Crossbow / Dagger PvP Build Guide

Last Updated:October 14, 2024|Change Log

Welcome to the Crossbow / Dagger PvP Build Guide! Crossbow / Dagger allows you to play like a Rogue or Assassin in other MMORPGs. This build is also capable of a kiting playstyle similar to an Ebonsong from Archeage. Having the option to do both keeps your enemies guessing on what your next move is!

Annihilation Barrage Shot allows for an "AoE bombing" playstyle which is strong early on before players get too many defensive stats. You can use skills like Thunderclouds Bombing for high single target bursts when you want to single out specific targets.

While the game gives you the option to have a single weapon out at any given time, remember you are not "main handing" one weapon over the other. This weapon combination works best when utilizing skills and passives from both weapons.

End Game Crossbow / Dagger PvP Build

If you're interested in PvE related builds, check out our PvE Crossbow / Dagger guide!

Pros

Low Cooldowns
Access to Stealth
Fast Burst Combos
Hybrid Ranged + Melee Damage

Cons

Squishy
AOE Bombing falls off in the Late Game

Skill Builds

Some skills appear different in the Tooltip due to its Skill Specialization.

Lightning Infusion = Inject Venom
Detonation Mark = Mortal Mark
Annihilation Barrage Shot = Wild Barrage

Large Scale PvP

Small Scale / Arena PvP

AoE + Single Target Mix

In Large Scale PvP the goal is to dive the backline and try to pick off as many people as possible. Coordinating pushes with your guild and party members is the key!

Active Skills

Damage Skills

Annihilation Barrage Shot - This skill scales with Bonus Damage because you're throwing out so many hits! Phantom Smokescreen may help increase your chances at surviving if you use it right before.
Quick Fire - This is your bread and butter skill to spam from range! Combining with the Nimble Leap reset, you can use it repeatedly for high single target damage and fast stacks of Thunderclouds.
Thunderclouds Bombing - This is your core single target burst skill. You can use multi-hit skills like Quick Fire or Knife Throwing in combination with Mother Nature's Protest to get 20 Stacks of Thunderclouds quickly to ensure maximum damage on this skill.
Multi-Shot - This is an optional skill you can replace Thunderclouds Bombing with if you feel the desire to play a more ranged playstyle. Using this whenever you see bombers going stealth within your ball knocks them back and reveals them before they have time to setup their AoE Bomb.

CC

Shadow Strike - Using this from stealth is a great way to engage when going for an AoE Bomb with Annihilation Barrage Shot.

Buffs/ Debuffs

Selfless Diffusion - While this does act as a buff, save it for an additional CC Break instead.
Lightning Infusion - Putting stacks of Thunderclouds on targets is incredibly important as it increases your Critical Hit rate by a huge margin. This also allows for big bursts of single target damage with Thunderclouds Bombing.
Mother Nature's Protest - This skill helps to stack Thunderclouds by a wide margin. This also procs on skills like Knife Throwing.
Mortal Mark - This skill has a lot to it, but combined with the high number of hits you throw out, this scales well with high amounts of Bonus Damage.

Mobility Skills

Nimble Leap - With the addition of Skill Augments, this skill is so strong! It can prevent you from getting CC'd if you use it at the proper times, while also increasing ranged damage output by allowing for up to 3 consecutive Quick Fire uses.

Passive Skills

Ambidexterity - Crossbow / Dagger is heavily reliant on offhand weapon attacks so this is a must have.
Nature's Power - Mobility skills are quite easy to maintain so you can keep this buff up almost indefinitely.
Piercing Strike - Bonus Damage is done per hit dealt so this synergizes well with the number of hits you're doing to add a lot of extra damage so long as you're stacking Bonus Damage.
Assassin's Instincts - Crossbow / Dagger weapons tend to have a high variance in damage between min and max damage so it's important to get as much crit chance as possible.
Shadow Walker - Maintaining this buff is the key to your survival in PvP. Many of your damage combos involve using a mobility skill towards the beginning so maintaining this buff shouldn't be too difficult.
Wrathful Edge - Crossbow / Dagger relies heavily on landing crits so this is a must have for damage.
Destructive Fang - This can be rotated in/out of your build as you see fit. Sometimes there's a meta change where people stack Endurance lowering your crit chance and this helps to deal with that issue.
Eagle Vision - This can be rotated in/out of your build as you see fit. If you're seeing a lot of "miss" notifications, then swap it in.

