Overview
Raid: Shadow Legends is a free-to-play turn-based RPG developed and published by Plarium Games, originally released on July 29, 2018. Set in the dark fantasy realm of Teleria, the game tasks players with building a roster of Champions drawn from 16 factions to push back the Dark Lord Siroth. Available across Android, iOS, Windows, Steam, Xbox, and Epic Games, it has built a massive player base since launch.
The core loop is straightforward: pull Champions from Shards, level them up, equip them with artifact sets, and run them through increasingly difficult content. That simplicity masks a surprisingly deep progression system where stat weights, skill synergies, and gear sets demand real decision-making. A Champion that wrecks the campaign can be nearly useless in the Arena, which pushes players to build multiple specialized teams.
The roster sits above 850 Champions as of 2026, spread across rarities from Common to Legendary. Each Champion has a unique skill kit, and many carry fully voiced dialogue within the campaign's 13-location story map.
Gameplay and mechanics
Turn-based combat in Raid revolves around speed, buff management, and crowd control. Getting your debuffer to act before the enemy team, landing a freeze at the right moment, or landing a nuke when buffs are stripped: these are the decisions that separate a well-built team from a frustrating loss.
Key mechanics players engage with regularly:
- Artifact sets with set bonuses (Speed, Lifesteal, Stun, and more)
- Champion skill books for upgrading abilities
- Mastery trees offering passive stat and effect improvements
- Dungeon-specific mechanics requiring tailored team compositions
- Clan Boss battles using optimized damage-per-turn strategies
The autoplay feature lets stages run without manual input, which matters for a game that expects a lot of repetition. Grinding gear in Dragon's Lair or Ice Golem runs hundreds of times is the reality of endgame progression, and autoplay makes that tolerable rather than exhausting.
How deep does the PvP go?
The Arena is where Raid's strategic ceiling becomes most visible. Players field teams of up to 4 Champions in both live and asynchronous battles, climbing through Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum tiers. Speed is the dominant stat at high tiers, since whoever moves first often controls the entire fight through buffs and debuffs.
Clan Wars and Faction Wars add cooperative and solo PvP-adjacent modes that push players to develop deeper roster breadth. Faction Wars in particular requires players to build competitive teams using only Champions from a single faction, which is a meaningful long-term goal for collectors.
The live Arena mode introduced head-to-head real-time battles, giving the PvP side more immediacy than the asynchronous format that dominated earlier versions of the game.
Content and replayability
Raid's content scope is genuinely large. The main campaign spans 13 locations with full voice acting. Dungeons include Dragon's Lair, Spider's Den, Ice Golem's Peak, Fire Knight's Castle, and the Minotaur's Labyrinth, each dropping specific gear sets and requiring different team strategies. Doom Tower adds rotating floors with unique boss mechanics that change periodically.
Raid Passes offer a subscription model for players who want accelerated progression: a Silver Pass runs $9.99 per month, while a Gold Pass covers 6 months at $49.99. The game is free to play without them, though the grind is significantly longer without some form of investment.
For players who commit to the roster-building side, the combination of 850+ Champions, artifact farming, and multi-mode PvP creates a game with hundreds of hours of content before hitting a genuine ceiling.
