I do not have a yeshiva background, unfortunately, and have experience both using Artscroll independently and learning with a regular Vilna shas at shiurim. Both the Artscroll and the shiurim provide translations, so I don’t see that as the big difference maker.
Pros of Artscroll
1. You can make forward progress independent of a shiur.
2. The elucidation and extensive comments help incredibly with understanding what’s going on.
Cons of Artscroll
1. The layout does not encourage proper review – I find that I remember much less from the sugyos I learn with Artscroll alone, and it does not become “mine”, if that makes sense.
2. The translation does not capture the pithy language of the gemara, and I find the latter to be much more engaging.
3. You don’t pick up on the words and phrases that are key to unlocking what’s going on, and can then be applied elsewhere. In other words, Artscroll does not teach you how to learn, so there is no path to becoming less reliant on it.