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Aeiedil
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A very nice NS guide, well worth a read From: Luckie N`mor (view profile)
ID: XCccJgCsIi.
Date: Apr 4 2002 3:05PM
Subject: Reccomended Read for new Nightshades
In an effort to help the new Shades of Hibernia out with a class that is, admittedly, quite hard to spec properly, I have drafted up a reccomendation on spec point progression. There is a much longer discussion on this at daoc.catacombs.com under "How to build a Nightshade and how to level it fast", and a more recently started post, to condense the modifications I've done to keep up with the patches, which is identical to this one and will also acquire its own replies. These are located on Hibernia Realm Forums. That said, here is my post:
Note: These are my suggestions, and while they've worked well for many Shades (ask anyone on Boards here, I've been giving advice for a long time), there's no reason for you not to experiment if you don't want to. My one piece of warning on experimentation is that the Shade is extremely easy to gimp if you mess up spec distribution.
Note 2: I'm going to assume you use Piercing. The reason for this is simple: Piercing = 50% Str, 50% Dex for damage, Blades = 100% Str. The Shade's primary increase is Dex (1 per level) while Str is only its tertiary increase (1 per 3 levels). Quickness is secondary (1 per 2).
Race:
Lurikeen, Short.
Reasoning:
Elf has 70 Int, 75 Quick, 75 Dex
Luri has 60 Int, 80 Quick, 80 Dex
(prior to adding anything at creation).
Int is useless to the Nightshade, it's not even how its Power is awarded. Nightshade Power is dependant on your Str stat (weird, I know, but it's true). That means you'll be doing less dmg (5 less Dex), hitting slower (5 less Quick), and have 10 useless points of Int if you make an Elf. Additionally, Lurikeens are small, very small. I don't care how good Stealth is, there's ALWAYS a "visible" range bubble around you. Might as well make it as small a target as possible.
Starting Points:
+10 Str and +10 Dex for sure, this will help your damage output. For the last 10, it's a little more of personal preference:
Suggestions:
1) +10 Quick
2) +10 Con
3) +5 Quick +5 Con
Reasons:
Str and Dex is obvious, it's your damage output. The difference between Con/Quick for advantage is a little more blurry.
The Con will give you a slightly higher base HP, allowing you to take more hits, while the Quick will allow you to attack faster, dealing more damage. However, (and you're not likely to run into this in early levels) there is a limit to how much Quick can influence your attack speed, and between all the +Quick items and +Quick buffs in high levels (40+) chances are you'll be goig over that limit quite often. As such, as a long term plan, Con may prove more useful for the extra HP, but in the early levels, attacking faster might be just as good.
Option 3 is kind of a compromise, attack a bit faster and get a bit more HP, but not a lot of either.
Note: Following spec plans assume you don't choose to auto-train Stealth. To be honest it really isn'tworth using Auto-train. It nets you 14 more Spec points and it means sacrificing a lot of Stealth until 25. 14 points may seem like a lot at those levels, but in long run it isn't.
Ok, my suggestion for an end-game spec lay out is not a definite thing yet. As things stand, Envenom is a little underpowered, BUT Mythic has stated they are looking into it. I tend to trust Mythic, but will have to see the patch to know what they're doing for sure. As such, I'm going to offer 2 "end game" spec plans, BUT regardless of which you go with, the progression from 1 to 45 is pretty much the same, it only really changes in the last 5 levels.
Note: Unlike other Specs, +Envenom items will permit you to use higher level Poisons (with Weapons or Spell Specs, your Styles/Spells are given from BASE Spec, with Envenom your poison abilities are given off MODIFIED Spec).
40 Stealth (Safe Fall 4, easily modifiable to 50 -- +Stealth easy to come by)
39 Piercing (Modifiable up to 50 easily, makes for a very good damage output. Remember, if your BASE damage isn't good, you're not going to kill anything -- Spec 44 and 50 styles not worth the points, +Pierce easy to come by).
39 Crit Strike (Gives you Perforate Artery, Creeping Death, Stunning Stab - The most powerful Hidden attack chain. The Spec 44 and 50 styles are Evade based, and as good an Evade as Nightshade gets, they aren't worth it. To Evade you need to be taking hits, and unless I'm in a bad group or soloing I usually don't get the taunt often enough anymore -- used to do it EASY earlier levels, 40+ the tanks out-taunt me -- Also, taking hits is bad since at 40+, while you can -- if using good armor/weapons/specs -- solo yellow/orange, the downtime is bad and not reccomended)
41 Envenom (Allows you to easily gain modified 50 Envenom, giving you access to the highest poisons)
5 Celtic Dual (Leftover points at end)
TIP: Always Envenom both weapons if you're soloing or in a small group that takes a while to kill its target. In larger groups, you're wasting money since target dies too quickly.
