery			Guardian			Rotations

Build Summary
Dagger and Sword	Focus: PvE, DPS, Pulling Aggro, Damage Mitigation Stat Priority: Strength, Dexterity, Perception
Skill Setup
Pros	Cons
Good Defenses Inflicts Taunt and Debuff	Mediocre Damage No Self-sustain

The Dagger and Sword functions as a pseudo-tank, pulling aggression from enemies and buffing itself with skills to give itself a defense boost. This build is excellent for mobbing and clearing dungeons as it provides plenty of mobility with its skills, and inflicts debuffs with the Thunderclouds debuff from the Dagger skill path.

For this build, allocate most of your skill points to Strength to reach 40, while keeping Dexterity and Perception at 30. After this, the remaining stat points can be allocated into Strength for bonus Max Health. At these stat breakpoints, the build gains bonus Max Health, Damage Reduction, Critical Hit Boost, and Hit Boost.

Skills and Specialization

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Summary				Skills				Weapons
Equipment			Mastery			Guardian			Rotations

Active Skills
Shadow Strike				Effect Accumulation
Inject Venom				Effect Duration ▲ Lightning Infusion
Umbral Spirit				Thunder Spirit
Camouflage Cloak				-
Shield Strike				Critical Hit ▼ Aggression ▲
Counter Barrier				Additional Damage Boost Concentrated Barrier
Strategic Rush				-
Chain Hook				Range ▲
Provoking Roar				Bonus Damage
Shield Throw				Consecutive Use Whirling Shield
Annihilating Slash				Consecutive Use
A Shot at Victory				Effect Duration ▲ Annihilation Blade
Passive Skills
Impenetrable		Morale Boost		Spectrum of Agony		Aegis Shield
Destructive Fang		Assassination Stance		Assassin's Instincts		Shadow Walker
Defensive Skill
Block Blade

Active Skills

Shadow Strike and Chain Hook function as engage tools, both applying the Bind debuff on enemies. Cycle between these when mobbing or clearing dungeons. For bosses, these skills can be used inbetween skill rotations.

Camouflage Cloak can also be used inbetween skirmishes, as the first hit out of Stealth is a guaranteed Critical Hit. Use this on high priority targets and bosses when engaging.

Inject Venom and Umbral Spirit function as damage boosts, allowing you to apply Thunderclouds with their respective skill specializations. For this build, Lightning Infusion and Thunder Spirit must be taken.

Shield Strike, Annihilating Slash, Shield Throw, and A Shot at Victory are offensive tools, and have different properties that proc when certain conditions are met. For example, Annihilating Slash does more damage to enemies who are weakened. Also, taking Whirling Shield under Shield Throw will help with mobbing, and increase the amount of targets provoked.

Provoking Roar and Strategic Rush are tools used for Crowd Control, and can be used to draw aggression and momentarily displace enemies.

When levelling skills, prioritize Shield Strike, Annihilating Slash, and Provoking Roar to maximize damage.

Passive Skills

Impenetrable, Aegis Shield, and Assassination Stance are defensive passives that should be upgraded when mobbing becomes too difficult. To maximize these passives, invest in stats that give Shield Block Chance.

Destructive Fang, Morale boost, Spectrum of Agony, and Assassin's Instincts are offensive passives that boost stats and add properties to attacks. Prioritize Destructive Fang to improve defense shredding from Thunderclouds, and Spectrum of Agony to deal more damage to taunted enemies.

Shadow Walker and Morale Boost are utility passives that help with the cooldowns of this build. Upgrade these skills if growthstones are available.

Best Weapons

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Summary				Skills				Weapons
Equipment			Mastery			Guardian			Rotations

Primary Weapon
Queen Bellandir's Languishing Blade	・Hit ・Critical Hit ・Weaken Chance ・Collision Chance
Queen Bellandir's Quicksand	Creates 5m radius of Quicksand on the spot where Annihilating Slash was used. Quicksand decreases enemy Movement Speed by 60% and has a 70% chance to apply Collision: Pull to enemies within the radius when it disappears after 2s. Cooldown 34s.

