Newbie SK

[Juggalo2]

Where should I start with him? Freshly made Iksar SK.

[patrick210]

Start with deleting and making an Ogre

[Ripqozko]

Start with deleting and making a Human

[Tsunami21k]

Start with deleting and making an Ogre Warrior

[Tsunami21k]

In all seriousness, is this your first toon?

If so, start in field of bone. Kill stuff in newbie yard. Save scaled wolf hides and turn in to haggle baron for free armor.

Save all of your bone chips. Send Sheldyn a tell in game. I will buy them for 10pp a stack.

Go on the p99 wiki. Read the greenmist quest and do it as you level. The sooner you get that weapon, the better. You can one group or solo almost all of it.

Stay around FOB until you are high enough to go to kurns tower. Group there until 20ish.

Make friends with a shaman at or around your level. Stick to them like glue till forever. Not much a well played shaman/sk duo cannot do.

Once you have some plat saved try to get a MoSS or Noct blade. SBS or ateamentous shield. Around lvl 50 or sooner if you can afford it get a good 2h weapon. Keep all weapon skills trained.

IF this is your first character you have a very hard road ahead of you. I did this on Sheldyn and it was extremely difficult. If you have any interest at all in playing an enchanter or necro I would urge you to level those classes get rich and fund your SK gear. (they can solo and require very minimal gear)

I got the same advice. I didn’t listen to it either.

Send me a tell in game. I have a toon in cabilis with half a set of dreadscale armor waiting for someone like you.

That should get you started out. Incredibly fun class, amazing quests, wonderful group tank/puller.

[Tunabros]

Start with deleting and making a human

[DeathsSilkyMist]

Make a troll SK instead and kill guards to fund your gear. Troll SKs get the regen and don't have to worry about being KoS everywhere.

[Haxom]

Iksar SK is fun. If that's want you want to play don't listen to anyone telling you to play something else. Know you won't have the easiest road ahead of you, but it will still be rewarding.

In all seriousness, is this your first toon?

If so, start in field of bone. Kill stuff in newbie yard. Save scaled wolf hides and turn in to haggle baron for free armor.

[Crede]

Sks are a phenomenal class. I’ve done several Sk builds and usually at around level 54 is when you really figure out if you like the race you picked. Iksars are a good choice if you can get past some of their weird animations, and the fact that they cannot use BE gaunts/legs which will definitely be a deal breaker for some. Greenmist is cool though, and it’s pretty cheap to acquire nowadays vs when the quest first got released on blue.

[ScottBerta]

An alt of mine is 60 iksar sk. I’m happy with him but agree ogre or troll is better. But if Iksar is your calling, stick with it!

[Crede]

An alt of mine is 60 iksar sk. I’m happy with him but agree ogre or troll is better. But if Iksar is your calling, stick with it!

Before making my first sk I went around asking a bunch of 60 sks if they regretted their race choice. The most I saw were trolls wishing they were an ogre. Iksars/dark elves seemed pretty content, and humans were sorta 50/50. Couldn’t find any erudites to ask

[Ripqozko]

If you can't wear PD robe to flex on people in unrest and MM you picked wrong race.

[Juggalo2]

1st of all - not my 1st toon, i once upon a time had a 55 iksar shammy.

2nd - I've never played a troll or an ogre.

3rd - I'll take your word for it Tsunami!

4th - Thanks for all the input you guys, makes me love this game even more.

[Swish]

Make a troll SK instead and kill guards to fund your gear. Troll SKs get the regen and don't have to worry about being KoS everywhere.

Being KOS everywhere just expands the menu. If you're going to be evil you might as well be the evilest race going <3

[Keebz]

Before making my first sk I went around asking a bunch of 60 sks if they regretted their race choice. The most I saw were trolls wishing they were an ogre. Iksars/dark elves seemed pretty content, and humans were sorta 50/50. Couldn’t find any erudites to ask

Interesting. Anecdotally, most troll SKs I meet are ride or die troll. I even re-rolled from ogre to troll.

[Snaggles]

Greenmist quest is like 15k in MQ’s. Stone or Morid for raiders.

I hate iksars and have two SK’s in the mid 40’s (ogre and erudite). Id prob reroll iksar too just for the greenmist since it would be a casual char.

[Crede]

Greenmist quest is like 15k in MQ’s. Stone or Morid for raiders.

I hate iksars and have two SK’s in the mid 40’s (ogre and erudite). Id prob reroll iksar too just for the greenmist since it would be a casual char.

