Except, when I tried Shadowblade, I found a lot of speed, but nothing particularly damaging or any strong defensive abilities, decided the class wasn't exciting, and gave up.Now, much more experienced, I know that weapon classes don't need damage amps from class abilities. Prodigies are the main damage boosters, and weapon classes get really crazy scaling late because unlike almost everything in the game, weapon damage doesn't suffer that much from diminishing returns. Even the basic bump attacks. As for defence, I now know that any class that likes opening with a teleport gets a good defensive boost from OOP (Out of Phase) Gear, that provide upto 40% AllResist (plus some other goodies) for 5 turns after a teleport. Shadowblades have Shadowstep, which is basically Rush, but counts as a Teleport. Perfect for triggering OOP.
So what does Shadowblades have? They are best known for having ridiculous amounts of speed. Since attack speed & global speed are multiplicative, Shadowblades get to take roughly 2.5 turns for each turn a normal enemy takes. That gets amplified further if they're Shalore (or Yeek), have any speed boosting equipment, or the enemies are crippled/slowed. They also have a very powerful ranged pull that silences and disarms at range 10; it allows them to pull key targets from a distance, quickly kill them while they're helpless, and get out before their buddies come and take revenge. But the really deceptive part is how strong they're defensively.
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SHADOWBLADE DEFENCES, AND DEFENSIVE LAYERS
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You see, I like to classify defences into three layers. The first layer are defences that always work (no RNG involved) and are active Turn 0 or Turn 1. Obviously, Turn 0 defences are superior, but since scouting is so crucial, Turn 1 defences are comparable since you shouldn't be getting ambushed. Which also means, if a lot of a class's first layers defences are Turn 1, they can't really autoexplore and can be oneshot easier, so caution is needed.
The second layer is same, Turn 0 or Turn 1 defences; but this time, they're RNG. They're not always guaranteed to work. Think Defense (as opposed to Armor), or Evasion. They're powerful defensive tools, but if you only have 2nd layer defences, some instance your luck will run out and you will die. Most hard CC is also in this layer because they can be resisted or cleansed, and you might not even be able to get in range of the dangerous enemy to CC them in the first place.
Everything defensive that isn't fully active Turn 0 or 1, I classify as third layer. Even if the defenses can be online turn 2, so many things can go wrong even in a single turn that turn 2 defences aren't a guarantee. Exceptions exist, but generally that holds true. Ramping defences, regen, sustain all fall in this category. And of course, for each category, every defensive ability has its own strength, they can be strong, weak, or somewhat in between.
As an example of things going wrong in a single turn: one of my deaths as this Shadowblade was a Adventurer patrol fight. I was feeling strong so I decided to take the fight. Killed one, autoexplored, came to a stop right in melee range of a Rogue around the corner. Very relaxed, I pressed 1 (bound to Shadowstep). I died. Instantly. If I wasn't careless, I would activated my shields, properly inspected and stuff, because a Rogue in melee range means extreme danger.
1st LAYER: Trained Reactions (Very Strong), Shadowguard + OOP Bonuses (Strong), Time Shield (Good), Dual Weapon Mastery (Decent), Thick Skin (Decent).
2nd LAYER: Stealth + Shadowdance (Strong, but point expensive), Shadowgrasp (Strong), Evasion + Defense (Good), Phantasmal Shield (Weak + Weak, making it Decent in practice), Dual Strike (Stun, Decent), Displacement Shield (Weak), Mirror Image (Strong)
Can't use both Shadowdance OOP boost + Mirror Image in one turn, so I recommend skipping Mirror Image until late; that much defense not even needed most of the time.
3rd LAYER: Backstab + Daggers of Torment and various on-hit procs from equipment that cripple/slow/reduce damage (both Strong, because of Shadowblade's high speed), Soothing Shadow's regen (mostly for early game)
For a Shadowblade, they want to be stealthed at start of a fight, break stealth, then either Shadow Grasp (pull) a singular enemy and kill it without needing defenses (check to see if enemy has instant speed cleanses or not); or they will Shadowstep. Breaking Stealth gives you 25% AllResist, OOP after Shadowstep gives you 40% with the right equipment (you can usually get the full 40% by completing the T1 dungeons, which means L20 roughly). Thats 65% AllResist! Only 5% less than the cap. Of course, if the enemy has any resistance penetration, it by itself isn't enough, but it is a very strong starting point. Then you look at all the other defensive tools they have, and compare that to Cultist (for example), who has almost all of their defenses on 3rd Layer. This makes Shadowblades basically play like Warriors despite being in Metaclass Rogues. You can easily statcheck most enemies as long as your buffs are online and you have resources (mainly Stamina for Trained Reactions).
