The Shadowblade problem

[Peppersauce]

I've got a serious problem with one of the classes in this game, this class is the Shadowblade. It really is penalized at the start with NO means to deal decent damage, low health and the need to really luck it out with Phase Doors in the first two character levels to even survive. Enemies that are trivial with any other class are really too much difficult with this one, which is forced to escape even from Snakes, even the Thief has an easier start... they have traps and don't need to heavily invest on Magic just to get Illuminate to level 4 (which is the only viable strategy at the start), seriously penalizing the melee aspect when starting out. Oh, and Disengage is actually reliable from the start.

I'm not saying you should change how Illuminate or PD work, of course, I'm just saying that a Shadowblade is a nightmare at low levels. Someone was talking about how the Arcane Blade needed a rework a little while ago, that is nothing compared to what this class needs. I had to restart my Shadowblade lots of times to get to level 4 and I'm even decently experienced with the game. Imagine a person just giving ToME a shot and choosing this class as its first. Not funny, right?

Ideas? Well, first of all I'd like to point out that Arcane Feed got a buff in B41 while Shadow Feed is as wimpy as before. Also, *at least* giving a player the shoot talent and a sling in the off-hand set would make things a bit better. It won't suffice, sure, but it'd be a start.

Another thing:
The Shadowblade set is Moon + Star, right? Star gives a bonus to light damage, but how many Shadowblade spells deal light damage? Just ONE.

Sorry if this post sounds rude, but I'm a bit frustrated by all of those wasted attempts I had with the class.

[phantomglider]

The most important thing about early Shadowblades is using Dual Strike and Dirty Fighting liberally. Stun is an incredible status effect and completely neuters most enemies in the early game. Once you've done that, Shadow Combat gives you enough damage to just bump attack things to death. I find the Rogue start tougher, mostly because traps are stamina hogs and kind of awkward.

Also, Moon+Star aren't "the Shadowblade set", they're just a pair of daggers with a theme. The Shadowblade artifact is Nightsong.

[Peppersauce]

The most important thing about early Shadowblades is using Dual Strike and Dirty Fighting liberally. Stun is an incredible status effect and completely neuters most enemies in the early game. Once you've done that, Shadow Combat gives you enough damage to just bump attack things to death. I find the Rogue start tougher, mostly because traps are stamina hogs and kind of awkward.

I don't know, maybe it's just me, but at the start my Shadowblades aren't capable of hitting enemies reliably... or at least snakes... and I admit I didn't think about Dirty Fighting. I'll try to build it differently next time. Thieves tougher tho? Most of the times you can set a trap, Disengage and just wait for the enemy/enemies to walk on it and, if not die, at least be severely damaged in the explosion, then you finish them off, rest, rinse and repeat. With a thief I can actually clear the Trollmire without much of a problem. With the Shadowblade I have to at least hit 3 starting zones and stop at level 2 of each so that I can get enough skills to go and kill Prox. It may be that mine is a bad build, I'll give you that.

Also, Moon+Star aren't "the Shadowblade set", they're just a pair of daggers with a theme. The Shadowblade artifact is Nightsong.

Good point.

[Peppersauce]

I'm trying a different build right now and I can say I was exaggerating before. Maybe I lucked out a bit on the drops this time (a good regen infusion + amulet of healing in the first dungeon) but after making some slight changes this class looks actually playable. Sorry about the fuss.

(but mind you, I still want to see Shadow Feed buffed )

[SageAcrin]

Yeah, Shadowblades are very easy to screw up-ask my first serious attempt at one, which got flattened at Rantha. Heavy investments in a few key skills are key, early on. You may want those neat skills, but they have to wait a bit.

I wouldn't mind seeing Shadow Feed buffed, too. It has the same problem Arcane Feed had-no point in leveling it past a certain point(That point being L1), rather low Mana regen amounts. I wouldn't mind seeing a double/some amount of Darkness damage%+(or darkness damage penetration) added to it. But as a general thing, they don't need a buff. They just need very careful thought as to where you're going with one-even if you have a build idea, you also have to make it so the build is viable at all stages, as you can easily screw that up a little and die. Not that easy to do.

[daftigod]

A general rule of thumb with melee classes is to upgrade the weapon accuracy skill over weapon mastery in the beginning. Always! It doesn't matter if you're getting +12% damage on weapon strikes with a 7-9 attack dagger if you can't hit anything with it. Accuracy before damage.

The shadow combat skill adds darkness damage to each hit. If you hit with each weapon, you get double the damage. If you only hit with one, well... the skill doesn't really seem worth it. Shadowblade is a finesse class that relies on accurate strikes with some sustained damage. Traps are nice, but most shadowblades should be focusing on other things IMHO.

[Peppersauce]

And right you are, guys, the game completely changed just with a couple of tweaks to the build... and I feel silly about creating this topic right now. Thanks for the tips!