Active Skills

Damage Skills

Quick Fire - When paired with buffs, this Crossbow skill can have very high damage output and high uptime.
Cleaving Moonlight - This skill can help to get many stacks of Thunderclouds onto an opponent almost instantly increasing your damage of Thunderclouds Bombing even higher.
Thunderclouds Bombing - This is your go-to finishing skill. The whole idea is to get 20 stacks of Thunderclouds into using this skill as a finisher for explosive damage.
Knife Throwing - When paired with Mother Nature's Protest, this can dish out 10+ hits allowing you to reach 20 stacks of Thunderclouds quite easily. Save it and use it as a slow against Melee users if you need to kite.

CC

Shadow Strike - While being a good option to silence enemy magic users, this is also the main way to land the CC from Ankle Strike.
Ankle Strike - With the Skill Augment, Off-Hand Weapon Activation, you can almost guarantee the one-combo potential.

Buffs/ Debuffs

Selfless Diffusion - While this skill can greatly improve the damage of your combos, the CC break is very important and should be considered when deciding whether to use this skill as a damage buff or not. It can be good to pair the Skill Augment Health Concentration Recovery when fighting against users that do huge burst damage following their CC's.
Lightning Infusion - This is the core debuff that you want active as frequently as possible. Gaining 20 Stacks is what allows for a high burst of Thunderclouds Bombing.
Mother Nature's Protest - This skill allows you to stack high amounts of Lightning Infusion quickly. Skill Augment Lightning Arrow allows for higher single target damage.
Mortal Mark - This skill has a lot to it, but considering how many hits you can do with your Crossbow skills, this increases that damage even further. Depending on the situation, use Skill Augment Stamina Stagnation to ensure the enemy target is out of stamina before going in to do my CC combo.

Mobility Skills

Nimble Leap - With the addition of Skill Augments, this skill is so strong! It can prevent you from getting CC'd if you use it at the proper times, while also increasing ranged damage output by allowing for up to 3 consecutive Quick Fire uses.

Passive Skills

Ambidexterity - Crossbow / Dagger is heavily reliant on offhand weapon attacks so this is a must have.
Nature's Power - Mobility skills are quite easy to maintain so you can keep this buff up almost indefinitely.
Piercing Strike - Bonus Damage is done per hit dealt so this synergizes well with the number of hits you're doing to add a lot of extra damage so long as you're stacking Bonus Damage.
Assassin's Instincts - Crossbow / Dagger weapons tend to have a really high variance in damage between min and max damage so it's important to get as much crit chance as possible.
Shadow Walker - Maintaining this buff is the key to your survival in PvP. Many of your damage combos involve using a mobility skill towards the beginning so maintaining this buff shouldn't be too difficult.
Wrathful Edge - Crossbow / Dagger relies heavily on landing crits so this is a must have for damage.
Destructive Fang - This can be rotated in/out of your build as you see fit. Sometimes there's a meta change where people stack Endurance lowering your crit chance and this helps to deal with that issue.
Eagle Vision - This can be rotated in/out of your build as you see fit. If the enemy has a lot of evasion and you're seeing too many "misses" then swap it in.
Opportunist - This is another skill that can be rotated in/out of your build as you see fit. With specific setups and a little luck, you can get to procs of Thunderclouds Bombing in one CC combo by using it before Knife Throwing with this passive.