This is why I diverged from the last Shadowblade Guide (1.6, Shadowblade Matrix Style Guide). You want two offensive prodigies, period, because a Shadowblade has very little offensive scaling backing up his extreme speed. Especially when you also consider that Dual-Wielding hits like a wet noodle vs Armor and Flat DR (Skirmisher Pace Yourself, for example). I went Flex Combat + Arcane Might and never regretted it. Ethereal Form just seems overkill, and probably would've made me dread fighting the Bulwark randbosses; because if a Bulwark rolls a offensive 2nd class, they immediately become an enemy you're better off skipping, and a Shadowblade without an offensive prodigy at 25 would probably be forced to run on sight (imagine Skirmisher/Bulwark). Even with my offensive prodigy, and putting floating points into Expose Weakness, Bulwarks were absolutely nasty. Until I realized that Shadow Veil isn't completely a trap.
You see, with so much going on defensively, a Shadowblade is extremely, extremely tanky for the 5 or so turns the buffs hold. However, you really have to be ready to run away as soon as you're running low on Stamina, which is why you can't take long 5+ turn fights like an actual tank. Shadow Veil is a huge payoff for basically being immortal during that short while. Yes, you can get baited into hitting wrong targets and teleporting straight into 3 rares in the next room; but if you scout well, pull with Shadow Grasp, none of that should happen because a 7 range teleport isn't that long ranged, and hitting the wrong targets is really less problematic than you think because 2x damage + Blade Flurry AOE. Also, don't forget your speedboosts; in those 3 turns, you actually perform like 7-9 attacks so its really high damage if you can focus all the hits onto a single target (by making them the only target nearby). Late game, the Pride entrance fights, I was tanky enough with super high damage that I dared to use Shadow Veil, and was really surprised to win easily. Turns out 200%+ damage witth CC immunity is a reaally, reaally good payoff despite loss of control. The free jumps from one enemy to another was actually useful too, since the enemies are kind of spread apart (top, middle, bottom). I didn't randomly teleport inside the fort or anything, because Shadow Veil jumps also needs vision (I think); if your Track is off, Shadow Veil won't jump through walls and put you in trouble.
Early on, ideally, you pull a single guy, maybe phase door him further away from his buddies, Shadowstep for the OOP, Expose Weakness for the buff, Flurry because why not, then Shadow Veil to basically double your damage. Even in rare scenarios you jump around poorly, a Shadowblade has enough mobility, speed and tankiness to walk out from a room full of enemies even on Insane. I took this ability too late, and all of a sudden, those Bulwarks just melted. You actually won't even be needing it except against those tanky classes (Bulwarks, Sawbutchers, Skirmishers), but you'll be really glad to put your floating points into Shadow Veil when you do. Keep in mind, it hits random enemies, so it isn't very hot in the final fight (two bosses, bunch of random summons pouring in from portals), so either clean up the trash with Whirlwind + Blade Flurry first (close portals in final fight maybe) and Time Prison one of them, else just bump attack them to death.
NOTE: I had some fairly good success with two sets of weapons. The first was the standard, with high power daggers and standard enchants like speed, APR, Accuracy, crit etc. The second was to debuff a single enemy extremely hard, with two 'of torment' daggers, that on-hit has 20% debuff chance. The 2nd one also splashed acid on crit, reducing Armor. Lategame after Arcane Might, the first set completely surpassed the 2nd, but the 2nd was very decent to slowly grind down even a Bulwark/Skirmisher. Try keeping some healing reduction (Sting Totems, or Curse of Death) handy; one Godfeaster tanky randboss had a really high level Vitality; it healed ~115 per turn, and Vitality itself has a CD of only 15; so I just couldn't kill, even after applying every debuff. I tried to retreat, he chased me down, I died; but after I respawned (Adventure mode), I inspected him to see where all his power was coming from; then I just Stinging Totem when he was about to fall to 50%, and after that it was a very smooth kill.
