This build is up to date for the March 14, 2025 patch.
Overview
As a Cavalier, your main goal is to drop into a group of unaware enemies before using your incredible AOE burst damage to debuff and kill them quickly. Usually best done with a group of other Crossbow users, the build relies heavily on the use of 
Merciless Barrage and 
Death From Above to move into range before blasting all enemies caught with AOE damage.
Attributes
PRIMARY
Perception
+
Dexterity
SECONDARY
Strength
+
Wisdom
With the unique stats and attributes system in Throne and Liberty, it can be difficult to determine exactly where to invest your attribute points at each stage of the game. This is because gear pieces provide attributes just like leveling up does, meaning everyone will have a different number of attribute points depending on what gear they are wearing at the time.
Given this variation, it's best to reset your attributes regularly to adjust to the new gear you acquire. Aim to reach the achievement effects, which provide extra benefits at milestones like 30, 50, and 70 points.
Focus most of your points on Dexterity and Perception to improve your hit chance, critical hit chance, and overall damage. Since Crossbows and Spears are all about dealing damage, you can skip Wisdom. Adding a few points to Strength is still helpful for extra damage and a bit more HP, aiming to reach at least 30 points in total however you prefer during the early game as it adds extra survivability and can help with surviving certain PVP skirmishes.
Skills
Start skill upgrading with the core Crossbow skills first Merciless Barrage, 
Nimble Leap and 
Mother Nature's Protest as they are all very important skills in your kit. Don't forget the 
Unyielding Sentinel either as the extra shield and heavy attack chance is incredible for both yourself and your party.
Continue by upgrading your Spear skills next, beginning with 
Vicious Fury and 
Javelin Surge as they are used together in a combo to deal damage from mid-range and pick kills that way. Death From Above is your only relevant choice for you when it comes to upgrading Omnipotence skills and its rather important too as it increases the chance of fearing enemies whenever you land on them with Death From Above.
Another strong skill is the 
Cyclonic Fury as it does good damage and debuffs enemies while 
Rising Slash is good for self-peeling and you can use it to stun people so you can move away. Lastly don't forget to upgrade the most important support skill, Unyielding Sentinel.
As far as passives go, 
Ambidexterity and 
Eagle Vision are good passives to upgrade as they increase your overall damage alongside the raw damage increase of 
Piercing Strike and 
Mortal Wrath which is particularly useful for finishing off targets.
Equipment
Crossbows of the Resistance
Heavy Attack Chance
Critical Hit Chance
Hit Chance
Primary
Halberd of the Resistance
Heavy Attack Chance
Critical Hit Chance
Hit Chance
Mask of the Resistance
Max Health
Magic Endurance
Ranged Endurance
Deadeye's Cloak
Mana Regen
Debuff Duration
Skill Damage Resistance
Heroic Tunic of the Resistance
Magic Endurance
Ranged Endurance
Mana Regen
Gauntlets of the Resistance
Melee Endurance
Ranged Endurance
Mana Regen
Trousers of the Resistance
Max Health
Magic Endurance
Ranged Endurance
Glade Stalker Boots
Max Health
Magic Endurance
Ranged Endurance
Necklace of Clarity
Skill Damage Boost
Mana Regen
Bracelet of Conquest
Max Health
Skill Damage Resistance
Violent Signet
Max Health
Skill Damage Boost
Buff Duration
Ring of Precision
Max Health
Skill Damage Boost
Belt of Deftness
Skill Damage Resistance
Max Health
These are the first items you should strive for through the leveling period as they are very easy to get and upgrade or trait as needed. However, you shouldn't try to trait these items too much as you won't be spending too much time playing with this setup before you start changing pieces into the Midgame. The green accessories however are very easy to trait as you can craft many of them quickly in order to get the correct traits so you should consider traiting them until you change into purples. The same goes for the blue ring as you keep it for a long time.
Rex Chimaerus's Crossbows
Heavy Attack Chance
Critical Hit Chance
Hit Chance
Primary
Heroic Polearm of the Resistance
Heavy Attack Chance
Added Attack Speed
Hit Chance
Elusive Hexweaver Hat
Cooldown Speed
Magic Endurance
Melee Endurance
Blessed Templar Cloak
Debuff Duration
Max Health
Skill Damage Resistance
Heroic Tunic of the Resistance
Magic Endurance
Ranged Endurance
Mana Regen
Nature's End Gloves
Max Health
Melee Endurance
Added Attack Speed
Ruthless Enforcer Leggings
Melee Endurance
Ranged Endurance
Max Mana
Glade Stalker Boots
Max Health
Magic Endurance
Ranged Endurance
Clasp of the Conqueror
Skill Damage Boost
Max Health
Buff Duration
Bracers of the Primal King
Max Health
Skill Damage Resistance
Debuff Duration
Sapphire Dimensional Band
Skill Damage Boost
Max Health
Buff Duration
Violent Signet
Skill Damage Boost
Max Health
Buff Duration
Butcher's Belt
Max Health
Debuff Duration
Skill Damage Resistance
This is the gear you should transition to once you're leveled to 50 and start grinding gear. It is comprised of gear you can get either from dungeons or by completing Litographs, they are relatively easy to trait up and you will spend most of the time wearing this set before advancing into the late game so traiting these items is very important and should be your main focus.