Active Skills

Damage Skills

This build is a combination of the other two for scenarios where there are many enemies in some instances, and then only a couple of enemies in another instance.
The only new skill introduced here is Weak Point Shot.
- This is used to maintain a high damage burst from range.

Skill Prioritization

This is a general list of skills used across all forms of content that's recommended to upgrade.
- Should there be a skill here that you don't ever plan to use in your build, skip it.
Use Quality Skill Growth Books to upgrade your skills from Green to Blue in the order shown below. Once all skills below are Green, use the rest on other skills used in the builds above.
Use Rare Skill Growth Books to upgrade your skills from Blue to Purple in the order shown below. Once all skills below are Blue, use the rest on other skills used in the builds above.
Prioritize getting all these skills to blue first before getting them to purple. These are universal skills you always use.
Upgrade the rest of your skills as you play the game.

PvP Gameplay and Skill Rotation

There are a few different ways to play this weapon combination in PvP depending on the situations.

Targeting Melee Users requires a more Kiting kind of playstyle, whereas attacking Mages or Ranged Users requires you to try and burst them down and play more of an "Assassin" playstyle.

Large Scale PvP

Small Scale PvP / Arena PvP

When it comes to Large Scale, there are a few options. You can run the AoE Bomber route, however its efficiency greatly reduces as players start to get gear and increase their defensive stats.

AOE Bomber

Lightning Infusion
Mother Nature's Protest
Camouflage Cloak
Shadow Strike
Phantom Smokescreen (Optional)
Nimble Leap
Annihilation Barrage Shot

Tips

Shadow Strike puts you into combat so you can use this straight from the safe zone if need be.
In situations where enemies are quick to react, skip using Phantom Smokescreen as it does increase the time it takes to get the burst damage off.
This combo works great before users stack a lot of defensive stats, but later on, it starts to be less useful.
Try to prioritize large clumps that are close together to make use of the AoE damage from Gale Arrow.
If enemies aren't clumped together close enough, consider using Lightning Arrow instead.
Try and avoid Sword and Shield users because Counter Barrier can kill you while you're spinning.

Single Target Burst

Lightning Infusion
Mother Nature's Protest
Mortal Mark
Quick Fire
Nimble Leap
Repeat #4 + #5 two additional times
Shadow Strike
Ankle Strike
Thunderclouds Bombing

Tips

Once you get Tevent's Massacre Blade you can start to primarily use this combo instead to consistently go in and out of stealth acting as a backline assassin.
Many times, the triple Quick Fire is enough to kill squishier targets.
The Off-Hand Weapon Activation Augment on Ankle Strike gives you a higher chance at increasing the damage of Thunderclouds Bombing massively.
Lightning Infusion is considered a Weaken so it is sometimes worth not using against Bow users due to Devoted Shield.
Priority targets are Staff or Wand users, with Bow and Crossbow users being your next targets. Melee users can be killed by this combo, too. However, they require more kiting, and your Staff users would have an easier time killing them.

When it comes to Small Scale or Arena PvP, AoE bombing isn't recommended since it is easier for players to target you during the spin. Targeting Melee users requires saving skills like Selfless Diffusion, Nimble Leap to be used defensively when you expect the enemy to use CC's.

Burst Combo

Lightning Infusion
Mother Nature's Protest
Mortal Mark
Quick Fire
Nimble Leap
Quick Fire
Shadow Strike
Ankle Strike
Cleaving Moonlight
Thunderclouds Bombing

Tips

Priority targets are Staff or Wand users, with Bow and Crossbow users being your next targets. Melee users can be killed by this combo, too. However, they require more kiting. Your Staff users would have an easier time killing them due to their extended range.
You want to stay as close as you can against Bow Users to lower their damage output from Sniper's Sense.
You may have to save Lightning Infusion because Thunderclouds count as a Weaken and can proc the Bow User's skill Devoted Shield.
Nimble Leap can be used to give you CC Immunity if you know an opponent is about to attempt to CC you.
Selfless Diffusion can be used offensively to increase the damage of your combos. Keep in mind though, it's also an important way to get out of CC so if you're constantly being targeted it's better to save it.

