Sword and Shield Longbow PVE Guide

Introduction

Welcome to our Sword and Shield Longbow 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 tanking and slight single-target damage for bosses 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 Longbow 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 from the S&S and decent utilities and damage from the Longbow. 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 40 Perception and 70 Strength while participating in a dungeon run – gear depending. Below is our recommended baseline Stat allocation:

Dexterity – 5 Points
Perception – 20 Points
Strength – 18 Points
Wisdom – 6 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 Longbow PVE Build

Our Sword and Shield Longbow 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 Longbow 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

For a full Tank spec of Sword and Shield Longbow, there is not really a “rotation”. It is more about knowing your Skills and how to manage them. For example, using your aggression-stacking tools such as Piercing Attack and Provoking Roar over time to maintain aggro of the boss. Sustain Skills like Nature’s Blessing and Healing Touch can be used to top-up your teammates Health and Mana or your own. As a result, make sure to always use Nature’s Blessing before Healing Touch as it’ll boost your Healing Touch’s effectiveness. Deadly Marker is a fantastic Cooldown Speed tool that can be stacked by you and your parties Longbow players. With enough Deadly Markers on the boss, the entire party can fight with basically no cooldowns. As a result, keep Deadly Marker stacked up at all times.

If you choose a more aggressive approach, you can use Skills similar to an AoE Abyss Dungeon farm set-up. For example, combining Spectrum of Agony with Strafing & Brutal Arrow for more damage on the boss.