Solo Artist Challenge - Shadowknight?

[Trivonus]

Hey all,

I know shadowknights are immensely powerful (more than some would be lead to believe, but nowhere near monks), and I'm thinking about starting a fresh SK up to try my hand at the solo artist challenge.

What race/starting stats would you pick?!

The main choice I believe is between Ogres/Trolls/Iksar.

Ogres - most base stats (can itemize other things instead of focusing on sta) and immunity to stun for casts

Trolls - Regen and can wear plate, worse stats than ogre

Iksar - Regen but can't wear plate, but extra AC and small. Worse stats than Troll.

So, I'm thinking Ogre? The standing troll/iksar regen in 1 min (10 ticks) at 8 extra hp per tick is approximately 80 hp a minute. If the fight took 3-5 minutes to complete, that would be somewhere between 240 to 400 hp. Quite a lot, but one interrupted cast on Drain Soul (6.1 second cast!!!) would be 338 hp lost, so that more than makes up for it. So, Ogre with +20 int to start? Feel free to correct me!! [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Swish]

For the solo artist? Assuming some of those are indoors that'll mean you won't want to fear... which means frontal stun immunity on the ogre might be the way to go <3

For ogre I'd put 5 in AGI (75 minimum for no AC penalty) and definitely some into INT, your mana pool will be horrible otherwise. Velious gear should max your stamina easily and add some nice HP.

[Danth]

Bash resist isn't a big deal. An interrupted Drain Soul doesn't mean you "lose" 338 HP, it means you cast the spell again. When you solo anything that has any significant health, you're going to have plenty of time to run yourself out of mana regardless of whether you suffer a few interrupts. As a point of trivia Drain Soul doesn't take 6.1 seconds to cast, either. Because of Hybrid spellcast haste it casts in more like 4.3 seconds or so which isn't too bad. Between the various races I consider it a toss-up between Troll or Iksar. Troll might win out slightly due to having access to a few potentially useful Blood Ember click effects.

Your equipment and available click items will determine what you can solo far moreso than your race or starting statistics will. Some Shadow Knight players who like to solo a lot focus heavily on Dexterity so as to increase epic (or Greenmist) special effects. You'll want mana regeneration even more than health regeneration and the rare clarity click items (from Myconids in Sebilis) are highly prized.

Source: Been playing SK as main for many years on P99 and done about anything I've cared to do with it.

Danth

[Snaggles]

I’d almost build a small race for the extra intell and BE clicks. Between boots, gloves and the mana if timed right you could make a fight go a painfully long time.

[elwing]

Iksar can wear most velious plate...

[branamil]

There is nothing an ogre can solo that a troll cannot. They might have a 0.5% chance to win 2% of fights due to RNG gods but it doesn't unlock any content.

[Izmael]

Just grab a Soulfire, a Bladestopper and a bunch of Red Wood Wands, the world is yours!

Oh wait..

[oqrelord]

Originally Posted by Izmael [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Just grab a Soulfire, a Bladestopper and a bunch of Red Wood Wands, the world is yours!

Oh wait..

What happened to these items? Was there a nerf?

[Crede]

I have to ask, but are you set on SK? Because a Pally with their 59 heal will likely have a much easier time killing a high end named if they can get to it. Pretty ridiculous amount of Hp a pally can self heal compared to shitty SK lifetaps at 60(A soulfire can also only be used by Paladins now). Unless the solo artist challenges require the use of FD, which I can't imagine because non FD classes have done it, I'm betting a paladin can kill more with root/heal/stun. SK will get the edge with fear kiting, but that's pretty limited.

With that being said, if you're set on SK, I'd probably go Iksar. Being fat sucks(I have a troll SK), and Regen/ac will win out in the end with velious armor. As for starting stats, INT is kinda useless IMO unless you're constantly dumping 100% of your mana which will almost never happen. I'd go for dex for more weapon procs and when you're trying to proc something fast on a hard fight you'll be glad you did.

[zati]

did you mean solo levels 1-60 or are you going to solo a mob from the list provided? TBH it isn't much of a difference as the game is pretty gear dependent, and overall "starting stats" will have very minimal differences. but I'll just assume you want min/max for the class... so

the question is what are you trying to fight? There aren't many mobs accessible for an SK to solo from the artist challenge in the first place, but granted it's more than a pally could(assuming "getting to the mob by yourself" is part of the solo challenge). Anyway I would say you're on the right track wit Int . The extra regen from trolls/iksar is nice (most solo fights will last 4-5mins like you said) but what it doesn't do for an SK is add dps, which the class overall lacks no matter what race you pick(Str is easy to max). In other words...Longer the fight goes on the more damage you take.

Like a poster above pointed out if you are interrupted casting Drain Soul you don't "Lose" 338 hp, you just recast it. what isn't mentioned is that you also do 338 DAMAGE. So, you honestly have to put the amount of damage you deal into the equation for the duration of the fight. could argue that... More mana = extra Drain souls = More HP / Damage which in turn causes More Weapon Swings and RNG to happen.

..shrug the toughest mob I've ever done is dartain the lost with no assistance other than a port to tox and one reaper charge(should be sk only). anyhow it depends whats available to you at end game and not so much starting stats or race.