If you can get past that terrible bash spin animation

[DeathsSilkyMist]

I am one of those people Crede mentioned. Blood Ember Armor is one of the strongest Kunark Armor Sets. I don't think Greenmist is worth the trade of not being able to use Blood Ember Greaves and Gauntlets. They are just too good when it comes to saving your mana and your life. The boots are great too in certain situations where it is easy and open to fear kite. Free infinite fear kite is nothing to sneeze at, especially if the mob is harder than usual. It takes patience, but you can basically whittle anything fearable down eventually without worrying about running out of mana.

[bricke75]

Human SK wins fashion quest.

[Tsunami21k]

Iksar SK is fun. If that's want you want to play don't listen to anyone telling you to play something else. Know you won't have the easiest road ahead of you, but it will still be rewarding.

I had to at least warn them that the road they are about to take really is brutal. It’s easier now with velious out and more armor options though. I started Shelly prior to velious release and then took a 6 year break before even getting 60.

Hard doesn’t = not fun.

Also. It’s a matter of of perspective, and what each player wants to do in this game. When I rolled my SK I never thought I’d be raiding in Kael or TOV. I wanted a greenmist and a class that I could solo on because I didn’t have a ton of time to play.

Took a long break and came back. Made friends with some folks in AG and ended up being a raider. SK’s are great in raids if they take the time to learn what they can and cannot do.

Pet trains, ripping mobs out of trains, tanking trash mobs and hot minis, and any kunark boss will keep most people busy and satisfied. Spend a bunch of dkp and you can even tank vindi, some wtov dragons and even zlandicar.

Getting way ahead of myself either way lol.

OP enjoy your sk. They’re great fun. I wasn’t trying to tell you not to make one, play whatever you want! And if you ever need help or have a question don’t hesitate to reach out.

I just had a rough time leveling mine as a brand new toon. Had an even harder time raiding on one as a first raid character. (In fact after 6 months I made an enchanter and then a warrior, still enjoy my sk but man every upgrade my warrior gets you can feel the difference in overall power, and chanters are just god mode fun)

[Snaggles]

I think there is a way to justify any race you pick for a sk, or any class. In the end they all can do the same thing: FD split, hold aggro, take hits.

Personally if min-maxing I think the Iksar is a bit better than the others. Stone of Morid is huge for hitting those arbitrary sv cold/fr requirements if you have them. The Greenmist is 25MR. Innate AC, Regen, etc. The Blood Ember gaunts always took an eternity to cast. I couldnt wrap my mind around how annoying the greaves would be for that same reason and death peace is so great I'd prob just load two FD's if needing that degree of safety.

Without really good gear a medium race set up to tank is going to be constantly near encumbered. That is the main perk for a casual troll/ogre in my humble opinion. Being huge is fun but you can occasionally get stuck or have ducking issues.

I've said it way too much: Create the race that makes you happy. Fashion while not universally agreed upon is the one thing you cannot change. At least changing if you are 10 feet tall or 6 feet tall.

[DeathsSilkyMist]

I think there is a way to justify any race you pick for a sk, or any class. In the end they all can do the same thing: FD split, hold aggro, take hits.

Personally if min-maxing I think the Iksar is a bit better than the others. Stone of Morid is huge for hitting those arbitrary sv cold/fr requirements if you have them. The Greenmist is 25MR. Innate AC, Regen, etc. The Blood Ember gaunts always took an eternity to cast. I couldnt wrap my mind around how annoying the greaves would be for that same reason and death peace is so great I'd prob just load two FD's if needing that degree of safety.

Without really good gear a medium race set up to tank is going to be constantly near encumbered. That is the main perk for a casual troll/ogre in my humble opinion. Being huge is fun but you can occasionally get stuck or have ducking issues.

I've said it way too much: Create the race that makes you happy. Fashion while not universally agreed upon is the one thing you cannot change. At least changing if you are 10 feet tall or 6 feet tall.

Blood Ember Greaves are a pretty quick cast time. They are great when you want to save mana (FD or Deaths Peace is 60-120 mana per cast), and invaluable when you are low on mana. If you FD, fail, and run out of mana you are dead. Also, before you get Deaths Peace, Blood Ember Greaves are the only way to FD while your spell in on cooldown. You can also just remove FD from your bar completely with Blood Ember Greaves for another spell.

Blood Ember Greaves have saved me quite a few times, as well as keep my mana bar happier.

