Shadowhunters, otherwise known as "Demonic," feature some of the best build variety in Lost Ark, featuring two vastly different PvE builds and multiple PvP options. Whether you love wielding bladed tonfas or the raw power of a demon, the Shadowhunter has you covered.
Related: Lost Ark: Shadowhunter Class Guide
In this guide, we'll be looking at three builds for the Shadowhunter—two for PvE, one for PvP. These builds are easy to learn, fun to play, and dish out a respectable amount of damage. Each build is quite long, so feel free to use the table of contents above to find a specific build. We cover everything from Tripods to recommended stats.
Updated May 13, 2022: The build guides in this article have been updated with better formatting and some tweaks to ensure that your Shadowhunter is the best it can be, and we've also added a helpful video guide that tells you all about the best Shadowhunter builds.
Demonic Impulse (PvE)
Why Play This Build?
Do you love carving through hordes of enemies with melee attacks? Do you love flashy skills? Are you a Devil May Cry fan? If you answered "yes" to any of those questions, this build is for you. In essence, this build focuses on minimizing the downtime on your Shadowburst gauge, allowing you to use your demon form in every engagement.
This is done by utilizing the Demonic Impulse Engraving and skills that grant a copious amount of Shadowburst energy. Your human form will be throwing out as many skills as possible to activate your demon form, unlocking a new suite of skills that deal immense damage and have low cooldowns. You'll deal incredible single-target damage, have solid AoE clear, and will be both fast and stylish while doing so. Be warned: this build is a slog to level.
Skills
This build uses mostly Intrude Skills and Shadowburst Tripods to build up your Shadowburst meter as fast as possible. Once it's active, turn into a demon to access your extremely powerful Demon Skills. Your Demon Skills don't have Tripod upgrades, so we'll only be covering the Tripods for your human skills.
| Skill | Description |
| Demonic Slash | Dash forward to inflict 376 damage 3 times before swinging your weapon to deal an additional 376 damage. This skill has Super Armor. |
| Thrust Impact | Use a burst of your weapon's power to draw enemies close, dealing 336 damage before quickly sliding back and inflicting 1,344 damage. |
| Demonic Clone | Call forth an incarnation of the devil to attack by your side. Move forward and punch 2 times, inflicting 1,714 damage, then strike the ground with one final blow that inflicts 1,121 damage. |
| Rising Claw | Dart forward and inflict 200 damage, then deliver an uppercut for 1,722 damage that launches foes into the air. |
| Demon Vision | Shoot a ray of death, dealing 2,269 damage while knocking foes away. Charge the beam before release to deal 4,495 damage. |
| Demon's Grip | Thrust your demon arm forward and pull foes toward you, dealing 2,417 damage. |
| Howl | Let out a cry that deals 1,150 damage and inflicts Fear for 2 seconds. |
| Decimate | Swing your arms forward to summon giant Demon arms that deal 2,248 damage. |
Fallen Ruin (Awakening | Soar into the air and shoot an energy ray straight to the ground. The laser causes an explosion moments later, knocking foes away while dealing additional damage. |
Tripods
| Demonic Slash | Excellent Mobility |
| Nimble Movement (Optional) |
| Thrust Impact | Swift Thrust |
| Deep Thrust |
| Encroaching Power |
| Demonic Clone | Vital Point Strike |
| Fist of Destruction |
| Enhanced Released Encroachment |
| Rising Claw | Quick Preparation |
| Demon Vision | Concentrated Release |
| Encroaching Power |
| Instant Discharge |
| Demon's Grip | Quick Preparation |
| Encroaching Power |
| Stretching Hand |
| Howl | Quick Preparation |
| Encroaching Power |
| Scream of Fury |
| Decimate | Quick Preparation |
| Weak Point Detection |
| Cruel Hand |
These skills favor range, so keep your distance in combat. Use Thrust Impact to generate a good bit of Shadowburst energy, retreat with Demonic Slash, then use your wide range of Intrude Skills to build up your Shadowburst energy. With enough enemies, your downtime between each transformation will only be a few seconds.
For gems, you only need two. Increased damage and faster cooldowns for Demonic Form are all this build requires. The rest of your gems are up to preference.
Recommended Stats And Engravings
| Recommended Stats | Primary: Specialization |
| Secondary: Critical |
| Engravings | Demonic Impulse |
| Grudge |
| Raid Captain |
| Keen Blunt Weapon |
| Master of Ambush |
Cursed Doll is a good replacement for Master of Ambush.
Specialization is going to be our main stat for this build, increasing the duration of your demon form (called "Demonize" in-game) while increasing Demonic skill damage. Critical is used to increase your critical hit chance, making your demon abilities hit even harder than normal. Focusing on Specialization first is recommended.
