Damage engine and purpose
Shadow, Karlei and Holy Point Shot form an elite-focused build. Karlei refunds require targets already hit by Impale; enemies that die too quickly create sustain gaps.
Item, skill and rune names use their English game spelling for unambiguous lookup. Explanations, rotation and limitations are fully translated.
Six skills and runes
| Skill · rune | Function |
|---|---|
| Companion · Wolf Companion | Activate Wolf during the damage window. |
| Impale · Ricochet | Main damage and the Karlei resource loop. |
| Vault · Rattling Roll | Fast repositioning; check Discipline demand. |
| Shadow Power · Runes granted by the set | Protection and healing; Shadow set supplies additional runes. |
| Fan of Knives · Bladed Armor | Refresh the armour buff regularly. |
| Vengeance · Dark Heart | Important persistent buff; evaluate Dawn and cooldowns together. |
Four passive skills
Awareness / Numbing Traps / Cull the Weak / Leech
Complete equipment slots
| Slot | Equipped items |
|---|---|
| Head | The Shadow's Mask |
| Shoulders | The Shadow's Burden |
| Amulet | The Traveler's Pledge |
| Torso | The Shadow's Bane |
| Wrists | Strongarm Bracers |
| Hands | The Shadow's Grasp |
| Waist | Chain of Shadows |
| Legs | The Shadow's Coil |
| Feet | The Shadow's Heels |
| Rings | The Compass Rose + Elusive Ring |
| Weapon | Karlei's Point |
| Offhand | Holy Point Shot |
Kanai’s Cube: separate powers
| Category | Extracted effect |
|---|---|
| Weapon Power | Dawn |
| Armor Power | Aquila Cuirass |
| Jewelry Power | Convention of Elements |
Legendary and normal gems
Legendary gems: Bane of the Trapped / Pain Enhancer / Gogok of Swiftness.
Normally use an Emerald in weapon sockets; choose the helm socket for cooldown or Life needs. Match armour sockets to missing main stat or toughness. Seasonal Soul Shards replace helm or weapon gems only in the explicitly identified seasons.
Stats, cooldowns and optimisation
Dexterity, Lightning for Ricochet, Impale damage and critical stats. Combine Dawn with enough CDR; add attack speed only after Hatred sustain is reliable.
Complete the required legendary powers, correct runes and full set bonuses first. Cooldown reduction combines multiplicatively; do not simply add percentage rolls. Weigh a boss gem against a farming gem according to actual boss-fight length.
Rotation: preparation, damage, refresh
Step 1
Activate Shadow Power and maintain Vengeance; use Fan of Knives for armour.
Step 2
Focus Impale on elites and allow repeated hits for Karlei.
Step 3
Use Vault to refresh Elusive Ring and avoid dangerous affixes; Chain of Shadows controls its cost.
Patch boundaries and verifiable context
The source lists CoE as a ring alternative as well as in the Cube. This blueprint equips Compass Rose plus Elusive and cubes CoE only.
From Season 21 Holy Point Shot gains an additional damage bonus. This old reference is not assigned an invented retrospective value.
Check before the next equipment change
Count set pieces before replacing a free armour slot. Equipping and cubing an identical legendary power does not double it. Solo Unity requires a follower wearing the other ring with immortality equipped.
This archive describes the period configuration. A current item database may show new numbers under the same name; those live tooltips do not prove historical multipliers. Old seasonal powers cannot be replayed on current non-seasonal characters.
YOUR NEXT STEP
Your checklist
Saved locally on this device, shared between both languages. This counter measures guide tasks, not game progress.
Sources & editorial reference date
Independently written guidance. Linked sources support verification of game systems, versions and described changes. Editorial reference date: 2026-10-23.
- DiabloFans: dated loadout s12-dh www.diablofans.com