Good beginner build?

Pretty much the title.

I used to play a bit of PoE about a year and a half ago but I never got into it because it's still confusing as shit and there is so much to it.

Well pretty much nothing has changed since I came back.

I was wondering if anyone could give me or link me to a good beginner build for a shadow. I have nothing to start off with since I started a new account
First of all, Shadow is not a good choice for a beginner in Path of Exile. His defense is dodge and Energy shield reliant. dodge is too RNG to keep you alive, and most of the time, Energy Shield is temporary health that you can't regen in combat. I highly suggest playing either a Templar or Duelist for your first character. Both of them have consistent and easy to achieve balance of strength and Defense. Shadows usually end up in a mid/close range manually dodging damage rather then with their stats.

If you instist about playing Shadow, you may try a Claw Build using Reave. Something that uses this setup.

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgYABbUV_Ra_MHEwfDpCRfRLeFFHXkVfamKsZK9qjGyMbWxvV38rijiNv5Lzotmmf7DYsbO0xbVIwuzIFNQj1orb592o53To1u1B9W_66w==

With this setup you would want to use either Dual Strike or Reave. Reave does less damage, but has an interesting interaction with Claws to heal from both of them, even though you hit with one. With the Natural Life Leech from Blood Drinker, your Energy shield will regen fast because of Ghost Reaver. The Claws healing on hit doesn't count as life leech, so anything that hits through the energy shield will come pack in small packets of healing. The build doesn't rely on blocking at all, but from there you dodge most projectiles and spells completely anyway. After this setup, you want to get more health though.

Energy shielding also grants you 50% stun avoidance as long as it's up, and the constant regen makes it so you're practically guaranteed to have at least a few points of ES when you get hit.

TL;DR: Get Life Leech and Ghost Reaver, Acrobatics, and Phase Acrobatics. Ondar's Guile seals the deal for ignoring Archers. Use Claws. get armor with mixxed Energy shield/Evasion. Use the Reave for AOE and Dual Strike for single target damage. Whirling blades gets you out of bad spots and still heals per enemy hit, but it's not for damage. You can get all 3 of these gems super early and easily from story rewards.
Last edited by Thairn#2443 on Jun 20, 2015, 12:51:04 AM

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