Crusader - Sword + Greatsword PvE Build
- High Defense
- Only real tank in the game
- Terrible Damage
Overview
This Greatsword and Sword PvE build is specifically designed for tanking in PvE group dungeons. It excels at staying alive while effectively holding the aggro of both mobs and bosses and eing incredibly tanky with a high HP pool while also being capable of dishing out respectable damage thanks to the Greatsword skills. This makes the build a very capable tank for all PVE content including dungeons, open world dungeons and even open world or guild bosses.
Attributes
Strength
Dexterity
Wisdom
PerceptionYour attributes priority with this build should be strength and dexterity, as it grants you high max HP and improves your defensive stats, providing ranged, magic, and melee defense, as well as health regen. Your secondary priority should be wisdom and perception as they increase your cooldown speed and damage.
Skills
Since the build makes great use of the greatsword abilities, you should begin building your character by upgrading your damage so its easier to go through the leveling part of your journey in Throne and Liberty. Skills like 
Guillotine Blade and 
Valiant Brawl while 
Gaia Crash is fantastic for both pulling mobs and also buffing yourself.
However, 
Counter Barrier and 
Shield Strike are the most important skills for tanking and shouldn't be neglected. Counter Barrier greatly improves your Shield Block Chance, while Shield Strike serves as your primary single-target aggro-holding ability. It ensures that mobs stay focused on attacking you rather than targeting the rest of your party.
You should prioritize ugprading 
Vital Force and 
Robust Constitution to boost both damage and health! Meanwhile, 
Aegis Shield offers great defense based on your Shield Block Chance, making the build very tanky while 
Spectrum of Agony does damage to all mobs that are affected by your 
Provoking Roar.
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
| Charge | Ranged Defense |
 |
Melee Evasion |
|
Firm Will |
|
Max Health |
|
Cooldown Speed |
|
Overcome Snare |
|
Buff Duration |
|
Skill Damage Resistance |
|
Bold Steps |
| Incapacitate | Mana Regen |
|
Melee Hit Chance |
|
Ultimate Impact |
|
Damage |
|
Mana Regen |
|
Complete Stun |
|
Melee Hit Chance |
|
Stun Chance |
|
Firm Resolution |
| Face Off | Melee Hit Chance |
|
Damage |
|
Rough and Wild |
|
Melee Critical Hit Chance |
|
Mana Cost Efficiency |
|
Fierce Attack |
|
Skill Damage Boost |
|
Melee Hit Chance |
|
Fierce Glare |
| Provoke & Counter | Melee Defense |
|
Health Regen |
|
Decayed Sword God |
|
Max Health |
|
All Evasion |
|
Impregnable Stance |
|
Buff Duration |
|
Damage Reduction |
|
Indomitable Spirit |
| Boss | Melee Hit Chance |
|
Damage |
|
Undefeated Perseverance |
|
Max Health |
|
Stun Resistance |
|
Desperate Evasion |
|
Mana Cost Efficiency |
|
Melee Hit Chance |
|
Subjugator's Punishment |
| Collision | Max Health |
|
Melee Hit Chance |
|
Calculated Rush |
|
Damage Reduction |
|
Weaken Chance |
|
Steely Physique |
|
Damage |
|
Melee Defense |
|
Blade of Rage |
Greatsword: Investing 9 points in Charge offers you the most defensive bonuses you could get from the Greatsword lines while the last 3 points can be spent on Face Off in order to gain a bit of extra damage.
Sword: Sword: Investing 8 points in the Provoke & Counter row is a great choice as it provides you with extra PVE defenses for fighting bosses, along with some additional health. One singular point should go into Collision for even more health. The remaining 6 points will be allocated to Boss for further Boss evasion.
Rotations
- You want to buff yourself with
DaVinci's Courage first, granting yourself and the other party members some extra HP to work with before engaging the boss with your first Shield Strike and using 
Blood Devotion to increase party damage. Follow up with Provoking Roar and Gaia Crash to maintain aggro while also buffing yourself further with extra attack speed. Finish the initial rotation with 
Willbreaker and Guillotine Blade before beginning to weave between Shield Strike and Valiant Brawl to maintain your aggro on the boss.
Stalwart Bastion: This ability functions as your panic button when you're taking excessive damage and your passive skills aren't enough to sustain you. It's also the ability you use when the boss casts a high-damage spell, and it's recommended that your party members gather close to benefit from its protective effect.
Provoking Roar: Your main AOE taunt ability, you should reserve this for drawing the attention of multiple smaller enemies, typically appearing as ads during boss encounters or as trash mobs before reaching bosses.
Immortal Pride: Another ability that can serve as a panic button or boost your health to survive boss damage that would otherwise be fatal.
Blood Devotion: This spell enables you to redirect damage intended for another party member toward yourself, while also reducing the overall damage you take. However, Blood Devotion also greatly increases the damage your party members do.
Useful Information
- Select Lady Knight Kamarshea as your guardian; it provides essential protection with its shield, capable of absorbing damage equal to 50% of your mana. This not only aids in mitigating damage but also increases your cooldown speed, assisting in holding aggro and ensuring your survival.
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.
