How HP Burn Works in Raid Shadow Legends

Learn how HP Burn works in Raid Shadow Legends. Discover how this debuff deals damage and why it is powerful against bosses and dungeon waves.

The HP Burn Debuff Explained

HP Burn places a debuff on an enemy that triggers damage when that enemy takes a turn. Each affected target deals damage to all enemies on the field at that moment. The damage equals 3% of each enemy’s MAX HP.

This effect works across the entire wave. If five enemies are alive, each one with HP Burn will trigger damage to all five when their turn comes up. The more enemies present, the more total damage you produce over time.

The debuff lasts for a set number of turns. Once applied, it does not need further input from your champion. You only need to keep it active on as many enemies as possible.

Bosses often have rules that reduce or cap this damage. Always check their passive skills before relying on HP Burn.

HP Burn vs Direct Damage

HP Burn deals damage outside of normal attacks. Your champion does not need to hit the enemy again for the effect to trigger. The damage occurs automatically when the enemy takes a turn.

Direct damage comes from skills, critical hits, and multipliers tied to attack or defence stats. HP Burn ignores those factors. It scales from the enemy’s MAX HP instead of your champion’s stats.

This makes HP Burn strong against high-health targets. A single tick on a boss with millions of HP can deal more damage than a full attack rotation from many champions.

Direct damage lands once per skill use. HP Burn keeps dealing damage across multiple turns, which builds steady pressure during longer fights.

Damage When Enemies Take Turns

HP Burn triggers every time an affected enemy takes a turn. The moment their turn begins, the debuff activates and deals damage to all enemies on the field.

This happens before the enemy completes their action. Even if they attack, buff, or debuff your team, the HP Burn damage still goes through first. Each enemy with HP Burn will trigger their own damage instance, so multiple debuffed targets will create repeated damage ticks.

The effect continues for the full duration of the debuff. As long as HP Burn remains active, every turn taken by that enemy adds more damage to the fight.

Why HP Burn Is Strong Against Multiple Enemies

HP Burn scales with the number of enemies alive. Each affected enemy deals damage to all enemies when their turn starts, so more targets means more total damage.

In a wave of five enemies, one HP Burn will hit all five when that enemy takes a turn. If all five enemies have HP Burn, each turn cycle creates five separate damage triggers that hit the entire group.

This creates a rapid buildup of damage across the wave. The more enemies present, the faster their combined health drops without needing direct attacks.

This is why HP Burn performs best in areas like Spider’s Den or wave-based content, where many enemies act in quick succession.

Spider Dungeon

HP Burn forms the core of many Spider dungeon teams. The boss spawns multiple Spiderlings, and each one takes frequent turns. When HP Burn is active on those Spiderlings, every turn they take deals damage to all enemies, including the boss.

This means the Spiderlings become your main damage source. Instead of trying to hit the boss directly, you let the Spiderlings trigger repeated HP Burn damage. In a full wave of ten Spiderlings, the damage stacks fast and can melt the boss in a few turn cycles.

Strong runs focus on placing HP Burn on as many Spiderlings as possible and keeping them alive long enough to take turns.

Hydra Boss

HP Burn works well against Hydra as each head counts as a separate enemy. When multiple heads have HP Burn, each one triggers damage across all heads when it takes a turn.

This creates steady damage across the entire fight. You do not need to focus one head at a time, as HP Burn spreads damage evenly. It helps weaken all heads at once, which supports mechanics like breaking Decay shields or managing head rotations.

The effect builds over time, which fits Hydra’s longer fights.

The other huge benefit of HP Burn against Hydra, is it’s ability to counter the Poison Cloud mechanic, allowing you to continue to hit the heads normally.

Wave-Based Battles

HP Burn performs best in battles with several enemies on the field. Each enemy that takes a turn triggers damage to the whole group, so more enemies means more total damage.

In standard wave content, enemies often act one after another. This leads to constant HP Burn triggers without needing extra actions from your team.

You can clear waves with fewer direct attacks by applying HP Burn early and letting it tick through each enemy turn. This saves cooldowns and keeps your team safer during longer encounters. Pairing a strong HP Burn Champion with lots of Control and Support Champions can make a lot of wave content trivial, although slow at times.

Here we’ve listed 10 of our favourite Poisoners in the game: note that these are not necessarily “top tier” but ones that hold a place in our heart. This list is also not exhaustive, but it should steer you in the right direction for knowing what makes these types of champions so powerful! Check out our Champion Tier List for more info.

ACC Requirements

The most important stat for HP Burn champions is Accuracy. If your debuffs fail to land, you lose all value from HP Burn.

Aim for around 25 more ACC than the enemy’s Resistance. This keeps your HP Burn consistent across longer fights.

Dragon 20 has 200 RES, so you should target about 225 ACC. Use the Raid Stages Tool on our site to check exact stats for each boss and fine-tune your HP Burn builds.

SPD Requirements

The more turns your champion takes, the more often you can apply or refresh HP Burn.

High-Speed bosses like Hydra or Chimera demand strong Speed on your burner. If you fall behind, your HP Burn will drop off and your damage will slow down.

If your team uses HP Burn activation skills, Speed becomes even more important. You will consume debuffs faster, so you must reapply HP Burn at a higher rate.

Recommended Artifact Sets

Artifact sets that boost Accuracy and Speed work best for HP Burn champions.

Speed, Perception, and Feral sets all help you land and maintain HP Burn across fights.

Reflex stands out for cooldown reduction. It lets you place HP Burn more often. Regeneration adds healing each turn, which supports solo strategies that rely on HP Burn damage over time.

Blessings and Relics

The Incinerate blessing is built for HP Burn, but it only works in PvP modes like Arena and Siege.

For PvE, Brimstone is a strong option. It pairs well with HP Burn champions who already stack Accuracy and focus on bosses.

The Skull of Treason is the only relic tied directly to HP Burn, but it was limited and is not required.

Golden Elixir offers healing, and Hoarder’s Cauldron gives extra Accuracy for landing HP Burn more reliably. The Wand of Submission works well in PvP to protect your HP Burn champion from Polymorph.