Archeage: Shadowblade from my Perspective

Weapon

if Dual Wield, you have a few shoices for your pair of weapons depending on your style;

if heavy in Battlerage use a Crafted Shortspear and Katana. will give you the better stats

if more into Wit use a Oby Katana and a Obby V2 Sword. the Sword will make up for a lose in raw power from Batt

Personally myself i would want to use a Mooncaller and Sleeper's Point; the V2 Dagger for Absolute Speed with more of a focus on CC to control the fight.

if you wanna use a 2H you have a couple options; 

off the bat, Oby GreatSword is a superb choice. 24% crit bonus along with the hands lunafrost... and all your crit buffs from lunastone and passives, your Percision Strike Crit from behind will devestate ANYONE. even a plate user. (i heard of someone critting for around 20-30K on a 4.5K player)

another choice is a Nodachi. it can guarentee the crit, and give a little boost to the crit damage. the hungering blade will allow the generation of bloodthurst so the shadowsmite can do a little more damage.

I personally would use a Crafted Longspear; as it is the highest ratio of damage and will puncture through defence. the Arcadian Sea Pillager would be your end-game weapon as it is a Str Stated Longspear, one of 2 with str and has a greap use effect for CC.

Armor

for your Gear i would Choose to go Str/Sta or Str/Agi. not pure Str as it turns your control warrior into a glass cannon.... the Desert or Lighning is good as well as Melee Obby (which is Silent Shadow). mix and match for the best in slot as you see fit.

basically it is up too you, just remember you are a control warrior, not a glass cannon.

Tips for Skill rotations:

Here is a pretty basic rotation to start on;

Basically anything u can do to get in range for Banshee>Banshee>Stalker>Overwhelm>Shadowsmite>turn ur back to the enemy>backdrop>percision>stealth for re-entry

the whole backdrop thing can be set aside as it is a neat trick that might take a little practice. basically because it is not a blink when ur global Cool-down resets you STILL IN RANGE for a melee attack such as this. most people will do a ranged skill when they do this (lassitude, throw dagger, toxic shot, gap closer skills, ect.) but few do not realize that little tim-bit. a combo i will usually do is the following;

shadowstep>focal>banshee>evervate>overwhelm>shadow strike>percision>backdrop>lassitude>stealth

then the followup when they sleep;

Behind Enemy Lines>triple>charge>triple>Tiger Strike

usually by that time they would be dead but if not... throw a bubble or fear on them and by that time your cool-downs should be reset.

Mechanic Tips

Witthcraft allows for a unique interaction that most melee users dont get (Argent, Darkrunner, Ect.) and that is Buff Removal. your Focal Cuncussion and Purge will allow you to remove buffs from your enemy; as well as Focal having a chance to steal that buff and deal more damage for removing the buff. Purge also can remove a debuff from you and boost your M-Def. if you invest in some M-Def Gems in places you can afford it... you can get a good amount of Magic Defence.

Optional skills you CAN take but i dont recommend as a shadowblade (mainly because you dont have as much speed as a Aura User) is the Sunder Earth and Whrilwind. you could use a CC to help you land it but hat CC would be better used to set up a trip with Behind Enemy Lines. you could also use Terrifying Roar too but it would be better to use the banshee>Evervate. you could actually do banshee>evervate>roar but that could be pushing the limit of the fear; esp. if it is a Aura user who can shrug the stun after

lastly the backdrop. as mentioned above because it is not a blink you can use a skill mid flight IF you are in range for it. typically ppl will do a Backdrop into Throw Dagger as that will Slow then heavily. you can also pull off a Backdrop into Percision if you are close enough to the enemy when you backdrop; thus creating a escape as you hit the enemy. think of... Quinn from League of Legends. she can bounce off a enemy and hit him also. it is basically that. 

something to keep note of: a Shadowblade is strongest in a Group Fight. most ppl argue this but to set up a perfect combo like what i explained above it WILL be a lot easier with another player to back you up with crowd control. a good entry skill is to Tiger Strike then Banshee. bc u go to your target first you will end on the other player, so you can start the CC on the othr player. be weary of Songcraft users as they can stop your stun's and Sleeps as well as fear you with critical discord.

if you are fighting 2 ppl alone use Fiends and try to keep one of them under constant CC while you fight the other. try to CC the DPS and go for the Mage/Healer or if it is a DPS and Tank CC the tank. he will have heave CC and Silence/Shackle.

Counter Tips

the Skillsets that can counter you is Witchcraft, Auramancy and Defence. im sure you would know why but in case here is a breif summery;

Witchcraft

stops your Sleeps and can remove your buffs

how to counter: use ur own Witchcraft and try to CC him first,m them pelt him with DPS. i recommend playing a slippery style of play; jumping around, backdrop shinanigans, getting a distance before using BEL, Charge, Tiger and also using stealth occasionally to reset targeting in your favor.

Auramancy

Stops your Stuns, Slows, Launch, and Lassitude if they pay attention enough. they are also more mobile.

prepare for a fight of who is faster, and Aura will alway be faster. use stealth to get targeting priority and also get your banshee on him first to apply Stalkers and begin the assault. u will be relying on being faster than the fastest class combinations. 

Defence

Common counter to any Melee but with the added Silence to stop Wit CC's.

try to get the jump on him before he proc's Redoubt. however if he gets redoubt up back off and stealth until redoubt is gone. u will need to land all your backstabs and hope u proc some strong crits. once ur CC is about to run out get away and re-engage with BEL if u can. using your sleeps, fears, and bubble will give u the upper hand that most other melee will not have.

if you have any Questions just ask, i can give you tips for some match ups and what your job is in PvE.

this is a work in progress

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