What Do Shadowed Paths Actually DO?

I had assumed they put you on a seperate phase from all your enemies, allowing you safe passage through DUST infested zones, but they don't, and all the paths you follow lead you through enemy-less areas anyway. What's the point of them?

Perhaps they really are just paths without enemies... and to emphasize that they added the nifty transition effects and coloring. Could be they were mostly wanting to show off a new system they had been working on (possibly in prelude to bigger and larger things).

We've been saving Paragon City for eight and a half years. It's time to do it one more time.

There are no mobs on them, so following them lets you move around the zone without needing to fight.

This does seem somewhat redundant as all heroes will now have a travel power for 14 levels now. The chance of running into a mob by accident is fairly low...

I was noticing this last night while playing in First Ward. Saw a different group of players I wasn't teamed with walk out of a mission door and into a Shadowed Path right outside the mission door. I could still "see" everyone on the Path, and the "trail" of the Path perfectly fine while standing outside of the Path. This tells me that the Shadowed Paths are NOT using some sort of localized Phasing Tech so as to isolate you from the rest of the zone while you're on the Paths.

Then an Ambush spawned on the team of other players, and the Ambush rushed right for them, from OUTSIDE the Shadowed Path and ran straight into the Shadowed Path so as to engage the team of players.

This combination of events basically means that the Shadowed Paths are basically nothing more than "trails of bread crumbs" through the zone which offer no MEANINGFUL PROTECTION in and of themselves (they don't add a Stealth Effect to anyone on them, for instance) and Paths are NO BARRIER against drawing, or being the target of, NPC Aggro. In that respect then, I can only surmise that the Shadowed Paths are really nothing more than "marked trails" in which players are *UNLIKELY* to DRAW aggro from outside the Path, so long as they STAY on the Shadowed Path(s). In that sense then, they simply mark routes that ought to be outside of Line of Sight or Aggro Range of the NPC Mobs in the zone ... nothing more.

It's the end. But the moment has been prepared for ...

It's a shame. If they were phased areas it might actually be quite cool. I can avoid NPC aggro by just not going near NPCs, so I don't think I'll use them, sadly.

I am fine with them just being cool little things that are unique to the zone, they don't need to be some game changing mechanics thing for me to appreciate them

1. Look cool.

2. Proof of concept.

3. Look cool.

One of the Carnival of Light contacts is hiding in one of the paths, and you can only see her to talk to her if you're in the path yourself. I don't know if there's more like that, but there's more than just a cool effect going on. I hope they use it more for that kind of purpose.