Shadow Master

Shadow Master is an Assassin Skill in Diablo II.

Lore
''This discipline allows an Assassin to project an even more powerful shadow avatar. The Shadow Master has access to all of the Assassin skills, also skills you don't have yet. ''

Synergies

 * Gives synergy to: None
 * Receives synergy from: None

The upgrade to Shadow Warrior this skill allows the shadow to use skills the Assassin herself might not even know. Though this can be useful, using Master instead of Warrior does have pros and cons.

Overall the shadow master is stronger and tougher, with a random assortment of items, which can gain magical bonus as the skill level grows, including ones that boost skill levels, or resistance boosts that are capable of giving the Master immunity to certain elements (her resistance does not suffer from Nightmare and Hell's penalty, nor are they capped at 75%). The Master can also use skills that the assassin does not possess - for example, it can throw death sentries for a martial artist, or use Phoenix Strike for area of effect freeze for trappers.

On the other hand, the Master's ability to use all skills can be a hindrance. For trap-oriented assassins, the Master's traps share the same 5 trap limit, so she may end up laying a relatively harmless Charged Bolt Sentry that overrides a deadly Death Sentry. The Master's fondness of spamming Mind Blast can disrupt a martial artist assassin's rhythm, as it may convert the monster that the assassin is charging up on, causing her to end up running aimlessly in place while trying to click the now untargetable monster, or maybe even straight into the heart of a horde of monsters. Also, against enemies that are capable of destroying the shadow minion in a few hits, the fairly long casting delay on this skill will prevent the Assassin from refreshing her tank in time.

Using which shadow depends on preference and situation. As the Assassin gains levels and becomes more experienced as a player and has better gear, Warrior might be a better choice in some situations, allowing you to tweak what skills the shadow uses.

The Skills a Shadow Master uses are:


 * Cloak of Shadows (rarely)
 * Mind Blast
 * Fade
 * Burst of Speed
 * Death Sentry
 * Venom
 * (some Martial Arts and other traps)

The Items for Shadow Master:


 * Level 17
 * Rare Amulet


 * Level 13
 * Rare Ring left


 * Level 11
 * Rare Suwayyah, War Fist or Scissors Suwayyah in right hand
 * Rare Battle Cestus, Runic Talons or Scissors Suwayyah in left hand
 * Rare or Ogre Gauntlets
 * Rare Ring right
 * Rare Armor; same type as Assassin
 * Rare Helm; same type as Assassin


 * Level 9
 * Magic Ring right


 * Level 6
 * Magic Suwayyah, War Fist or Scissors Suwayyah in right hand
 * Magic Battle Cestus, Runic Talons or Scissors Suwayyah in left hand
 * Magic Bramble Mitts or
 * Magic Armor; same type as Assassin
 * Magic Helm; same type as Assassin


 * Level 5
 * Superior Bramble Mitts, or Ogre Gauntlets


 * Level 1
 * Superior Suwayyah, War Fist or Scissors Suwayyah in right hand
 * Superior Battle Cestus, Runic Talons or Scissors Suwayyah in left hand
 * Superior Armor; same type as Assassin
 * Superior Helm; same type as Assassin

These items are generated randomly on each cast and are based on skill level.

Trivia

 * One of the most popular Diablo II savegame editors is named after this skill.
 * Since Patch 1.10, the Shadow Master's behavior changed. Tests have shown that now she lacks autonomy in matter of target selection: the shadow will always target the monster/player selected by its owner. It's not specified, though, if this change is a bug or a wanted feature.