The time has come! HH Gaming’s 2023 Free to Play challenge officially kickstarted today, and we’ve got a very special guest joining in!

Lady H has “agreed” to join the Challengers in the Free to Play 2023 Series, and will be keeping everybody updated with her thoughts and feelings along the way in this post!

Be sure to leave Lady H some support in the comments!

GOT HIM!!!!

Lockers had only gained about 100 points overnight so I went for it. Used a couple of energy refills from quests and comfortably took first place.
I happened to pop in to double-check the leaderboard with 15 minutes to go and spotted that some joker had knocked Lockers down to third and was trying to take my spot. Unbelievable!

Don’t worry though, I’d saved just enough energy for such an event to show them who’s the queen around here
I think it’s clear that the competitive side of this game is definitely something I’m getting on board with. Lockers is probably fuming with his wicked stepmother but sniping him brightened my day!!!

FINALLY!!! Today is the first time I’ve managed to complete the daily Advanced Quests. I’ve been ticking off most of them for a while but using the 5 silver keys in Doom Tower was beyond my reach.

I’ve been stuck at level 4 for a while, I don’t know if it’s meant to be a particularly sticky floor or not but for me, it was a tricky one! I only really have one solid team of Elhain, Kael, Ronda, Steelskull and Occult Brawler and they are carrying me through everything. Melga is now a 6* but doesn’t have enough levels for her to make much of a difference yet.

I really needed to get it done today for the extra energy. I’d pounded absolutely everything in Spider trying to get myself a 5* bloody chicken and just needed another little push.

I did a couple of runs and realised that Ronda was hitting the deck pretty quickly so I figured if I could keep her alive a little longer, some attacks might head her way instead of to the stronger champs giving them more of a chance of staying alive into round 3.

I don’t think I have had much in the way of really good gear so I went through and chucked some HP, SPD, and DEF glyphs on her. While I was there I threw a few glyphs on Steelskull and Brawler too just for good measure!
And what I did worked! I was able to make it all the way up to level 10, use up my silver keys, gain a bit of energy from the level then head back to the quest and pick up my Advanced reward. Woooooohoooooo!!

Now I’m pretty close to that chicken and actually sitting in 4th place in my Spider Tournament. I was just planning on nabbing the chicken and placing wherever but it turns out that Lockers is in my group. He’s chilling in 1st place and is only 500 points ahead of me.

It’s as if he’s laying down a challenge and I might have to accept it!!

I’m fairly sure I’ll be awake earlier than him in the morning so could spend the last couple of tournament hours cracking on however, he’s way more likely to stay up late, get his runs in an ensure his win.

I’ve got a round of energy to use now so I’ll crack on now and see where I’m at once it’s gone. Depending on what his points look like when I get up tomorrow I might try and take him down!

In contrast to feeling fairly positive on Friday, today I’m on the edge.

I’ve been farming like crazy, partly to get Occult Brawler up to a 6* but also knowing that doing that would get me some points for Champion Training.
He’s done but now I have piss all in my champion roster, can’t face starting to level up again and am told that he needs to be in Lifesteal now he has masteries – which I don’t have, nor do I have the energy to go and get any (both in the game and in real life).

Faction wars feels like a waste of time, I mean, poor Ronda is trying to hold the Banner Lords up on her own today. In Arena, I’m doing two or three fights then waiting for the refresh button. The one place that would be useful to me potion-wise feels like it’s always closed and Doom Tower is where all my hopes of actually having half decent team have gone to die.

I’ve made it through three weeks! Be honest, who thought I wouldn’t get this far?!
I can’t even say that I would have thought I’d have given up by now because I know how stubborn I am!

So last Friday I pulled Kael and Steelskull. Kael is sitting at 6, just working on levelling him up, and Steelskull is at 5, he’s working through the levels too, he just didn’t get top priority. I’m choosing to YOLO my shards and amongst mostly average to rubbish pulls I did get an Occult Brawler mid week. I hear from reliable sources that he’s useful in Clan Boss so I’m doing my best to dress him up in appropriate gear. The website has been my friend for info but I am struggling a bit for good artefacts and honestly don’t really know what to do about it other than chuck on what I think will suffice!

