Path of Exile Top 10 Shadow Builds
1. Explosive Trap of Shrapnel Saboteur (Shadow)
The best Shadow build goes to the Explosive Trap of Shrapnel and Seismic Trap Saboteur which has excellent damage.
Mapping: 10/10 Delve: 10/10 Heist: 10/10 Damage: 8/10 Safety: 9/10 Bosses: 9/10
Build Guide
Explosive Trap of Shrapnel is the new transfigured version of Explosive Trap that is much better at damaging multiple targets. This build is ranked first for Shadow builds and excels in both single target and clearing damage while using a ranged large area of effect trap attack. If you are interested in trying out the Explosive Trap of Shrapnel Saboteur build you can find a guide for the build here Explosive Trap of Shrapnel Saboteur Guide.
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2. Hexblast Miner Saboteur (Shadow)
The Hexblast Mine Saboteur is second for Shadow builds and is the best mine build available in Path of Exile.
Mapping: 9/10 Delve: 9/10 Heist: 9/10 Damage: 9/10 Safety: 9/10 Bosses: 9/10
Build Guide
The Hexblast Mine Saboteur is one of the highest damage Shadow builds in the game. You can throw mines and instantly detonate them for quick damage or place all of your mines at once for boss encounters. If you are interested in trying out the Hexblast Mine Saboteur you can find a guide for the build here Hexblast Mine Saboteur Guide.
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3. Intelligence Stacking Power Siphon Trickster (Shadow)
The Power Siphon Trickster has great clearing damage and better single target damage than Kinetic Blast.
Mapping: 10/10 Delve: 10/10 Heist: 8/10 Damage: 9/10 Safety: 8/10 Bosses: 8/10
Build Guide
Power Siphon was changed in a previous season to target nine nearby enemies after the removal of Barrage Support as a support gem option but still deals higher single target damage than Kinetic Blast. If you are interested in trying out the Intelligence Stacking Power Siphon Trickster you can find a guide for it here Int Stacking Power Siphon Trickster Guide.
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4. Toxic Rain Trickster (Shadow)
The Toxic Rain Trickster is the best Shadow bow build in our rankings and has strong defensive ascendancies.
Mapping: 10/10 Delve: 10/10 Heist: 7/10 Damage: 10/10 Safety: 8/10 Bosses: 9/10​​
Build Guide
This build requires you to channel Toxic Rain which rains down area of effect chaos damage over time spores. This build is the strongest Shadow bow build and doesn't require mirror tier gear to be competitive with other builds. If you are interested in trying out the Toxic Rain Trickster build you can find a guide for it here Toxic Rain Trickster Guide.
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5. Soulrend of the Spiral Trickster (Shadow)
The Soulrend Trickster is one of the strongest damage over time Shadow builds and has great defensive layers.
Mapping: 9/10 Delve: 10/10 Heist: 10/10 Damage: 8/10 Safety: 10/10 Bosses: 8/10
Build Guide
This build uses an extremely high amount of mana to deal very high chaos damage over time which makes Trickster the perfect ascendancy to play Soulrend with. You will gain 1% mana on kill for each enemy killed per mastery node taken on the tree with the Trickster ascendancy which sustains the high mana cost of the build. If you are interested in trying out the Soulrend of the Spiral Trickster build you can find a guide for it here Soulrend of the Spiral Trickster Guide.
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6. Seismic Trap / Exsanguinate Trap Saboteur (Shadow)
The best physical trap build in the game is the Seismic Trap & Exsanguinate Trap Saboteur which has excellent damage.
Mapping: 9/10 Delve: 8/10 Heist: 10/10 Damage: 9/10 Safety: 7/10 Bosses: 9/10
Build Guide
This build uses Seismic Trap with cooldown recovery for extremely high burst damage and can use Exsanguinate Trap when Seismic Trap is on cooldown for even more damage. If you are interested in trying out the Seismic Trap and Exsanguinate Trap Saboteur build you can find a guide for it here Seismic Trap & Exsanguinate Trap Guide.
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7. Caustic Arrow Trickster (Shadow)
The Caustic Arrow Trickster is in seventh place and is a strong Shadow bow build with great defensive layers.
Mapping: 9/10 Delve: 8/10 Heist: 7/10 Damage: 8/10 Safety: 9/10 Bosses: 8/10​​
Build Guide
Caustic Arrow is the poison build brother to Scourge Arrow that doesn't require a charge up attack. Caustic Arrow plays like a typical bow build except that it creates chaos damage over time puddles that damage enemies on collision. It can also add some variety to your typical bow build by throwing poison damage into the build mix. If you are interested in trying out the Caustic Arrow Trickster build you can find a guide for the build here Caustic Arrow Trickster Guide.
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8. Ice Trap & Seismic Trap Saboteur (Shadow)
Ice Trap was once one of the most popular elemental trap builds and does solid damage with a ranged attack.
Mapping: 8/10 Delve: 8/10 Heist: 7/10 Damage: 7/10 Safety: 8/10 Bosses: 7/10
Build Guide
The Ice Trap & Seismic Trap Saboteur deals solid damage in a large area of effect and has better single target damage than Lightning Trap which didn't make our rankings for the top 10 Shadow builds. If you are interested in trying out the Ice Trap & Seismic Trap Saboteur build you can find a guide for it here Ice Trap & Seismic Trap Saboteur Guide.
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9. CwC Poison Blade Vortex Cyclone Trickster (Shadow)
The CwC Poison Blade Vortex Cyclone Trickster is one of the strongest melee Shadow builds in the game.
Mapping: 8/10 Delve: 10/10 Heist: 8/10 Damage: 6/10 Safety: 8/10 Bosses: 6/10​​
Build Guide
This build quickly builds up poisons on nearby enemies with Blade Vortex and Cyclone which results in a very high number of poison stacks once you have a very fast attack speed. If you are interested in trying out the CwC Poison Blade Vortex Cyclone Trickster you can find a guide for the build here CwC Poison Blade Vortex Cyclone Trickster Guide.
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10. Essence Drain & Contagion Trickster (Shadow)
The Essence Drain Trickster is a strong Shadow caster build for clearing large packs of weaker enemies.
Mapping: 7/10 Delve: 9/10 Heist: 9/10 Damage: 7/10 Safety: 8/10 Bosses: 6/10
Build Guide
The Essence Drain Trickster quickly spreads its chaos damage over time in a large area of effect after enemies have been primed with Contagion. Essence Drain is a solid build for large groups of weaker enemies in areas like Delve. If you are interested in trying out this build you can find a guide for it here Essence Drain & Contagion Trickster Guide.
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And that's all for the Top 10 Shadow Builds! For more on PoE you can view the endgame guide here Endgame Guide.
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