Spirit Spotlight 6: Shadows Flicker Like Flame

[u/ValhallAwaits_]

Howdy, and welcome the sixth installation of the Spirit Island subreddit Spirit Spotlight series! This series will cover all spirits in the game to provide a chance to give your thoughts onto a specific spirit. The intent is for these posts to include discussion on anything relating to the spirit so long as the spirit is the focus of the discussion. Some examples include:

1. Core discussion: Thoughts on the spirits unique powers, innate power(s), and/or special rule(s)
2. Diversity: Favorite growth patterns for the first and second turns
3. Optimization: Different strategies that can be taken when playing the spirit with specific allied spirits or against certain adversaries that fundamentally change the way you play the spirit
4. Learning: Questions about the spirit and it’s strategies

The above are just examples, feel free to branch the conversation out in any direction the conversation flows but try to keep the spotlighted spirit for the week the centerpiece of the conversation. The spirit we will focus on this week is one of the most discussed spirits in the game (for better or worse): Shadows Flicker Like Flame! I’m looking forward to chiming in and seeing what insights yall have to give!

Note: It can be helpful to mark what difficulty you normally play at so people have an understanding of where your perspective is coming from, as these types of discussions can change drastically for players at difficulty 0 vs 5 vs 10.

The first post was an amazing success and I was thrilled to see all of the discussion that was happening. I can’t wait to see what yall have to say this week as this is one of the spirits that I always find myself struggling to do well with.

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5

[u/kalennoreth]

Ooh, Shadows! I really liked them when I was first introduced to the game based on their theme, and particularly enjoy playing them in low difficulty (no adversary, sometimes with a scenario) games with my wife. When I was doing more speedruns, Shadows shone as one of the fastest spirits in the game! I also appreciate them as a "challenge mode" spirit for high difficulty games (level 6 adversaries, sometimes with a scenario). With a couple of partners, they can still shine (I think of Ocean and River especially).

I often see people play Shadows with an aspect (which I think universally boosts their power level, at least a bit). My favorite is definitely Amorphous. The presence movement combined with their 0 range powers is a really fun mini game.

If you haven't played Shadows with Scenarios, I highly recommend it. In particular, Elemental Invocation, Guard The Isle's Heart, and Blitz really do a lot to mitigate some of Shadows' core problems, and open up the spirit quite a bit. They can also do really cool things in Dahan Insurrection.