How To Beat the Dark Fae in Raid: Shadow Legends

The Dark Fae is one of the most rewarding Doom Tower bosses to farm when her rotation comes around, offering not only a Sacred Shard for clearing the final floor (on hard) but also valuable forge materials to craft Lethal gear. This set is essentially an upgraded version of Savage, granting 10% Crit Rate and 25% Ignore Defence – perfect for gearing your top damage dealers.

To take her down, teams usually rely on champions that can control her speed and Turn Meter, a strong damage dealer to clear both the waves and mirrored clones, and support champions to provide key buffs, debuffs, and turn cycling.

In this article, we’ll break down how to beat the Dark Fae in simple, easy to follow steps – making her mechanics less overwhelming and giving you exactly what you need to secure the win! This guide focuses on the toughest challenge – Stage 120 on Hard – but the same tips can easily be applied to the lower stages as well.

We’ve all heard of the Fire Knight, right? In simple terms, you can think of the Dark Fae in a similar way – Except instead of depleting shield counters, she brings mirrored clones of your own allies to fight at her side – after that, it all comes down to gaining Turn Meter / speed control of the boss. These clones are exact copies of your champions, matching their stats, sets, auras, and blessings. However, Raid follows a core rule where tie breakers always favour the attacker, meaning you’ll take your turn before your clones – as long as you’re faster than the boss herself.

START OF BOSS PHASE

Astranyx begins the fight by placing Perfect Veil on herself, making her untargetable with single-target abilities until you deal with the mirrored clones – so they’ll be your first priority. Once you’ve cleared them out (we’ll cover the best ways to handle that shortly), it’s time to look at what the boss actually brings to the table.

DARK ABDUCTION

She typically opens with Dark Abduction, spawning a mirror copy of one of your allies to fight at her side. You can predict who this will be, as she always targets the ally with the highest Attack stat. If you can’t fully control her, it’s best to make your slowest or most vulnerable champion the highest Attack, so you can quickly outpace and eliminate the clone when they appear. Keep in mind, this ability also applies True Fear, so a bit of RNG comes into play unless you’re able to resist or block the debuff.

FAERIE STORM & DARKLIGHT BEAMS

Astranyx may follow up with this attack, but it’s only truly dangerous if mirrored clones are still alive. That’s because her living allies will join in, and the damage increases by 25% for each one present. This makes clearing the clones a top priority, as it prevents the skill from reaching its full potential. Her A1 also applies Leech, which can become problematic if she takes another turn afterward – allowing her to heal significantly from the damage dealt, especially when clones are still in play.

DARK TENDRILS

This ability is quite unique for a boss, as Astranyx triggers different effects based on the affinities of your team. She steals a random buff for each Magic champion, reduces Turn Meter by 10% for each Force champion, heals herself by 10% for each Spirit champion, and has a 25% chance to apply True Fear for each Void champion. Any of these can be disruptive if she gets the chance to use it, but the True Fear procs are often the most punishing, as they can throw your team out of its rotation.

BEST WAY TO COUNTER

If you can quickly eliminate the mirrored clones and establish full Turn Meter control, the boss may barely act – or with the right stats, builds, and team synergy, never take a turn at all. The ideal mix of damage, Turn Meter control, and Speed manipulation makes Astranyx play out very much like the Fire Knight once you gain momentum. Make sure to pre-set your allies’ key abilities so you can take control of the fight right away. The mirrored clones will always open with their strongest skills, and without proper setup, they can immediately turn the fight against you.

Before starting your encounter on either difficulty, it’s recommended to check the stages tool if you’re struggling with specific enemies. This gives you a clear picture of the champions and stats you’ll be up against, helping you gauge what speeds you’ll need to outspeed, control, or eliminate them effectively.

Most players include a damage dealer in their team to handle both the waves and the mirrored clones, though picking one that also provides utility for the boss fight is ideal. This utility can come from cycling through consistent attacks to whittle enemies down, or from a powerhouse champion capable of sweeping them in one go.

