[1.0.6] CI Crit Dagger Shadow (30k DPS Flicker Ninja) [OB video up!]

Heya, in terms of flicker damage being nerfed, I'll check back later once I'm done with uni to have a look to see what my new dps figures are :) resists won't affect the build. Read up to my resists post. In uni ATM, will be back later to updat build, screenshots and what not :)

Stats from 0.9.12 pre-qq patch

Stats
DPS screens are with 4 frenzy charges up. With phase run the DPS can go much higher

Flicker Strike


Lightning Strike


Viper Strike


My current gear and gems I link:

Changes to this build from pre-0.9.12qq

Just some info on the relevant buffs/nerfs to Shadow passives
The projectile damage and one-handed damage at the start have been increased to 8% (previously 6%)
Nullification node now has +10% elemental resistances to it.
+1 Nullification node and hybrid defence nodes just below Shield Mastery

Energy shield delay recovery nodes have been decreased to 10% (previously 15%)
Nullification now has only 10% shield delay recovery as opposed to 20% previously

So how does all that affect this build?
In terms of skill tree passives alone, there is now +6% increased melee physical damage, +20% elemental resistances, +50% evasion rating, 2% increased ES and -25% ES delay recovery increase.

Any changes to DPS values now that Flicker has gotten nerfed?

0.9.12 pre-qq Stats

Yes, Flicker DPS has now been reduced from 27785 to 24470, partly because of the nerfs to flicker strike and the nerf to quality on Melee Damage on Full Life. That said, the buffs to quality on Melee Physical Damage and Increased Critical Damage should be able to counter the nerf a little. 20% Crit Dmg and 9% Melee Physical Damage with everything else remaining constant has now boosted it back to 26270 DPS, which is still a substantial amount for a 4L skill.

The DPS values for Lightning Strike and Viper Strike has remained the same, although the potential for DPS for both skills has been buffed due to the buff on quality for Increased Crit Damage.

Oh no! Resistance penalties!
Any change to this build? No. Gameplay? a little. This is why

As you can see from the character screens at the start, I'm still able to hit 75/75/73 resists. So there shouldn't be any problem whatsoever

Now that recovery nodes have been nerfed, do you still value them as highly? The 8% Evasion/6% ES nodes seem very good to me. It should be worth it to max those out to get to the second Nullification, right? I think overall these changes helped your build, but maybe the nerf to Flicker Strike is worse than it looks (seems like you should still be able to one-shot most things still, though).

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spiritplx wrote:

Now that recovery nodes have been nerfed, do you still value them as highly? The 8% Evasion/6% ES nodes seem very good to me. It should be worth it to max those out to get to the second Nullification, right? I think overall these changes helped your build, but maybe the nerf to Flicker Strike is worse than it looks (seems like you should still be able to one-shot most things still, though).

Heya, that is a good question. I was thinking about that, and frankly speaking, after comparing 2 shadows that I have, one with 0% increased recovery and one with 75% increased recovery, my answer would be yes, I still value them as highly, simply because it allows me to jump back into combat that much faster and allows me to recover ES that much faster even in the midst of combat, while flickering.

The second nullification is great, but not essential. Again, I would like to advise you guys not to follow this build right to the letter, but instead alter it according to your gear, just as I have done.

Edit: took your advice, thought about it and managed to accommodate the second nullification node without actually sacrficing anything

If you notice the build for my own shadow, I took 2 increase maximum mana nodes because my gear was lacking in +mana. On the other hand, I had high ES gear so I didn't invest that much into the second bunch of hybrid defence nodes.

If you guys need the extra %ev/es and the 10% extra elemental resistances however, do feel free to invest points in there :)

Overall yes these changes have helped the overall shape of the build in terms of offense and survivability.

The nerf to flicker only gets apparent in terms of DPS discrepancies later on in the game, because the higher amount of DPS you do, the more evident that 15% decrement will appear. That said, it still does deal a large amount of DPS.

Also, even though there has been a nerf to flicker, this build prides itself in not being a one trick pony. Flicker adds to the fun factor but this build is not built solely around flicker. (I do use LS and Viper/Ele Hit too)

Besides, flicker was all along pretty OP in terms of burst damage. I wouldn't be surprised if they nerfed flicker a little bit more again.

In the end though, this build still works, and still gives me alot of fun, and I hope you guys will find it fun too!

Minor tweak:

managed to get some chromes to change the colours of my boots. changed the gems linked to Viper Strike to yield more dps.

Awesome, thanks again for the advice!

Did another minor tweak to the builds to optimize them and take full advantage of the new nullification node.

Level 70 build now has additional 34% increased evasion, same % of increased ES and +10% Elemental resistances.

Level 80 build now has additional 10% increased evasion, 2% increased ES, 10% increased ES recovery and +10% to all elemental resistances.

updated my own build accordingly and updated defense screens as well

You take an extra 8% ES near Arcane Focus where you can take a 10% ES/Evasion node near first Nullification :)

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Vandro wrote:

You take an extra 8% ES near Arcane Focus where you can take a 10% ES/Evasion node near first Nullification :)

ah good spot! didn't see that. re-edited accordingly. thanks! :)