When should a Shadowblade respec to Critstrike ?

1)You get your first anytime strike at 18. Is that too soon to switch ?
2) Do you agree the switch to Crit Strike is a good idea ?
3) Can someone explain why you would want to use Crit Strike as your main spec ? or would you ?
4) What does Crit Strike offer as a reason why to use it ?

Tue 19 Nov 2019 7:14 PM by Riac

Shadanwolf wrote: ↑
Tue 19 Nov 2019 4:56 PM
1)You get your first anytime strike at 18. Is that too soon to switch ?
2) Do you agree the switch to Crit Strike is a good idea ?
3) Can someone explain why you would want to use Crit Strike as your main spec ? or would you ?
4) What does Crit Strike offer as a reason why to use it ?

for lvling up, just spec la and weap and pretend youre a zerker.

Tue 19 Nov 2019 10:03 PM by Sepplord

unless much has changed, also do that in RvR....at least at higher RRs

i always like critspecc more, because part of the assassins fun is lining up stealthopeners, but it really isn't worth it much here. Most of the dmg gets eaten by the con-debuff and overall LA gives higher damage

Sat 23 Nov 2019 4:36 PM by 2flare

sepp, can you clarify. (no offense. tryina learn)
I've tried 44LA. Doublefrost dmg is really no better than Garotte imo. Landing the backchain in the middle of the fight is a hardsell too.
The hamstring->leaper combo of CS chain is the real deal.

I've tested it. I don't see how LA does more dmg.

Sun 24 Nov 2019 2:17 AM by Mavella

2flare wrote: ↑
Sat 23 Nov 2019 4:36 PM
sepp, can you clarify. (no offense. tryina learn)
I've tried 44LA. Doublefrost dmg is really no better than Garotte imo. Landing the backchain in the middle of the fight is a hardsell too.
The hamstring->leaper combo of CS chain is the real deal.

I've tested it. I don't see how LA does more dmg.

50LA doublefrost will do more more damage than 44CS garrote. Especially at lower RR when your LA spec is in the mid 20s if you're critblade. If you can consistently land Garrote+AH the damage will be able to keep pace. If you get stuck spamming garrote the defense penalty will be painful. So vs anything with block/parry/evade you might get stuck spamming garrote a lot. 50LA will do a little better in 1v1 fights vs tankier enemies I've found.

Polar light and Frost Shadow do pretty similar damage to hamstring+leaper with 34 spec CS and still offers some defensive bonuses which is nice. Below 34 you're probably better off using the PL+FS unless you're looking to stun with Comeback+FG.

Hamstring chain is definitely awesome when crit spec though. I miss having at least 3 parts in that chain since I switched to 50LA.

Also with how enervate works pretty much every stealth opener is totally lackluster except to pop preloaded ablatives. I think vs anything soft perf chain vs BS2 with snowsquall chain is a wash and both will result in kill.

Sun 24 Nov 2019 4:47 AM by Freedomcall

Mavella wrote: ↑
Sun 24 Nov 2019 2:17 AM
2flare wrote: ↑
Sat 23 Nov 2019 4:36 PM
sepp, can you clarify. (no offense. tryina learn)
I've tried 44LA. Doublefrost dmg is really no better than Garotte imo. Landing the backchain in the middle of the fight is a hardsell too.
The hamstring->leaper combo of CS chain is the real deal.

I've tested it. I don't see how LA does more dmg.

50LA doublefrost will do more more damage than 44CS garrote. Especially at lower RR when your LA spec is in the mid 20s if you're critblade. If you can consistently land Garrote+AH the damage will be able to keep pace. If you get stuck spamming garrote the defense penalty will be painful. So vs anything with block/parry/evade you might get stuck spamming garrote a lot. 50LA will do a little better in 1v1 fights vs tankier enemies I've found.

Polar light and Frost Shadow do pretty similar damage to hamstring+leaper with 34 spec CS and still offers some defensive bonuses which is nice. Below 34 you're probably better off using the PL+FS unless you're looking to stun with Comeback+FG.

