Contents |
Basic Information
Base Stats
Vigor | 42 | Battle Power | +24 | Bonus HP | +24 |
Speed | 42 | Def/M.Def | 30/30 | Bonus MP | +0 |
Magic | 36 | Block/M.Block | 24/24 | Run Chance | V. High |
Stamina | 36 |
There's little to complain about with Shadow's base stats. His BPow is a little below Locke's, but he has access to some pretty strong weapons to make up for it and a more offensive special ability. Be forewarned however that Shadow's high stats are partially to make up for the fact that he is likely to have fewer available levels to raise with Esper bonuses than other characters, given that he is the last non-Gogo/Umaro character to join at an averaged level in BNW. The more you level everyone else, the less impressive his base stats will be. Still, Shadow has nothing to be ashamed of with some of the highest base Vigor, the highest base Speed, decent base defenses and killer evasion stats, and even a pretty good base Magic.
Special Skill - Throw
Shadow has the ability to Throw items, expending them from your inventory to deal potent defense-ignoring physical damage or nasty magical damage to enemies. Unlike vanilla FF6, Shadow's options are somewhat restricted. He can throw most Daggers (including his unique Ninja Daggers), Shuriken, and Scrolls.
Daggers
Do tons of single-target damage, but they tend to be very expensive as they are actual weapons. They can be bought in bulk, but don't expect it to be cheap.
Shuriken
Are free-targetable, meaning they can strike one enemy or all enemies at the player's discretion. They're also quite cheap to buy. There is an upgraded Shuriken, the Ninja Star, which is considerably stronger than the basic Shuriken. It's also far rarer, available in mostly limited quantities. There is a way to get an infinite number of them, but it won't be easy, and Shadow may need a little help from a friend to accomplish the task.
Scrolls
Contain ancient ninja magic and are mostly magical or support-oriented. Three scrolls allow Shadow to do Fire, Water, or Bolt damage (bear in mind that's Water, not Ice!), a much rarer scroll allows him to set Invis status (a rare and not necessarily always helpful status), and the Smoke Bomb allows him to set the very useful Image status on one ally. Scrolls aren't as cheap as basic Shuriken, but they're much more economically-priced than Daggers tend to be. The damaging Scrolls are more powerful against single enemies than groups, although their power is very high even then, making them a great choice for clearing out enemy packs with the right weakness.
Shadow has one other special ability worth noting: His loyal dog Interceptor. As his name suggests, Interceptor has a chance of intercepting an attack that otherwise would have hit Shadow, blocking all the damage and occasionally retaliating with a Stamina-based attack. Since Shadow has very high evasion stats naturally, Interceptor adds an extra layer of protection that easily makes Shadow the most dodge-happy character in the game, and contributes some extra damage besides.
Espers
Phantom | Vigor +1 / Stamina +1 | Fenrir | Speed +2 |
Shadow's selections are about as basic as they come. He can up his damage output a little, or he can make himself faster. It's generally wise to get a bit of both as the game progresses, but skewing one way or the other is also possible. It might not be a good idea to go overboard on Fenrir though.
Spells
Regen | (Fenrir) | Float | (Phantom) |
Life | (Equipment) | Safe | (Phantom) |
Rerise | (Equipment) | Haste | (Phantom) |
HasteX | (Fenrir) | ||
Warp | (Fenrir) |
Shadow lacks Black Magic, but his Scrolls essentially fill that role for him, so he has relatively few weak points other than a lack of healing spells. His status magic is to the point, with the handy Safe, the situational Float and Warp, and the incredibly powerful Haste and Haste X. He can also summon Fenrir to set Image on the entire party at once, which saves him some turns at the start of a fight.
Shadow has the ability to learn not one, but two spells from equipment, something that is relatively rare in BNW. Both pieces of equipment are a bit tricky to locate, but if they can be found he will gain the ability to revive allies either preemptively via Rerise or actively via Life. Considering Shadow's Speed this can be pretty handy in a pinch, just remember that Shadow might want to put Rerise on himself first, as he's not the most durable of characters.
Equipment
Shadow has slightly better equipment selection than Sabin, but it's not great. He can wear most Light Armor (including the Mirage Vest) and most Hats (including the Ninja Mask, naturally), but no Shields and no particularly bulky armor. He can somewhat make up for Shield access with his use of Daggers, Katanas, and Ninja Daggers, all of which often have decent evasion boosts, and Shadow can dual-wield all of them (he can also two-hand Katanas, but this is a fairly niche choice for him).
Shadow's gear is mostly oriented around his offensive stats, letting him stack things like Vigor, Speed, and Magic with ease but not doing a whole lot for him defensively. Couple this with his low HP and there's not much that can be done with equipment to shore up his durability. Shadow relies on not getting hit, so keep that in mind when selecting his stuff and decide between making sure he dodges most threats or just setting him up to dish out as much damage as possible with the understanding that he'll need to be revived a lot.
Shadow has access to a number of semi-exclusive Relics. He can use the Rogue Cloak like Locke, and he's arguably even more frightening with it. Spells cast from a Katana or Ninja Dagger and a well-tossed Scroll can do amazing damage with the Rogue Cloak equipped, and it ensures Shadow's Fight attacks can't miss as well. He can also use the Memento Ring (also used by Relm), which seems somewhat useless initially... until one notices it provides a +7 Magic boost! Pairing it with the Rogue Cloak and an elemental weakness can really make Shadow's Scrolls sting. Of course, Shadow also likes the Power Glove for Throwing powerful Vigor-based items like Ninja Stars and Ninjatos, and the Death Ward can go a long way in keeping him from dying.
