Daggers or Claws or Swords for a Shadow

Hi Everyone,

I'm relatively new to PoE. Just finished act 3 on normal, and my shadow is level 41. I have definitely made some mistakes on my passives, but I have 6 points to spend and 4 refund points.



In any event, I had a long conversation with a very helpful person in-game who has re-rolled their shadow 3 times. But, he was pretty adamant about going claws with a shadow because of the life leech.

I am currently using a sword and dagger, and with a tabula rasa + dual strike + 5 support gems, I am doing 1430 DPS with dual strike.

So my question is this:

I like, no love, the concept of a shadow as a rogue-like dagger-wielding figure in the shadows. Is it possible to use daggers (or even swords) and still be successful later on in the game?

Thanks in advance...

I'd like to help you but I personally have limited experience and am using claws myself (not by choice, it's the most powerful thing in my inventory).

Most people tell me to use daggers because of the global crit chance.

I run an ES/EV Melee Shadow.

I'm in Act. 3 Merciless now, and yeah, lifeleech saves my ass, if I take it off, I just pot burn. It's not like I really need it, I hit and run and only attack when my ES is up anyway.

I would say you need a ranged CC more than a life leech but if you're using a melee AoE like Cleave or Cyclone, then you probably need lifeleech.
You can obtain it from your gear or gems.

I Double Strike single enemies and kite/Lightning Strike or Spork if in enclosed areas multiple enemies and my char is not funded so I pretty much have no choice in my weaponry.

Well, I have been dying on the Terraces of Act 1 in cruel. And then I decided to swap out one of my support gems for dual strike and add melee splash. Wow! What a difference. Yes, I lost about 375 to 400 DPS, but I am killing much more mobs, especially when I am taking on a low-level boss surrounded by mobs. Much better.

I swapped out the added cold damage support gem. I still have 83% crit strike damage multiplier, 34% rarity, +18 life gain on hit, 37% power charge on crit, and of course the level 2 melee splash support gem.

Should I swap out something else, and add the added cold support gem back in?

Anyway, I really think my build is going to be viable, but then I have never been in the higher levels as this is my first and highest character.

What do folks think? Is dual wield daggers a viable build for shadow?

Or, based on my tree, should I just start over?

Dude, I can't seem to load your skill tree, but if you're prioritizing HP nodes then I guess you're OK.

I use a similar build but I have a shield, I'm currently at Sarn ATM, the only problem I have is my subpar kill rate compared to facerolling witches.

I could just give you a list of things to get :

I would say get Skeleton Totems so that you don't have to tank the entire map and get some pressure off of your toon.

You might also want Enfeeble (Curse).

Get a Granite Flask.

Whirling Blades will save you if you aren't using it already.

And keep an open eye out for Multistrike.

Are you utilizing other gems like Fire Trap, Lightning Strike, Spark/Fork?

You need to be able to deal with mobs if there's way too many to melee splash, furthermore you need to be able to deal with an angry mob with puncture. I deal with them using ranged attacks, if there's few left, that's when I melee.

I don't know why you can't see my tree, but then I have trouble see other people's trees too, so I don't know...

But, I am spamming dual strike (the one that I am using with tabula rasa and 5 support gems) and also frenzy. I almost never use anything else. When I do, it is lightning strike, but i do like the occasional fire trap. I also am using wrath and grace, bu that sucks up over 60% of my 338 mana :(

What is a granite flask? What is multistrike? Where do I get them? Same with enfeeble?

A Granite Flask is like a Health/Mana Flask except it gives you like 4000 Armor(Correct me if I'm wrong) for 5 seconds.

This lets you tank something that hits really hard long enough for your Potion or lifeleech to catch up or let you escape. You'll eventually get one.

Enfeeble is a Blue Gem that lowers enemy damage, it's a curse.

Multistrike lets you hit really fast 3 times with whatever gem you link it to. You strike 6 times with Double Strike or 3 times with Dual Strike. Think of it as Zeal from Diablo 2.
Unfortunately this is a drop-only gem.

I'm currently using Grace (for EVA), Discipline (for ES), and Clarity Lv. 1 (For extra mana regen).
I dropped Wrath because of it's high mana usage.

I strongly suggest wearing ranged attack gems on your alternate weapon slots so that you can level them so when you reach mobs that are very difficult tackle head-on, you'll have something to soften them up.

Firetrap is awesome, I use it with Concentrated Effect, less AoE, significantly more damage, you can like... put it on a monsters feet while you whack away or if not, kite mobs while leaving it on the floor.

Daggers are weapons of choice for Crit-oriented melee DPS. They grant additional chance to crit, and dagger passives increase crits greatly, too.
Claws are weapons of choice for life leech Tank (they also are great for early game), because their life leech allows you to recover high HP/ES pools quickly. Their passives give life leech too.
As for swords... Actually, shadow doesnt get great benefits from them...

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iopyud wrote:

A Granite Flask is like a Health/Mana Flask except it gives you like 4000 Armor(Correct me if I'm wrong) for 5 seconds.

This lets you tank something that hits really hard long enough for your Potion or lifeleech to catch up or let you escape. You'll eventually get one.

hehe . 3 characters at level 40+ and I've never seen a granite flask...

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plasticeyes wrote:

hehe . 3 characters at level 40+ and I've never seen a granite flask...

Just ask for them in trade chat. They are cheap, except those with potent rolls (like mine

Daggers are great for crit-build, and crit-build is great for late game. If you got bad gear, daggers will suck.