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 transfigured version of Explosive Trap that has much better clearing damage against larger groups of enemies. If you're interested in trying out the Explosive Trap of Shrapnel Saboteur build you can find a guide for the build in the menu at the top of this website.
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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 Power Siphon build if you're not using the Kinetic Blast skill for clearing damage. If you're interested in trying out the Intelligence Power Siphon Trickster build you can find a guide for it at the top of this website.
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3. Toxic Rain Trickster (Shadow)
The Toxic Rain Trickster is the best Shadow bow build in our rankings and it also 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 it doesn't require expensive 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 in the menu at the top of this webpage.
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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 making Trickster the ideal ascendancy to play Soulrend of the Spiral. You will gain 1% mana on kill for every enemy killed per mastery node taken on the skill tree with the Trickster ascendancy which helps with the high mana cost of the build. If you would like to try the Soulrend of the Spiral Trickster build you can find a guide for it in the menu at the top of this page.
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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 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 can deal high damage with two large area of effect trap attacks. Ice Trap has better single target damage than Lightning Trap which is a popular trap build and it also has better clearing damage. If you're interested in trying out Ice Trap & Seismic Trap you can find a guide for the build at the top of this page.
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6. Caustic Arrow Trickster (Shadow)
The Caustic Arrow Trickster is the second best Shadow bow build and it has a strong defensive ascendancy.
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 over time into the build mix. If you're interested in trying out the Caustic Arrow Trickster build you can find a guide for it in the menu above.
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7. Seismic Trap / Exsanguinate Trap Saboteur (Shadow)
The Exsanguinate Trap Saboteur is one of the best budget trap builds and it 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're interested in trying out Seismic Trap & Exsanguinate Trap you can find a guide for it in the menu at the top of this website.
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That's all for this PoE guide! You can view more Path of Exile guides in the menu at the top of this page. Best of luck!​​​