Shadowhunter PvP Matchups

Shadowhunter has great versatility and a variety of tools, which means the class usually always has an answer — especially in a 3v3 environment — as it can pick and choose what fights to take. Shadowhunter's greatest strength is not necessarily how well it does over matchup spread, but the ability to be selective about who to target.

Shadowhunter has a good amount of Paralysis Immunity in melee and amazing mobility that, when coupled with both ranged and melee tools, can make it a force to be reckoned with. Being able to capitalize with high damage from anywhere on the map and force enemies to overcommit is a key strength.

On the flipside, Shadowhunter is one of the few classes that has absolutely no Push Immune skills in a conventional build and can be overly reliant on Paralysis for catches, meaning it suffers against Push-heavy classes that have the right immunities and can be entirely helpless without a strong frontline.

All matchups are made with the assumption that the standard build is being used in a 3v3 Team Death Match environment.

Difficulty Level: Average

Gunlancer is difficult to engage on and usually not a target to focus on.

Their Identity makes them wholly immune to Paralysis and Push. Couple that with the lowest cooldown Rush and an All Immunity with Counter Gunlance, and Gunlancer can feel incredibly difficult to fight.

Shadowhunter will struggle on dueling with a Gunlancer, but due to their decent Paralysis Immunity, Hook Chain can be baited without much risk. Having a ranged knockdown with Piercing Thorn and ranged Hard crowd control with Demon Vision also makes it easy to interrupt Surge Cannon.

Being in melee vs Gunlancer is highly unfavorable, but when at range, Shadowhunter has the tools to make it difficult for them to play.

Difficulty Level: Favorable

Berserker has very one-dimensional engages that are reliant on Paralysis or highly reactable Hard crowd control. When at range, Shadowhunter is under no threat.

By using Paralysis Immunity, Shadowhunter can win in trades if the Berserker chooses to engage (such as using Rising Claw or Demonic Clone vs Wind Blade or Shoulder Charge), and usually has the mobility to avoid Sword Storm.

Demon Vision is also a good way to interrupt Finish Strike, which can make it difficult for Berserker to commit too heavily.

One should be mindful of being too aggressive though, as Berserkers also have the tools to counter-engage. A single mistake can be costly, so playing safe is usually the better choice.

Difficulty Level: Average

Destroyer is a powerhouse that can feel unstoppable. Trying to trade with him in melee is an exercise in futility. Get caught and all that awaits is a world of pain.

Shadowhunter does not have to trade though. Sometimes running away is the answer. Destroyer lacks reliable fast-cast Pushes and is more dependent on Hard crowd control engages, one of which has no Paralysis Immunity ( Power Shoulder).

When using Endure Pain, Shadowhunter can reposition and attempt to interrupt burst with Demon Vision.

The general Push Immunity that Destroyer has though, as well as the ability to force Shadowhunter to always be on the run means it can be difficult to engage on the enemy team or get much value out of Piercing Thorn.

This is not terrible, but not great to fight either. The answer is usually to just run away and then turn around to interrupt engages with Push and burst with Hard crowd control.

Difficulty Level: Favorable

Paladin has a shockingly low amount of Paralysis and Push Immunities, which make them an easy target to punish.

Be wary of Charge, but other than that, many of Paladin's abilities — most notably Wrath of God and Holy Sword — can be interrupted with just Grind Chain or any Paralysis inflicting ability for that matter, meaning it can be easy to interrupt their burst with an engage like Sharpened Cut which then leads to a Shadowhunter counter combo.

Execution of Justice is a free catch if the Paladin has no Rush. Either use Demon Vision to interrupt them during it, or wait until it ends to Piercing Thorn, as that is usually their only Push Immunity.

Paladin's damage reduction and shielding is disgustingly strong, but with frequent burst opportunities, Shadowhunter is not a bad pick to deal with them. Paladin's will not get hurt much, but at least they can be incapacitated.

Difficulty Level: Hard

Wardancer has a large amount of Paralysis immunities, which makes them very hard to peel from range.

Phoenix Advent engages can be reacted to with Rising Claw, but once Shadowhunter no longer has access to it, they are usually a free target.