Rex Chimaerus's Crossbows
Heavy Attack Chance
Added Attack Speed
Hit Chance
Primary
Shaikal's Mindveil Harpoon
Heavy Attack Chance
Critical Hit Chance
Hit Chance
Phantom Wolf Mask
Magic Endurance
Ranged Endurance
Cooldown Speed
Forsaken Embrace
Max Health
Debuff Duration
Skill Damage Resistance
Swirling Essence Robe
Buff Duration
Melee Endurance
Magic Endurance
Phantom Wolf Gloves
Magic Endurance
Ranged Endurance
Added Attack Speed
Shadow Harvester Trousers
Magic Endurance
Ranged Endurance
Mana Regen
Shadow Harvester Boots
Ranged Endurance
Magic Endurance
Move Speed
Thunderstorm Necklace
Skill Damage Boost
Mana Regen
Buff Duration
Eternal Champion Bindings
Max Health
Skill Damage Resistance
Debuff Duration
Sapphire Dimensional Band
Skill Damage Boost
Max Health
Buff Duration
Band of Universal Power
Skill Damage Boost
Buff Duration
Mana Regen
Belt of Bloodlust
Max Health
Debuff Duration
Skill Damage Resistance
While runes can be applied to different types of gear, you should make sure that you invest into the gear pieces that you plan on using for a long time. However, if the build you are using uses the same items between Mid Game and End Game, you can invest into adding runes to them as early as you get the items.
This is the current endgame gear you should aim for, and while it isn't easy to acquire, it offers great power without the need of acquiring archboss gear pieces. However, items like 
Tevent's Fangs of Fury or other archboss weapons are superior but difficult to acquire for the majority of players. If you do manage to get the archboss weapons for your build, feel free to use them over the weapons shown here.
Rex Chimaerus's Crossbows
Heavy Attack Chance
Added Attack Speed
Hit Chance
Primary
Shaikal's Mindveil Harpoon
Heavy Attack Chance
Critical Hit Chance
Hit Chance
Phantom Wolf Mask
Magic Endurance
Ranged Endurance
Cooldown Speed
Forsaken Embrace
Max Health
Debuff Duration
Skill Damage Resistance
Swirling Essence Robe
Buff Duration
Melee Endurance
Magic Endurance
Phantom Wolf Gloves
Magic Endurance
Ranged Endurance
Added Attack Speed
Shadow Harvester Trousers
Magic Endurance
Ranged Endurance
Mana Regen
Shadow Harvester Boots
Ranged Endurance
Magic Endurance
Move Speed
Thunderstorm Necklace
Skill Damage Boost
Mana Regen
Buff Duration
Eternal Champion Bindings
Max Health
Skill Damage Resistance
Debuff Duration
Sapphire Dimensional Band
Skill Damage Boost
Max Health
Buff Duration
Band of Universal Power
Skill Damage Boost
Buff Duration
Mana Regen
Belt of Bloodlust
Max Health
Debuff Duration
Skill Damage Resistance
Bercant's Spineflower Crossbows
Heavy Attack Chance
Critical Hit Chance
Hit Chance
Primary
Crimson Hellskewer
Heavy Attack Chance
Critical Hit Chance
Hit Chance
First Light's Halo
Magic Endurance
Ranged Endurance
Cooldown Speed
Steadfast Commander's Cape
Max Health
Debuff Duration
Skill Damage Resistance
Imperial Seeker's Tunic
Max Health
Magic Endurance
Ranged Endurance
Forgotten Lotus Gloves
Magic Endurance
Ranged Endurance
Added Attack Speed
Forgotten Lotus Pants
Magic Endurance
Ranged Endurance
Max Health
Imperial Seeker's Boots
Ranged Endurance
Magic Endurance
Movement Speed
Death Knell Gorget
Skill Damage Boost
Max Health
Buff Duration
Bracelet of the Violent Undertow
Mana Regen
Skill Damage Resistance
Debuff Duration
Solitare of Purity
Skill Damage Boost
Max Health
Buff Duration
Runed Band of the Black Anvil
Skill Damage Boost
Buff Duration
Max Health
Hero's Legacy Warbelt
Max Health
Debuff Duration
Skill Damage Resistance
Weapon Masteries
Crossbow
Spear
You should be aiming to reach and unlock masteries (the corner nodes) as soon as possible as they usually make the largest impact in the build. While minor nodes shouldn't be forgotten, make sure to unlock masteries as fast as possible before spreading out and spending into less important nodes.
Artifacts
Abyssal Beast Talistone I
Damage: 10
Ranged Hit Chance
Critical Hit Chance
Bonus Damage
Chaos Harbinger Solarstone
Weaken Chance
Bind Chance
Weaken Chance
CC Chance
Abyssal Beast Talistone III
Max Health: 1750
Max Stamina
Stamina Regen
Amitoi Healing
Wildlands Protector Talistone II
Defense: 200
Ranged Endurance
Magic Endurance
Heavy Attack Evasion
Chaos Harbinger Lunarstone
Weaken Resistance
Bind Resistance
Weaken Resistance
CC Resistances
Wildlands Protector Talistone IV
Bonus Damage: 12
Heavy Attack Evasion
Ranged Hit Chance
Ranged Endurance
Rotations
- Start off the rotation by buffing yourself with Unyielding Sentinel. Meanwhile Mother Nature's Protest should also be active at all times but make sure that you have it enabled.
- Start by finding a group of people stacked in a clump before using Death From Above to jump and land on them. Follow up by using Nimble Leap to increase range then using
Bloodleech Aura to gain some health sustain. Use Merciless Barrage to then do heavy damage in the enemy group. If you live through the whole spin, use Cyclonic Fury to finish off low targets.
- Getting out alive usually isn't an option but you can use
Gale Rush to move between targets and get back to your team.
Short Single Target Rotation ↴
- This is your main self-peel rotation to deal high single target damage while also getting the enemy off you. Dash into them with Gale Rush before using
Abyssal Cleave to stun them and transition into Cyclonic Fury so you apply Ignite stacks but also set up for extra damage with Rising Slash.
- Use Vicious Fury to deal some extra damage and build up Ember stacks so you can finish off the target with Javelin Surge.