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SHADOWBLADE TALENTS
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Dual Techniques: 1/1+/0+1/0+
Duelist: 3+/0+/0/0+
Stealth: 1+/3/3/1+
Dirty Fighting: 1/5/0/0+
Shadow Magic: 1+3/1/5/3+
Phantasm: 1/1/1/2+
Combat Training: 2+/1/1+/0+3/0/5
Mobility: 1+/1+/4/2+
Lethality: 1+/1+/5/1+3
Survival: 0+1/0+1/0+1/0+
Conveyance: 5/0+/0+/0+
Unlock:
(10) Ambush: 1/1/1+/0+4+
(20) Temporal: 1/1+/1/5
Combat Techniques: 1/1+5/2+/5 OR Augmented Mobility: 1/5/0+/0+ OR Inscription (if you have a Blinding Speed granting equipment)
Inscription OR Chants 1/1/1/0
The above mentioned points are roughly the mandatory points. Pluses indicate luxury investements, a plus followed by a number means floating points investment. Lets go over the key standouts:
Dual Techniques: Flurry is one of the highest damage burst abilities in the game, good but not great on Shadowblades because they are so fast. You'll do like 10+ attacks in 5 turns, only one of those will be Flurry, so much smaller percentage damage increase compared to, say, Arcane Blade. You can Snap to reset flurry, but the DPS increase is pretty minor so not very necessary. Good for burst though, as always.
Heartseeker & Whirlwind are luxury, because points can be tight if you're unlocking Combat Techniques too. Heartseeker is good to float a point or two early before Shadowstep (Level 8-11), but its mostly a prerequisite for Whirlwind for lategame fights. Remember how clearing out white mobs lets you focus the big guys with Shadow Veil? That is the main purpose of Whirlwind. If you're not taking Shadow Veil at all, Whirlwind is probably luxury because Blade Flurry is just that good AOE and honestly all you need. If taking Whirlwind, 3 points.
Duelist: Nothing stands out here. Dual Weapon Mastery is not like other masteries, the damage increase to your offhand dagger for the 4th and 5th point is pretty minor, and you don't exactly need the small defensive boost here too much (still nice to have), which is why more than 3/5 is not mandatory. If you're strapped for points, taking it from this one is perfectly fine, but this gives you ~3% damage boost for the final two points, which honestly is more than what an average ability will give you lategame so try to get 5. Everything else is really not worth it; the disarm from Lunge is powerful of course, but you already have a disarm in Shadowgrasp, and you don't need the redundancy because you are tanky even without CC, and you won't be fighting long enough to need more than 3+ turn disarm (especially with Backstab).
Stealth: One of your build decisions, since Shadowblade is pretty straightforward to build otherwise. Do you want 5/5 Stealth and 3/5 Shadow Dance? If you can spare the points, absolutely. I've been a fan of stealth since my Gunslinger days, since I know it basically acts like a Global Confuse, that they save against each turn instead of only once; and if they get confused on turn 1, its BIG. How you use it is very simple, after you break stealth with Shadowstep (Shadowgrasp doesn't so keep in mind) you pop Shadow Dance, that way you get the stealth breaking benefits, and still get to keep Stealth active for defense, and after Shadow Dance expires, you get to refresh Soothing Darkness buff too. No need to overinvest into it with Armor of Shadows or anything, you have really good 1st layer defenses that this definitely doesn't need a prodigy investment. Even the various equipment with +10 Stealth isn't needed. Really powerful against some enemies, but not as reliable since a lot classes can randomly have Heightened Senses which hard counters Stealth.
Of special note is Soothing Darkness. While obviously its needed because Shadowguard; early game, the regen it gives is really high. The stamina regen helps maintain Flurry, and the life regen can often be a major source of sustain because it scales with cunning, and can get to pretty high values (times 5) when you pump CUN over DEX earlygame. CUN also has better scaling, like from Shadow Cunning, Dual Weapon Mastery, Expose Weakness; but I'd still max DEX first (after earlygame) because DEX gives better stats (accuracy and defense).
Keep in mind stealth lowers light radius to 0, so you either need Infravision, 5/5 Heighten Senses (don't), or Track/Arcane Eye. And you do mostly want to be running around with Stealth active, since, especially at level 1, its hard to activate Stealth after you see an enemy because of the large minimum range. Its also a decent passive 2nd layer defense, and is actually your main way to gapclose very early (first T1 dungeon).
Dirty-Fighting: Backstab is one of your key damage amps, and a payoff for having extreme speed in base kit. Normally, Dirty Fighting + Poisons + Scoundrel are the classic Rogue debuff trees scaling with attack speed, that makes them good at long fights; but you're missing the other two. Not that big of a deal, since those give more defensive benefits (Numbing Poison, Crippling Poison, Fumble) rather than offensive, and you already have very good defenses; you don't need too many ramping 3rd layer ones; but this is a pretty powerful 3rd layer defense, and will help a lot to grind down those Bulwarks. Even base, its a 20% damage amp at 5/5 if you use Shadowgrasp to engage; even without any CC ability, Gloves of War-Making have a chance to cast 'Cripple' than applies cripple, it that can the debuff snowball rolling. Unlike a lot of 3rd layer defenses, it scales with your turns (on-attack) rather than global turns, so it synergizes well with your extreme speed. Probably the first thing you try to max after you get your offensive and defensive essentials online.
