Raid: Shadow Legends Tier List: Champions Ranked by Faction May 2026

Q: How does this tier list work?

Champions are rated on their overall utility across the game's main content areas: Arena Offense, Arena Defense, Clan Boss (Demon Lord and Hydra), Faction Wars, Campaign, and Dungeons including Spider's Den, Fire Knight's Castle, Ice Golem's Peak, and Minotaur's Labyrinth. A champion sitting at S tier means they perform well across multiple areas. A C-tier champion might still be your best option for a specific Faction Wars team, so don't dismiss them entirely. Rarities are ranked independently. An S-tier Rare is not necessarily better than a B-tier Legendary. The tiers compare champions within the same rarity pool, which is how resources actually flow in the game.

Q: How do Uncommon and Common champions fit in?

The S-tier Uncommons include Armiger, Dervish, Dhampir, Outlaw Monk, Outrider, Satyr, Saurus, Shieldguard, Skinner, and Zephyr Sniper. These are worth keeping for Faction Wars team completion, but you won't build them past 4 stars in most cases. Commons are almost entirely fodder. The one exception is Death Hound (Undead Horde), which sits at S tier among Commons. For everything else at Common rarity, use them to level your actual team.

Q: Which factions have the strongest depth?

Looking at S-tier density, Dark Elves and Undead Horde have the most high-impact champions in their faction pools. Dark Elves gives you Kael at Rare (one of the best early-game farmers), Coldheart as a permanent dungeon staple, and Legendaries like Lydia the Deathsiren, Mithrala Lifebane, and Madame Serris at Epic. That's coverage from Rare through Legendary that almost no other faction matches. Dwarves punch above their weight too. Geomancer at Epic SS tier, plus Legendaries Tormin the Cold, Trunda Giltmallet, Acrizia, and Demytha at S tier gives the faction genuine top-end power. Banner Lords has the widest S-tier list of any faction , suggesting the faction's depth is real but some picks are situational.

The fastest way to stop wasting resources in Raid: Shadow Legends

Raid: Shadow Legends has over 1,000 champions across 16 factions, 5 rarities, and a Mythical tier that most players won't touch for months. That's a lot of noise to cut through when you're trying to figure out whether your fresh pull is worth 6-starring. This tier list synthesizes rankings from multiple community sources to give you a clear picture of who actually performs, broken down by faction so you can find your champion instantly.

danger

Tier lists reflect the current meta as of May 2026. Balance changes can shift rankings, so treat lower-tier calls as directional rather than absolute. Champions at the bottom of one tier often outperform the top of the next when built correctly for specific content.

Custom uploaded: Armanz the Magnificent.webp

How does this tier list work?

Champions are rated on their overall utility across the game's main content areas: Arena Offense, Arena Defense, Clan Boss (Demon Lord and Hydra), Faction Wars, Campaign, and Dungeons including Spider's Den, Fire Knight's Castle, Ice Golem's Peak, and Minotaur's Labyrinth. A champion sitting at S tier means they perform well across multiple areas. A C-tier champion might still be your best option for a specific Faction Wars team, so don't dismiss them entirely.

Rarities are ranked independently. An S-tier Rare is not necessarily better than a B-tier Legendary. The tiers compare champions within the same rarity pool, which is how resources actually flow in the game.

info

The Mythical rarity sits above Legendary. The current SS-tier Mythicals include Embrys the Anomaly, Komidus Darksmile, Nais the Shadowthief, Nell Blackteeth, Starsage Galathir, and Theodosia the Disgraced. These are the absolute ceiling of the game right now.

What are the best Legendary champions?

After testing squad compositions across Clan Boss and Arena content, the Legendary champions that consistently deliver are grouped below. This reflects rankings as of May 2026.

Top-tier Legendaries worth every resource

The SS-tier Legendaries are Armanz the Magnificent, Lord Entertainer Fabian, Marius the Gallant, Odin Faefather, Vestele Riverthorn, and Vulkanos Fumor. These six represent the best-in-class Legendary pulls.

Below them, the S-tier Legendary pool is enormous. Some standouts that appear consistently are:

Cardiel (Sacred Order)
Duchess Lilitu (Demonspawn)
Krisk the Ageless (Lizardmen)
Lydia the Deathsiren (Dark Elves)
Valkyrie (Barbarians)
Siphi the Lost Bride (Undead Horde)
Mithrala Lifebane (Dark Elves)

Legendary mastery setup

Faction-by-faction tier breakdown

Here's a condensed view of the S-tier champions in each faction (updated May 2026).

