How to manage shades on scourge?

[Mik.3401]

Apologies if this has been asked before but I could not find a precise answer to this anywhere.

 

scourge has 3 shades to use, I understood that placing them all grants most damage reduction (?) and that with all 3 shades in place the shade skills have enhanced effects (?).

 

this seems to make sense but in practice it seems like for instance I get the same amount of barrier no matter if I have 1 or 3 shades down on me.

 

anybody could explain how it works exactly? And also what is the correct way to use them? Shall I just place them all at the beginning of the fight or use 1 at a time as I move around?

 

i am thinking mostly about pvp context

 

thanks in advance!

[Obtena.7952]

The minor trait Blood as Sand reduces your damage for each Shade you have out. The barrier effect is a separate, additional damage mitigation from a different trait Desert Empowerment. 

 

Maybe some people will tell you to space out their application to have more consistent barrier coverage. That's probably relevant for sustained incoming DPS. Of course you can just slam all 3 down to get that 15% reduction all at once. I don't think there is a 'right way' to use them; depends on the situation. 

 

In PVE, I'm placing them in immediate succession. I haven't found a situation where holding off is really beneficial to me. 

Edited May 20, 2021 by Obtena.7952

[ZeftheWicked.3076]

8 hours ago, Mik.3401 said:

anybody could explain how it works exactly? And also what is the correct way to use them? Shall I just place them all at the beginning of the fight or use 1 at a time as I move around?

Firstly you can go sand savant trait and exchange 3 smaller shades for one big one. You place it once and it'll trigger full effects of minor traits (full +225 concentration/expertise, -15% damage taken).

As for shade stacking to put it simply - shades do nothing save standing there, being pretty. It's shade skills that do stuff and they will only affect a given enemy/ally once. So popping 3 shades on top of a person will not make them eat 3x the damage or get 3x the barrier.

For that reason shade stacking serves only the purpose of fully triggering the minor traits mentioned above, if you're not using sand savant. But i would hold off on that in pvp scenario. Having 3 smaller shades means you may have 3 different zones of influence, which you want to use wisely. For example in a mid capture point fight, you can place one shade on capture point to harass the enemies. Another behind you so that backline ranger (and yourself if things get hot) can get a nice barrier when needed, while pursuers disrupted by fear. Last one you can keep for an opportunistic use, such as for example a downed enemy. Doing damage from range and/or fearing off allies that try to ress him can lead to some major benefits.

Simply remember - with 3 smaller shades it's most about where you place them rather than throwing all 3 for a minor (literally) benefit or non existant damage/barrier stacking.

[Methuselah.4376]

In PvE, you want to have all three shades out as soon as possible, both for damage reduction and for the buff to expertise, which makes your conditions last longer. The current meta build for dps scourge reaches 100% duration on both Torment and Bleed with all three shades out.