Stheno Guardian Cheese

Stat Priorities

Use the following stat priorities when using this Crossbow / Dagger PvP Build:

Primary Stats
- Dexterity, Strength, and Perception

You have 49 Stat Points you can freely allocate to any of the 4 primary Stats. Once you put 20 points into an individual Stat, it takes 2 points to increase the Stat by 1. Do not put more than 20 points into a Stat unless you are trying to reach a certain breakpoint.

You get bonuses for every 10 Stat Points you invest from 30 to 60. You invest your points based on acquiring these bonuses.

Crossbow / Dagger excels when stacking very high Critical Hit, Attack Speed, and Maximum Weapon Damage. All three of these things are given to you by stacking Dexterity!

Early Game

This gear is the same as your leveling gear. If you want to learn more check out our Crossbow / Dagger Leveling Guide! Your first goal is to hit 40 Dexterity for the added Critical Hit and Bonus Damage. Next, you get 30 Strength for the added HP just to increase survivability. After that, you can put the rest of your points into Perception.

Mid-Game

At this stage of the game, you reach higher numbers to get more Critical Hit and Hit. Your first goal is to hit 40 - 50 Dexterity. Afterward, place points into Perception to reach the goal of 50 Perception. This gives you increased Hit, Buff Duration, and Range which are all important stats to have in PvP. You should already have 30 Strength for added HP.

End Game

With Purple Gear in the End Game, we can reach all of our desired Stat Breakpoints. 40 - 60 Dexterity gives you increased Critical Hit, Bonus Damage, and high amounts of Attack Speed before using our buffs. Getting to 30 Strength is the priority for add HP. You can lower your Dexterity and switch to 50 Strength should you desire for additional Heavy Attack Chance. 60 Perception increases Hit, Buff Duration, and Range to ensure you're able to deal with any kind of enemy throughout the different types of PvP.

Gear Progression

In all of these builds, once you have Queen Bellandir's Annihilation Crossbow or Tevent's Massacre Blade, you should always use them no questions asked.

Early Game

Mid Game

End Game Build

No Field Boss
End Game Alternative

Early Game Crossbow / Dagger PvP Build

Melee Evasion Focused Gear

In the Early Game, the highest threat to you are Melee users and their CC.
- Stacking Melee Evasion early on helps to lessen that threat of tanks peeling you off your target.
Elusive Hexweaver Hat comes from killing Worker Ants in Ants Nest Open World Dungeon.
Elusive Hexweaver Pants comes from killing Acid Ants in Ants Nest Open World Dungeon.
Sabatons of the Resistance is a Main Story Quest reward but can also be farmed in Grayclaw Forest.
Special Resistance Tactical Armor is a reward from the Main Story Quest.
- Can also receive by completing the Lithograph Book entry, Armor of Unfaltering Protection.

Mid Game Crossbow / Dagger PvP Build

Melee Evasion Focused

Mid Game Crossbow / Dagger PvP Build

Ranged / Magic Evasion Focused

Unless your server is filled with Melee users, it's not recommended to follow the Melee Evasion PvP Build. Trying to stack a lot of Melee Evasion as Crossbow / Dagger is difficult and sacrifices Hit or other important stats to reach any substantial amount. Detection allows for increased amounts Evasion however, it's a bit RNG and Greatsword users can use Willbreaker to lower your Melee Evasion by a huge margin.

Farming for Rex Chimaerus's Rake Bow and Lequirus's Thorny Edge should be your first priority when working towards these builds.

Gear Sources

Hover over each item in the builder to see where to obtain them. Below is a list of areas and content recommended to farm to obtain these items as well. Eternal Ring of Dimension is obtained by first crafting Recipe: Dimensional Essence: Salvation and then turning that into Recipe: Precious Epic Accessory Selection Chest. The tokens needed are from T1 Co-Op Dungeons.

