So, how exactly is Specter supposed to be played?

[kash.9213]

1 hour ago, DragonSlayer.1087 said:

Yup, spam wells. build some shadow shroud, go on it build stack of that trait that when you leave shroud you heal people around you. rinse repeat. 

Save Siphon for insta rez. 

If you're taking Shadestep, you can open with Siphon though and maybe drop Well of Bounty on some friends right away to kick off an early round Rot Wallow Venom. You might be near full Shadow Force right away and can kick off another round of RWV with Consume Shadows. Siphon should be up again by the time you've dropped your first Barrier and then Shroud to pop CS so you could:

Siphon -> Well of Bounty or whatever Shadowstep on group -> Black Powder Smoke Field if you have pistol off hand -> Go into Shroud and prep Mind Shock blast tightly before Grasping Shadows to Stealth in Smoke Field (in case Grasping Shadows blast doesn't hit for some reason), giving more Barrier -> then Barrier yourself with Stealth Attack -> then Shadowstep, with another Well maybe, to give your group more Barrier -> then back to Siphon again to cycle.

I'm kind of with you though, that's a clutch rez. 

Edited March 30, 2022 by kash.9213

[Lysico.4906]

I am player power spec.   Works for me

[Ashgar.3024]

It works amazingly as Alac DPS, i've been doing all my raiding on it since EOD dropped to great success.

Here's an MO log to showcase what it can do on a DPS golem is realistic situations.

https://dps.report/oGXW-20220328-213903_mo

I imagine for pure condi dps it works too but i find a bit hard to justify when Daredevil exists as it just scales better off Vipers Gear (power coefficients on Scepter skills are really low).

There's an Harrier pure support build floating around but i personally don't see it really be worth bringing over Mecanist, but if you really wanna go for it it works as a Healer+Alac role compression.

One thing i don't really see talked about much but i'm pretty sure would work is Plaguedoctor's Support DPS hybrid, same as a Blood Scourge really to help carry struggling pugs on stuff like Boneskinner, need to test it but on paper 0 reason it wouldn't work.

 

 

Edited March 31, 2022 by Ashgar.3024

[Doggie.3184]

I tried Harrier healer build in strikes, which feels like a complete mess. Can't view boss for breakbars when targeting allies and no visible 'target of targets' window like other games have and man... I just REALLY hate the shadowsteps on Scepter/Pistol 3 so much. >.<

But are we expected to stay on allies and buff them or spam scepter 3 on boss? I thought Rottweiler Venom was supposed to use ally's stats but it didn't seem to be doing much unless they were lying about being cdps. Sword for healing would probably be easier if the boss doesn't move around too much~ if he does then well... annoying. I didn't have a sword at the time but would that also just be Pistol Whip spam and 2 when heals are needed? Full Harrier does like 531 heal a teleport (on self), which actually feels kinda weak.

Then ofc you gotta constantly hunt your allies to see where they are to cast wells or to force-shadowstep Sc/P 3 safely.

It just feels really clunky and messy and a lot of field management. Probably better off sticking to Sc/D and condi damage and focusing the enemy. Healer just feels awful. Changing the forced shadowstep weaponskill healing and/or fixing /dagger 3 to not be line-of-sighted might make it a lot more playable (cuz I'd certainly prefer healing people with /dagger since it DOESNT MOVE ME, but unfortunatly it rarely reaches the intended ally because something's in the way) but who knows when/if that will ever happen. There's also some pointless time management since I can't see my Well cooldowns in Shroud if I actually want to stay in it longer than 5 ticks.

Not to mention being a healer with 13k HP and less armor/protection/block than Guardian is pretty risky. The auto-shroud skill isn't reliable because of the cooldown and ally might trigger the CD without me even noticing. And ofc it replaces our strongest heal.

Edited March 31, 2022 by Doggie.3184

[Szymon.5369]

9 hours ago, Doggie.3184 said:

I thought Rottweiler Venom was supposed to use ally's stats but it didn't seem to be doing much unless they were lying about being cdps.

 

1. Just wanted to say this name is great XD

2. No, it uses your own stats, so it kinda forces you to have condi damage.

[Roche.7491]

Specter’s primary role is heal/alac support. It’s secondary role is condi dps.