I did have a breakthrough this week in Faction Wars when I lost a fight so went back to put gear on one of the champs (I don’t remember names!), she stayed alive for longer but still didn’t make it so I had a fiddle around and eventually she helped her team to victory! Was actually quite a satisfying moment!!
But then on the other hand I messed up in the Forge by using up the crafting on 3-4* instead of 4-5* when it was available. Swings and Roundabouts!
I’ve reached level 42 so the Alter of Souls is now available to me. That means that on the list of stuff that I haven’t bothered to get my head around yet there’s; Doom Tower, The Great Hall, Soulstones, Glyphs and Blessings.

This week, the Forge Pass opened at level 42, there was a Champion Training Tournament, the Titan event, the Galek Path, an Arena Tournament, a Fire Knight Tournament, Spider Tournament and Clan vs Clan. And these are only the events that I can remember! Now I’ve listened to Content Creators and seen people comment on videos who say there isn’t anything new to do in this game and I’m afraid I have to strongly disagree!! There’s too much to do and it’s throwing things at me too fast!

ps Clan vs Clan is very stressful – I don’t want Saphyrra talking behind my back because I’m not pulling my weight!

So I’m plodding away ranking up the champions that are worth it and I’ve dabbled in Clan Boss a few times. I’ve hit 8.29M this morning for two keys on Hard so I THINK I’m getting somewhere!

I probably need to make more of an appearance in the Dungeons once my top guys are levelled. Could do with winning a few of the treasures from there. I’d like to plough through and get all the stars and that cheeky Sacred from Brutal Campaign but without an endless supply of energy the toss up is between doing that and levelling champs, often the levelling wins but now that the Champion Training Tournament is done I’ll go a few rounds which should help level Kael a little too.

Oh and I’m not dead last in ALL of the Free To Play leaderboards between the challengers which is nice!

Things I don’t like about Raid: Shadow Legends

Upgrading artifacts.
I understand the fact that it’s a game of chance but seriously. Yesterday my challenges consisted of upgrading artifacts so I set to it. I am not kidding when I say that I sat and watched my silver drop by well over two million – just for one item! And this is in the game because it’s suspenseful? I mean, fine, fail once or twice and it’s a cute little bit of crappy RNG, But to watch the silver disappear before your eyes having spent the last hour hanging out in Campaign tediously hitting the replay button a million times is enough to boil a person’s piss!

And that’s it.

No not really! There are other little niggly things but most of them are just due to a lack of understanding on my part like; FINALLY working out which champion could fulfil the challenge to place a Decrease DEF Debuff only to find that the Force Keep isn’t open for today. :face_with_symbols_over_mouth:
Also, once a quest or challenge is complete, a little flag straight away to tell you it’s done would be helpful. If you’re not paying 100% attention you can easily miss when you’ve got the required number of items you’re after and you have to come out to Stage Selection to check if it flags up. Mild annoyance.

On the flip side though – Things I like about Raid: Shadow Legends

There’s actually nothing in particular in the game that I can put my finger on and say that I “enjoy” just yet, maybe that’ll come with time and understanding.

BUT 100% my most favourite thing is how people have reacted to me having a bash at this game. I’m not a gamer, I’m not comfortable in front of a camera and we all know the internet can be full of arseholes but every comment I’ve seen has been incredibly supportive and lovely. From those just cheering me on to those who offer up advice, I am very grateful and you’re all lovely! x

Popped into Clan Boss for the first time today. Fight starts, my champs all hit the deck like sacks of spuds, I chuckle, say aloud to HH that that was a waste of time, he laughs at me without questioning it, Lockers pops up ten minutes later to point out that I should have selected Easy or Normal! Apparently it defaults to the highest level and because I play on an ipad, the part where UNM is highlighted doesn’t show – in-fact there’s nothing to even suggest that I could have chosen a different level. Nevermind, we learn as we go and apparently Deadwood did the same thing the other day so I don’t feel too bad about it!

