Path of Exile Top 7 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 deals excellent damage.
Mapping: 10/10 Delve: 10/10 Heist: 10/10 Damage: 9/10 Safety: 9/10 Bosses: 9/10
Build Guide
The Explosive Trap & Seismic Trap Saboteur is ranked first for Shadow builds and excels in single target and clearing damage with a large area of effect trap attack. Explosive Trap of Shrapnel is the fairly new transfigured version of Explosive Trap that is much better at damaging larger groups of enemies. 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. Intelligence Stacking Power Siphon Trickster (Shadow)
The Power Siphon Trickster has excellent clearing damage while still maintaining very solid single target damage.
Mapping: 10/10 Delve: 10/10 Heist: 10/10 Damage: 9/10 Safety: 9/10 Bosses: 9/10
Build Guide
The Power Siphon gem was changed in a previous patch to automatically target multiple nearby enemies which gave it much better clearing damage but lower single target damage. The Trickster ascendancy is now recommended for a pure Power Siphon build that doesn't use Kinetic Blast for clearing. If you are interested in trying out the Intelligence Stacking Power Siphon Trickster build you can find a guide for it here Intelligence Stacking Power Siphon Trickster Guide.
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3. 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 would like to try out the Toxic Rain Trickster build you can find a guide for it here Toxic Rain Trickster Guide.
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4. Soulrend of the Spiral Trickster (Shadow)
Soulrend Trickster is the most powerful spell damage over time build in our rankings and it has great defensive layers.
Mapping: 9/10 Delve: 10/10 Heist: 10/10 Damage: 8/10 Safety: 10/10 Bosses: 7/10
Build Guide
This build uses an extremely high amount of mana to deal very high chaos damage over time which makes Trickster a great ascendancy to play Soulrend of the Spiral. You will gain 1% mana on kill for each enemy killed per mastery node taken on the tree with the Trickster ascendancy which helps with the very high mana cost of the build. If you would like to try 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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5. Ice Trap & Seismic Trap Saboteur (Shadow)
Ice Trap is one of the most popular elemental trap builds in the game and it deals very solid damage with a ranged attack.
Mapping: 9/10 Delve: 10/10 Heist: 5/10 Damage: 7/10 Safety: 9/10 Bosses: 8/10​​​
Build Guide
The Ice Trap & Seismic Trap Saboteur deals high damage with a large area of effect trap attack. Ice Trap has better single target damage than Lightning Trap which didn't make our rankings and better clearing damage. If you are interested in trying out the Ice Trap & Seismic Trap Saboteur you can find a guide for it here Ice Trap & Seismic Trap Saboteur Guide.
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6. Caustic Arrow Trickster (Shadow)
The Caustic Arrow Trickster is the second best Shadow bow build and it has strong defensive ascendancies.
Mapping: 9/10 Delve: 8/10 Heist: 9/10 Damage: 8/10 Safety: 8/10 Bosses: 7/10
Build Guide
Caustic Arrow plays like a typical bow build except that it creates chaos damage over time puddles on collision. It also adds some variety to your typical bow build playstyle by throwing chaos damage into the build mix. If you are interested in trying out the Caustic Arrow Trickster build you can find a guide for it here Caustic Arrow Trickster Guide.
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7. Seismic Trap / Exsanguinate Trap Saboteur (Shadow)
The Exsanguinate Trap Saboteur is one of the best budget trap builds and deals very solid damage with a ranged attack.
Mapping: 9/10 Delve: 7/10 Heist: 10/10 Damage: 8/10 Safety: 7/10 Bosses: 6/10
Build Guide
This build uses Seismic Trap for high burst damage and Exsanguinate Trap for clearing damage when Seismic Trap is on cooldown. It's one of the top trap builds available in Path of Exile especially on a budget. If you are interested in trying out Seismic Trap & Exsanguinate Trap you can find a guide for it here Seismic Trap/Exsanguinate Trap Saboteur Guide.
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And that's all for the Top 7 Shadow Builds! For more on PoE you can view the endgame guide here Endgame Guide.​​
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