For Engravings, use the following (all at level 3 if possible):
| Engraving | Effect (Level 3) |
| Demonic Impulse | The Composure effect does not activate when Demonize ends. Upon Demonize, Demonic Skill Cooldown is reset. +30% Crit Rate while Demonic Mode is active. |
| Grudge | Deal 20% increased damage to Boss or above monsters. Take 20% more damage from Boss or above monsters. |
| Raid Captain | Outgoing damage is increased by +45% of basic Move Speed bonus percentage. |
| Keen Blunt Weapon | +50% Crit Damage, but your attacks have a chance to deal -20% damage. |
| Master of Ambush | Back attacks deal 25% increased damage. |
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Related: Lost Ark: Founder's Pack Guide
Perfect Suppression (PvE)
Why Play This Build?
If you prefer the Shadowhunter's standard attacks more than its demon form skill bar, this is the build for you. Perfect Suppression builds are focused on staying human, using the Shadowburst gauge as a way to juice up some of your attacks. Tripods and gear are much more important on these sorts of builds, so it's recommended you make this once you're experienced with the Shadowhunter. The payoff is more than worth it, allowing you to cleave through hundreds of enemies and bosses alike with high-damage bladed tonfas and demonic powers.
Skills
There's quite a bit of variety for human builds as a Shadowhunter, so your skill bar will mostly be up to you. However, there are a few melee staples with this class: Demonic Slash, Cruel Cutter, Thrust Impact, Sharpened Cut, and Howl. We'll give eight skill recommendations to give you an idea of what to build for, but what you run is mostly up to preference. For Tripods, focus on critical damage and anything that consumes Shadowburst energy to deal bonus damage.
| Skill | Description |
| Demonic Slash | Dash forward to inflict 376 damage 3 times before swinging your weapon to deal an additional 376 damage. This skill has Super Armor. |
| Cruel Cutter | Toss your weapons to wipe out opponents in front of you, inflicting up to 4,136 damage as you move forward. Airborne enemies are launched back in the air when hit. |
| Thrust Impact | Use a burst of your weapon's power to draw enemies close, dealing 336 damage before quickly sliding back and inflicting 1,344 damage. |
| Demolition | Dart forward with crossed weapons to inflict 966 damage. Use the skill again to perform 2 slashes that inflict 995 damage. Use the skill once more to swing your weapon, inflicting 1,303 damage and knockback. |
| Sharpened Cut | Move 9 meters forwards while quickly spinning, inflicting up to 1,564 damage. You ignore collision with normal monsters during the skill motion. |
| Demonic Clone | Call forth an incarnation of the devil to attack by your side. Move forward and punch 2 times, inflicting 1,714 damage, then strike the ground with one final blow that inflicts 1,121 damage. |
| Howl | Let out a cry that deals 1,150 damage and inflicts Fear for 2 seconds. |
| Decimate | Swing your arms forward to summon giant Demon arms that deal 2,248 damage. |
Gate of Eruption (Awakening) | Unleash demonic powers to open up the gates of hell,s catering hellish energy across the land that damages foes and inflicts Fear for 4s. Dark energy periodically rises from the earth to inflict damage. The energy explodes at the end for additional damage, knocking foes back. |
Tripods
| Demonic Slash | Excellent Mobility |
| Cruel Cutter | Magick Control |
| Earth Attack |
| Encroaching Release |
| Thrust Impact | Swift Thrust |
| Deep Thrust |
| Spectral Explosion |
| Demolition | Weak Point Detection |
| Wave Attack |
| Encroaching Release |
| Sharpened Cut | Enhanced Slash |
| Vertical Slash |
| Critical Cut |
| Demonic Clone | Vital Point Strike |
| Fist of Destruction |
| Encroachment Discharge |
| Howl | Quick Preparation |
| Encroaching Power |
| Scream of Fury |
| Decimate | Quick Preparation |
| Encroachment Discharge |
| Cruel Hand |
The Tripods in this setup focus on close-range combat. Most of your abilities are tailored towards dealing absurd upfront damage, allowing you to decimate most health bars with little issue. For tougher foes, use Cruel Cutter, Howl, and Decimate to deal absurd damage. Cruel Cutter and Demolition are effectively ultimate skills since they consume Shadowburst energy, so make them count.
For gems, you want to focus on lowering the cooldowns of Howl, Cruel Cutter, and Decimate. Focus on enhancing the damage of your other skills with the rest of your slots.
Recommended Stats And Engravings
| Recommended Stats | Primary: Critical |
| Secondary: Swiftness |
| Engravings | Perfect Suppression |
| Grudge |
| Raid Captain |
| Keen Blunt Weapon |
| Master of Ambush |
If you're struggling to stay alive, consider replacing Master of Ambush with Crisis Evasion or Divine Protection.
Critical is your main stat for this build, scaling the damage your abilities will be dishing out. It's important that you invest heavily into Critical to make your ability crit chance consistent. For your second stat, Swiftness is great for improving the overall feel of the build—increasing attack speed, movement speed, all while reducing your cooldowns slightly.
