High Elf, Shadow Warrior

When Malekith rose up in treacherous revolt against the Phoenix King and his servants, the majority of his followers came from area of Ulthuan known as Nagarythe. Before the civil war that irrevocably divided the Elven people, Nagarythe is said to have been the greatest of all the kingdoms of Ulthuan. It was from Nagarythe that the first Phoenix King, Aenarion the Defender, held court. There were some Elves of Nagarythe that believed Malekith unfit to rule, and chose instead to support Bel-Shanaar as Aenarion's successor.

Though he was eventually defeated and forced to flee the lands of his birth, Malekith was not without resources. At the end of the civil war, the Sorceresses in the Witch King's service cast a spell that tore fragments of Ulthuan free, thereby forming the Black Arks. The resulting damage to the Island continent resulted in most of Nagarythe being swallowed by the sea, and the Elves that lived there became disinherited nomads.

Tome Unlocks

Destruction Only

Task	Rewards	Destruction Text
Encounter a Shadow Warrior	XP: 84	N/A
Kill 25 Shadow Warriors	XP: 204	N/A
Victim	Title: The Heedless, XP: 336	Be Defeated by a Shadow Warrior
Kill 100 Shadow Warriors	XP: 500	N/A
Spoils of War	Pocket: Simpleton's Guide to Silence, XP: 806	Collect a Specific Item from a Vanquished Shadow Warrior
Kill 1,000 Shadow Warriors	Title: The Infiltrator, XP: 1050	N/A
What do We Have Here?	Pocket: Broken Bowstring, XP: 1476	Learn about the Shadow Warrior by completing a specific task
Kill 10,000 Shadow Warriors	Title: Favored of Malekith, XP: 1800	N/A
Drop the Top	Trophy: Golden High Elf Eliminator, One Pip, XP: 1800	Defeat the Current Highest Ranking Shadow Warrior Player
Kill 100,000 Shadow Warriors	Trophy: Golden High Elf Eliminator, Two Pips, XP: 1974	N/A

Order Only

Task	Rewards	Order Text
What do We Have Here?	Pocket: Broken Bowstring, XP: 1476	Learn about the Shadow Warrior by completing a specific task

Class Changes

• Outrider Patrol morale 2 reduced to 30ft (link)

• New 15pt Assault ability, Shadowstep is a 2s cast, 20s cooldown, 65ft range ability that works as a gap closer. Upon use, it grants a 10s buff to increase parry, dodge, and disrupt by 25% and increase autoattack speed by 25%. (link)
  • Whirling Rage, the former 15pt Assault m4 is moved to core (req level 40). Using this ability will put all other morales on a 5min cooldown.

• Wrist Slash tactic now has a 25% chance to apply the stat steal, rather than 100% (link)

• Leading Shots tactic critical hit rate reduced from 15% to 8%

• Assault stance grants +10% Parry (link), converts Dodge Strikethrough from gear to Parry Strikethrough (link), increases melee autoattack damage by 65% (link), has ranged autoattacks disabled (link), and melee attacks will have a 25% chance to increase autoattack speed by 33% for 5 seconds (link).

• Morale 2 ability Unshakeable Focus now removes and ignores all taunts and detaunts on you for 7 seconds (link)

• Swift Strikes will grant a movement speed bonus while being channeled (link)

• Merciless Soldier has had the AP reduction benefit removed and now grants a 50% critical damage increase to these abilities: Opportunistic Strike, Grim Slash, Exploit Weakness, Counterstrike, Brutal Assault, and Sweeping Slash; it will also grant a 25% critical chance increase to these abilities: Draw Blood and Swift Strikes. (link)

• Flanking Shot from the Skirmish tree is now a core ability (link)

• Barrage is the 5pt ability in the Skirmish tree (link)

• Shadow Sting is the 9pt ability in the Skirmish tree (link)

• Eye Shot is the 13pt ability in the Skirmish tree (link)

• Fell the Weak gains its increased damage modifier at 30% target hp, up from 20% (link)

• Reduced the AP cost of the No Quarter tactic to 13, down from 20 (link)

Builds

• Tier 1: When you're just starting out, it doesn't matter much where you put your points, but it's widely accepted that the Skirmish tree is the most viable.
  • Grab your Centuries of Training tactic at level 11, but at 15 you can explore swapping to Replenishing Strikes since Shadow Warrior is an AP hog. Note that Unshakeable Focus is not in the game, so you only have your morale 1 to slot with Point-Blank.