Dirty Fighting can be relevant sometimes, but you're not usually applying too much stun or blind or pin or confusion; more disarms and silences; and it doesn't help with those. I've used it a few times though, so can be worth keeping in hotbar; not completely worthless. Its best use is one those tanky Bulwarks (or similar) to improve Backstab.
Twist the Knife is the luxury here; while it can be good, I mostly see it being useful in the final fight; anytime earlier you either don't need it (lategame) or won't have the points for this (earlygame).
Shadow Magic: This is one of your unique trees, and its pretty decent. A 18% physical and spell speed boost, a minor bonus to earlygame SP when you aren't putting points in MAG, a strong earlygame damage amp for dual-wielders that remains relevant late (Shadow Combat; don't put permanent points into it though, only float points for earlygame). And of course, a slightly gimmicky magical Rush that is a Teleport so can't be bodyblocked and triggers OOP bonuses. 3 points for the range, 4 can be good for the full range (=vision range).
Its gimmicky because it requires sight, and will sometimes fail when you open a door; because sometimes you open one your character hasn't actually seen anything inside although you have, so Shadowstep fails. Shadowstep issues can be solved with Track or Arcane Eye, the latter having the advantage of being instantaneous; while the former has a much larger radius. You need to have one of them as a permanent talent; especially because Stealth makes your light radius 0; so either Infravision or Track/Arcane Eye is necessary (else you'll be forced to equip infravision equipment).
Phantasm: Lategame investment. While mirror image is powerful, its not needed in 1v1s, you are really tanky and have lots of cc. It starts being useful mostly in extended fights; which at the moment is just the Final Fight; you can generally clear Pride entrances without issues, and anytime you get overwhelmed inside you can just run away (like in most fights except the final fight). Atmathon should also count if you do him in post-game. I invested into it midgame, but never really needed to use it until late (did use a couple times here and there, but was never a lifesaver, or feel crucial). Its very powerful in the final fight though, buying you (and Aeryn) a lot of time if you stagger your activated defenses properly. 3 points give you a 10 HP image, which should suffice. Possibly I should've used my floating points in Shadow Veil here for the final fight? I was Shalore skipping Combat Techniques, which made me have a lot of points; but other races can consider saving points this way.
Put a point into Phantasmal Shield midgame though; its pretty decent for a 2-pointer. Very early game, you can try using floated points into Illuminate to do damage at range instead of melee. You don't need to, since Shadow Combat is a good enough amp to want to go into melee, but its an option if you can meet the MAG requirements.
Ambush: Mandatory unlock. Unique tree, and quite a powerful one. Standouts are the 25% AllResist from Shadowguard, that also a nice emergency boost if you drop below 50%; the CC immunity from the boost is notable and if you cleanse after you trigger this (Relentless Pursuit ability unlocked after going east, for example), you'll be completely CC free for the next few turns even without Shadow Veil.
Shadowgrasp is the all-star; even without the CC, a range 10 pull is not common; and, especially before your OOP defenses are online and before your stamina issues are resolved, its very helpful. Its the reason why Ambush tree is a L10 unlock. This will do more defensively than an additional healing/shielding/movement/shatter rune.
Shadow Veil I've already discussed; it really shines after you also get Arcane Might (L42) since it scales with weapon damage. I don't think you should build completely around it; you should still get +% physical damage, mainly for the final fight; but +% darkness damage is quite strong with it if you can end fights fast, and you have quite a large amount of 'free' Darkness penetration from Umbral Agility and AllPen from Expose Weakness so you can mostly ignore darkness penetration. If building for +%Darkness damage, consider 4/5ing Snap, and even running Drem; and enjoy never needing to bump attack like a peasant again.
Umbral Agility is a good place to put a luxury point or two if you're using Shadow Veil; the accuracy and defense is nice, and the pen isn't wasted even without Shadow Veil because of Shadow Combat sustain (on-hit darkness damage). If you're going to heavily invest in +% Darkness damage, I recommend 4/5 Snap to reset Shadow Veil too.
