Path of Exile 2 Shadow class preview: Rogues do it from behind!
Destructoid is at ExileCon 2026 all the way in Auckland, New Zealand, checking out what awaits us in Path of Exile 2‘s fabled 1.0 release as well as what’s new for the first game. While I’m covering most of what we see here in our special daily newsletter (to which you should definitely subscribe), I’m saving a few personal impressions and thoughts to the site itself. And the first of those relates to the new Shadow class—a stealthy rogue sneaking up on entire groups of enemies and taking them out before their first strike lands. I played it for about 15 minutes yesterday, experiencing several of its exceptionally complex and difficult-to-master abilities, and using them to take on large mob waves in less-than-spectacular fashion. But that is exactly the thing with the Shadow: even if you do not know what you’re doing, the class is pure eye candy, and everything that you succeed in makes it seem like you’re some kind of pro.https://embeds.beehiiv.com/a8d62108-86ed-4039-bf49-44877ba62c15 The Shadow finally brings the Rogue fantasy into PoE2. Image via GGG Subscribe to our newsletter for special daily updates live from the floor of ExileCon 2026! The Shadow specializes in stealth and can turn invisible on a whim. This invisibility breaks when you attack or when you get too close to an enemy or if the enemies discover your shadow clone and destroy it. While invisible, you can cast traps, setting and piling them up on a large group of enemies and ensuring your victory before the battle even happens. The traps come in many different forms: poison gases, concussion grenades, and so on, and each interacts with others in cool and unique ways. For example, casting a poison gas trap and combining it with an explosive trap results in a massive burst of flame that ignites enemies and deals a ton of fire damage. Concussion grenades can further disperse these flames and gas, significantly increasing AOE. However, being the absolute bot that I am, I went for a one-button run, using only the daggers and the class’s shadow clone jutsu to deal incredible damage in a large AOE using nothing but my stabs since, well, the shadows aren’t just there for show. They repeat most attacks that you do yourself, meaning that you can create a dozen of them, all of which will lambast your target with the same dagger attack that you yourself used. And they do it in a way that’d put League of Legends‘ Zed to shame, and Naruto couldn’t even hold a candle to them. The Shadow is thus all about setting up the attack and executing it with lightning speed. You create a bunch of clones and go all-in on your enemy together with them, lay a bunch of traps using stealth, or both. Of course, since I had a very limited time with the class, I couldn’t really learn the ropes in time and maximize its capabilities, but I’m pretty sure this could turn out to be the most powerful class in the entire game. The strength, naturally, comes from its complexity, meaning the best players are going to find wild ways of utilizing the Shadow to decimate even the most challenging enemies and bosses in basically single strikes. What I really loved about it overall is that it finally brings the Rogue fantasy into PoE2. We can be proper assassins and thieves (called infiltrators here) and do what rogues do best: kill our foes before they ever know what’s going on. The Shadow drops together with Path of Exile 2‘s 1.0 update on Dec. 11. https://embeds.beehiiv.com/a8d62108-86ed-4039-bf49-44877ba62c15 The post Path of Exile 2 Shadow class preview: Rogues do it from behind! appeared first on Destructoid.
Destructoid is at ExileCon 2026 all the way in Auckland, New Zealand, checking out what awaits us in Path of Exile 2‘s fabled 1.0 release as well as what’s new for the first game.
While I’m covering most of what we see here in our special daily newsletter (to which you should definitely subscribe), I’m saving a few personal impressions and thoughts to the site itself.
And the first of those relates to the new Shadow class—a stealthy rogue sneaking up on entire groups of enemies and taking them out before their first strike lands. I played it for about 15 minutes yesterday, experiencing several of its exceptionally complex and difficult-to-master abilities, and using them to take on large mob waves in less-than-spectacular fashion. But that is exactly the thing with the Shadow: even if you do not know what you’re doing, the class is pure eye candy, and everything that you succeed in makes it seem like you’re some kind of pro.
https://embeds.beehiiv.com/a8d62108-86ed-4039-bf49-44877ba62c15
The Shadow finally brings the Rogue fantasy into PoE2. Image via GGG
Subscribe to our newsletter for special daily updates live from the floor of ExileCon 2026!
The Shadow specializes in stealth and can turn invisible on a whim. This invisibility breaks when you attack or when you get too close to an enemy or if the enemies discover your shadow clone and destroy it.
While invisible, you can cast traps, setting and piling them up on a large group of enemies and ensuring your victory before the battle even happens. The traps come in many different forms: poison gases, concussion grenades, and so on, and each interacts with others in cool and unique ways. For example, casting a poison gas trap and combining it with an explosive trap results in a massive burst of flame that ignites enemies and deals a ton of fire damage. Concussion grenades can further disperse these flames and gas, significantly increasing AOE.
