Small advice needed!

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Rico_scorpion
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Small advice needed!

Post by Rico_scorpion » Sun Oct 25, 2020 10:36 pm

Hey guys,

I'm doing a pve toon.

So I'm going either (not in that order obviously):

10 Rogue
5 IB
15 Shadowdancer

Or

9 rogue
5 IB
16 Shadowdancer

Or

7 rogue
5 IB
18 Shadowdancer

Basically i initially wanted to get crippling strike + imp bleed for the flavor of really applying debuffs all the time thanks to my shadow taking focus. However going crippling strike (10 rogue) means sitting on a handful of bonuses that would net me 16 SD. So I really want to be sure that crippling strike is worth the sacrifice, that's where you guys come in.

Note: The additional feat from SD would probably mean that i get armor skin or prowess.

So the basically the questions are:

- How good is crippling strike? (-2 str per sneak attack), given in pve i 100% sneak attack due to my shadow. Is it gimmicky or actually worth sacrifying stuff for? (1 extra epic feat, SD:16 many little boons)

- How good is shadow gaze: fear vs shadow gaze: stun? Does mind immunity protect from stun? Or does that mean that suddenly shadow gaze becomes VERY strong even in pvp?

Thanks for the help

Cheers

AstralUniverse
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Re: Small advice needed!

Post by AstralUniverse » Sun Oct 25, 2020 11:13 pm

IB doesnt exist yet and is likely going to look at least a bit different than it is now by the time it goes live.
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KeldonDonovans
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Re: Small advice needed!

Post by KeldonDonovans » Fri Oct 30, 2020 3:33 pm

Let me preface this by saying I have no idea with regard to the shadow gaze. Moving on to crippling strike. Yes, it's worth it. It's worth just about anything. As far as PvE is concerned, it can take creatures that normally smoosh the world (like giants, or dragons, anything that isn't immune to ability drain) and quickly reduce their strength so low that even ~if~ they hit, it barely hurts. As far as PvP is concerned, a few hits is enough to encumber most players, making their micromanaging of a toon's movement suffer greatly, so its very effective in that regard against most your dex-based users. The people who aren't encumbered tend to be Strength based characters, so draining their strength falls into the same category as PvE, where it took once intimidating hits and turns them into easily manageable bits of damage, or misses entirely. I once saw an Epic Scythe Weaponmaster under the influence of several crippling strikes crit someone for 30 damage.

So long story short (too late), Yes, Crippling strike is worth the sacrifice if it matches your playstyle. Just make sure your AB doesn't suffer too greatly, crippling strike only works if you hit.

Exordius
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Re: Small advice needed!

Post by Exordius » Fri Oct 30, 2020 6:08 pm

I would not rate 30 damage as weak lol, some builds have very little hp to work with. :geek:

Gouge Away
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Re: Small advice needed!

Post by Gouge Away » Fri Oct 30, 2020 7:36 pm

Crippling strike is very easily countered by several means so I wouldn't rely on that alone. Still, it's a nuisance, and if the enemy isn't prepared to deal with it you can really wreck someone. Even if they aren't melee anyone without massive strength who gets a few crippling strikes is going to lose the ability to run. If you can take it comfortably you won't regret it but many rogues don't and still do OK.

Shadow gaze is a gimmick. Like most gimmicks it's awesome when it works & with deep shadowdancer investment you can get a good DC on it so it's not useless but I wouldn't build a character around it. I think the cooldown on it needs to be reduced myself if it's going to be a viable tool (like, I'd much rather see the duration drastically shortened but you can use it every few rounds.)

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Skibbles
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Re: Small advice needed!

Post by Skibbles » Sat Oct 31, 2020 6:48 am

Exordius wrote:
Fri Oct 30, 2020 6:08 pm
I would not rate 30 damage as weak lol, some builds have very little hp to work with. :geek:
Given that a scythe crit from a WM is going to do around 230 damage or more I think 30 is pretty damn awesome by comparison!
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KeldonDonovans
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Re: Small advice needed!

Post by KeldonDonovans » Sat Oct 31, 2020 1:42 pm

Skibbles wrote:
Sat Oct 31, 2020 6:48 am
Exordius wrote:
Fri Oct 30, 2020 6:08 pm
I would not rate 30 damage as weak lol, some builds have very little hp to work with. :geek:
Given that a scythe crit from a WM is going to do around 230 damage or more I think 30 is pretty damn awesome by comparison!
Yeah, what he said. I've seen Scythe WMs crit for over 300. I don't care what build you have, taking hits of 300 to the face is a bad day for everyone.

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