User:Leonim/Character/Shakni Zendergrim

Attributes

 * Blood Magic : 12 + 1 + 1
 * Curses : 12 + 1 + 2
 * Soul Reaping : 3 + 1

Attributes

 * Blood Magic : 12 + 1 + 1
 * Death Magic : 8 + 1
 * Shadow Arts : 9
 * Soul Reaping : 5 + 1

Equipment
An Insightful staff of Enchanting is a must-have, blood staff will do (unprotected) dark damage when at range, but beware the 20% HSR for Blood Renewal, while a death staff would deal cold damage and help your enchantment management. Naturally, a Rune of Superior Vigor is advisable. ;)

Tips

 * Don't wand/attack when under Dark Escape (or hexes activated upon attack), you won't need the extra damage anyway and you can chase your prey enough time to get a kill.
 * You are both dealing touch (armor-ignoring) shadow damage to your target AND adjacent ones, think about it when placing yourself among melee attackers.
 * Don't cast Blood Renewal before it ends, but as soon as it does, or you will suffer the consequences of too much sacrifice without the necessary health gain (which is, by the way, above 80% of your updated max health every ten seconds, without taking the +6 health regen into account).
 * Shroud of Distress has a double purpose, cover the two main enchantments and save some sweating whenever you go below the critical limit : 25% of your max health.

Partnership

 * Have a teammate bring the usual panoply of the smiter (Balthazar's Aura and Shield of Judgement shoul do the trick for both of you) to hasten the demise of your unlucky foes, Divine Intervention if ou have a hiccup and lastly Vengeance to raise you until foes are all dead.
 * Enlist a bonder with Essence Bond, Life Bond and Vital Blessing (with the very optional Life Barrier), remind him/her that Balthazar's Spirit will also benefit you, twice actually, because of Dark Aura.

Variants
After some usage or depending on the opponents, you will probably wish for upper max health, some plain healing (instead of health regeneration) or to use this with another profession, then change your secondary to :
 * Ritualist : trade the Shadow Arts for some Restoration Magic, Spirit Light will fit very well, and/or a combination of Wielder's Boon with a long-duration Weapon Spell like Resilient Weapon or Weapon of Warding. You can also choose the Communing line of skills and use a Vital Weapon health enhancement along some spirits like Shelter, Union and/or Displacement.
 * Elementalist (Geomancer) : use Kinetic Armor coupled with Dark Pact, while sending some Crystal Waves after snaring foes with Grasping Earth or Ward Against Foes. And if you really want lethal fun from time to time, bring Sliver Armor.
 * (As a side note, the benefit of Energy Storage is helpful when swapping primary profession in case of PvP-only characters.)


 * Ranger (Wilderness) : Troll Unguent can give you more survivability, while a Frozen Soil spirit will also act as a bait and choke point. If you are notoriously facing elemental damage, prefer skills like Storm Chaser and Dryder's Defenses. Anyway, remember to bring your fellow Symbiosis spirit along at low-level, it will work miracles : since it won't protect foes much against you while giving you a nice edge (works like a charm with Blood Renewal).
 * (As a primary Ranger, you could use your high Expertise to chain those touch skills without energy worries anymore, while protected by Whirling Defense when hate is growing up.)


 * Warrior (Tactician) : when charging on your preys, use Balanced Stance, and when recovering, chain Wary Stance and Bonetti's Defense (don't forget to use Blood Renewal after each).
 * Monk : dilute your attribute points a bit and use Reversal of Fortune (which will trigger with Dark Aura effects if you need to) and Healing Breeze. Divine Intervention and Contemplation of Purity can be your safeguards in case something goes wrong (even without any Divine Favor, you will be saved from death or get your max health back) : better be safe than sorry.