Melee Evasion

Temple of Slaughter Co-Op Dungeon
- Rex Chimaerus's Rake Bow
- Nature's End Gloves
Cave of Destruction Co-Op Dungeon
- Lequirus's Thorny Edge
- Beast King's Gilded Bracers
Slaughterer's Collar
- Complete Marienne's Recommended Necklace Collection Lithograph Book entry
Cursed Wasteland Co-Op Dungeon
- Soul Mirror Boots
Temple of Sylaveth Open World Dungeon
- Belt of Combat Prowess

Ranged / Magic Evasion

Temple of Slaughter Co-Op Dungeon
- Rex Chimaerus's Rake Bow
Cave of Destruction Co-Op Dungeon
- Lequirus's Thorny Edge
- Beast King's Gilded Bracers
- Soul Mirror Carapace
- Glade Stalker Boots
  - Also obtained from the Main Story Quest Rewards or by completing the Lithograph Book entry, Power that Pushes Through.
Cursed Wasteland Co-Op Dungeon
- Flying Dragon Breath Mask
- Flying Dragon Scale Secret Art Pants
Ancient Tapestry Mantle
- Complete Hero Protector Cloak Lithograph Book entry
- Dark Enforcers in Shadowed Crypt
Elite Sharpshooter's Cloak
- This is a good alternative for additional Hit.
- Complete Cloaks that Wield Victory Lithograph Book entry
- Drops from Gallu Archers in Shattered Temple

End Game Crossbow / Dagger PvP Build

Melee Evasion Focused

This build focuses on Melee Evasion with a side of Ranged Evasion.
- For even more Melee Evasion, use Elite Retainer's Belt.
  - This ultimately sacrifices the added 100 Heavy Attack Chance from 50 Strength.
There is a drop in Critical Hit and Critical Damage however, significantly higher survivability against Greatsword and/or Sword and Shield users.

End Game Crossbow / Dagger PvP Build

Ranged / Magic Evasion Focused

This build optimizes your damage output giving you increased Critical Hit Damage, and high amounts of Bonus Damage.
The increased Bonus Damage from Ghost Wolf Set helps to increase the damage on many of your skills because of how many hits you throw out.
In combination with Detection and Shadow Walker, this build helps to reach 2000+ Ranged and Magic Evasion.
- If Detection doesn't proc, it's closer to 1600 Ranged Evasion and 1900 Magic Evasion.

Gear Sources

Hover over each item in the builder to see where to obtain them. Below is a list of areas and content recommended to farm to obtain these items as well.

Tycan's Bloodlust Belt
- Aridus Field Boss
Eternal Ring of Dimension
- Crafting Recipe: Precious Epic Accessory Selection Chest using Recipe: Dimensional Essence: Salvation.
- Requires 10 tokens from each T1 Co-Op Dungeon.
Temple of Slaughter Co-Op Dungeon
- Rex Chimaerus's Rake Bow
Cave of Destruction Co-Op Dungeon
- Lequirus's Thorny Edge
- Beast King's Gilded Bracers
Kowazan's Sunflare Crossbows
- Some have asked about this crossbow, while it's not a bad alternative, the tradeoff is big.
  - This crossbow trades lower Max Damage and Bonus Damage for higher Attack Speed during the nighttime and just 3% additional base Off-Hand Chance.
- Drops from Lycan Kowazan Field Boss

Melee Evasion Build

Chernobog Field Boss
- General's Fury Headgear
General's Frenzy Gloves
- Reptilian Soldier and Reptilian Butcher in Saurodoma Island Co-Op Dungeon
Black Lion Dash
- Tyrant's Isle Co-Op Dungeon

