N
nemesisgm
Guest
Ok seeing as we have about a dozen different posts a week arguing about this and that about the assassin, lets try and put it to bed once and for all. Inf, sb or ns?? Pro's con, opre 1.62 and post 1.62... who comes out on top?
The Shadowblade.
Ok the sb has according to recent polls taking a major beating and suffers badly due to the dmg output reduction in patch 1.62. Now was this reduction wholely justified.. From a long serving sb partially yes. though Mythic took little consideration in the overall affect it would have on the Shadowblade population as a whole. The implemented it without due consideration or proper testing, making the overall penalty greater than was actually required. Yes the shadowzerker hit to hard for an assassin... but before all those who have made comment regarding Shadowblades beating Tanks, the issue will be addressed. My current Left Axe skill of 20 is the highest it has every been in the 2 odd years I've been playing my SB, and yet for all that time, I have constantly and still do to some extent, when i find someone who doesn't have a bot up his ass... beat tanks of both realms (Plus a fair number of duels with fellow mids including the dread savage). Should an assassin be able buff for buff or unbuffed to beat a tank... answer yes, with the exception of the nightshade whose spellcasting is far from useful, they are in the end of the day a melee class, for them to kill then need to be up close and personal, this people seem to neglect to take into account, sb, inf or ns... in the end of the day we are a melee class, so should given a bit of luck, take on and beat a tank. However, it should be as everyday common practice as people seem to make out. For the sb post 1.62 it certainly is not, a few of us still know what to do and spamming double frost has never been an option for us. So please people stop assuming us sb's were all shadowzerker who did 400 dmg a style we were not. Those that were have been brought back into reality thankfully. As for the rest of us, we have suffered slightly for their sins, it happens such is life. And contrary to public opinion, which my opinion usually is there is still life in the shadowblade, ok our list of pro's is very short, and the published advantages we have ... better hp is beyond laughable, as it works out as less than advantage if not a hinderance, compared to the weakness of our cousins the inf and ns.
Pro's:
Use of 2 handed weapons for specialised styles such as Perferate Artery. Yes beenficial if used in the right place at the right time. I rarely even carry a 2 hander, occasionally stopping into vault to pick it up if i remember, but in open rvr, the 2-handed weapon is more a bain to the sb than a bonus, slow, inaccurate, and making what for all intent purpose is the sb's bread and butter, reactionary styles hamstring chain for example impossible. However the dmg output when used correctly can be exceptional. I've personally done 1487dmg with a big crit of course to a lvl50 cleric many patches ago. ending his life there and then.. useful.. and always good for dealing with the dress wearers. However, in stealth vs stealth combat its a dead loss. Not the be all and end all of being a sb, but it helps.
Bonus hp.. see above.
Thrust Resistant Armour... ok considering the favoured weapon of your enemy assassin is thrust useful.
Evade 7: As for all the assassins this skill though having come under the nerfbat once still needs a little tweaking. Still on buffed assassins is a little to high, the weakness all assassins are ment to have is lack of major defences given up for massive dmg abilities from specialised stealth styles. Evade 7 even with the 50% cap which is to easy to achieve, give a superior defensive stance than should really be allowed.
Well that kind of puts and end to it.
Con's:
Lack of weapon dmg type... due to the nature of midgardian weaponry the sb suffers the inability to select thrust or slash specced weaponry like the other realms.
Weapon type vs enemy realm armour. With the vast majority of enemy realm armour types being slahs neutral or resistant the sb suffers greatly in its overall melee capaility.
Slash vulnerable armour. Being the only assassin with this trait it leaves the sb deficient in the resistance area's vs what is widely chosen as the favoured weapon by the majority of melee classes, the sword. Infiltrators and Nightshades are capable of speccing a weapon type that gains an advantages vs the sb's only form of armour. the sb has no such choice, infact both the ns and infs armour are crush vulnerable. a weapon common in midgard and some hibernians but still not relevent in the field of stealther comparison that everyone likes to talk about.
Realm Abilities: The Shadowblade realm ability table lacks any potence what so ever with few abilities of any value to the class and very little to no variance in shadowblade realm specs. Those with appeal are bugged Mastery of Arms ( to a small degree) for example.
Lack of debuff capabilities: Yes believe it or not everyone the assassin classes if into their venoms are classes same as the rest capable of debuffing. Now back to to the lack of debuffing ability of enemy weapon types short of the use of alchemy charged dex/quick debuff items which are available yes, the shadowblade suffers in the debuff market, as it is not properly capable fo debuffing his oppenant, in comparison to what happens when Enervation venom is used on him. Yes the shadowblade can if aware of alchemy charged items etc come out on top, as the combination of dex/quick and str/con debuffs leave a thrust specced assassin in tatters, not to mention nerfing evade rates a little. However, in common useage it is not, and is rather a complex procedure to do mid battle.
No Reactionary stun style off evade: Before all you infs scream Frosty Glaze, i'm refering to directly off evade. Personally i feel cd is enough of a stun for asassin classes and either as part of another chain or not, none of us should have one. And before you all think bet he say Dragonfang needs to be nerfed... In fact i don't i have no issue with it, a cleevr assassin is hard to dfang.. If the inf had sacrifice something for it then all well and good as the don't thats another matter.
Obviously there are more minor issues but these are the ones that simply cause the greatest ire on all sides. So highlighted them.
So in conclusion is the shadowblade grossly underpowered to warrant its death as many depict.. In this old sb's opinion no. It was in a fotm shaodwzerker sense, a little over the top, and did not warrant the action taken to bring it back into line, and the subsequent believe of its demise is far from true. The Shadowblade though atm below par, but only slightly with a few minor adjustments be a very credible class... as it stands now, it still is as it always has been a potent weapon when used correctly. The sb is far from dead.
