Shadowblade

Shadowblade
Metaclass	Rogue
Locked	No
Starting Life	100
Life Rating	+0
Stat Modifiers
Strength	0
Dexterity	+3
Constitution	0
Magic	+3
Willpower	0
Cunning	+3

Description

Shadowblades are Rogues that are touched by the gift of magic, able to kill with their daggers under a veil of stealth while casting spells to enhance their performance and survival.

Their use of magic is innate and not really studied; as such they do not naturally regenerate mana and must use external means of recharging.

They use the schools of Phantasm, Temporal, Divination and Conveyance magic to enhance their arts. Their most important stats are: Dexterity, Cunning and Magic

Starting Equipment

• Iron Dagger
• Iron Dagger
• Rough Leather Armor
• Manasurge Rune

Starting Talents

• Dual Strike
• Shadow Combat
• Phase Door
• Lethality

Talent Categories

Technique

Dual weapons (1.2 mastery)

Dual techniques (1.2 mastery)

Combat Techniques (1.3 mastery)

Combat Veteran (1.3 mastery, locked)

Combat Training (1.2 mastery)

Cunning

Dirty Fighting (1.3 mastery)

Lethality (1.3 mastery)

Shadow Magic (1.3 mastery)

Stealth (1.3 mastery, locked)

Survival (1.1 mastery)

Ambush (1.3 mastery, locked)

Spells

Phantasm (1.0 mastery)

Conveyance (1.0 mastery)

Temporal (1.0 mastery, locked)

Divination (1.0 mastery, locked)

Strategy

The Shadowblade is fast, stealthy, mobile, and deadly. He is a Rogue who has learned rudimentary magic, much to the chagrin of his opponents.

The Shadowblade uses daggers, one in each hand, for his offense. Leading with a Dual Strike or some good old-fashioned Dirty Fighting to stun, and then following up with a Flurry or a Sweep to kill, leaves a path of carnage.

Shadowblades rely on Defense rather than Armour, preferring to avoid blows rather than to absorb their impact. The Dual Weapon Defense and Blur Sight talents, plus the inherent Defense bonus provided by their high Dexterity, make them hard to hit.

They are highly mobile, with access to the full suite of Conveyance talents, as well as Shadowstep, a devastating talent when combined with Track or any other ESP source. They also get Rush -- both of these trees are unlocked at birth. In addition, they may unlock the Temporal tree, leading to Essence of Speed, should they choose.

Another build choice is to go for stealth. Unlocking this category gives talents that allow striking from the shadows with huge bonuses.

They may also unlock the Divination tree, but generally most players find they need the points for other choices.

Shadowblades do not get any stun resistance or elemental resistance talents. Spellcasters are their worst enemies, since virtually all of their damage mitigation is focused on dodging or avoiding physical attacks. (In the end game, your damage mitigation against spellcasters is "kill them before they even know you're there". It works incredibly well.)

Shadowblades do not get any healing talents either, but they can learn a few shielding spells. Shadowblades may find it helpful to pick up the Celestial/Light tree from an Anorithil escort quest, for the Healing Light, Barrier and Providence talents.

The biggest challenge with hybrid classes like the Shadowblade is deciding whether to generalize or specialize your point investments, and if specializing, deciding where to do so. Shadowblades have three primary stats -- Dexterity, Cunning and Magic -- in addition to needing Constitution (like everybody else). This means they can easily find themselves spread too thin, weak in everything instead of strong in a few areas.

Classes

Classes with a non-white background need to be unlocked or may have other requirements

Classes
Warrior	Rogue	Mage	Afflicted	Defiler	Celestial	Wilder	Chronomancer	Psionic	Adventurer	Tinker	Demented
Bulwark	Rogue	Alchemist	Cursed	Reaver	Anorithil	Summoner	Paradox Mage	Mindslayer	Adventurer	Sawbutcher	Writhing One
Berserker	Shadowblade	Archmage	Doomed	Corruptor	Sun Paladin	Wyrmic	Temporal Warden	Solipsist	Wanderer	Gunslinger	Cultist of Entropy
Archer	Marauder	Necromancer		Doombringer		Stone Warden		Possessor		Psyshot
Arcane Blade	Skirmisher			Demonologist		Oozemancer				Annihilator
Brawler