Spellblade - Dagger + Staff PvE Build
- High AOE DPS
- High Single Target DPS
- High Skill Floor & Skill Ceiling
- Mana Intensive
Overview
This Staff and Dagger build focuses on dealing high DPS in both single target encounters (bosses in group dungeons) and when grinding in open world or even in open world dungeons as it offers great AOE DPS. The build isn't particularly difficult to play but it requires a bit of getting used to as the skill cooldowns are rather low.
Attributes
Dexterity
Perception
Strength
WisdomFor this build, it's important to focus on increasing your damage. The main stats to improve are Dexterity and Perception. Putting points into these will help you do more damage in fights. Adding some points to Wisdom for more mana regeneration can help, but your main priority should be increasing damage through Dexterity and Perception. Also, don't forget to put 30 points into Strength for extra health that might help in certain situations where you need extra HP to have an easier time vs bosses.
Skills
The Staff AND Dagger build is a great choice for newer players that are looking to perform well in all scenarios without having to think of many rotations but it still offers a fun experience.
Your main damage will be coming from your 
Judgment Lightning and 
Serial Fire Bombs with its burn stacks, 
Chain Lightning and 
Inferno Wave should also be prioritized when leveling as they deal high damage with low cooldowns. Try to push them to purple as soon as possible. 
Inject Venom should always be used at the start of your rotations, applying the poison that decreases enemy resistances and increases the damage you do. Inject Venom also triggers the 
Destructive Fang, improving your crit rate when attacking poisoned targets. You can easily spread this poison on multiple targets using 
Frost Smokescreen.
Icebound Tomb freezes enemies in place and also lowers their resistances, being a great skill to use when bursting down groups of mobs and allowing you to combo with Frost Smokescreen and Inject Venom.
As far as passives go, you should focus on upgrading 
Flame Condensation for additional damage. 
Assassin's Instincts for extra crit rate and 
Assassin's Step is the perfect passive to help with your mana regeneration between fights as every enemy you and your party kill will also grant you mana regen and movement speed.
Keep in mind that 
Shadow Strike will send you on the opposite side of the mob you use it on, not directly behind him, so if he isn't targeting you, you can end up on mob's side and still be hit.
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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Mana Regen |
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Mana Cost Efficiency  |
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Magic Hit Chance |
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Melee Evasion |
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Mana Regen |
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Mana Regen |
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Melee Defense |
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Silence Resistance | ||
Mana Regen |
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Damage |
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Magic Hit Chance |
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Magic Critical Hit Chance |
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Damage |
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Mana Regen |
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Skill Damage Boost |
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Cooldown Speed |
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Bonus Damage |
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Cooldown Speed |
| Mana Regen |
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Weaken Chance |
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Burning Damage |
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Max Mana |
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Magic Hit Chance |
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Burning Chance |
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Weaken Chance |
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Wisdom |
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Magic Damage Dealt |
| Ranged Defense |
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Health Regen |
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Debuff Duration |
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Mana Cost Efficiency |
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Cooldown Speed |
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Evasion |
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Buff Duration |
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Ranged Defense |
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Weaken Resistance  | ||
Movement Speed |
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Melee Hit Chance |
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Off-Hand Weapon Attack Chance |
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Weaken Chance |
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Mana Regen |
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Buff Duration |
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Silence Chance |
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Mana Cost Efficiency |
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Melee Hit Chance |
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Cooldown Speed |
| Melee Critical Hit Chance |
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Damage |
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Off-Hand Weapon Attack Chance |
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Melee Critical Hit Chance |
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Cooldown Speed |
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Critical Damage |
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Damage |
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Skill Damage Boost |
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Added Attack Speed |
Staff: To maximize your damage output, add 9 points into Destroy to significantly increase skill damage through Weapon Masteries. Then, invest 6 points into Attribute for an additional boost, granting a 10% increase in Burning Damage and extra Burning Chance.
Dagger: Allocate 9 points into Poison for better Weaken chance and Cooldown speed. 6 points will go into Assassination for Critical Damage and Off-hand activation rate.
Rotations
- This rotation is focused on delivering the highest possible damage to a single target while maintaining while keeping up poison and fire stacks on the mob/boss. Start with
High Locus to buff yourself and your party before using Frost Smokescreen on top of the enemy, popping Inject Venom right after so your Frost Smokescreen also stacks up poison on the target.
Continue by debuffing the target with Icebound Tomb and a quick cast of before transitioning into 3 hits of Serial Fire Bombs to max out the stacks of fire and poison. Once you've maxed the stacks, use 
Fireball Barrage before using Frost Smokescreen again to keep fire stacks active.
Follow up with recasting Inject Venom before Inferno Wave (two times if you proc the second cast). Couple it with Chain Lightning and 
Ice Spear. Finish the rotation with Judgment Lightning two times.
- Use this rotation when you are grinding open world dungeons or large groups of mobs. Start with Inject Venom so all your attacks poison before using Frost Smokescreen to apply fire stacks and poison on all mobs. Continue with Chain Lightning and 3 casts of Serial Fire Bombs to maximize your fire and poison stacks.
Use Inferno Wave (2 times if you proc the re-cast), then transition into 2 casts of Judgment Lightning before using Inject Venom and Frost Smokescreen again.
High Locus: This version of the skill decreases yours and party's cooldowns. However, you can adjust to the regular version to enjoy the full 50% cooldown decrease if you are playing alone.
Shadow Strike: This is your main utility skill to get back to the boss in order to soak damage during mechanics or if you need to quickly move to summoned ads.
Inner Peace: Use this skill between rotations or if you have the chance during certain boss mechanics where you have to stand in place. This skill helps a lot with your mana sustain and is best used when under the influence of 
Nature's Blessing.
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.
