Sword and Shield / Wand Leveling Build Guide

Stat Priorities

Use the following stat priority when following the Sword and Shield / Wand Leveling Build:

• Level 1 - 21
  • 20 Dexterity
• Level 22 - 41
  • 20 Wisdom
• Level 42 - 50
  • 9 Perception

Consider Stat Points as a way to fine-tune your specific stats, such as Attack Speed, Crit Chance, Evasion, HP, Hit Rate, and even CC Chance. Every level up from 1 to 50 grants you a Stat Point to invest, totaling up to 49. Once 20 of these 49 points are invested into a single stat, it takes two points of investment to gain 1 Stat. The Stats from gear don't count towards this. When leveling, you want to invest primarily in Stats that give you a mix of raw damage and survivability: Dexterity and Strength.

Dexterity not only adds maximum Weapon Damage but also increases your Crit Chance, Evasion, and Attack Speed. Wisdom provides more max Weapon Damage, Cooldown Speed, and extra Mana Regen.

If you plan to PvP during the leveling process, move your points from Wisdom into Strength. The primary reason to take Strength is for higher survivability with the 30 point threshold giving an extra 750 Max Health. Strength gives you Max Health, Health Regen, Defensive Stats, Minimum Weapon Damage, and Maximum Weapon Damage.

It is not necessary to focus Perception early game because most players do not have enough Evasion to warrant taking it, and unless you are hard focusing the Main Story Quests the mobs do not outpace your natural Hit Chance from leveling.

Key Leveling Notes

• Focus on the Main Story Quest as you level to 50
  • If you're unable to continue the MSQ, complete Exploration Codex Quests for EXP until you can.
• Before leaving Kastleton during Chapter 3, craft as much Green Gear as possible!
• When your story quests introduce you to Resistance Contracts, choose the ones that give Quality Lithograph: Accessories first!
• You need an additional 4 Quality Lithograph: Accessories for Chapter 4. There is an Appendix Quest to complete a Lithograph Book entry. Complete Rustic Mother Nature Rings to acquire Lethal Fortune Ring.
• Be wary of your Mana while you level! It is very easy to accidentally use it all when spamming your skills.

Gear Progression

While leveling, your gearing choices are influenced by your needs at the time. Do you need more Mana Regen? Are you missing too many hits? Is your Health too low? This Sword and Shield / Wand Leveling Build provides setups so you don’t need to think too much about gearing. But, if you want to go out on your own these are the sorts of things you need to consider! Generally, if the gear gives you one of the stats you prioritize like Wisdom or Dexterity, or if it gives any of the Mana Regen, Crit Hit, Hit, or Max Health stats, then it's good for the build.

The Leveling process has been made easier since the launch of the Korean version. It doesn't really matter what armor you craft as long as you upgrade it. Thus the following gear set is recommended so you can dabble in PvP as well. Don't fret, PvP is not mandatory at all.

Most of the below gear can be easily acquired through crafting using Quality Lithograph: Weapons, Quality Lithograph: Armor, and Quality Lithograph: Accessories. The pieces not from crafting are acquired through Main Story Quests or Codex Chapter Quests making them easy to get your hands on.

Towards Chapter 3 you start to get quests to craft items. Before heading to Urstella Fields, make sure to craft all the Green Items possible. You should have 2 Green Weapons, 3 Green Armors, and at least 2 Green Accessories. After Chapter 4, you acquire enough to craft the rest and have a full set of Green Gear. Here are the recommended Items to craft.

You get the Elite Resistance Sword and the Elite Resistance Magic Scepter both from Codex Quest Chapter 5. As you can only choose one reward from here, the other is obtained from your Lithograph Book at the cost of crafting four green weapons using Quality Lithograph: Weapons. An example Lithograph entry is Deadly Swords.

Codex Chapter Rewards

Prologue - Forgotten Magic Hat

Ch. 1 - Wizard's Magic Scepter

Ch. 2 - Quality Active Skill Growth Book x20

Ch. 3 - Rare Passive Skill Growth Book x15

Ch. 4 - Rutaine's Mysterious Ring

Ch. 5 - Blade of the Resistance

Ch. 6 - Mask of the Resistance

Ch. 7 - Handguards of the Resistance

Ch. 8 - Trousers of the Resistance

Ch. 9 - Glade Stalker Boots

Ch. 10 - Heroic Armor of the Resistance

Skill Slot Prioritization

These are the skills and specializations you should prioritize for the Sword and Shield / Wand Build.

Skill Specialization Order

Once you hit level 30, you acquire 40 Skill Specialization points to use, which modify your skills. Press "K" and access them in the 2nd tab. Every level past 30, you gain 3 Skill Specialization points. Spend your points in this order as you level.

1. Shield Strike
   • Piercing Strike
2. Touch of Despair
   • Radius Increased
   • Effect Duration ▲
   • Curse
3. Strategic Rush
   • Range Widened
4. Counter Barrier
   • Cooldown ▼
5. Curse Explosion
   • Damaged Increased
6. Swift Healing
   • Healing Transfers
   • Consecutive Use
7. Shield Throw
   • Consecutive Use
8. Provoking Roar
   • Cooldown Reduced
9. Annihilating Slash
   • Consecutive Use
   • Radius Increased
10. A Shot at Victory
    • Annihilation Blade
    • Skill Effect Enhanced
    • Effect Duration ▲

Skill Rotation

• Your primary source of single target damage comes from Shield Strike. While leveling, you constantly spam this skill.
• Due to the nature of your kit, you always prioritize fighting more than one enemy at a time. Utilize Corrupted Magic Circle, Touch of Despair, Curse Explosion and Annihilating Slash to maximize your AOE potential.
• Use your strong defensive tools such as Counter Barrier, Stalwart Bastion, and Blessed Barrier to make yourself even more durable when fighting.
• When injured, utilize Swift Healing, Clay's Salvation, Vampiric Contract, and Shield Survival Technique to keep yourself healthy.

Skill Priority Upgrade

• Use Quality Marind Ore to craft Quality Passive Skill Growth Book and Quality Active Skill Growth Book.
• Use Rare Marind Ore to craft Rare Passive Skill Growth Book and Rare Active Skill Growth Book.
• Prioritizing getting all these skills to blue first before getting them to purple. These are universal skills you will always use.
• Upgrade the rest of your skills as you play the game.

Active Skills

Passive Skills

Weapon Mastery

Summary

• Sword and Shield / Wand is the most durable build in the game with great defense and self sustain.
• The build has access to great sustain with skills like Blessed Barrier, Swift Healing and Clay's Salvation.
• Focus Dexterity and Wisdom for the most damage while leveling.

Congratulations on reaching the end of the Sword and Shield / Wand Leveling Build, continue the journey with our PVE or PVP endgame guides!

Credits

Written by Nymphellas
Reviewed by Yaen and Tenkiei