Introduction
Learn everything you need to know about Throne and Liberty’s most potent DPS build in our Crossbow Dagger DPS Build.
Skills and Passives
Below are the Active, Passive, and Defensive Skills for the Crossbow Dagger DBS Build. This info is available for both PVP AND PVE. For insight on which order to level these Skills up, Check our Skill Upgrade Progression Section below.
Active Skills
 | Predatory Strike |  | Mortal Mark |
 | Shadow Strike |  | Quick Fire |
 | Brutal Incision |  | Thorn Gale |
 | Knife Throwing |  | Fatal Stigma |
 | Camouflage |  | Nimble Leap |
 | Inject Venom |  | Merciless Barrage ** |
** PVP Active Skill changes
 | Switch Merciless Barrage (PVE) for Selfless Diffusion (PVP) |
Passives
 | Vicious Fangs |  | Wrathful Edge |
 | Ambidexterity ** |  | Shadow Walker |
 | Opportunist | | Natures Power |
 | Piercing Stike ** |  | Assassin’s Instincts |
** PVP Passive changes
 | Switch Ambidexterity (PVE) for Assassination Stance (PVP) |
 | Switch Piercing Stike (PVE) or Shadow Walker (PVP) |
Defensive Skill
For the Defensive Skill slot, we will be using Ambush Stance. Ambush stance grants you Invisibility and a significant increase to Mana Regen, and movement speed after defending against Furry attacks.
Skill Upgrade Progression
Next, Let’s look at the order to prioritize upgrading your skills. We’ve prioritized the most important skills to help guide you through skill progression to help get you started. It’s important to note that you will upgrade all skills to max eventually and that some Skills start at Rare or Epic Quality
ACTIVE SKILL UPGRADE ORDER
- Quick Fire (Uncommon to Epic)
- Mortal Mark (Uncommon to Epic)
- Inject Venom (Uncommon to Epic)
- Knife Throw (Rare to Epic)
- Nimble Leap (Uncommon to Epic)
- Predatory Strike (Rare to Epic)
- Brutal Incision (Rare to Epic)
- Shadow Strike (Uncommon to Epic)
- Selfless Diffusion (PVP) (Rare to Epic)
PASSIVE SKILL UPGRADE ORDER
- Assassin’s Instincts (Uncommon to Epic)
- Opportunist (Rare to Epic)
- Nature’s Power (Rare to Epic)
- Ambidexterity (Rare to Epic)
- Shadow Walker (Rare to Epic) (PVP)
Attributes, Weapon Mastery, and Guardians
Attributes
For This build, we will use a Dexterity/perception split to increase Damage, Crit Chance, and chance to HIT.
NOTE: This Information does not include gear Bonuses
- STRENGTH – 10
- DEXTERITY – 35
- WISDOM – 10
- PERCEPTION – 29
Weapon Mastery
You can level up your Weapon Mastery by simply using the weapon during gameplay. The Weapon Mastery Trees for each weapon are as follows.
NOTE – Your first Weapon Mastery Point will be used to select the first node in each weapon.
CROSSBOW
- Move – 3 Points
- Chain Fire – 9 points
DAGGER
- Poison – 3 Points
- Assassination – 9 Points
Guardian – Shade Revenant Stheno
Shade Revenant Sheno grants passive Damage while active, making it the ideal DPS Guardian. Make sure to Time Your Guardian Cooldown with Thorn Gale, Mortal Mark, and Inject Venom for Maximum Damage
Gear
NOTE – Most Elite Resistance gear ALSO has a chance to drop from Precious Blessing Pouches that can be purchased daily from your Contract Vendor and the completion of some level 50 Contracts.
Weapons
IMPORTANT – You will want to level up RARE gear to 9+ before transferring progress to EPIC quality Gear.
