Ever since 2013, when Marleybone first made its entry into Pirate101, there has been a very powerful peace of gear with a ridiculously underrated power. Imagine traveling to any point on a map in one turn. Imagine being able to disappear from knockback bombs (tempest of torpedoes) webs, and any sticky situation in general. We are, of course, talking about Black Rain Shades, an accessory more commonly used as a stitch than anything else. This item can be farmed from Sato in the Orchid Tea room, or you can purchase the HooDoo bundle for the Conqueroos Boots which also give the Shadow Step ability.
- Sato in the Orchid Tea Room (Eye Patch)
- HooDoo Bundle (Boots)
Farm Here
And or…
Buy this??
The Otter Meta
- Dealing with slows.
Now with the emergence of the “Otter Met” (the companions Emmette and Exeter and their mass slowing abilities), you would think this piece of gear would have risen in popularity almost immediately, but no, even now you see musketeers stitch the item to an eye patch for an extra trick shot. The “maelstrom” ability makes it incredibly difficult to move down the board, but most musketeers don’t even seem to notice this! They usually sit at the back of the board and wait for forted units to move up on them and corner their entire team. It’s absolute insanity, but I have a theory for why this is the case.
While questing through the game, mobs will always charge headlong into a player’s bombs, traps, and overwatch along with all of the chains. This makes mobility an afterthought for a lot of players, even when they get into PvP later on. They are not used to having an opponent that will maneuver around or stall out their abilities. In 1v1s, there are still a lot of players that play in a style very similar to the AI; many buccaneers will just charge into a musketeer with no questions asked, so it’s not usually until a player gets into 3v3s that this play style’s weakness is brought to his attention.
As 3v3s grow in popularity, I am willing to bet that this will change very soon. Players continue to see it’s effective use in recent tournaments which makes me almost certain we’ll see everyone using shadow step in the near future, and that’s why I’m writing this now.
Effective Uses
This also raises an interesting question. What class is most effective with shadow step and in what situations? I’ll list uses for each class in order from most effective to least effective
#1 - Musketeer
- ➣ PvE on large maps
- ➣ Immediate pressure in PvP (Especially 3v3)
- ➣ Bypassing movement restrictions in ranked (Especially good for avoiding mojo reduces from witchdoctors)
In PvE it’s mostly useful for farming bosses like Obsidian Black Bonnie Anne and Rook as a musketeer.
For PvP, It helps you get down the field quickly so you can bomb and chain right away. This is even more effective in 3v3s when you have a team to place a valor fortress or two on you first turn. Since musketeers have long range epic attacks, and bombs that limit movement for the enemy units, a team can simply bomb the other team into a corner and start shredding them in just two turns!
Furthermore, it can also be used as a way to move from your starting position right away even when this is not normally possible. In rank PvP, if you get first turn, you can’t normally move from your starting position. This can be an issue when you’re facing a witchdoctor who can Ocuborus, Eye Swarm, or Evil Eye to reduce your mojo. Thankfully, shadow step bipasses this issue, so if you are a musketeer and you think there will be a lot of witchdoctors queuing up for rank, definitely pack an item with shadow step.
#2 - Buccaneers
- ➣ A way to escape sticky situations in 3v3s. (mostly in the early and mid game)
I also know of some buccaneers that use the ability to teleport out of knocks (tempest of torpedoes) when they're facing a musketeer. You can also use it as a way to escape webs (the pet ability that immobilizes a unit for 3 turns), or when boxed off by enemy units.
One common strategy is to put knocks (tempest of torpedoes) behind a player and move up your pirate to purge them. If a player can just teleport out, then it effectively counters that strategy.
#3 - Swashbucklers
- ➣ As a way to get off extra poisons
- ➣ Get out of sticky situations
The last possible way this ability could be used effectively is that swashbucklers can get off more poisons. Normally they would have to use 2 turns to get a safe distance before their hide goes away. Shadow step only has potential for swashbuckler in 3v3s and 4v4s though, so keep that in mind. In PvE, it’s useless, and in 1v1s, you normally need that slot for an extra valor fortress.
#4 - Witchdoctor
- ➣ Mostly good for late game.
- ➣ Rarely effective.
Witchdoctors have it by default, but since they have access to more infinite range attacks, teleporting down the field early game can be counter productive. It can be great in late game situations where everyone is on one side of the map. Porting to the other side would buy time to use an extra attack or summons and could determine the outcome of the game, but that’s not likely.
Conclusion!!
Those are the main ways of viable use for this ability. As this ability gradually becomes more and more commonly used, it will be interesting to see what strategies will be used in the future.
Napoleguin!