To start a new free-to-play account efficiently in RAID: Shadow Legends, invest all your initial experience, energy, and food champions into your starter champion to reach Level 60 as fast as possible. Paired with using early gems to purchase their Masteries, this creates a reliable campaign farmer capable of clearing high-difficulty stages to fuel your entire account's future growth.
Primary Day 1 Priorities
Spreading resources across multiple low-level units early on will stall your campaign progress. Instead, funnel every potion, extra champion, and energy refill into upgrading a single core unit.
| Resource / Item | Early Target Action | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Starter Champion | Level to 60 as first priority | Serves as your primary campaign farmer for leveling fodder. |
| Gems | Unlock starter Masteries | Grants permanent stat upgrades for campaign and dungeon clear power. |
| Promo Codes & Shop | Redeem new user codes and daily gifts | Secures bonus silver, energy refills, and early shards. |
| Campaign Stages | Push toward Brutal difficulty | Secures optimal experience-to-energy ratios for farming. |
Starter Champion and Campaign Push
Your main objective in the first 24 hours is to unlock "Brutal" Campaign difficulty. Brutal stages provide the most efficient experience output per energy spent, allowing you to quickly raise lower-tier fodder champions to rank up your primary team later on.
- Focus Experience on One Unit: Feed all low-tier food champions directly into your starter champion to rank them up to 6-star (Level 60).
- Equip Survival Gear: Farm campaign stages for a full Lifesteal gear set. The self-healing provided by Lifesteal keeps your starter alive during solo clears.
- Handle Progression Walls: If your starter fails a stage, do not waste energy re-attempting it immediately. Backtrack to a lower, fully cleared stage that you can complete quickly and reliably to accumulate gear and experience.
Gem Usage and Resource Management
Free-to-play accounts receive substantial front-loaded rewards during Day 1, but mismanaging these items can slow mid-game progression.
- Save Gems for Masteries: Avoid spending your early gems on Ancient Shard summon packs. Spending your first batch of gems to instantly unlock all Masteries for your starter champion delivers an immediate, substantial stat boost that dramatically increases campaign speed.
- Hold Energy Refills: Claim free daily login gifts, shop giveaways, and new-user promo codes right away to collect silver and items. However, retain your stored energy refills in your inbox until high-value opportunities open up, such as double-experience events or dedicated gear farming targets.
Free RAID: Shadow Legends Codes
Current active codes and how to redeem them.
Emily Johnson
Emily writes practical mobile strategy guides with a focus on resource planning, base progression, and the early decisions that shape a long-term account.
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Player Comments
132 players commented on this guide.
The explanation is clear, especially for beginners.
Nice guide. I am checking the other RAID: Shadow Legends articles next.
I tried this today and it worked better than my old setup.
Can you add more details about early game in a future update?