Objective for the next few days is to try and get my head around gear. I’ve read the info, HH has talked me through a couple of bits here and there and so far I’ve watched videos from Ash and Nub Raids that were very helpful. Some of it is beginning to click and I feel like I’m getting more of a grasp on what I should be looking for. There are so many elements of gear to look at when equipping a champion though; rarity, star rating, level, main stats, sub stats, rolls, percentages and sets (which, by the way, bring their own new percentages and combinations to work out!) it’s a bit of a brain scrambler for me!

If you were watching the stream on Friday you probably won’t be surprised to hear that the brief session on the Forge went straight over my head so I’ll come back to that at some point in the next few days!

I’ve absolutely mastered levelling up and ranking champs, Elhain should be 6* pretty soon and then I’ll either start working on Ronda or, fingers crossed, I get something worthwhile out of my tiny handful of Ancient shards!

I’m definitely spending more than the predicted 20 minutes a day in my account! I want to see progression and that means it’s taking up a lot more time than I thought it would. That competitive side is coming in to play! I purposefully spent less time playing at the weekend as I think I will enjoy this more if I know I can put it down and pick it up again and it not feel too much like a bind or chore. I still logged on and completed some daily stuff but didn’t spend a lot of time farming or completing missions.

The Great Hall has been unlocked for a few days but I’ve only popped in there once to complete a mission. It’s become part of that thing I don’t like where new stuff opens up before you’ve fully got to grips with the last thing that opened. I like routine and order dammit!

Oh, I came first in my Champion Training Tournament which is nice!

My plan was to get through as much of this first week or so on my own, without too much outside help and honestly, it’s impossible! I know that there’s a website and I know that there are hundreds of videos explaining things but aside from chats with HellHades and a video of Odd One’s that I watched I’ve steered clear. I thought it would be much closer to a “normal” game experience if I played on my own then went looking for help when I got stuck.

Obviously I’m not entirely on my own here because there’s a pro just in the next room and actually the other guys in the challenge are happy to share their knowledge but I’m trying really hard not to ask too many questions. Even so, I have asked a lot of questions! And some of them are so simple they needed just a brief explanation, but the fact that I had to ask in the first place tells me that perhaps there’s just not enough info in the game.

Should I use gems to refill energy?
What to do when I have a load of champs from rewards sitting in my inbox? Do I buy space?
What things should I do when I run out of energy?
What are the advantages to Arena outside of the dailies?
What the hell is the point of that bar failing all the time when levelling artefacts?
And the absolute kicker that caused me to rage quit playing yesterday; What does it mean “equip champ with 3 sets of 3 star”? Sets? Who ever said anything about sets? Where is the info on that?!

I guess a lot of my questions are probably things that most people would trial and error but I don’t really like doing stuff wrong!
But, regardless of all the questions I think I’m doing OK. Elhain is currently 5* and I’m working my way towards getting her to 6. I’m fairly comfortable in levelling and ranking now and have resorted to a pen-and-paper system to remind me who I’m levelling for who!
Gearing champions is still a bit of a mystery, all the information in that area might as well be written in Wingdings for all the help it gives me right now.
The forge opened up today but I’m not ready to even begin to understand that yet!
My plan for the next few days is to level up for Elhain and properly focus on the missions and challenges in the hope that I’ll learn more about the basics as I go.

In terms of actually playing the game it’s a mix really between enjoyment, determination and stubbornness! I want to play because I want to hit the milestones and ticking off missions fills my enjoyment quota. It’s all just so time-consuming though. In a game I might play on my phone, I’ll pop in play a couple of rounds/levels or use up lives then pop out again. This type of game is so much more than that. I have to set aside time to play in the same way that I’d set aside an hour two for the gym. Yesterday I likened it to the amount of time I’d need to find if I wanted to watch all 19 seasons of Grey’s Anatomy! It’s an odd concept and there’s been a couple of times this week that I’ve really put the hours in and I can understand now how someone like HH can pop the PC on and still be there three hours later! But just in case this game reels me in in the future, I’m making sure I have time away now. After all, the other grown-up in this house is playing hard for his reputation so someone has to make sure the children are alive and the house doesn’t become a health hazard!

