Basim Ibn Ishaq in Raid: Shadow Legends
If you’ve been watching the Assassin wave roll through Raid: Shadow Legends, you’ll know the pattern by now: slick kits, nasty utility, and that ever-present “how do I keep them alive long enough to do the thing?” problem. Basim Ibn Ishaq lands with a kit that feels refreshingly… complete. He doesn’t need babysitting to function. He brings his own Perfect Veil, real damage, and one of the most underrated forms of “control” in the current meta: stealing the opponent’s best buffs at the worst possible moment.
In this breakdown, we’re going to unpack what Basim does, why he’s dangerous in PvP, where he fits in PvE, how to build him, and the sneaky synergy that makes him feel even better than he looks on paper.
Basim’s Kit Overview – Simple, Clean, and Built to Function Alone
Basim isn’t overloaded with ten different mechanics you need a flowchart to understand. He’s a straightforward damage dealer with utility baked into everything he does.
A3 – Winds of Baghdad (Single Target Nuke + Perfect Veil + Extra Turn)
A double-hit nuke that scales up based on buffs/debuffs on Basim and buffs/debuffs on the target, meaning it can ramp hard in real fights. The best part? He places Perfect Veil for 3 turns and grants an extra turn, effectively tightening the cooldown cycle and letting him stay protected without outside support.
A2 – Up in Smoke (AoE Nuke + Block Active Skills)
A 3-turn cooldown AoE that ignores DEF (even more when under Perfect Veil) and places Block Active Skills at high chance. Even better: if he’s under Veil/Perfect Veil, this debuff can ignore Block Debuffs, which is huge in an era where everyone is trying to hide behind safety layers.
A1 – Double Hit with Weaken + Debuff Spread
Two hits with a chance to place Weaken, and a chance to spread one random debuff from the target to all enemies. Under Veil/Perfect Veil? Those chances jump to 100%, turning his A1 into reliable setup and disruption.
If you like champions that “just work” without needing a perfect team shell… Basim is that.
The Passive That Makes Him a Problem – Resistance Ignore + Buff Theft
Basim’s passive is where things get spicy with built-in RES Ignore.
While under Veil/Perfect Veil, Basim ignores 25% of the target’s Resistance when using skills. This meaningfully lowers his accuracy burden and helps him land key debuffs into high-res targets.
The Real Juice: Buff Steal + Debuff Transfer on Being Attacked
Whenever Basim is attacked:
- He steals a random buff from the attacker
- He transfers one random debuff from himself to the attacker
This isn’t just “nice to have.” In testing, it created swing moments where Basim stole genuinely game-defining buffs like:
- Stone Skin
- Block Damage
- Even survival tools like Unkillable (yes, really)
That’s the kind of passive that turns a losing fight into a win because the enemy accidentally “fed” Basim a buff he should never have had.
Also worth noting: his passive interactions are especially valuable into buff-heavy teams and mechanics like Hydra where steals can matter a ton.
PvP Performance – Block Active Skills Is Nasty (and He Hits Hard Doing It)
Let’s talk arena reality: damage is easy to find. Damage plus control that can’t be casually answered is where champions become meta.
Basim’s Block Active Skills is a rare and brutal debuff because it stops enemies from using their important buttons. And yes, that includes Mythical form changes, which is a massive deal. A lot of “soft control” in Raid falls apart because Mythicals simply pivot forms and reset the board. Basim can shut that door.
On top of that:
- His AoE hits hard thanks to ignore DEF, can delete a priority target and keep him safe under Perfect Veil
- His A1 spreads pressure across the enemy team (Weaken + debuff spread)
The main limiter? He’s squishy. If Basim doesn’t get into Veil and start rotating, he can absolutely get flattened. Especially if you fail to handle enemy Stone Skin properly. When fights went bad, it often wasn’t “Basim is weak,” it was “the team didn’t crack the defensive layers fast enough.”
Basim’s Biggest Weakness – Stone Skin and Getting One-Shot Before He Cycles
Even with the power in his kit, Basim still has a classic nuker problem: if he’s exposed early, he can die fast.
Stone Skin specifically caused issues in testing when the team couldn’t remove it reliably. If Basim’s damage doesn’t connect, he can’t lock the team out, and the enemy gets to play the game.
The twist, though, is hilarious: Basim can steal Stone Skin. That means sometimes the opponent’s own defensive plan becomes your defensive plan, and suddenly Basim is the one wearing the bulletproof vest. It doesn’t solve the matchup by itself, but it absolutely creates chaotic, “how did we win that?” moments.
So the lesson is simple:
Best Builds for Basim – Why Stone Skin + Damage Sets Feel Ideal
If you’re building Basim for his best role (PvP nuker with control), you want two things:
Survive the opening and then hit like a truck while landing debuffs
Recommended Gear Sets
- Stone Skin + Savage/Lethal (the “default” dream setup). Stone Skin buys him time whilst Savage/Lethal makes his ignore DEF scaling even scarier and helps him secure kills.
- Alternative options: Mercurial / Feral / other survival 4-piece + a 4-piece damage set. Anything that keeps him alive long enough to get Perfect Veil up and start locking teams out is valuable.
Key Stats
- 100% Crit Rate
- High ATK + Crit Damage
- Solid Speed (he wants to rotate quickly and leverage extra turns)
- Accuracy (still important, but the RES ignore makes it less painful than usual)
In testing, an endgame-style build sat around:
- Very high ATK
- High speed
- High crit damage
- ~500 accuracy to make debuffs consistent even into tougher targets
You don’t need those exact numbers, but you do need to respect the balance: Basim is half nuker, half disruptor. Build both sides.
Relics
Basim has multiple viable relic directions depending on how risky you want to play.
Safer PvP Option
- Wand of Submission. Reflecting crowd control back can completely flip fights, especially when you’re already trying to keep Basim alive through the first wave of enemy pressure.
Other Damage Options
If you want Basim to snowball harder, other damage relics you could choose is something like Irethi Coronet that stack damage as he places debuffs (Basim places debuffs constantly)
And there’s also a really cheeky interaction with veil-start relics: if Basim begins under Veil, you can open with A2 for the unblockable lockout pressure, then A3 to reapply Perfect Veil and take the extra turn to race back toward A2 again. That’s the kind of rotation that makes opponents feel like they never got to take a real turn.
Closing Thoughts – Basim Is Solid
Basim isn’t “best champion in the game, delete every team, zero counterplay” levels of silly. But he’s really good. He brings real damage, self-sustained Perfect Veil, rare and powerful control with Block Active Skills, and a passive that can literally steal the opponent’s win condition mid-fight.
He shines most in PvP, but he doesn’t embarrass himself in PvE either. Especially when fights naturally stack buffs and debuffs for his A3 to scale into. And if you pair him with the right support, he becomes even more oppressive.
The big question is: would you build him as a safe Stone Skin control nuker… or go full greedy with damage and dare the enemy to stop you?