Loading table...

What are the best Epic champions?

Epics are where most players spend the majority of their early-to-mid game resources, and a well-built Epic can outperform a poorly-built Legendary in most content. The SS-tier Epics are Geomancer (Dwarves) and Seer (Orcs). Two champions. That's how rare true SS-tier Epics are.

The S-tier Epic pool is more generous and includes some of the game's most impactful champions:

Archmage Hellmut (Banner Lords)
Deacon Armstrong (Sacred Order)
Demytha (Dwarves)
Madame Serris (Dark Elves)
Maneater (Ogryn Tribe)
Miscreated Monster (Knight Revenant)
Rector Drath (Knight Revenant)
Seeker (Undead Horde)
Stag Knight (Banner Lords)
Tayrel (High Elves)
Uugo (Ogryn Tribe)

Epic champion stat comparison

What are the best Rare champions?

Rares get overlooked once players start pulling Epics, but two Rares sit at S tier: Apothecary (High Elves) and Coldheart (Dark Elves). Apothecary is one of the best speed-boosting supports in the entire game regardless of rarity. Coldheart deals ignore-defense damage that scales with enemy max HP, making her a Fire Knight staple that remains relevant well into endgame.

The A-tier Rares worth holding include Kael (Dark Elves), Warmaiden (Barbarians), Athel (Sacred Order), and Bellower (Ogryn Tribe). These are starter-adjacent champions that remain genuinely useful.

info

Don't feed Apothecary or Coldheart to level other champions. Both appear on endgame teams. This is the most common early-game mistake new players make.

How do Uncommon and Common champions fit in?

The S-tier Uncommons include Armiger, Dervish, Dhampir, Outlaw Monk, Outrider, Satyr, Saurus, Shieldguard, Skinner, and Zephyr Sniper. These are worth keeping for Faction Wars team completion, but you won't build them past 4 stars in most cases.

Commons are almost entirely fodder. The one exception is Death Hound (Undead Horde), which sits at S tier among Commons. For everything else at Common rarity, use them to level your actual team.

Champion summon portal UI

Which factions have the strongest depth?

Looking at S-tier density, Dark Elves and Undead Horde have the most high-impact champions in their faction pools. Dark Elves gives you Kael at Rare (one of the best early-game farmers), Coldheart as a permanent dungeon staple, and Legendaries like Lydia the Deathsiren, Mithrala Lifebane, and Madame Serris at Epic. That's coverage from Rare through Legendary that almost no other faction matches.

Dwarves punch above their weight too. Geomancer at Epic SS tier, plus Legendaries Tormin the Cold, Trunda Giltmallet, Acrizia, and Demytha at S tier gives the faction genuine top-end power.

Banner Lords has the widest S-tier list of any faction , suggesting the faction's depth is real but some picks are situational.

Should you invest in B-tier champions?

B-tier champions are not dead weight. They handle specific content well, fill gaps in Faction Wars teams, and can carry you through mid-game content while you wait for better pulls. Champions like High Khatun (Barbarians), Spirithost (Dark Elves), and Skullcrusher (Ogryn Tribe) all sit in B tier or lower on some lists but show up regularly in competitive Clan Boss compositions because of specific mechanics like extra turns or counterattack.

The question isn't whether a B-tier champion is good. The question is whether building them blocks you from building something better. If your next S-tier pull is three months away, build the B-tier champion.

For more targeted advice on specific content and team compositions, the full Raid: Shadow Legends strategy guides collection covers individual dungeons, Clan Boss setups, and Arena team building in detail.

Raid: Shadow Legends is one of the most played RPG games on mobile, and the champion pool keeps growing. Mythical champions added in 2025 and 2026 have pushed the power ceiling significantly, with the six SS-tier Mythicals sitting in a class that most free-to-play players won't access quickly. Focus on the S and A tier Legendaries and Epics listed above and you'll have a team capable of clearing the hardest standard content in the game. Keep up with the latest rankings and new champion additions at the Raid: Shadow Legends game page as the roster continues to expand.