Blood Ember Gauntlets are also worth it due to how much mana it saves. The Cast time really isn't that bad.

[Arvan]

Start with deleting and making a Dark Elf

[Allishia]

Start with deleting and making a Dark Elf

/nod

[baconeggs]

Nothing wrong with an Iksar SK.

[Douglas Fir]

Hi, another newbie SK here. I haven't played since the release of Luclin and this is my first character on p99 (green).

I'm a 17 TSK currently swinging a Fine Steel 2H Sword and only have 250pp to spend. I obviously can't afford anything fancy but need to upgrade to something serviceable.

Is there anything I should be looking for EC auction chat?

Thank you.

[Andyman1022]

Deathbringer’s Rod - 50 to 100 pp

[Stonewallx39]

Hi, another newbie SK here. I haven't played since the release of Luclin and this is my first character on p99 (green).

I'm a 17 TSK currently swinging a Fine Steel 2H Sword and only have 250pp to spend. I obviously can't afford anything fancy but need to upgrade to something serviceable.

Is there anything I should be looking for EC auction chat?

Thank you.

Could also consider a 1handed weapon (sword of skyfire and smoldering brand, etc.) and a shield. The shield gives extra armor (it’s not counted against soft cap so makes a big difference) and you can bash for extra damage/stun mobs.

[Gustoo]

I think the SK race choice is most tough of all. Iksars are cool though.

Animation is not an issue, who gives a shit about that lol.

Their combo of regen and decent intelligence makes them a cool choice, and being the strongest non fat bastard is helpful too.

Not sure about missing the blood ember effects. Seems inconvenient but not significant.

Not sure how the innate AC bonus impacts their damage flow. Might be worth the trouble.

I think they're arguably the best race for SK, better than troll for sure in my book.

Ogre is the tough one because of the frontal stun bonus.

[DeathsSilkyMist]

I think the SK race choice is most tough of all. Iksars are cool though.

Animation is not an issue, who gives a shit about that lol.

Their combo of regen and decent intelligence makes them a cool choice, and being the strongest non fat bastard is helpful too.

Not sure about missing the blood ember effects. Seems inconvenient but not significant.

Not sure how the innate AC bonus impacts their damage flow. Might be worth the trouble.

I think they're arguably the best race for SK, better than troll for sure in my book.

Ogre is the tough one because of the frontal stun bonus.

Blood Ember Greaves, Gauntlets (and sometimes Boots) are better than Greenmist and the small AC bonus IMO. If you want the regen, just go Troll so you can still use Blood Ember. Having a no mana cost FD is great in a lot of situations to save you mana (or save you from dying if you are OOM). Same with the gloves, they are great for saving tons of mana on snare, and mana is usually the Shadowknight's biggest bottleneck.

The issue with Greenmist is stacking it with Epic isn't very useful unless you happen to proc both within the first or second tick of the Epic. Otherwise, you do not get that much more life than if you just re-proced Epic. The only good thing about Greenmist is it is easier to get than Epic, so I guess it's decent for a player who never plans on doing raiding of any kind. But if you ever change your mind on that (this game is a long one, so you may change your stance on raiding over time), it may be discouraging.

[Gustoo]

The mana bottleneck is another argument in favor of IKS because of decent INT.

But also a point against for those utility spells.

Tough one, I don't know shit I've barely played SK at all just playing theoryquest here.

You've got an ogre shaman and a troll SK what are your thoughts?

[DeathsSilkyMist]

The mana bottleneck is another argument in favor of IKS because of decent INT.

But also a point against for those utility spells.

Tough one, I don't know shit I've barely played SK at all just playing theoryquest here.

You've got an ogre shaman and a troll SK what are your thoughts?

I find Mana to be the bottle neck more than anything else. SK's get a lot of ways to heal themselves, so it is usually easier to get HP back instead of mana.

Being able to cast mana free spells saves me a ton of mana, and gives me flexibility when I am running low on Mana. So this usually means I can go longer between med breaks and take more risks.

Now, if you plan on going deep into raiding, you could argue a Soul Defiler basically nullifies a lot of benefit from Blood Ember. So I think you could argue for Iksar if you plan on getting full raid gear and Soul Defiler. But Soul Defiler is pretty rare, so you will be waiting a while.

[Douglas Fir]

Could also consider a 1handed weapon (sword of skyfire and smoldering brand, etc.) and a shield. The shield gives extra armor (it’s not counted against soft cap so makes a big difference) and you can bash for extra damage/stun mobs.

