Is the Shadowdancer's Shadow worth it?

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Nemento
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Is the Shadowdancer's Shadow worth it?

Post by Nemento » Thu Mar 21, 2019 9:43 am

I'm currently planning to make a shadowdancer, because I just like the idea of it and the concept of a shadowclone. I'm planning to go SD 19 / Rogue 4 / Fighter 7. (I need 6 pre-epic fighter levels to get 16 bab, since SD can only go up to 10, and the 20th level of SD doesn't offer much so I'm gonna take a 7th fighter level for epic weapon spec).

However, this just seems really lackluster compared to just going Rogue 24 / Fighter 6, becuase Rogue gets so much stuff. I'd have more skills, better sneak damage, faster sneaking, +2 bonus AB with rogue weapons and another +2 after stealth, keen senses, +10 in spot/listen, more AC due to the dex cap increase, and access to those grenades (even tho I don't know how useful they really are).

Compared to all that, as a shadowdancer I get HiPS, shadow daze and shadow evade. And the shadow, of course. I want to go as high into SD as possible in order to maximize the shadow's strength, but I feel like the rogue would still be strictly better as long as I have another party member for tanking, so it's hard to justify going the shadowdancer route.

I think I'm gonna do it regardless because I think it's cool but if you guys tell me the shadow is f-in AWESOME I'm gonna feel better about it.

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miesny_jez
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Re: Is the Shadowdancer's Shadow worth it?

Post by miesny_jez » Thu Mar 21, 2019 10:00 am

The shadow is so good that's its almost on the level of an exploit at present... You will get bored pretty fast.

I couldn't play beyond lvl 17 on my SD it was just silly boring with no challenge for me. For me Rogues look much more interesting as they bring more to the table of a party play and are more challenging to work out nicely

Nemento
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Re: Is the Shadowdancer's Shadow worth it?

Post by Nemento » Thu Mar 21, 2019 10:27 am

Okay now you actually made me reconsider. I originally wanted to have more interesting sneak play because I got tired of the old "run up to enemies and hit them until dead, heal as needed". Sounds like the shadowdancer would amount to exactly that when the shadow is actually that OP that I don't need to be careful at all... (and managing spells for full casters is too much of a hassle for me, lol).

Sartain
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Re: Is the Shadowdancer's Shadow worth it?

Post by Sartain » Thu Mar 21, 2019 12:11 pm

The shadow -guards you, has concealment and provides a flanking buddy for sneak attacks. I remember it seeming OP in vanilla NWN and by all accounts the buffs it's received here makes the Shadowdancer VERY viable... Against anything that isn't immune to sneak attacks

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Baron Saturday
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Re: Is the Shadowdancer's Shadow worth it?

Post by Baron Saturday » Thu Mar 21, 2019 3:48 pm

Sartain wrote:
Thu Mar 21, 2019 12:11 pm
The shadow -guards you, has concealment and provides a flanking buddy for sneak attacks. I remember it seeming OP in vanilla NWN and by all accounts the buffs it's received here makes the Shadowdancer VERY viable... Against anything that isn't immune to sneak attacks
The shadow is actually quite useless offensively, as it deals almost no damage. It is, however, nigh-unkillable. I had a str-based SD with 20 AC who leveled faster than any other character I've ever played due to being guarded by the shadow. The only time she ever struggled in PvE was when the shadow was burst down by mages.

If you're looking for a more tactical approach to gameplay, SD probably isn't it.
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Sartain
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Re: Is the Shadowdancer's Shadow worth it?

Post by Sartain » Thu Mar 21, 2019 3:56 pm

Baron Saturday wrote:
Thu Mar 21, 2019 3:48 pm
Sartain wrote:
Thu Mar 21, 2019 12:11 pm
The shadow -guards you, has concealment and provides a flanking buddy for sneak attacks. I remember it seeming OP in vanilla NWN and by all accounts the buffs it's received here makes the Shadowdancer VERY viable... Against anything that isn't immune to sneak attacks
The shadow is actually quite useless offensively, as it deals almost no damage. It is, however, nigh-unkillable. I had a str-based SD with 20 AC who leveled faster than any other character I've ever played due to being guarded by the shadow. The only time she ever struggled in PvE was when the shadow was burst down by mages.

If you're looking for a more tactical approach to gameplay, SD probably isn't it.
Well you don't need it for offense :)

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Baron Saturday
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Re: Is the Shadowdancer's Shadow worth it?

Post by Baron Saturday » Thu Mar 21, 2019 5:23 pm

Sartain wrote:
Thu Mar 21, 2019 3:56 pm
Well you don't need it for offense :)
Sorry, misread your post as the SHADOW being the one that's really good against enemies that aren't sneak immune.
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Sartain
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Re: Is the Shadowdancer's Shadow worth it?

Post by Sartain » Thu Mar 21, 2019 7:13 pm

Baron Saturday wrote:
Thu Mar 21, 2019 5:23 pm
Sartain wrote:
Thu Mar 21, 2019 3:56 pm
Well you don't need it for offense :)
Sorry, misread your post as the SHADOW being the one that's really good against enemies that aren't sneak immune.
Good at distracting them while you shred their sensitive bits :)

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CosmicOrderV
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Re: Is the Shadowdancer's Shadow worth it?

Post by CosmicOrderV » Fri Mar 22, 2019 1:19 am

I'm playing one right now, and I've done two in the past. I'd say Baron has it right on. SD is really only effective for flavor, or for something easy to level and -delete for a chance at reward. They said the class is due for a rework, but until then, I wouldn't bother unless you want either an easy time leveling, or just enjoy the flavor. Mechanically speaking, rogue is going to be more fun and have more options. There's only two challenges to a shadowdancer: foes that deal high amounts of energy damage, and in pvp, since people know to not bother attacking your shadow. Everything else is easy mode. Just go strength based, and smash.
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Nemento
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Re: Is the Shadowdancer's Shadow worth it?

Post by Nemento » Sat Mar 23, 2019 7:25 pm

I actually do enjoy the Shadowdancer for flavor as I said in my main post, and I'm still going to make one eventually, but looks like I'll be playing a rogue for the time being. Thanks for all the input!

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