In this guide, you will find all the necessary RAID: Shadow Legends tips and tricks for beginners. RAID: Shadow Legends is a decent game. While Plarium shot itself in the foot with its marketing (you probably know the famous copypasta scripts to advertise the game), the game has done well for itself. If you are wondering whether you should play RAID: Shadow Legends, I can only give you my honest opinion.
Read also: RAID: Shadow Legends codes
Is RAID: Shadow Legends Worth Playing?
There are far better mobile gacha games out there, and since a lot of us spend actual money on these games, it's better to find a different game to play.
At the moment, my favorite gacha games on mobile are:
- Punishing Gray Raven: Great aesthetics in a highly fast-paced hack-n-slash action RPG. I love the combat system, it has shades of Genshin Impact all over it, but the grind is very different in this game because it's not open-world. You still spend plenty of time on it, but you barely notice it. I have completed pretty much everything in PGR three weeks into the game, but I enjoy the grind, and I want to get better characters. I am an F2P player in this game, and I'm doing fine.
- Genshin Impact: Not introduction needed. This game doesn't feel like a mobile gacha game at all. I still find it unique, but it requires too much grind, and its open-world nature can make it exhausting. Regardless, it has a great combat system and mechanics. I think Genshin Impact remains the best mobile game in the world.
In my opinion, both above games crush RAID: Shadow Legends in terms of both gameplay and graphics. They feel like console games and make smartphones reach volcanic temperatures.
Meanwhile, I find Raid similar to AFK Arena, the difference being that AFK Arena is not annoyingly complex. I find RAID unnecessarily complicated, considering it's just a game that relies on team compositions and can be played on Auto.
Regardless, Raid is very popular too, so I believe a guide is necessary to help players understand the basics of the game and avoid spending unnecessary money on it. However, I believe all money spent on gacha games is unnecessary, so protect your wallet as much as you can.
Read also: How to download RAID: Shadow Legends on PC
What are Affinities in RAID: Shadow Legends?
The affinity system in RAID is no different than other systems in mobile games such as Attributes and Factions. The affinity system establishes strengths and weaknesses between characters of different affinities.
Here's the list of affinities and how they interact:
- Force (Red): Beats Magic (Blue), weak to Spirit (Green)
- Magic (Blue): Beats Spirit (Green), weak to Force (Red)
- Spirit (Green): Beats Force (Red), vulnerable to Magic (Blue)
- Void (Purple): No counter, no weakness
Stacking characters of affinities that have an advantage against opponents can be very beneficial in fights. This is not the sole factor you need to take into account when composing a team, though. You also have to take into account the champion synergy.
Void champions require a special mention as they don't have any affinity advantages or disadvantages. However, the Void affinity includes some of the strongest champions in the game, making it a vital one.
RAID: Shadow Legends Champions
The champions in RAID are the characters you “control” and use in your teams.
Check our RAID: Shadow Legends Champions tier list.
You begin with two common Champions, but you can collect more using Shards at the Portal, which grant you an increased chance at different potential quality levels:
- Mystery Shard: Common, Uncommon, Rare
- Ancient Shard: Rare, Epic, Legendary
- Void Shard: Rare, Epic, Legendary
- Sacred Shard: Epic, Legendary
Tip: Don't spend many resources on your Common and Uncommon Champions. You are going to replace them pretty soon with characters you summon with void and sacred shards.
You will spend most of your time in the game with Legendary and Epic heroes. Void shards are crucial as they allow you to summon Void champions, and they are not as rare as sacred shards.
Make sure to read our guide on how to get Void Shards for free.
You can also use Fusion to combine four specific Champions into a new one with a higher rarity. However, you should only use duplicate champion cards in fusion. Don't waste your Epic champions just to create a Legendary one.
What are Artifacts in RAID: Shadow Legends?
