Shadow of Demise Is Crazy Good on Bosses in Module 14

As outlined in our preview post about class balance, not a lot has changed in terms of balancing in Neverwinter’s Ravenloft. One particular change however deserves to get highlighted, because we might even have underestimated its impact initially. We’re talking about Trickster Rogue’s Shadow of Demise, which seems to be crazy good right now.

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You can simply go back and re-read out preview article, but I’ll also quickly recap the change to SoD here. What the power does is that it accumulates a percentage of all damage done by the TR over six seconds and dishes it out as a gigantic proc. In Module 13 the damage was calculated before any debuffs or mitigation were applied, leading to it being overpowered in PVP. The dev’s counter was to let the damage calculate after all buffs and mitigation, which indeed should help in PVP. For PVE however, this means that SoD once again “double dips” and one-rotates bosses with ease.

Shadow of Demise “Double Dips”

Here’s what happens: Once a TR activates SoD, the buffed damage is added towards the SoD proc amount. Then the very same buffs are again added to the proc itself, meaning that the power profits from multipliers twice. A basic example: Let’s say a the TR does 1,000 damage with a debuff/buff value of 175%. That’s 1,000 * 1,75 * 0,75 = 1,312.50 added to SoD. After the accumulation period, the proc fires for 2,296.875 damage (1,312.5 * 1,75 debuffs). So your 1,000 damage gets boosted by ~230% although the overall buff value is only 175%.

Players see such insane amounts of damage on bosses from Trickster Rogues in PVE that some have even reported SoD as bugged. Don’t forget that not only the proc itself was buffed, but that the power’s new additional damage over time effect also adds to the proc value. That’s where all those big yellow numbers are coming from.

Intended or Not?

Players were speculating whether this might be intended or not. It certainly feels overpowered, but on the other hand the devs made the change deliberately. Yesterday dev noworries however confirmed they’re indeed looking into it.

[su_quote]The intention is that Shadow of Demise does 75% of the actual damage dealt during the 6 second window, not that it is multiplied to do more damage than was done in the previous 6 seconds. It is something we are looking into.[/su_quote]

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It’s a fairly surprising development, because the devs certainly can’t claim they didn’t know what they were getting into. First of all, SoD used to work this way before Mod 12 (with the same issues). Additionally players reported the massive damage numbers on preview, stated the cause, even listed suggestions how to rework the power, but never got any feedback. So this is either ignoring a well-known and researched issue because of their lack of resources, or they have been looking into it for some time know without finding a good solution.

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Profit as Long as You Can

Anyway, this is enough to move the Trickster Rogue up the DPS chain. It’s one of the best classes to bring to single target boss fights (one SoD activation and it’s usually *boom*). It won’t last for too long, but currently it’s good times for PVE Rogues on PC!


What’s your take on the reworked SoD? Share your thoughts and experience on our social channels, in the comments below, or visit the corresponding thread on our message board!

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7 thoughts on “Shadow of Demise Is Crazy Good on Bosses in Module 14

  • July 3, 2018 at 8:15 am
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    Just sad I won’t get to experience it if only for a little while on xbox

  • July 3, 2018 at 8:58 am
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    As best as I understand it, SoD currently only double-dips on debuffs, not buffs. And it’s also mitigated by level differential (75% dmg) twice (once on the way in, again on the way out).

    Still, with sufficiently high buffs and debuffs (and general party coordination allowing burst damage), it’s enough to one-rotate bosses. Very dramatically, as the boss often just… vanishes. All the other classes have to be content with knocking bosses down with repeated thwacks which is less impressive.

    I fully expect this to be short-lived, but I think it’s kind of fun. Not that I have a TR, just like seeing the bosses go *pop*

    • July 3, 2018 at 3:29 pm
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      When you say other classes, do you exclude the one-hit griffon from GF or SW 5 sec melts?

      • July 3, 2018 at 4:28 pm
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        That’s exactly what I’m saying. In my experience, the double-dipping SoD is more dramatic than GF or SW.

        GF is generally 3-4 whacks, each bigger than the last. It’s nice, and you can often get them all to stack on white before the health bar has time to drain. Probably the most satisfying alternative.

        SW is a buggy mess that isn’t as crisp as the SoD proc vanishing the boss.

        Personal preference, of course. And about to be patched, so moot too 😛

  • July 3, 2018 at 9:47 am
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    What about with DPS_GF ?

  • July 3, 2018 at 11:11 am
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    SOD? That’s not a Sod, it’s a Vicious Bastard!

  • August 15, 2018 at 5:04 am
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    imo that is too easy that way man lol you saw what i saw it’s not fair for other class

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