Beginners Guide to Arena and Siege (the PvP Modes) in RAID: Shadow Legends

Welcome to the world of RAID: Shadow Legends, an epic mobile game that since its release has taken the gaming world by storm. One of the most exciting and competitive aspects of the game is PvP (“Player vs Player”, i.e. Classic Arena, Tag Team Arena, Live Arena, and Siege), a set of modes where players can compete directly against each other in battles to earn rewards, climb the rankings, and become the best!

In this article, we will explore the RAID: Shadow Legends PvP scene and everything you need to know to become a master of these game modes. We’ll cover the basics of the Arena, including the different tiers and divisions, as well as the different types of battles you can participate in. We’ll also delve into strategies for building a winning team and offer tips on how to succeed in battle.

Whether you’re a seasoned veteran of RAID: Shadow Legends or a newcomer to the game, the Arenas and Siege are modes that offer endless excitement and challenge. So, get ready to sharpen your skills, hone your strategy, and step into the Arena for a battle like no other.

The Arena is an extremely important aspect of RAID: Shadow Legends for several reasons. First and foremost, it offers a highly competitive environment where players can test their skills and strategies against others in battles. This competitive aspect of the game is highly rewarding and satisfying for players who are looking for a challenge and want to climb the rankings.

Additionally, the Arenas offers a variety of valuable rewards, including Artifacts, Gems, Shards, and in-game currency. The higher a player’s ranking in the Arena, the more lucrative the rewards become.

Finally, the Arena provides a social aspect to the game, allowing players to connect with and compete against others from around the world. This can create a sense of community and camaraderie among players and can make the game more enjoyable overall.

Overall, the Arena is a crucial component of RAID: Shadow Legends, providing players with a competitive, rewarding, and social experience that is integral to the overall enjoyment of the game.

There are currently four different PvP modes in the game: Classic Arena; Tag Team Arena; Live Arena; and Siege. Each mode unlocks gradually as you level up your account, and each has its own progress and reward tracks.

Classic Arena is the most basic form of Arena, where players set a single defence and then challenge other players defences over the course of the week. You can focus on only using your very best PvP champions, and you can pick and choose the easiest defences to attack. At the end of the week, players receive a reward based on their Tier. Note that Platinum tier Classic Arena is reserved for the top 500 players in the world and is absurdly competitive—it will likely take you years of play to be able to compete there.

Tag Team Arena works like Classic, but this time players must set 3 defences at once instead of just one. This will stretch your team building skills and is a great way to learn about what types of teams are good against each other. Due to requiring many more champions, this is significantly less accessible than Classic Arena, even though it lacks an uber-competitive Platinum tier.

Live Arena is the ultimate form of Arena, where players take each other on in live combat: there is no preset AI defence set here—you are taking on an actual person! Because of this, each fight takes a lot longer here but is much more intense. The fights begin with a draft phase, where players take turns picking their champions and tailoring their strategy to counter the team the enemy is building. Then each player can ban one champion from their enemy’s team. Finally, the players pick their team leader and proceed to the battle.

Note than once you get up to Gold Tier in Live Arena, each champion pick must be unique: if you first pick Arbiter, for example, then your opponent cannot pick her! Live Arena Seasons also unlock in the Gold Tier, where you will have 4 weeks to advance through the ranks and claim some very juicy rewards. Each Season has a 2-week cooling off period afterwards.

Finally for Live Arena, at time of writing it is currently only open during specific time slots throughout the day, but Plarium have shared plans for having it be open 24/7 sometime during 2026, which will make it much more convenient for the average busy player.

Siege is the fourth PvP mode in the game, but it sets itself apart because this is not a solo mode, but a mode between Clans!

To participate in Siege, you must have unlocked the mode and be in a Clan which also meets the requirements.

Siege is fought every 2 weeks, with the actual battle taking place on Tuesday and Wednesday between two opposing Clans.

During the pre-battle phase (lasting about 12 days), you must work with your Clan to place the best defences you can around your map. You can repair and upgrade buildings, activate traps and bonuses, and more—consult your Clan leader, who will likely be organising the team. The number of defences you can place will depend on the level of the buildings in your Clan Fortress.

After a short matchmaking period, you will fight an opposing Clan. Here your Clan will attempt to break through their Clan Fortress defences, while their Clan does the same to yours. Victory is awarded to whichever Clan takes down the most defences, plus the enemy Stronghold. The number of attacks each player has is limited (depending on the level of the enemy buildings, plus your rank within the clan), so pick your fights wisely and communicate with your Clan to coordinate your attacks!