Wardancer has far too many Push inflicting skills with fast start-ups for Shadowhunter to be able to contest. Although Piercing Thorn can be useful to dealing with Esoteric Skill: Call of the Wind God, there is not much more utility that Shadowhunter can bring in the matchup.

Be especially wary of Energy Combustion when engaging or being engaged upon, as it applies an instant Push on explosion. This can invalidate Shadowhunter's melee combo if one is not wary, which can turn even a favorable melee situation into a Wardancer victory.

Difficulty Level: Hard

Striker is one of Shadowhunter's worst matchups — not only do they pack a significant amount of Paralysis immunities, but Esoteric Skill: Lightning Tiger Strike is a near guaranteed engage or recatch on Shadowhunter.

Although Phoenix Advent engages can be reacted to with Rising Claw, that is the only tool that can reliably deal with it. Strikers that play around it will have no difficulty engaging on Shadowhunter.

This is a class that is difficult to peel, difficult to chase, and even more difficult to duel. The solution is usually to avoid Strikers and reserve Demon Vision or Piercing Thorn to punish animation locks, such as Moon Flash Kick and Swift Wind Kick from range.

Difficulty Level: Favorable

Scrapper may have a high amount of Paralysis Immunity, great mobility and low cooldown engages that Push — all tools that Shadowhunter can struggle against. Unfortunately for Scrapper, Shadowhunter does not need to actually deal with these tools most of the time, and almost always has an answer.

Attacks like Charging Blow only knockdown on the second hit, which means that Rising Claw and Demonic Clone are effective ways to prevent their engage. Most of Scrapper's combos and damage tools, like Chain Destruction Fist and Death Rattle are easily interrupted by Demon Vision, and they lack Push immunity on critical combo setup tools, like Potent Rising Fist, which can easily be interrupted by Piercing Thorn. Given Scrapper's setup tends to make use of Fierce Tiger Strike for combos and gauge management, that is an easy interrupt with Grind Chain.

Typically just by reading Scrapper's one-dimensional approaches and playing the ranged game can make it very difficult for Scrapper to do much of anything, as Shadowhunter has all the right cooldowns to counter Scrapper's skills.

Difficulty Level: Average

Soulfist is a hybrid class that can make it incredibly hard for Shadowhunter to rushdown due to Force Orb shutting down their melee engages.

On the other hand, Shadowhunter's Paralysis Immunities similarly can be used to counter Flash Step engages.

Grind Chain is also possibly one of the strongest tools to dealing with Soulfist, as well placed attacks will make impossible for Soulfist to burst their targets due to general lack of Paralysis Immunity on burst skills.

Neither gets to run their game plan when against each other — Shadowhunter has more reliable ways of shutting down Soulfist combos, but Soulfist gets much higher value out of an engage.

Difficulty Level: Average

Glaivier has all the tools to deal with Shadowhunter. Good Paralysis Immunes, quick and long ranged Pushes, great zone control via Half Moon Slash, and even a counter via Dragonscale Defense — not to mention most of their abilities contain movement, which make it difficult to land Demon Vision on.

Thankfully, Glaivier's critical damage skills have no immunity. By using Grind Chain to interrupt Half Moon Slash, Red Dragon's Horn and Raging Dragon Slash can completely shut down their burst potential.

Although Glaivier is not as hard to deal with in melee as Wardancer or Striker, failing to stop one has a much higher risk to Shadowhunter and their team, with higher combo damage and effective ranged burst setups.

Be mindful of reserving Rush to deal with Glaivier's Push (especially Starfall Pounce) or Hard crowd control ( Flash Kick) engages and try to prioritize peeling over engaging.

Difficulty Level: Hard

Deathblade has some of the safest ways of applying Push in the game. Pair that with Maelstrom, which makes them completely immune to Paralysis, and you get one of Shadowhunter's most abysmal matchups.

It is hard for Shadowhunter to deal with a class that can quite literally be immune to their engages and can only be peeled with incredibly precise timing of Demon Vision or Piercing Thorn.