Hamstring chain is definitely awesome when crit spec though. I miss having at least 3 parts in that chain since I switched to 50LA.

Also with how enervate works pretty much every stealth opener is totally lackluster except to pop preloaded ablatives. I think vs anything soft perf chain vs BS2 with snowsquall chain is a wash and both will result in kill.

I'm glad to see you finally took the red pill.

Sun 24 Nov 2019 12:16 PM by Sepplord

2flare wrote: ↑
Sat 23 Nov 2019 4:36 PM
sepp, can you clarify. (no offense. tryina learn)
I've tried 44LA. Doublefrost dmg is really no better than Garotte imo. Landing the backchain in the middle of the fight is a hardsell too.
The hamstring->leaper combo of CS chain is the real deal.

I've tested it. I don't see how LA does more dmg.

Didn't find my Notes from back when i tested it, Bit dont forget that LA scales all of your dmg too. Je you just compare the style it seems more equal Bit the higher LA spec also comes with passive dmg-buffs for both your hands

Sun 24 Nov 2019 3:38 PM by 2flare

Just to be sure. As RR4. If I go 50LA, will I do better vs other sins?
From what I understood. It's mainly attributed to the garrote defense penalty?
I seriously never understood. I did spec 50LA. I swear I was always disapointed.
I do not want to rely on the backchain it has. It's incredibly infuriating to waste my time trying to land it
unless it is an opener.

Please clarify what style I should be using with 50LA in order to do more damage than spamming ham/garrote + leaper
What exactly is the reason that 50LA will outdo hamstring+leaper ?

Thanks everyone for help.

Sun 24 Nov 2019 6:37 PM by Mavella

Freedomcall wrote: ↑
Sun 24 Nov 2019 4:47 AM
I'm glad to see you finally took the red pill.

Well I honestly think 44 or 50 CS might still be better in sin fights with just how hard the evade chain hits. The fact I'm R10+ and can still retain perf+cd made the transition a bit easier. I don't think I personally would have liked 50LA as much if I had to give those up.The transition to NF also meant less roads/travel paths to camp kind of changed dynamics of the game. Population decline changed things as well. I used to value quick kills and getting back into stealth ASAP to avoid getting zerged. Now I end up fighting a lot more tanks/hybrids running around their own far keep bridges. In OF I could avoid tanks if I wanted to. If I want rps now I have to take just about any fight I can find within reason(still not messing with high RR friars/merc/BM). Especially late night NA or I'll be doing a lot of standing around in stealth.

The spec change also helped me combat burn out making the push from r10 to 11 a little more interesting.

LA vs CS spec just meant trading a lot of potential reactionary damage for some more consistent/less painful anytime spam and a situational rear chain like I always figured. Hamstring chain still wins fights!

My dream spec is 44LA/44CS. Only need about 13.5mil more RPs before I can try it out!

2flare wrote: Just to be sure. As RR4. If I go 50LA, will I do better vs other sins?
From what I understood. It's mainly attributed to the garrote defense penalty?
I seriously never understood. I did spec 50LA. I swear I was always disapointed.
I do not want to rely on the backchain it has. It's incredibly infuriating to waste my time trying to land it
unless it is an opener.

Please clarify what style I should be using with 50LA in order to do more damage than spamming ham/garrote + leaper
What exactly is the reason that 50LA will outdo hamstring+leaper ?

Thanks everyone for help.

At rr4 any sin fight is going to be rough. Especially if they have a couple RRs on you. Sins scale harder than any other class with RR and they all seem to get much stronger around r7-8.

Personally, I wouldn't go 50LA until rr5. Below that you have to give up something like comp 50 evenom or comp 52 weapon to make it work. Neither of which is a really great idea imo.

