Build:Daredevil - Power DPS

Part of the current metagame

Our curator decided this build is in the current metagame regardless of rating. The community gave this build a rating, making it top-tier: Great

Focused on: Direct damage

Designed for: Raids and Fractals

Expansions required:

Difficulty:

Normal

This build was last updated on November 23, 2024 and is up to date for the October 8, 2024 patch.

Overview

The power DPS raid build for Daredevil. This is an easy to play build that mostly dodges and autoattacks for high multi-target damage. Due to evading for most of its rotation, it can easily avoid boss attacks. It also has very high mobility, and provides high utility to its squad with Basilisk Venom, Stealth and various raid boss stolen skills.

Skill Bar

Staff

Axe/Pistol

Utility

Weapon Variants

Axe/Pistol is there to provide a ranged option, and a strong opener.

• For players that don't own Secrets of the Obscure, Pistol/Pistol does a similar job.
  • Offhand Pistol in particular is a useful source of extra CC via Head Shot and for Black Powder - a smoke field that can be blasted for AoE stealth.
• Spear is the highest damage option for players that own Janthir Wilds, but it is a lot more complicated. Replace Axe/Pistol.
• If you don't intend to use the second set for damage, Shortbow can be taken for mobility such as getting to green circles on Dhuum, and for various skips in fractals.

Skill Variants

Healing

• Signet of Malice for a relatively weak but continuous healing effect. Good if you do not plan on using your heal skill.
• Withdraw if you need an extra evade, or for fights that have a lot of movement impairing conditions.
• Channeled Vigor - reduces the damage of your opener, and means you can't stealth for extra CC, but increases your endurance generation.

Utility

• The Spear rotation is very endurance-hungry, so Signet of Agility replaces Impairing Daggers for the active effect.
• You can swap Impairing Daggers for any useful utility, such as:
  • Prepare Pitfall for extra CC.
  • Smoke Screen for projectile defence.
  • Prepare Shadow Portal for niche situations such as Qadim.
  • Haste offers some self-quickness in groups where the supports aren't doing their job.
  • Shadow Refuge for AoE stealth.
  • Shadowstep can be used to teleport to locations quickly.

Be aware that removing Impairing Daggers lowers your endurance gain, which in turn will mean you have to modify your rotation (see below for more details).

Elite

• Impact Strike for breakbar damage during encounters where Basilisk Venom gets wasted on adds.
• Thieves Guild for extra burst damage.
• Dagger Storm offers projectile reflect and a three second evade that you can move during.

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Specializations

Trait Variants

• Use Improvisation on encounters where you steal Throw Magnetic Bomb - this is a DPS loss, but not a huge one and could be worth it if the pull will be helpful.
• Use Invigorating Precision if you're having trouble surviving. This is a ~10% DPS loss.
• Use Marauder's Resilience for more survivability when not using Impairing Daggers.
• Use Escapist's Fortitude if you need extra condition cleanses when not using Impairing Daggers.
• Use Unhindered Combatant for mobility between encounters.

Equipment

Head
Berserker

Shoulders
Assassin

Chest
Berserker

Hands
Berserker

Legs
Berserker

Feet
Berserker

Backpiece
Berserker

Accessory
Berserker

Accessory
Berserker

Amulet
Berserker

Ring
Berserker

Ring
Berserker

Staff
Berserker

Sigil

Sigil

Axe
Berserker

Pistol
Berserker

Sigil

Sigil

Rune
x6

Infusion
x11

Infusion
x7

Relic

• If using Spear, the frequent Daze from Distracting Throw makes Relic of the Claw a stronger option.
• If you do not have stat infusions, swap one accessory to Assassin stats.
• If you regularly swap between using Signet of Agility or not, a much simpler gear setup involves using full Berserker stats gear (and full Mighty infusions) and an Assassin stats Amulet. Swap it to Berserker stats if taking Signet of Agility.
  • Otherwise, you want to aim for ~2008 precision if not using Signet of Agility.

Equipment Variants

• If you'd prefer a simpler rotation, you can run full Berserker stats and Signet of Agility instead of Impairing Daggers.

