Game Mechanics Shadestepper rework

After playing shadestepper for quite a while at different levels I can definetly say it lacks consistency. All these changes should make shadestepper gameplay more coherent and enjoyable.

Ability reworks are listed from the top to the bottom of the ability tree.

Backstab
Make backstab always deal 500% of your dps, stun an enemy if they are hit from behind.
This will make shadestepper deal damage more consistently and still reward actually back-stabbing.

Vanish
Make Vanish not end but drain mana after 5s. Roving Assassin mID would work like it is now for 5s then not let you regen mana and health but not drain mana.
This will give shadestepper more time to unleash their attacks and make Shadow Travel a more consistent way to travel.

Death Magnet
Death Magnet is replaced by Flashbang. Casting Flashbang while in Vanish will not end Vanish but create an explosion that blinds enemies for 3s and removes 2 Marked from them. This explosion will do 250% of player's DPS (200% neutral, 25% air and fire) and trigger Black Hole if it is selected. Flashbang ability can only be triggered once per Vanish.
This will make shadestepper crowd control more controlled and create a window to attack and flee from enemies untouched at the cost of some marks.

Spoiler: Image

Nightcloak Knife
Nightcloak Knife is gained by standing inside your Smoke Bomb (1 knife per second) or by removing Marked with Flashbang. Also make it look like Shadestepper's Skimitar.
This will make Nightcloak Knife more intuitive to use and easier to max out in minion-less boss fights.

Satsujin
Using Spin Attack with Fatal Spin upgrade in Vanish will reset Satsujin's cooldown on mobs you hit.
This adds more utility to spin attack and completes shadestepper's gameplay cycle. Reseting Satsujin's cooldown would not be as broken as you think because you will probably need to recharge Vanish and practically cooldown would decrease from 15s to about 7s at best and dps will still be lower than most other archetypes.
Backstab damage is quadrupled.
Spell shadestepper is significantly weaker than heavy melee. Fully buffed Quake usually does around 900k to 1mil damage while backstab does only 300k at best. Wind Prison can bump it up to heavy melee damage levels but requires more setup and is practically imposible to land in a real fight. Quadrupling Backstab damage will make spell shadestepper actually compare to heavy melee and even overcome it with Wind Prison.

Devour
Devour replaced with a node that makes Satsujin trigger abilities activated by killing mobs (Harvester and Silent Killer). Soul Eater mID triples Harvester's mana gain and does not reduce max Marks anymore.
Basically more consistency in boss fights.

Wind Prison
Wind Prison powder special should only be triggered by direct spell or melee attacks. So poison, pets, Counter, Nightcloak Knife, Flaming Uppercut, etc. damage ticks other players do not trigger it.
It is easier to actually utilize Wind Prison this way for the only archetype it is useful for.

 

Noooo it's literally called BACKSTAB!

I don't mind this but I can see, from a balance perspective, why it wouldn't be added.

I haven't done enough testing w/ Death Magnet to properly comment on this but I like the idea of having a 1-use projectile attack without compromising your Vanish, you've clearly considered balancing this with the -2 marks too which I like. I assume your idea behind this was mobs that are so low it's not worth using Surprise Strike, etc. on? I like it.

I read the rest but I'm short for time, for the most part - I think - this is a good thread!

 

i agree that backstab should be more consistent but i think your suggestion should be reversed, just make it stun if not hit from behind, therefore it gets some use out of not hitting their back (the stun), but hitting their back should be significantly more powerful. i'd think this way still adds to the consistency of hitting backstabs, since you'd be able to stun a mob to make the backstab easier

 

Backstabing some mobs is just impossible (Colosus, The Eye). If ya actually backstab then the target wont attack you back instantly because ya stunned them.

Maybe. Actually the reason was similar to the Backstab rework - blinded enemies will not hit you so you can attack and vanish untouched.

 

With all due respect, the color the abilities are shown in hurts my eyes as a faithful lighttheme user. (Also your sig is almost entirely unreadable in light theme.)

Overall, great suggestion, just one little question:

So, it deals damage to enemies that don't have any marked, right?

If it does, that encourages not using the ability as much as you think it might be used. If I'm in Vanish, trying to setup a Satsujin, I'm trying to get as many marks as quickly as possible while accumulating all of shade's other damage boosts. This looks like it would only be useful if you don't care about marked or you haven't applied any yet. For instance, traveling through an area not really caring about hurting anything.
Love the ability though, being able to do damage while in Vanish is great, it looks balanced.

Also, Vanish changes are awesome!

 

It can do damage to non-marked.

 

with tomes it does average 4m with delirious gas

 

how? I could only get 3mil at best in wynnbuilder
https://hppeng-wynn.github.io/build...003601000361000361001Z60X0X030303030dzzrUtIHC

 

https://hppeng-wynn.github.io/build...00360100036100036100p660X0X030303030dzzrUtIHC