Artifacts in Raid: Shadow Legends are items that grant buffs to your Champions. Players can acquire artifacts through quests and campaigns. You can then upgrade your Artifacts or sell them for Silver. Once again, don't start spending a lot of resources on artifacts you will replace soon with better ones.
Here are the basics of Raid's Artifacts:
- Champions can equip up to six Artifacts.
- Equipping more than one Artifact of a specific set activates an artifact set bonus.
- Basic sets grant a two-piece bonus.
- Advanced sets grant stronger, four-piece bonuses, but they are naturally harder to get.
- Upgrading artifacts unlocks bonus stats and effects.
RAID: Shadow Legends Masteries
You can use Mastery scrolls to unlock Offense, Defense, and Support masteries on your Champions. However, you should save your scrolls for Epic and Legendary Champions.
Mastery tips:
- Each champion can receive a maximum of 100 Basic Scrolls (5 Masteries), 600 Advanced Scrolls (6 Masteries), and 950 Divine Scrolls (4 Masteries).
- You can obtain Divine Scrolls upon receiving all of the champion's Advanced Scrolls.
- You can obtain Advanced Scrolls after receiving all of the champion's Basic Scrolls.
- You can reset your masteries free once. After that, it will cost 150 gems per reset.
- When you are an early-mid game player, investing 800 gems in maximizing a Champion's mastery makes sense. Only invest in Level 60 Champions that you will use in all game modes. By doing so, you will be able to boost your game progress significantly! If you have at least 2 Champions with full masteries, you can start speed farming tomes in Minotaur's Labyrinth for your remaining champions!
- For the best energy to scroll reward ratio, I highly recommend that your team consists of Level 50 champions before attempting the dungeon's Stage 11*15.
How to Use Energy, Silver, and Gems
It's impossible to get by in Raid: Shadow Legends without a bit of use of the game's currency.
Here's how the in-game currencies work:
- Upgrades to Artifacts use silver, as does summoning new Champions.
- Ancient Shards are purchased by spending gems – which will give you more gems.
- You can spend real money in the shop to buy gems.
Energy is a resource that you have to spend to perform any task or challenge any mission in the game.
Make sure your energy never reaches the energy cap. Otherwise, you will not benefit from the energy regeneration. Players can also purchase energy refills in the shop for gems.
You can earn many of these currencies through daily quests and challenges, so be sure to tick off those missions.
The Bastion
The Bastion is essentially your town or base in the game and it contains several structures, which we will detail below
The Mine
At the Bastion, players can open the Mine by spending Gems. After you unlock the Mine, you'll have a steady flow of Gems throughout the rest of your time in Raid: Shadow Legends.
Once you've invested 100 days in the game, unlocking and upgrading the Mine is a valuable long-term investment. Once that happens, you'll continue to receive gems!
Great Hall
Here's where adventurers can boost their squad stats in certain Champion Affinities to shore up their Champions. Defense, health points, and attack are among the areas that can be improved in Champions. By participating in PVP battles, you can earn Arena Medals necessary to purchase these upgrades.
Market
In the Market, you can sell your Silver for gear, shards, and even champions. Listed sales are refreshed every hour, and you can purchase silver and Gems to increase the number of items in your Market.
Portal
The Portal is where players can summon new Champions to their armies by cracking open their Shards. The system can also allow them to combine their current Champions into rare and otherwise hard-to-obtain ones.
Sparring Pit
Sparring Pit allows you to raise the level of your Champions without spending any Energy. As a result, it is an excellent resource for adventurers who want to upgrade their favorite or essential Champions while focusing on other things.
If you're away from the game or simply running low on energy, the Sparring Pit is your best option for earning experience. Similar to the Mine, unlocking and upgrading slots in the Sparring Pit is worth it in the long run.
Tavern
The tavern is your one-stop-shop for improving your champions.
In the Tavern, players can upgrade their favorite Champions' level and rank by trading in their unused Champions. Additionally, you can upgrade Champions' abilities.
