Even if you claim a bonus Legendary champion like Septimus through onboarding links and promo codes on Day 1, your first Rank 6 promotion in RAID: Shadow Legends must go to your starter Rare champion—most commonly Kael.
Early account progress depends entirely on establishing a solo campaign farmer that can clear Stage 12-3 on Brutal difficulty alongside three low-tier "food" champions. While Septimus deals massive single-target damage to dungeon and Clan Boss targets, his lack of Area of Effect (AoE) abilities makes him too slow to clear four-man campaign waves efficiently. Park Septimus at Rank 5 for the first 24 to 48 hours while directing your early energy, Skill Tomes, and artifact upgrades into your starter.
Why a Rare Starter Takes Priority Over Septimus
Septimus features single-target burst that scales from Enemy MAX HP using Holy Sword, alongside an ability to reset cooldowns on kill. However, campaign farming requires clearing multiple waves of four enemies in rapid succession. Without AoE attacks, Septimus must eliminate enemies one by one, requiring superior gear and heavy stat support to survive prolonged rounds.
By contrast, starter champions like Kael feature multi-target AoE skills (such as Acid Rain and Disintegrate) and Poison debuffs. When paired with the beginner 4-piece Lifesteal artifact set, a Rank 6 starter can wipe enemy waves in under thirty seconds while keeping their health bar full. Raising this champion to Level 60 creates the leveling engine required to upgrade Septimus and the rest of your roster later.
Day 1 Campaign Routing and Energy Milestones
Spend your Day 1 energy pushing campaign difficulties rather than running low-level Potion Keeps or early Dungeon stages. Low-tier dungeons yield poor experience ratios per point of energy.
Follow this progression sequence to push from Normal through Brutal:
| Campaign Milestone | Target Level | Core Focus and Priorities |
|---|---|---|
| Normal Stages 1–12 | Account Level 1–15 | Complete 3-star stage clears; equip starter with the campaign reward Lifesteal set. |
| Hard Stages 1–12 | Account Level 15–25 | Push through to unlock completion rewards; acquire basic Speed boots from Stage 6-6. |
| Brutal Stages 1–9 | Account Level 25–35 | Level your initial Rank 5 food champions; farm duplicate Warmaiden copies in Stage 9-3. |
| Brutal Stage 12-3 | Starter Rank 6 (Level 60) | Establish permanent food farming for optimal Silver and account experience. |
If your team stalls in Hard or early Brutal, the issue is almost always Champion Speed rather than your roster composition. If enemies attack before your starter can act, farm Stage 6-6 (Palace of Aravia) on the highest unlocked difficulty to obtain common or uncommon Boots with Speed as the primary stat. Upgrade these boots to Level 12 so your starter takes the opening turn and clears the wave before receiving damage.
Resource Allocation: Skill Tomes and Gear
Resources during the first 24 hours are limited. Misallocating Skill Tomes and Silver significantly delays your first Level 60 champion.
- Save Legendary Skill Tomes: Do not use early Legendary books on Septimus. Legendary tomes are scarce for free-to-play accounts and distribute randomly across skills. Rare Skill Tomes are plentiful from early challenge tiers, missions, and campaign rewards, allowing you to fully upgrade Kael's cooldowns and debuff rates within your first few days.
- Equip Starter with Lifesteal: Place your starter in the login and milestone 4-piece Lifesteal set. Look for Gloves with Critical Rate %, a Chestplate with Attack %, and Boots with flat Speed.
- Cap Early Silver Spending: Do not upgrade 1-star, 2-star, or 3-star gear past Level 8. Reserve Level 12 and Level 16 upgrades for 4-star and 5-star artifacts that have the correct main stats.
- Equip Septimus with Residual Gear: Gear Septimus with leftover Attack and Critical Rate sets to serve as a secondary boss hitter for early Clan Boss keys and Potion Keeps, but do not invest heavy Silver into his artifacts until your farmer reaches Rank 6.
Next Steps for Clan Boss and Dungeons
Once your starter reaches Rank 6 and can solo Stage 12-3 Brutal, shift your focus to building a five-champion team for Dungeons and the Demon Lord (Clan Boss). Clan Boss is the primary daily source for Skill Tomes, high-rank gear, and Shards, so spend your daily keys even on Easy difficulty.
At this stage, Septimus becomes a core asset. Pair him with your starter for Poison damage, Warmaiden (farmed from Chapter 9) for Area of Effect Decrease Defense, and a support champion like Diabolist or Spirithost for Turn Meter and Speed buffs. With your Stage 12-3 food farm established, ranking Septimus up to 60 will take a fraction of the time it would have required on Day 1.
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Michael Smith
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Player Comments
68 players commented on this guide.
This helped me understand early game much better.
This saved me time in the early game.
Good guide for RAID: Shadow Legends players. The early game part was useful.
Can you add more details about early game in a future update?