Edited April 23, 2022 by Roche.7491

[LucianDK.8615]

Still new to spectre. But do you use your wells on cd to keep up alacrity? Using ritualist stats with plate of benedict eggs.

 

I know you should deplete initiative with twilight combo before entering shroud. But how long should you stay in shroud? I asume you should avoid capping out on initiative as its wasted, plus you get some from quick pockets. when leaving shroud. So it wouldnt really be a lot of time spent there.

 

And with consume shadows. Do your amount of shadow remaining and drained as you leave shroud, have any influence the heal you cause?

[Curennos.9307]

On 4/1/2022 at 2:06 PM, LucianDK.8615 said:

Still new to spectre. But do you use your wells on cd to keep up alacrity? Using ritualist stats with plate of benedict eggs.

 

I know you should deplete initiative with twilight combo before entering shroud. But how long should you stay in shroud? I asume you should avoid capping out on initiative as its wasted, plus you get some from quick pockets. when leaving shroud. So it wouldnt really be a lot of time spent there.

 

And with consume shadows. Do your amount of shadow remaining and drained as you leave shroud, have any influence the heal you cause?

Wells can be used to achieve 100% uptime on alacrity with enough boon duration, yes.

 

For maximum DPS, check https://snowcrows.com/builds?profession=Thief&role=Any&damage=Any&beginner=0 - their rotations will tell you how long to stay in shroud.

 

For consume shadows, the heal is based on the amount of shadow force you had left in the bar when you left shroud. The drained amount (either through degeneration or taken away by absorbing damage) doesn't impact the heal.

[Kallist.5917]

I know it's already been dismissed as nonviable, but I've been having a lot of luck and fun playing condi/tank/support using a mix of plaguedoctors/apothecary, with scepter/pistol. Let's me apply conditions to a large group, while also handing out regular 2.5k heals and barrier. Running it with the heal well, condie well, and elite well, scorpion wire, and thousand needles, we've been doing well two-manning a lot of fractals. Not a great as a full on damage spec, but it lets me keep other players in the fight, while not giving up too much myself. Now if only they could find a way to get players to stop running out of my healing wells. 😭MMy advice is to forget about stealth entirely. Utilize the surplus of shadowstep's to do the same thing.

Edited April 3, 2022 by Kallist.5917

[Ariane Barnes.6483]

I've been experimenting a lot with Specter. I don't bother with the snowcrows rotation nonsense, my main criteria is "is it fun to play?"  Here is the gist:

How to play Spectre when you are used to Daredevil: Instead of Assassin stats, run Celestial or Ritualist, instead of Eagle runes, use Firework, instead of Critical Strikes and Trickery, use Deadly Arts and Acrobatics, Instead of staff and Pistol/pistol use Scepter/Pistol Shortbow, instead of Signets and Tricks, use wells and venom (and blinding powder - nice blast finisher).  Playstyle: Instead of spam 1 and spam 3 over and over,  you... well spam 1 and spam 3 over and over, I guess that part hasn't changed.

For just fun running around PvE you can drop the wells, useful in zergs, not for self preservation.  When soloing, go with heal signet and infiltrators so you can use 3 as much as possible.  "Endless Night", the rollover skill on 3, is your big damage dealer (or barrier dealer if you are targeting an ally) especially if you have Deadly Ambition and Potent Poison on deadly arts.  Assassins reward on acrobatics is excellent to keep your health up, and use the condi cleanse traits, as condition removal on Specter is severely lacking.

Have fun!

[Depths.4051]

Everyone’s gonna hate me for saying this, but I actually like minstrel stats for heal/alac support. You do no damage, but the minstrel gear makes it actually possible for you to use wells on the melee members of your party without dying. Being able to jump into the fray without worrying about getting downed is super nice. I realize most people want a dps support, but I just don’t see it as being that good when you are forced to jump onto enemies and allies with wells as opposed to being at range if you want to support them with alac or debuff. 
also I realize our passives don’t scale the best with minstrel, cause they pretty much try and pigeon hole us into ritualist gear, I just think minstrel suits how they designed wells better. 

Edited April 5, 2022 by Depths.4051