Fighting Shadows 1x1

[bklynfinest]

What has your approach has been for fighting Shadows 1x1? Let’s discuss. Curious b/c I got rolled by one today. Granted I'm 40 but am wondering how I got so easily out DPS’d despite having both ward+cloak on. Was dead before I got second talented Smash off. Is there any way to slow their DPS down? Does Obsfurcate [sp?] work against them?

 

Thanks

 

EDIT - one additional questions: I mostly do oPvP and not WZs. I'm debating switching to Annihilation over Rage. Any thoughts? Basically I'm looking for more single target dmg + survivability and everyone claims Anni s the best for that.

Edited January 6, 2012 by bklynfinest

[EasymodeX]

Hmm, couple notes:

 

1. Obfuscate will affect their backstab and spam melee attack, but not their nuke that they use off of it. It's very similar to Carnage's Massacre -> Force Scream in terms of procs buffing a force power. It's generally a good idea to Obfuscate right off the bat to mess up their proc generation (they typically try to get 2 stacks of their buff before nuking).

 

2. Use Cloak right off the bat for a specific reason later. It will also mitigate his Project (nuke) which he will probably rollface without realizing that he's missed his Voltaic. Generally, pound his face in with Obfuscate (try to get 1 good rotation in), then kite.

 

Kiting will confuse the everliving hell out of the Shadow, because they're not used to a Marauder trying to 'outrange' them. You're not really trying to outrange them -- you are letting your cooldowns recycle while messing up their expected attack sequence, and baiting their TK / Force Lightning reflex. The instant they use that, force charge them and open up again.

 

3. Now you're in round 2. Somewhere, probably already, the Shadow will likely use his stun. This is why you pre-loaded the Cloak. If you can predict his stun (because you Ragesmashed him for 4.5k and you know he shat his pants), then use Saber Ward as well. Your goal here is to take next to no damage during the stun.

 

 

4. Do not break the stun. Let it expire naturally. Break the Force Lift / Whirlwind. While at first glance, you may want to sit the mez and break the stun, sitting the mez means the enemy escapes, or gets full cooldowns for another burst. Caveat: if he stuns you out of the gate when you have no Cloak / Saber Ward / Obfuscate up, then break it immediately so you can use those abilities. Do not try to soak a stun without defenses. Also, if you are not fast enough to break the stun immediately, then don't bother. Breaking 1 second of stun is stupid.

 

5. THE SHADOW IS GLOWING. This means he has very high (or 100%, not sure which) avoidance and resist. This means do not Scream, do not megaSmash, do not Ravage. You either: 1. mez him with Roar (preferred, not 100% positive if it can be resisted or not), 2. Force Camo (alternative), 3. build rage with Assault/BA (if he's GLOWING to run away).

 

 

Other tactics.

 

6. Ravage bait. Ravage is a fun ability because it forces an enemy to use a defensive action. Against a ShadowAssassin, this means they will either vanish, stun you, or run away really fast. Use this to your advantage by immediately smashing, preloading a Cloak/Saber Ward to soak the stun, and/or charge them for free rage. Bottom line is that your damage forces them to blow a cooldown.

 

7. Vanish. The Shadow will vanish, either to re-open on you or to simply ****. Prepare to immediately smash while moving in the direction you think they will move. Hit or miss. If the enemy is not running away (e.g. they do not perceive that the fight is unwinnable), then prepare for another opener. Hopefully, you have not blown your CC break randomly. When the Shadow re-appears, immediately Force Choke him for lulz. This gives you a moment (assume they will break it) to assess the damage levels, use Obfuscate if you didn't use it earlier, check which cooldowns you still have.

 

8. If all else fails, use Undying Rage.

 

 

 

TLDR:

 

1. Soak their stun with some combination of Obfuscate, Cloak, Saber Ward (but not all of them).

2. Remember your damage is cyclical; you do not need to hump their leg. The Shadow's damage actually has shorter cycles

3. Use Ravage to waste one of their cooldowns.

4. Don't waste your big hits on a glowing target.

[EasymodeX]

Aside: Rage and Annihilation are both solid for 1v1, although in significantly different ways. Rage will get you a much higher burst over 12 seconds or so with 2 omegaSmashes, but Annihilation will have significantly more spammable interrupts. So it depends on your opponent.