Introduction

Welcome to our Sword & Shield Greatsword Build guide for Throne and Liberty. Learn everything you need to know about the powerhouse bruiser set-up here.

Skills & Passives

Below are the Active, Passive, and Defensive Skills for the Sword & Shield Greatsword Build. For insight on which order to level these Skills up, Check our Skill Upgrade Progression Section below. It’s important to note that there is a few good options and paths you can take with the build. As a result, the freedom truly is yours to explore past our own recommendations.

Active Skills

	Immortal Pride		Strategic Rush
	Ascending Slash		Counter Barrier
	Guillotine Blade		Chain Hook
	DaVinci’s Courage		Stalwart Bastion
	Precision Dash		Stunning Blow
	Valiant Brawl		Strike Shield

Passives

	Skillful Evasion		Robust Constitution
	Gerad’s Patience		Vital Force
	Impenetrable		Indomitable Armor
	Aegis Shield		Cold Warrior

Defensive Skill

Shield Survival Technique (Sword and Shield Defensive Skill) provides an easy-to-use Defensive skill that restores health, gives a short-ranged counter-attack, and (once fully upgraded) grants you a Barrier equal to 14% of your Max Health for 3 seconds.

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

• S&S- Shield Strike (Uncommon to Rare)
• S&S- Strategic Rush (Uncommon to Rare)
• Shield Survival Technique (Defensive Skill (Uncommon to Rare)
• S&S- Counter Barrier (Uncommon to Epic)
• Greatsword- Stunning Blow (Uncommon to Rare)
• Greatsword- Precision Dash (Uncommon to Rare)
• Greatsword- Valiant Brawl (Uncommon to Rare)
• Greatsword- Stunning Blow (Rare to Epic)
• Greatsword- Precision Dash (Rare to Epic)
• S&S- Shield Strike (Rare to Epic)
• S&S- Chain Hook (Rare to Epic)
• S&S- Strategic Rush (Rare to Epic)

PASSIVE SKILL UPGRADE ORDER

• Greatsword- Robust Constitution (Uncommon to Rare)
• Greatsword- Vital Force (Uncommon to Rare)
• S&S- Skillful Evasion (Uncommon to Rare)
• S&S- Aegis Shield (Uncommon to Rare)
• Greatsword- Cold Warrior (Rare to Epic)
• Greatsword- Robust Constitution (Rare to Epic)
• S&S- Aegis Shield (Rare to Epic)
• S&S- Skillful Evasion (Rare to Epic)
• Greatsword- Vital Force (Rare to Epic)

Attributes, Weapon Mastery, and Guardians

Attributes

In this section, we will go over recommended Attribute allocation, as well as the Weapon Mastery and Guardian usage for the build.

For this build, the main attribute is actually split between Strength and Perception. Dexterity can be sprinkled in due to the increased Maximum damage threshold, Critical Hit Chance, Evasion and Attack Speed it provides. Wisdom similarly plays an minor role, granting Mana Regen, Cooldown Speed and more. High Perception allows you to hit targets with higher levels of Evasion, allowing for consistent disruption while tanking. Strength is powerful in the Sword & Shield Greatsword set-up. Strength provides increased resistances, more Maximum Health (which synergizes with Vital Force) and powerful stat thresholds. For example, at 50 Strength, you’re granted 100 Heavy Attack Chance!

Starting out, however, we recommend the following:

NOTE: This Information does not include gear Bonuses

• STRENGTH – 30
• DEXTERITY – 10
• WISDOM – 19
• PERCEPTION – 30

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.

Sword & Shield

• Provoke & Counter – 9 points
• Collision – 3 points

Greatsword

• Incapacitate – 6 points
• Face Off – 6 points

Guardian – Green Ranger Elowen

Green Ranger Elowen is perfect for any Sword and Shield combination. As a result of being in the frontline and exceptionally tanky, it has never been easier to land AoE on nearby enemies! Activating Green Ranger Elowen has a high chance to root all nearby targets, increasing the chance of landing critical strikes on the rooted targets. Using Green Ranger Elowen on an engage is essential for winning GvG fights. With the S&S Greatsword combination, you can utilize your mobility skills to unexpectedly dive deep and activate the Guardian.

