Feedback: Still no shadows in the invasion top 100, despite buffs

yeah i think the shadow could do with some hybrid nodes that add survivability something like one handed weapon damage and ES (its early survival we talk about right?)

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Boem wrote:

^?

You mean the very solid point beneficial hybrid weapon hp nodes?

Or the massive aura reservation reduction cluster?

Or the massive mana %cluster?

I actually have used all of those nodes in various builds(most recently the bow hybrid cluster).

I just dislike the 4 stat points required to go from projectile speed to those beneficial nodes then another 4 stat points to reach shadow.

^if the travel cost would be lower, those nodes would be OP, they already are very solid, even with this cost.

I theory-crafted plenty of builds and most of the time, traveling true them to hit shadow/ranger's tree grants more overall stats to your character then neglecting them and traveling directly to the other tree. I don't know, i always found the shadows tree quite O P, and i still travel true it with a lot of builds. So densely packed with good clusters.

The only problem i see with shadows is the starting points he gets. Usually i end up taking a witch and then go to the shadows tree(even more so with the 12/12 mana/hp node now :OOOO)

He only gets a damage starting point, both angles are. One is heavily spell/elemental based(dps) while the other is attack oriented(again dps based). The problem with this is that all other characters have both a "dps" starting line and an "ehp" starting line.

This results in endgame theory-crafts lacking that EHP boost from the start, thus resulting in starting with another character to make the same passive tree, but with the initial ehp buff from that character.

Not sure if this is an issue, or a defining trait of the shadow do...

I actually find the HP available to shadows/rangers to now exceed what a typical balanced duelist/maur can get(due to scion lifewheel nerf). I can get tons of offensive nodes and still be able to reach 270-300% HP.

Shadow lacks any resists except in evasion/ES clusters thats pretty big in invasion since starting even in normal you need good resists all around.

There were some shadows in the top 100, they just died and no one rerolled shadow.

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I actually find the HP available to shadows/rangers to now exceed what a typical balanced duelist/maur can get(due to scion lifewheel nerf). I can get tons of offensive nodes and still be able to reach 270-300% HP.

This is by design, shadow and rangers need higher hp% ratio's then templar and marauder, duelist is somewhere in the middle in all of this.

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Charanjaydemyr wrote:

What do you see when you look at the Shadow's starting area?

I'll tell you what I see: a fucking mess. Oh, he's a bit of magic, a bit of status ailment, a bit of melee damage, a bit of ranged, a bit of dual wield...and then, after all that, FINALLY we get to what he really is: a critload of awesomeness.

But Assassination is too little, too late. And from there? You can suffer 3-4 +10 nodes and head north, force yourself through the Frenzy or Power Charge bottleneck or slide south towards semi-decent weapon clusters.

This perfectly describes how I feel about the Shadow right now.
It's one of the reasons that I hate starting new shadows. While the nodes are powerful, you are forced to take them at a time much earlier than you would usually be wanting to take nodes like that (5% Shock chance at levels when you have fuck all aspd/aoe?). After that, escaping the start area is not fun for a lot of builds.

I never really thought about HOW i would change shadow area, other than making it focused more on critical, but one specific node i have an issue with the placement of is Spell Power. A weapon-based elemental crit build is forced to either go through a node exclusive to spells, or use some really strange pathing.

Honestly, the placement of that node combined with the other nodes in the area just gives the idea of 'Everything is better with cast on crit' that bit of extra truth. If anything, Shadow should lean weapon based crit with the Witch leaning spell based crit, so Shadow should have nodes that are "Critical Strike Chance with Weapons" and the witch should have the spell crit.

Currently shadow is having an identity crisis with the Templar. Those status effect nodes should most definitely be on the templar, they make zero sense on shadow because crit is how shadow is going to be inflicting statuses. Templar has very little access to crit without heavy travel investment, so having status nodes there makes more sense. Perhaps static blows should be moved and placed into a branch of 3 lines (cold/fire/light) that are similar in power to static blows. For templar, not for shadow.

Currently shadow just feels like templar, but AoE is replaced by Elemental Status Effects, Armor + ES is instead Evasion + ES and Mana Regen is Spell Damage. Sure they're different, but they are still very much 'Templar'.

