Mistfall Hunter Shadowstrix Build Guide for Beginners

Mistfall Hunter is the latest dark fantasy extraction ARPG released from a new studio, Bellring Games. The game features six different classes players can choose from, each having their own unique strengths and weaknesses thanks to the different skills and talents available in each one’s arsenal. In today’s guide, we’re going to be checking out the approach and stats you should use when you’re starting out as one of the more agile classes in the game, the Shadowstrix.

Key Takeaways

• Stealth-first burst: Sneak + Shadow Strike, switch to Dual Blades, Bloody Blade Dance finish.
• Mobility & energy are everything: dash, Fang Rush, time dodges, and manage energy.
• Gear/talents: stack Seeker/Fervor and Battle Frenzy; add Aegis/Focused for defense and charge speed.

Shadowstrix Build Guide

Masters of stealth and assassination, the Shadowstrix strikes from the shadows using any and all means to take down their targets, be it through stealth attacks, backstabbing, or ambushes. They are experts at using poisons and curses, and their mastery of daggers as well as other short weapons allows them to excel in close combat, allowing them to very quickly deal fatal damage.

Weapons

The Shadowstrix class can use daggers and dual swords, both specializing in dealing huge damage through quick slashes and rapid movement. While both weapons lack any direct defensive options such as blocking and parrying, their movement allows them to dash large distances and dodge attacks in addition to the regular dodges, making the Shadowstrix one of the most agile classes in the game.

The Shadowstrix can easily switch between the two weapons to take advantage of the different strengths and abilities each weapon offers. So, instead of focusing on one weapon type, the class is at its best when making use of all the tools in its arsenal.

Skills and Combos

In addition to basic attacks, each weapon comes with its own set of basic skills. Skills can totally change the way you utilize your character, so picking ones that are synonymous with the way you play is the best path forward.

Shadow Wheel Slash

For the Dagger, the basic attacking skill is Shadow Wheel Slash, which is a three-stage attack technique, dealing Physical Damage. There is a limited time window for combos between each stage of the slash. If the window expires, the stage count resets and follow-up slashes will recover a certain amount of Energy.

Sneak The second basic skill for the dagger: Sneak provides the main advantage of the class. It crushes crow feather dust to enter Stealth for a period. This gives you a great option to sneak past monsters and other players or get close to your target for a surprise attack.

Pursuit Strike

Dual Blades have a more fluid moveset where your basic attacks can easily combo into one another. The heavy strike is a Pursuit Strike where you will perform a short forward dash and deal multiple hits of Physical Damage. This can easily be used after light attacks and is a great way to end your attack string.

Flurry Strike

Flurry Strike is specifically a follow-up attack after a light strike, where you jump back, then dash forward to deal Physical Damage. The move can also be charged to increase the damage multiplier and dash distance. Also, the charging time helps time your attack so that you can get out of the way of incoming attacks.

Fang Rush

Another skill that gives the Shadowstrix high mobility is Fang Rush. With Fang Rush, you can quickly follow up with a light attack after a dodge to dash forward and deal Physical Damage. After using Fang Rush, dodge energy will not recover for a certain period.

Bloody Blade Dance

The Dual Blades have access to the highest damaging skill of the class, Bloody Blade Dance, where you hold both light and heavy attacks together to channel, continuously attacking forward and dealing Physical Damage to enemies on hit. Bloody Blade Dance also deals increased damage to Gyldhunters.

Poison Crow Mark

In addition to the basic skills, the Shadowstrix has two additional skill slots for each weapon type. For the dagger, one of the starting skills is very useful; Poison Crow Mark. This skill throws a dagger at the target, dealing Physical Damage to enemies on hit and reducing their Movement Speed and Dodge Distance for a period of time.

Shadow Strike

Another great skill to use for the Dagger is Shadow Strike. You leave a shadow in place and dash forward, dealing Physical Damage.

After a brief delay, the shadow dashes toward your position, dealing Physical Damage and stunning enemy targets that are hit, proving to be a great starting tool to catch enemies off guard.

Inspiring Impale

For the Dual Blades, the starting skills are amazing and can provide you with tremendous damage output. The first skill is Inspiring Impale, where you thrust forward with both of your swords, dealing Physical Damage to enemies hit and recovering Energy for yourself.

This skill can deal high amounts of damage and is great for quickly taking down foes.

Crow Storm

Another starting skill that is excellent, especially when fighting other players, is Crow Storm. You throw a black crow toward a targeted area, unleashing a Crow Storm upon arrival. During Crow Storm, enemies continuously take Physical Damage and can get staggered from the crow attacks.

Talents

Next, we will be taking a look at the combination of talents that will help maximize the damage output of the Shadowstrix.

Battle Frenzy

The first talent that will boost the damage output is from the Accumulated Damage Arcana group, Battle Frenzy. This will increase Physical Damage dealt by Dual Blades for a period of time after hitting an enemy with the same weapon, stacking up to five times.

