Using Stalk > Shadowflame in frontal melee?

[Jay]

<DIV><FONT size=2>I can't believe this took me so long to discover, but I just figured out that I can use Stalk > melee off > Shadowflame while in solo (or just frontal) melee combat. (Shadowflame only requires stealth, not flanking / back position.) It takes a bit of luck / timing, but if you fire of the skills quickly enough your ranger will just duck quickly into stealth and launch the attack all in one motion, and (with luck) you can do it quickly enough to pull off the attack successfully. Of course if you get hit in that brief moment that you're stealthing, it'll break - you might even see the attack fire off, but you won't get the dmg and you'll see the "you must be in stealth to use that ability" status message. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>Obviously this works best when fighting 1-3 enemies; any more than that and my stealth gets broken before I pull off Shadowflame, based on the number of attacks coming my way. The lesser the number of enemies, the better success I have with this tactic. I also try to watch their attacks so that I queue Stalk right as they're starting to attack me, that helps avoid getting hit during the maneuver. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>Just thought I'd share in case anyone else hadn't tried this. <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Enjoy!</FONT></DIV>

[Tr]

You can use this in conjuction with stun when your stealth backstab isn't up. Also, even if the mob misses you while in stealth you can't attack.

[Jay]

<DIV><FONT size=2>You know, I've never practiced the timing enough to get the Cheap Shot > stealth attack move down. I can stun > flank attack with Shrouded Strike, but I haven't spent much time perfecting the sequence of stun mob > disable melee > stealth > backstab in the ~3 seconds you have while the stun lasts. <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Definitely a good point, and thanks for the info on attacks / misses while stealthed. (Thankfully, I find the Stalk > Shadowflame seems to hit more often than not, as long as I'm not attempting it while being swarmed by 3-6 enemies.)</FONT></DIV>

[BuddhaM]

Yeah, I do it like Troz does, except I usually try to work this into an HO like this: trigger: cheapshot: un-melee: stalk: shadowflame: leaping cut/impale/whatever to finish out the sequence. Cheap shot has such a slow re-use timer, I hate to waste it on only one trick. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> And I can usually get this whole thing off at least 50% of the time soloing, and even if you miss the shadowflame, you still have enough time to finish the HO.

[Pil]

Raven Embers works the same.  As long as you can maintain the stealth long enough to fully execute the art it does not need position.  So Cheap Shot -> Shadow -> Raven's does work in frontal meelee.

[DragonK]

<P>I have had better luck using the stun to back-pedal for range and using either triple shot or crippling arrow than attempting a stealth move or flanking attack. I have found that a quick stun and jump over the mob run a ways and hit backshot or sniping shot works well, since you do not have to face target to initiate or fire the shot.</P> <P>I also would like to admit that I was wrong many moons ago when I said I remove all grey abilities from my hotbar. Cheap shot and Evade are both still clinging on and probably will do so indefinitely. Cheap Shot because the stun is useful for flipping HO or getting in an extra situational damage attack. Evade because it can flip HO wheel or can lower hate in conjuntion with Shadow or Stalk.</P>

[Somethiing]

<P>It gets a lot easier to pull this off when you get the line that almost instantly stealths you.</P> <P>I Cheap shot, then Surveil, then move around back for a backhit.</P> <P>The one thing that gets annoying is when you get a poison tick in the middle of it and the mob unstuns.</P> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> DragonKai wrote:<BR> <P>Cheap shot and Evade are both still clinging on and probably will do so indefinitely. Cheap Shot because the stun is useful for flipping HO or getting in an extra situational damage attack. <BR> <HR> <P></P></BLOCKQUOTE> <P>Sneak Attack is another that I keep on there.  Its completely on its own timer and it actually does decent damage even at 50 with its pretty much nonexistant power cost.</P> <P> </P><p>Message Edited by Somethiing on <span class=date_text>03-17-2005</span> <span class=time_text>07:14 AM</span>

[Pil]

<DIV>Did they fix sneak attack yet.  It was sharing a timer with the Shrouded Strike line.</DIV>

[Sotaudi]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Pilar wrote:<BR> <DIV>Did they fix sneak attack yet.  It was sharing a timer with the Shrouded Strike line.</DIV><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR> <DIV>As of last night, Sneak Attack and Shrouded Strike were still sharing a timer.</DIV>

[Sotaudi]

<DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> BuddhaMMZ wrote:<BR>Yeah, I do it like Troz does, except I usually try to work this into an HO like this: trigger: cheapshot: un-melee: stalk: shadowflame: leaping cut/impale/whatever to finish out the sequence. Cheap shot has such a slow re-use timer, I hate to waste it on only one trick. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> And I can usually get this whole thing off at least 50% of the time soloing, and even if you miss the shadowflame, you still have enough time to finish the HO.<BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P><BR>Recently, I have been working on more effective strategies for using stealthed attacks while in solo, and one of the conclusions I had come up with prior to reading this post was that using Shadow Flame gave the best chance of getting off a stealthed attack while already engaged in solo combat.  And I had been playing around with it to good success a couple of days before.  I had also recently posted about flipping solo HOs and had stated that it was probably best to use Cheap Shot with this because you could at least work in a stealthed attack rather than just wasting a combat round with Evade or Reconnoiter (since you probably used Corner or its family to lock the starter chain).  However, I do not think I had put the two concepts together until I read this.  AlI could say was, "Well, duh!"  So thanks for the hint. /tiphat</P> <P>I have been playing around with this, and, frankly, have had far better than 50% success, but I use the sequence early.  If I am not bow pulling, I will stealth then do Shadow Lunge + Lucky Break + Cheap Shot + toggle auto attack + Stalk + Shadow Flame + Lunging Thrust then continue with the attack as appropriate.  Because Cheap Shot comes after only one hit, and because Stalk has a one second cast time, even if a poison did proc on Shadow Lunge, there is little chance that the next DoT will hit before I can get off Shadow Flame.  And since I have not intentionally put on a bleed yet (e.g., Leaping Cut), I only have to worry about bad timing or something being resisted hurting my success.  I have even successfully used this sequence to open a fight while grouped.  And in one longer battle, I actually got in three stealthed attacks (opening with Shadow Lunge + Shadow Flame + HO then Shadow Flame + HO later) in one solo fight.</P> <P>Even when I use the bow to pull, rather than using Lucky Break + Corner + Lunging Thrust as my first melee sequence as I have traditionally done, I have switched to the Shadow Flame + HO sequence.  Now that is eight times the number of hits (if all my bow shots hit) compared to starting with Shadow Lunge, and, therefore, there is a greater chance a poison will have stuck and proc'ed a DoT at the wrong time.  But I still think I am getting better than a 50% success rate, so I assume you hedging your estimate somewhat.</P></DIV>

[BuddhaM]

Yeah, I haven't been keeping too close a tab on this stat, just got to reading the thread, and it occured that I did it this way, but didn't know the percent. It SEEMS like about 50%. I have got to get my lazy butt into gear and get a parser/logger to keep better track of this stuff.  ;0 <div></div>