Is Shadow Magic worth it?

[Gen]

I'm really trying to find a reason to use Shadow Magic as I love the magic aspect in this game and I want to use all of them but so far the result has been lackluster as it feels that Light Magic is just superior in every way.

Light magic has 6 spells compare to Shadow only having 5, it has the reliable single target heal spell for humans, an okay single target damage spell, a medium damage aoe spell, one of the best aoe damage spell in the game, and the best Sword in the game with a built-in deflect that WORKS EVEN WHEN YOU'RE NOT USING A SWORD BTW (I tested) and even boosting your overall stats.

-Shadow Magic has... a weak single target spell in the form of Power Grab which I guess is good in the early game as it can constantly keep you alive and dealing damage? But it gets irrelevant really fast in mid to end game and I just wish it did more damage maybe to the same range as Implosion! But with the healing only heal for 30% of the damage or something.
-Hide Behind is useless and a turn waster.
-Shadow Net is a somewhat okay aoe ailment spell for mostly random encounters but trying to apply status effects on the enemies in this game is a nightmare tbh except if you're Timelord! And there's also Sharp Pain that cc groups of enemies even better.
-Dark Sphere has okay damage but the animation is kinda long and I don't know but the spell doesn't have that "oompf" to it you know? Like from the static sounds and long wind-up, it just feels like the enemy isn't taking any damage from turning slightly purple you know? Lol like Implosion is ears shattering and you know you just broke every bones in the enemies with it.
-And then there's Shadow Servant, the ultimate Shadow Spell, the reason why I think anyone would be bothered with getting this gift in the first place. On paper it sounds really good! Like that's 2x damage increased, nice! But then you realize that the thing breaks from small gusts of wind and, it can't combo with anyone or anything and that it doesn't work with DSC.. So what's the use of it? Cuz when I do long drawn boss fights it just feels like my characters are just casting a more expensive version of glass shields at this point. Maybe if the Shadow doesn't break at all and only disappears after 5-7 turns or that it can combo with others then it would feel like it would be on par with Light Sword. I'm honestly fine with it not working on DSC because then it would just break the game and there's no point in using anything else.


So why do you find yourself using Shadow Magic? If there is a better way to use it do let me know! Because right now I'm only letting my Katana Wielding Emelia use it as it is probably the only way to make Tres Flores relevant (it has bad combo sync) a Shadow Servant + Victory Runes + Tres Flores is easily doing 8k-10k right now and that's quite neat but having to waste 9 JP every other turn if it gets hit is still giving me annoying groans.

[Nobody]

I typically will only use Shadow magic when playing as Blue. Shadow servant+Vermillion Sand or Megawindblast is pretty nice. Same with with shadow servant + boundshot...and mages tend to do very well with gunskills.

Edit: I do agree that Shadow magic seems lackluster other than Shadow servant.

[Storm Reaver]

Dark Sphere for 5 hit combos.

Shadow Servant with Overdrive.

[BKo]

I don't think it's that clear. Light magic is probably better, but shadow has niche uses with combo extension (dark sphere and hide behind) and shadow servant. If you want to see a truly 1 sided match, look at space and time. Time is just way better.

[AH-1 Cobra]

Dark Sphere for combos isn't necessary, there's other skills that do more damage (like Bound Shot) that can combo with itself even 5x. For all the standard gunner-mage characters, I get light and arcane on all of them because gale blast and tower are simply too good to pass up.

You need overdrive to get the most out of shadow servant. Otherwise you lose the shadow clone on the next turn when you get tapped. You only give up 1 of 8 turns in an overdrive cycle to use shadow servant to double-up the damage on the additional turns.

[AH-1 Cobra]

If someone's got a better combo that uses Dark Sphere, I'd like to see it:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3342543948
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3342544051

[Darkling]

Many spells have niche uses. Hide Behind IIRC always goes first, it makes those affected by it always go last, it combos, and it's 1 JP without a gift. It's a knockoff time leap.

Power Grab is cheap healing and drains strength.

Dark Sphere combos and it nullifies all non-skill (photosynthesis, fire barrier, etc) effects on the target, both good and bad.

I'm not sure how the paralysis spell differs from the other 1 or 2 spells with the same effect.

[LordKaiserX0]

I know people that do this trial after they recruit the Time Lord mainly on the Asellus scenario. Having a Time Lord with Shadow Servant is a bit broken.