Antiquary - Hybrid Axetiquary

The community gave this build a rating, making it second-tier: Good

Focused on: Mobility and Hybrid damage

Designed for: PvP Conquest

Expansions required:

Difficulty:

Normal

This build was last updated on May 10, 2026 and is up to date for the April 14, 2026 patch.

Overview

An Antiquary build that makes extensive use of the Deadly Arts traitline to deal high hybrid damage with artifacts. Doesn't have the same access to stealth as most other Thief builds but has a lot of evasion to compensate.

Skill Bar

Axe/Dagger

Shortbow

Utility

Skill Variants

Utility

The empty utility slot can be filled with the following depending on preference or need:

• Blinding Powder - Axe's stealth attack is one of the build's strongest points, but the build itself can struggle to Stealth itself. this ability helps alleviate that issue and is great both for offense and defense.

• Infiltrator's Signet - simple mobility skill and stunbreak. good for +1ing. gets you in position for Cloak and Dagger.

• Scorpion Wire - good for locking down players without Stability or creating a window for Harrowing Storm / Cloak and Dagger. cleanses 2 conditions with Trickster.

Elite

These elite skills are all situationally viable:

• Dagger Storm - a simple and powerful defensive pick that provides three seconds of evasion and a small cleanse (thanks to Trickster). good to learn the spec/build with.

• Skritt Scuffle - highest damage output by far in extended fights, but requires very quick reactions to properly utilize. can also supply defense in the form of evasion, cleanse, projectile hate, and healing depending on what you get.

• Basilisk Venom - great for when you're spending more time roaming/+1ing. most importantly, it ensures Cunning Salvo get through Aegis. best if taken with some sort of invisibility such as Blinding Powder.

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Specializations

Variants

• None

Equipment

Axe

Dagger

Sigil

Sigil

Shortbow

Sigil

Sigil

Rune

Amulet

Relic

Equipment Variants

Sigils

• Sigil of Exposure over Sigil of Cleansing (on Shortbow) - regularly improves burst by ~8%. if you're more frequently swapping to shortbow to burst rather than escape this can be a good option.

• Sigil of Escape over Sigil of Cleansing (on Shortbow) - good for breaking roots in a pinch.

Amulets

• is good against power builds that deal little condition damage.

• is a viable glass option but can be very punishing. best used with Skritt Scuffle.

Usage

Basics

• You'll be camping Axe / Dagger 90% of the time, only swapping to Shortbow to move around the map faster with Infiltrator's Arrow or supplement a burst with Cluster Bombs.

• Use axe skills 1 and 2 (Spinning Axe and Venomous Volley) to throw axes. These axes remain where they land for 10 seconds and can be recalled onto a target with your third skill, Harrowing Storm. Use these abilities until you have 5 or 6 axes, then use an artifact classified as "offensive" (e.g. Mistburn Mortar) to give yourself Fury and Might. After that, recall your axes with Harrowing Storm for a huge burst of damage. Recalled axes deal full damage again while additionally applying Torment, and also Immobilize any targets hit by 5 or more axes. Comboing artifacts and axe recalls together like this is the main gameplay of the build.

• Axe's stealth skill, Cunning Salvo, also leaves behind an axe. Very high value skill to hit.

• Harrowing Storm gives you 1/2s of evasion when used and will shadowstep you to your target, making you especially hard to pin down in a fight.

Elite specialization basics

• Antiquaries gain access to Skritt Swipe which functions as their Steal, benefiting from all traits that would affect it. Using it (with or without a target) will give you a set of artifacts. Your F2 will always be an offensive artifact, F3 is always a defensive artifact, and F4 will be a random one.

• Artifacts have two classifications: "offensive" and "defensive". This classification determines which buffs you get with Possessive Hoarder.

• This build takes two traits that increase the number of artifacts you can use after pilfering: Prolific Plunderer and Improvisation. Together, they allow you to use all three artifacts from a pilfered set, which results in a lot of boons, damage, and utility.

• Using an artifact restores 1 initiative. "Offensive" artifacts give Might and Fury and should always be used before landing other skills if possible. "Defensive" artifacts tend to deal less damage but provide the defensive boons Protection and Regeneration and some other beneficial effect (e.g. an evade on Exalted Hammer).

• Artifacts have an immediate effect and a lingering bonus effect. The lingering effects are applied when the skill finishes casting. They don't need to hit anything for you to get the lingering effects.

• Learning what artifacts do it important to the success of Antiquary. At first you can probably spam them without worrying too much, but as you progress, take some time to understand what each does, learn what their icons look like at a quick glance, and work to squeeze out as much value from them as possible. They are really the only thing Antiquary has that makes it considerable over every other variation of thief.