Level 1-50+
| Name | Trait 1 | Trait 2 | Trait 3 | How to Acquire | |
| Main Hand | Elite Resistance Crossbow | Ranged Heavy Attack Chance | Ranged Crit Hit | Ranged Hit | Crafted: Lithograph – Drops from Sandworm, Temitran Chief, or Precious Blessing Pouch |
| Off-Hand | Brutal Slaughter Dagger | Attack Speed | Melee Critical Hit | Melee Heavy Attack Chance | Dungeons – Roaring Temple, Cave of Desperation, and Cursed Wasteland |
End Game (BIS)
| Name | Trait 1 | Trait 2 | Trait 3 | How to Acquire | |
| Main Hand | Rex Chimaerus’s Rake Bow ** | Ranged Heavy Attack Chance | Ranged Critical HIt | Ranged HIt | Paola’s Dimension Chest (Drops in all 50+ Dungeon or can be purchased with Dimensional Crystals |
| Off-Hand | Lequirus’s Thorny Edge | Melee Heavy Attack Chance | Melee Hit | Melee Critical Hit | Paola’s Dimension Chest (Drops in all 50+ Dungeon or can be purchased with Dimensional Crystals |
** NOTE – Queen Bellandir’s Annihilation and Storm Spiked Crossbows are technically an upgrade to the Storm Spiked Crossbow but is difficult to acquire and Trait.
Armor
IMPORTANT – You will want to level up RARE gear to 9+ before transferring progress to EPIC quality Gear.
Level 1-50+
| Name | Trait 1 | Trait 2 | Trait 3 | How to Acquire | |
| Helm | Corrupt Witch’s Hat | Cooldown Speed | Melee Evasion | Magic Evasion | Drops from Giant Acid Ant and Honeypot Ant |
| Cloak | Elite Sharpshooter’s Cloak | Max Mana | Mana Regen | Skill Damage Resitance | Crafted – Drops from Corrupt Spectral Wizard OR Precious Blessing Bag |
| Chest | Deadly Fighter’s Plate Armor | Max Mana | Mana Regen | Ranged Evasion | Crafted – Drops from Dungeon: Tyrant’s Isle |
| Gloves | Icy Storm Cloth Gloves | Max Mana | Mana Regen | Magic Evasion | Crafted – Lithograph drops from Cave of Desperation/Destruction |
| Pants | Bloody Fog Leather Pants | Debuff Duration | Ranged Evasion | Magic Evasion | Crafted – Lithograph drops from Dungeon: Cursed Wasteland |
| Boots | Mysterious Sage’s Magic Shoes | Mana Regen | Ranged Evasion | Magic Evasion | Drops from Shade Assassin |
End Game (BIS)
| Name | Trait 1 | Trait 2 | Trait 3 | How to Acquire | |
| Helm | Ghost Wolf Alter Ego Mask | Cooldown Speed | Mana Regen | Ranged Evasion | Raid Boss: Chernobog |
| Cloak | Lethal Venom Scorpion Cloak | Max Mana | Mana Regen | Debuff Duration | Raid Boss: Nirma |
| Chest | Ghost Wolf Alter Ego Armor | Max Mana | Mana Regen | Ranged Evasion | Raid Boss: Morokai |
| Gloves | Reaper Hand of Death | Attack Speed | Ranged Evasion | Magic Evasion | Drops from Dark Assassin |
| Pants | Ghost Wolf Alter Ego Mask | Debuff Duration | Magic Evasion | Ranged Evasion | Raid Boss: Nirma |
| Boots | Hellguide’s Boots | Mana Regen | Ranged Evasion | Movement Speed | Crafted – Lithograph Drops from Reptillian Sentry |
Ghost Wolf Set Bonus: Bonus Damage (2 items) and Off-Hand Weapon Attack Chance Boost 30% (4 items)
Accessories
IMPORTANT – You will want to level up RARE gear to 9+ before transferring progress to EPIC quality Gear.
