After they removed specials from backstabbing things changed a lot. For my main build I switched to 2x weapon setup with macing and fencing. As you mentioned, if I dont need more than 10k damage I go on with macing and if I need more than that I switch to fencing and see if rng gods will favor me with a blackguard proc. On the other hand, arcane backstabbing is what I use in time dungeon. Some mobs in depths of time has crazy amount of armor which no other build can deal with (if you dont run armor ignore links).
@@mugiwarapvp 120 camping stealth, 100 hiding tactics stealing, 80 arcane wrestling, 20 alchemy. Right now I use this. You probably can get away with item id in this. You can also add parry to this build if you feel like. It's a really flexible setup. I carry both arcane staff and martial manual on me. Arcane staff is for high armor mobs and martial manual is for low armor ones. I kept stealing bcz overlooked in thief codex is simply irreplaceable in time dungeon. Without a trace helps too, it's good utility. Other than that, use fracture for arcane codex and wrestling is your preferance.
Ive been using your backstabber build with sw, after seeing this video ive switched to mf for the damage increase. I miss my bleed procs but what can we do. On another note, a video about arcane backstabber and maybe places to farm as a backstabber at various gear and aspect levels would be great i think.
I love how much depth there is to min/max with Shadow, depending on what you're hunting and how many links you have, there's so many variables, aspects and builds you can tweak to maximize the amount of 1-shots. IMO if you're running Archery, especially for group content, i'd drop Stealing and the thief codex for Tactics, since having to be in melee range to trigger Ransack (Tactics replacement) defeats the whole point of Archery, especially since it only lasts 10 seconds (relevant for group content). Plus, if you have Tactics, you might as well run Chivalry for the added damage/utility.
I run a solo archer backstabber/mugger, and while I agree with most of your assessment, you are missing a big component of an archer BS's damage. That is "without a trace". Yeah you try to fish for shadow procs, but when rng isn't in your favor you should be hitting those smoke bombs and getting your next backstab in quicker anyway. That means maxing without a trace and setting up a cooldown bar so you know when you can bust the next one out. Part of the power of archery backstabbers is getting the most backstabs out in the shortest amount of time.
When you talk about archery are you talking about bow or xbow? I'm a super noob and for me the treck from hide to hit then back to hide is the speed bump. Currently mace
@@BehrlyThere sorry I'm old and forgot to put using. Talking about using now or xbow. Hehe. So basically new player backstabber comes down to opening with highest minimum damage weapons for the best chance at big numbers then if you're feeling frisky swap to a fast swing speed to finish?
removing tactics scares me for bosses. Archery works fine but having to be within one tile of the boss to have any effective tactics sounds like a problem
@@BehrlyThere for sure. I'm typically in a large group. I can't imagine pushing through the sea of pets and dexxers to get to get within one tile, while also staying alive. Any tips or advice?
120 Tracking, Forensics, Stealth, 100 Hiding, 100 stealing, 80 fencing and 80 camping.. 10 gold backstab links, 10 gold damage to above 66%hp. I instakill a lot Next 10 links will most likely be rare/special loot increase for increased chance of better black goods
@@BehrlyThere I always like to track PK's in dungeon before they have a shot of tracking me. I guess its more of a personal preference as both skills seem to have the same type of pvm benefice
Hey Behrly, I'm struggling with where to go next for solid leveling and when to swap to Fencing. I'm currently t10 Aspect with 3 bronze BS links, using maces with maxed Wild Swing. I've been living in Kraul 1 and 2 this whole time. I want to start getting out and into some Wilderness farming locations. Any suggestions where? And how many more links do you think I'll need before swapping to Fencing?
@@gleemanvincent8820 I haven't done the math. But I'm 24 links in and I run fencing. Any wilderness spawn will require a mount token to be doable realistically. A lot of good wildlands spawns. Just pop around the map and see what you enjoy.
I just echo'd my thief build and I'm gonna try BSing to level my aspect. So it's macing first I think. How much does the type of mace matter? And if I want to use crafted weapons is there any point in item ID? Or is it just much better to use power/vanqs?
@@LogJamminDF different maces do different damage. I suggest a staff. Vanq weapons always do more damage. And with item ID it only makes them better. But if you're not using magic weapons item id does nothing.
Heya man, where do you recommend a T10 shadow with maxed codex and 16 links to farm? I’m buying 10 backstabber damage but wanted to buy slayer links for the other 6 but in big doubt if I buy aegis to farm aegis 4 or Maus links for lvl 4, what do you advice ? Tksss
Yea agree man, slayers limit too much … since I have some gold melee damage links for my main echo, think the melee damage links applies to the backstab damage ? At least logically it should, but do you know.?
i'm playing this game for the first time and i'm backstabber grouping with a friend who is death necro. So maybe archery is the right option for me, right? but i didnt understand the gameplay, do u have any tutorial on how to play as range backstabber?
