45-60% Finesse Damage for 2s on successful Dodge.
5-8 Bleed Stacks on Critical Hit.
5-8% Strength for every 10% of magazine spent during continuous fire. Stacks 5 times.
Direct hits apply 1-4 Stacks of 1% Brittleness for 5s. Stacks 20 times
Disclaimer - this is meta build for sweaty tryhards. This is NOT casual friendly build. If you are not very good, you will struggle on this build. It needs very fast, very aggresive playstyle. You can two shot bosses with it however._______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________This is build for "carrying" or soloing the Auric. That's why we take "Loner" (which is not a good perk in itself but suits lone wolf playstyle). Since you will be constantly dashing and sprinting foward in and out of Stealth especially to peel gunners/reapers and generally the backline - Loner will proc for you more than Benediction.However, if you play with team that you won't have to carry or with your trusted mates - instead of Dance of Death+Loner route -> Continue from Duelist on left down to Benediction and then take sharp turn to left for Shroud and keep rest of the build as it is. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Now, why like that. I will be short. This is nothing new really:1. Combat Blade - Flak perk for one-shot-head shot from Throwing Knifes on Gunners. Extra crit chance as general.As for blessings - Riposte + Flesh Tearer is just one of options. Most crit chance + crit damage burst. You can however also go Riposte + Precog or Flesh Tearer + Mercy Killer. All these combos are good! Don't take Uncanny Strike - it's not good! You need to build stacks on Crushers, while you could just 2-shot them instead and on bosses it does nothing. It's a trap option. Yes, it works on knifes if you built stacks, but with Flak on knife you don't need anything else. Don't take worse blessings instead of perk! Blessings >>>> Perks. Take Flak so you are covered on Gunners and take better all aruond blessing.
2. Flamer - best horde clear. "Why no Everlasting?" - becasue when I pull flamer on horde, I hold it for 3-4 seconds while dodging back (proccing our dodge perks and Momentum stacks) and everything should be dead. Blaze Away gives more damage now vs Evelasting giving more damage later. I prefer now. You don't want to stand there for 10+ seconds flaming. Waste of time. Penetrating Flame for helping with mixed hordes with hidden Maulers/armored Ragers etc.We don't need range anti special becasue we have throwing knifes. If you can't constistently headshot special with throwing knife - the issue is not you taking Flamer - the issue is you need to git gud with knifes. If you are good enough you can counter sniper snipers with throwing knife - it's just a matter of skill and experience. 3. Why Shroud + Momentum = becasue it's strongest, period. With Retributor Stance + 15 stacks + Invigorating - you are potentially getting 70% of your thoughness back every few seconds. Piety is better for casual/easy gameplay but this is Meta Slave build, for tryhards - Shroud is just stronger. Also Shroud has way stronger utility on top of it: You can easy revive teammates in middle of horde/gunners and pick them up, heal from station while stealth, do auspex mini game/objective while in stealth, reload weapon in stealth, reposition in stealth, throw down med kit and heal up in stealth.
5. "Double Stab Tech" - go to boss, aim with heavy stab on his weakspot, just before you release stab (holding mouse) -> Enter Shroud -> your first stab will get Shroud bonus without breaking Stealth. Then proceed with second stab that will also get Shroud bonus. That's how you burst down bosses or 2 Crushers per one Shroud.Setup: run to boss -> Deplete stamina with push attacks to proc Desperation if you went Benedition Route (not needed if you are taking Loner route), dodge one boss attack to proc Riposte, Precog and Duelist -> use Double Stab Tech. You should consistently two-shot bosses. May need more on Chaos Spawn on Auric though.
4. Invocation of Death + Pious = if you are playing correctly you should have Shroud up every few seconds, meaning - double backstab damage from "double stab tech". Also allows you to use all "utility" stuff from p.3 better.This build covers everything - anti-elite and anti-boss with knife+shroud, support (stealth revives/objectives etc.), horde clear with flamer and anti-special with knife and throwing knifes.____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Further adjustments/questions:1. "I don't like Flamer" - take Zarona revolver or Bolt Pistol instead2. "Is Dueling Sword also good" - Dueling Sword is with Combat Blade two best melees in game so yes, you can play Shroud with Dueling Sword! 3. Benediction vs Loner - again, if you solo or play PUBS - I recommend Loner route. If you play with people that you know can pull their weight - go Benediction route.
4. "Why no Purge Unclean?" - you have enough burst from Shroud on bosses. No need wasting 2 talent points for it.
5. "is Duelist/Shroud worth X talent points pivot to the left"?: Yes. No matter if you go Loner and pivot points to Duelist or if you go Benediction and pivot points back to Shroud, the combo of Duelist + Shroud is just that strong. The damage bonuses stack additively so the burst damage is huge. So yes, it's worth to go left->right or right->left like that.6. "Curios - can I run X instead?" - imo Ability Cooldown and Stamina Regen are mandatory. Sprint Efficiency just goes best with this fast playstyle since you want to dash and slide as much as possible. If you go Benediction you can take +health instead of Stamina for example becasue you want to proc Desperation as fast as possible. Imo with how much toughness we regen every few seconds - more thoughness if better than more Health.
