Shadow Power

Shadow Power

Shadow Power is a defensive Discipline skill that grants you heavy Life per Hit for a few seconds, sharply raising your survivability in the thick of battle. It's the class's most important active healing tool and is cycled in many builds so the buff stays up almost permanently, keeping you alive even under constant fire.

Gloom is arguably the most valuable rune, since it also significantly reduces incoming damage, turning a pure heal into a full defensive layer – mandatory for the higher difficulty tiers. If you need more mobility, Shadow Glide raises your movement speed and suits speed runs perfectly. So you tune the skill to either pure damage reduction or smooth, fast travel as needed.

Runes by unlock level

• Night Bane (from level 21): enemies within 30 yards are slowed by 80% for 5 seconds.
• Blood Moon (level 29): doubles the Life per Hit you gain.
• Well of Darkness (level 37): lowers the cost from 14 to 8 Discipline.
• Gloom (level 51): 35% reduced damage taken.
• Shadow Glide (level 58): 30% increased movement speed, the most common choice in practice.

Items and The Shadow's Mantle

Elusive Ring cuts your damage taken by 50–60% for 8 seconds after Shadow Power, Smoke Screen or Vault, so a high roll is worth it. Lianna's Wings make Shadow Power also trigger Smoke Screen, giving you two protective effects from one button.

In The Shadow's Mantle set, Shadow Power gains the effect of every rune from four pieces onward and lasts forever. The rune choice then becomes moot, and you no longer spend Discipline on recasting it.

Discipline and pace

Shadow Power and Smoke Screen both cost 14 Discipline. Preparation restores Discipline instantly, and Blood Vengeance lets health globes return a bit of it. Tactical Advantage grants a short burst of extra movement speed after every Shadow Power cast.

by eRnstl