At maximum stack, Battle Frenzy also grants additional Physical Piercing, allowing your strikes to penetrate armor. This synergizes well with the quick attacking nature of the weapons and will help you deal high amounts of damage.

Deep Charge

Next, the Deep Charge talent from the Dual Blades: Advantage Buildup group allows you to charge up the basic skill Flurry Strike up to two times, further increasing its damage multiplier and dash distance.

Bloodthirst Frenzy

Afterward, you will want to take talents from the Dual Blades: Bloody Blade Dance Enhancement. The Bloodthirst Frenzy talent increases your Physical Damage for a period of time after hitting an enemy with Bloody Blade Dance, stacking up to four times. During Bloody Blade Dance, you can also deflect enemy projectiles. Successfully deflecting enemy projectiles recovers a certain amount of Energy, helping you stay in the fight longer.

Wild Slash

Next, the Wild Slash talent also helps with Energy management, as the sword aura from Bloody Blade Dance will allow you to recover Energy upon hitting enemies.

Combat Euphoria

The Combat Euphoria talent from the Swift Footwork group gives the Shadowstrix increased movement speed for a period of time after hitting an enemy. Since this talent works with all the damaging abilities, it is a great addition to improve Shadowstrix's high mobility assassination playstyle.

Breath Control

We will also be taking talents that improve the Dual Blades’ skills from the Inspiring Impale Enhancement group. The Breath control talent makes you no longer consume Energy when you use the skill, making it easier to continue your assault with a combo of skills.

Tetanus

The Tetanus talent will help immensely with PvP because it enables Inspiring Impale to apply Healing Block for a period of time, which can be the difference between victory or defeat against other players.

Blackout

Lastly, we will be taking a talent from the Crow Storm Enhancement group with the Blackout talent. Blackout makes enemies hit multiple times by Crow Storm stunned. Players already stunned only take damage and do not accumulate Crow Storm Stacks.

Affixes

Another source that affects how well you perform comes in the form of affixes and there are two sources from which you can obtain them. The first is from Sigrid, the Tavernwoman, who can prepare a variety of Victory Wine that you can take before each match or expedition to give various affixes of your choice.

There are different tiers, with each providing a greater number of affixes you can gain, but only the basic one, Mortal Tonic, can be received for free. The higher tiers require you to upgrade the Tavern and resources to brew them.

Being a melee combat centric class who relies on mobility, I like going for movement speed affixes with the wine for a mobility advantage in combat. This will help you catch ranged attackers who aim to keep their distance from you.

Seeker

The first affix you can look for the bonus movement speed is Seeker. It increases your movement speed for three seconds when you hit an enemy. The speed you gain depends on the level of the affix and at higher levels, the bonus can stack twice, letting you become even faster as you strike your enemies.

Fervor

Next, choosing the Fervor affix will amplify the high-speed attacks of the Shadowstrix as it will increase Physical Damage and Magic Damage after hitting an enemy for three seconds, stacking up to five times. Since the Dual Blades can hit multiple times in a short time, this works great for the offensive playstyle of the class.

Gear

Another source of affixes is through gear and the different gem slots available on them. There are four different types of gems: Agate, Amethyst, Moonstone and Peridot, with each having one of the affixes from their respective pools.

You can forge the gear and gems yourself, which will grant four gems with random affixes, or you can look for one with the particular affix you want in the Auction House.

Being a melee class, it is inevitable that you will be taking some hits. While focusing on offensive affixes will definitely help with your damage output, it can easily lead to you becoming a glass cannon which gets taken down quickly before you can even reach your opponent. As such, bolstering yourself with defensive affixes will help make sure you have a balanced character that has both a strong offense and defense.

Aegis

One of the Defense affixes that helps is Aegis, which simply increases your defense value with the amount provided going up as the affix level rises. When the affix reaches level five, it also grants you physical resistance, further increasing your survivability.

Focused

The Focused affix is another one that benefits the class greatly. It increases the Charging Speed, helping charge up the Flurry Strike to deal increased damage. This will add to the already high damage output when using the Dual Blades and will help you take down most enemies with a single combo.

Final Tips

The Shadowstrix excels at dealing high amounts of damage in a flurry of strikes while staying mobile around your target. You will find most success when you constantly stay on the move and just out of range of your enemies’ melee strike and then unleash your Blade Dance.

One important thing to remember is that Shadowstrix does not have any defensive skills and even though you can parry ranged attacks using Blade Dance, there is no option to parry melee attacks. You will need to be mindful of your dodge charges and energy to make sure you don’t find yourself out of resources during a fight.

In an ideal situation, you want to start a fight from stealth using the Sneak Dagger skill, then use Shadow Strike to launch a surprise attack. This will leave your target stunned. You can switch to your Dual Blades and unleash Bloody Blade Dance to deal massive damage. Throwing out a Crow Storm once they recover from the initial stun will give you a chance to stun them again, leaving them open for more subsequent attacks.

The approach to combat is straightforward, with your main objective being to avoid taking strikes and then quickly attack whenever you see an opening.