138 réponses à ce sujet

[nbiscuitz]

I use 6/6/4/5/5, I use SS to pick off lone targets and for teleportation. Spams ES through cover/wall most of the time for AOE damage which I find SS would be suicidal. It's very fun to play while roaming around the maps. I use canifex X with melee and pierce. Favorite class so far.

[Micah3sixty]

I added build links to the OP with the 3 preferred builds I use on my Shadow, including a 6/0/6/6/6 build for Armor Flame Sword boss melee build.

[King Raptor 22]

What is the big difference in power between a Shadow Strike and a heavy melee with rank 6 in sword mastery?

[Micah3sixty]

King Raptor 22 wrote...

What is the big difference in power between a Shadow Strike and a heavy melee with rank 6 in sword mastery?

While SS remains unchanged regardless of what you pick on rank 6 of SS, your melee and heavy melee will have a 50% damage boost to either shields and barriers, or armor.  I find the armor boost more valuable than shields and barriers since there are far more armor targets alive after the initical TC > SS than shielded targets.  Plus there are more effective ways of stripping shields, such as disruptor ammo, or Acolyte shots.  Once the shields are stripped, I find a TC > SS > Heavy Melee combo quite devestating to an Atlas, removing nearly half it's armor in one cloak cycle.

[sandboxgod]

So... I was wondering why should we choose 'Melee Damage' from Tactical Cloak over recharge? Does anyone know if the Melee Damage bonus affect SS?

[King Raptor 22]

Micah3sixty wrote...

King Raptor 22 wrote...

What is the big difference in power between a Shadow Strike and a heavy melee with rank 6 in sword mastery?

While SS remains unchanged regardless of what you pick on rank 6 of SS, your melee and heavy melee will have a 50% damage boost to either shields and barriers, or armor.  I find the armor boost more valuable than shields and barriers since there are far more armor targets alive after the initical TC > SS than shielded targets.  Plus there are more effective ways of stripping shields, such as disruptor ammo, or Acolyte shots.  Once the shields are stripped, I find a TC > SS > Heavy Melee combo quite devestating to an Atlas, removing nearly half it's armor in one cloak cycle.

thx for the info. I would like to try the pure melee build of the Shadow, but I like the 64655 build. Having a power ES to fall back on to help my teammates. Just wish Rank 6 of Swordary affect SS

Modifié par King Raptor 22, 16 août 2012 - 07:09 .

[Micah3sixty]

sandboxgod wrote...

So... I was wondering why should we choose 'Melee Damage' from Tactical Cloak over recharge? Does anyone know if the Melee Damage bonus affect SS?

Since SS is a melee attack, Melee Damage bonus from Tactical Cloak does increase total SS damage, as does the 40% inherent cloak damage and the 40% evo of rank 4 (though duration is more useful to myself).  If you keep your cooldown above 150%, your TC cooldown won't be that long anyways and the usefulness of melee damage far exceeds any benefit to TC recharge.

[sandboxgod]

Thanks that makes perfect sense.

[ryoldschool]

Micah3sixty - thanks for this guide. I had a bunch of Pistol rail 3 to use up so I tried this build with a Talon, but funny thing is I used the strength mod instead of the Pistol rails. I played probably 8 Gold matches against Cerberus this weekend and it was a lot of fun, and we got extraction each time. After re-reading your suggestions about enemy types and how to SS them, you can tell you have discovered how to optimize the character. Before whenever we would play Cerberus, if we failed, it is usually because we could not take out the phantoms, and this class is a phantom killer

[Micah3sixty]

ryoldschool wrote...

Micah3sixty - thanks for this guide. I had a bunch of Pistol rail 3 to use up so I tried this build with a Talon, but funny thing is I used the strength mod instead of the Pistol rails. I played probably 8 Gold matches against Cerberus this weekend and it was a lot of fun, and we got extraction each time. After re-reading your suggestions about enemy types and how to SS them, you can tell you have discovered how to optimize the character. Before whenever we would play Cerberus, if we failed, it is usually because we could not take out the phantoms, and this class is a phantom killer

Thanks!  Glad the guide proved useful to you and your squad.  I still make tweaks and add stuff from time to time so check back from time to time, or offer suggestions of your own.