Temporal:: Your second mandatory unlock. Unlocking it over extra inscriptions is fine because Time Shield, which is basically a shielding rune so you're not sacrificing layer 1 defenses that inscriptions give to get this. Of course, the main reason is the sustain for +26% Global Speed; so save +MAG gear to max it quickly. Global Speed is very powerful on Shadowblade especially, because they have two sources of attack speed (Flurry and Shadow Feed), that stack multiplicatively with Global Speed.
You never need Congeal Time, because Time Prison is the better version of that (when 1v2 or 1v3ing); you have no issues in a 1v1. Time Prison is nice though, especially in final fight if it sticks; I'm not actually sure if you can use it on yourself to wait out the turns after a kill (to retreat using Stairs), if you can, this is extremely powerful. I didn't need to use it too often, but when I did, it kinda felt lifesaving allowing a smooth retreat. Also good for escorts, especially in Dreadfell and Reknor.
Combat Techniques: Recommended unlock for almost everyone except Shalore. On non-Cornacs, you do skip an Inscription slot for this; if you can find a good Blinding Speed (active) item by 34, I would honestly use it and not unlock this, since this unlock is mostly for the multiplicative Global Speed from Blinding Speed. While Perfect Strike is nice, again, you can get it from items, and there's a bunch of Blind-Fight items you can temporarily equip when fighting against invisible enemies at the low, low price of 1 turn (which is less than a global turn because of your speed boosts). The one I keep for Blind Fight is typically Withering Orbs (if I find it from Heart of the Gloom or something). Precise Strikes is okay to float points into midgame after unlocking the tree; can be useful late if you don't have good +crit gear (or not Halfling).
Rush is redundant with Shadowstep, but its nice to have it anyway since the more gap closers you have, the easier you can save your Tumble and Movement Infusions to escape.
Combat Training: Dagger Mastery is your easy 5/5 here. You don't have to max it ASAP though, only the first point is absolutely mandatory. Standard 1/5 Heavy Amor to equip heavy non-body equipment. Light Armor is a 1/5 since you're guaranteed to use Light Armor because Mobility (Trained Reactions scale with Defense and need Light Armor), and is a good place for luxury points because Mobility tree allows you to benefit twice from increasing your defense (three times if you take into account Evasion).
You don't need too many points in Thick Skin because you already have really good 1st layer defenses. On the other hand, AllResist is better the more AllResist you have when trying to counteract penetration, so eh. Luxury investment mostly.
Classic 2-3 point float in Combat Accuracy. For Shalore, and anyone who's not getting Perfect Strike (unlocking Combat Techniques or a good equipment with Perfect Strike); it can be okay putting 2 permanent points here since your CC scales with accuracy (like Archers). You still do get bonus accuracy from Umbral Agility, and can choose to prioritize accuracy gear; so eh.
Weapon Mastery if for whatever reason you want 1H + Dagger. PES + Arcane Might build anyone? I don't think Shadowblade is the class for it though.
Mobility: 1.3 Mastery means you max Tumble range at 4/5, and Trained Reactions gives you a huge boost at the 2nd point, so those are mandatory. Everything else is luxury, though I'd highly recommend 4/5 Trained Reactions for the lategame. You rarely use Disengage even as a retreat, but eh, 1 or 2 floating points can work until you have Phase Door.
Evasion becomes a regularly used starting buff in the mid-lategame, when it becomes worth the stamina cost. Early on though, saving stamina for Trained Reactions and Tumble is generally better; and you also have another stamina drain in Flurry.
Keep in mind Trained Reactions is very, very important to not get oneshot when exploring. Especially in stealth with 0 light radius. It is your primary Turn 0 Layer 1 Defense, and without it, Shadowblade would be much worse of a class. With it though, Shadowblade becomes very relaxing after they get their damage online; just press Z, when you stop, Shadowstep, activate your instant buffs and Shadow Veil, rinse repeat.
Survival: Floating points here for Track. But honestly, because of Stealth reducing light radius to 0 and Shadowstep needing vision, I'm very tempted to make those points permanent. Whatever your track source is, either this or equipment or a Thief escort reward; make sure to have it whenever you're exploring unlit dungeons. Especially if your Infravision is low (6 or less). Device Mastery is situational, and better players than me can advice you better how to use it; I haven't yet.
Danger Sense can be interesting if you're running Halfling, because of the big save boost they get from their racial buff; but eh. Shadow Veil + Shadowguard makes Shadowblades one of the classes least dependant on saves.
