Raid: Shadow Legends Review - Fantasy jazz, but with more swords (and spreadsheets).

You’ve seen the ads. Maybe rolled your eyes. Maybe laughed. Somewhere between the meme-tier marketing and that guy with the glowing sword, Raid: Shadow Legends blew up. So I gave in. Downloaded it. Played it way too much. And now I've got thoughts, most of them involve spreadsheets, poison, and one moody elf who deserves better.

I Downloaded Raid as a Joke, and Now I Main Kael

I knew what I was walking into. Everyone's seen Raid: Shadow Legends, even if you've never played it, you've probably had an orc yell at you mid-YouTube rabbit hole.

Still, curiosity won. I had to know if there was more behind the absurd ads and buff dudes in spiky armor.

So I hit download. Booted it up on both PC and mobile. Went all in on the grind. And yeah, wasn't ready for how absurdly deep this thing goes.

Why Kael Is the Only Starter That Matters

That intro cutscene? Feels like someone dumped a case of energy drinks on a D&D campaign and gave it a Marvel trailer budget. Dragons. Betrayals. Elf gets vaporized. You know, fantasy starter pack.

Then boom: starter champion time. Four choices, but let's be real: Kael or bust. Poison king. Dungeon gremlin. The guy looks like he hasn't slept since the tutorial and smells faintly of arcane regret. I adore him.

The first hour? You're on rails. Tap this. Upgrade that. Follow the arrows like a good little noob. Raid keeps you locked down until you prove you can click green buttons without starting a fire. Then it loosens the leash. Kinda.

Menus. Everywhere. And Somehow They All Matter.

Let me be real, this game's UI is like a nesting doll of alerts and buttons. Tabs inside tabs. I opened a Champion Vault I swear I didn't unlock. Total panic.

There's a Tavern for sacrificing weaklings, a Forge for stitching gear together, and more currencies than a fantasy stock exchange. Still not 100% sure what silver even does. Probably everything.

And weirdly? It all clicks. Each system feeds another like a cursed buffet. Wanna beat the Clan Boss? Get your champs speed-synced and geared up. Trying to roast spiders in Spider's Den? Bring burn champs and hope for mercy. Raid doesn't guide you, it hurls a calculator and says "good luck."

Auto-battle helps. You'll tap it. Repeatedly. No shame.

Speed Tuning Broke My Brain, Then Made Me a Believer

A few hours in, I'm flying through Campaign. Kael's a beast. I feel invincible. Then Stage 7 shows up like, "Sup."

Skeleton shows up. Long sword. Bad attitude. Wipes my whole team before I blink.

Turns out, it's not just about leveling. You need turn order. Stat synergy. And, yep: speed tuning. Imagine dance choreography, but everyone's holding weapons and kinda hates each other.

Had no clue what a "speed aura" was. Now I do. Still haunted by it.

Mistakes Were Made. I Fed My Epic.

Day three. I pull an Epic. I cheer. I squint. She looks kinda meh.

Fed her to Kael.

Later, I find out she's A-tier for Arena and could've carried me halfway to endgame. Amazing. Love that for me.

I didn't scream. I just sat there. Quiet. Deep regret vibes.

This is Raid in a nutshell. Gives you gifts, lets you mess up, then watches silently like a disappointed parent.

Mental note: Google before you click things.

Arena PvP: Where Free Players Cry and Plot Revenge

PvP in Raid? Absolutely savage. You enter the Arena hoping for glory, and instead some whale with six gold-framed Legendaries stomps your dreams into paste.

Still, it's not hopeless. There's room to outmaneuver. Outspeed. Or just pick weaker teams and sneak cheap wins while pretending you're a tactical genius.

I checked back constantly. Adjusted my defense. Sniped easy matches. Next thing I knew, I was in too deep. My coffee got cold.

Clan Boss Is Brutal, and I Love Him for It

Clan Boss is the giant meat wall you and your clan jab at daily. He doesn't flinch. Just backhands your team and keeps chewing on your soul.

But when your team finally clicks, when the debuffs land and the turn meter dances, it's beautiful. Like setting up dominoes and watching them explode in just the right way.

This is where Raid goes full strategy nerd. Artifact sets. Cooldowns. Turn juggling. If you're undergeared, don't bother. You'll be tickling a kaiju with wet noodles.

But when your damage hits seven figures? Chef's kiss, again.

F2P? Hope You Like Spreadsheets and Suffering

Energy's generous early on. You're rolling. Then it tightens. Hard. Suddenly you're hoarding it like it's the last juice box on a road trip.

And then come the Masteries. The ascensions. Potion farming. Shard gambling. Gear leveling. It's a grind stacked on a grind baked into another grind.

You either quit, or you lean in. Hard. With a spreadsheet and a playlist.

The payoff? Watching your team finally click and demolish something that used to stomp you. It's slow. But it hits.

This isn't a weekend game. It's a lifestyle. A loud, spreadsheet-filled lifestyle.

Tiny Wins, Big Feels

• First 4-star gear drop from Dragon's Lair. Took a screenshot like it was my firstborn.
• Kael triple-poisoned a boss so hard I laughed out loud.
• Beat a full whale team in Arena by outspeeding them with a support champ. Vindication.

Raid knows how to make you feel like a genius, even if you're just copy-pasting some Reddit meta comp. When your weird little plan works? No better feeling.

So, Is Raid Worth Your Time?

I thought it'd be a meme. Now I'm three weeks in, running spreadsheets and considering joining a Discord for gear drop math.

Yeah, Raid is flashy. It's grindy. It flirts with your wallet a little too often. But the depth? Legit.

If you're into theorycrafting, turn meters, and yelling at your phone when a support champ goes rogue, there's a home for you here.

Just... for the love of Kael, don't feed your Epics. Learned that one the hard way.