Deadeye - Power Deadeye

The community gave this build a rating, making it top-tier: Great

Designed for: Open World and Open World General

Expansions required:

Difficulty:

Normal

This build was last updated on August 27, 2025 and is up to date for the August 19, 2025 patch.

Overview

Power deadeye focuses on the use of dagger and rifle. The build revolves around marking a target for assassination with Deadeye's Mark, and striking it to generate 7 Malice to regain initiative and get lots of boons, most notably permanent 25 Might and Fury. That Malice is then consumed to empower the Stealth Attacks Malicious Backstab or Malicious Death's Judgment to inflict massive damage. The build makes frequent use of short bursts of Stealth, has good mobility, and is very fast paced.

Its main downside are that it has low amounts of cleave/AoE damage, and is relatively fragile.

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Skill Bar

Dagger/Dagger

Rifle

Utility

Weapon Variants

Always keep a shortbow in your inventory should you need it for tagging events.
You can replace either weapon with Staff for more AoE damage if you have unlocked Weaponmaster Training with Secrets of the Obscure.

Skill variants

Heal Skill

Hide in Shadows provides good healing, cleanses damaging conditions, and gives stealth.

Malicious Restoration - in rare situations, this skill can be useful to transfer conditions to your enemy. But you lose access to Stealth.

Utility skills

Shadow Gust provides both Stealth and melee range Crowd Control (CC). Haste is an offensive stun break. Shadow Flare provides AoE damage. Other options can be considered should the situation require it.

Binding Shadow - if you need boon removal. It also applies a good amount of vulnerability.
Blinding Powder - defensive stun break with Stealth. However, be very careful to use this skill after your bullets hit the enemy or you will be Revealed since Blinding Powder has no cast time.
Scorpion Wire - very situational. Extremely good for pulling the bomb in Battle in Tarir south lane meta event.
Shadowstep - amazing mobility plus stunbreak and condi cleanse.
Shadow Refuge - long duration of stealth for channelling Hero Challenges.
Signet of Agility - if conditions are a problem, though its passive precision is not needed due to Keen Observer.

Elite Skill

Shadow Meld removes Revealed and gives Stealth. It's very useful for rifle, but not so much for dagger which already has access to stealth. Other options can be considered.

Dagger Storm - a 4 second evade.
Basilisk Venom - strong crowd control if there are allies nearby.
Thieves Guild - good damage skill

Specializations

Invigorating Precision - sacrifices a small amount of damage for sustain. Great option for solo open world.
Silent Scope - sacrifices damage for more stealth.
Be Quick or Be Killed - can be considered when only killing enemies with very low health that die so quickly that you cannot reach 7 Malice for Maleficent Seven.

Equipment

Ascended gear and stat infusions are not required; you can use exotic gear with the same stats.
This set uses gear similar to Daredevil - Power DPS, making it excellent for general PVE.

Head
Berserker

Shoulders
Berserker

Chest
Berserker

Hands
Berserker

Legs
Berserker

Feet
Berserker

Backpiece
Berserker

Accessory
Berserker

Amulet
Assassin

Ring
Berserker

Dagger
Berserker

Sigil

Rifle
Berserker

Sigil

Rune
x6

Relic

If you are gearing this character from zero, start with exotic quality gear. Search the trading post for "Nika" armor. Then search for the weapons you want to use: "Exterminator" rifle, "Usoku's Needle" dagger, "Shattered Short Bow" shortbow. Upgrade to ascended gear as you progress. See also: Guide:How to Gear a Character.

Rune of Superior Rune of the Dragonhunter and Rune of Superior Rune of the Scholar are interchangeable.
Other relic options include Relic of the Thief which is easier to activate, Relic of Zakiros to trade a minor amount of damage for sustain, or Relic of the Cavalier to start combat with boons.
For defense, equip the highest tier Jade Core you can afford.

Consumables

Budget consumables are acceptable for use in open world.

DPS

Prioritize Steak Ascended food.
/
/

Defense

Farming

Prioritize Steak Ascended food.
/
(and variants)

Usage

General

This build focuses on marking your target with Deadeye's Mark to build 7 Malice and assassinate them with Malicious Backstab or Malicious Death's Judgment. Every attack that you make against a Marked target generates 1 Malice, and 1 additional Malice if the attack is a critical strike, so this build really wants to have 100% critical chance. Thankfully, Keen Observer and Twin Fangs help with that. Marking the target is extremely important, not only to start generating Malice with your attacks, but also because you deal increased damage to them, and take less damage from them, thanks to Iron Sight. Killing the target refreshes the cooldown of Deadeye's Mark thanks to Renewing Gaze.

Reaching 7 Malice provides a plethora of boons through Maleficent Seven, most notably Might and Fury. This synergyses amazingly well with Premeditation. You also apply a few conditions on your enemy through Serpent's Touch, Lotus Poison, Wild Strike, Lotus Strike, and Dancing Dagger, which synergyses with Exposed Weakness. This trait becomes even better when playing in groups, as nearby players will be applying more conditions to the enemy.

This build makes frequent use of short bursts of Stealth to deal damage with the very strong stealth attacks Malicious Backstab or Malicious Death's Judgment. Your sources of stealth are stolen skills used above 5 Malice, your utility skills, your elite skill, and your weapon skill Cloak and Dagger. If you're going to focus extensively on using the rifle weapon, consider using the trait Silent Scope. If also using Blinding Powder, be very careful to use it after your bullets hit the enemy or you will be Revealed since Blinding Powder has no cast time.