Lethality: This is your other multiplicative speed tree. And your primary AOE tree. Blade Flurry is AWESOME. 2/5 it ASAP, try 5/5 as soon as you can, the speed boost is really high. Special note for Whirlwind, I think it makes whirlwinding two adjacent targets hit both targets twice each for a total of four (1 Whirlwind, 1 Blade Flurry). I forgot to check, since I got Whirlwind very late, mostly for the Prides; but that is how it works with every ability so Whirlwind should be no exception. Also, I think when flurrying with 2 adjacent targets, you want to Flurry the weaker one because Flurry hits are 67% damage, but Blade Flurry extra hits are 100%. Keep an eye out for stamina, this is pretty draining especially when combined with Trained Reactions. Fortunately, Soothing Darkness has a decent amount of stamina regen to help out in the early game, so you have no excuse not to take it early.
Expose weakness is pretty critical to beat up heavily armored targets. Also a good general purpose buff because the 30% AllPen helps out both your normal damage and your darkness damage (and any proc damage from your daggers). Float your points here early vs armored targets. Mid/late, Shadow Veil is generally enough damage that you don't need additional points here. Lethality is a prerequisity that you need to take, and it forces your daggers to scale with CUN making 1H+Dagger builds wierd. Its decent enough scaling for additional points, though I'd heavily recommend against investing more than 2 points here.
Snap needs talking about. At 1 point (I highly recommend 1), you always have it off CD, so midcombat, you can put 3 floating points into it to make 4/5. What does it do at various breakpoints?
Snap 1/5: Mostly notable for resetting Stealth and Shadowguard (if on CD). There aren't many T1 talents you want to use regularly, so even 1 point here can save lives sometime, by giving you additional 2 turns of CC immunity, and reactivate Stealth (instaneous) and either break it to refresh Soothing Darkness, or run away stealthily.
Snap 2/5: Allows you to reset Flurry and Shadow Grasp. Both are very relevant and powerful activates, and can be a big source of damage in the early mid for non-Shalore races, because they don't have that much speed early on. Can also reset Expose Weakness, which can be very relevant for those Bulwark fights.
Snap 3/5: Blade Flurry reset! Not that relevant, but sometimes you retreat, wait 10 turns, which can often heal/restore you to full because Soothing Darkness, then re-engage; but Blade Flurry is still on CD, so 2 floating points here can reset it for the re-engage. However, the main benefit of L3 Snap is resetting Tumble, which is an actual lifesaver in certain scenarios. Very stamina expensive though. Track reset is very situational, but can be goated in very specific scenarios.
Snap 4/5: All you need, more points are completely wasted. The main reset here is Shadow Veil, and it can honestly be worth 4/5-ing Snap just for that. It will also reset Perfect Strikes, Blinding Speed, Evasion, Shadow Dance; Flurry and Expose Weakness, and of course Shadow Veil so you're ready for round 2 (as long as your stamina can support it). Those are your ideal hits, but in reality, it'll often hit Shadowstep and Shadowgrasp, so you can delay using Flurry and Evasion before you Snap if you want to guarantee your important stuff getting reset, only relevant in really long fights like the final fight of course. Less necessary on Shalore, who can just Timeless their buffs instead; but remember, you cannot Timeless to extend Shadow Veil, so still has its niche.
Conveyance: Mostly a mid/lategame escape option, making a 2nd movement infusion not necessary, for the somewhat steep price of 5 generics. You don't need this to retrigger OOP; mostly because you don't want 5+ turn fights, and also because Shadowstep is 6 CD. Having access to this allows you to use your movement infusion more aggressively, especially if Shalore (since Timeless can reduce a low CD movement infusion CD by a lot).
Everything else is really not recommended unless you're Cornac that didn't get either Chants or Augmented Mobility. Teleport 1 point is traditionally decent, but your tankiness means you're better off waiting (walking) the few turns needed until your movement infusion/tumble is off CD again; you don't need to gamble on this button. Displacement Shield is garbage for anyone bursty or has good layer 1 defenses (both is true for Shadowblade); because not only is it RNG, its a weak shield (it does damage, but why does your shield need to do damage). Probability Travel makes sense on a, say, Arcane Blade (very squishy and not many escape options); on a Shadowblade who's already sustaining a 120 mana sustain and needs mana spare for an emergency Time Prison, don't bother; except maybe in super niche scenarios; you can use your 3 floating before a fight to get Probability Travel if you're sure you need it (I never needed to).