You can do the following at the Tavern:
- Level up with food or brews;
- Rank up with food or chickens;
- Skill up with tomes or duplicates;
- Ascend with potions;
- Combine lower-tier potions into higher tiers.
- All of these actions, aside from ascension, cost Silver.
Game Modes
There are tonnes of different game modes in Raid: Shadow Legends in which you can earn vital currencies to upgrade your Champions. Here's the lowdown:
Campaign: The main story, in which you fight increasingly difficult stages to liberate Teleria from the shadow.
Dungeons: Each Dungeon has you face two waves of enemies before facing a third one, with the Dungeon's boss. Dungeon bosses are more challenging than campaign ones.
Faction Wars: A mode where you select a specific Crypt, which consists of multiple battle stages
Clan Boss: Clan Bosses require multiple fights by different Clan members to complete. All efforts from your Clan members will chip away at the HP of the Clan Boss, which has multiple tiers of difficulty and will change its Affinities from Void to a random non-Void alignment to unleash new attacks once it's been reduced to 50% health.
In order to gain the best prizes, clans should aim to defeat the Clan Boss before the battle timer resets.
This will allow them to unlock more difficult tiers of the Clan Boss, as well as the improved rewards that go along with those more advanced challenges.
Arena: This is RAID's PvP mode, in which you will fight other players.
The Campaign is the best place to start. Avoid other game modes until you acquire a strong selection of heroes.
Combat GUide
Fighting battles in Raid: Shadow Legends is pretty simple at first, but it can get more complicated as you progress.
Turn Meter
The Turn Meter is the core of combat in RAID: Shadow Legends. Appearing above every enemy and friendly Champion on the battlefield, you'll see two bars.
The top green bar is a display of a Champion's current Health Points (HP). The second bar is the Turn Meter. This yellow bar, which fills over time, is a visual representation of your Champion's readiness.
Once it's full, that Champion has an opportunity to take a turn. Battlefield turn order is determined by each individual Champion's Turn Meter, and the rate at which each combatant's Turn Meter fills is determined by their speed rating.
Some Champion abilities can also modify speed rating through buffs and debuffs, add or subtract from the Turn Meter, or even grant extra turns!
Buffs & Debuffs
The use of buffs and debuffs is one of the main principles in RAID: Shadow Legends. Champion performance is affected by these effects. An effective buff can temporarily improve a target's stats or abilities.
In combat, a debilitating debuff reduces the target's ability to fight by reducing degeneration or damage. A debuff only sticks if the target cannot resist it, which is determined by the Champion's Accuracy and Resistance stats.
Buffs and Debuffs are displayed near a Champion's HP bar and are displayed in blue (for buffs) and red (for debuffs). At any point during a battle, you can tap on the INFO button at the bottom left and see all buffs and debuffs currently in effect on your squad.
Rounds
Almost every level requires players to battle through three rounds of enemies. Campaign Mode and Dungeons are both subject to this limitation. You only have to complete one round in other modes, such as the PVP Arena and Clan Boss.
The buffs and debuffs are removed from Champions after every round, and ability cooldowns are reduced by one turn.
Auto & Manual
Auto mode is limited to 15 uses per day, or 40 uses per day for Raid Pass owners.
Tips and Tricks
There are multiple ways to get started in Raid: Shadow Legends, so whether you are a free-to-play person, or are willing to spend a little, here are the best tips for early progress:
- Don't make short-term investments, and don't waste resources: Spend your resources on Champions you will use in the long run. Don't teach masteries to champions that will become obsolete soon.
- Daily missions are essential: Make sure to complete all daily assignments as they grant you vital resources.
- Unlock the gem mine as soon as possible: Gems are valuable, so make sure to unlock the gem mine asap and start hoarding them.
- Save EXP boosts and other boosts for later in the game: Self-explanatory. Activating boosts later in the game will maximize the rewards you get as later stages give more EXP and silver.