Shadow Warrior Guide: Astral Malevolent Champion

[DTS 0]

I'm very new to the shadow warrior class and I was just wondering as far as shadow warrior builds go is this one of the more high end damage builds?

 

and how does the killing power of this build compare to that of other classes?

and do you think DW would do more DPS than having like a 2h hammer?

and when it comes to skeletins at higher levels are they mainly just tanks or do they put out some good damage? and do you know how much damage sharp blades adds? I'm guessing its more than or equal that of getting another solider

Edited July 8, 2009 by DTS

[iiTz 0]

One more question, lol

Can I drop ancient magic for bargaining or would that gimp me too much? I don't exactly understand what good AM does for me, sorry lol I'm new

[tekken179 1]

helped me alot nosied on it before I joined forums SW'S rule!

[Vortilion 0]

I have tested your build with an level 200 sk

 

but I never come at the dmg of your Skeletal Fortification

 

my Skeletal Fortification get level 144,3 and makes dmg from 20.752

how you get a dmg from near 30k

Edited July 11, 2009 by Vortilion

[armagh1098 0]

I love the build so far and just have 1 question - why Ancient Magic?

 

I was under the impression that it merely reduces your opponents chance to resist/mitigate against your Spell CAs of which the SW has 1?

 

I am hopeful that I'm wrong because I've been looking for a reason why Ascaron would give the SW Ancient Magic.

[Stéphane 2]

I love the build so far and just have 1 question - why Ancient Magic?

 

I was under the impression that it merely reduces your opponents chance to resist/mitigate against your Spell CAs of which the SW has 1?

 

I am hopeful that I'm wrong because I've been looking for a reason why Ascaron would give the SW Ancient Magic.

Ancient magic affects belligrant vault, Killing Spree, and skeletal fortification.

I didn't need a particular skill so I took ancient magic to boost the damage of skeletal fortification. It's a nice CA to clean large groups.

[Kharzon 0]

Answered my own question

Edited July 16, 2009 by Kharzon

[supremealpha1 0]

Hi, I just started playing and I want to say thx for the guide, but just a Quick QUESTION. you said to 2nd combo Nether Allegiance and Reflective emanation, but its not allowing me to combo it. help plz ^^

[confusedxx 0]

You mentioned the SW is invis and you need to use CA to stay invis. Since you are invis, does that mean you never attack? Do you sit back and watch the minions do it all? Does that work on bosses as well?

[Stéphane 2]

supremealpha1> I don't remember saying that, are you sure? But indeed you can't put reflective emanation in a combo because it's a buff, however those two CA can made a great "combinaison" (not in the combo slot though) thanks to the minions and the damage reflection from reflective emanation that you can share to them.

 

You mentioned the SW is invis and you need to use CA to stay invis. Since you are invis, does that mean you never attack? Do you sit back and watch the minions do it all? Does that work on bosses as well?

To attack opponents without losing your invisibility you need to use CA, you can use scything sweep/demonic blow and frenzied rampage to attack, but you can not use the normal attacks (left button)

[AngelousD 0]

Grate build. I was just wondering if you ever found out or are close to finding out about adding a extra skel. warrior to nether allegiance and taking out tower shield?

[Hyperion666 0]

Steph, in regards to your earlier comment about Silver modding Spectral Hand: the best being Chill....!?! Wouldn't Crits be more powerful that 4% ice?

[Lewisw9012 0]

for your skill number 8 you put down malevolent...is it malevolent focus or lore:)........btw awesome guide

[elderago 0]

theres only focus for the combat aspects of the SW, which is actually great since you can take CT and be able to mode both DW and MC, but you can still focus primarly in one or the other

[Lewisw9012 0]

I know I proberly sound stupid saying this but is shadow veil supposed to turn off when you hit with your sword (ive made it into a buff)

[Stéphane 2]

Hi guys,

 

Grate build. I was just wondering if you ever found out or are close to finding out about adding a extra skel. warrior to nether allegiance and taking out tower shield?

Yes you can drop the tower shield (defense and physique Armor) for a third spectral soldier instead.

 

 

Steph, in regards to your earlier comment about Silver modding Spectral Hand: the best being Chill....!?! Wouldn't Crits be more powerful that 4% ice?

Silver : Chill - The spectral hand inflicts additional ice damage. (4% + 1% per CA level)

4% at the first, but then 1% per level, meaning if you have a spectral hand level 100, it's +104% in damage! 150 = 154% and so on.

You will have crits with your lore already.