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 Sword	Heavy Attack Chance	Hit	Critical Hit	Crafted – Lithograph from Various Sources
Off-Hand	Elite Resistance Greatsword	Heavy Attack Chance	Hit	Critical HIt	Crafted – Lithograph from Various Sources

End Game (BIS)

	Name	Trait 1	Trait 2	Trait 3	How to Acquire
Main Hand	Nirma’s Corrupt Sword	Heavy Attack Chance	Hit	Mana Cost Efficiency	Raid Boss – Nirma
Off-Hand	Adentus’s Barbaric Blade	Heavy Attack Chance	Hit	Critical Hit	Raid Boss- Adentus

NOTE – you can also use Queen Bellandir’s Blade in the S&S slot. The item is difficult to acquire/Trait, but due to the Weapon Skill it is better than Nirma’s Corrupt Sword. This drops from the World Boss Worm – Queen Bellandir

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	Elite Resistance Visor	Max Health	Ranged Evasion	Melee Evasion	Crafter – Lithograph drops from Various location
Cloak	Elite Assassin’s Cloak	Max Health	Skill Damage Resistance	Bind Resistance	Crafter – Lithograph drops from Orc Spearmaster and Executioners (Akidu Valley)
Chest	Elite Resistance Plate Armor	Max Health	Melee Evasion	Ranged Evasion	Crafted – Lithographs Drop from Ruins of Turayne Zone from Gallu Mobs
Gloves	Blessings of Mother Nature Cloth	Max Health	Melee Evasion	Magic Evasion	Crafted – Lithograph Drops from Cave of Destruction
Pants	Elite Resistance Leather Pants	Max Health	Ranged Evasion	Magic Evasion	Crafted – Lithograph drops from Mitran or Pirate King’s Chest Crab
Boots	Elite Resistance Plate Boots	Ranged Evasion	Melee Evasion	Move Speed	Crafted – Lithograph drops from Grayclaw Butcher

End Game (BIS)

	Name	Trait 1	Trait 2	Trait 3	How to Acquire
Helm	General’s Fury Headgear	Max Health	Melee Evasion	Ranged Evasion	Drops from Cave of Destruction Dungeon
Cloak	Hermit’s Shroud	Max Health	Skill Damage Resistance	Enfeeble Resistance	Drops from Abyssal Specter
Chest	Special Resistance Tactical Armor	Max Health	Melee Evasion	Ranged Evasion	Crafted – Drops from Specral Wizard and Watchers
Gloves	General’s Frenzy Gloves	Max Health	Ranged Evasion	Attack Speed	Drops from Demonhoof Berserkers & Butchers (Floor 5 & 6 Syleus’s Abyss Dungeon)
Pants	Special Resistance Ancient Dragon Pants	Max Health	Ranged Evasion	Magic Evasion	Drops from Orc Brawlers, Lithograph Book, Special Resistance Commendations Crafting
Boots	Resonance of Mother Nature’s Boots	Magic Evasion	Melee Evasion	Max Health	Dungeon – Butcher’s Canyon

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	Shock Trooper’s Resistance Necklace	Max Health	Skill Damage Boost	Buff Duration	Drops From Skeleton Lancer (Ruins of Turayne Zone)
Bracelet	Wild Resistance Bracelet	Max Health	Skill Damage Reduction	Stun Resistance	Dungeons – Roaring Temple and Cursed Wasteland
Ring	Brawler’s Ring	Max Health	Skill Damage Boost	Buff Duration	Crafted – Lithograph drops from Death’s Abyss (Dungeon
Ring	Crude Wind Band	Max Health	Skill Damage Boost	N/A	Uncommon Accessory Chest
Belt	Crude Vigor Belt	Bind Resistance	Skill Damage Resistance	N/A	Uncommon Accessory Chest

End Game (BIS)

	Name	Trait 1	Trait 2	Trait 3	How to Acquire
Necklace	Slaughterer’s Collar	Max Health	Skill Damage Boost	Buff Duration	World/Guild Raid Boss – Cornelius
Bracelet	Wild Resistance Bracelet	Max Health	Skill Damage Reduction	Stun Resistance	Dungeons – Roaring Temple and Cursed Wasteland
Ring	Eternal Ring of Dimension	Max Health	Skill Damage Boost	Buff Duration	Crafted with Dimensional Crystals x 20
Ring	Transcendent Magic Ring	Max Mana	Skill Damage Boost	Buff Duration	Crafted – Lithograph from Morokai (Raid Boss)
Belt	Duke Magna’s Belt	Max Mana	Skill Damage Resistance	Stun Resistance	Dungeon – Butcher’s Canyon

