I`m most hyped for Shadow release club

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SalamiHaze#9389 wrote:

I posted this in another thread by mistake but i thought i still might do it here :)

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just for fun,

free chatgpt take

Spoiler

Short answer: it’s not one single nerf — it’s a perfect storm of meta shifts + opportunity cost + lack of standout builds in 3.28 (Mirage). Shadow didn’t suddenly become unplayable, but it lost its edge compared to what else is available.

Here’s what’s going on 👇

🧠 1. Meta shifted away from what Shadow is good at

Shadow ascendancies =

Assassin → crit / glass cannon
Trickster → hybrid sustain / speed
Saboteur → traps/mines

In Mirage, the meta favors:

Minions / scaling gems (lvl 30 interactions)
Totems / safe scaling
Tanky or high-scaling builds

👉 Early data shows Necromancer and Guardian dominating because of the new gem scaling and survivability

➡️ Shadow archetypes don’t benefit as much from:

level scaling
passive “free power”
defensive stacking

So even if Shadow is “fine,” it’s just not optimal.

⚖️ 2. Power creep from new options (especially Reliquarian)

The new Scion ascendancy Reliquarian is a big deal:

It literally borrows Unique item powers into ascendancy
Extremely flexible and scalable late-game
Can mimic multiple archetypes at once

➡️ That means:

Builds that used to require Shadow can now be done better elsewhere
Players gravitate to “do-everything” classes
🧱 3. Shadow ascendancies lack strong identity right now
Assassin
Used to dominate with crit scaling
But:
Crit is easier to get elsewhere now
Not enough defensive tools → bad in harder Mirage content
Trickster
Previously top-tier (ES/evasion hybrid king)
Now:
Still solid, but no longer broken
Outclassed by tankier or higher-scaling options
Saboteur
Biggest loser

Community sentiment:

“It’s just weak numerically… nodes need buffs”

Issues:

Mines/traps feel clunky vs modern builds
Not enough payoff for the setup time
Competes with simpler, stronger playstyles
⚔️ 4. Mirage mechanic favors survivability + consistency

Mirage league mechanic:

Spawns harder versions of maps
Encourages juiced content stacking

👉 That punishes:

glass cannons (Assassin)
setup-heavy builds (Saboteur)

👉 And rewards:

tanky builds
passive damage (minions/totems)
📉 5. “Good but not best” = low play rate

This is the key PoE reality:

Players don’t pick “good”
They pick top 3 strongest + easiest starters

Shadow right now is:

viable ✔️
but not top-tier ❌

➡️ So it disappears from stats

🧩 6. Historical context (why it used to be popular)

Shadow used to dominate when:

Crit scaling was harder to get → Assassin was unique
Trickster had insane sustain + ES synergy
Mines had top-tier boss damage

Now:

Those strengths are either nerfed or normalized
Other classes got buffed or new tools
🧠 TL;DR

Shadow is underplayed in Mirage because:

Meta favors minions/tanky scaling builds
New ascendancies (like Reliquarian) offer more flexibility
Shadow builds are:
less safe
less scalable
less rewarding for effort
Saboteur in particular is just numerically weak

If you want, I can break down which Shadow builds are still actually strong in SSF Mirage (there are a few sleeper ones 👀).

claude opus 4.6 take

Spoiler

Now I have a comprehensive picture. Here's the analysis:
Great question — the Shadow's decline in Mirage league is the result of several compounding factors that have been building over multiple patches. Here's what's going on:
The Trickster's Fall from Grace
The Trickster was the most popular Shadow ascendancy in 3.27 (Keepers of the Flame), consistently ranking in the top 5 of all ascendancies for several leagues running RPGStash. Its dominance was built on three pillars: Escape Artist (evasion/ES scaling), Spellbreaker (spell suppression), and One Step Ahead (action speed immunity).
The problem is that GGG has been systematically dismantling what made Trickster dominant:
Starting in league 3.27, the game subjected One Step Ahead to a drastic nerf, completely removing its former offensive bonuses. Then in 3.28, GGG implemented a more direct nerf to Energy Shield by reducing the amount ES gained per point of intelligence IGGM — the primary attribute Shadow builds use for ES scaling. The Trickster's survivability took a further hit with changes to the Escape Artist ascendancy node in 3.27 RPGStash, and Spellbreaker no longer provides a 20% boost in spell suppression RPGStash.
So the Trickster went from being the gold standard of "offense + defense in one package" to a class whose defining advantages have been chipped away over two consecutive patches. In the current Mirage tier lists, Trickster sits in B-tier — viable but weaker than the top options MMOPIXEL.
The Assassin's Awkward Position
The Assassin had been largely untouched since 2019 and gradually fell behind as the Trickster and Saboteur gained modern defensive mechanics and smoother scaling tools Gamelarkrecords. It got a rework in 3.27 that modernized its nodes, but it still fundamentally relies on crit and poison — archetypes that aren't favored by 3.28's meta shifts.
In Mirage league, the Assassin sits in A-tier MMOPIXEL, so it's not bad — but its best builds (Poisonous Concoction, Nightblade Mamba) are niche compared to what's dominating the league.
The Saboteur's Niche Problem
The Saboteur has long been pigeonholed into traps and mines. GGG buffed Saboteur's least popular ascendancy nodes in 3.28, potentially signaling new build directions RPGStash, but the class still struggles with the fundamental issue that mine/trap playstyle isn't what most players gravitate toward, especially in a league where mobility and clear speed matter (Mirage zones are compact and punishing).
What's Actually Dominating Instead
The real story is about what replaced Shadow at the top:
The Necromancer stands as 3.28's undisputed S-Tier champion thanks to game-changing minion buffs — new support gems, adjusted gem scaling, and the game-breaking level 30 minion power spike aoeah.com. The Guardian received direct buffs including a permanent Sentinel of Radiance with 36% increased movement speed, full curse and ailment protection every 4 seconds, and a new damage notable aoeah.com.
Meanwhile, the recommended league starters for Mirage were things like Lacerate Gladiator, Kinetic Fusillade Elementalist, and Dominating Blow Guardian /SKILL — none of them Shadow classes.
The Bigger Picture
The Shadow's situation is a classic PoE cycle: a class dominates for several leagues (Trickster was #1 for roughly 3.23–3.27), GGG nerfs it over successive patches, and the meta shifts to whatever got buffed. The Trickster specifically held the top spot for so long that it accumulated a critical mass of nerfs — One Step Ahead gutted, Escape Artist weakened, ES scaling reduced globally, and Spellbreaker trimmed. Each nerf on its own was manageable, but combined they've pushed the whole Shadow class from "default best choice" to "solid but no longer exceptional."
If history is any guide, GGG will probably buff Shadow ascendancies again in a future patch when they've been underrepresented long enough. That's the eternal PoE balance cycle.