Queen Bellandir's Languishing Blade is most ideal for the Dagger and Sword build. It's passive provides another source of Collision which procs Morale Boost, lowering cooldowns. For this build, run Hit, Critical Hit, and Weaken Chance to consistently land debuffs, as well as Collision Chance. This weapon also provides 6 Strength, helping reach breakpoints.

Secondary Weapon
Darkslayer Daggers	・Heavy Attack Chance ・Critical Hit ・Hit ・Bind Chance

Darkslayer Daggers is best in slot here as it's 7 Strength bonus allows the build to reach a 50 Strength breakpoint. This increases Heavy Attack Chance.

Best Armors and Accessories

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Summary				Skills				Weapons
Equipment			Mastery			Guardian			Rotations

For this build, the Chief Commander's set bonus provides Shield Block Chance and Damage Reduction, making this extremely viable for the any Sword build. Here, take traits and resonances that improve Endurance and Evasion for Melee and Ranged Attacks. This will synergize with Assassination Stance, further lowering the cooldown of Camouflage Cloak with each evaded attack.

As for accessories, Clasp of the Conqueror and Belt of Bloodlust are taken to provide Strength bonuses, while Lethal Frost Ring is taken for its Dexterity and Weaken Chance bonus. Forged Golden Bangle and Embossed Granite Band are taken as they provide Health Regen. Adding to this, take Max Health for Traits and Resonance in order to maximize your character's overall uptime in battle.

Best Weapon Mastery

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Summary				Skills				Weapons
Equipment			Mastery			Guardian			Rotations

Dagger	・Disguise (9 Pts) ・Assassination (6 Pts)
Sword	・Provoke and Counter (9 Pts) ・Boss (6 Pts)

This Mastery loadout is geared around sustain and cooldown mitigation, taking the defensive Disguise path from the Dagger skillset that allows for more sustain, as well as the Provoke & Counter path from the Sword skillset.

Best Guardian

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Summary				Skills				Weapons
Equipment			Mastery			Guardian			Rotations

Currently under construction, so please stay tuned!

Skill Rotations and Playstyle

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Summary				Skills				Weapons
Equipment			Mastery			Guardian			Rotations

How to Play Dagger / Sword and Shield Build
Engage Options Mobbing Skill Rotation Bossing Skill Rotation

Engage Options

▶ ▶

Shadow Strike, Camouflage Cloak, and Chain Hook will be your main form of engaging with an enemy. These skills can be cycled through one another to alleviate the high cooldowns.

For Skill Specializations, Effect Accumulation on Shadow Strike is a must, while Range ▲ on Chain Hook can be beneficial provided the player has extra points.

Mobbing Skill Rotation

▶ ▶ ▶ ▶ ▶

For general Mobbing, always be sure to activate Inject Venom and Umbral Spirit before engaging the enemy. Then, cast Shield Throw to immediately take aggro from mobs. Cast Counter Barrier to boost your defenses, before casting Provoking Roar to reapply the taunt, and inflict Weakness: Provoke. After that, cast Annihilating Slash to finish up the rotation. Keep in mind that Provoking Roar must always be cast before Annihilating Slash to gain bonus damage from attacking weakened enemies.

Take Lightning Infusion under Inject Venom, and Lightning Spirit under Umbral Spirit to inflict Thunderclouds on the opponent, lowering their defenses. Whirling Shield under Shield Throw allows the attack to reach more enemies, while Concentrated Barrier under Counter Barrier provides another instance of damage. Consecutive Use can be taken under Annihilating Slash to double the damage output from this attack.

Bossing Skill Rotation

▶ ▶ ▶ ▶ ▶ ▶

Like the previous rotation, open with Inject Venom and Umbral Spirit before casting A Shot at Victory. Then, cast Shield Strike with Strategic Rush to instantly deal two instances of damage. Then, proceed with casting Provoking Roar before Annihilation Blade to finish the rotation. After that, the mobbing rotation can be repeated to make full use of the nine second sword skill buff that A Shot at Victory applies.

Take Aggression and Critical Hit under Shield Strike, to boost its damage and effectivity. Also be sure to take Annihilation Blade and Effect Duration ▲ to prolong its buff and extend its range.

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