Availability
Shadow's availability isn't great, and it often comes at a price. Literally; he will charge you to join up in Sabin's scenario and the Zozo sequence. He's very good in both places though, providing Sabin with desperately needed support and providing some immensely useful advantages against Dadaluma if he's taken into that fight. Unfortunately, that's about the last you'll see of him for a good while, as he'll ditch you at the Opera House before the fight with Ultros and he's not available for the IMRF and Sealed Gate segments. Although he's forced for Crescent Island, he doesn't actually do anything there, leaving you before fighting any bosses in favor of Strago. While he's technically optional on the Floating Continent, he's the only character who can serve as your fourth party member there and so he is essentially mandatory for the area and the fight with Atma Weapon.
Shadow can become permanently unavailable thereafter if you do not wait for him on the Floating Continent. If you do not wait, Relm will inherit Interceptor, but it's definitely not a good idea to do this as Shadow's greatest power has yet to show itself. In the WoR he is gated behind a single boss in the Cave on the Veldt, although it's a tough one. You must then bet a weapon in the Coliseum and defeat Shadow to recruit him permanently (be sure to save first). Once he actually joins up in the WoR, he's finally yours forever, and you'll quickly learn why he was so heavily restricted before.
Build & Role Options
The Silent Killer
Shadow is an offensive weapon in every respect. He can kill things faster than almost any character bar Locke, and Locke doesn't have access to multi-targetable abilities or Interceptor. When you want something dead, outfitting Shadow for Vigor is a good way to ensure it happens.
The idea is to use equipment like the Mirage Vest, Ninja Mask, and powerful Daggers like the Avenger or Orochi, then Throw Shuriken and Daggers while counterattacking anything that thinks it can score a hit on Shadow. A Power Glove will just elevate the carnage to new levels. Of course, don't forget to have Shadow pop Haste X on the party. It'll just make him and everyone else that much faster.
Every Shadow is fragile, but a Shadow in the front row is obviously even moreso. Casting Safe on himself can help, as can using a Smoke Bomb, but you'll want to be very careful about magic lest Shadow eat dirt. And if a hit does get through, not even Safe will necessarily save him, so Rerise is also handy. While Shadow can cast most of these buffs himself, every turn he spends setting himself up is a turn he could've used attacking, which erodes the turn advantage he'd otherwise get from being so much faster than everyone else. Of course, if he's dead he's not taking any turns, so there's that.
CRITICAL ESPERS - Phantom
Phantom. Most Throw options like the Ninjato are Vigor-based, and Phantom only gives +1 per level, so the more of it the better. You'll also pick up some Stamina along the way that will be more helpful than it sounds, as Shadow definitely fears things that can cut through his evasion and debilitate him (or put him to Sleep and make him automatically hittable).
USEFUL ESPERS - Fenrir
The only other Esper option he has, so it's worth at least a couple of levels. Shadow's already probably the fastest character in the game, but it rarely hurts to be a little bit faster still.
The Jutsu Master
Shadow sure does get a lot of turns, doesn't he? Imagine if he could use those turns for more than just offensive stuff. Well... what's stopping him? Sure, he doesn't have healing spells, but you've probably got a bunch of Tonics and Potions burning a hole in your pocket, right? And does your whole party have Image and Rerise up right now? Shadow can fix that for you too. And when he's done, how about popping some ancient ninja magic and Scroll-hucking the enemy into oblivion?
Shadow's accessories are what make this role. Equip the Memento Ring or a similarly useful Magic-boosting accessory with the Rogue Cloak, throw on one of Cyan's more Magic-oriented Katanas, go for Speed and both kinds of Evade, and spend Shadow's turns doing all the crazy support stuff that other characters wish they could do as often as he can. If the entire party isn't Hasted, Safed, Imaged, and Rerised, Shadow has plenty of work left to do to make you effectively unbeatable. And if he has no pressing business in the front row with his dual wielding, why put him up there? His evasion and Interceptor should cover most things except auto-hitting defense-ignoring magical attacks, and (almost) every Shadow setup is weak to those.
Of course this can be risky. Katanas tend not to be as good defensively as Shadow's other weapons, and if he two-hands a Katana instead of dual wielding he'll lose quite a bit more in the way of evasion boosts and stats. It can be worth it in some cases (the Mutsunokami is pretty scary in Shadow's hands), but if you'd rather play it safe and have Shadow supporting the party then it's a bit risky.
CRITICAL ESPERS - Fenrir
The fast get faster, the turns get... turnier. The faster Shadow can go, the more actions he can take. The more actions he can take, the more cool support stuff he can do or the more Scrolls he can Throw. If he's fast enough Shadow should go first in almost every battle too, which allows him to clear them with a Katana spell or Scroll or just throw up Fenrir or Rerise before the enemy has a chance to do any serious harm to anyone.
USEFUL ESPERS - Phantom
There's still always need for some Phantom levels. The extra Stamina in particular is quite nice. More to the point, it is possible to get too fast, so going more than 10 levels into Fenrir is serious overkill (especially when Shadow is the king of +Speed gear). Get some Phantom instead, it'll be a bit more useful than going all-in on Fenrir.