• Mid Tier: If you want the cookie cutter, top tier Shadow Warrior playstyle for mid tier, check out this Skirmish centered build.
  • Grab Masterful Aim at level 19 for a damage buff via more Ballistic Skill. At 20, your tactics should be Masterful Aim plus either Replenishing Strikes or Centuries of Training. Take Concealment as a defensive m1 (morale 1) to deal with enemy ranged dps, and Focused Mind since it's your only m2. Focused Mind will help you get out of bad situations by cleansing and making you immune to all slows for 10s. Continuing into Skirmish tree, at level 25 you should grab Shadow Sting, one of the few spammable heal debuffs in the game; add Powerful Draw at 28 and change it out with whichever tactic you were pairing with Masterful Aim. At 30, you get another tactic slot, so you can explore whether or not you want the extra damage from Centuries of Training, the added utility with Pierce Defenses, or the AP regen with Replenishing Strikes (preferred 3rd tactic).

• Mid Tier - Scout Alternative: If you want to explore the other trees Shadow Warrior has to offer, try this stationary single target bomb build through Scout.
  • The build is focused around Festering Arrow, boosted by the Enchanted Arrows tactic. Don't neglect Glass Arrow as it deals a good amount of damage and is instant cast, so you can trigger it while kiting or chasing before you swap to Skirmish stance. Grab Masterful aim and Enchanted Arrows as your core two tactics, and at 30 you can explore whether Centuries of Training, Pierce Defenses, or Replenishing Strikes feel right to complete the build. Remember to activate Steady Aim immediately after Festering Arrow, then Rapid Fire while Steady Aim is active since channeled abilities are not impacted by build time increases.

• Mid Tier - Assault Alternative: If you want to get right in the action with this powerful melee build, check out this mid tier assault build.
  • Utilizing your three main tactics, Wrist Slash, Merciless Soldier, and No Respite, you can be incredibly threatening up close while in Assault stance. Softening a target from range through Skirmish stance, then finishing them off when you swap to Assault, is what this build focuses on. It's tough to get right at lower levels without high weapon skill, but challenging is also satisfying.

• Tier 4 - Tickle Fight!: Skirmish/Scout build for fresh 40/40s
  • Instinctive Aim will be your bread and butter tactic from here on out. Pair that with Powerful Draw in this standard, mobile build for SW. The other tactics are up to you. Leading Shots is good in groups, Pierce Defenses works well on tanks or other highly defensive targets, Masterful Aim is an option if your Ballistic Skill is low, Replenishing Strikes is viable when you need AP, or Bullseye can be good if you position well and need extra damage. Concealment is still considered the best m1 to take, and you can choose whether you want the safety of Focused Mind or the spike damage from Outrider Patrol. You'll rarely hit m3 in fights unless it's around a keep, so take what you like best. The most viable skills are taken in the build, and the extra points can be placed where you want.

• Tier 4 - Fester "bomb": Shoutout to Festering Arrow if Scout is more your style.
  • Powerful Draw is an excellent tactic all around for the ranged SW, but if you want to drop it so you can grab Fell the Weak instead, that's a viable alternative. As is consistent with Scout, take Enchanted Arrows to boost your main burst ability: Festering Arrow. The fourth tactic is up to you.

• Tier 4 - Speed Eagle: The incredibly potent, yet tremendously AP dependent Skirmish/Scout build.
  • A slight tweak to the Fester "bomb" build gives you extra points to grab elsewhere if you'd like as well as a fourth tactic (which will likely be Replenishing Strikes). This build is very AP dependent but if you have the AP feed, it can work.

• Tier 4 - The Salt Generator: The current meta build. Requires rr50.
  • The four tactics included in this build allow you to be incredibly lethal up close. Exploit Weakness will be your knockdown, while Swift Strikes will be used primarily for the movement speed increase. Keep an eye on Witch Elves as you can disarm them with Opportunistic Strike if Exploit Weakness is on cooldown.
  • Standard rotation is Broadhead Arrow > Shadow Sting > Grim Slash > Exploit Weakness > Brutal Assault > Grim Slash
  • Tier 4 - Shadow Stalker: The rr70 version of The Salt Generator gives you the 15pt Assault gap closer while giving up the mobility of Swift Strikes.

Credit: Dansarann