NB Assassination, Shadow, and Critical Hit output - Am I not getting it?

Violynne · July 2015

Last week, I reset my skills because I wanted to focus more on Assassination skills, using only Shadow Cloak (Shadowy Disguise) and Flurry (Rapid Strikes) unlocks.

But something doesn't seem to be working correctly.

For example, Master Assassin gives me 10% weapon damage bonus while cloaked or crouching, but every single time I'm ready to use Rapid Strikes, the shadow disappears and I lose the bonus.

However, if I use Assassination's Teleport Strike, I can definitely see the difference in damage output.

It's difficult to judge if I nailed a crit hit because of other factors, such as bonus against disoriented enemies, but I would suspect a crit hit would be a blow to health bars, at least visibly (not counting bosses).

How I currently play --

For Shadow+base weapons:
-Enter Shadowy Disguise
-Rush up to enemy (usually face first, because how often do enemies have their back turned)
-Rapid Strikes

This knocks them down (other buffs do this), so I take advantage, but their health bar barely drops.

For Shadow+Assassin's Blade:
-Enter Shadowy Disguise
-Rush up to enemy (direction doesn't matter)
-Assassin's Blade

While they aren't knocked down, their health drops more than 1/4 and is clearly noticeable. So was this a crit hit? I can't tell.

I'm holding my own in the game, for the most part, but when it comes to bosses (not those who are immune), it seems nothing I can do with Shadow + base weapons seems to make any difference at all, so I usually get spanked a few times. I know these bosses are supposed to be hard, but would help if the game did what it's supposed to, right? I couldn't care less about the damage inflicted, but I'm perplexed why I keep losing shadow despite the fact it's supposed to last 2.7 seconds.

Sorry for the semi-long post, but I wanted to give examples. Any help or ideas on what to improve on will be appreciated.

RavenSworn · July 2015

To tell you the truth, I think its much better for you to use surprise attack in conjuction with cloak rather than assassin's blade, which I assume you will morph to killer's blade. Surprise attack will not only deal a whole lot more damage, it will stun and also deal fracture, reducing the target's armor.

Assassin's blade is more of a finishing blow than a constant use. Perhaps that's why you dont see much damage.

Violynne · July 2015

Funny you mention that, because I just respec'd again today, and I unlocked Surprise Attack. Talk about a major difference!

To put this through the test, I did the arena in Repear's March, and if it wasn't for the cheating game to put an enemy behind me and ambush me, I would have walked out without a single death.

Thanks for the help. Now I feel a bit invincible, so it'll be interesting to see how I handle my next crossbones area by myself.

SugaComa · July 2015

I open with ambush, its a great gap closer then I spam fury and finish with killer blade for some health or tornado to catch mobs closing in

I may also use mass hysteria from shadow to all me space, my character is great one on one but suffers with mobs hysteria allow me to scare off mobs leaving me one on one.

If I get over crowded I use ultimate soul tether and tornado to replen health and quickly dispose of adds.

I have 1 point in magic 25 in health and 26 in stamina. Though I'm going to drop this to 2, 20 and 30

I use bread and meals to up my health and potions for quick stamina regen. And in an emergency I have funnel to leach me some health hence the small point drop in magic.

I'm mostly meduim armour I try keep waist and shoulder set to o e heavy one light not always doable but it helps rank them up in case.

Good luck

RavenSworn · July 2015

Put those three together, along with double take and reaper's mark. Each enemy kills empowers you and between shadowy disguise and surprise attack, you will have constant shadow barrier passive up. Take soul harvest for extra rotation and constant ultimate usage.

Have fun!

Lynx7386 · July 2015

Rapid strikes is a series of 6 hits. As soon as the first hit lands, you're no longer considered to be in stealth, so the next 5 hits dont get the stealth damage bonus (because you arent stealthed once you initiate combat). Only your first hit out of stealth benefits from the bonus.

You'd be better off opening up from stealth with concealed weapon / surprise attack, or ambush if you cant get close.

For Shadow+base weapons:
-Enter Shadowy Disguise
-Rush up to enemy (usually face first, because how often do enemies have their back turned)
-Rapid Strikes

You should not be using shadowy disguise to initiate combat - it's designed to be used -after- combat has started. You always want to begin a fight from proper stealth (sneaking).