 

I know I proberly sound stupid saying this but is shadow veil supposed to turn off when you hit with your sword (ive made it into a buff)

This shadow warrior is invisible. You have to use CAs if you want to stay invisible

Only with normal attacks, if you hit with Combat Arts the buff won't go off.

 

Greetings,

Stéphane.

[Lewisw9012 0]

if you ask me this guild is invincible im now at level 44 and my shadow veil has 100% garentee to not get detected while casting a spell.. on top of this ive lowered my frenzied rampage down tho the point where I can just hold my finger down on O (to cast frenzied rampage) so its as if im just normally attacking... thanks alot for this build its AMAZING!

[Vortilion 0]

is this build playable after the addon ?

 

or is the damage now to low ?

 

and which weapons you use on this build ?

 

I think I want the skill Blacksmith in this build.

which skill we can change ?

Edited September 7, 2009 by Vortilion

[Stéphane 2]

is this build playable after the addon ?

 

or is the damage now to low ?

This build is not very affected by the add-on, it's mostly a build based on weapons damage with the tower and the spectral soldiers/rallied soul as support, in stealth mode.

The deathblows/crits rings are still working perfectly with frenzied rampage.

 

And the rune level limitation doesn't affect the efficiency of the build.

 

and which weapons you use on this build ?

Two Officer's Saber or two Nadjii's Splitter.

 

I think I want the skill Blacksmith in this build.

which skill we can change ?

You can change Ancient Magic, however your tower will be less effective.

[Vortilion 0]

hmm , is the tower effective without ancient magic ? or is the dmg to low ?

 

I dont now if this build disclaim at ancient magic.

 

and what you mean to stradals ?

Edited September 8, 2009 by Vortilion

[obie191970 0]

Nice guide Stephane! I have been wanting to try Astral Lord focused SW for a while now and will probably start this one up after I get through with my current Dryad. I noticed in your initial post that there was no way you could have taken those skills in the order listed so I rearranged them prior to seeing you listing the order in a later post. I think I will stick with mine as I like to open up DW and 2 Buffs ASAP. So, I am going to try -

 

Tactics Lore : 195(5 to open Dual)

Armor Lore : 75

Dual Wield : 75

Astral Lord Focus : 100(5 to open Conc.)

Concentration : 75

Constitution : 75

Malevolent : 75

Astral Lord Lore : 100

Combat Discipline : 75

Ancient Magic : 75

 

This shouldn't make a difference in the overall build.

 

I did have a couple of questions though.

 

1) You mentioned that your CA modifications went as follows - The first CAs I've modded are Frenzied Rampage (with tactics lore) and Shadow Veil, then Nether Allegiance and Reflective Emanation. Why would you mod 3 buffs right away when you can't run 3 until level 75 at minimum? Do you swap between them?

2) With Shadow Veil as one of you main buffs, I was surprised to see you didn't take Demonic Blow seeing that would most likely grant you the lowest regen time without breaking your invisibility. So, I assume that Frenzied Rampage and Killing Spree are your main attacks. How many runes did you read on each to keep the regen times as low as possible?

[ruj1 0]

Nice build, but there are a couple of questions:

Can I pick a ranged weapons skill instead of dual wield or other melee ones ?

And does Frenzied Rampage work with ranged weaps ?

[Vortilion 0]

can I tage Blacksmith for Constitution ?

 

when you play only in ghost mode you need constitution ?

 

 

Tactics Lore : 195

Armor Lore : 75

Dual Wield : 75

Astral Lord Focus : 100

Concentration : 75

Blacksmith : 75

Malevolent : 75

Astral Lord Lore : 100

Combat Discipline : 75

Ancient Magic : 75

 

is this build ok or must be change an other skill for Blacksmith ?

[stryffe_20 0]

I have a question, its a few actually and judging from what I was able to read here in this topic I belive you guys are capable of answering this anyway ^_^ ( I play the ps3 version )

 

Does SWORD mastery and DUAL MASTERY stack?

Does a higher RIDING level affect SW HP / Movespeed / Critical / Evasion etc..

How were you able to get Dual Weapon Mastery without getting Sword Mastery level 5 since the PS3 version requires you to get a skill tree of level 5 from any offensive skill

 

Unless I wasn't able to understand it right hehe ^_^

[Ansgar 0]

Some answers for you

1) the sword lore and dual wield skill bonuses do not stack

2) riding will reduce the regen penalty to CAs incurred by riding a mount and the mastery improves mount speed. I does not provide other benefits (well bonuses to horse CAs if you ride a horse) that I know of.

3)tactics lore can unlock offensive skills as well