RAID: Shadow Legends, the turn-based RPG by Plarium has long been considered as one of the fastest growing mobile games ever since it’s launch back in 2018. Starting with some of the core mechanics beloved by many avid fans of turn-based games, RAID: Shadow Legends has trademarked itself as a pioneer in bringing new type of content with its own twists and turns. Just the past month, we have seen the official roadmap of the game that was released by the developers to showcase what they have in plan for the community in 2023. Players are delighted to participate and enjoy the content drops, especially the new Live Arena that was revealed with the patch notes. RAID: Shadow Legends is a free-to-play game that is available on both the Google Play Store and iOS App Store.

Table of Contents

1. Live Arena – New Game Mode
2. Initiating Live Arena Battles
3. Pick/Ban Champions (Phase 1)
4. The Battle Commences (Phase 2)
5. Live Arena Tiers and Rewards
6. Quintus the Triumphant
7. Great Hall: Area Bonuses
8. Champion Rebalancing

One of the biggest content launches in 2023, Live Arena has long been touted as a game changer for the game due to its massive champion pool and strategical skillsets of the champions in the game. Well, Plarium has finally revealed as to what we can expect in the new game mode and how it will function altogether. What’s even more exciting is the new farmable Void legendary champion Quintus the Triumphant that is going to be exclusively available through the Live Arena game mode. Let’s take a look at all the new and exciting features coming to RAID: Shadow Legends with Patch 7.00.0.

Live Arena – New Game Mode

Patch 7.00.0 is going to be bringing the new PvP game mode called Live Arena. Players will be automatically unlocking Live Arena once they reach Level 50 as their account level. Players can access this game mode by going to the Arena tab and clicking on the Live Arena tab. The schedule of Live Arena will be revealed at a later date but for starters, this game mode is not going to be available every time but instead at a specific time each day. Initially, it is revealed that the Live Arena game mode will be available 3 times each day on different times of the day.

However, after the initial launch, the Live Arena will be held 4 times each day. The timings are as follows:

• 00:00 UTC – 02:00 UTC

• 06:00 UTC – 08:00 UTC

• 14:00 UTC – 16:00 UTC

• 20:00 UTC – 22:00 UTC

Further, let’s take a look at the sub-topics for the Live Arena game mode.

Initiating Live Arena Battles

First of all, we need to clarify that the currency used for participating in Live Arena is going to be called as “Live Arena Tokens”. This is standard nomenclature as Classic Arena requires Classic Arena Tokens. Players can have a maximum of 5 Live Arena tokens, and these tokens refill every single day after server reset. Players can also purchase another set of 5 Live Arena tokens at the cost of 100 gems. Each subsequent refill after the first will cost more than the previous purchase till it maxes out at a certain cap. This cost of refills also resets after server reset.

The battles are done in a timed manner, where both the player and their opponent are going to be matched according to their average and last performance in the Live Arena. Plarium promises that they are going to be trying their best to keep the matchmaking as fair as possible. However, in the beginning, players can expect to not match against opponents that are at their same player power. In future, as the game gets more data over time, the system and the matchmaking will also be improved. As the opponent is found once you click on “Find Match”, players will then have a toss that will decide who picks first in the 1st  phase of the battle. Yes, the Live Arena match has different phases that we will get into the next sub-topic.

Pick/Ban Champions (Phase 1)

As the phase name itself might dictate, players need to pick their champions in a turn by turn order until both you and your opponent reach 5 champions. The player who won the toss starts this phase by picking the first champion. A 30 second timer limit is associated for each player’s pick. Exceeding this timer will make the AI auto-pick a champion for you according to your recent picks and the highest power rating of your champions. Once both players have 5 champions selected, each of them then decides to ban 1 champion from the other roster. Once banned, the champion cannot be retrieved or used but simply the match comes down to a standard 4v4.

Plarium claims this sentence in their patch notes – “Of course, you can be sneaky and play tricks on your opponents to ensure they don’t ban a Champion you actually want to have in the fight, just remember that they will be doing the same.” This most likely refers to the mind games into letting the enemy think what you are picking. These strategies are quite common in turn-based games that have a concept of players fighting amongst each other in a real-time environment. The last part of this phase is choosing the team leader for your roster of 4 champions left.