However, being the absolute bot that I am, I went for a one-button run, using only the daggers and the class’s shadow clone jutsu to deal incredible damage in a large AOE using nothing but my stabs since, well, the shadows aren’t just there for show. They repeat most attacks that you do yourself, meaning that you can create a dozen of them, all of which will lambast your target with the same dagger attack that you yourself used. And they do it in a way that’d put League of Legends‘ Zed to shame, and Naruto couldn’t even hold a candle to them.
The Shadow is thus all about setting up the attack and executing it with lightning speed. You create a bunch of clones and go all-in on your enemy together with them, lay a bunch of traps using stealth, or both.
Of course, since I had a very limited time with the class, I couldn’t really learn the ropes in time and maximize its capabilities, but I’m pretty sure this could turn out to be the most powerful class in the entire game. The strength, naturally, comes from its complexity, meaning the best players are going to find wild ways of utilizing the Shadow to decimate even the most challenging enemies and bosses in basically single strikes.
What I really loved about it overall is that it finally brings the Rogue fantasy into PoE2. We can be proper assassins and thieves (called infiltrators here) and do what rogues do best: kill our foes before they ever know what’s going on.
The Shadow drops together with Path of Exile 2‘s 1.0 update on Dec. 11.
https://embeds.beehiiv.com/a8d62108-86ed-4039-bf49-44877ba62c15 The post Path of Exile 2 Shadow class preview: Rogues do it from behind! appeared first on Destructoid.
While I’m covering most of what we see here in our special daily newsletter (to which you should definitely subscribe), I’m saving a few personal impressions and thoughts to the site itself.
And the first of those relates to the new Shadow class—a stealthy rogue sneaking up on entire groups of enemies and taking them out before their first strike lands. I played it for about 15 minutes yesterday, experiencing several of its exceptionally complex and difficult-to-master abilities, and using them to take on large mob waves in less-than-spectacular fashion. But that is exactly the thing with the Shadow: even if you do not know what you’re doing, the class is pure eye candy, and everything that you succeed in makes it seem like you’re some kind of pro.
https://embeds.beehiiv.com/a8d62108-86ed-4039-bf49-44877ba62c15
The Shadow finally brings the Rogue fantasy into PoE2. Image via GGG Subscribe to our newsletter for special daily updates live from the floor of ExileCon 2026!
The Shadow specializes in stealth and can turn invisible on a whim. This invisibility breaks when you attack or when you get too close to an enemy or if the enemies discover your shadow clone and destroy it.
While invisible, you can cast traps, setting and piling them up on a large group of enemies and ensuring your victory before the battle even happens. The traps come in many different forms: poison gases, concussion grenades, and so on, and each interacts with others in cool and unique ways. For example, casting a poison gas trap and combining it with an explosive trap results in a massive burst of flame that ignites enemies and deals a ton of fire damage. Concussion grenades can further disperse these flames and gas, significantly increasing AOE.
However, being the absolute bot that I am, I went for a one-button run, using only the daggers and the class’s shadow clone jutsu to deal incredible damage in a large AOE using nothing but my stabs since, well, the shadows aren’t just there for show. They repeat most attacks that you do yourself, meaning that you can create a dozen of them, all of which will lambast your target with the same dagger attack that you yourself used. And they do it in a way that’d put League of Legends‘ Zed to shame, and Naruto couldn’t even hold a candle to them.
The Shadow is thus all about setting up the attack and executing it with lightning speed. You create a bunch of clones and go all-in on your enemy together with them, lay a bunch of traps using stealth, or both.
Of course, since I had a very limited time with the class, I couldn’t really learn the ropes in time and maximize its capabilities, but I’m pretty sure this could turn out to be the most powerful class in the entire game. The strength, naturally, comes from its complexity, meaning the best players are going to find wild ways of utilizing the Shadow to decimate even the most challenging enemies and bosses in basically single strikes.
What I really loved about it overall is that it finally brings the Rogue fantasy into PoE2. We can be proper assassins and thieves (called infiltrators here) and do what rogues do best: kill our foes before they ever know what’s going on.
The Shadow drops together with Path of Exile 2‘s 1.0 update on Dec. 11.
https://embeds.beehiiv.com/a8d62108-86ed-4039-bf49-44877ba62c15 The post Path of Exile 2 Shadow class preview: Rogues do it from behind! appeared first on Destructoid.
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