For example, Thor is a dominant damage dealer who also delivers utility – his bonus AOE attack when his Thunder Counters reach 10 can further clear waves and clones, while his A1 Turn Meter drop and Decrease Speed debuff help against the boss. Alternatively, an Epic like Whisper can pick off enemies one by one before shredding the boss later, or an Epic like Siegehulk can bring extra speed manipulation alongside his AOE damage. Even a control focused approach with someone like Armaanz or Yakarl can work. Be creative – many champions can fulfill this role depending on your team.

When building a team, it’s important to consider the roles you’ll need – or in some cases, multiple champions of the same role – to bring this boss down smoothly. Your top priority is making sure your primary Turn Meter and Speed controllers are faster than the boss, while also tuned to deal with your mirrored clones before turning to Astranyx herself. With strong AOE abilities, you may even control both the clones and the boss simultaneously.

PRE-SETS & CLONES

When running a full auto team, setting up presets is the first step before entering the fight. You’ll want your speed manipulators and clone killers to have their skills ready after clearing the waves, ensuring they’re available for the boss phase. For a deeper dive, you can check out our Best Dark Fae Clone Killers article, but in simple terms: lock out your main controllers’ abilities (aside from anything needed for the waves) until the boss phase, so they can immediately open with their strongest skills.

A common strategy is to start with your Turn Meter booster or reducer – such as Deacon or Eostrid – then place control effects to slow down the clones or set up your clone killer to wipe them out quickly. From there, your remaining controllers can keep the Dark Fae locked down, minimizing – or even preventing her turns altogether.

SLOT 1

Ideally, bring a champion with a Speed Aura – such as Deacon, Eostrid, or Lyssandra – who can also boost your team’s Turn Meter or reduce the enemy’s in the same phase. This immediately puts you ahead of the enemies, giving your allies the chance to cut in first, eliminate the clones, set up offensive buffs and debuffs, and take control of the fight.

SLOT 2

You’ll need a champion capable of handling both the waves and the mirrored clones. Ideally, this champion should also bring utility for the boss fight – such as applying Decrease Speed, providing offensive buffs, landing key debuffs like Decrease Defence or Weaken, or adding extra Turn Meter control to help keep Astranyx locked down alongside your other allies.

SLOTS 3-5

These slots usually depend on what champions you have available – whether you can take the boss down quickly or need a slower, control-heavy approach with more Turn Meter manipulators. This is where champions like Alure, Coldheart or Lyssandra shine, as they can consistently reduce the boss’s Turn Meter to keep her taking minimal – or even no turns.

You might also consider allies like Royal Guard, an Epic who brings Enemy Max HP nukes alongside Decrease DEF, Decrease Speed, and Turn Meter control. Similarly, Gnut can deliver multiple Enemy Max HP nukes at once while still controlling the boss and helping with the waves.

At the endgame level, many players simply stack damage dealers to finish the fight as fast as possible – for example, Whisper, who can chain her attacks together to burn through the boss in record time.

As an extra option for players struggling to manage mirrored clones, consider champions like Yakarl, Archmage Hellmut, or Armanz. Their crowd control abilities can give you the breathing room needed to eliminate the clones while also helping keep the boss under control at the same time.

While Legendary champions like Gnut or Lyssandra are often the go to picks for speed farming Dark Fae, they’re by no means essential to clear the fight. In the example team above, all Epics contribute Turn Meter control to manage both the boss and her clones, combining their attacks to handle clones even without a dedicated nuker. Champions like Siegehulk or Fylja can step into this role, bringing additional Speed and Turn Meter control after their initial attacks to finish off the clones.

Archmage Hellmut is particularly valuable, applying Increase Speed along with Stun and Turn Meter effects to keep the clones locked down. Skimfos, especially in Relentless, offers strong Decrease Speed and Turn Meter steal, while Coldheart and Royal Guard provide the main damage through their Enemy Max HP attacks, doubling up with Turn Meter control.

Check out the video below for a full breakdown of the MVP champions for this encounter!