= RECOMMENDED ESCORT UNLOCKS =
Augmented Mobility: The way to get this is to refund points from all your spells before entering a new level for your first two T1 dungeons. Early game, this is easy since your only spell is Shadow Combat (+Grace of Eternals if Shalore); just float all your points there and take it out when entering a new level. After you enter and there's no escort, you can put the points back in. You're hoping to find the Sun Paladin for this unlock. The reason why its a better unlock than Combat Techniques is (a) it stacks with Blinding Speed, and (b) You can get Blinding Speed from gear. If you get this, you highrolled; but you probably will be tight on Generic Points, so don't take Chants in the future (if you get another Sun Paladin escort).
While its possible to not invest more than 4 points in spells and then refund them in Old Forest (main T2 zone for escorts) to increase chances of unlocking this tree, I don't recommend it since its very risky. The main way to do this is to only get Shadow Combat and Shadowguard + Shadow Grasp, since that can be enough to complete T1s. You also have to remember to swap out your Shatter for a Wild before Old Forest. If you start Shalore; unlocking this in T1s is pretty difficult since you'll need to replace all your starting runes very early with infusions if you want to be able to betray a escort in a T1. Not really worth it as Shalore, your Grace ability is good enough.
Chants: 3 generic points (and not taking an alternative Sun Paladin escort reward) for a upgraded Shatter Afflictions, that can't be changed for something else. Lategame, certain classes want to change their Shatter to Wild: Physical + Mind, and take Rune of Dissipation; someone taking Chants doesn't have that option. A Shadowblade is fine running a Shatter though, since they aren't particularly affected by silence (also, Shalore Timeless can cleanse Silence, dunno why). So Chants is a fine option to replace that first Shatter. Non Shalores might need a 2nd Shatter, depends on your immunity gear though.
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PRODIGY CHOICE
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I really, really recommend two offensive prodigies. My main issue throughout the game was damage. Even with Shadow Veil, I never felt I did overkill amounts of damage, which was rightly proven by the final fight.
Flex Combat is one of the S-Tier damage prodigies for any melee, mostly because gloves of War-Making (Cripple on proc, which is a 100%+ damage weapon attack that cripples). The gloves also do decent enough damage on their own, and this sometimes allows you to kill enemies even if under a disarm.
Arcane Might is another S-Tier as long as you want weapon damage and aren't a two-handed 120% STR weapon user (they want ICCTW); taking it 2nd is mostly mandatory too, and is very synergistic with Shadowblade because they already want MAG for spellpower, and spellpower on equipment is not wasted on them; and AM amplies your MAG and SP payoffs massively. DEX is still the better stat to boost with escorts (when given choice) though, because Shadowblades utilize Accuracy and Defense better (Mobility Tree), and crit shrug is a very relevant lategame defensive option.
Ethereal Form, the option mentioned in the guide, is not really recommended. Can you make it work? Yes, absolutely, since it is another S-Tier prodigy. But it causes damage issues, which makes fights go on longer, which excarberates your stamina issues in extended fights. Even though Ethereal Form synergizes incredibly with Mobility Tree, and with all the AllResist Shadowblades get (counters res.pen on enemies); but given how smooth and braindead my win was with FC + AM; I don't think EF would make it any smoother, since I wasn't ever lacking defensively. Most of my deaths were from carelessness and recklessness: Trying Dark Crypt at 25 (don't), attempting L45+ Godfeaster at L31 or so (don't), getting oneshot by a Adventurer Patrol rogue I underestimated, TWICE! (don't fight patrols), etc.
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INSCRIPTIONS
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You do have slot issues considering you usually want to unlock 3 trees, but Temporal Shield actually does do decent defensively since its a instant speed shield too. Overall, at 4 Slots, you absolutely want 1 Defensive, 1 Cleansing, 1 Escape (Mobility) Inscriptions, the 4th slot can be anything but not too needed (very surprisingly); because your kit already has Defensive (Time Shield), Cleansing (CC Immunity Shadow Veil), and Escape (Phase Door) options. I'd go with a 2nd Shatter or Wild: Mind on non-Shalore, or a Healing/Shielding (I went with a Reflection rune) on Shalore; relying on Shadowstep and Shadow Veil letting you keep your defensive mobility (mostly Phase Door) in reserve.
However, in the lategame, please don't forget to swap out whatever your 4th rune is for Dissipation. Any bursty classes with issues in extended combat absolutely doesn't want to enter the final fight without Dissipation. I made that mistake, and overcomplicated the final fight by changing runes start of fight, then spending the time it was on CD closing portals; only actually starting the fight after Dissipation came off CD. Aeryn was MVP during those turns. Maybe, in hindsight, I should've Time Prisoned Elandar and tried to burst Argoniel instead? Boneshields get popped really fast by Flurry. Eh.