I remember a time HC Ladder had only like 4 Shadows in Top 100 and every shadow was CI in CB-


Somebody can show those guys the Pre 9.12 or 9.13 shadow tree ;D

Escaping the shadow area is NOT difficult. I'll prove my point with some shadow builds only allocating points in the shadow area and escaping it with great efficiency.

Lightning shadow EB MoM AA:
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgYA3nfVTxXn8Gtzs4w2VUsTnlBCJpVte6SRLUcc3H_Gkyfxdiep3FdabR6UJDysP6dcSVGio8Hzgh7bC35Z

This build is designed for use with arc but can be adjusted to use cold and fire spells too, such as firestorm. Shadow ele damage is optional depending on how many defense you want. It can venture into witch and templar areas or witch and duelist areas depending on whether you have the MoM chest or not.

Phys crit dagger shadow CI:
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgYA_5MeGjBUmVcoKrVIsbPtQaZ_h9sWv_PqcFLAUeOE62OZmrb3ES9jQ_Lhwuy0xSsKwQDbGhB79Uu-OpfQVvW5PttufeMOSKc0EZado_yrVuoFfX_GwcUsv4auFdfXhlZjiEKQG3BWmhPb1CepfllHBl9q7BjDbQ==

This is probably one of the best starts a build could probably get. All the points are spent with incredibly efficiency. You can venture into scion and eventually templar area to pick up more ES and the efficient templar crit nodes.

Crit trapper shadow EB MoM IR AA:
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgYA3nfVT_v1tDjlGYw2VUtQQiaVbXuiLi1HXfIc3HDVf8aTJ3BSwFHBxSepfrDcV-OE7BiIQlptW7selO4Vj_qnXPIdgh4kPHBRrD-3dUk72-dJUdsL2FQ2e7SjMhizA2-8UzGm5w==

Again incredible point efficiency. This build goes towards duelist to pick up MoM and IR, more life and mana, and trap nodes.

Life based dagger shadow which uses block + acrobatics + OG as defenses:
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgYA_5MeGjBUmVcoKrVIsbNte-1BVUumf4w2JpWH22HiFr_ndPPq3vZwUsBR6NbaPeOEIurN6idhDkidlk7nBbUG6RGWpzSdqitvtMXUIwkhnaNW6n_GYqwYvcLsl9DdqPyrBX3BxSepflnWnbJEHoFW9caiiEJabaxmS425PjBxkBskPNh2_xzbbkt4cFanXCzhfeM6QpoTSVGOitvUY0M=

This build goes towards the efficient ranger area to pick up OG, more block, life, attack speed and crit.

CI soultaker Aegis exalton's build top 10 invasion
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgYA_5MeGjBUmVcoKrVIsbPtQaZ_h9vrY5matveIaxEv44QOSBGWpzR_xhzcwcUnqX5Zkycsv-wYhq7DbRXX14ZWY7QM6ro8jlfJ

Can go all around the tree to pick up block, ES and a few axe nodes.

Now someone please point out to me while there are still complaints about shadow start area...

If needed I can make other shadow builds too.

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Xendran wrote:

A weapon-based elemental crit build is forced to either go through a node exclusive to spells, or use some really strange pathing.

I feel that Shadow paths are strong enough at the moment for ele crit attack shadows. Strange pathing doesn't have to be bad as long as it's efficient. Here is a ele crit shadow bow build. Any hybrid phys nodes are picking up for extra life / accuracy.

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgYA_5MeGtIZ1tEqW7Q4tUj79eUZbWxte4w2UzUPq1VLm7XndPBCJpUZimHiNj3aZC2D-wmH26XLyo-XBvbaFr8M8mskxKIaj_PqBbVf4bvjcFLAUY2_1CP-uuOEUUfdqH11DkhjQz7PMHwzDMai034Rlp2qveZ_K2_yGdUwcZ2jcLt_xmKs-WPWijnU_95LePyr2ROioyep1p0V8KCfOkJe-i9vD8RabedUOliP-jt8JDwk_dUABH5JO7jKp1yHGTZ7SVG0o8M6ykpvnoMJRnHhiB2q_knh26Gk_sg=

A melee build would be pretty much the same except you would replace the bow nodes. Probably with block since it's OP. IR is also possible if you don't use spectral throw.