- Feb 24, 2006
- 1,057
- 1,972
- 113
Dec 2022 Update: There was a slight adjustment to Shadow Warrior and Shadow Master in the D2R 2.4 patch, so that you no longer need to wait six seconds to recast one.
Shadow Warrior
For most players, the Shadow Warrior was just a prerequisite to Shadow Master, but there were a handful that used it as a one-point wonder for quick scouting or distraction. Assassins that maxed their Shadow Warrior summon were
In battle she enjoys a defense bonus that is just slightly higher than that of a Shadow Master at the same skill level. Also while fighting, she chooses either normal attack or one of the skills configured on the left or right mouse buttons (with a few exceptions - for example, she won't summon another shadow, nor will she use Blade Fury or Cobra Strike). Some players prefer the warrior over the master, to better control the skills the shadow uses. Here's how Desrok assessed this skill:
"Previous sins of mine have used Shadow Master and I haven't like their tendency to use Dragon Flight to zip around all the nearby monster packs and drag them all into an ongoing battle, so I thought I'd give the Shadow Warrior a go and control what skills it could use. Maxed SW with Fade active was pretty hard to kill. Something like 47% pdr and 100% res all with almost 1500 life and often some form of life leech from gear. Doesn't hurt anything but can tank most things indefinitely. When it did go poof, I knew something bad was in the fray somewhere and needed to pay extra attention to what was going on. Kinda like a canary that way. Only drawback was that I wanted to have Dragon Claw on RMB, which meant there really wasn't an alternative skill to put on LMB, so SW tended to only have access to DC, somewhat limiting its usefulness. Overall though I was much happier with the Warrior than previous Masters."
Dec 2022 Update: ffs maxed Shadow Warrior on the werebear assassin ZodSin.
Shadow Master
When summoned, the Shadow Master gets a magic version of the same armor and helm equipped as the summoner, as does the Shadow Warrior; however, she also gets other random equipment such as elite claw weapons, gloves, and jewelry, which can get magic/rare mods on them at higher skill levels. Some players are content to bring this skill just up to level 17 with +skills, because she gets all of the rare equipment she will ever have at that level.
She also enjoys generally higher resistance bonuses than those of a Shadow Warrior at the same skill level, except at skill level 19 - by freak arithmetic formulae computations, the warrior actually out-resists the master at only that level!
In battle, she chooses among almost every possible skill available to any assassin. She seems to select her skills completely on her own, outside of the player's control. Upon encountering an enemy, even one that might be off-screen, she might happily Mind Blast, or Dragon Flight kick it, or hit it to build some martial arts charge-ups, or drop various fire or lighting traps. Even when she's not in battle, she usually prepares by buffing up with Fade or Burst of Speed, Venom, and a Blade Shield.
(Update: some players have suggested that, if you spend more skill points in a skill that a Shadow Master might use, the higher investment will increase the chances that the shadow clone will choose to cast that skill whenever she must choose what it will do next. My own experiments with Shadow Masters seem to support this claim, at least in the cases of Mind Blast and Death Sentry.)
Thirty-four players in the collection maxed their Shadow Masters with 20 hard skill points. Of these, I found seven write-ups whose authors included experiences and opinions specifically about their SMs: Kseniya by Oakbrain, Hypatia by winmar, Leitha by Milb, Araya by Nightfish, Randa by EasyG, Linuviel by Maltatai, and Buakaw by Vulpine.
Shadow Warrior
For most players, the Shadow Warrior was just a prerequisite to Shadow Master, but there were a handful that used it as a one-point wonder for quick scouting or distraction. Assassins that maxed their Shadow Warrior summon were
- martial artists Shadow-Dancer by Peytron, Arianne by zaphodbrx, and Belladonna and Shayera by TopHatCat64;
- blade trappers ex-girlfriend by humbuggerer and Kwika by Dezrok;
- lightning trappers Light WIght by OldSoldier and Cathan by D2DC;
- hybrids Erica by jiansonz and Tiger by PhineasB; and
- whirlwinder Chaotica by zaphodbrx.
In battle she enjoys a defense bonus that is just slightly higher than that of a Shadow Master at the same skill level. Also while fighting, she chooses either normal attack or one of the skills configured on the left or right mouse buttons (with a few exceptions - for example, she won't summon another shadow, nor will she use Blade Fury or Cobra Strike). Some players prefer the warrior over the master, to better control the skills the shadow uses. Here's how Desrok assessed this skill:
"Previous sins of mine have used Shadow Master and I haven't like their tendency to use Dragon Flight to zip around all the nearby monster packs and drag them all into an ongoing battle, so I thought I'd give the Shadow Warrior a go and control what skills it could use. Maxed SW with Fade active was pretty hard to kill. Something like 47% pdr and 100% res all with almost 1500 life and often some form of life leech from gear. Doesn't hurt anything but can tank most things indefinitely. When it did go poof, I knew something bad was in the fray somewhere and needed to pay extra attention to what was going on. Kinda like a canary that way. Only drawback was that I wanted to have Dragon Claw on RMB, which meant there really wasn't an alternative skill to put on LMB, so SW tended to only have access to DC, somewhat limiting its usefulness. Overall though I was much happier with the Warrior than previous Masters."
Dec 2022 Update: ffs maxed Shadow Warrior on the werebear assassin ZodSin.
Shadow Master
When summoned, the Shadow Master gets a magic version of the same armor and helm equipped as the summoner, as does the Shadow Warrior; however, she also gets other random equipment such as elite claw weapons, gloves, and jewelry, which can get magic/rare mods on them at higher skill levels. Some players are content to bring this skill just up to level 17 with +skills, because she gets all of the rare equipment she will ever have at that level.
She also enjoys generally higher resistance bonuses than those of a Shadow Warrior at the same skill level, except at skill level 19 - by freak arithmetic formulae computations, the warrior actually out-resists the master at only that level!
In battle, she chooses among almost every possible skill available to any assassin. She seems to select her skills completely on her own, outside of the player's control. Upon encountering an enemy, even one that might be off-screen, she might happily Mind Blast, or Dragon Flight kick it, or hit it to build some martial arts charge-ups, or drop various fire or lighting traps. Even when she's not in battle, she usually prepares by buffing up with Fade or Burst of Speed, Venom, and a Blade Shield.
(Update: some players have suggested that, if you spend more skill points in a skill that a Shadow Master might use, the higher investment will increase the chances that the shadow clone will choose to cast that skill whenever she must choose what it will do next. My own experiments with Shadow Masters seem to support this claim, at least in the cases of Mind Blast and Death Sentry.)
Thirty-four players in the collection maxed their Shadow Masters with 20 hard skill points. Of these, I found seven write-ups whose authors included experiences and opinions specifically about their SMs: Kseniya by Oakbrain, Hypatia by winmar, Leitha by Milb, Araya by Nightfish, Randa by EasyG, Linuviel by Maltatai, and Buakaw by Vulpine.
[Update: new histograms, formatting, additional info]
[2022 Dec Update: new histograms]
[2022 Dec Update: new histograms]
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