Consumables

Food

• or ascended versions

Utility

Usage

Assassin's Signet can be activated for additional burst damage, but due to the different timings on your major skills, keeping it passive is practically the same damage as using it outside of the opening burst.

If a boss becomes Exposed (or otherwise takes increased damage for a time), using Assassin's Signet at this time will be advantageous, as will using it just before your target phases/dies.

The goal is to maximise Bounding Dodger and Havoc Specialist uptime while using Fist Flurry and Impairing Daggers (if taking) off cooldown. Fill the remaining time with Weakening Charge and auto chains.

Impairing Daggers Rotation

With Impairing Daggers you have enough endurance gain (via Brawler's Tenacity) to be more aggressive with dodges and land the dodge damage while still under the effects of Bounding Dodger. The goal then becomes to allow yourself enough time for your dodge to hit without delaying key skills.

Axe Opener

If possible, you want to stack up as many axes as you can on the far side of the boss, the further away the better. The timing on this opener is quite difficult, so you can skip the precast axes and Step 2 if desired.

1. Hide in Shadows
2. Orchestrated Assault - if your axes are far enough away, you will have time to hit your stealth attack before the returning axes reveal you.
3. Assassin's Signet
4. Cunning Salvo - good damage and refunds some of the initiative from Orchestrated Assault
5. Dodge
6. Venomous Volley
7. Spinning Axe x2
8. Orchestrated Assault
9. Weapon swap
10. Dodge
11. Weakening Charge
12. Fist Flurry
13. Weakening Charge
14. Palm Strike
15. Dodge
16. Weakening Charge x2
17. Impairing Daggers

• If you wish to skip the axe section, begin at step 10 and activate Assassin's Signet just before the dodge hits

Rest of the Rotation

In general, your "loop" will involve a Dodge, one Weakening Charge and one auto chain. This leaves approximately one second before you need to dodge again, which can be filled with:

• Fist Flurry ⇒ Palm Strike
• Impairing Daggers and another Weakening Charge
• Another auto chain - this will be slightly too long to get the next dodge under the Bounding Dodger buff, so if you have enough endurance, you can dodge between the second and third skills in the chain without interrupting it.

Skill order is not fixed, but use your utility skills as a priority, and not both in the same "loop" unless the boss is about to phase.

Video example (with axe opener)

Non-Impairing Daggers Rotation

As Assassin's Signet has a longer cooldown than Fist Flurry, use Fist Flurry off cooldown, and perform the Signet Burst every other time.

Signet Burst

1. Dodge
2. Assassin's Signet before you land the dodge
3. Weakening Charge
4. Fist Flurry
5. Weakening Charge
6. Palm Strike
7. Dodge
8. Weakening Charge
9. Weakening Charge

Loop Rotation

1. Dodge
2. Weakening Charge
3. Repeat your auto-attack chain until your next dodge is up

Video example

Rotation Notes

• If using Tripwire, prepare the skill off cooldown (when you're not bursting), and trigger it during your burst.
• Use your signet burst again when Assassin's Signet comes off cooldown.
  • If Assassin's Signet is about to come off cooldown but you will only have half a bar of endurance or less when it does, use Steal to immediately get endurance to perform the signet burst. In this case, use a Dodge at step 8 instead of Weakening Charge.
  • If the boss is about to phase, feel free to spam Weakening Charge to get some extra damage in (while maintaining Bounding Dodger).
• Weakening Charge animation locks you, and it cannot be canceled with a dodge or weapon stow (this is why Palm Strike is delayed - to allow for a potential dodge). Be sure to watch boss mechanics so that you are not hit while animation locked - you can delay Weakening Charge during the looping rotation, or switch it with Fist Flurry, if you anticipate that you need to move or jump a mechanic.

Spear Rotation

Click to view

Spear is more complicated than other thief weapons as it employed a combo system where skills 2 and 3 each have three sub-skills that are classified as Lead Attacks, Follow Ups or Finishers. These flow together in order, with the active skills changing depending on where you are in the chain, and you can switch between 2 and 3 for different effects. For this build the standard combo is Mantis Sting ⇒ Vampiric Slash ⇒ Falling Spider (2 ⇒ 3 ⇒ 2).

