Berserker - Sword + Dagger PvE Build
- High DMG (for a Tank)
- High sustain
- High mobility
- High skill ceiling
- Long cooldowns
- Off-meta
Overview
This Sword and Dagger build is designed for PVE and acts as a tank that does considerable damage through its dagger skills even though the build remains considered off-meta. It can do well in both open world and dungeons, dealing good damage to single mobs and allowing you to farm in the open world with ease. This is the perfect build for those looking for a challenge and a different approach to Throne and Liberty, playing a unique off-meta build over classic tanks like Sword + Greatsword or Wand.
Attributes
Your 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
After leveling, you should have enough books to level up all your damage skills like File:Moonlight Cleaving.webpMoonlight Cleaving, Knife Throwing and Brutal Incision. Don't forget the taunt skills either as Provoking Roar and Shield Strike are very important for your performance.
Once you have all your skills upgraded to purple, you should be in a good enough place to not have isuses in PvE and deal good damage even solo while farming mobs. Make sure that you also invest into getting your Shield Survival Technique as it is one of your main defensive skills for any Sword & Shield Build.
With Passives, your main damage passives are Wrathful Edge and Assassin's Instincts while Destructive Fang is fantastic to boost your damage when attacking enemies affected by Inject Venom. Upgrading Spectrum of Agony to Epic would also increase the damage you do when using Provoking Roar but shouldn't be a main focus.
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
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 |
Disguise | Ranged Defense |
Health Regen |
Debuff Immunity |
Mana Cost Efficiency |
Cooldown Speed |
Master of Evasion |
Buff Duration |
Ranged Defense |
Strong Will | ||||||||
Poison | Melee Hit Chance |
Off-Hand Weapon Attack Chance |
Enfeebling Terror |
Mana Regen |
Buff Duration |
Sorrowful Silence |
Mana Cost Efficiency |
Melee Hit Chance |
Shrewd Judgment | ||||||||
Assassination | Melee Critical Hit Chance |
Damage |
Ambidexterity |
Melee Critical Hit |
Cooldown Speed |
Deep Grudge |
Damage |
Skill Damage Boost |
Maddening Excitement |
Dagger: Max out Poison for cooldown speed then invest the remaining 6 points into Assassination for additional critical damage and off-hand weapon activation rate.
Sword: Max out Boss for extra defenses against all bosses while the remaining 6 points can go into Provoke & Counter to boost your shield block chance. It is generally better to invest the 6 points into Provoke & Counter first to get the shield block chance early on.
Rotations
- This rotation is your bread and butter for both PvE and single target PvP damage. It is your biggest burst and opening with Shadow Strike after Inject Venom applies a silence on your target, allowing you to do the rest of your rotation with ease.
Keep in mind that it's possible to start from stealth with Camouflage Cloak as Inject Venom doesn't remove stealth but Camouflage Cloak can also be used to reset the fight as well as cooldowns.
- This is the most important single target PvP rotation. As a front-line fighter in PvP you need to utilize Chain Hook to pull targets to your group to eliminate them. Starting with Inject Venom to apply poison, Chain Hook will bind the target and Strike Shield will weaken them, and stun if Nirma's Sword of Echoes is equipped. Follow up with Shadow Strike to silence and Brutal Incision to execute the target.
Counter Barrier: Use this as you start getting focused and use your defense skill to reflect damage.
Strategic Rush: Main mobility skill, use when your team is retreating or you got hooked. Can also be used offensively to stun players by pushing them into walls/terrain.
Provoking Roar: Couple this with Spectrum of Agony and another damage ability like Knife Throwing for AoE damage into enemy groups.
Stalwart Bastion: Use when going for a push with your team or when getting pushed.
Camouflage Cloak: This is your get-out-of-jail-free card. Use it when you are getting focused or have to reposition. Can also be used to reset a fight and cooldowns after bursting a target. There are many other use cases for stealth so be creative!
Useful Information
- Use Green Ranger Elowen as your guardian, it roots people around you and can help a lot with clearing out groups of players. Attacking other players that are rooted or have a movement debuff will also increase your crit rate.
- Try to get Nirma's Sword of Echoes as it's your Best-in-Slot sword, adding a stun to your Shield Strike every time you use the ability.
- Current meta is Evasion. So try to get as much Magic/Melee/Ranged evasion as possible in order to maximize your sustain.
- Focus on getting your blue gear to level 9 and upgrading your traits before pushing for purple. Elite Resistance set is fine even into late game depending on the traits you get.
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.