For Engravings, use the following (all at level 3 if possible):
| Engraving | Effect (Level 3) |
| Perfect Suppression | Normal skill damage +30%. Shadowburst meter +50% for all skills. Disables Demonize. |
| Grudge | Deal 20% increased damage to Boss or above monsters. Take 20% more damage from Boss or above monsters. |
| Raid Captain | Outgoing damage is increased by +45% of basic Move Speed bonus percentage. |
| Keen Blunt Weapon | +50% Crit Damage, but your attacks have a chance to deal -20% damage. |
| Master of Ambush | Back attacks deal 25% increased damage. |
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Related: Lost Ark: Gunslinger Best Builds
Demonic Chain (PvP)
Why Play This Build?
This build is tuned towards 3v3 group PvP. 1v1 PvP builds are mostly personal preference.
Do you love carving through hordes of enemies with melee attacks? Do you love flashy skills? Are you a Devil May Cry fan? If you answered "yes" to any of those questions, this build is for you. In essence, this build focuses on minimizing the downtime on your Shadowburst gauge, allowing you to use your demon form every engagement.
This is done by utilizing the Demonic Impulse Engraving and skills that grant a copious amount of Shadowburst energy. Your human form will be throwing out as many skills as possible to activate your demon form, unlocking a new suite of skills that deal immense damage and have low cooldowns. You'll deal incredible single-target damage, have solid AoE clear, and will be both fast and stylish while doing so.
Skills
This build uses mostly Intrude Skills and Shadowburst Tripods to build up your Shadowburst meter as fast as possible. Once it's active, turn into a demon to access your extremely powerful Demon Skills. Your Demon Skills don't have Tripod upgrades, so we'll only be covering the Tripods for your human skills.
| Skill | Description |
| Demonic Slash | Dash forward to inflict 302 damage 3 times before swinging your weapon to deal an additional 302 damage. This skill has Super Armor. |
| Thrust Impact | Use a burst of your weapon's power to draw enemies close, dealing 215 damage before quickly sliding back and inflicting 859 damage. |
| Grind Chain | Throw your weapon forward to inflict 435 damage, then another 472 damage as it comes back to you. This skill cannot be canceled while your weapon is away. |
| Sharpened Cut | Move 9 meters forwards while quickly spinning, inflicting up to 1,564 damage. You ignore collision with normal monsters during the skill motion. |
| Demonic Clone | Call forth an incarnation of the devil to attack by your side. Move forward and punch 2 times, inflicting 1,377 damage, then strike the ground with one final blow that inflicts 900 damage. |
| Rising Claw | Dart forward and inflict 160 damage, then deliver an uppercut for 1,383 damage that launches foes into the air. |
| Demon Vision | Shoot a ray of death, dealing 1,822 damage while knocking foes away. Charge the beam before release to deal 3,610 damage. |
| Piercing Thorn | Summon infernal spikes at the target location within 12 meters to inflict 2,243 damage, knocking foes back. |
Tripods
| Demonic Slash | Excellent Mobility |
| Nimble Movement |
| Chain Charge |
| Thrust Impact | Swift Thrust |
| Enhanced Explosion |
| Spectral Explosion |
| Grind Chain | Earth Attack |
| Impaired Mobility |
| Chain Attack |
| Sharpened Cut | Excellent Mobility |
| Infiltration Attack |
| Demonic Clone | Naively Honest |
| Fist of Destruction |
| Encroachment Discharge |
| Rising Claw | Naively Honest |
| Giant Hand |
| Demon Vision | Quick Release |
| Electric Discharge |
| Instant Discharge |
| Piercing Thorn | Enhanced Strike |
| Triple Thorn |
| Massive Thorns |
Your skills provide a great mix of ranged poking and up-close damage. Quite a bit of crowd control is baked into your abilities, allowing you to combo certain skills together to deal immense damage. Here are a few combo examples:
- Grind Chain -> Sharpened Cut -> Demonic Clone -> Thrust Impact
- Demon Vision -> Sharpened Cut -> Rising Claw -> Thrust Impact
- Grind Chain -> Demon Vision (great stun combo)
As you can see, you'll want to use Grind Chain or Demon Vision as a combo opener, close the gap with Sharpened Cut or Demonic Slash, then use your hard-hitting ability. If that third ability stuns, you can finish the combo with Thrust Impact. Using Thrust Impact will end your combo, so be mindful of your positioning once you use it. You do also have access to your demon form in PvP, although building up charge for it is tricky. Use it in 3v3 situations to further create chaos.
Recommended Stats
Engravings are disabled in PvP, so we will not be listing any for this guide.
| Recommended Stats | Primary: Swiftness |
| Secondary: Domination |
Swiftness is your main stat, enhancing your attack speed, movement speed, and ability cooldowns. A large chunk of your stat points should go here. From there, put points in Domination to take full advantage of the stun-chaining this build is capable of—enhancing your damage to stunned targets. Be mindful of your lack of Super Armor and health on this build. If you get stunned, it's over. But if you can land the first blow, prepare to deal some serious damage.
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Next: Lost Ark: Complete Guide And Walkthrough
