Shadow Thief | Dark Souls Wiki

Shadow Thief
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This is a player-created Build for Dark Souls. If you want help making your own build, you can consult this useful page on how to make a build by Blaine.

• Build Name: Shadow Thief
• Build Level:
• Build Focus: PvE
• Build Main Stats:
• Link to Dark Souls Calculator: Add link here.

Build Equipment

Always hold on to the Bandit's Knife, and try to keep it upgraded as you go. It's a very good weapon when it comes to Backstabbing/Countering. Even though I'm not going to list it as your equipment, it's just going to be automatically assumed that you'll have it equipped when Backstabbing/Countering.

Build Strategy

Shadow Thief

• The high critical rate the Thief enjoys is a very nice advantage, especially when combined with the speed of their Dagger attacks. They aren't build very solidly, however, with low Vitality, Strength and Endurance stats making them a weak target and also reducing their weapons choices. The Dagger is capable of dealing with most enemies perfectly well, and compliments the Thief's speed and evasive style. They also come with the Master Key by default, which allows them to select a different Gift and access many locked doors much easier than the other Classes could.
  • NOTE: Before choosing to play this class-style, I recommend going over the notes below which will explain how you're going to be fighting, (and dying), in the world of Dark Souls.

• If you have any questions regarding this class, write me a message and I'll get back to you ASAP.

Edits

• 12/24/12: I'm going to re-run this class again so I can level my stats up accordingly. Generally, this will be an end-level class of SL-80. (I'm going to Europe for three months in February so I won't have access to my Xbox. However, I should be able to finish this guide minus the "How-To's" for the bossfights.)

Way of the Shadow Thief

• The key part of playing a class-style like the Shadow Thief, is being able to evade and counter effectively. If you can't perfect evading, then this isn't the class-style for you. Don't be discouraged though if at first you're having trouble evading in the beginning of the game, in fact, this is the most important part. I guarantee you will be hit, (and killed), many times wandering around the Undead Burg, but like I said earlier, don't be discouraged. This is the time you should be figuring out how to effectively evade and counter enemies.
• The stratagey I use to defeat the many different types of enemies in Dark Souls can be broken down into steps:
  • Step 1: Observe your enemy.
    • Each enemy in Dark Souls has it's own unique set of combat moves. In order to successfully evade and counter you must first know how your enemy fights. Generally, each enemy has about 3-6 different attacks. You'll notice they usually favor a certain move over others, so once you've determined that move, this is the one you'll want to counter.
  • Step 2: Countering the enemy.
    • Counter, or Riposte, is by far the deadliest weapon of the Shadow Thief. Counters can only be performed when a shield is equipped. You can perform a Counter by pressing LT/L2 right before an enemy hits you and following up with an attack using the RB/R1 button to stab the enemy in the chest dealing heavy critical damage. This is the hardest part about playing as a Shadow Thief. It will most likely take many attempts with each enemy until you can figure out the perfect time to execute a counter.
      • NOTE: Not all enemies can be Countered. Generally as a rule of thumb, enemies that are twice your size cannot be Countered.
  • Step 3: Finishing off the enemy.
    • After a successful counter has been initiated, you'll kick the enemy down to the ground. This is the perfect time to set yourself up for a Backstab. You can perform a Backstab by positioning yourself behind an enemy, and pressing the RB/R1 button. This will thrust/slash your weapon into the back of the enemy, dealing out critical damage. Although the Backstab is a powerful attack, it's not as powerful as the Counter.
      • NOTE: Not all enemies can be Backstabbed. Generally as a rule of thumb, enemies that are twice your size cannot be Backstabbed.

Stats