The best Sword and Shield-Longbow build option in Throne and Liberty looks to balance both damage and utility. It fits most party set-ups perfectly well and you will be able to assist your team with heals and other utility skills while also acting as an additional source of damage.
This works best in co-op and Guild missions and will struggle if you are looking to clear content alone in the MMO. This is because of the lack of proper DPS rotations in the weapon combo, which will make it hard to beat mobs and bosses.
However, if you are looking for a good ranged-melee build to help out your party in dungeons, there is one of the best options that you can try out.
Sword and Shield-Longbow overview
Sword and Shield-Longbow is a very unique weapon combination where you will constantly need to balance between ranged and melee attacks. You also come with a lot of utility skills which will let you act as a good support for your party, while also having some DPS in your kit.
This makes the build incredibly flexible and versatile, allowing it to fit almost any party set-up. However, to make the most of it, make sure you are dumping points into Dexterity and taking it up to 50.
This will increase your damage and Crit Hit rate giving you that much-needed damage boost that the build desperately needs. After Dexterity, put points into Strength so that you will be able to increase your survivability even more.
Best Skills and Specialization for the Sword and Shield-Longbow build in Throne and Liberty
Here are the best Skills and Specializations that you should be focusing on for this build:
Active Skills:
 Deadly Marker |  Hit ▲ Target | ||||||
 Ensnaring Arrow | – | ||||||
 Decisive Sniping |  Decisive Bombardment Damage ▲ Collection Time ▲ | ||||||
 Brutal Arrow |  Range ▲ Gale Area | ||||||
 Blitz |  Limit Break | ||||||
 Strafing |  Consecutive Use Gale | ||||||
 Zephyr’s Nock | Damage ▲ | ||||||
 Strategic Rush | – | ||||||
 A Shot at Victory |  Annihilation Blade | ||||||
 Annihilating Slash | Consecutive Use | ||||||
 Nature’s Blessing | – | ||||||
 Stalwart Bastion |  Great Fury |
The Active skills that you pick will revolve around dealing damage from a distance. So make sure you are leveling the following Longbow skills as soon as possible: Zephyr’s Nock, Strafing, and Decisive Arrow. These skills are a core part of your rotation and you will not be able to clear content without putting points in it.
After you open up a fight with Longbow combo rotation you can then close the gap with Strategic Rush. You will then transition into a Sword and Shield combo.
For utility, you will be taking Stalwart Bastion and Nature’s Blessing which provides healing and damage mitigation that improves the survivability of our character and other party members.
Passive Skills:
- Rapidfire Stance
- Steady Aim
- Sniper’s Sense
- Roxie’s Arrowhead
- Devoted Shield
- Impenetrable
- Resilient Mind
- Distorted Sanctuary
The passive skills you pick should revolve around improving your damage and survivability when in combat. So pick the ones mentioned above.
Defensive Skill:
- Overtaker
Best weapons for the Sword and Shield-Longbow build
Here are the best weapons that you should be looking to farm for the Sword and Shield-Longbow build, in Throne and Liberty:
Best Primary Weapon:
| Weapon | Best Traits | Effect |
|---|---|---|
 Queen Bellandir’s Languishing Blade | Heavy Attack Chance Hit Critical Hit |  Queen Bellandir’s Quicksand: Creates 5m radius of Quicksand on the spot where Annihilating Slash was used. Quicksand decreases enemy Movement Speed by 60% and has a 70% chance to apply Collision. Collision: Pull enemies within the radius when it disappears after 2s. Cooldown 34s. |
Queen Bellandir’s Languishing Blade provides amazing crowd control with its weapon effect. This will help you double down on your role as a support making it much easier for the rest of your party members to keep up their damage,
Queen Bellandir’s Languishing Blade will have a chance to drop from Queen Bellandir, an Archboss that only spawns once per week. Depending on the weekly rotation, Queen Bellandir will either spawn in Peace (cooperative PvE) or Conflict (competitive PvP) modes.