Tier 2 Gearing

Tier 2 Epic gear is a step up from the Tier 1 Epics you’ll find early on in Throne and Liberty. After obtaining your Tier 1 BIS gear, you’ll need to work towards your Tier 2 gear grind. Most Tier 2 gear comes as a reward from the new Tier 2 Dungeons, along with a Tier 2 specific upgrade material – Precious Growth Schema’s. There is a lot of powerful Tier 2 gear options, with powerful 2-set or 4-set bonuses. In terms of weapons, there is also game-changing options available to most weapon types. Below is our recommended Tier 2 pieces to target farm for the Sword & Shield Greatsword:

Weapons

	Name	Trait 1	Trait 2	Trait 3	How to Acquire
Main Hand	Penance Knight’s Annihilator	Heavy Attack Chance	Hit	Critical Hit	Tier 2 Dungeons or Crafted via Soul Shards
Off-Hand	Chief Executor’s Earthquake Blade	Heavy Attack Chance	Hit	Critical HIt	Tier 2 Dungeons or Crafted via Soul Shards

Penance Knight’s Annihilator provides a fantastic passive to turn Chain Hook into an even more fearsome threat. Chain Hook with this Tier 2 weapon equipped pulls in an additional 3 close-by targets. Chief Executor’s Earthquake Blade turns Gaia Crash into a point-of-impact burst AoE tool. As a result, this is perfect for frontline PVP.

Armor

	Name	Trait 1	Trait 2	Trait 3	How to Acquire
Tier 2 Piece (Chest)	Wraith Knight’s Execution Armor	Max Health	Ranged Endurance	Melee Endurance	Tier 2 Dungeons or Crafted via Soul Shards
Tier 2 Piece (Legs)	Wraith Knight’s Invincibility Gaiters	Max Health	Ranged Endurance	Melee Endurance	Tier 2 Dungeons or Crafted via Soul Shards

Wraith Knight’s 2-set bonus provides 2000 Max Health which is fantastic for a Sword and Shield build. Additionally, the stats on each of these Tier 2 pieces above provides great benefit to the build through Strength, Evasion and Heavy Attack Chance.

How to Play the Sword & Shield Greatsword Build

The Sword & Shield Greatsword build is heavily focused around frontline tanking in PvP, general tanking in PvE and sports a “bruiser” gameplay style. The build plays off of an incredibly high Health pool while dealing considerable amount of damage and Crowd Control.

PVE

In PVE, this weapon combination is best served as a Tank for any dungeon party. The mixture of decent damage output from the Greatsword and provoking tools from the Sword & Shield helps the combination to hold a lot of threat during a boss fight. As with most PVE encounters, make sure to block every Fury Attack from a mob or boss (indicated by the purple closing circle overlaid on the monster). Additionally, timing your longer survivability cooldowns such as Stalwart Bastion & Immortal Pride with dangerous mechanics ensures a higher chance of survival and less stress on your healer.

Finally, make sure of the Chain Hook skill and Strategic Rush skill to group mobs together or pull them off of a player taking aggro.

PVP

In PVP, this build is used as a first line of contact between your army and the enemy. As a result, having confidence in your survivability and pushing up to gain space and pressure is key to succeeding in the role. Having access to the Sword and Shield gives you plenty of agency to disrupt and control situations. For example, Chain Hooking healers into your frontline can prove devastating to the enemies sustain. To add to this, having access to stuns and knockdowns from the Greatsword extends the pressure further. As a result, note down and make use of the small rotation below:

• Stalwart Bastion
• DaVinci’s Courage
• Engage with Precision Dash or pull in with Chain Hook
• Stunning Blow
• Valiant Brawl
• Shield Strike
• Knock over your target with Ascending Slash near the end of the stun duration
• Guillotine Blade

While there is many moments any of these skills can be woven into a rotation, this general rotation is enough to catch out a player and lock them down. However, this combo can kill certain players too, due to the huge amount of damage you deal. The amount of damage you can deal as a tank with this build is far higher than expected, this is due to “Adentus’s Barbaric Blade” scaling damage with your Maximum Health. If you are using Tier 2 weapons, try your best to group up as many players as possible with Strategic Rush and Chain Hook to blast your opponents with Gaia Crash.

Finally, remember to time your Defensive Skill (your block) with enemies engaging on you. The chances are, you’ll defend a Fury Attack, giving you a shield and more survivability.

Conclusion

That Concludes our Sword & Shield Greatsword Build! For more Throne and Liberty content, news and guides, be sure to check out our Throne and Liberty Home Page