@@PauloZionlight ranged backstabber is a little weaker. But the concept is the same. Hide/stealth/target what you want to kill/attack last target/rehide.
Hi, maybe I can share some experience as a fellow New player. im currently 30 days old. I mostly play solo because of my time zone. but occasionally join my guild run. if you want to participate doing damage best is to use archery, drop stealing ( and thief codex) and put tactics in. The BS damage bonus still apply after you stealth but not the damage from Thief codex or ransack . im currently using both mace and archery codex. ( to level archery while still using mace ) pwnstarr featured an archer backstab build without Stealing. seems pretty strong.
ya i noticed it clipped off the end of my video and went to the end screen. so i fixed and re-uploaded it. thats what happens when you try to do new things. the videos will get better and i will learn
@@BehrlyThere Its maybe 40-50 extra dmg, seriously go test it before you recommend. it wasnt working at all on wildlands launch and idk if its been fixed. Points better spent on overlooked or extortion (if archery). Otherwise if melee you go ruffian, shadow hands, and without a trace.
@@sh3940 I do take ruffian shadow hands. On my melee build I don't take ransack. I put the points where you have recommended. I'll test it out. And if it isn't worth it on the archery build hopefully I can make a recommendation to fix it. Thanks for pointing this out!
Ty, another excellent & informative video. Considering morphing my scavenger into a Bser. This video solved the weapon choice for me.
After they removed specials from backstabbing things changed a lot. For my main build I switched to 2x weapon setup with macing and fencing. As you mentioned, if I dont need more than 10k damage I go on with macing and if I need more than that I switch to fencing and see if rng gods will favor me with a blackguard proc. On the other hand, arcane backstabbing is what I use in time dungeon. Some mobs in depths of time has crazy amount of armor which no other build can deal with (if you dont run armor ignore links).
i havent played with the arcane backstabbing yet. feels. *weird* to me.
What would an arcane backstabber build look like?
@@mugiwarapvp drop archery and something else for arcane and wrestling.
@@mugiwarapvp 120 camping stealth, 100 hiding tactics stealing, 80 arcane wrestling, 20 alchemy. Right now I use this. You probably can get away with item id in this. You can also add parry to this build if you feel like. It's a really flexible setup. I carry both arcane staff and martial manual on me. Arcane staff is for high armor mobs and martial manual is for low armor ones. I kept stealing bcz overlooked in thief codex is simply irreplaceable in time dungeon. Without a trace helps too, it's good utility. Other than that, use fracture for arcane codex and wrestling is your preferance.
Having 30 links sure helps that build as well xD
starting a mace backstabber. is there a type of mace that is better than the others? warhammer or qstaff? vanq or crafted?
Ive been using your backstabber build with sw, after seeing this video ive switched to mf for the damage increase. I miss my bleed procs but what can we do. On another note, a video about arcane backstabber and maybe places to farm as a backstabber at various gear and aspect levels would be great i think.
some of my older backstabber videos are great for newer players and some of them are more advanced.
I love how much depth there is to min/max with Shadow, depending on what you're hunting and how many links you have, there's so many variables, aspects and builds you can tweak to maximize the amount of 1-shots. IMO if you're running Archery, especially for group content, i'd drop Stealing and the thief codex for Tactics, since having to be in melee range to trigger Ransack (Tactics replacement) defeats the whole point of Archery, especially since it only lasts 10 seconds (relevant for group content). Plus, if you have Tactics, you might as well run Chivalry for the added damage/utility.
@@ZapatosVibes for sure. Great advice.
I run a solo archer backstabber/mugger, and while I agree with most of your assessment, you are missing a big component of an archer BS's damage. That is "without a trace". Yeah you try to fish for shadow procs, but when rng isn't in your favor you should be hitting those smoke bombs and getting your next backstab in quicker anyway. That means maxing without a trace and setting up a cooldown bar so you know when you can bust the next one out. Part of the power of archery backstabbers is getting the most backstabs out in the shortest amount of time.
So how does cleave work with back stabs new back stabber here and I really want to make swords work
@@josephpearson1079 cleave doesn't really do much. Swords is the weakest at this point. Bleeds don't work on backstabs.
Fencing or mace ?
i prefer fencing for the blackguard ticks. but macing has higher consistent damage.
which weapon do u use for fencing
@@mertcital676 short spear or pitchfork
When you talk about archery are you talking about bow or xbow? I'm a super noob and for me the treck from hide to hit then back to hide is the speed bump. Currently mace
@@isaachill1107 archery is using any bow. But for backstabbing I recommend heavy xbow.
