Shadow meld opinion

Tborg · 05-11-2007, 12:51 PM

Last nite i was group with guildy for the last step of Shadowhound mount. There was a cleric, sorcerer, ranger, paladin (32) and me DK (33) (the average lev was around 31).

So i let my friend Paladin tank and used my 2 handlers and i try the shadow meld stance as i didn't need to tank. I was surprise to stole the paladin aggro most of the time and i wasn't using at all the taunt abilitie, only pure dps. I was criting alot to, 2hb 36 dps, so mob turned on most of the time. I know my friend is well equip, maybe even have better gear then me as he can make his own armor.

Before i turned SM, i was on the defensive stance and didn't get the mob to turn on me as easily then when SM was on.

I didn't try EB to compare, the last part of quest wasn't to long to finish. Still i was surprise by the increase of dmg, maybe it's because i rarelly use EB so i have no way of comparing.

Let me know what you guy's have experience.

Jooma · 05-11-2007, 07:20 PM

Actually last night I was in PoA. I'm 38 and was with a guildy Pally level 44. He is far better equipped with me and his 2H had 10 more DPS then mine. Using nothing more then EB stance, Symbol of Wraith and mostly Vexings and Malice I stole aggro from him almost every fight and the mobs were 4/5 levels higher then me.

He didn't mind at all though because Pallies have a Rescue that deals big damage for them.

velzevul · 05-12-2007, 09:07 AM

in SM with SoWraith, in Rahz Inkur, with a Djuul's Axe (87 dps), I steal aggro from a defensive stance warrior pretty often. His gear is on par. It is the +75 damage and the precision that SM gives, that makes a huge difference. With Wraith and SM, and a couple of pure DC casts here and there, I get to DC5 on a mob in Rahz before the mob hits 70%, with 2 tanks 2 healers 2 dps in grp.

imported_Judas · 05-15-2007, 11:45 AM

Hey Vel how did you get that Axe My guild has been in this area for a few days now and I would love to get me one of those

. Grinding bags of stones is a little more fun that other grinds and my faction started out at -4k but is now close to 0 . is that from the weapon quest from the Var or is that a drop from the named in the temples of Rhaz Inkur ? Were currently trying to get as many of those rez potions so we can actully get into the temple to find some of that named mobs that people say all this great gear drops from. Were trying to figure all this stuff out but a lil info would be great.

velzevul · 05-15-2007, 11:53 AM

djuul is one of the summonable names in RI, read my strategy post on RI that I made in strat section or quest section.

BragWoe · 05-16-2007, 01:02 PM

This is my new favorite stance... Hi Tborg btw. Combined with symbol of wrath I really put out some pain soloing.

I grouped with a 39 warrior (I was 37 at the time) and he COULD NOT keep agro unless he was perma rescuing me. Granted I was using the 61dps 2hander from Pantheon.

Anyhow my DC jumps up there quick and the crits start to roll in. If your not using Shadow Meld and Symbol of Wrath you should try it out for a bit and see if you like it. I rip through 3 dots like they are nothing I can take on 2 one level higher 3 dots at a time and come out of the fight at almost full life.

On a side note. I never use Ebon Blade... it just seems usless compaird to Shadow and Defense stance.

Xaices · 05-18-2007, 12:42 AM

To be honest I switch stances repeatedly throug out the fight with my symbols.

Start of the fight I am usualy in SM, for accurate hits, a little defense, and the DC bonus. From there I either switch to EB and Wrath or AD and Dispair. If I am in good health I switch to EB-W and poor on the dmg, If I am taking abeating I switch to AD-D and get read to switch to EB-W on my lifetap turn then switch back .... etc etc. If I am being lazy I just stay in AD-D or SM-W/S.

Speaking of which I wish Suffering was a better dmg shield. kinda useless as is, aye.

velzevul · 05-18-2007, 12:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xaices

To be honest I switch stances repeatedly throug out the fight with my symbols.

Start of the fight I am usualy in SM, for accurate hits, a little defense, and the DC bonus. From there I either switch to EB and Wrath or AD and Dispair. If I am in good health I switch to EB-W and poor on the dmg, If I am taking abeating I switch to AD-D and get read to switch to EB-W on my lifetap turn then switch back .... etc etc. If I am being lazy I just stay in AD-D or SM-W/S.

Speaking of which I wish Suffering was a better dmg shield. kinda useless as is, aye.

Xaices.... you are level what, 40sh (making a random guess based on your post a month ago about wardship armor). Well, anyways, while I was going up to about 36-44 lvls, everything seemed great to me. All the new skills post 42-44 are damn near useless, just an fyi.

DrK · 05-18-2007, 12:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xaices

To be honest I switch stances repeatedly throug out the fight with my symbols.

Start of the fight I am usualy in SM, for accurate hits, a little defense, and the DC bonus. From there I either switch to EB and Wrath or AD and Dispair. If I am in good health I switch to EB-W and poor on the dmg, If I am taking abeating I switch to AD-D and get read to switch to EB-W on my lifetap turn then switch back .... etc etc. If I am being lazy I just stay in AD-D or SM-W/S.

Speaking of which I wish Suffering was a better dmg shield. kinda useless as is, aye.

Do you agree that the Block and Parry bonuses on Shadow Meld should start at 5% and scale up from there as they originally did?

I think that if this tweak were made this stance would be right where it should be. It has it's uses now but I really feel that the block/parry needs to be tweaked up. Actually I have a hard time believing that them starting out at 1% is intentional.

And yea, our symbols need to be re-scaled (along with our dot's) to balance with game content, because currently they don't.

Jooma · 05-18-2007, 08:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xaices

To be honest I switch stances repeatedly throug out the fight with my symbols.

Start of the fight I am usualy in SM, for accurate hits, a little defense, and the DC bonus. From there I either switch to EB and Wrath or AD and Dispair. If I am in good health I switch to EB-W and poor on the dmg, If I am taking abeating I switch to AD-D and get read to switch to EB-W on my lifetap turn then switch back .... etc etc. If I am being lazy I just stay in AD-D or SM-W/S.

Speaking of which I wish Suffering was a better dmg shield. kinda useless as is, aye.

I do very close to the same thing. The nice thing in this game is there's no cool down for switching weapons and no cool down on our Symbols.

So I have 2 macro's that switch my combat form, weapons and symbols from Defensive and Offensive and then have them bound to my left and right mouse wheel buttons.

I can't even count how many times I switch back and forth. As a rule of thumb I stay in defensive to take the hits, then flash to offense to deal out damage and lifetaps.

PS: For those of you complaining that DC rises too slow, try snaring a mob when you pull, throw on Torture and then Spam Dreadful Visage I on the mob. You can usually get them to DC 2.5 - 3 by the time they reach you, depending on range of course, and then start the fight in offensive with SM and Wraith to get them up the rest of the way.