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Raid: Shadow Legends guide

Our Raid: Shadow Legends guide helps you find all of the tips and tricks you need to start off on your quest to be the best raider.

Raid: Shadow Legends guide: a giant threatens enemies with a massive mace in Raid: Shadow Legends

There are reasons people play Raid – it’s a fairly complex turn-based battler, with a cool fantasy setting, and a realistic aesthetic. We hope that our Raid: Shadow Legends guide offers up some tips and tricks so you can manage your in-game resources the smart way, and build a party of powerful heroes.

You shouldn’t need to spend thousands to play a game, and honestly, in our opinion, any game that necessitates that isn’t worth your time. So here’s some info to get started in Raid: Shadow Legends, and some tips to avoid spending a shedload. Also, just in case you weren’t aware, you can play Raid: Shadow Legends PC, and we’ve got a guide on how to do it.

Raid: Shadow Legends guide

Raid: Shadow Legends Affinities

Though Raid: Shadow Legends has many different layers of complexity, Affinities are the bedrock upon which all this is based, changing how effective units are at fighting certain other types. Here’s the list of affinities and how they interact:

  • Magic (Blue): Beats Spirit (Green), weak to Force (Red)
  • Spirit (Green): Beats Force (Red), weak to Magic (Blue)
  • Force (Red): Beats Magic (Blue), weak to Spirit (Green)
  • Void (Purple): No counter, no weakness

If you remember to generally always match up your Champions with the Affinity they are strongest against, it’ll make things a lot easier in the long run.

Raid: Shadow Legends champions

Anyone who has seen or heard anything about Raid: Shadow Legends knows how important Champions are to the game, as you gather the best team of characters you can, and face them off against fearsome opponents. You begin with two Champions, but you can gather more using Shards at the Portal, which grant you 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

It’s worth not investing too heavily in the Common Champions you’ll get at the start of the game, but a far better idea to invest in Void, Epic, or Legendary Champions, since they are far harder to come by, and far harder to replace.

You can also use Fusion, to combine four specific Champions into a new one with a higher rarity. But remember, it’s always a good idea to keep hold of Epic or Legendary Champions, so don’t fuse any cards you only have a single copy of.

Raid: Shadow Legends guide: a warrior wielding a scythe in Raid: Shadow Legends

Raid: Shadow Legends artifacts

Artifacts in Raid: Shadow Legends are basically items that grant buffs to your Champions. They can be claimed through quests and campaign, and upgraded or sold for Silver:

  • Champions can equip six Artifacts
  • Equipping more than one Artifact of a specific set gives the Champion a buff
  • Basic sets grant an effect if you wear two pieces of that type – Life grants a 15% HP buff for example
  • Advanced sets require four pieces, but their effect is far stronger
  • As you upgrade Artifacts, they receive bonus effects

Just as with Champions, it’s worth being sensible with your Silver, and not upgrading every item you get when it might soon be replaced with a better one.

Raid: Shadow Legends masteries

Using the scroll resource, it is possible to specialize your chosen Champion through a series of upgrades called Masteries. Needless to say, it’s only worth doing this with Epic or Legendary Champions, and would certainly be a waste to invest this in a Common. Here’s how Masteries work in Raid: Shadow Legends:

  • Masteries allow you to unlock upgrades from three sections – Offence, Defence and Support
  • Unlocking these buffs requires Scrolls, which can be bought in the store, or earned from raiding the Minotaur’s Labyrinth
  • Masteries are an excellent way of making your Champions more focused and honing them toward the exact role you want them to perform

Raid: Shadow Legends guide: a soldier with their head on fire fights an enemy

Raid: Shadow Legends silver, gems, and energy

It’s basically impossible to get by in Raid: Shadow Legends without using the game’s currency a little. Here’s how they all work:

  • Silver is used to upgrade Artifacts, and summon new Champions
  • Gems are used to unlock and upgrade the mine – which gives you more gems – to buy Ancient Shards, and can be used to buy a variety of other currencies in the shop
  • Gems can be bought for actual cash in the shop

On top of this, there’s energy, a resource that you have to spend to undertake pretty much any quest or mission. Energy regenerates up to your cap, so it’s worth making sure you use any excess energy above your cap, otherwise you won’t benefit from that regen. Energy refills can also be bought in the shop for gems.

A good deal of these currencies can be earned through daily quests and challenges, so be sure to tick off those missions. It’s also important to say that you can buy potions, XP boosts, and Clan Boss keys from the shop, but we were just getting to that.

Raid: Shadow Legends 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 central story, fighting through a variety of increasingly difficult stages to liberate Teleria from the shadow
  • Dungeons: Each Dungeon has you face two waves of enemies before facing a final boss – note that Dungeon bosses are harder than campaign bosses
  • Faction Wars: A mode where you select a specific Crypt, which consists of multiple battle stages
  • Clan Boss: You need to join a Clan for this, and purchase a Clan Boss key, which allows you to face off against a fearsome opponent for some decent rewards
  • Arena: This is where you’re going to fight other players, earning rewards for victory – if you want other PvP games, see our best mobile multiplayer list

It’s worth saying that Campaign is the best place to start, and until you get a good selection of Champions with some upgrades, you’re going to want to steer clear of the others initially.

Raid: Shadow Legends guide: a feathered lady flies through the air in Raid: Shadow Legends

Raid: Shadow Legends combat

Fighting battles in Raid: Shadow Legends is fairly simple at first, but as you progress it can get more and more complicated. But here are some tips to bear in mind when fighting any battle:

  • Use buffs and debuffs effectively: Certain attacks and abilities can buff your units, or debuff the enemy, and honestly, applying debuffs at the right time is the easiest way to win difficult battles. It’s how you negate a strong enemy and punch above your weight
  • Unlock Masteries when you can: If you can unlock them, some Masteries give unique advantage against specific opponents, so they are worth having when facing certain enemies
  • Don’t neglect items: The buffs that you can get from using certain sets really can be the difference between life and death
  • Remember cooldown: Attacks and abilities have cooldowns, and it’s worth factoring them into any strategy you undertake against an enemy, so you can hit them when it’s effective
  • Synergy: good combat is all about synergy, and combining abilities into powerful combos, so it’s worth bearing this in mind when using your party’s abilities

Other than these elements, combat in Raid is very stat-orientated, so you need an advantage you can get to overcome that.

Raid: Shadow Legends 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: If you’re going to use precious currency to upgrade Masteries or equipment, make sure it’s on a Champion that you will actually continue to use
  • Don’t neglect daily missions: You can earn a surprising amount by completing the dailies, and any you don’t are wasted potential growth
  • Get the gem mine: Unlocking the gem mine as soon as possible should be a priority if you plan on playing the game for any extended period, as gems accumulate and are a useful currency
  • Save rewards: Certain rewards like double XP are more effective when taken at a later stage, so hold off on claiming them until you need them.
  • Don’t waste: Waste not, want not. In general, Raid is a game of currency, and if you want to play it both effectively – and for free – you need to retain resources where you can, whether that’s not wasting Clan Boss keys on fights you can’t win, losing Champions unnecessarily, or upgrading Champions who won’t go the distance

Looking for more? Go check the best champions to play with our Raid: Shadow Legends tier list, and grab some free Raid promo codes.