The many uses of Shadowmeld

by Mike Schramm Jan 8th 2009 at 3:00PM

Phaelia's got a guest blogger over at Resto4Life who's extolling the many virtues of Shadowmeld, definitely one of the more OP of the racial bonuses after the big change with the Wrath release. Previously, the spell could only be used out of combat, which made it very useful for, umm... hiding while AFK? But with the change of letting you use it in combat as a temporary threat wipe, the skill really opened up to be extremely useful for all sorts of things. If you're a Night Elf and you don't have Shadowmeld on your action bars, it's time to put it back.

Flipping on Shadowmeld has its disadvantages (almost any action takes you out of stealth and puts you back into combat), but if you need to duck out of combat for a quick drink or a quick change of gear, you can do it. And it can easily buy you some extra time to summon a mount or get away from trouble if you happen to be in PvP outside. And while it's not quite as powerful as Vanish, you can even use it in the Arenas to drop out of combat (hidden, as when you start drinking you'll lose your stealth), and grab a few seconds of drinking before you get brought back into the fight.

None of these uses are exactly gamebreaking -- the Shadowmeld action is pretty fragile, so you're going to have to be fast if you want to put that second or half second of dropping out of combat to good use. But when time is short and you've got to use every little ability you have, it's important to have Shadowmeld around. Ducking out of combat for just a moment might be just the boost you need.

Tags: arena, blog, combat, drink, druid, gear, mana, out-of-combat, phaelia, resto4life, shadowmeld, uses

Filed under: Night Elves, Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Blizzard, NPCs, Buffs

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)

moohog Jan 8th 2009 3:07PM

you forgot a HUGE use of shadowmeld:

Druids can use shadowmeld to drop out of combat and begin casting revive, giving them a second in combat res (although not as good). My raid has used this many times.

Ekimus Jan 8th 2009 3:18PM

Also, to a lesser extent, for feral to pop on some healing gear if your healer drops. I've used this many times with varying degrees of success.

Nick S Jan 8th 2009 3:41PM

This trick works during bosses? Feign Death doesn't get me out of combat on raid bosses until the boss resets. If it did, I'd have a combat rez too.

Ed (Sindarin, Hydraxis US) Jan 8th 2009 3:50PM

Actually, it seems that that is exactly what is being hinted at in the last paragraph. :D

Scott Jan 8th 2009 3:56PM

On a raid boss, it no longer drops combat, so no you can't do this (at least anymore). Maybe in a 5 man, but do you really need to drop combat in a 5 man?

Cyanea Jan 8th 2009 8:52PM

Subtlety rogues absolutely LOVE it. It's a second *poof* when things go wrong, and a second chance to stealth, Premeditate, and make things hurt. >:D

Lienuss Jan 8th 2009 3:09PM

As a rogue who in BGs sometimes forgets to hit cloak of shadows before vanishing with prep off cooldown and gets pulled out of stealth and can't prep --> vanish, i love hitting shadowmeld --> stealth and continuing on my merry way to gankville...

Sedirex Jan 8th 2009 3:09PM

Night Elf Druids:
1. Shadowmeld
2. Swift Flight Form
3. ?????
4. Get nerfed to the ground soon, with any luck

Mr. Luhg Jan 8th 2009 3:24PM

That's right people, Night Elves have a handy racial bonus! Speaking as somebody who has had a alliance druid since July 2005, this power is nice to have. QQ away Tauren! Bwahahaha.

serf Jan 8th 2009 3:30PM

That drives me frickin' insane

CrusaderStrike Jan 9th 2009 7:19AM

Nerf to the ground only works on rets.

Either Jan 8th 2009 3:09PM

All of my characters except one are night elf, and I started experimenting with this new feature as soon as I found out that you could use Shadowmeld in combat.

When you are along (no summoned pets or anything) it seems to work great.

But let's say you're a hunter fighting a mob. The mob is hitting you (not the pet) and you shadowmeld. The pet will gain aggro. But when the mob kills the pet, even though you are "hidden", it still proceeds to beat the crap out of you.

Something similar happened with my death knight. I accidentally aggro'd Abdul the Insane (elite) on his pirate ship. Hit hit me and proc'd the blood worms. I shadowmelded. He killed the worms and then came back after me, even though I was "hidden".

I've not quite figured out this mechanic.

Archenon Jan 8th 2009 8:57PM

If you're a hunter, you can use this nifty trick i discovered a while back, which some of you probably already know.

If a mob is attacking you, and you want to mount, have your pet take aggro, then put it on passive. The mob will continue to beat on your pet. Then proceed to FD (or shadowmeld), mount up, and ride off. Just MAKE SURE not to gain any aggro from the mob.

Nefernet Jan 9th 2009 4:29AM

Actually, shadowmelt is not like FD. (I have a NE hunt and a NE druid)

FD clean your aggro. You FD, the mob forget you, except if you hit it again (beware with DoTs).

Shadowmelt is temporary. If you SM while in a group or if your pet is still fighting, you will get your aggro back when getting out of SM. If you're alone and the mob resets after you SM'd, it's alright, you can safely got out of SM.

Thander Jan 8th 2009 3:11PM

I still think it's kind of OP for a racial.

At least they increased the cooldown.

Dekeslay Jan 8th 2009 3:12PM

Night Elf Warrior who solos a lot.

Love the new Shadowmeld.

Be cautious however as some damage inducing de-buffs will make you re-appear.

I use it extensively when I discover that I was not as tough as I thought I was. Use shield wall, the potion, the healing trinket, try and bandage, and if I am going to die I will Shadowmeld to regroup and save some repair costs and a long wisp trek.