• Here is a quick guide to each artifact:
• These are good for offense:
• Summon Kryptis Turret (places a stationary turret that shoots out a number of high damage bolts. if any of these hit, you get bonus damage against that target for a few seconds. this is the highest damage artifact you have access to.)
• Metal Legion Guitar (long channel time. pulses good AoE damage 4 times before smashing down for a Stun. if you finish the channel, you get a buff that lets you use one free stealth attack - Cunning Salvo is extremely good in this build so this artifact tends to be one of the highest value ones.)
• Forged Surfer Dash (slide towards your cursor and drop high damage, short fuse bombs at your feet. you then continue to drop bombs every few seconds, making this skill better for kiting than playing offensively.)
• Mistburn Mortar (shoots a projectile glob at your cursor that creates a damaging fire field when it lands. the pulsing damage is quite good.)

• These are good for both:
• Chak Shield (instant ability. creates a dome around you that destroys incoming projectiles, pulses barrier, and hits multiple times. great against Blind and Aegis.)
• Exalted Hammer (evades for a short duration and deals good damage upon landing. use to counter-pressure, reposition, or escape.)
• Holo-Dancer Decoy (short cast. places a dancing decoy that taunts targets around it for 1 second. additionally, it pulses might around it; use with Harrowing Storm for best effect.)

• Save these for defense:
• Zephyrite Sun Crystal (lots of evasion frames, triggers multiple cleanses. deals good damage and can help with burst, but usually best when used defensively).

General

• The TL;DR for the build's core gameplan is as follows: Enter fights with a full set of artifacts already available from an earlier Skritt Swipe (F1), throwing out axes with its first two skills, then using an artifact (e.g. Summon Kryptis Turret) before recalling the axes with Harrowing Storm. The result is Fury and Might from Possessive Hoarder and a huge burst of damage. From there, use all remaining artifacts and then Skritt Swipe again and throw out the new artifacts for even more damage. Opening with stealth for axe's stealth attack Cunning Salvo increases the amount of burst even further thanks to Even the Odds.

• Use Skritt Swipe (without a target) during downtime to fish for good sets of artifacts, or during combat on a target to interrupt a key ability. Since artifacts are such a big part of the build, deciding whether to use Skritt Swipe immediately as it's up or waiting to interrupt an ability with it is a choice you'll regularly have to make.

• Pay attention to any projectile hate that would eat your axes - reflect fields, magnetic aura, etc.. If possible, use non-projectile artifacts while waiting for the hate to go away, or drop your target and throw your axes at nothing so you can recall them later.

• As axes require setup and a lot of initiative, it can be a good idea to swap to shortbow after landing a big Harrowing Storm and spam Cluster Bomb instead than trying to set up another recall.

Defense

• Remain at range while throwing axes, only entering melee with Harrowing Storm when a good opportunity presents itself. Always keep in mind which artifacts you have and formulate a followup plan based on them. Some artifacts such as Exalted Hammer deal high damage in addition to making you evade for the duration, making them excellent for countering attacks.

• Harrowing Storm gives a small window of evasion on use. If possible, use the skill to both recall your axes and dodge a powerful attack.

• Your cleanse is strong but limited. Withdraw, Roll for Initiative, and Dagger Storm (if taken) all immediately cure 2 conditions (in addition to any already cleansed by these abilities) thanks to Trickster. Additionally, Zephyrite Sun Crystal can cleanse you multiple times, but you won't always have access to it. Save it for the right moment.

• Any artifact categorized as "defensive" will give Protection and Regeneration when used thanks to Possessive Hoarder.

Advanced

• Once you're comfortable with the main gameplay of Antiquary, you can start to play around your combo fields.

• Venomous Volley's projectiles will occasionally act (20% chance) as a "projectile finisher". This gives them added effects depending on which combo field they pass through. The main ones are Mistburn Mortar, which creates a fire field and adds Burning to the axe, and Chak Shield, which causes the axe to cleanse a condition (granted you're in melee range of the target. it's weird, but if you're using Harrowing Storm you can drop Chak Shield as the axes are coming in to benefit from the finishers).

• Exalted Hammer is a leap finisher. Use it through Chak Shield to gain Light Aura, Mistburn Mortar for Fire Aura (extra might and burning, nice), and even Shadow Refuge for Dark Aura.

• Lastly, your stealth attack, Cunning Salvo, is a blast finisher. It's impractical to try and always combo this one with a field, but it's easy to use it with Chak Shield when recalling axes for additional condition cleansing.