In the Live Arena game mode, there are going to be rankings as well just like we see in the Classic Arena game mode. Starting with Bronze as the starting step, all the way to Platinum. In the initial tiers before Gold rankings, all players can use duplicate champions in the pick/ban phase. However, the Gold and above ranking matches will not allow duplicate champions to be picked. This means that once a champion has been picked by 1 player, the 2nd player will not be able to pick the same champion.

The Battle Commences (Phase 2)

The battles in the Live Arena game mode are going to proceed as they usually do in any game mode in RAID: Shadow Legends. Only difference that can be expected is in the time given to each player for making their decision regarding their moves when their champion gains a turn. The timer limit per turn is 15 seconds, if you somehow manage to miss doing anything, the AI (Artificial Intelligence) will make the move on your behalf. If you manage to skip on 3 turns like this consecutively, the AI will take the game to Auto mode until you reconnect and switch it to manual. The maximum duration any battle can go on is 30 minutes. Post this time, the match will be over and it will be considered a defeat for both players.

Live Arena Tiers and Rewards

Players will get a new currency called “Live Arena Points” upon winning the matches in the Live Arena game mode. Apart from this new currency, a specific type of chest depending on your tier ranking will also be given. A Bronze Live Arena Chest will be given to Bronze ranked players, a Silver Live Arena Chest will be given to Silver ranked players, a Gold Live Arena Chest will be given to Gold ranked players, and so on. Just like players used their Classic Arena bars to enhance their Great Hall stats, similarly, players will also be able to upgrade a different set of stats from the new and improved Great Hall using the latter chests given. More details regarding this feature will be shared later.

Currently, in the iteration of Live Arena, there will be no Platinum Tier. The following 12 tiers will be available to be climbed:

• Bronze 1

• Bronze 2

• Bronze 3

• Bronze 4

• Silver 1

• Silver 2

• Silver 3

• Silver 4

• Gold 1

• Gold 2

• Gold 3

• Gold 4

The higher your tier, the more Live Arena Points you will be getting per victory. Before Silver 1, players will not be losing their Live Arena points upon being defeated. However, Silver 1 and above tier player will start losing their Live Arena points upon being defeated. Further, if you do not participate in at least 1 Live Arena battle in 5 days, you will start losing 5 points per day of inactivity. One more juicy reward given to players who dedicate themselves into climbing the tiers is a shiny new void legendary Quintus the Triumphant whom we have talked about in the next section. Fragments of this champion along with new artifact sets will be given as rewards. The 2 new Artifact sets are as follows:

• Impulse Set (4-Set): SPD +12%, 30% chance to reduce random Skill cooldown by 1 turn
• Zeal Set (4-Set): C. DMG +25%, +7.5% Damage for every 25% HP the target has.

Quintus the Triumphant

One of the biggest champion drops of 2023, Quintus the Triumphant is going to be exclusively available through the Live Arena game mode. As we previously mentioned, this is going to be a farmable champion which means players should not expect to get him in 1 day itself but over a long period of time. With many champions released previously, players will be able to collect shards of Quintus the Triumphant that is purchasable through the Shop. Quintus the Triumphant is a Void Legendary champion from the Banner Lords faction that is classified as an Attack type champion. He is a solid DPS nuker that can deal tons of AOE-damage as well as single targeted damage.

We would recommend building Quintus the Triumphant as a solid DPS type champion that he is meant to be. To be able to unlock his full potential, players should build on him on Savage, Lethal, Relentless, and Cruel artifact sets. Focus on main stats should be on Critical Hit Damage%, Attack%, and Attack%. Focus on the substats should be Critical Hit Rate%, Critical Hit Damage%, Attack%, and Speed. Let’s take a brief look at the skills of Quintus the Triumphant:

Encore Performance (Active Ability): Attacks 1 enemy. Places an extra hit if the target has no buffs. If this attack is critical, repeats the attack once.

Level 2: Damage +5%

Level 3: Damage +5%

Level 4: Damage +5%

Level 5: Damage +10%

Strip Away (Active Ability): Attacks 1 enemy. Removes all buffs, then places a 60% [Decrease DEF] debuff on the target for 2 turns before attacking. These effects cannot be resisted or blocked.