Additional complexity is added by your stealth attack, and skills 4 and 5, all gaining bonuses if they are used after a Finisher:

• Malicious Ashen Assault regenerates 4 initiative
• Distracting Throw grants a 10-second damage buff
• Shadow Veil blocks additional attacks

If this isn't enough, Distracting Throw will also count as a Lead Attack in this case, which means the next combo will skip Mantis Sting.

The general structure will be:

• Maintain the Bounding Dodger buff by dodging every one or two combos. This requires a lot of endurance, so Steal and Signet of Agility are used to refresh it (both are instant cast). As a last resort if the phase goes long enough, you can use Channeled Vigor.
• Use Fist Flurry ⇒ Palm Strike off cooldown, but without dropping your damage buffs or interrupting Stealth
• Use your basic combo, replacing it with Distracting Throw ⇒ Vampiric Slash ⇒ Shattering Assault ⇒ Ashen Assault every two or three combos to maintain the Distracting Throw as well as recover initiative.
• As this rotation also overcaps initiative, you can occasionally use an extra basic combo (more details below).

With many competing demands, there isn't a consistent loop that can be defined, so the opener below is long enough to show off a few of the points above in action. Be aware that Staff can be used to finish a phase, so there is a separate section for that.

Opener
The first two steps are optional, as you can cycle through your combos without needing to hit a target. This allows you to "prepare" Falling Spider for a stronger opener. The combo will reset after four seconds, so you need to know when the fight will start (on many bosses it's simple to use the first two skills while running in).

1. Mantis Sting
2. Vampiric Slash
3. Dodge
4. Falling Spider
5. Distracting Throw
6. Fist Flurry ⇒ Palm Strike
7. Dodge
8. Vampiric Slash ⇒ Falling Spider
9. Mantis Sting ⇒ Vampiric Slash ⇒ Falling Spider

Basic Loop
Over time, Fist Flurry might end up desynced from this loop. If this is the case, use it as soon as you can (as long as it won't break Stealth), and delay Palm Strike until the usual place in the next loop.

1. Distracting Throw
2. Fist Flurry ⇒ Palm Strike (if available)
3. Dodge
4. Vampiric Slash ⇒ Shattering Assault ⇒ Ashen Assault
5. Dodge
6. Mantis Sting ⇒ Vampiric Slash ⇒ Falling Spider

Extra Combo
When you have initiative to burn, you can throw in an extra combo at the end of the basic loop as below. A good time to do this is when Ashen Assault fills your initiative, and you will not have Fist Flurry available the next loop.

1. Distracting Throw
2. Dodge
3. Vampiric Slash ⇒ Falling Spider
4. Mantis Sting ⇒ Vampiric Slash ⇒ Falling Spider

Staff Finisher
If the boss is about to phase, you can expend all your remaining initiative by swapping to Staff and spamming Weakening Charge. You don't want to lose the buff from Distracting Throw though, so if you think you're within 10 seconds of phasing, swap after using it.

If you don't have enough initiative to purely spam Weakening Charge, follow a basic loop until you can:

1. Dodge
2. Weakening Charge
3. Staff Strike ⇒ Staff Bash ⇒ Punishing Strikes

Finally, when you're within five seconds of phasing you can activate Assassin's Signet for another damage boost.

Video example

General Tips

• Try to dodge off cooldown to maximize Havoc Specialist uptime.
  • Be careful not to leave yourself without enough endurance to dodge major attacks - downstate is the biggest DPS loss of them all!
  • Generally you should avoid interrupting your autochain when possible, as the third skill does a lot of damage. If you get a dodge bar mid-chain, you can dodge and then finish the chain after you land, before using Weakening Charge.
• When it comes to fighting actual bosses where positioning matters, you may have to manage where your dodge ends so that you aren't forced into a bad spot.
  • For example, if you dodge through Artsariiv, you will be in a purple damaging AoE. Here you would have to dodge to the side or stand at the side of her so dodging through her will land you on the other side of her which is safe.
• On Staff, you can use Vault or Debilitating Arc as evades if you're out of dodges.
• Use Basilisk Venom with nearby allies to break defiance bars.
• Cluster Bomb can be used to blast for Might or Stealth - particularly useful in dungeons or fractals. Make sure not to double tap it as only the first skill counts as a blast finisher.
• Infiltrator's Arrow can be used to skip parts of certain fractals such as the lasers in Aetherblade and the scaffolding in Cliffside.

