Guild Wars 2

I consistently hear about how good Shadow Shot is, but it’s a skill I personally don’t get much use out of. I’m curious to hear how the rest of you exploit this very strong ability.

I use it very situationally. Mostly if I need to close the distance (especially while stealthed for an easy BS) or apply blind on a kiting target who won’t fight in Black Powder.

However, in most cases, I far prefer the Black Powder. It’s rare I don’t get at least two blinds out of it AND it forces my opponent to leave the zone or lose a brawl to a thief (unless they have 20s of resistance) AND I get stealth out of it.

I usually lay it down and fight in it until my opponent leaves the zone, at which point I HS>BS and drop a new Blinding Powder.

From my perspective, the blind per initiative is flat or in favor of BP. The damage is a wash/situational (a 50% HS + a BS is better and comes out as a burst). The real benefit is the giant X factor that the blind field gives the fight + stealth is always nice to disorient/confuse an opponent and give the opportunity to use some stolen items.

tldr; Ultimately, Shadowshot feels very binary, while Black Powder allows for a lot of flexibility/mix-ups. What am I missing?

In many cases bs is not worth it really because of block/invuls etc. so you just dump AA + ss as gap closer if needed into enemy until you get window for bs.

Shadowshot blinding part goes through block as well.

Nobody is scared of black powder nowadays except for sd thieves since it got nefed and other classes just spam aoe/have high resistance uptime.

Say I run this build, not saying it’s optimal but here we go.
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vZAQJAoKWgJMtEQAY3M3BPhtQv0wZoNA-TlBXABCr8Ag9HlYhoHQW1LeWJ4PqoQKAB1ZB-w

And I shadow shot a full Dire Reaper, with 2927 toughness.

(952.5*2532*1.3125)(1.1*1.1*1.07*1.15)/2927=1610.2 rounded up. Non crit.

Now say it was a crit

(952.5*2532*1.3125)(2.1867*1.1*1.1*1.07*1.15)/2927=3,521 rounded up.

Now on top of this good damage you have a 900 range gap closer with a blind that is unblockable. The attack isn’t unblockable- this ability allows you to keep pressure on an opponent while at the same time causing damage mitigation through blind.

Now let’s look at BS

If behind target
(952.5*2532*2.4)(1.1*1.1*1.07*1.15)/2927=2944 rounded down non crit, this skill for max damage needs you have perfect positioning, can cause an internal CD of it whiffs makes for only one chance unless you camp stealth has no other utility.

Crit
(952.5*2532*2.4)(2.1867*1.1*1.1*1.07*1.15)/2927=6438 rounded down still no extra utility and requires positioning behind target and setup to get it off.

If you don’t get the positioning behind the opponent it hits for

1472 rounded down non crit still no utility and for a crit 3219 rounded down.

These calls don’t have any damage mitigation included.

shadow shot is more reliable hit then doing full combos. if your fighting a huge hp bar like a nerco probably want to rely backstab to get threw there hp bar faster. but if your fighting something squishy you should relying on combo that do quick burst dmg.

but more or less what it come down to is it better to rely on instant cast skills then skill with cast bar.

like if i am fighting a slow class like warrior sure i will backstab him all day but if i am fighting something like a another thief you try to do that to him he instantly kill you lol.

As others have said, since black powder applies the blind every 2S there’s too many things that can ignore the first blind and one shot you still, and a lot of players know to interrupt you if you try to auto in it. A warrior in black powder could go berserk, clear the blind with hydromancy and still hit you with arc divider and gs 3, which if you’ve taken any prior damage will likely kill you. Repeated shadow shot then dodge as soon as the damage lands is just safer damage in that situation, saving the black powder mug backstab combo as an opener if you get the jump on him or for when his endure pains are on cooldown and he starts running. You can kill a rev pretty much just landing shadow shot and the stolen ability, staying at range and dodging the rest of the time. Also, the number of thieves I’ve killed with mug > pistol whip as they’ve stood in black powder trying to stealth is just silly >:D

Do what works for you at the end of the day. If you’re killing things by using black powder the way you do, then by all means carry on.

Jugglemonkey.8741:

Also, the number of thieves I’ve killed with mug > pistol whip as they’ve stood in black powder trying to stealth is just silly >:D

For me: Steal without mug but SoH and autoattack.

As mentioned, it hits harder than a frontstab, and thus is more consistent and costs less initiative, and can be spammed for free unblockable defenses and a gap close.

It’s the best skill on the thief as a profession and the sole reason D/P dominates, and quite frankly, a big reason why thief is still semi-competitive in general.

Cynz.9437:

Nobody is scared of black powder nowadays except for sd thieves since it got nefed and other classes just spam aoe/have high resistance uptime.

Erm no

Cameron.6215:

Cynz.9437:

Nobody is scared of black powder nowadays except for sd thieves since it got nefed and other classes just spam aoe/have high resistance uptime.

Erm no

erm yes?