Level 1-50+
| Name | Trait 1 | Trait 2 | Trait 3 | How to Acquire | |
| Necklace | Scales of Time Necklace | Max Mana | Mana Regen | Skill Damage Boost | Crafted: Lithograph from Dungeon – Deaths Abyss |
| Bracelet | Prophet’s Bracelet | Max Mana | Mana Regen | Skill Damage Resistance | Crafted: Lithograph from Dungeon: Butcher’s Canyon |
| Ring | Lethal Fortune | Skill Damage Boost | Enfeeble Chance | Buff Duration | Crafted: Lithograph from Dungeon: Temple of Slaughter |
| Ring | Chief Priest’s RIng | Max Mana | Mana Regen | Enfeeble Chance | Drops from Living Armor Archer |
| Belt | Elite Shaman’s Belt | Max Mana | Mana Regen | Skill Damage Resistance | Crafted: Drops from Orc and Enchanted Fire Orc Shaman |
End Game (BIS)
| Name | Trait 1 | Trait 2 | Trait 3 | How to Acquire | |
| Necklace | Destroyer’s Choker | Skill Damage boost | Buff Duration | Health Regen | Raid Boss: Ahzreil |
| Bracelet | Beast King’s Glided Bracers | Skill Damage Resistance | Debuff Duration | Health Regen | Dungeon: Cave of Destruction |
| RIng | Eternal Ring of Dimension | Skill Damage Boost | Buff Duration | Health Regen | Craft with Dimensional Crystal |
| Ring | Lethal Frost Ring | Skill Damage Boost | Max Mana | Mana Regen | Dungeon: Cursed Wasteland |
| Belt | Skulls Spectral Belt | Max Mana | Mana Regen | Skill Damage Resistance | Crafted: Lithograph from Raid Boss: Malakar |
How to Play the Crossbow Dagger DPS Build
Finally, let’s look at how to operate the build! Below, we will break down how to use the Crossbow Dagger Build in both PVE and PVP.
PVE
For PVE, there is a main rotation and a Secondary rotation for your DPS Skills. The Main Damage Rotation combines Thron Gale and Merciless Barrage for an INSANE amount of damage that can immediately apply max Poison Stacks to activate even more damage with Fatal Stigma and Predatory Strike.
Since your two main abilities have 1-minute base cooldowns (Merciless Barrage and Thorn Gale) you will be spending more time using your off-rotation. Let’s look at each rotation in detail.
MAIN ROTATION
Order of Skill cast goes left to right
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As stated above, this Rotation opens with a huge amount of damage and application of Weaken: Poison Stacks. This Activates our Vicious Fangs and Oppurtunist, granting us decreased cooldowns and increased Crit chance on all our attacks. Move in with Shadow Strike and apply Fatal Stigma. You should be able to now cast Inject venom now and start a completely new stack of Weaken:Poison on your market. use Quick Fire again, followed by your dagger Skills and another Quick Fire. This should create a Max amount of damage from Fatal Stigma and allow you to move into your “Off” Rotation.
NOTE – Once Thorn Gale and Merciless Barriage come off cooldown, you will look to start your MAIN ROTATION again.
SECONDARY ROTATION
Your Secondary rotation is mostly just a priority of casting spells to maintain DPS while waiting for your MAIN ROTATION cooldowns to pop. The Rotation should look similar to the order below:
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PVP
As a reminder, these are the following changes to the build when moving to PVP.
ACTIVE SKILL CHANGES
| Switch Merciless Barrage (PVE) for Selfless Diffusion (PVP) |
PASSIVE SKILL CHANGES
| Switch Ambidexterity (PVE) for Assassination Stance (PVP) |
| Switch Piercing Stike (PVE) or Shadow Walker (PVP) |
In PVP, the Crossbow Dagger Build looks to Deal Large bursts of Single-Target damage and then dis-engage until your cooldowns are available. By Adding Merciless Barrage to the mix, you have access to extra mobility, allowing you to benefit from Shadow Walker Passive, significantly increasing your evasion to help assure you can get out of trouble once you used your burst combination.
Finally, you have access to one of the best defensive cooldowns in the game with Camouflage. Using Camoflage at the right time will allow you to avoid damage/CC and keeps you alive to deal more damage. The addition Assassination Stance will help you keep Camoflage available to use by utilizing the builds high amounts of Evasion.
For damage, a few things change for the rotation since we drop Merciless Barrage for PVP. Other than Thorn Gale, your rotation will mostly look the same when opening on targets in PVP.
Below is the Primary Burst rotation in PVP
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Conclusion
That Concludes our Sword & Shield Dagger Tank Build! For more Throne and Liberty content, be sure to check out our Throne and Liberty Home Page