Specter - A/D Rending Shade
This is a test build. You may comment and rate it.
Focused on: Mobility, Condition damage and Utility
Designed for: PvP Conquest
Expansions required: 
Difficulty:
Hard
This build was last updated on April 05, 2025.
Overview
A tanky and versatile Specter build that can duel, +1, or teamfight relatively well. Looks to land a large number of 's to both generate initiative and soften up targets with , as well as a lot of interrupts for .
Skill Bar
Axe/Dagger
Dagger/Pistol
Utility
Skill Variants
Heal
- - higher mobility, trait synergy, group utility and a Dark combo field, but worse access to stealth and less condition cleansing
Utility
Utility skills (that aren't ) can be swapped out to your preference:
- - low cooldown stunbreak (28s) which procs a number of traits with its shadowstep. Great for landing , overall a good defensive & offensive pick.
- - another good pick for teamfights, gives a number of helpful boons to yourself and any nearby allies. lots of trait synergies.
- - heavy pulsing damage and an
Immobilize which helps 
Torment hit harder. The duration of the trap needs to be kept in mind as the pulsing damage can break stealth.
- - good for quickly repositioning in a fight. an ally can also go through the portal too, but the visual effect is quite small and easy to miss. has a huge range and causes you to arrive with stealth. can be used while stunned.
- - good for teamfights or to stop projectile-based bursts. gives the occasional proc.
- - Pure damage with zero utility. If applied to the maximum number of targets this can deal up to 21840 damage, or 16800 against moving targets.
Elite
Viable elite choices:
- - the lockdown option. Thanks to 's
Resistance this ability will consistently land and generally lead to the death of anyone who doesn't have 
Stability or a stunbreak. Remove boons first with if possible -- you can use this skill while in 
Stealth and very quickly before the first tick of damage breaks you out of it.
- - the defensive option. 90s cooldown, but allows you to dodge burst, correct mistakes, or counterplay projectiles. More beginner friendly since you don't have to watch for Stability or keep track of opposing stunbreaks.
Template Code
[&DQUsLxQ6Rx4MAQwBWAAZAQcbNAE0AVsBERsoAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADLwA2AAUAAA==]
Specializations
Variants
- is a strong pick when condis aren't an issue.
Equipment
Axe
Dagger
Sigil
Sigil
Dagger
Pistol
Sigil
Sigil
Rune
Amulet
Relic
Equipment Variants
Relics
is very strong since the build is constantly shadowstepping. However, it can be swapped out for better utility:
- - boon corruption for , great synergy with , generally a monster in teamfights. Weaker in duels.
Runes
- - trades damage and 1000 health for more consistent mobility. as of Febuary 2025, being usable on allies to trigger makes Lynx is generally unnecessary.
Sigils
- over - better sustained damage & less clunky than Intelligence. lower Shroud burst.
- over - less clunky than Intelligence for burst and an additional condition. (testing needs to be done to see the difference in damage - any help is appreciated here!)
- over - if you better need better cleansing against damaging conditions rather than roots.
Usage
Basics
- Axe skills 1 and 2, and , leave axes behind whether they hit or not so long as they weren't blocked, dodged or evaded. Axe skill 3, , recalls all of your axes onto your target, dealing full damage with each axe and causing them to additionally inflict Torment. This is the primary source of damage in this build.
- Use , , and until you have 5 or 6 axes, then recall them with .
- if a target is hit by 5 or more axes, they will become Immobilized for 2s.
- if a target is hit by 5 or more axes, they will become
- Use frequently to daze targets who do not have Stability. Landing this skill will build a lot of shadow force, one of Specter's primary resources. If the skill is dodged or evaded, it will not build shadow force.
- Watch your target's buffs; if they have
Magnetic Aura, or some other reflect, stop attacking!
- When the opportunity presents itself (e.g. you are low on initiative, just used , or you want to burst), .
Elite specialization basics
- Specters gain access to their own version of called , at the cost of 3 less total initiative. Mechanically they are the same, replacing your skill bar while active. Damage taken while in Shroud drains Shadow Force instead of HP. You lose access to your utility skills while in shroud.
- While in combat, using (Specter's version of ) and spending Initiative builds Shadow Force. In this build, shadowstepping will also build Shadow Force thanks to .
- Opening or exiting Shadow Shroud with will cover you in a chaotic situation since it gives 3 stacks of Stability.
- Landing 's
Chill will help land shroud skills 2 and 3 (, ), which can otherwise be walked out of due to their delay and small AoE radius. - So generally, 5 > 4 > 2 > 3.
- Don't underestimate as a filler; it has good range and damage, and is great to use while regenerating initiative.
- Shadow Shroud can be used to stack Stealth.
- (Shroud 2) is a delayed blast finisher.
- (Shroud 3) is a leap finisher.
- use , shroud 2 & 3, leave shroud and for a healthy duration of Stealth.
General
- Damage is primarily Torment dealt with recalled axes (), , interrupts with , and Shroud abilities 2 & 4 ( & respectively)
- Axe/Dagger is the main weapon set of the build, the other is for stealth via and . Off-hand pistol also has , which, with proper timing, can be used to deal a good bit of damage with .
- Stealth between points with and a leap finisher (e.g. ) to conceal your movement and also stack . The stacks from this trait don't have an upper limit, so try to stealth as much as possible.
- and other Specter Wells can be "extended" by using a shadowstep. Specter wells shadowstep you, then drop the well at your feet after a short delay, so shadowstepping again before the well is created with a skill like will cause the well's range to effectively increase. This works with most shadowsteps.
Defense
- Thanks to Shadow Shroud, Specters can take more of a beating than a normal Thief.
- gives a strong barrier whenever you stealth, and as such landing is especially important
- The sources of condition cleansing are , , , , your on-swap weapon sigils, and if taken, .
- > > weapon swap > for stealth if you're already in shadow shroud and need to disengage.
- Avoid throwing if you need to quickly restealth. Normally, you won't be revealed if you attack immediately after leaving stealth - ambush skills are a bit different. If you cast an ambush skill during stealth and your stealth wears off before the skill hits, you will still be revealed, whereas doing the same with a non-ambush skill (e.g. ) would not reveal you.
Advanced
- You can take fall damage to enter combat, giving you a short window to build shadow force. Fall damage, into will start building in addition to shadow force.
- After a fight, if you know there will be a lull before your next engagement (e.g. you just downed or finished a player in a duel), spam Initiative skills to build shadow shroud. while out of melee range (so you get the shadowstep) to a downed target will build the normal shadow force you get for spending Initiative as well as 's bonus 5%.
- Good players will be aware of the strength of as well as its telegraph, the shadowstep. To mix things up, you can weapon stow immediately after using the skill; you will still shadowstep, but axes won't be recalled as that happens at the end of the cast. This is a hefty initiative investment so use it sparingly. You can also recall axes while in Stealth, and so long as the axes are far away enough from your target to where the cast time finishes before any axes hit you'll be able to throw a before Stealth is removed.
Ratings
Comments
Get MetaBattle Premium
Enjoy an ad-free experience & support the website, for less than $1 per month! Upgrade to Premium
Enjoy an ad-free experience & support the website, for less than $1 per month! Upgrade to Premium