Group Stealth

Thief's unique support in groups is long-lasting group-wide Stealth, which lets you run past trash without having to fight it. This lets you skip large sections of dungeons and certain fractals.

• Black Powder should be used as the primary smoke field due to lack of cooldown. Have party members chain blasts in this field with you, while you blast it with Cluster Bomb. The smoke field only lasts 4s so you need help from your party in order to stack a significant amount of stealth.
  • Use Smoke Screen in less organised groups since it gives a longer stealth field for easier blasting.
• Shadow Refuge gives a large amount of area stealth without needing to use blast finishers. This skill is useful when stealthing next to or on top of mobs since most blast finishers deal damage and thus break stealth. It can also be used to reapply stealth in the middle of a skip. When possible retrait for Shadow Arts before using it to get the benefit of Meld with Shadows and the cooldown reduction of Concealed Defeat.
• Blinding Powder gives 3s of stealth, is a blast finisher, and causes no damage making it very useful if you have to cover a long distance. It is often used in combination with Black Powder.

Pathing

Once you trigger certain mob groups while being in stealth they will follow you unless you "path" them. This is done by standing still until the Mobs reach you.

Pathing Tutorial by Vitarain

Skipping Ahead

After stealthing with your group you can use a lot of skills to skip ahead of your group to trigger bosses/events faster to save time. This requires you to be able to retrait fast for full efficiency but isn't needed.

You should retrait to Unhindered Combatant for extreme mobility. You should also trait Shadow Arts to reduce the cooldowns of Deception skills and get longer stealth from your skills.

• Use Steal to port to mobs (only with traited Shadow Arts otherwise you get revealed/in combat due to Mug).
• Use Shadowstep to blink up ledges and for additional mobility.
• Use Infiltrator's Signet and/or Infiltrator's Strike to teleport to mobs (should be used out of range to not hit the mob).
• Use Hide in Shadows and/or Steal Traited with Hidden Thief to gain stealth to not aggro mobs.

Encounter Specific Tips

Spirit Vale

Vale Guardian

• The stolen skill from this boss is Unstable Artifact, which can be used to save downs or recover from getting ported by blue circles.
• If your team needs you to cover green circles, use Shadowstep.

For more information, see our Vale Guardian Guide.

Ghost events

• Consider equipping a shortbow, Shadowstep, and/or using Unhindered Combatant.

For more information, see our Spirit Woods Guide.

Gorseval the Multifarious

• The stolen skill from this boss is Unstable Artifact, which can be used to shadowstep between adds during the split phase.
• Be careful using Punishing Strikes while the breakbar is active to not get killed by Gorseval's Retaliation.
• You can take Signet of Malice to continue doing your rotation more comfortably during Gorseval's Retaliation.

For more information, see our Gorseval Guide.

Bandit event

• You can use Smoke Screen for blocking projectiles and extra blinds.
• Consider equipping Sword/Pistol to gain access to Black Powder for AoE blinds.

Sabetha the Saboteur

• The stolen skill from this boss is Unstable Artifact, which can be used to shadowstep to the launch pads or move downed players out of the way of the flamewall.
• The stolen skill from the split phase champions is Throw Magnetic Bomb which is a DPS increase.
• If you are clearing cannons, or are a backup, you can use Unstable Artifact or Shadowstep to reach the platforms faster.

For more information, see our Sabetha Guide.

Salvation Pass

Slothasor

• The stolen skill from this boss is Soul Stone Venom, which can be used to cleanse Slothasor's fear or if people get a lot of condis from the shake.
• You can bring Bandit's Defense to break Slothasor's fear, and to block its high damaging attacks.
• When fixated try not to move through the boss.