Damage

Rifle

Rifle can attack from 1500 range, but has no AoE damage. However, bullets pierce, so with good positioning you can attack multiple targets at the same time.

Malicious Death's Judgment is your highest damage ability, but it can only be used from Stealth as it is the rifle's Stealth Attack. Always build some malice (preferably 7) before using it to massively increase its damage.
Three Round Burst - is your highest damage skill and provides Might. You have to Kneel to use this skill.

Rotation opener

Kneel
Deadeye's Mark
Three Round Burst X3
Stealth
Malicious Death's Judgment

Loop

Three Round Burst X3
Stealth
Malicious Death's Judgment

Dagger/Dagger

Daggers are melee range and have innate access to stealth. They have slightly higher AoE damage than rifle, and their damage is amplified against low health targets.

Malicious Backstab is your highest damage ability, but it can only be used from Stealth as it is the dagger's Stealth Attack. Always strike from behind, and build some malice (preferably 7) before using it to massively increase its damage.
Dancing Dagger is your highest damage skill and best malice generator against enemies above 50% HP.
Heartseeker is your highest damage skill and best malice generator against enemies below 50% HP.
Cloak and Dagger to gain stealth to use Malicious Backstab.

Rotation opener

Deadeye's Mark
Dancing Dagger X3 (if above 50% hp) / Heartseeker X3 (if below 50% hp)
Stolen Skill
Malicious Backstab
Dancing Dagger x2 (if above 50% hp) / Heartseeker X2 (if below 50% hp)
Double Strike -> Wild Strike -> Lotus Strike
Cloak and Dagger
Malicious Backstab

Loop

Dancing Dagger x2 (if above 50% hp) / Heartseeker X2 (if below 50% hp)
Double Strike -> Wild Strike -> Lotus Strike
Cloak and Dagger
Malicious Backstab

When Deadeye's Mark comes off cooldown, use it when you enter stealth, then use Malicious Backstab and continue with the loop.
Be careful not to use Cloak and Dagger while Revealed. That's why the rotation includes an auto attack chain.

Sources of stealth

Mastery of this build requires management of your sources of Stealth, which are the only way to use your Stealth Attack to reset your initiative. While dagger/dagger has that covered with Cloak and Dagger, rifle will require you to use other sources of Stealth.

Stolen skill - casting your stolen skill while at 5 Malice or above will stealth you for 3 seconds. As we're using Maleficent Seven, try to use it only at 7 Malice. In long fights, make sure to use the stolen skill before Deadeye's Mark becomes available again, as stolen skills do not stack.
Shadow Gust provides 3 seconds of stealth. Low priority as you might need to use this for CC. Requires valid path to target to cast. Note that this will launch your target away, so when using dagger/dagger make sure to run behind them before using Malicious Backstab.
Silent Scope should be considered if you're going to focus on the rifle weapon. With this trait, dodging while wielding a rifle stealths you for 3 seconds. As it has no cooldown, this is only limited by your endurance, and this build has permanent Vigor. Nevertheless, remember to save at least one bar of endurance to dodge incoming attacks.
Shadow Meld has 2 charges, this is the first stealth skill you want to use. The first charge will recharge as you still have access to a second charge should you need it.

Notes

Malicious Death's Judgment inflicts Revealed when cast, so it will always make use of Revealed Training.
Try to stay above 50% health to benefit from Keen Observer and Twin Fangs.
When possible, try to attack from behind to benefit from Twin Fangs. This isn't required against bosses or other enemies with defiance bars, the trait is always active against them.
If using Action Camera, they keybind "Look Behind" can be used while casting Death's Retreat to quickly and seamlessly jump forward.
- if you don't use action camera, you will have to stop running, turn your character, cast the skill, turn the character again, and resume running. The keybind "About Face" can help with that.
Use Sniper's Cover to destroy dangerous projectile attacks like the volley of arrows from the Tengu Hero Point in Auric Basin.
Death's Retreat deals damage before teleporting. If you are in Stealth, it will reveal you.
Malicious Death's Judgment and Malicious Backstab will only deal their bonus damage from Malice against the Marked target. Marking target A and building 7 Malice but then using the Stealth Attack on target B will not consume Malice nor deal bonus damage.
Most of your rifle bullets pierce their targets. When fighting groups of enemies, try to line them up to strike them all.
Deadeye's Mark lasts 30 seconds and has a cooldown of 25 seconds. Make sure your target is always marked.
Death Blossom can be used as an emergency evade.
Dancing Dagger bounces between enemies. When fighting groups of enemies, be careful not to Stealth too soon after casting it, or the dagger will bounce and reveal you before you can use the Stealth Attack.
Heartseeker is a leap finisher. If you leap through a smoke field, you will gain 3 seconds of Stealth. If it strikes anything, you will be Revealed, which will ruin your rotation. The pistol/pistol thief from Thieves Guild can create a smoke field, so watch out for that.

Defense

This build severely lacks defense, and relies on killing enemies before they can deal much damage.

Invigorating Precision provides some sustain, especially since this build has permanent Fury. It stacks with Relic of Zakiros.
You have several sources of stealth, which allow for repositioning or disengaging.
Remember that you can always kill enemies with Skirmisher's Shot while running away, and they won't even come close to you.

Crowd Control

Shadow Gust
If you need more crowd control you can use Basilisk Venom, or Scorpion Wire, or Prepare Pitfall.

Video showcase

Power deadeye showcase Showcase of power deadeye against some open world enemies and bosses.

Deadeye - Power Deadeye

Contents

Overview

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