Ranged Evasion Build

Abyss Conqueror's Necklace
- Craft Recipe: Precious Epic Equipment Chest: Abyss with 40 Abyss Currency.
Temple of Slaughter Co-Op Dungeon
- Shadow Harvester Grips
Tyrant's Isle Co-Op Dungeon
- Phantom Wolf Tunic
Cursed Wasteland Co-Op Dungeon
- Swirling Essence Shoes
Syleus's Abyss Open World Dungeon Floors 5-6
- Etched Alabaster Band
Junobote Field Boss
- Reaper's Interring Pants
Talus Field Boss
- Phantom Wolf Mask

No Field Boss
Crit Damage Version

No Field Boss
Bonus Damage Version

These builds help to increase your damage in PvP without the use of the Auction House, items dropped from Field Bosses, or needing to be in a Guild.
While both of these versions maintain high damage output, one relies on Critical Hits and the other is more consistent with its damage output.
- The Crit Damage version allows for higher damage output version but it's not as consistent due to relying on Critical Hits.
  - Use Mortal Mark's Skill Specialization Detonation Mark with this build.
- The Bonus Damage version will maintain a consistent increase in damage without relying on Critical Hits.

Gear Sources

Hover over each item in the builder to see where to obtain them. Below is a list of areas and content recommended to farm to obtain these items as well.

Tyrant's Isle Co-Op Dungeon
- Ghost Wolf Alter Ego Armor
Temple of Slaughter Co-Op Dungeon
- Shadow Harvester Grips
Sanctum of Desire Open World Dungeon
- Shadow Harvester Tunic
Saurodoma Island Open World Dungeon
- Phantom Wolf Breeches
Shadowed Crypt Open World Dungeon
- Sabatons of the Field General
Heroic Grips of the Resistance
- Complete Blessed Moonlight Touch Lithograph Book entry
- Gallu Archers in Shattered Temple
Special Resistance Hawk Hood
- Crown Blessed by Moonlight Lithograph Book entry
- Black Boars in Purelight Hill

Guardians

Guardians are special transformations that add offensive or defensive buffs or attacks to your character for 30 seconds. You'll have a few options for Guardians when it comes to PvP.

Lady Knight Kamarshea - This guardian lowers your cooldown while also giving you a damage shield equal to 50% of your maximum mana. This is the go-to defensive guardian whenever the plan is to dive the ball to try and survive longer along with higher uptime on my skills.
Pale Nemesis Hartach - This guardian allows you to reset your stealth if you get a kill within 3 seconds of engaging an opponent. It's useful when AoE Bombing because it almost always procs the invisibility at the end of the spin. This is also similar to the weapon effect of Tevent's Massacre Blade so until you get those daggers this is a good way to go in and out of stealth during fights. Sadly, however, it's only a 30 second duration so be careful when you pop it.
Shade Revenant Stheno - This guardian shoots out projectiles and can synergize well with weapons like Queen Bellandir's Annihilation Crossbow, and skills like Mother Nature's Protest! You can spread poisons and do quite a lot of damage, not to mention you can use it while in stealth from Camouflage Cloak for some free damage that people can't avoid if they're in range.

Summary

This Crossbow / Dagger PvP Build Guide explores the many different ways to play this weapon combination in detail.
Crossbow / Dagger can play like Assassins or Rogues from other MMO's.
You also have access to a Kiting Mid-Ranged playstyle like Ebonsong from Archeage!
Crossbow / Dagger utilizes a variety of Buffs/Debuffs to provide additional damage hits to a target that can result in over 40+ Hits per second.
Crossbow / Dagger has the highest single target DPS possible out of the various weapon combinations in the game!
Selfless Diffusion is quite versatile of a skill, whether you need to get out of sticky situations, lower your cooldowns, or increasing your burst immensely, it should always be on your hotbar!
Crossbow / Daggers can utilize Damage Bonus, unlike any other weapon combination due to the ability to output so many hits.

Credits

Written by Bloo
Reviewed by Dredscythe