Damage inflicted by this skill cannot be decreased by enemy Passive skills or masteries, except by the passive skills of Bosses. Damage inflicted by this skill cannot be increased by either this Champion’s Masteries or ally Passive skills, except when attacking Bosses.

Resets the cooldown of the [Crowd Favorite] skill if this attack kills an enemy.

Level 2: Damage +5%

Level 3: Damage +5%

Level 4: Damage +5%

Level 5: Damage +10%

Level 6: Cooldown -1

Crowd Favourite (Active Ability): Attacks all enemies. Places a 50% [Increase ATK] buff and a 30% [Increase C.DMG] buff on this champion for 3 turns before attacking.

Resets the Cooldown of [Strip Away] skill if this attack kills an enemy.

Level 2: Damage +5%

Level 3: Damage +5%

Level 4: Damage +5%

Level 5: Damage +10%

Percussion (Passive Ability): Each of this champion’s skills deals additional pure damage. The amount of pure damage dealt is equal to 10% of the targets MAX HP for each buff on them. The additional Pure Damage dealt will ignore [Shield] buffs.

AURA

Increases Ally ATK in Arena Battles by 35%

Great Hall: Area Bonuses

The Live Arena Crests that you will obtain from the different chests as well as per battle won in the Live Arena can be used to upgrade and unlock various sets of area bonuses in the Great Hall. As the Affinity bonuses in the previous Great Hall affected all champions of a particular affinity, the Area bonuses in the Great Hall will affect a group of champions in specific locations. Hence, the term “Area Bonuses”. The locations included are as follows:

• Potion Keeps
• Ice Golem’s Peak
• Fire Knight’s Castle
• Dragon’s Lair
• Spider’s Den
• Clan Boss Battles (Hydra & Demon Lord)

All of these area bonuses can be further just like the Affinity bonuses. Bronze Crests will be required for the first 3 levels, Silver Crests are going to be required for the next 3 levels, and Gold Crests will be required for the remainder of the levels.

Champion Rebalancing

It’s not a surprise when every patch contains some balance changes to currently non-meta champions. The changes itself being made are good but sadly, they are only here for 2 champions. Here are the champions and the changes:

ELEGAIUS

Dead Stop (1st ability) – Attacks 1 enemy. Puts the target’s skills on cooldown. Also places a [Block Buffs] debuff for 2 turns.

If the enemy team has any duplicates of the target Champion, will also put all their skills on cooldown and place a [Block Buffs] debuff on them for 2 turns.

Ghost Rage (2nd ability) – Attacks all enemies. Has a 75% chance of removing 2 random buffs. Also has a 75% chance of decreasing all enemies’ Turn Meters by 20%. Decreases enemy Turn Meters by a further 10% for each removed buff.

Spurned By Death (Passive ability) – Prevents this Champion’s death and keeps them alive on 1 HP when hit by a fatal hit.

If this skill prevents this Champion’s death, heals them by 30% of their MAX HP, fills their Turn Meter by 30%, and places a [Shield] buff on them equal to 30% of their MAX HP for 2 turns.

Will not prevent this Champion’s death if they are under a [Heal Reduction] debuff.

AURA – Increases Ally ACC in all Battles by 60.

SUZERAIN KATONN

Hex of Years (2nd ability) – Attacks all enemies. Has a 70% chance of placing a 25% [Weaken] debuff for 2 turns. Also has a 45% chance of placing a 60% [Decrease DEF] debuff for 2 turns. Damage multiplier have been increased.

Banish From Time (3rd ability) – Basic: Attacks all enemies. Places a 100% [Heal Reduction) debuff for 2 turns.

Ascended: Removes [Shield], [Block Damage], and [Unkillable] buffs from all enemies, then attacks them. Places a 100% [Heal Reduction] debuff on all enemies for 2 turns. The buff removal cannot be resisted. Damage multiplier increased.

Players can check out the highlights of the Patch on the official forum website of Plarium. Further, the game has also released a special YouTube video dictating the nuances of the new Live Arena game mode. To read more such updates and guides, check out our Blog section where we cover the latest happenings at RAID: Shadow Legends for our lovely community. Play RAID: Shadow Legends on PC, download it from BlueStacks for a smooth experience.