Raider - Crossbow + Sword Small Scale PvP Build
- Easy to Play
- Fun to Play
- Mediocre Defenses
- Low Mobility
- Off-meta
Overview
This build is very much an off-meta choice for Small Scale PvP, capable of doing good damage while drawing attention from enemies and slowly chipping them down to score kills. This build works best when used with a small group of friendly players, and its perfect for those looking to try different approaches to Throne and Liberty, playing something not many players do.
Attributes
Strength
Perception
Wisdom
DexterityWith this build, prioritize investing points into Strength and Perception as your primary stats. Strength not only increases your maximum HP but also enhances your defensive stats when coupled with Perception increasing your buff duration and hit chance while ALSO increasing your overall damage.
Skills
On the DPS side of the build, you have quite a few abilities that should be prioritized first while progressing your character. 
Mortal Mark and 
Quick Fire should be the main priority with 
Shield Strike and 
Witty Strike working as good fillers for your rotation!
Stalwart Bastion and 
Mother Nature's Protest are buffs you should keep in mind as they help a great deal with improving your damage with little effort. 
Counter Barrier stands out as your most crucial defensive ability while 
Selfless Diffusion ties the build together, lowering your cooldowns and allowing you to use skills much more often.
Merciless Barrage is a fantastic skill to draw attention and deal AOE damage to stacked enemies, especially when paired with 
Nimble Leap to increase range.
When it comes to passives, prioritize upgrading 
Ambidexterity for a significant damage boost, enhancing your off-hand weapon critical hit for the crossbow, which already has a high off-hand weapon hit chance. 
Resilient Mind is essential for much-needed mana regeneration during fights, especially if you are using Merciless Barrage a lot as it drains your mana when paired with Mother Nature's Protest.
Make sure to also upgrade 
Aegis Shield as your main defensive passive option offering you great defence based on your shield block chance, meaning you should focus on getting the shield with the highest block chance. Another good defensive passive is the 
Impenetrable as it offers good defense when pushing into stacked enemies.
Equipment
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.
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.
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.
Weapon Masteries
Melee Defense |
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Health Regen |
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Weaken Chance |
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Max Health |
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Melee Evasion |
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Shield Block Chance  |
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Buff Duration |
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Damage Reduction |
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Stun Resistance | ||
| Shield Block Chance  |
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Melee Hit Chance  |
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Damage |
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Boss Endurance |
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Max Health |
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Stun Resistance |
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Boss Damage Reduction |
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Mana Cost Efficiency |
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Melee Hit Chance |
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Bonus Boss Damage |
| Max Health |
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Melee Hit Chance |
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Collision Chance |
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Damage Reduction |
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Weaken Chance |
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Collision Resistance |
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Damage |
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Melee Defense |
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Cooldown Speed |
| Health Regen |
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Magic Defense |
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Amitoi Heal |
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Max Health |
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Magic Endurance |
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Health Regen |
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Debuff Duration |
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Cooldown Speed |
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Mana Cost Efficiency  | ||
Mana Regen |
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Ranged Hit Chance |
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Mana Regen |
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Ranged Heavy Attack Chance |
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Weaken Chance |
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Mana Cost Efficiency |
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Ranged Hit Chance |
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Magic Defense |
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Ranged Crit Hit Chance |
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Movement Speed |
| Damage |
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Skill Damage Boost |
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Off-Hand Weapon Attack Chance |
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Damage |
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Buff Duration |
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Added Attack Speed |
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Cooldown Speed |
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Mana Regen |
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Ranged Damage Dealt |
Sword: Invest 9 points into Provoke & Counter to boost your shield block chance and defenses. Then, allocate 9 points into Collision to improve collision chance, defense, and cooldown speed. The final point goes into the Boss tree to gain a small increase in critical chance.
Crossbow: Put 9 points into Chain Fire to enhance your raw damage and improve kill potential. Use 3 points in Regen to increase Amitoi healing by 30%, which pairs well with Quality Vienta-Style Seafood Fritters for an even greater heal boost. The remaining 7 points should go into Move to add more defense and damage.
Rotations
- This is your bread and butter for when you catch enemies stacked together in a Dominion event. Make sure you have Mother Nature's Protest toggled on for better damage through the Gale debuff. Continue by buffing yourself with Stalwart Bastion and activating Counter Barrier before beginning to look for an opportunity to catch multiple enemies stacked together. Use
Strategic Rush to travel across the battlefield and hit as many enemies as possible to trigger 
Nature's Power and 
Morale Boost.
- Follow up with a quick Nimble Leap to increase range before using Merciless Barrage to wipe out the group of enemies while you are still under the effect of Counter Barrier.
- This rotation is your main single target rotation, dealing good damage quickly while remaining defended if coupled with Counter Barrier, make sure you always have Mother Nature's Protest toggled unless you are running low on mana. Your last quick buff should be Selfless Diffusion to lower cooldowns as you attack.
- Start by applying Mortal Mark before continuing with Shield Strike and the Quick Fire + Nimble Leap combo. Finish the rotation with Strategic Rush to lower your cooldowns and transition into the melee combo of
Annihilating Slash and Witty Strike.
Counter Barrier: You should use this skill on cooldown during fights, naturally popping it at the start of an engage to boost your survivability and make yourself considerably more difficult to kill.
Useful Information
- While Green Ranger Elowen is a fantastic guardian to help with pinning down enemies, Lady Knight Kamarshea is also a good option; it offers crucial protection with its shield, capable of absorbing damage equal to 50% of your mana. This not only helps mitigate damage but also boosts your cooldown speed which is an important part of this build.
Comments
We are seeking an experienced Build Admin for Throne and Liberty with a deep understanding of the meta across most weapons and game modes. Get in touch with Galaxian on Discord if you're a good fit for the role or know someone else who is. This is a paid position.
