My planned 2-handed SW build, last skill dilemma

[idbeholdME 388]

So a few days ago, I've started a new Shadow Warrior:

I had this build in mind. 9 skills are most likely set in stone (You would have to try really hard to make me back off from one of them) and I'm absolutely torn on the last one. X marks already picked ones.

1. Tactics Lore X
2. Death Warrior Focus X
3. Armor Lore X
4. Concentration X
5. Combat Discipline X
6. Malevolent Champion Focus X
7. Hafted Weapons/Pole Arms
8. Constitution
9. Toughness
10. Blacksmith/Astral Lord Focus

I've been originally set on Blacksmith but then I thought "Why waste Concentration mastery and not utilize the 3rd buff - Nether Allegiance? " It would also allow me to make Shadow Veil a utility CA, going for the non stealth mods.

BUT.... 

I want to avoid Shadow Veil becoming complete invisibility. Does anybody know if I will eventually reach complete invisibility even though I won't take any stealth mods or Astral Lord Lore (not boosting the stealth value in any way)? I really want to avoid that and if it were to happen at any point (even on CA level like 100 or something like that), I would instantly pick Blacksmith. I would be leveling Shadow Veil quite hard to get the most value out of the 2 scaling mods (Avoidance-Nimble).

I just dinged level 25 and simply can't decide what to pick. As I still don't have a Blacksmith character in my portfolio, both Astral Lord Focus (movement speed, reduction of detrimental effects, Nether Allegiance) and Blacksmith (massively better Smith arts than NPCs, ability to forge stuff for other characters, ability to put rings and amulets into lower tier sockets) would be a huge boon. What would you do/prefer in this spot?

I was thinking about cutting out Hafted Weapons/Pole Arms at first and taking both but after verifying that double hits from weapon lore mastery work on melee CAs too, that is out of the question. But it brings me to one last question. Are Hafted Weapons the best choice when it comes to 2-handed weapons? Shadow Warrior has some exclusive items in this category but from what I have seen, Pole Arms tend to do a bit more damage than Hafted Weapons.

Edited November 17, 2018 by idbeholdME

[Hooyaah 2,817]

You could develop two Shadow Warriors and use one as a Blacksmith for other characters. If you want to do your own experimentation on your perplexing choices you may want to download the LEVEL 75 UNSKILLED CHARACTER PACK (NIOBIUM CAMPAIGN) V1.0 in order to obtain a level 75 Shadow Warrior without skills and see what you prefer best. It would save you quite a bit of time in the end.

For more information about Shadow Veil check here. It does not necessarily have to be modified into a Permanent Buff.

[idbeholdME 388]

Of course that would be optimal but frankly, leveling 2 Shadow Warriors side by side just because of one skill would just be too tedious for me. Simple as that. I'd rather play one of the characters I haven't played extensively yet.

I was not planning on making Shadow Veil a permanent buff. That 3rd buff spot would be taken by Nether Allegiance. Shadow Veil would just be a CA for movement speed and reduction of detrimental effects with the Avoidance-Nimble-Shadowmaster mods. The thing is that I would be leveling Shadow Veil hard to have maximum value from the Avoidance-Nimble mods, also slowly raising the stealth value in the process (+10 per CA level). The goal of course would be to have duration longer than cooldown and place it in a combo with Rousing Command for non-stop effects from both

So I was wondering more about if I would eventually reach the stealth value that equals complete invisibility even without taking stealth mods (Creep-Fade) or Astral Lord Lore. Because if that were the case, I would definitely not pick it.

[Androdion 875]

He's not telling you to level two characters, but rather to pick up on blank level 75 toons and experiment with the skill set. You just need to allocate the skill points on the blank toons and then you can try different builds without raising them 75 levels. It's immediate trial and error.

[Flix 5,116]

Blacksmith, no question.  There's no point in halfway dabbling in Shadow Veil.  Even if Concentration is mastered and you don't use a third buff, that's a massive regeneration time boost that would let you focus on boosting literally any other modifier on your equipment.

[idbeholdME 388]

I have the character editor so I can make any blank character I want. I just asked here first if anybody knew the breaking point for Stealth on Shadow Veil at which it becomes permanent invisibility and if it is reachable without boosting the Stealth value in any way before I have to go and test it myself.

But, I will probably do as Flix says. The prospect of future usefulness of finally having a blacksmith character is becoming more and more appealing the more I think about it.

What about my second question with Hafted vs Pole Arms? I have never dabbled to much in weapons until now but as I said, Pole Arms seem to do a bit more damage. Which weapon class would you recommend more?

[Flix 5,116]

I personally would do Hafted Weapons because it would give you some versatility at lower levels of switching between 1h/shield and 2h.  Of course at higher levels your Survival Bonus would start boosting shield item levels above yours so you'd need Shield Lore to avoid speed penalties, but by that point you'd hopefully have some good 2h weapons in your possession.

Also 2h Hafted Weapons are unique to SW so this is your chance to explore and use them.

 

I had to check the scripts for Shadow Veil.

		entry0 = {"et_duration_sec", 2000, 10, 0, 8 },
		entry1 = {"et_evade_detection", 0, 10, 0, 41 },  -- this is the base chance to stay cloaked when using ranged attacks.  Grants 1% chance per level, so will require you to achieve CA level 100 before max.
		entry2 = {"et_invisible", 25, 10, 0, 41 }, -- this is the base invisibility (stealth) value. Lets you get closer to enemies without them seeing you. Not sure there's a max to this value.
		entry3 = {"et_invisible", 25, 10, 1, 41 }, -- Creep mod that doubles the invisibility value. Note that enemies seeing you does not break the effect, only your attacks can do that.
		entry4 = {"et_reduce_debuffs", 30, 20, 2, 41 },
		entry5 = {"et_addwalkspeed", 100, 2, 3, 41 },
		entry6 = {"et_evade_detection", 500, 10, 4, 41 },  -- Fade mod that adds a whopping 50% chance to stay cloaked when using ranged attacks, along with doubling the per-level increase to 2%.  So you will max at level 25.
		entry7 = {"et_boost_to_buff", 1000, 0, 5, 8 },
		entry8 = {"et_regThisCool", 500, 0, 6, 8 },

 

[idbeholdME 388]

Yeah, 2-handed hafted are weapons only the SW can use so it's probably now or never. Axes seem to do comparable damage to Pole Arms but Hammers are a bit lower it seems.

Thanks for the thorough explanation on Shadow Veil.

A few final questions about it:

1. I assume left click melee attacks always make you visible, correct?
2. Can Shadow Veil reach a state where melee CAs (Scything Sweep, Frenzied Rampage etc.) would be castable while staying invisible?
3. I also assume that spells fall into the same category as ranged attacks? E.g. complete invisibility once the chance to stay cloaked reaches 100%?

[Flix 5,116]

8 hours ago, idbeholdME said:

Yeah, 2-handed hafted are weapons only the SW can use so it's probably now or never. Axes seem to do comparable damage to Pole Arms but Hammers are a bit lower it seems.

Thanks for the thorough explanation on Shadow Veil.

A few final questions about it:

1. I assume left click melee attacks always make you visible, correct?
2. Can Shadow Veil reach a state where melee CAs (Scything Sweep, Frenzied Rampage etc.) would be castable while staying invisible?
3. I also assume that spells fall into the same category as ranged attacks? E.g. complete invisibility once the chance to stay cloaked reaches 100%?

1.  Yes. And melee CA's

2. Nope

3. Correct.  This includes casting temp buffs, summoning things, etc.