Best Poison & HP Burn Activation Champions in Raid Shadow Legends
In this guide, we’ll explore the power of Poison and HP Burn activation Champions in Raid: Shadow Legends. We’ll explain how these mechanics work, why they’re so effective, where they excel, and highlight the best Champions for activating these debuffs across a wide range of content.
What poison and hp burn activation does in raid
HP Burn and Poison activation abilities allow Champions to instantly trigger the damage from existing HP Burn and Poison debuffs, rather than waiting for the affected enemy to take their turn. This can result in strong bursts of damage, especially against high HP enemies and bosses.
Some Champions can activate a single tick, multiple ticks, or every Poison on a target. HP Burn activations, however, are limited to triggering the single HP Burn on each enemy, as only one can be active at a time. Despite this, both mechanics are excellent for converting damage over time effects into immediate burst damage.
Poison activations excel against stacked debuffs on priority targets, while HP Burn activations thrive in encounters such as Hydra and Spider, where multiple enemies can be damaged at once.
Why activation champions are valuable
Strong Burst Damage
HP Burn and Poison activation Champions can generate burst damage by instantly triggering damage over time effects instead of waiting for enemies to take their turns, allowing you to quickly wear down priority targets and bosses.
Poison activation excels because multiple Poison debuffs can be stacked on a target, enabling Poison explosion strategies. HP Burn, however, can only be applied once per enemy, making it particularly effective in encounters with multiple targets, such as Spider and Hydra, where activating Burns across several enemies can deal significant damage.
Speed Farming Potential
Poison activation is the foundation of many speed farming teams, allowing stacked Poisons to instantly melt PVE waves & bosses like Dragon, while HP Burn activation excels in encounters such as Hydra and Spider, where multiple enemies can be damaged at once. In fights like the Spider Dungeon, every HP Burn activation triggers damage from each affected enemy, allowing the total damage to ramp up extremely quickly.
Against single target bosses, Champions such as Ninja can repeatedly activate HP Burn to deal huge bursts of damage, making activation strategies an excellent way to maximise damage output.
Best Poison and HP Burn Activation Champions in Raid
Here we’ve highlighted some of the top Poison and HP Burn Activation champions in Raid: Shadow Legends, showcasing the different strengths they bring. While this list isn’t exhaustive, it should give you an understanding of what makes these champions so effective. For more options, be sure to check out our Champion Tier List.
Elenaril
Elenaril fulfils a dual role as both an HP Burn and Poison Champion. She can place Poisons on all enemies before instantly activating all Poisons for powerful Poison Explosion strategies, while also bringing an irresistible HP Burn on her A1, making her especially reliable against bosses such as Frost Spider and Draugnell in the Grim Forest.
Artak
Artak is a powerhouse for HP Burn teams, capable of placing HP Burn on all enemies before instantly activating a tick, while also applying Decrease ATK for added damage mitigation. With the right build, he can even solo content, making him an excellent choice for Hydra and Spider progression, as well as a strong option for tackling Ice Golem, including Hard Mode.
Ninja
Ninja has stood the test of time as one of the best HP Burn Champions in the game, capable of applying the debuff through random hits while instantly activating it against bosses. This combination generates huge burst damage, synergising perfectly with his already impressive damage output, especially as his passive ramps up during longer encounters like Hydra.
Ash’nar
Ash’nar is one of the strongest HP Burn activation Champions in the game, capable of activating HP Burn while placing it on both allies and enemies, with Burns on allies instead healing them instead of dealing damage. He also brings Weaken, Turn Meter fills, and powerful HP Burn synergy in his Base Form.
In his Alternate Form, he becomes one of the strongest Debuff Spread Champions, spreading debuffs to all enemies before extending their duration and repeating the attack. Combined with strong damage, Provoke, and self buffs, he excels in encounters such as Hydra where maintaining debuffs is key.
Stokk
Stokk is a versatile HP Burn and Poison activation Champion, triggering one tick of both effects through his A2 while also destroying enemy MAX HP and boosting ally Turn Meters. His passive further enhances this by allowing these activations to bypass Block Damage and Unkillable, making him particularly effective against troublesome Champions.
He pairs well with HP Burn Champions, as his A3 places additional Poisons and Weaken when HP Burn is active, while also providing Continuous Heals for the team. This combination makes him a strong choice for various encounters.
Zavia
Zavia is very similar to Elenaril, capable of placing Poison on all enemies before instantly activating all Poisons through her A3. Enemies killed by this skill cannot be revived, making her an excellent option for Poison Explosion teams. She also gains additional synergy when paired with Belanor, enabling a Debuff Spread effect.
Ezio
Ezio is a strong Poison activation Champion, placing two Poisons and Poison Sensitivity on all enemies before instantly activating the Poisons on targets with four or more debuffs. This makes him a great fit for Poison Explosion teams, while in PvP his Poisons are converted into Bombs against enemies under Stoneskin. He also brings strong single target damage through buff stealing, Ignore DEF, and Decrease DEF, while his passive grants Veil, retaliation, and survivability.