The inf and ns reviews will follow later, once the flame begins
D.
The Shadowblade.
Ok the sb has according to recent polls taking a major beating and suffers badly due to the dmg output reduction in patch 1.62. Now was this reduction wholely justified.. From a long serving sb partially yes. though Mythic took little consideration in the overall affect it would have on the Shadowblade population as a whole. The implemented it without due consideration or proper testing, making the overall penalty greater than was actually required. Yes the shadowzerker hit to hard for an assassin... but before all those who have made comment regarding Shadowblades beating Tanks, the issue will be addressed. My current Left Axe skill of 20 is the highest it has every been in the 2 odd years I've been playing my SB, and yet for all that time, I have constantly and still do to some extent, when i find someone who doesn't have a bot up his ass... beat tanks of both realms (Plus a fair number of duels with fellow mids including the dread savage). Should an assassin be able buff for buff or unbuffed to beat a tank... answer yes, with the exception of the nightshade whose spellcasting is far from useful, they are in the end of the day a melee class, for them to kill then need to be up close and personal, this people seem to neglect to take into account, sb, inf or ns... in the end of the day we are a melee class, so should given a bit of luck, take on and beat a tank. However, it should be as everyday common practice as people seem to make out. For the sb post 1.62 it certainly is not, a few of us still know what to do and spamming double frost has never been an option for us. So please people stop assuming us sb's were all shadowzerker who did 400 dmg a style we were not. Those that were have been brought back into reality thankfully. As for the rest of us, we have suffered slightly for their sins, it happens such is life. And contrary to public opinion, which my opinion usually is there is still life in the shadowblade, ok our list of pro's is very short, and the published advantages we have ... better hp is beyond laughable, as it works out as less than advantage if not a hinderance, compared to the weakness of our cousins the inf and ns.
Pro's:
Use of 2 handed weapons for specialised styles such as Perferate Artery. Yes beenficial if used in the right place at the right time. I rarely even carry a 2 hander, occasionally stopping into vault to pick it up if i remember, but in open rvr, the 2-handed weapon is more a bain to the sb than a bonus, slow, inaccurate, and making what for all intent purpose is the sb's bread and butter, reactionary styles hamstring chain for example impossible. However the dmg output when used correctly can be exceptional. I've personally done 1487dmg with a big crit of course to a lvl50 cleric many patches ago. ending his life there and then.. useful.. and always good for dealing with the dress wearers. However, in stealth vs stealth combat its a dead loss. Not the be all and end all of being a sb, but it helps.
Bonus hp.. see above.
Thrust Resistant Armour... ok considering the favoured weapon of your enemy assassin is thrust useful.
Evade 7: As for all the assassins this skill though having come under the nerfbat once still needs a little tweaking. Still on buffed assassins is a little to high, the weakness all assassins are ment to have is lack of major defences given up for massive dmg abilities from specialised stealth styles. Evade 7 even with the 50% cap which is to easy to achieve, give a superior defensive stance than should really be allowed.
Well that kind of puts and end to it.
Con's:
Lack of weapon dmg type... due to the nature of midgardian weaponry the sb suffers the inability to select thrust or slash specced weaponry like the other realms.
Weapon type vs enemy realm armour. With the vast majority of enemy realm armour types being slahs neutral or resistant the sb suffers greatly in its overall melee capaility.
Slash vulnerable armour. Being the only assassin with this trait it leaves the sb deficient in the resistance area's vs what is widely chosen as the favoured weapon by the majority of melee classes, the sword. Infiltrators and Nightshades are capable of speccing a weapon type that gains an advantages vs the sb's only form of armour. the sb has no such choice, infact both the ns and infs armour are crush vulnerable. a weapon common in midgard and some hibernians but still not relevent in the field of stealther comparison that everyone likes to talk about.
Realm Abilities: The Shadowblade realm ability table lacks any potence what so ever with few abilities of any value to the class and very little to no variance in shadowblade realm specs. Those with appeal are bugged Mastery of Arms ( to a small degree) for example.
Lack of debuff capabilities: Yes believe it or not everyone the assassin classes if into their venoms are classes same as the rest capable of debuffing. Now back to to the lack of debuffing ability of enemy weapon types short of the use of alchemy charged dex/quick debuff items which are available yes, the shadowblade suffers in the debuff market, as it is not properly capable fo debuffing his oppenant, in comparison to what happens when Enervation venom is used on him. Yes the shadowblade can if aware of alchemy charged items etc come out on top, as the combination of dex/quick and str/con debuffs leave a thrust specced assassin in tatters, not to mention nerfing evade rates a little. However, in common useage it is not, and is rather a complex procedure to do mid battle.
No Reactionary stun style off evade: Before all you infs scream Frosty Glaze, i'm refering to directly off evade. Personally i feel cd is enough of a stun for asassin classes and either as part of another chain or not, none of us should have one. And before you all think bet he say Dragonfang needs to be nerfed... In fact i don't i have no issue with it, a cleevr assassin is hard to dfang.. If the inf had sacrifice something for it then all well and good as the don't thats another matter.
Obviously there are more minor issues but these are the ones that simply cause the greatest ire on all sides. So highlighted them.
So in conclusion is the shadowblade grossly underpowered to warrant its death as many depict.. In this old sb's opinion no. It was in a fotm shaodwzerker sense, a little over the top, and did not warrant the action taken to bring it back into line, and the subsequent believe of its demise is far from true. The Shadowblade though atm below par, but only slightly with a few minor adjustments be a very credible class... as it stands now, it still is as it always has been a potent weapon when used correctly. The sb is far from dead.
The inf and ns reviews will follow later, once the flame begins
D.