For more information, see our Slothasor Guide.

Bandit Trio

• The stolen skill from the champions is Throw Magnetic Bomb, which can be used to do mortars and group up enemies.
• If you are doing mortars, use Fist Flurry, Impact Strike, and Dagger/Pistol as your second weapon set. For the triple mortar spawn, you can use Impact Strike on the first target, Uppercut (Daredevil) on the second, and Fist Flurry on the third. If you miss any of those skills, swap to Dagger/Pistol and use Headshot.

For more information, see our Bandit Trio Guide.

Matthias Gabrel

• The stolen skill from this boss is Detonate Plasma, which can be used to supplement boons and provide Stability during the Ice phase or prevent the Fear at the 40% phase transition.
• You can use Vault for mobility around the room.
• Basilisk Venom will work on the breakbar but can be wasted by squadmates on Matthias or the ice patches. You can choose to run Impact Strike instead.
• You can activate Signet of Agility (if using) to stun break the rain phase knockdown.

For more information, see our Bandit Trio Guide.

Stronghold of the Faithful

Siege the Stronghold (Escort)

• The stolen skill from McLeod is Detonate Plasma, which can be used to supplement boons.
• If you are going on the towers, consider equipping a Short bow to traverse the cave easier.
• Use Smoke Screen for blocking projectiles, extra blinds, and AoE stealth.
• You can use Vault to hit up to five targets at once.

For more information, see our Siege the Stronghold Guide.

Keep Construct

• The stolen skill from Keep Construct is Unstable Artifact, which can be used for mobility when you get bombs. The stolen skill from the phantasms is Detonate Plasma. The latter can be used to provide your squad boons at the beginning of each burst phase.
• If you are pushing the core, you should equip Signet of Malice for the sustained healing.

For more information, see our Keep Construct Guide.

Twisted Castle

• The Twisted Castle is mostly movement based. Consider equipping a shortbow and/or using Shadowstep.
• You can use Vault to hit up to five targets at once.

For more information, see our Twisted Castle Guide.

Xera

• The stolen skill from this boss is Soul Stone Venom, which can be used as an emergency cleanse.
• If pulls and/or cleave are bad, you could use Smoke Screen for blocking projectiles, and extra blinds against Xera's minions.

For more information, see our Xera Guide.

Bastion of the Penitent

Cairn

• The stolen skill from this boss is Unstable Artifact, which can be used to shadowstep downed allies towards you, recover from being teleported, or move into greens at the last moment so you can maintain DPS for longer.
• Note that the third part of your autoattack chain is a projectile reflect! Be careful not to reflect any of Cairn's projectiles. Cairn's projectiles only spawn at the edge of the circle drawn around him on the platform, so if you are stacked very closely on Cairn, you can avoid reflecting projectiles.

For more information, see our Cairn Guide.

Mursaat Overseer

• The stolen skill from this boss is Detonate Plasma, which can be used to provide your squad with boons.
• Be careful when dodging that you do not end up in spikes.

For more information, see our Mursaat Overseer Guide.

Samarog

• The stolen skill from Samarog and Guldhem is Throw Magnetic Bomb. This can be both a DPS increase and used to help break the frequent breakbars.
  • Given the strength of Throw Magnetic Bomb both for CC and damage, Improvisation is very good here.
  • Rigom provides Unstable Artifact, which is far less useful but can be used to keep him immobilised inside Samarog.
• Use Basilisk Venom to help break Samarog's breakbars.
• Use your dual pistols at the start of the 3rd phase to deal damage to Samarog while he does his long animations outside of the arena.

For more information, see our Samarog Guide.

Deimos

• The stolen skill from Deimos is Unstable Artifact, which can be used to help immobilize prides. The stolen skill from the Sauls is Throw Magnetic Bomb, which can be used to help with their breakbars, cleave prides and greeds or a DPS increase.
• Since you may not have dodges available, be careful that you do not get launched by Deimos's attacks. You can choose to keep an extra dodge bar for these, delay your dodge to align with them, or use Vault as an emergency dodge.
• Dual pistols can be useful to maintain DPS on Deimos while running to the ward or while he is stuck inside of oils.

