Best Beginner Gear for Build:
In this section, we will go over recommended Attribute allocation, as well as the Weapon Mastery and Guardian usage for the build.
For this build, the main attribute is actually split between Wisdom and Dexterity. However, Perception can play a crucial role in the build too, if you have enough stat points from gear. Dexterity is important due to the increased Maximum damage threshold, Critical Hit Chance, Evasion and Attack Speed it provides. Wisdom similarly plays an important role, boosting Maximum damage dealt while providing Mana, Cooldown Reduction for more healing output and more. Perception, while the least important of the 3 stats can prove powerful when stacked. High Perception allows you to hit targets with higher levels of Evasion. Most importantly, however, is the increased range bonus provided upon reaching 50 Perception.
It is important as a glass cannon DPS to truly lean into the most offensive stats (Dex + Wis), however, as players begin to stack more Evasion – be prepared to increase your Perception or Hit on gear.
Starting out, however, we recommend the following:
NOTE: This Information does not include gear Bonuses
Lady Knight Kamarshea is the perfect Guardian for a ranged DPS. This is due to the huge shield and cooldown speed the Kamarshea provides. However, with a Staff, this effect becomes even more powerful as a result of the shield scaling with your Maximum Mana. Kamarshea gives you the opportunity to play more aggressively without worrying about assassins diving you. Bow and Staff has a ton of Active Skills with no channel time, leading to a ton of instant cast uptime during the Guardian. Alternatively, in PvE, Shade Revenant Stheno is a great choice too for raw damage output versus bosses.
Gear
NOTE – Most Elite Resistance gear ALSO has a chance to drop from Precious Blessing Pouches that can be purchased daily from your Contract Vendor and the completion of some level 50 Contracts.
IMPORTANT – You will want to level up RARE gear to 9+ before transferring progress to EPIC quality Gear.
This DPS build entirely focuses on glass cannon damage with little to no regard for survivability. As a result, this combination of weapons is extremely viable for PvE and PvP but can require additional mastery to wield effectively.
One key 2-spell combination you have as a Bow and Staff player that works in both PvE and PvP is the “infinite mana” combo. To pull this off, simply do the following:
The combined effects and percentage of mana regeneration gained from both skills instantly refills your mana bar in a pinch. Keep this in mind as this is important during PvE or extending large-scale PvP encounters!
This build is focused on dealing as much damage as possible throughout dungeons and the open world. The build excels in both single-target and multi-target combat. When dealing with multiple enemies, group them up with your party and follow a rotation similar to below:
The Ice Spear activates the Frost Master passive which modifies Chain Lightning and Judgment Lightning into AoE skills. The Serial Fire Bombs also increase most of your damage due to the Staff kit revolving around damage increases based on burn stacks.
For single-target fights, we recommend switching out Ice Spear and Inferno Meteor for Deadly Marker and Decisive Sniping. This change is especially helpful against bosses because you can focus all of your skills into one target. Apply Deadly Marker off-cooldown to assist yourself and your teammates in dealing as much critical strikes as possible. Decisive Sniping heavily increases your single-target DPS due to the reset passive, allowing you to re-cast up to 2 more times.
During PvE encounters, try your best to plant your feet and not move around too much (unless a mechanic forces you to), doing so lets you utilize two stationary passives “Asceticism” and “Rapidfire Stance”. Having both passives active provides mana regen, increased Heavy Attack Chance and Attack Speed! Finally, make sure to weave your instant casts such as Zephyr’s Nock and Strafing between your biggest cast windows.
For PVP, this build is used to deal damage through bursting enemy backlines, melting frontlines and “nuking” clumps of enemies. However, unlike a more “focused” build such as the Staff and Dagger, the Bow and Staff combination can heavily burst town single-targets too.
As a Bow Staff DPS build, your only focus is to dish out damage with as much uptime as possible. The first and foremost as expected, is to deal damage to the right targets constantly throughout a fight, launching Fire Bombs into clumps, landing Lightning skills on squishy targets while keeping a safe distance. A key focus of the Bow and Staff is knowing when to look for low health or “kill range” targets, and executing them with quick but powerful spells such as Zephyr’s Nock. As a Bow and Staff player, if you’re uncontested and allowed to free-cast, the amount of damage you output is incredible high. As a result, utilize the incredible range you have (especially when playing with both Toublek’s Thunderous Soul and Karnix’s Hell Bow) and rack up kills on the leaderboard!
Due to the range this particular build has, you can often find yourself planting your feet to become a “turret” of DPS. When you find these situations, make the most of the stationary-based passives “Asceticism” and “Rapidfire Stance”. Making use of both passives provides you with Mana Regen, increased Heavy Attack Chance and Attack Speed!
Most large-scale compositions play with 1-2 “Bomb Squads” in Throne and Liberty. Your task as a Staff user is to time your Meteor cast with your other Staff players on an engage. The most important aspect here is to wait for your tank(s) to call their Green Ranger Guardian activation (which is an AoE Root) and then react to it immediately. As a Bow and Staff player, you can do the following for maximum nuke output:
Following the above allows you and your other Staff players to land incredible army-wiping damage when timed well. Should you find an opportunity to plant your feet and be stationary while fighting, make the most out of Asceticism and Rapidfire Stance. Both of these passives will not only speed up the process of the nuke but also give increased Heavy Attack Chance!
Ice Spear is a very flexible spell in PVP too. Using Ice Spear both offensively and defensively has its benefits. As a result of slowing in AoE, you can use Ice Spear to disengage AND engage into a clump. Additionally, Ice Spear triggers Frost Master in your Staff passives, allowing for Chain Lightning and Judgment Lightning to deal AoE damage.
Utility such as High Locus should be used before you cast any of your rotation to ensure your cooldowns are reduced.