Defensive Options: Anything you can activate before Shadow Veil. Healing is good early, but because you can't heal during Shadow Veil, you don't exactly want Healing as your primary defensive (it can be your 4th). Stormshield is my default; Stormshield + Time Shield + OOP + Shadowguard, and I've never died during Shadow Veil with those active. The only time I got low HP during Shadow Veil was when I was careless and didn't pop my shields before using Shadow Veil, that too in a room full of enemies.
Cleansing Options: Stick to Shatter. You aren't very scared of silences anyway, especially if Shalore (Timeless can cleanse). Chants can be okay to replace Shatter if you have the generics.
Mobility Options: Movement Infusions, obviously. Don't complicate things and play Undead Shadowblades. Doomelf isn't necessary either, because Tumble + Phase Door; and they already gave a inbuilt offensive TP to trigger OOP. 1 Movement Infusion is generally enough I've found, as long as you aren't afraid to use Shadow Veil on a regular basis offensively; before Shadow Veil, Tumble + Heartseeker helps you gapclose after Shadowstep if needed (your target teleported away or something), allowing you to keep your movement infusion for escape purposes.
One important earlygame trick is to replace Manasurge rune as soon as you can. Even without Shadow Feed. Your early game has no mana needs, only a sustain; even if you're trying to get Augmented Mobility (you typically don't get Shadow Feed at all then) you still don't need mana from an inscription because you can get manastreaming gear to regenerate mana (for Shadowgrasp) between fights. Replace it with a Movement ASAP; or any looted rune and later go buy a movement infusion when you have 50 or so gold.
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RACE SYNERGIES
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This one is easy. Cornac, Shalore, or Halfling. Orc for EoR (or if you mod to let them be used in AoA).
Cornac is actually not the simplest, since the main reason to play Cornac over Shalore is to try and get Augmented Mobility. If you do, Cornac is a powerhouse, because all those extra generics (from not needing to invest in racials, plus racial bonus points) allows you to easily and comfortably get every generic you want. Augmented Mobility + Blinding Speed (either from equipment, or the category unlock) is actually faster than Shalore. Unlike others, Cornac can actually get L5 Blinding Speed without relying on equipment RNG, using their extra cat point to unlock Combat Techniques + Augment Mobility, and still have a 4th slot for Rune of Dissipation. Like almost any Cornac, inscription at 1; you need the help for the first 13 or so levels (before Shadowgrasp).
Shalore is for Grace of Eternals allowing you to skip Combat Techniques, and Timeless. One thing to keep in mind is Augmented Mobility is almost impossible to get as Shalore, atleast in the starter dungeon. Not very relevant, since its not even necessary. Timeless allows a lot of neat tricks; the primary ones are Timeless before Shadow Veil, to extend buffs and cleanse all CCs; or Timeless a Shadowguard active (the CC immunity), since that'll cleanse all your CCs and double your immunity duration; the ability to double as a Shatter (a much stronger one), reduce CD of your Movement Inscription (hopefully it has 10CD or less). Secrets of the Eternals invisibility actually synergizes with Invisibility damage buff from Phantasm (still not very reliable). Shalore also saves you a bigger bunch of class points (Cornac spends more on Combat Techniques than they get as a bonus), which often means you can and should max Stealth (and 3/5 Shadow Dance). You can use Timeless are lot more aggressively on this class because of all the CC immunity abilites Shadowblades have.
Halfling makes for a very smooth early and midgame, since the gigantic bonus to crit also makes it easier to deal with armor; Stun cleanse and immunity is very strong midgame; and of course 50% Evasion is crazy high and the defense boost even scales your Trained Reactions. It normally falls off a bit lategame since you still want two 50% Stun immunity rings anyway, and crit chance is often maxed; but surprisingly, I've found its very hard to get crit-boosting daggers. This might make Halflings better, since their strongest boost: the gigantic crit chance, isn't mostly wasted.
Orcs give a very decent damage buff, give a heal + cleanse, gets allresist on kill which is very nice, and the mental cleanse on dropping to 50% HP actually synergizes with the CC immunity since Shadowguard triggering only makes you CC immune to future incoming CCs, it doesn't actually cleanse existing CCs. Overall decent, but in AoA I think Shalore is just completely superior.
Drem is notable for allowing you to double or even triple Shadow Veil, which would be strong in the final fight (you don't need it earlier); and of course double/triple Flurry early-midgame; but I think Shalore is still better: you shouldn't ever need 3 Shadow Veil, even in final fight.