The first 15 minutes, sitting through the tutorial I was feeling pretty confident but that soon changed. There really is a lot to take in and some of it isn’t explained well to someone as clueless as I am.

I sat with HH for a while after I logged in, going through the tutorial and just finding my way around. Then he sent me off to fight battles and begin to level up Elhain. As I was playing on my iPad he suggested we put in the promo code for Chonoru on stream later, probably because he didn’t want to log into Plarium Play in that moment to hinder his own Free to Play grind!

Unfortunately, it turned out that the code wouldn’t work, maybe because I’d passed a certain level, and we debated me starting a new account today but in the end decided to just crack on with what I’ve already got.

So I spent a bit of time fighting some battles but ended up going to sit back with HH because I had a question every 16 seconds! He talked me through levelling up and gear but I think it was clear by the time we sat together on Twitch that evening that I still didn’t get it. There is definitely not enough explanation on either of these things in the tutorial or while you’re playing. It’s now the end of day two and I think I’ve just about sussed the levelling but gear is still pretty sketchy. I am almost certainly just winging my way through gearing champs at the moment, I’m not entirely sure if what I’m putting on them makes a difference, I’m hoping to have some sort of moment of clarity at some point and it’ll all slot into place!

I totally didn’t realise what I could do aside from just battle to level champs. Being told to concentrate on missions and challenges has made a huge difference today, however it does feel like everything jumps about a bit. I’d be more inclined to pop into Campaign and clear all that before jumping into Dungeons but the doing missions means you’ll do a bit of Campaign, then head to the Arena for quick fight then back to put gear on someone, then off to the Dungeon for a few rounds. I guess it’s meant to keep it interesting but to me, it just feels a bit like I’m looking after a toddler that can’t sit still!

But anyway I don’t want to make these updates too long so to sum up the first 24 hours, I’ve already played waaaaay longer than I’d planned to (even though I’m not sure I can consider this “idle play” playing), I’ve got a 4 star Elhain and a couple of three star rares and am working towards levelling a few uncommons to be able to feed into them. I’m making my way through some missions and don’t yet feel like I want to throw the iPad out of an upstairs window.

Good day I’d say!

Raid: Shadow Legends Free to Play starts today and I’d love to say that I’m excited but that wouldn’t be entirely true!

I really agreed to join the gang on this because I thought it might be a good insight, for HH in particular, to see how the game plays for a newbie. And I am the newest of the newbies. I have zero gaming history! I’ve seen a few comments saying that I’ve probably picked up info along the way from HH, and despite being one of the main people inputting the original champion pages on the website in the early days, I have developed an incredible knack of not retaining any information I’ve read or heard if it’s not something I’m particularly interested in. It’s really a skill!

Even the language is totally alien to me. WTF is Crit Rate? Am I blocking a Cooldown or cooling stuff down in blocks?! And, I’m going to be totally honest here, I’ve been doing shard pulls every other week for well over a year but still have absolutely no idea what the differences are between Sacred, Void and Ancient shards!!

Now I’m not a person who is usually happy to just be a participant but I know full well I can’t even begin to compete with the guys in this competition so my plan is to just potter away, playing the best I can at the rate of a casual player. I can’t promise that I’ll be good at it, I can’t promise that I won’t throw my toys out of the pram if I don’t understand it and I definitely won’t stick at it if I hate it but I will try and keep you updated along the way.

Now I’ve been for a swim, visited my Nan, done a food shop, run the hoover around and put a wash on but I don’t think I can put it off any longer – I’m going in. Wish me luck!!