Also, if you do sneak up to an enemy, just use an attack on them. Dont try to use shadowy disguise while sneaking and then attack, because you'll lose your stealth damage bonus. Invisibility is not stealth, and does not function in the same way: you're giving up stealth for invisibility if you pop shadowy disguise, so you're doing less damage with that first hit.

For Shadow+Assassin's Blade:
-Enter Shadowy Disguise
-Rush up to enemy (direction doesn't matter)
-Assassin's Blade

Same issue here, dont use shadowy disguise to start a fight, only use it in the middle of a fight to reposition yourself or stun via concealed weapon / surprise attack.

You should not use assassin's blade as an opening attack either. It's designed as a finishing move on low-health enemies, and does mediocre damage on anyone at more than 30% health.

OzJohnD · July 2015

stun lock, backstab....

oh, sorry wrong game

Violynne · July 2015

Lynx7386 wrote: »

You should not be using shadowy disguise to initiate combat - it's designed to be used -after- combat has started.

The reason I use shadow before a fight is because this causes enemies to return their weapons, giving me a split second advantage of hitting them. I continue using shadow during the fight.

You always want to begin a fight from proper stealth (sneaking).

This is where I'm having difficulty, because sneaking is never possible.

Firstly, 99% of the enemies are facing me, so there's no way to get behind them to sneak. Even with all my bonuses, they still see me.

Then there's the issue of me not going to sneak around entire areas. That just doesn't make sense. Getting one enemy is fine, but I'm now at the level there are 3 per group, so that's just not feasible.

Even if I should accept shadow isn't sneak, the reality is the shadow should still remain even if I get the first hit. It's 2.7 seconds, but it's lost the second I make a hit.

You should not use assassin's blade as an opening attack either. It's designed as a finishing move on low-health enemies, and does mediocre damage on anyone at more than 30% health.

I'm still trying to figure this out, because it seems my moves are placed in a "queue", and I usually don't leave much time between Rapid Strikes to use another skill. I'm trying to slow down, but old habits are hard to break. It's also the reason why it's hard for me to use a potion when I need it, such as just having a little more stamina would have made my first attack against Mannimarco a win, instead of a loss. Just two more hits...

Heh.

Lynx7386 · July 2015

This is where I'm having difficulty, because sneaking is never possible.

Firstly, 99% of the enemies are facing me, so there's no way to get behind them to sneak. Even with all my bonuses, they still see me.

Then there's the issue of me not going to sneak around entire areas. That just doesn't make sense. Getting one enemy is fine, but I'm now at the level there are 3 per group, so that's just not feasible.

One thing you can do in order to get around and behind enemies is to sneak and use shadow cloak at the same time. While you're sneaking, when the 'eye' icon starts to open up, hit shadow cloak, count to 2 seconds, hit shadow cloak again, count another 2 seconds, hit shadow cloak again. This uses up a lot of magicka, but will make you impossible to detect while you move around behind the enemy. Just make sure to wait for shadow cloak to wear off and for your normal stealth to return before you initiate your attack, or you wont get the stealth damage bonus.

Playing a stealth class is all about patience. Even when you need to take on a group of 3 enemies, it's better to sneak behind one of them and get that stealth attack to start the fight, because it will even the odds out.

I use a 2hander, rather than dual wield, but I can one shot enemies at my level (vet rank 5) with a single wrecking blow from stealth. When I'm going up against a group of 3+ enemies, that means one enemy (usually I target a healer or caster as they're the toughest to deal with) is instantly out of the fight, and it evens the odds up quite a bit.

Even if I should accept shadow isn't sneak, the reality is the shadow should still remain even if I get the first hit. It's 2.7 seconds, but it's lost the second I make a hit.

That's because it's broken on any damage dealt or received. This has been the standard for elder scrolls games - invisibility doesnt stay on after you attack or use abilities.

Shadow cloak, on it's own, is just not a very powerful or useful ability. It's designed to be used in conjunction with surprise attack in the middle of a fight as a stun against a tougher opponent. It can also be used to get a couple of seconds of reprieve from an attacking enemy, so you can move away a few meters and drink a potion or use a healing spell.