@@BehrlyThere sorry I'm old and forgot to put using. Talking about using now or xbow. Hehe. So basically new player backstabber comes down to opening with highest minimum damage weapons for the best chance at big numbers then if you're feeling frisky swap to a fast swing speed to finish?
removing tactics scares me for bosses. Archery works fine but having to be within one tile of the boss to have any effective tactics sounds like a problem
@@skottlee8959 I backstab a lot of bosses. Just depends on group composition
@@BehrlyThere for sure. I'm typically in a large group. I can't imagine pushing through the sea of pets and dexxers to get to get within one tile, while also staying alive. Any tips or advice?
@@skottlee8959 when we have a large group. I will typically tell dexxers to stay to a certain side of the boss.
120 Tracking, Forensics, Stealth, 100 Hiding, 100 stealing, 80 fencing and 80 camping.. 10 gold backstab links, 10 gold damage to above 66%hp. I instakill a lot
Next 10 links will most likely be rare/special loot increase for increased chance of better black goods
@@xerxesuo I swapped tracking at 120 for camping. I find tracking at 80 has been good enough for me.
@@BehrlyThere I always like to track PK's in dungeon before they have a shot of tracking me. I guess its more of a personal preference as both skills seem to have the same type of pvm benefice
@@xerxesuo oh for sure the great thing is the build is very interchangeable.
Hey Behrly, I'm struggling with where to go next for solid leveling and when to swap to Fencing. I'm currently t10 Aspect with 3 bronze BS links, using maces with maxed Wild Swing. I've been living in Kraul 1 and 2 this whole time. I want to start getting out and into some Wilderness farming locations. Any suggestions where? And how many more links do you think I'll need before swapping to Fencing?
@@gleemanvincent8820 I haven't done the math. But I'm 24 links in and I run fencing. Any wilderness spawn will require a mount token to be doable realistically. A lot of good wildlands spawns. Just pop around the map and see what you enjoy.
What's your opinion now on wrestling backstabber ? :) great video
@@casegibson6456 it's not bad. Def an option. It just doesn't have the same codex options for damage.
@@BehrlyThere ok thanks :)
I just echo'd my thief build and I'm gonna try BSing to level my aspect. So it's macing first I think. How much does the type of mace matter? And if I want to use crafted weapons is there any point in item ID? Or is it just much better to use power/vanqs?
@@LogJamminDF different maces do different damage. I suggest a staff. Vanq weapons always do more damage. And with item ID it only makes them better. But if you're not using magic weapons item id does nothing.
which weapon is best per template?
Maybe I'm not understanding the question. Per template?
@@BehrlyThere I think they means which weapon for Mace/Swords/Archery is the best to use?
Heya man, where do you recommend a T10 shadow with maxed codex and 16 links to farm? I’m buying 10 backstabber damage but wanted to buy slayer links for the other 6 but in big doubt if I buy aegis to farm aegis 4 or Maus links for lvl 4, what do you advice ? Tksss
farm wherever! youre good to go. i dont like dungeon slayer links because it limits where i can farm.
Yea agree man, slayers limit too much … since I have some gold melee damage links for my main echo, think the melee damage links applies to the backstab damage ? At least logically it should, but do you know.?
i'm playing this game for the first time and i'm backstabber grouping with a friend who is death necro. So maybe archery is the right option for me, right? but i didnt understand the gameplay, do u have any tutorial on how to play as range backstabber?
@@PauloZionlight ranged backstabber is a little weaker. But the concept is the same. Hide/stealth/target what you want to kill/attack last target/rehide.
Hi, maybe I can share some experience as a fellow New player. im currently 30 days old. I mostly play solo because of my time zone. but occasionally join my guild run. if you want to participate doing damage best is to use archery, drop stealing ( and thief codex) and put tactics in. The BS damage bonus still apply after you stealth but not the damage from Thief codex or ransack .
im currently using both mace and archery codex. ( to level archery while still using mace ) pwnstarr featured an archer backstab build without Stealing. seems pretty strong.
Was something wrong with the first version?
Anyways keep up the great videos behr!
ya i noticed it clipped off the end of my video and went to the end screen. so i fixed and re-uploaded it. thats what happens when you try to do new things. the videos will get better and i will learn
Thanks for the reup, liked both videos! Keep it up!!
Ransack is really really bad. Go on test and set to max dmg with and without ransack. Its clearly additive
@@sh3940 it is. But I do notice a difference with archery. It does help a little.
@@BehrlyThere Its maybe 40-50 extra dmg, seriously go test it before you recommend. it wasnt working at all on wildlands launch and idk if its been fixed.
Points better spent on overlooked or extortion (if archery). Otherwise if melee you go ruffian, shadow hands, and without a trace.
@@sh3940 I do take ruffian shadow hands. On my melee build I don't take ransack. I put the points where you have recommended. I'll test it out. And if it isn't worth it on the archery build hopefully I can make a recommendation to fix it. Thanks for pointing this out!
@@BehrlyThere hah yeah idk why Im even telling you anything about melee. Got my build directly from you in the first place. Thank you as well
@@sh3940 we are here to make each other better!