As well as the standard rewards (including Artifacts, Gems, Shards, and in-game currency), each Arena mode also offers some unique rewards as well!

Classic Arena rewards include:

• Great Hall Medals, for upgrading your Affinity Bonuses for global bonus stats to your champions.
• Magisteel, for crafting gear in the Forge.
• At the uber-competitive Platinum tier, it is the only source of Swift Parry and Deflection accessories.

Tag Team Arena rewards include:

• Bars for purchasing items in the Tag Team Bazaar.

Live Arena rewards include:

• Great Hall Medals, for upgrading your Area Bonuses, for bonus stats in specific areas of the game.
• Live Arena Relic Fragments, for crafting Live Arena Relics.
• Starstone and Basalts for upgrading Relics.
• Special gear sets, including Zeal, Impulse, Stonecleaver and Rebirth.
• One of the main sources of Primal Shards.

Siege rewards include:

• A unique legendary champion, Authoratrix Lamasu.
• The best source of Clan Relic Fragments, for crafting Clan Relics.
• The Feral gear set.
• Clan gold and Clan Experience.

Building a successful PvP (Player versus Player) team in RAID: Shadow Legends requires careful consideration of several factors. Here are some tips for building a strong PvP team in the early stages of the game:

• Choose the right champions: The first step to building a strong PvP team is to choose champions that complement each other well. This means selecting champions with different abilities and strengths that can work together to cover each other’s weaknesses. You should also consider the affinity of the champions you choose, as this can have a significant impact on their effectiveness in battle.
• Focus on speed: In PvP battles in the early game, speed is essential. The faster your champions are, the more likely they are to go first and gain an advantage over your opponents. You should prioritize champions with high-speed stats and gear them accordingly. (This does vary later in the game, especially in Platinum Arena, but while you are progressing through the tiers, this will be the way to go!)

• Build a balanced team: A successful PvP team should have a good balance of offense, defence, and support. You should have champions that can deal damage, champions that can protect your team, and champions that can provide buffs or debuffs to your opponents.
• Team Flexibility: Whilst a lot of the time if you are faster than your opponent you will not have to worry about defensive capabilities, sometimes there are teams that you are not able to clear before they take a turn, meaning you need to prepare to out-survive them in order to secure the win.
• Consider the AI: When building a PvP team, it’s important to consider how the AI (Artificial Intelligence) will control your champions, you may need to modify the AI settings in the Team Pre-set window. Likewise, when fighting an opponent, the AI can act differently to how a player usually would, learning these differences can be key in understanding who you can fight and have a significant impact on the outcome of battles.
• Experiment and adapt: Finally, building a successful PvP team require experimentation and adaptation. You should try different combinations of champions and strategies and be willing to make changes as needed based on the results of your battles.

By following these tips and putting in the time and effort to build and refine your PvP team, you can increase your chances of success in Raid: Shadow Legends Arena battles.

In Arena there are almost endless possibilities for teams that you can encounter with such a huge Champion pool, however, they can usually fall into certain categories:

• Speed Teams – These will consist of a Speed Boosting/Turn Meter filling Champion, a powerful SPD Aura, followed by either a Control Champion, a Remove Buffs champion, or another Booster, and then finally a nuker to wipe out the enemies. These teams are nearly always the top performing teams for new players, but they fall off a bit as players start gathering strong Go-2^nd gear sets.
• Blender Teams – These are incredibly popular for farming lower ranks of the arena, and even in Gold IV/V, however dip off in later ranks due to the rise of strong defensive teams, the way these work are very simple, just like a Speed Team, you will use a Turn Meter Booster, followed by an Ally Attack Champion, and the final two positions will be filled with Champions who have an AoE A1 Ability such as Skullcrown and Sinesha, who can be built with zero speed, allowing you to put more focus into offensive stats.
• Go-2^nd Teams – These are designed to counter speed teams, built solely around going after your opponents, and being able to survive their initial turns, before picking them off when your turn comes around. These teams rely heavily on specialised gear sets such as Stoneskin, Chronophage, Feral, or Mercurial, and powerful passives such as Niamhe, Spear of Nyrsesa, to survive.
• Cut-In teams – These are very similar to speed teams, though they lean more heavily on fast control champions with the ability to go after the enemies Speed Booster but before their control or damage dealers. Champions in these teams will often rely on Supersonic gear to cut in, and often pair that with Stoneskin on the whole team to stay safe as well.
• Stall Teams – These teams are used on Defence in both Arena and Siege, with the sole aim of simply not dying, and forcing your opponents to give up, they will consist of tanky champions who can mitigate the damage you’re throwing at them, whilst healing and cycling revives to become effectively unkillable.