Doublefrost is nice vs Garrote for the lack of Def penalty only. They will end up doing very similar dmg once your LA spec is like 33+ at R7 and beyond. The only thing in LA that will do more/similar dmg to the CS hamstring chain is the LA rear chain. You could certainly pull some walk through stuff and get the rear chain off multiple times per fight. I am personally too lazy for that.

Do what you can to rank up then the spec will matter slightly less if you want to be competitive vs other sins. Most of the solo sins are pretty high RR at this point and it'll take some luck in your favor (Great RNG for you or their purge being down) to win.

Good luck out there.

Sun 24 Nov 2019 11:54 PM by Freedomcall

- 44 or 50 CS is the best way to gimp yourself in ssin fights on low rr.
- Don't be too obsessed on 52 comp weap on low rr. Sometimes dropping it to 50 still helps for more dmg if those points can be invested to better specs.
- Getting evade stun style is more important than hamstring chain. In fact, there is no big dmg difference in hamstring chain vs LA evade chain in low RR.
- LA SB is the only assassin that can make a burst dmg after you become unstealthed. SB can knock down targets that are trying to kite/run away faster than any other ssins.
- Backstab is easier to land on visibles in lots of situations than PA. 3 seconds stun also works better in terms of immunity-timer wise in lots of situations. Thus, you are still fine without PA.
- If you still think SB is gimping too much, I suggest you try out NS/Infil yourself. Sometimes the reason can be you, not the class.

Mon 25 Nov 2019 12:44 AM by 2flare

Thank you mavella for taking the time to answer my question so perfectly. That's exactly what I needed to know!

Mon 25 Nov 2019 8:06 AM by inoeth

i played my sb to rr5 with CS spec and it was very frustrating.... with rr5 i respeced to 50 la and suddenly i was able to kill rr7+ assassins, not always ofc but often enough some of the "good" ones teaming up vs me now (hello redbull/ditziwt

)

my spec:

50 la
35 stealth
34 axe
35 envenom
18 cs

with rr4 i would drop cs to 15 and increase stealth/envenom to 36
dont worry to much about comp 52 weapon spec

Mon 25 Nov 2019 7:01 PM by Mavella

To clarify I meant 44 or 50 CS being the best in sin fights I meant at high RR when you can maintain 34+ hard spec in LA. Once you add in your RR bonus your mainhand base damage is pushing 95%+.

Now after the Con changes enervate is ripping larger amounts of HP than before meaning crit strike openers fall even further behind than they used to.

I will agree BS2 ends up being the superior opener in many fights as it will allow you to restun mid fight if necessary.

If I were to be rr3 again I'd probably start out as 50axe/34LA/37stl&env/10CS using axe styles till r5 then go 50LA.

Tue 26 Nov 2019 1:17 AM by 2flare

wait mavela, you mean 50 Axe as in spending the full 50 spec points? Or did you mean composite 50 axe ?
Please explain why if it's the first option. (thank you)

Tue 26 Nov 2019 1:50 AM by gotwqqd

2flare wrote: ↑
Tue 26 Nov 2019 1:17 AM
wait mavela, you mean 50 Axe as in spending the full 50 spec points? Or did you mean composite 50 axe ?
Please explain why if it's the first option. (thank you)

He wants 50 axe for weapon skill
Else he won’t have composite 51 if la is 50
This at sub rr5

Tue 26 Nov 2019 2:35 AM by Mavella

2flare wrote: ↑
Tue 26 Nov 2019 1:17 AM
wait mavela, you mean 50 Axe as in spending the full 50 spec points? Or did you mean composite 50 axe ?
Please explain why if it's the first option. (thank you)

Yes this is just a spec for rr3/4. You want to use axe front chain as "anytimer" in 1v1s and open with BS2 followed with side ASR if it's something that's going to turn and fight. The only LA style I'd probably use over axe styles is snowsquall because the first in the axe rear chain has a pretty low growth rate. I'm going on assume even at 34 LA spec two snowsqualls will do more damage than evernight+arctic rift. Could be wrong though.

Once you switch to 50LA use LA styles only.