You will also be able to craft the Epic Sword and Shield as long as you have the following materials:
- Queen Bellandir’s Soul Fragment x180
- Precious Manasteel x10
- Precious Magic Powder x10
- Precious Polished Crystal x12
Best Secondary Weapon:
| Weapon | Best Traits | Effect |
|---|---|---|
 Tevent’s Arc of Wailing Death | Heavy Attack Chance Hit Critical Hit |  Tevent’s Bombardment: Shoots a bonus projectile whenever using Strafing, dealing 54% of Base Damage |
As Strafing is a core part of your damage rotation with this build, you will be able to make the most of the set-up with this Epic Longbow.
You will have a chance to get the weapon as a drop Tevent, an Archboss that only spawns once per week. Depending on the weekly rotation, Tevent will either spawn in Peace (cooperative PvE) or Conflict (competitive PvP) modes.
You can also craft it as long as you have the following resources:
- Tevent’s Soul Fragment x180
- Precious Mystwood x10
- Precious Magic Powder x10
- Precious Polished Crystal x12
Best Armor for the Sword and Shield-Longbow build
| Armor | Best Traits |
|---|---|
 Shadow Harvester Mask | ・Cooldown Speed ・Magic Evasion ・Ranged Evasion |
 Supreme Devotion | ・Debuff Duration ・Mana Regen ・Skill Damage Resistance |
 Coat of the Executioner | ・Max Health ・Magic Evasion ・Ranged Evasion |
 Shadow Harvester Grips | ・Magic Evasion ・Ranged Evasion ・Mana Regen |
 Greaves of the Field General | ・Debuff Duration ・Max Health ・Ranged Evasion |
 Boots of the Executioner | ・Magic Endurance ・Ranged Evasion ・Max Health |
You will be making use of the Death Set with this build as it will help you successfully increase the amount of damage that you can do by increasing your critical damage.
Best Accessories for the Sword and Shield-Longbow build
 Clasp of the Conqueror | ・Buff Duration ・Skill Damage Boost ・Max Health |
 Bracers of the Primal King | ・Debuff Duration ・Max Health ・Skill Damage Resistance |
 Band of Universal Power | ・Buff Duration ・Mana Regen ・Max Health |
 Sapphire Dimensional Band | ・Buff Duration ・Max Health ・Skill Damage Boost |
 Girdle of Spectral Skulls | ・Debuff Duration ・Max Mana ・Skill Damage Resistance |
The accessories you pick should seek to improve your Strength and Dexterity as much as possible to maximize your damage and survivability.
Best Weapon Mastery
Sword and Shield:
- Boss (9 Pts)
- Provoke & Counter (6 Pts)
Dump points in the boss tree which will let you gain access to Subjugator’s Punishment and increase your damage to bosses. Then put points in the Provoke and Counter tree to help improve your survivability.
Longbow:
- Sniping (9 Pts)
- Check (6 Pts)
The Sniping tree will let you unlock Brutal Shooter which will improve your Critical Damage. While the Check tree will let you unlock Gale Arrowhead letting you get lower cooldowns on your abilities.
Best Guardian for the Wand and Sword and Shield-Longbow build in Throne and Liberty
| Guardian | Ability |
|---|---|
 Shade Revenant Stheno | Launches 5 projectiles at random enemies within a 10m range every second. A single enemy may be hit with multiple projectiles at the same time. Each projectile deals 52% of Base Damage. |
As you will need all the damage that you can get, Stheno will be the best pick for Guardian on this Sword and Shield-Longbow build in Throne and Liberty. Her abilities launch projectiles each of which is capable of doing critical damage.
Best skill rotations
1) Best long-range rotation:
- Deadly Marker > Ensnaring Arrow > Decisive Sniping > Blitz > Decisive Sniping > Brutal Arrow > Strafing > Strafing > Zephyr’s Nock > Strafing
2) Melee combo rotation
- Strategic Rush > A Shot at Victory > Annihilating Slash
3) Healing combo rotation
- Stalwart Bastion > Nature’s Blessing
Pros and cons of the Sword and Shield-Longbow utility build
Pros:
- A very versatile build that focuses on ranged as well as melee DPS.
- Has party-wide utility making them useful in most party compositions.
- Has good CC that can help other party members have an easier time hitting their combo rotations.
Cons:
- Lacks proper DPS making it one of the hardest builds to pilot when clearing content solo.
- While tanky, the build will not be able to soak up too much damage. Acts as a pseudo-frontline.