I can actually afford those. Thank you for the suggestion!

[Jimjam]

I choose troll cos i wanted regen, but i also wanted to make jokes about my fall down pants.

[Crede]

Pick sk race based on looks imo. I have a heavily twinked troll sk with epic but if you want to crawl dungeons, roll a pally instead. Wayyy less downtime and more tools at your disposal.

[DeathsSilkyMist]

Pick sk race based on looks imo. I have a heavily twinked troll sk with epic but if you want to crawl dungeons, roll a pally instead. Wayyy less downtime and more tools at your disposal.

Yeah Paladins are safer when it comes to Dungeon Crawling. I would say it just depends on how much time you have. Paladins are better if you can crawl for hours at a time, slowly moving down. But if you fail a lull or something you need to run out and start over.

If you want to get in and get out in a reasonable amount of time, FD is better at doing that, albeit more risky.

[reebz]

blood ember stuff is trash and never being used at 60 just play what you want

[DeathsSilkyMist]

blood ember stuff is trash and never being used at 60 just play what you want

Wrong.

[Danth]

Yeah Paladins are safer when it comes to Dungeon Crawling.

Paladin is probably better for generic experience grinding in dungeon zones. Shadow knight holds potentially contested camps more effectively because this is P1999 and a solo non-feigner melee might as well be holding a "train me!" sign over his head.

I don't fuss about equipment as much as some players on this board and even I carry around a blood ember glove for the click effect, and use it with some frequency. A more min-max oriented player might carry around several of those pieces. They're definitely not worthless.

Danth

[Jimjam]

Wrong.

In fairness to the poster you responded to: your sig says your SK isn’t 60, and mine is shelved at 52, so I don’t think we can comment from first hand on how useful blood ember is at 60.

Up to 52 I’ve been finding all pieces I own useful. I believe I only lack the helm and boots atm.

[Danth]

In fairness to the poster you responded to: your sig says your SK isn’t 60, and mine is shelved at 52, so I don’t think we can comment from first hand on how useful blood ember is at 60.

I've been 60 on mine since late 2012/early 2013, somewhere in there. Blood Ember isn't "wear fulltime" since the advent of Velious but some of the click effects remain useful on a class where (lack of) mana regeneration is often the biggest limiting factor. I don't call it must-have, but it sure doesn't hurt.

Danth

[reebz]

Novelty item for sure. On red99 bag space was limited and I never made space for those items.

[DeathsSilkyMist]

In fairness to the poster you responded to: your sig says your SK isn’t 60, and mine is shelved at 52, so I don’t think we can comment from first hand on how useful blood ember is at 60.

Up to 52 I’ve been finding all pieces I own useful. I believe I only lack the helm and boots atm.

I don't need to be 60:) The only new thing you get at 60 is Death's Peace, and I know what it does. It costs 100 mana, so having a free FD is still a big mana saver. FD costs a lot of mana if you are doing a lot of pulling, or get a lot of fails. So getting to level 60 won't alleviate that issue.

[reebz]

Ya you can take the advice of a level 58 SK no body and play a race you don't like or you can take the advice of someone who played multiple level 60 SK's Iksar and non iksar at the highest level of PvP and PvE and know that the BE greaves actually don't matter and you should just play what ever race you like, even if it is an iksar.

[DeathsSilkyMist]

Ya you can take the advice of a level 58 SK no body and play a race you don't like or you can take the advice of someone who played multiple level 60 SK's Iksar and non iksar at the highest level of PvP and PvE and know that the BE greaves actually don't matter and you should just play what ever race you like, even if it is an iksar.

Lol what a silly argument. You know you do not have a valid argument when you have to try and argue that you are a "somebody" and another player is a "nobody". People are asking about different races because they want to know the advantages/disadvantages. The "play whatever you want" answer is just lazy and unhelpful.

Of course if you hate the way a race looks so much you can't stand it, don't play it. Who was arguing you should no matter what? If someone said "I hate trolls and will never play them", then of course we wouldn't suggest playing a Troll lol.

While I am not 60, I have played my SK for years, and I understand how they work quite well. I also understand how basic math works. A level 60 SK will not play significantly different from a 58. This isn't like the difference between a Torpor Shaman and an non-Torpor Shaman.

If you are too lazy to maximize your mana by not using Blood Ember Armor, that is your choice, but it doesn't make you a better player, just a lazy one:)

[reebz]

In what raid or group setting is using your free mana greaves going to come in hand?