Narma
Narma has made a strong comeback following her buffs, with her A3 placing three Poisons alongside Poison Sensitivity before instantly activating all Poisons on all enemies. She also passively places Poisons when allies are attacked, reduces damage taken from affected enemies, and brings key debuffs for healing reduction and damage mitigation, making her an excellent option for Dragon, Clan Boss and other Poison focused teams.
Sulfuryion
Sulfuryion is one of the ultimate HP Burn Champions, capable of both placing and instantly activating HP Burn through the same ability, while remaining affinity friendly. Alongside his exceptional burn potential, he also brings a full team revive, strong Shields, and Turn Meter boosts, making him one of the strongest support options for HP Burn teams.
Venomage
Venomage places two Poisons alongside Heal Reduction through the A3, before activating Poisons with the A1 for additional burst damage. Heal Reduction also enables their passive damage reduction, while Decrease ATK and Decrease DEF provide valuable support, making Venomage an excellent all round option for Poison focused teams.
Vulkanos
Vulkanos passively places HP Burn on enemies when they receive buffs or Turn Meter increases, or instantly activates the Burn if they’re already affected. With full Unity, these Burns become irresistible, increase his Ignore DEF by up to 100%, and enable Block Revive on burned enemies he kills.
Keeping HP Burn active unlocks the full potential of his kit, empowering his Fear, increasing his A3 damage, reducing its cooldown through Burn activations, and allowing him to ignore effects such as Stoneskin and Unkillable.
Teodor
Teodor is a unique Champion who combines multiple roles into one kit, placing Poisons, Poison Sensitivity, and Increase SPD through a single skill. He also activates both Poison and HP Burn ticks with his A3, allowing for immediate burst damage, making him an exceptional all in one option for Dragon teams and other debuff focused encounters.
Best Areas to Use Activation Champions
Dungeon Speed Farming
HP Burn and Poison activation can be excellent for speed farming, but each excels in different situations. Poison activation thrives in wave content and bosses like Dragon, where stacking and detonating multiple Poisons can instantly melt enemies. HP Burn, while limited to one debuff per target, is especially powerful in encounters like Spider, where activating Burns across multiple enemies deals huge burst damage, or against single target bosses with Champions like Ninja who can repeatedly trigger HP Burn damage.
PVE Waves & Bosses
Activation Champions can greatly speed up PvE progression by converting damage over time effects into immediate damage. Poison activations are ideal for quickly clearing waves and wearing down bosses through stacked debuffs, while HP Burn activations excel against groups of enemies or high HP bosses, allowing your team to deal significant damage without waiting for enemy turns.
Clan Boss
Against the Clan Bosses, activation Champions can significantly increase your damage output by triggering HP Burn and Poison without waiting for enemy turns. Be mindful of the debuff limit, however, as too many Poisons can block more crucial debuffs. Activating existing Poisons helps free up debuff slots while maintaining strong damage.
HP Burn activations are particularly effective when a Champion can both place and detonate the debuff themselves, making them a powerful option across all three Clan Boss encounters.
PVP
Poison and HP Burn activations can also be effective in PvP when built around the right setup. Champions such as Kalvalax or Nell can quickly stack Poisons, allowing activation Champions to instantly convert them into burst damage and wear down enemy teams before they have a chance to recover.
How to build activation champions
Accuracy Requirements
Although the activation itself doesn’t require Accuracy, the Champion triggering it is often also responsible for placing the HP Burn or Poison. Unless those debuffs are irresistible, Accuracy becomes one of their most important stats. As a general guideline, aim for around 25 more ACC than your target’s RES, using tools like the Raid Stages Tool to check specific requirements.
Increase ACC buffs and Decrease RES debuffs can further improve consistency, while hybrid Champions such as Ezio also benefit from balancing Accuracy with offensive stats and enough Speed to both apply and activate their debuffs effectively, while dealing damage.
Recommended Artifact Sets
Gear sets that provide Accuracy, such as Perception, Pinpoint, or Feral, are excellent choices for activation Champions, helping them consistently place the HP Burn or Poison debuffs needed to fuel their activations, while also providing valuable secondary stats like Speed. Depending on their cooldowns, sets like Relentless or Reflex can also be highly effective for cycling back to activation skills more quickly.
For Champions that can solo bosses such as Dragon or Ice Golem, Regeneration paired with high Resistance is a popular option, allowing them to sustain themselves while repeatedly placing and activating debuffs throughout the fight.
Hybrid activation Champions that also deal significant damage, such as Ash’nar or Ninja, can benefit from offensive sets like Savage, Lethal, or Merciless, balancing Ignore DEF with enough Accuracy to consistently place and activate their debuffs.