Progression:
Note: I give anticipated (reccomended) Spec Points for level intervals, not per level. Between interval advancement is entirely up for you to play with. Also, so long as you don't deviate from the hard line limits set in "End game specs" feel free to play with things a bit to see how they work, maybe you want to raise Piercing a little faster, or perhaps a bit more Stealth is your style. Again, even the "hard cap" I set in end-game stats is up to you to modify if you wish, but it has been my experience (and that of many Nightshades I've helped) that my reccomended build is a strong one. I am capable of soloing Orange con Armsman and Paladins with ease (Albion, Plate armor). Casters are stunned before they realize I've attacked them, and dead before the stun wears off. Other assassins fall quickly unless much higher level, similarly specced, or they get Hidden Attack advantage.
TIP: For levelling from 1 to 20, you may find it useful to do tasks, especially kill tasks. Select named Guards and say "Task" to obtain a kill task from them. Alternately, named NPCs will give delivery tasks. Not ALL NPCs will give tasks every level, but rather only a few per level. You may have to check multiple towns before you find one. Once you do, use the same NPC until you level, and then you'll need to find a new one.
Level 5:
Piercing: 3
Crit Strike: 4
Stealth: 1
Envenom: 1
Celtic Dual: 1
The Piercing 3 will give you a moderate base damage, while the CS 4 will allow you to use Backstab and Eviscerate. I reccomend opening any fight you can with BS/Evis. Also, even though you only have 1 Envenom, you can still use the lowest level DoT Poison, do so. It will do wonders for your solo ability -- Should be able to consistently solo yellow with little to no downtime.
Level 10:
The 2.2 Spec points per levle kick in at level 6 (first level) now that you're a Nightshade, so you have more freedom to spec.
Piercing: 8 (this allows for Wasp's Sting -> Hornet's Sting back positional combo. Use if you're having trouble sneaking up on a mob, or if you're in group and other player gets the taunt)
Crit Strike: 8 (This gives you Kidney Rupture -- third style in the Backstab 1 chain, as well as giving you Pincer, a strong Side Positional attack, mainly for groups, but might be used in some solo situations if getting behind the mob for Backstab is proving too difficult)
Stealth: 5 (This gives you Distraction as well as a higher chance of remaining hidden while trying Backstab)
Envenom 5 (This gives you the first Disease poison and second DoT. From this point on, I'd reccomend using Disease on one weapon, DoT on other)
Celtic Dual: 1 (this won't raise for a long time, will stop listing it til it's ready to go up)
Level 15:
Piercing: 12 (This allows you to get Scorpion, a De-Taunt style which will prove extremely useful, and Black Widow, an upgrade to your base style. Usable at any time, moderate damage, but high endurance. Gives a small bonus to hit)
Crit Strike: 15 (Many players will say not to max a Spec, those players usually are talking in generalities. This is one of the exceptions. 15 CS allows you Backstab 2 and Thigh Cut, the BS2 chain entire, and will have to suit until you get Perforate Artery)
Stealth: 7
Envenom 5
Level 20:
Piercing: 18 (Permits Sidewinder, chain off Black Widow. Basic source of damage for quite a while)
Crit Strike: 18 (Gives you Garotte. Right now Garotte is weak on its own, but later on the Garotte -> Achille's Heel chain will be your best damage. I still use that chain for "any time" attack at 41, and intend to keep using it right til end)
Stealth: 12 (Gives you your first level of Safe Fall as well as Danger Sense. Danger sense is a useful ability which informs you when a mob has scouted you or a player in RvR has targetted you - or your group)
Envenom: 5
Level 25:
Piercing: 21 (Gives Copperhead, Side Positional style, fairly useful. Replaces Pincer for side attack)
Crit Strike: 22 (Gives Perforate Artery, a ~very~ strong hidden attack. Only drawback is front positional Stealth becomes a little more important now then before. There's no stun on this, but the sheer damage it does easily replaces BS2/TC)
Stealth: 17 (Gives Detect Hidden, allows you to see Stealthed players at a much longer range then other players do)
Envenom: 10 (Allows for use of the third DoT)