For more information, see our Deimos Guide.

Hall of Chains

Soulless Horror

• The stolen skill from this boss is Soul Stone Venom, which can be used to recover from the extreme boon corruption from scythes or tormented dead AoEs.

For more information, see our Soulless Horror Guide.

Dhuum

• The stolen skill from this boss is Unstable Artifact, which can be a lifesaver by porting downed players to yourself, or used for mobility, e.g. during Soul Split or to get to a green if you need to do them.
• Signet of Agility, when used, cleanses 3 conditions from yourself and allies and refills endurance. Be sure to use it if conditions are not being cleansed after each Greater Death Mark.
• Dual pistols can be used to hit Dhuum during the Greater Death Mark.

For more information, see our Dhuum Guide.

Mythwright Gambit

Conjured Amalgamate

• Conjured Amalgamate itself does not have a stolen skill, however its adds do. Conjured Swords give Unstable Artifact and Conjured Shields give Throw Magnetic Bomb. The latter in particular is extremely useful for CCing and cleaving down Conjured Shields as well as being a DPS increase during the burst phases.
• Use Vault to cleave down Conjured Swords and Conjured Shields if needed.

For more information, see our Conjured Amalgamate Guide.

Twin Largos

• The stolen skill from Nikare is Soul Stone Venom, and the stolen skill from Kenut is Detonate Plasma.
  • Save Soul Stone Venom for after the charge, to quickly clear Chilled and Slow from people.
• A CC elite will be useful as the bosses cannot be damaged until they are broken. Closing to melee for Impact Strike might be dangerous though.

For more information, see our Largos Assassins Guide.

Qadim

• It is highly recommended to bring a second staff with Sigil of Superior Sigil of Accuracy for when you are unable to flank Qadim.
• Take Improvisation instead of Executioner. Being able to use stolen skills twice here is extremely powerful.
• The stolen skill from the Pyres, Ancient Invoked Hydra, and Wyvern Matriarch is Detonate Plasma. The stolen skill from Qadim, Apocalypse Bringer, and Wyvern Patriarch is Throw Magnetic Bomb.
• Steal from the pyres before every DPS phase to give your squad boons immediately with Detonate Plasma. Since you can use them twice, use it once for the pyre group and once on Qadim.
• Use Throw Magnetic Bomb to cleave the Lava Elementals and help break the frequent breakbars. If you are doing the Lamp, save at least one cast for the second and third lamps each. At the 100%-66% DPS phase, save at least one cast to help CC the Apocalypse Bringer. Once it appears, use it once, and if steal is off cooldown, steal again and it use to help break the three Reapers of Flesh that spawn.
• You can precast Basilisk Venom before the Apocalypse Bringer appears.
• Vault should be able to one-shot groups of unprotected Lava Elementals if needed.
• If going into the lamp, save one Throw Magnetic Bomb for both the second and third lamps. Use one one the Moas in the second lamp, and use one on the Dredge in the third lamp. Use Dust Strike on the Giants in the third lamp to blind them as they do a significant amount of damage otherwise.

For more information, see our Qadim Guide.

The Key of Ahdashim

Cardinal Sabir

• The stolen skill from the boss is Detonate Plasma, which can be used to teleport over the shockwave without losing the damage buff.
  • In CM, it can also be used to teleport downed players to more convenient locations, as ressing takes a lot longer.

For more information, see our Cardinal Sabir Guide.

Cardinal Adina

• The stolen skill from the boss is Detonate Plasma, which can be used to supplement boons and provide extra Stability to defend against the hands in the split phase.
• Try to time your dodges so that you don't move back at the wrong time and end up getting pillar aggro.
• You can use Steal to quickly get back to the boss from pillars.

For more information, see our Cardinal Adina Guide.

Qadim the Peerless

• The stolen skill from the boss is Unstable Artifact, which can be used to save yourself if you get knocked back, or to save allies who get downed in magma.

For more information, see our Qadim the Peerless Guide.