Build:Spellbreaker - Strength Dagger

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

Focused on: Direct damage, Boon removal and Mobility

Designed for: PvP Conquest

Difficulty:

TBD

This build was last updated on April 14, 2022 and is up to date for the October 8, 2024 patch.

Overview

A duelist Spellbreaker PvP build with a good mix of defense and offense.

Skill Bar

Greatsword

Dagger/Shield

Utility

Slot Changes

Utility

For the optional slot:

• Endure Pain - a great defensive option against both burst damage and CC. Currently the most popular option.

• Frenzy - a versatile skill which heals and restores some endurance through trait synergy, breaks stun, and even adds some extra burst.

• Stomp - bit of a niche skill, not very popular right now but it's a short CD stun break with AoE CC, Peak Performance synergy, and even some Stability which could be used to make Mending harder to interrupt. This CC also works on downed enemies which is great for disrupting skills like Signet of Mercy or just denying rez attempt in general even if the enemy has Stability by knocking the downed enemy away from them.

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Equipment

Greatsword

Sigil

Sigil

Dagger

Shield

Sigil

Sigil

Rune

Amulet

Equipment Variants

Amulet

• - a more tanky option for harder matches.

Usage

Elite specialization basics

• Full Counter (FC) recharges your Burst skills Arcing Slice and Breaching Strike. Always try to use it when you can refresh their duration, except if you're under heavy pressure in which case you can use FC purely for defensive means.

• Always try to make sure Full Counter goes off: briefly move into hostile AoE spells, tank Mesmer clones or Ranger pets, etc.

• FC is both one of the best defensive and offensive skill in the build as it blocks, evades, grants Stability, and performs an unblockable AoE CC attack when triggered.

• Both burst skills and Full Counter cost adrenaline. If you only need a little more till you can use them then Versatile Rage can get you there.

General

• Settings: disable auto targeting, otherwise it'd be impossible to use skills like Rush for disengaging.

• Playstyle: this build is all about weaving hard hitting skills into chains of block and evade frames while tethering yourself to the target with Magebane Tether as often as possible. The combos aren't set in stone, rather you'll need to adapt based on what CDs are available. Minimize melee contact, dodge/block/evade as many things as possible, and spike targets when an opening shows.
  • Example: Bladetrail from outside melee range ⇒ dodge to your target ⇒ Arcing Slice ⇒ Whirlwind Attack
  • Any burst skill can proc Magebane Tether, including Full Counter.
  • The goal is to maintain the tether as long as possible for the damage boost and Might Makes Right synergy.
  • Whirlwind Attack, Arcing Slice, and Breaching Strike are your main damaging skills, everything else is basically a filler or something that's used to set up burst / survive enemy burst.

Fast Hands reduces the CD of weapon swapping to 5 seconds, which keeps gameplay rather fast paced with minimal downtime. As a result you won't be auto attacking much unless you're cleaving a downed enemy.

• Despite its range, Bull's Charge is best used in melee to make it harder to react to.

• CCing a target removes a boon and deals damage/grants adrenaline via Loss Aversion.

• All movement skills remove the Immobilized condition - list of movement skills in the build:
  • Greatsword: Whirlwind Attack and Rush. These two skills also provide excellent mobility both in and out of combat.
  • Dagger/Shield: Aura Slicer, Shield Bash, and the burst skill Breaching Strike. The Dagger skills are also excellent gap closers.
  • Rampage: Kick (Rampage), Dash, and Seismic Leap.
  • Utility: Bull's Charge

Conditon cleansing & general survival

• Brawler's Recovery and Warrior's Sprint will be used to manage condition levels before resorting to mass cleanses.

• Mending cleanses 5 conditions and should be used pretty much on CD, assuming you're missing a large chunk of health or need to deal with conditions.

• "Shake It Off!" (SIO) is both a stun break and a source of condition removal for you and your team. This skill also has 2 charges - the first one can be used a bit more freely as the skill will start recharging immediately while still retaining 1 charge to be used later.

• Kite, a LOT. You want to run out of harm's way using mobility skills as much as possible before resorting to major defensive CDs.

• Bull's Charge is great if you want to run away from pressure as it can build quite the gap while providing an evade frame.

• If taken Frenzy breaks stun and refills some endurance in addition to a bit of healing thanks to Might Makes Right.

• If taken Endure Pain is the best defensive skill you could have against direct damage but it has to be used preemptively (unless you used it to break stun). Keep in mind that you're still vulnerable to condition damage, CC, and even life steal from skills such as Enchanted Daggers!

Rampage

• Rampage is what you use when you quickly want to burst/CC a target, or desperately need mobility to either chase down someone, or run away from a fight. Bonus points if you manage to attach Magebane Tether just before using your elite.

• CC skills barely do any damage anymore, most of the damage in this form comes from autoattacks and Dash.

• Throw Boulder is a popular opener, allowing you to CC targets from range and then either follow up with Dash for burst damage or Seismic Leap to keep the CC chain rolling.

• Using Frenzy before Rampage can enhance your burst significantly.

Top Streamers

• Twitch: Ajaxx
• Twitch: Boyce
• Twitch: Tramadex

Related Builds

• Magebane Roamer - the WvW Roaming version of the build.