Her ability to Deepstrike and still make her assault jump, as well as her twin fusion, makes many view her in a suicide role... though that role can be filled far more easily by a Sunforge or 3, and cheaper as well. Not to mention that Shadowsun sacrificing herself to kill an enemy vehicle is far-fetched (though I've seen fluff assumptions that at her last "wound" she switches on cloaking and vanishes, which makes it seem more like a hit and run).
Shadowsun costs as much as two Commanders, and almost as much as a full Fireknife team. These numbers make her output seem even more unrealistic and worthless. Why would anyone purchase such an overpriced model?
The reason I'm considering her for my lists is not because of her own ability, but the fact that she brings a unique model with her onto the table; the command drone. The command drone is, hands down, THE most effective piece of wargear in the codex. This wargear negates the key weakness all Tau armies have; leadership problems.
Not only does Shadowsun bring the Command Drone into play, she also serves to protect it. Her other two drones are both shield drones, giving important invulnerable saves, whilst thanks to the Stealth Field Generator, she is practically immune to ranged combat.
Though often claimed rather useless, Shadowsun herself does bring some heavy hitting guns to the punch; her two BS5 Fusion Blaster allow her to tear into most tanks. This is incredibly useful for those ridiculous transports that live through 6+ Railgun shots and almost hit your line.
I'm thinking on using Shadowsun over my two Fireforge Commanders; the missiles will be missed, but I think four missiles is a decent price to pay to have my entire firing force at 10 Leadership. Now I just need a stand-in model... may actually be using my winged Commander for this.
