Two different things share the name: a Sorcerer skill that chants you into Stealth, and a Shadowstrix Dagger state — a semi-stealth you re-enter up to three times, from which every backstab crits. Here is both, and how to tell which one killed you.
It is two mechanics wearing one name, which is why the guides seem to contradict each other. On the Sorcerer, Shadow Veil is a castable skill: hold to chant, then vanish into Stealth — at the price that Energy stops regenerating while you stay hidden. On the Shadowstrix, Shadow Veil is not a skill at all but a Dagger state: exiting Stealth with an attack drops you into a semi-stealth that PvE enemies lose track of and players struggle to see at range, re-enterable up to three times — and a Dagger backstab from it is always a critical hit. If a guide mentions chanting, it means the Sorcerer; if it mentions backstab crits, it means the Shadowstrix.
Where this is being asked · In search far more than on any one thread — the phrase appears in class guides for two different classes, which is exactly the confusion this page exists to settle. The tooltip and both class guides below are the receipts.
A grade describes sourcing, not truth. Inferred means we concluded it and the reasoning is shown; unverified means someone asserted it and nobody stands behind it.
OfficialThe Sorcerer skill: hold to chant, cast to enter Stealth, and Energy does not regenerate while in Stealth.
The in-game tooltip, transcribed on the skill record and visible in the preview above.
CorroboratedCast on the heartbeat cue, it negates a Shadowstrix stealth opener.
Two independent launch-build Sorcerer guides, 30 July and 1 August 2026.
CorroboratedThe Shadowstrix state: exit Stealth attacking with a Dagger for a semi-stealth re-enterable up to 3 times, from which backstabs always crit.
A launch-day class guide documents the loop end to end; the semi-stealth description is repeated independently across Shadowstrix build coverage.
§01
The same name, side by side
Every fact in this table is attributable — the Sorcerer column to the in-game tooltip and two launch-build creator guides, the Shadowstrix column to a launch-day class guide. The table exists because no other page puts the two in one place.
Sorcerer: the skill
Shadowstrix: the state
What it is
An active skill, shared across both staff stances, role: escape
A semi-stealth state tied to the Dagger, reported as granted through the Frequency Shift talent
How you enter it
Hold to chant, then cast — you enter full Stealth
Exit Stealth attacking with the Dagger, then briefly disengage; repeatable up to 3 times per Stealth
The cost
Energy does not regenerate while you stay hidden
It is semi-stealth, not invisibility — up close you are visible
What it enables
Escaping a losing fight, rotating unseen, or negating a Shadowstrix opener cast on the heartbeat cue
Cyclical assassination: every Dagger backstab from the state is a guaranteed critical hit
What it is
Sorcerer: the skill
An active skill, shared across both staff stances, role: escape
Shadowstrix: the state
A semi-stealth state tied to the Dagger, reported as granted through the Frequency Shift talent
How you enter it
Sorcerer: the skill
Hold to chant, then cast — you enter full Stealth
Shadowstrix: the state
Exit Stealth attacking with the Dagger, then briefly disengage; repeatable up to 3 times per Stealth
The cost
Sorcerer: the skill
Energy does not regenerate while you stay hidden
Shadowstrix: the state
It is semi-stealth, not invisibility — up close you are visible
What it enables
Sorcerer: the skill
Escaping a losing fight, rotating unseen, or negating a Shadowstrix opener cast on the heartbeat cue
Shadowstrix: the state
Cyclical assassination: every Dagger backstab from the state is a guaranteed critical hit
§02
Why the Sorcerer version is really an answer to the Shadowstrix
The launch-build Sorcerer guides rate the skill less as an escape than as a counter: a Shadowstrix opener is very hard to survive once it has started, and Shadow Veil cast on the audio cue — the heartbeat — removes the target from it entirely. The Energy freeze is the balancing cost the spoken guides tend to leave out: stay veiled too long and you re-emerge unable to cast.
§03
Which one you just died to
If you were opened on from nowhere and every hit seemed to crit, that was the Shadowstrix state — the guaranteed backstab criticals are its signature. If a caster you were winning against chanted briefly and simply was not there any more, that was the Sorcerer skill. The distinction matters for the counter: the Shadowstrix must re-approach through semi-stealth you can still read up close, while the Sorcerer has spent their escape and is regenerating no Energy while they hide.
Expiry condition
What would have to change for this answer to be wrong
An answer about a live-service game without this is an answer with a hidden expiry date.
A patch renames either mechanic — the obvious fix for the collision — or changes the numbers: the three re-entries, the guaranteed crit, or the Energy freeze. Skill balance moves patch by patch, so the full tooltip record linked below is the page this one defers to.
Citations
Every source, with its date
A complaint posted before 30 July 2026 describes the playtest, not the game you bought. Those are flagged rather than quietly mixed in.
The Shadowstrix state: semi-stealth on exiting Stealth with a Dagger attack, up to 3 re-entries, guaranteed critical backstabs, and the Frequency Shift talent linkage.
Related questions
Two things: a Sorcerer skill (chant, then enter Stealth — Energy stops regenerating while hidden) and a Shadowstrix Dagger state (semi-stealth entered by attacking out of Stealth, up to 3 times, with guaranteed backstab crits).