A big part of Live Arena strategy is identifying what sort of team your opponent is attempting to build, and then using your remaining picks and your ban to disrupt their strategy (for example, banning their Arbiter so their Speed Team is slower than yours, or banning their Fabian so their cut-in strategy doesn’t work.)

Winning in Arena battles in RAID: Shadow Legends requires a combination of strategy, skill, and a bit of luck. Here are some strategies that can help increase your chances of victory:

• Focus on speed: As mentioned earlier, SPD is crucial in PvP battles. Champions with high-SPD stats and gear can give you a significant advantage in battles by allowing you to go first and control the pace of the fight.
• Use debuffs: Debuffs such as Weaken, Decrease DEF, and Block Buffs can greatly reduce the effectiveness of your opponents’ champions, making them easier to defeat. Champions with debuff abilities can be highly effective in Arena battles.
• Bring control: Debuffs such as Stun, True Fear, or Freeze, or effects such as Increase Skill Cooldowns are able to prevent enemies from taking turns or from using their powerful abilities.
• Use buffs: Buffs such as Block Damage, Block Debuffs, or Increase ATK can drastically improve the survivability of your team or drastically increase your damage.
• Focus on a single target: In some cases, it can be more effective to focus your attacks on a single opponent rather than spreading your damage around. By taking out one opponent quickly, you can reduce the overall threat to your team and gain an advantage in the battle.
• Be aware of affinity: Affinity can have a significant impact on the effectiveness of your attacks and the damage you take. It’s important to consider the affinity of your opponents’ champions and adjust your strategy accordingly.
• Experiment and adapt: Finally, as with building a strong PvP team, winning battles requires experimentation and adaptation. You should try different strategies and adjust your approach based on the results of your battles.

By employing these strategies and putting in the time and effort to build a strong team, you can increase your chances of success in RAID: Shadow Legends PvP battles.

There are several common mistakes that players make in RAID: Shadow Legends Arena and Siege, which can significantly reduce their chances of success. Here are some of the most common mistakes:

• Neglecting speed: As mentioned earlier, SPD is crucial in Arena battles. One of the most common mistakes players make is neglecting speed and not investing in champions with high speed stats and gear. This can leave your team at a significant disadvantage in battles.
• Focusing too much on offense: While dealing damage is important in Arena battles, focusing too much on offense can leave your team vulnerable to counterattacks and debuffs. It’s important to have a balance of offense, defence, and support in your team to be successful in the long run. Ideally you will have teams who can counter different opponents, however in the early months of the game you will likely have to adapt and realize what you can actually fight without risking a loss.
• Ignoring crowd control and debuffs: Crowd control and debuffs can be extremely effective in Arena battles, yet some players neglect these abilities and instead focus solely on offense. By ignoring these abilities, players can miss out on significant opportunities to gain an advantage in battles.
• Not considering team synergy: Having champions with complementary abilities and strengths is essential in building a strong PvP team. Yet, some players neglect this aspect and choose champions solely based on their individual strength or rarity. This can lead to a lack of synergy and coordination among team members, making battles more difficult to win.
• Not adjusting to the meta: The meta, or the current state of the game and popular champions and strategies, can change over time. Failing to adjust to the meta can put players at a disadvantage in Arena battles. It’s important to stay up to date with the latest strategies and champions and adjust your team and approach accordingly.
• Using Arena-only Auras in Siege: Sadly, Arena Auras (such as Arbiter’s 30% SPD in Arena Battles Aura) do not work in Siege. You must use “All Battles” auras here instead.

By avoiding these common mistakes and focusing on building a balanced, effective team, players can increase their chances of success.

A lot of this knowledge will come from practice, however, it is always advisable to watch content creators to see how they are countering specific types of teams, as well as Champions that they are using/avoiding fighting against.

In conclusion, RAID: Shadow Legends’ PvP modes can be challenging but also incredibly rewarding. By focusing on speed, team synergy, and a balance of offense, defence, and support, players can build a strong PvP team that can compete against the best. It’s also essential to be aware of common mistakes, such as neglecting speed or not adjusting to the meta, which can significantly reduce your chances of success. By following the strategies outlined in this article and putting in the time and effort to build a strong team, players can increase their chances of victory and climb the ranks in the Arena. With practice and perseverance, anyone can become a top Arena player and an asset to their Clan in Siege in RAID: Shadow Legends.