Greatsword Staff PVE Build Guide

Introduction

Welcome to our Greatsword Staff PVE build guide. In this guide, we’ll go over our recommended way to set-up the weapon combination for PVE group activities, such as the Dimensional Circle. This set-up is used to fill a DPS spot in a 6-player dungeon group. The weapon combination forms the “Sentinel” Class.

Skills

Below is our Skill set-up for PVE group dungeon runs:

This Skill set-up provides a little bit of cleave for trash mobs between bosses, and a large focus on single-target boss damage in 6-player dungeons.

Skill Specializations

With 100 total points to play with once you hit Level 50, below is our recommended Specializations for the Greatsword Staff PVE build:

These particular Specializations unlock reduced cooldowns and increased single-target burst for bosses. See our Skill Specializations guide for more information.

Weapon Mastery

This guide assumes you are at least in the range of Level 13-16 Weapon Mastery. However, if you’re below this threshold, it’s not an issue. Simply spec into the mastery trees that provide the most damage first.

Stats

Stats once you reach Tier 1 Epic gear can vary frequently due to stats built into gear. As a result, try to push for at least 60 Perception and 60 Strength in standard gear. Below is our recommended baseline Stat allocation:

Dexterity – 12 Points
Perception – 19 Points
Strength – 18 Points

However, for 6-man dungeons, we recommend taking zero points in Perception and pushing it all into Dexterity & Wisdom where possible.

Gear & Equipment

The gear loadout largely, if not entirely, stays the same across all content once you reach Tier 1 Epic. Our Tier 1 Epic set assumes that most of the base content has been unlocked with the Milestones completed.

Early on, make use of your Rare gear you acquired through MSQ. It is totally fine and expected to be in Rare gear for quite a long time – so don’t worry too much! Gear between PVE and PVP usually doesn’t really change.

Obtaining Archboss weapons is a huge bonus, however, not a required one. As a result, do not worry too much about getting these weapons if you cannot find a strong guild or purchase one.

For early game progression gear, check out our leveling guide.

Guardian

Guardians are a unique transformation on a 10 minute Cooldown that gives powerful bonuses to you for 30 seconds. Some Guardians work as an additional “Active” Skill, while others provide buffs. We recommend the following Guardians for group play dungeons:

Shade Revenant Stheno – Stheno is the most offense-heavy choice in PVE. This Guardian dishes out consistent damage dealing projectiles to multiple targets.

How to Play The Greatsword Staff PVE Build

Our Greatsword Staff PVE build guide not only aims to teach you how to put it together, but also how to play it.

The main objective of playing Greatsword Staff in a PVE dungeon is simple. You’re a melee and magic-ranged DPS hybrid that plays as close to melee range as possible, dealing large strings of damage. The build can utilize smaller cooldowns like Chain Lightning between major rotations. The use of the Cold Warrior passive and the “Shock” status effect is the focal point of the build, and must be played around well.

Skill Rotations

As previously mentioned, to utilize your build and rotation effectively, use the following opener for bosses:

High Focus
DaVinci’s Courage
Stunning Blow (to apply “Shock”)
Serial Fire Bombs (Focused Fire Bombs – fully charged)
Judgment Lightning
Chain Lightning
Fireball Barrage + Ice Spear (Bombardment)
Gaia Crash
Valiant Brawl (Cruel Smite)
Guillotine Blade
Death Blow

The above rotation utilizes the full build available to you. However, there is times where pulling this off may be disrupted due to mechanics or attacks you have to avoid. The main focus of this rotation is to put the “Shock” status effect on the Boss. Doing so activates “Cold Warrior”, providing you massive amounts of Heavy Attack Chance. Combined with the Staff Passive “Flame Condensation”, you’re looking at staggering amounts of Heavy Attack Chance, dealing double damage on many attacks. As a result, buffing up and applying “Shock” through Stunning Blow before using your damage rotation ensures a very high single-target damage profile.

As always, utilize Chain Lightning and Valiant Brawl (Cruel Smite) whenever possible between rotation cooldowns for filler damage.