Not like those help too much, as Deathblade also has the second lowest Rush cooldown in the game, which makes baiting rather easy.

The answer to dealing with Deathblade is usually to focus somebody else. This is doubly true when in Demonize. Do try to punish Deathblade's lack of Rush if they go for engages on allies though, as this is where Shadowhunter can contribute most.

Difficulty Level: Hard

Reaper has it all — reliable Hard crowd controls in both melee ( Shadow Trap) and range ( Nightmare), great mobility with Paralysis Immunity ( Distortion), and Push after Push after Push. They are untouchable if they want to be, and for all of Shadowhunter's mobility, Reaper has more than enough cooldowns to keep up.

Always be mindful of Silent Rage engages and do not contest Shadow Double. Shadowhunter can usually reposition away from the Reaper to make it hard to be rushed down, but then it is just a game of cat and mouse.

One that is difficult to win, as whether or not Shadowhunter can escape, peeling a Reaper off allies is nearly impossible with Piercing Thorn windup and a continuously moving target.

It may be better to just rush down the Reaper's backline and force them to change focus, then retreat behind allies that can better hold ground.

Difficulty Level: Favorable

Sharpshooter is a tricky class to chase, with a multitude of escape tools and immunities that can make even the highly mobile Shadowhunter have difficulty in pursuit.

That is not too big a problem though, as Charged Shot and Snipe can be easily interrupted with Grind Chain; even just a Demonic Slash or Sharpened Cut engage is enough.

Sharpshooter is a ranged class that loses in the ranged game to Shadowhunter. Be wary of Claymore Mine though — it may be preferable to hold Rush for these crucial abilities.

Difficulty Level: Hard

With a sizeable amount of Paralysis immunity and a Push inflicting, Push Immune skill on under 10 seconds cooldown in arena with Enforce Execution, this is a class that Shadowhunter can not punish too well in range or contest in melee.

Having acrowd controless to Push Immune burst skills ( Catastrophe) means that the only viable way of peeling a Deadeye reliably is with Demon Vision, but they will usually be able to reserve their Rush to react to it given the multitude of Push Immune skills they can use to engage or retreat on top.

Shadowhunter can do a good job at interrupting shotgun skills and keeping them busy if they try to use Dexterous Shot too freely, but they can be difficult to contest until their Enforce Execution is down, so try to prioritize other targets.

Difficulty Level: Average

Gunslinger is a relatively even matchup. Almost all of their catches are dependent on Paralysis, which can usually be immuned without issue by Shadowhunter.

Gunslinger's Focused Shot is also not Paralysis Immune, which can make it risky to trade with as long as Grind Chain is in deck (or even Sharpened Cut, which can lead to a punish). However, so too are Piercing Thorn and Demon Vision easy punish points with Death Fire into Dexterous Shot from across the stage.

Gunslinger is incredibly difficult for Shadowhunter to catch unless they get too greedy with Dexterous Shot in trades (easy Demonic Clone on reaction), having enough mobility and Push Immunity to reposition and engage later. Not to mention a more robust ranged game plan.

Both are good at punishing the other from range and rushing down melee, so it tends to come down to cooldown availability and positioning for team support.

Difficulty Level: Favorable

Artillerist hits hard, but other than that, is an incredibly one dimensional class. In a 3v3 setting, it is probably one of Shadowhunter's easiest matchups.

As soon Artillerist commits to a Gatling Gun without Rush, that is an opportunity to Demon Vision or just engage and burst; they are locked in to the skill for a long time after all.

Shadowhunter having a wide ranged Push with Piercing Thorn and ranged Hard crowd control with Demon Vision is also a great way to deal with an Artillerist trying to combo their teammates.

Artillerist's lack of mobility also makes them easy to kite, and they have limited ways of applying Push on reaction to engages. Be very mindful of their Swing, but besides that, they are easy to punish once their Rush is down, as any skill will become a full animation lock.

Difficulty Level: Favorable

Machinist will outrange most abilities Shadowhunter throws at them. Not to mention instant skill activations make trading — whether in range or melee — useless.

