Shadow Shard

It's strange.

This entire dimension is suffused with a mystic power.

As if it was all the construction of a single vast consciousness.

As if we were walking among the dreams of a god...

- Akarist, Circle of Thorns mage

Overview

The Shadow Shard is an alternate dimension permanently linked to by Portal Corporation. It is called the Shadow Shard because among its inhabitants are many that appear as shadows of familiar enemies from the rest of the game.

The Shard is a world of islands and rocks floating in a strange-colored sky. Humans from the main CoX dimension have begun to explore the zone, and have set up bases of varying sizes across the shard.

The Shard is made up of four different zones. Firebase Zulu, Cascade Archipelago, The Chantry, and The Storm Palace. All are hazard or trial zones. Minimum level to enter the first zone of the shard is level 40, and the deeper zones have progressively higher minima. There is a hospital in Firebase Zulu.

Enemies across the Shard include natives like the Shadow Shard Reflections, Soldiers of Rularuu, Storm Elementals, and visitors from the human dimension such as the Circle of Thorns, Crey and Nemesis.

Several Task Forces are organized out of the Shard, and missions may be run from several contacts in the zone who will give unlimited missions to high level heroes.

While villains can not visit the Shadow Shard itself, several higher level contacts (such as Technician Naylor) offer instanced trips into the Shard.

Mapping

There is no ground in the Shadow Shard...

As the Shadow Shard maps are all considered Trial zones, the player mini map is initially set to black. This makes navigation... challenging, to say the least. Certain transport methods (below) often require a literal "leap of faith", until the player becomes familiar with a particular zone.

If you look closesly at a Shadow Shard map, you should see faint green lines that show where the geyser will send you but you can't always see where those lead until you take the jump. Also, many jumps are vertical and thus don't show up on the 2D map. Still, they are a handy way to plot out where you should go to get to a given mission door after you've been in the Shard for awhile.

The Shard maps historically were often affected by a map-reset bug that was fixed in I9.

Effects within the Shadow Shard

One interesting effect present everywhere within the Shadow Shard is that gravity is "different", meaning that a fall of ANY distance will not damage the player in any way. Given that some drops are long enough to reduce even the hardiest Level 50 Tanker to a single HP; this is a boon.

You might be wondering what happens if you happen to fall off one of these islands. Assuming there isn't another island somewhere below you, you will fall for quite a distance and then get teleported back to a safe place on the first island in the zone (the one with the teleport gateway back to Zulu or Firebase Zulu itself if you are in its zone). This can be a major pain if you are trying to get to a destination via gravity geyser and miss. However, it can be used to your advantage as well. If you are deep in a Shadow Shard zone and want to get back to Paragon City quickly, just jump over the side of the island and take the nearby teleport. Also, if you are in a fight that isn't going well (and you aren't having this fight on the first island of the zone), you can use the edge as a fast escape!

It is different for enemies. Enemies that can't fly and drop over the side are never seen again. They are not defeated so you will not get xp or badge credit, they just vanish.

Getting around on your own

Flying through the shard is safest... probably

The Shadow Shard houses the largest zones in the game — some can take many minutes of continuous use of travel powers to cross.

Fly

As the zones are comprised of floating islands, truly in three dimensions. Flight powers are greatly appreciated. Group Fly often makes its only use here, although the restrictions on proximity and the demands of Endurance drain represents a major drawback.

Teleport

Teleport powers are also considered "essential", not only for the fast three-dimensional movement, but also for "Recall Friend". The Shadow Shard represents some of the only zones where the maximum range of Recall Friend is regularly exceeded, requiring the teleportee to try to keep up, at least somewhat.

Jumping

Jumping powers are useful for minor sorties into the Shadow Shard; however, some islands are deliberately placed to be further than the maximum distance.

Super Speed

All in all, those with Super Speed are most likely to be left behind. Not only is movement difficult (but not impossible), the native Soldiers of Rularuu have a large number of +Perception foes, reducing the effectiveness of the +Stealth component of Super Speed.

Good vs. Evil Jump Jet

The jump jet from the Good versus Evil edition is worthy of its own note. Firstly it can be used as an emergency help if a geyser jump misfires. Secondly, when combined with Super Jump, it allows the character to leap across several islands, or some of the larger gaps without any issue. And thirdly, combined with Fly, it will boost the speed of flight slightly for 30 seconds.

Getting around without a 3D travel power

Using the geyser should propel you to the far island... hopefully

The last resort, often used by Super Jumpers and Super Speedsters, is to use the Gravity Geyser system. Scattered around the borders (primarily) of most islands are Gravity Geysers that launch the player like a catapult to a predetermined location. A tutorial exists at the start of the Shadow Shard (Firebase Zulu) through Sgt. Goddard, who teaches players how to use them.

The player is catapulted, usually to an unknown point, at a faster rate than is normally possible with "traditional" travel powers. The effect is similar to Super Jump, but of much larger magnitude, and without so much control. The player can move around somewhat — waving their arms to move off to the left, right, back or forward, but the player cannot change direction more than a few degrees.

Gravity Geysers generally only work best when used with no travel power effects in play — Super Speed, Super Jump, Flight; heck, even Combat Jumping, all cause "odd" effects with the Geysers, usually resulting in the player's parabolic path being interrupted and the player falling to the bottom of the map and thus back to the beginning.

Watch out, because Geysers aren't perfectly safe to use.

• They don't all land on safe ground (enemies at the landing zone)
• They don't always have a return Geyser to get you back to where you just left
• They don't all aim at ground at all! (Geyser aims you into space and you fall to the bottom of the map and teleport to the last entry zone) — VERY annoying.)

Thankfully, the location, direction and destination of all Gravity Geysers have been mapped for some time. Vidiotmaps.com has the full mapping information available as map replacements, although this benefit is offset by the maps being reset as they are classed as Trial zones.