To get your first 6-star hero in RAID: Shadow Legends, concentrate all early-game experience and energy into your main starter champion. Your primary goal is to turn this hero into a solo "Campaign Farmer"—preferably an Area of Effect (AOE) attacker—who can clear high-level campaign stages while carrying low-tier champions to level them up.
Your immediate next action is to run the highest campaign stage your starter can complete alone until you unlock Stage 12-3 on Brutal difficulty, which yields the most efficient experience (XP) and Silver for account progression.
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How the Food Mechanic and Rank Upgrades Work
"Food" refers to lower-rarity Common and Uncommon champions that you level up specifically to sacrifice for ranking up your main heroes. To promote a hero to a higher rank, you must feed them duplicate-rank champions equal to their current star count.
| Target Rank Upgrade | Required Food Champions | Ideal Sacrifice Candidates |
|---|---|---|
| 3-Star to 4-Star | Three 3-star champions | Max-leveled 2-star Common/Uncommon units ranked up once |
| 4-Star to 5-Star | Four 4-star champions | Max-leveled 3-star Common/Uncommon units ranked up twice |
| 5-Star to 6-Star | Five 5-star champions | Max-leveled 4-star Common/Uncommon units ranked up three times |
Step-by-Step Farming Routine
- Set your driver: Deploy your starter hero solo or alongside three low-tier food units.
- Clear campaign stages: Run the highest stage your starter can reliably complete. Aim for Brutal 12-3 as your final baseline.
- Promote food units: Once Common or Uncommon heroes hit their level cap, sacrifice un-leveled 1-star or 2-star heroes to rank them up.
- Repeat the loop: Continue leveling those newly promoted units until you have five 5-star food champions ready for your starter hero.
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Mistakes to Avoid When Managing Resources
Focusing on one hero at a time prevents your account from stalling out with weak, unfinished units.
- Do not build multiple heroes at once: Spreading resources across five 4-star units slows down overall progression. One 6-star hero clears content faster and far out-performs a team of 4-star heroes.
- Do not use Rare or Epic heroes as food: Keep Rare and Epic champions in your vault. Even if a higher-tier unit seems weak early on, it may be vital later for Clan Boss encounters, Faction Wars, or Fusion recipes. Stick strictly to Common and Uncommon units for food.
- Time your energy refills: Save your inbox energy refills and gems for periods when you have an active double-XP boost running or during relevant training events.
- Clean out inventory regularly: Avoid hitting champion storage caps by immediately converting low-tier fodder into higher ranks.
Free RAID: Shadow Legends Codes
Current active codes and how to redeem them.
Michael Smith
Michael covers live-service games, events, reward systems, and efficient daily routines, turning frequent updates into clear actions for players.
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Player Comments
71 players commented on this guide.
The explanation is clear, especially for beginners.
Nice guide. I am checking the other RAID: Shadow Legends articles next.
This saved me time in the early game.
This helped me understand heroes much better.