Alting Around... Again.

So, yeah. Being the easily swayed weakling that I am, after I read a discussion on the forums I frequent about Shadow Warriors, I just had to roll one up. I hit Rank 11 last night, and I also maxed out my RvR Influence for the T1 Empire vs, Chaos pairing. So now I'm running around New Emskrank looking for fights and just messing around til I hit 12 and have to move on to the next tier. 

I gotta say, I'm enjoying the Shadow Warrior a lot! I had rolled one up shortly after release, but shelved him at Rank 3 because the career didn't grab me right away. I didn't realize how much of a difference getting all my stances would make on my fun factor. Skirmish stance, which is the mid-range mobile dps tree, is simply so much fun to play. It feels great being able to run around whilst firing off bow attacks. Once I got Spiral-Fletched Arrows and Takedown, the career just got so fun to play. I know that my melee stance, Assault, is considered the best stance to be in, but I still like the mobility I get from Skirmish.

Another amazing thing is the versatility of the career. In a single engagement, I can select say a Witch Elf from range and begin dpsing with my bow in Scout stance. As they get closer, I switch into Skirmish and snare and DoT, then kite a bit. When they close to melee I can swap into Assault stance which buffs my Armor and  Strength, and bring them down with very respectable melee dps. I love having the potential to switch roles in an instant, which sometimes confuses my targets. Today I started picking off a Witch Elf from range, she started to run, so I chased her down in Skirmish, DoT-ing and dpsing. She ran behind some cover to break my line of sight, but I guess she didn't expect me to flip into Assault and run her down, where I cut her down in melee. I guess that move confused the other Destro players around her, because she got no heals, and I was able to make my escape. I guess they didn't expect an archer to move in and finish the job at close range. Now I'm aware the situation I've described is pretty much an ideal situation, but still, it's pretty cool when it happens.

Perusing the forums reveals that veteran SW players do have several issues with the class, but the general feeling is that the career needs some tweaks, but is doing quite well otherwise. Also, the more experienced players agree that the career is in very good shape, but I'll reserve judgement until I have several more ranks under my belt.

SOME DAYS LATER...

Well, I am very close to 14 now, and have some more observations about the career. I still enjoy the Shadow Warrior, but I've come across my first issues. One is just a graphical issue, when I equip my helm it changes my selected hair into a "default" hairstyle that's the same for every SW of the same gender. Only the original color is retained. Not a big deal really, as I like my selected hair and don't mind turning the helm graphic off.

I've also gotten a chance to play some Mourkain's Temple. Overall, I enjoy it on my SW. I'm much squishier than I've ever been before, and it's a very different mindset to play as a ranged damage dealer as opposed to tanking or melee dpsing. I like finding good vantage points for sniping, and killing or harassing squishies and healers. Once the focus fire finds me though, I'm dead meat. Still, it's a great change of pace, and a great feeling to take down that Witch Elf who just popped out behind the healing line. 

PvE-wise, my Shadow Warrior is competent, if a bit repetitive. Of course, I'm still low in Tier 2, and don't have access yet to many of my abilities. I'm spending lots of time in Assault Stance, basically DoT-ing and pulling from range until the mob closes and then finishing it off in melee. I try to kite a bit, but I think Skirmish could use a bit more range, and it seems that it's quicker to just pull, then melee.

I'll continue to try and level this guy, who I have named Zanshin, after the Japanese martial arts term referring to a certain mental state. I hope that I can somehow find time to level all my other characters before the Slayer/Choppa is implemented. Still, we shall see where I stand on the Shadow Warrior some ranks from now.