[ryoldschool]

Micah3sixty wrote...

ryoldschool wrote...

Micah3sixty - thanks for this guide. I had a bunch of Pistol rail 3 to use up so I tried this build with a Talon, but funny thing is I used the strength mod instead of the Pistol rails. I played probably 8 Gold matches against Cerberus this weekend and it was a lot of fun, and we got extraction each time. After re-reading your suggestions about enemy types and how to SS them, you can tell you have discovered how to optimize the character. Before whenever we would play Cerberus, if we failed, it is usually because we could not take out the phantoms, and this class is a phantom killer

Thanks!  Glad the guide proved useful to you and your squad.  I still make tweaks and add stuff from time to time so check back from time to time, or offer suggestions of your own.

Yes, I have this thread bookmarked.  I have respeced this character about 5 times, lol.   Thanks again for putting this together.

[Micah3sixty]

This build and guide is relatively unaffected by the nerf to ES. Bumping this thread for all the people who need to relearn the way of the Shadow.

[Caephire]

Is it possible to make this a sticky? This is great for testing different scenarios instead of wasting Reset Cards for different possibilities. Would really love to have additional kits on here. Very helpful. Thank you Micah3sixty!!!

[Micah3sixty]

I wish there was one build thread stickied for people to reply with their builds or links to their builds anyways.

[Aesandil]

Very useful guide. You are one of those who made me try out the 6/0/6/6/6 build in the first place, and I can't imagine going back to ES now. I enjoy Shadow just as much as I've enjoyed the N7 Fury - even though it's a little more dependent on being a host or playing with a good host. 

A few comments, mostly Platinum related:

Micah3sixty wrote...

Weapons Suggestions
My personal favorite is the Piranha X with melee and extended barrel mods to boost SS/melee damage and provide quick death to anyone who manages to survive SS and also works wonders against Banshees, Atlases, Primes, Brutes and Ravagers.  At X it leaves me with 170% cooldown which is great.  

My Piranha is currently at IX (armor penetration and melee mods; although I'm not sure whether armor pen is a better choice than extended barrel), which allows for a 184% cooldown reduction with my build. However, I've found out that you can add Acolyte X to the mix, and the cooldown won't move even an inch! There's not even a need for ULM, which allows melee and damage mods to be added. 
Now, the sole purpose of Acolyte is to strip barriers off Banshees, and shields off Atlases and Primes. With Piranha it would take tons of shots to make any noticeable dent in Banshee's barrier, but Acolyte only needs 3-4 charges to take care of it. And then it's up to Piranha to work on the armor. 
I've been looking for a reliable way to solo Platinum Banshees with a Shadow, and I believe that's it. It's not super fast, but it's much better than having to waste a rocket.  

Micah3sixty wrote...

Gear, Mods and Consumables

I've seen some people claiming that Tech gear also affects SS, but as far as I understand there is no consensus on this?

Micah3sixty wrote... 
Gear, Mods and Consumables 
For [b]Ammo consumable, AP or Disruptor helps most with heavies and will also stun mobs that survived SS.  You can also skip ammo as except for heavies and phantoms, you won't be firing all that much.

 

I think that Incendiary is just as useful, what with it having a semi-DoT of its own. 

Micah3sixty wrote...

[b]Banshees: [...] Only SS if they are down to 2-3 bars of armor.  

 

You can also SS when a Banshee stops, with her barrier depleted (of course, only when she wasn't chasing you in particular), and when she starts throwing stuff at your teammates. I have yet to be caught when doing this, though a few times I've managed to start SS just as she was about to send out her shockwave wave (which usually cancels SS and staggers you back, but doesn't break cloak). 

Micah3sixty wrote... 
 Brutes have a form of Blade Armor that deals damage to you when you melee/SS them, removing your shields, and can insta-kill you.

