Shadowhunter PvP Combos
Shadowhunter is known for having fast, unrollable combos that inflict a great deal of damage while either repositioning or maintaining distance. Able to dash in and out between ranged and melee, any touch can usually lead to high damage conversions in short bursts, making her hard to peel all the while being a powerhouse for her team.
Shadowhunter PvP Combos
There are a variety of gapless combos that Shadowhunter can execute that are guaranteed to land given the right distance and position.
Skills labelled with an asterisk (*) means that the skill is optional and not needed for the combo in all circumstances, but may still be required depending on positioning or range.
Core Build
This is the bread and butter combo for Shadowhunter. Not only is it very
high damage, it is fast and allows for repositioning of both the Shadowhunter
and the enemy target. As Demonic Clone is Paralysis Immune, it also
makes for a safer starter that may punish enemies trying to peel.
Change up the direction in which Thrust Impact is used after
Rush to alter the knockback and recoil, making for quick retreats
and forcing enemies to roll to unfavorable positions.
Be careful about messing up team combos however, as the recoil on
Thrust Impact is large.
True combo that can lead into Demonic Clone or
Thrust Impact.
This will only work at close or mid ranges from
Grind Chain, but is a
useful way of converting a neutral catch or peel attempt into a combo.
Rush can also be used to try and close the gap, but it is not a true
combo, so enemies may be able to avoid it if they mash fast enough.
This is a useful combo to prevent enemies rolling with Stand Up
after the push from
Piercing Thorn. This can be done as a hitconfirm if
fast enough with reactions, ensuring an opportunity for follow-up burst.
Usually reserving Demon Vision for peeling is the better choice, but
if it can guarantee a kill or heavy damage on an isolated target that is
unlikely to get peel, then this combo allows for a ranged to melee guaranteed
conversion.
Usually reserved for peel or self-peel, Rising Claw will chain into
Shadowhunter's burst skills. Demonic Clone will always land the first
hit reliably, although fast roll classes may avoid the second hit depending on
distance of
Rising Claw.
If not near enough, use Rush for
Thrust Impact. Try to avoid
using
Rush before
Demonic Clone, as it will delay the startup
and make it less likely the second hit lands before enemies roll.
Demonic Form
Ruining Rush → Basic Attacks* →
Gore Bleeding
Ruining Rush → Basic Attacks →
Gore Bleeding >
Destruction →
Blood Massacre (if no
Stand Up)
This is a practically unreactable engage that applies Paralysis and leads to a relatively high damage combo. The basic attacks are optional and can help squeeze an extra bit of damage, but will significantly increase combo time which is not optimal in most situations.
Keep in mind that Gore Bleeding will shove the enemy target a pretty
significant distance back. Careful not to mess up team combos with it, and in
the worst case, Shadowhunter can always
Rush before the final hit.
Use Death Claw as filler when no other abilities are up for damage,
or after a full set of basic attacks to keep the combo going. It is not gapless,
however, it chains fast enough that enemies are unable to walk out without
using a skill. Be mindful of characters that can mash abilities with immunities
though, like
Upper Slash or
Counter Gunlance.
If enemies do not have Stand Up, then using basic attacks to extend
the combo opens up a new route that allows both
Destruction and
Blood Massacre to connect. By exploiting the scales system, which
forcefully knocks enemies down after 3 seconds of standing combo, the shove
from the final hit of
Gore Bleeding will instead apply Push, giving just
enough time to slot in additional damage skills for a 65k damage combo.
The notorious combo of the transformation. Not only is Leaping Blow a
heavy damage dealing skill, it also inflicts Hard CC for just long enough to
get a
Blood Massacre right after it. It does not matter if they have
Stand Up up or not.
This combo will also work on targets without Stand Up regardless of
Hard CC if done off of any of Shadowhunter's Pushes in human form, be it
Rising Claw,
Demonic Clone or even
Piercing Thorn. Use
Demonize then immediately follow with the combo for guaranteed burst.
Considering that using Leaping Blow or
Blood Massacre in
neutral can sometimes be risky, there is no issue with using the combo
exclusively on enemies that have no escape. Instead of being enticed by the
Hard CC, seeing
Leaping Blow as a damage skill only can make it less
punishing to land.
Although less damage than Blood Massacre,
Destruction is
still a heavy hitter and comes out much faster. This makes for a safer
alternative while still being able to retain
Blood Massacre for a
better damage opportunity if it seems like enemies are ready to interrupt.
Gore Bleeding can continue to combo after
Destruction, but
only if the enemy has no
Stand Up, as the Earthquake Hard CC will
force a knockdown on any hit after the Earthquake is applied. This means
that as soon as the Hard CC limitation expires, enemies will be able to
roll out.
Alternate Skills
This is a true combo that can inflict very high damage depending on distance. It is also safe as it requires no melee commitment and ensures every Hard CC can lead to heavy damage.
As the skill unfortunately tends to shove enemies too far
(or not far enough), follow up skills like Grind Chain may only connect
if walking forwards a little to get in range.
Demon's Grip →
Demonic Clone OR
Thrust Impact
Grind Chain →
Demon's Grip →
Demonic Slash OR
Sharpened Cut* →
Demonic Clone OR
Thrust Impact
Demon's Grip alone can lead into burst options, but due to the fact
it only applies regular hitstun, using
Grind Chain before to catch and
then having
Demon's Grip function as a hitconfirm can be more reliable.
It will true combo from
Grind Chain, but be wary though that
Grind Chain has greater max range, so it will not work at longer
distances.
If landing Demon's Grip at max range, the target will be too far to be
hit by
Thrust Impact, so make use of a mobility skill to approach and
maintain hitstun.
Rush into
Demonic Clone or
Thrust Impact will not work as the hitstun from Demon Grip alone is not
long enough.
Rising Claw →
Howl →
Decimate →
Rush →
Thrust Impact
This combo requires the Grasp of Death pod on
Rising Claw to work, but if executed successfully is the highest damage
that can be done in human form against enemies without
Stand Up. The
increased damage from
Howl only applies during the fear period, but
with proper execution,
Thrust Impact will land before the 1 second
expires.
Summary
Demonic Slash and
Sharpened Cut will always true combo into
Demonic Clone or
Thrust Impact — although beware that
Sharpened Cut may move enemies too far to be hit with
Thrust Impact if at max range. Similarly, if the final hit of
Sharpened Cut does not land due to the pushback, it can lead to gaps
between it and
Demonic Clone.
Use Grind Chain or
Demon Vision as opportunities to engage
with
Demonic Slash or
Sharpened Cut. If needed, use
Rush
to close the gap, but be mindful to always keep a movement skill to escape — at
the very least the second cast of
Demonic Slash.
Grind Chain will not true combo into
Demon Vision, however, it
can be used as a combo if the enemy has no
Rush or fast moving dashes
after being hit by
Grind Chain.
Decimate should not be followed up by Demonic Clone, as it will knock
enemies too high to be hit. Instead, use
Demon Vision or Slasher to Hard
CC enemies on fall and ensure a
Demonic Clone can connect after.
Changelog
- 26 Jul. 2022: Page added.
This guide has been written by Lin-0, a Grand Master PvPer with years of experience. He is also a professional Lost Ark coach and shoutcaster for the game. Boasting a wealth of knowledge, you can find him at Twitch and YouTube
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