When considering their lack of Pushes and over-reliance on Paralysis though, then Shadowhunter is in a good place to rush them down and force them to reposition to an unfavorable location.

The closer Shadowhunter is to Machinist, the better the odds. Although interrupting their combos can feel very difficult due to their instant activations, they can be rushed down easily.

Just be wary to not commit too hard, as their mobility is high and will frequently bait an overextension. Be especially wary of drone location when rushing down, as Command: Active Pulse, Command: Flare Beam and Command: Baby Drones will win out trades.

Difficulty Level: Favorable

Arcanist has good mobility, 6/8 Paralysis Immune skills, and great ranged zone control, making it very difficult to get the drop on them. Arcanist combos are long but have juke potential — especially against Demon Vision.

On the other hand, Arcanist has pathetic Push application on their skills, being both easily reactable and small in size. This means Arcana usually can not stop Shadowhunter with ease, but in turn can be tricky to engage on. This all changes with a single Demonize though, as the Paralysis immunity will render Arcanist completely helpless.

In melee trades, Shadowhunter can use Demonic Clone or Rising Claw to punish Arcanist's predictable engages. From range, they are usually punishable with Demon Vision and Piercing Thorn if without Rush.

But all it takes is a single misplaced ranged ability for a Dark Resurrection or Unlimited Shuffle to find its way into Shadowhunter — and one sucrowd controlessful Twisted Fate or Death Identity Card to instantly die. That's not a Shadowhunter specific issue though, just a lucky Arcana issue.

Difficulty Level: Average

Bard, on paper, is a good matchup. Demon Vision can oftentimes pierce Guardian Tune Hard crowd control immunity from Wind of Protection due to multi-tick application — especially if not running Quick Release pod.

With many animation locks and limited mobility outside of Rush and March, Shadowhunter can Piercing Thorn to support their team with rushdown opportunities without ever being at risk.

The issue is that is where it ends. With 6/8 skills on Bard being Paralysis Immune and 4/8 Push Immune, Shadowhunter has a lot of difficulty breaking through. Not to mention the risk of playing rushdown when Sonic Vibration and Rhythm Buckshot are off cooldown.

Shadowhunter can best contribute from range, as overcommitting against a Bard is a bad idea. Once Shadowhunter's team forces out Bard cooldowns though, it is time to engage. Never allow a freecasting bard to run amok.

Difficulty Level: Average

Sorceress without Identity is a feast for Shadowhunter. Bait Rush and pretty much anything is game. Lightning Vortex is also easily reactable (and punishable) with Sharpened Cut or Grind Chain, which limits them to Frost's Call catches.

With only Seraphic Hail and Reverse Gravity as Paralysis Immunities and no Push Immunities, all it takes is a well placed Grind Chain or Piercing Thorn to begin a snowball.

If they have Identity Gauge though, the tables turn, as Sorceress now has easy ways of baiting critical skills and still repositioning behind enemy lines, making any sort of pursuit be likely to result in overextension.

Some may also run Tenacity, which can make Pushes by the Shadowhunter harder to benefit from. Sorceress Paralysis Immunes are also Pushes, which can make trading unfavorable.

Play the patient game and wear out Sorceress' gauge, Grind Chain their Punishing Strike and attack when their mobility is expended.

Difficulty Level: Favorable

Summoner can feel impossible to engage on as a melee. Wide hitboxes, good amounts of Paralysis Immunity and heat-seeking pets that can apply Push ( Pauru) are a pain to deal with. Even when Shadowhunter does get in, there is always Reine's Protection shield to deal with.

Thing is, Shadowhunter just needs to play the ranged game. Summoner has absolutely 0 mobility after using Rush, which takes over 10 seconds to come back.

If a Shadowhunter bides their time and can force out a Rush, that usually results in a free Grind Chain into Demon Vision combo, or just a raw Piercing Thorn that can be followed up on.

Exploit the lack of mobility and only go in when it is guaranteed for a clean pick. Playing around pets is critical too, but even more so is tracking the Summoner's Rush. The only real threats are Released Will or Steed Charge, but if Shadowhunter never commits to the melee rushdown, then those tools are no longer an issue.