Reference

The game modes, and what each one is actually for

RAID: Shadow Legends spreads its content across a lot of separate modes, and the game does a poor job of telling a new player which ones matter yet. This is that explanation.

By Nancy Scott, editor · Published 23 September 2026 · Editorial policy

Solo progression

Campaign

Story stages across four difficulty settings, each harder than the last. This is the experience farm: the standard way to level champions you intend to sacrifice into others, and the source of most early materials. It is also where you spend most of your Energy in the first weeks.

It is worth clearing on higher difficulties for the rewards, but the campaign is not the game's endgame, and treating it as such will leave you badly under-equipped for the dungeons.

Dungeons

A rotating set of bosses, each dropping a different category of reward. Between them they supply gear and the materials used to ascend and rank up champions. This is where most of your actual power comes from — and where a team that clears the campaign comfortably will suddenly stop working, because dungeon bosses have mechanics that punish a team built only for raw damage.

Doom Tower

Rotating floors with their own bosses and restrictions, refreshed periodically. It rewards a broad roster rather than one very good team, because different floors demand different answers.

Competitive

Classic Arena

You attack defence teams set by other players. It is asynchronous — the other player is not present — and it is where Speed matters most brutally, because acting first is frequently the whole fight.

Live Arena

Real-time matches with a drafting phase before the fight. The draft adds a layer the rest of the game does not have: you are choosing against a specific opponent's picks rather than against a fixed defence.

Tag Team Arena

Multiple teams swapped in across a single fight, so it rewards roster depth rather than one optimised squad.

Clan and faction content

Clan Boss

A shared target the whole clan attacks with a limited number of daily keys, with chests awarded by damage tier. Joining an active clan is one of the highest-value things a new player can do, because clan rewards arrive regardless of how good your own teams are yet.

Hydra Clan Boss and Siege

Hydra is a harder clan boss with more demanding mechanics. Siege is clan-versus-clan, played on a map with attacking and defending positions.

Faction Wars

Crypts cleared using champions of a single faction only. This is the mode that quietly reshapes how you play, because it means champions you would otherwise feed away have a use. It is also slow: most players chip away at it over months rather than clearing it in a session.

Which to prioritise, if you are new

1. Campaign, to level a starting team and unlock everything else.
2. Join a clan as soon as you can, and do your Clan Boss keys daily. The rewards compound.
3. Dungeons, as soon as your team survives them, for the gear that makes everything else possible.
4. Arena, for the account-wide bonuses it unlocks, which help every other mode.
5. Doom Tower and Faction Wars later. Both reward a roster you will not have for a while.

The beginner guide covers the first two weeks in more detail.