Oh, they do? I guess that I must've been lucky enough not to notice. 

Micah3sixty wrote...  Ravagers will drop swarmers or acid that kill you pretty quick if you don't pop them first with your gun or ES.  

 

I absolutely hate Ravagers. It's a rare occurence when your SS lands safely and you don't take any damage to your shields/health from the swarmers and/or goo. Nowadays I don't even bother; getting close and ripping them to shreds with Piranha is just much more effective. 

Modifié par Aesandil, 23 août 2012 - 07:28 .

[Micah3sixty]

@Aesandil,

I have tried the Acolyte on the Shadow and it is a nice alternative play style and would definitely help with heavies when soloing a wave or Gold. I took my hurricane but didn't like that SMGs don't have a melee mod, so teaming the Acolyte with a Piranha would be even better.

I've not tried tech gear to boost SS. I think the melee gear seems to boost damage for it the most, but if anyone has proof otherwise, do tell.

Banshees can be tricky so move in cautiously when they are targeting others or have barriers down.

The blade armor on brutes seems to have a proximity requirement before damaging your shields. Sometimes I lose my shields and sometimes I don't. If I heavy melee but don't start too close, I seem to do alright. And yes, Ravagers are the worst thing for SS.

[ryoldschool]

 I was inspired to record some clips showing the shadow taking out a phantom in one hit.

One Shadow Strike and then wait a second or two for the DOT to kill them.
I used the build with three levels of ES which I don't recall using in this match.

TC                -   Duration, Melee Damage, Use Power During Cloak
ES
SS               -   Damage, Electric Damage over Time, Damage
N7 Shadow - Damage and Capacity, Power Damage
S. Master     - Sword Damage, Martial Artist, Fire Sword

Wraith with Melee Mod, + Smart Choke
AP Ammo IV
Strength Mod III
Power Damage Mod III
Hydraulic Joints Gear

The clips have all of wave 6 ( eliminate Target , all were phantoms, I took out #2 and #4  ) and a wave 10 hack which I included because I tried to target a phantom in the hack zone but instead targeted an Atlas waaaaaayy outside the zone, lol.

[torabashiri]

Thank you so much! This really helped.

[Micah3sixty]

nice vid ryoldschool!

[BaKaNoOB]

 Can i use indra with it:huh:

[Micah3sixty]

BaKaNoOB wrote...

 Can i use indra with it:huh:

You can, but I wouldn't recommend it, primarily due to the lack of melee weapon mods for Snipers.  If you want to use a scopped weapon on your shadow, I think you'd be better off with either a light AR or Pistol equipped with the melee mod and scope.

[Captain McBuck]

I used this on my Shadow; it is SO much fun! Thanks for this. Great guide

[Jicama]

Thanks for the guide! I don't have the Piranha yet, so went with the 6/3/6/6/5 build and my Reegar V (AP/melee) for 128% cooldown. Faster cooldown would be nice, but it still only takes 3 cartwheels for TC cooldown. With the final N7 weight evolution, a Predator X (scope/melee) costs nothing to carry, but I pretty much never pull it out.

With the Reegar, if a Guardian ends up turned the wrong way I don't bother to dodge, just burn him down.

[Jicama]

Sounds like tech power gear does affect SS, so Engineering Kit and Omni-Capacitors are good choices for Gear as well.

[ryoldschool]

After the patch I just tested on Gold

build - max shadow damage ,using Flame Sword on Sword mastery rank 6

You can one-hit-kill a phantom on gold with these consumables

Strength Enhancer III, Hydraulic Joints V, Melee attachment weapon ( I use Talon ) - phantom from full barriers and health dies a second and 1/2 after strike.

Previous to this update I used the Power Amplification III or IV for the armor mod - now I can use CM3 or shield bonus instead.

Btw, it also seems like the nemesis sniper rifles do a lot more damage now.  Maybe my imagination but it seemed like I got dropped a lot by troopers/guardians after the nemesis shot.