Sword and Shield Dagger PVE Guide

Introduction

Welcome to our Sword and Shield Dagger PVE guide. In this guide, we’ll go over our recommended way to set-up the Sword and Shield weapon combination for PVE group activities, such as the Dimensional Circle. This set-up is used to fill a “Tank” spot in a 6-player dungeon group.

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 Sword and Shield Dagger PVE build:

These particular Specializations unlock strong aggro control for a tank player in a 6-player dungeon in Throne and Liberty. The build utilizes several aggression generating Specializations and protective buffs. However, this set-up leaves you open to dealing some decent damage yourself. 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 50 Perception and 60 Strength while participating in a dungeon run – gear depending. Below is our recommended baseline Stat allocation:

Dexterity – 12 Points
Perception – 21 Points
Strength – 15 Points

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.

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 Sword and Shield Dagger PVE Build

Our Sword and Shield Dagger PVE guide not only aims to teach you how to put it together, but also how to play it.

The main objective of playing Sword and Shield Dagger in a PVE dungeon is simple. You’re a “tank” slot in the group. As a result, you’ll have the task of holding the aggro of every mob and boss and engaging every encounter. You’ll want to be the first to hit a boss in each encounter to ensure nobody else messes with the aggro.

Skill Rotations

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

Inject Venom (Lightning Infusion)
Piercing Attack
Provoking Roar
Cleaving Moonlight x1
Throwing Knives (Lightning Throw)
Cleaving Moonlight x2
Piercing Attack
Fatal Stigma
Brutal Incision (Thunderclouds Bombing)

There is plenty of times where you can do a smaller burst of damage using only the damage Skills above. However, you’ll want to keep perfect uptime of your buffs and boss de-buffs. There is not too much to playing Tank in dungeons other than making sure you keep aggro with your provoke Skills. Finally, be sure to educate yourself on every boss mechanic for dungeons so you know how to navigate them as a Tank. Finally, you can use Shadow Strike to jump ahead to the next pack of trash mobs or follow a moving boss.