If you are using 2000 mana of FD's trying to pull anything, from Fungi to a VP dragon you are doing something wrong. What else are you using your mana on in groups that is worth the cost? Disease cloud? The spell that costs 10 mana? No wonder you have been playing for years and you haven't hit 60 yet.

Greaves are a novelty item and have little to impact on the day to day for an SK. It's nice if you want to waste all your mana on shit SK spells grinding to 60 for the 3rd year straight then post on the forums about how it saved you I guess.

[DeathsSilkyMist]

In what raid or group setting is using your free mana greaves going to come in hand?

If you are using 2000 mana of FD's trying to pull anything, from Fungi to a VP dragon you are doing something wrong. What else are you using your mana on in groups that is worth the cost? Disease cloud? The spell that costs 10 mana? No wonder you have been playing for years and you haven't hit 60 yet.

Greaves are a novelty item and have little to impact on the day to day for an SK. It's nice if you want to waste all your mana on shit SK spells grinding to 60 for the 3rd year straight then post on the forums about how it saved you I guess.

Again, you attack my character because you literally have zero argument. But I guess that is all you can do:)

Honestly if you are raiding as an SK, that is your first problem. They are worthless in raids. Hop on a guild cleric and do something useful.

I never claimed Blood Ember was an amazing raid/group item. It's best for soloing, because that is where an SK's mana limitations are most apparent. Someone who is as "experienced" as yourself should know this. In a group you either have a bard/ench giving you mana, or your group is saving you mana due to how quickly stuff dies.

You can choose to play poorly if you want, but I am not going to tell other people to do the same:)

If all you want to do is group as an SK, then race doesn't matter, because racial bonuses really don't mean much in groups/raids. I have said this many times.

But for people who like to solo, where racials matter, it is good to get information out, instead of acting like a lazy ass saying "just play what you want, I won't bother giving you any useful information". You really aren't helping anyone with that answer.

[Jimjam]

The greaves aren't so much about saving mana, more circumventing the long cooldown on FD when it fails first time. Someone said the clickies are far less desirable at 60, which seems believable considering a SK will likely have Death's Peace by then (at the cost of a spell slot).

Certainly for my 52 SK a second source of FD has been very helpful.

[DeathsSilkyMist]

The greaves aren't so much about saving mana, more circumventing the long cooldown on FD when it fails first time. Someone said the clickies are far less desirable at 60, which seems believable considering a SK will likely have Death's Peace by then (at the cost of a spell slot).

Certainly for my 52 SK a second source of FD has been very helpful.

It's both. Before 60 greaves act as you say, a second FD without a cooldown which will save you on an initial fail. But I use them often for pulling as well, because 60 mana from FD adds up. If you can get away with using the greaves instead of the spell, it adds up. 10 clicks from the greaves in an hour is saving 600 mana, which is the same as having another Flowing Thought I item. When you reach 60, if all you want to use is Deaths Peace, 10 clicks saves you 1200 mana, which is equivalent to Flowing Thought II. Not a bad deal.

The problem here is I think a lot of people over-estimate stats. Wearing Blood Ember Greaves vs. a Velious equivalent isn't going to help you that much in terms of survivability or kill speed. A bit more mana/hp/ac vs. a Flowing Thought II equivalent. There is a reason why people prefer certain special item abilities as opposed to raw stats. They end up helping more. This is the same case with Blood Ember Armor. The mana saving out weights the stat loss in terms of time saved.

[reebz]

ohhhh you have no friends, got it
carry on

[DeathsSilkyMist]

ohhhh you have no friends, got it
carry on

Lol you really got me there. Wow.

[Duik]

Dunno much about SK's but imma side with the 58 Troll dude. Saying you solo cuz no friends is a no argument, argument. Clickies are cool. We are taking this shit waay to seriously. Seriously.

[reebz]

It's cool we are playing different games

[Bisonboy1969]

Join the Ancient Blood clan and they can assist with surviving and often have lotteries for unused weapons and gear that can accelerate your lvling up.

[Duik]

It's cool we are playing different games

By Jove I think old man face has it worked out!

[oldschoolguy]

Well if you going to play Iksar, their starting zone is easy, get to about 9 then go into Kurns tower. Collect the armor set you can make early on in the city, there is a starting guide getting curscale armor, easy quest and first armor set is not hard to get.

I played Iksar SK back in the kunark days, they are just too inferior compared to a large race SK.
First you miss out on all the good clickies you get from Kunark, and those are huge convenience. Feign Death Clicky, snare clicky. There is no velious equivalent AFAIK.
Then worst part is you don't get Slam, so you can't bash wearing a 2h weapon, at least not until your epic. Which means if you are up vs casters you have to swap to 1h to interrupt their casts. Your stats are very far behind, by a lot. You'll never really catch up in stats unless you play like permanently unemployed in Veeshans peak. That's what I remember at least from playing an Iksar SK. They do look cool though with Greenmist.

I'd really recommend you pick ogre or troll for SK.

[walfreyydo]

All in all, I would say BE gaunts and the Polished Obsidian Great Axe are must-have items if you intend to solo as they will vastly increase your mana efficiency (perhaps double or even three fold). The largest mana cost while soloing is usually the cost for your darkness spell, so BE gaunts allows you to save that mana completely. BE Boots are also good, but with the extremely low mana cost of low level fear, I feel its less of a priority, but still nice to have. I haven't been able to obtain BE leggings, and I am sure they are incredibly useful.

POGA + Blood Ember Gauntlets makes soloing far far more efficient, especially in outdoors. I highly recommend getting both items at level 46. POGA is pretty much only usable outdoors where you have the room to keep a mob perma-feared, which it does very well. Indoors I have only been able to use it in a select number of areas, mainly Felwithe guards on the upper wall in my early 50s.

I have also found a number of places where you can fear kite with BE gauntlets and low level fear within dungeons. Having that free mana cost snare + low duration fear (which almost costs nothing) makes fear kiting extremely mana efficient, although you need more space. Finding spots in dungeons to do this allows you to maximize that ZEM bonus. I have found some great spots within KC, hole, velks, HS north, kaesora temple and other spots that I can fearkite with only engulfing + low level fear (regular or undead). One way you can limit your space needed to do this is to face tank the mob until approx 50% (making use of the low health increased snare on mobs), allowing you to then darkness (BE gaunts) + fear for even more confined fear kiting. Saving mana on the snare allows you to use that mana for lifetaps in between swings during the first 50% of facetanking, if needed. Having a fungi makes this even more efficient (more on that later).

Getting a Fungi also helps immensly as it will allow you to regen health at roughly the same rate as mana, so you can save mana by tanking and eating up some HP (hopefully to where the mob gets to 50% or lower health) before clicking BE gaunts and fearing, especially when fearkiting within a dungeon. Added benefit is the mob will get that additional snare as mentioned. I always try to keep my HP and Mana roughly balanced by the end of the fight because of this. A fungi also opens up a lot of options for you to FD your way deep into dungeons (like the hole) and regen that HP while you are FD so you can continue on through.

When kiting with POGA, I usually open with BE gaunts + low level fear and then usually can get a proc from the POGA once feared initially. After that its pretty much perma feared-unless you get unlucky with a proc-and all you need to do is to remember to keep clicking your BE gaunts to re-snare.

I think its appropriate to mention that Greenmist has one of the highest aggro procs available to SK's - its probably the best SK tanking weapon in the game.

Downsides of Human or Erudite are the constant need to keep Deadeye up, unless you can get an item that has ultra or infravision/deadeye as an effect (BE helm). For the record I have a human SK, but back on live 20 years ago I had an Iksar SK with Greenmist.

[Duckwalk]

Recently leveled an erudite sk to 60.

I wouldn’t go ogre or troll. Being giant is a pita for early game str / stam quality of life. With set of SS/“pre-raid” equipment your basically able to cap stam with standard buffs.

BE gloves seem nice but the boots were far less efficient than just casting fear when the long cast time/high chance to take dmg and regen it up or be forced to lifetap it back is taken into account.

SKs don’t have a ton of ways to regen hp. Lifetaps are horrible until 55+ and vampiric embrace will only minimally offset hp loss. Either way you’re going to find yourself sitting regening hp/mana. In my experience hp was the limiting factor.

Get a good 2hnder and switch to it at 30. I recommend reaver, the number of mobs you can’t hit is countable on one hand and most likely stuff you won’t be fighting 3O+ anyways. The damage increase is noticeable and far outweighed meager tanking bonuses. But keep a shield around to swap in for bash. Slam abs FSI are overrated. I didn’t miss them once.

If I was to re-roll I’d probably go iksar. Racial regen, ac bonus, robe fashion, greenmist accessibility (mainly for the proc), normal size far out weight slam, FSI, and early game stat bonuses.