Poison vs HP Burn in Raid Shadow Legends: Which Is Better?
How Poison works in raid
Poison Damage Explained
Poison deals its damage when the affected enemy takes a turn, rather than when your champions attack (unless the effect is instantly activated). Each Poison debuff ticks for a percentage of the target’s MAX HP, either 2.5% or 5% depending on the version – making it highly effective, especially in longer fights. This allows damage to steadily tick over time as long as the debuffs remain active, even if your team isn’t focused on direct damage. Pairing this with Poison Sensitivity further enhances its effectiveness.
Poison Sensitivity increases the damage of Poison debuffs by 25%, meaning a 5% Poison will instead deal 6.25% of the target’s MAX HP, boosting your overall damage output.
Why Poison Is strong against bosses
Unlike HP Burn, Poison can be stacked multiple times, allowing you to build up several ticks of damage each time the boss takes a turn. This leads to consistent and reliable damage output, especially if your team lacks strong direct damage dealers. As a result, you can lean more heavily on support champions to keep your team alive while Poison steadily wears the boss down, making it easier to progress through tougher stages.
It’s important, however, to be mindful of the debuff bar, which is limited to 10 slots. Make sure you leave space for key debuffs like Decrease ATK, Decrease DEF, and Weaken if your strategy relies on them, as overfilling the bar with Poison can prevent these crucial effects from being applied.
How HP Burn works in raid
HP Burn Damage Explained
When facing waves of enemies or bosses like the Spider, one of the most powerful debuffs you can bring is HP Burn. This debuff can be applied to each enemy and, when they take a turn, it deals damage equal to 3% of their MAX HP to all enemies. This makes it especially effective in multi-target encounters, allowing you to deal significant damage as the number of enemies increases.
Why HP Burn Is Strong Against Multiple Enemies
Compared to Poison, HP Burn has a lower damage ceiling per debuff, dealing 3% of MAX HP instead of 5%, and it cannot be stacked multiple times on the same target. However, in multi-target encounters, its value increases significantly. In fights like the Spider Dungeon, where multiple enemies are present, each HP Burn tick triggers damage across all enemies, allowing the total damage to ramp up extremely quickly.
Additionally, certain bosses have strict caps on damage taken from MAX HP effects, and HP Burn often benefits from a higher cap than Poison. In these cases, a 3% HP Burn can actually outperform a 5% Poison, making it the more effective choice in specific encounters such as Amius.
Key Differences Between Poison & HP Burn
Damage Scaling
Poison is a powerful option for taking down enemies that aren’t immune or restricted by specific passives, as it can be stacked multiple times to generate repeated ticks of damage whenever the target takes a turn. Over longer fights, this results in high damage output, making it especially effective in encounters like the Demon Lord Clan Boss, Dragon Dungeon, and in Poison Explosion strategies for clearing both waves and bosses.
HP Burn, on the other hand, excels in multi-target encounters such as Spider, Frost Spider, Hydra, and Eternal Dragon. Its strength comes from the splash damage triggered when affected enemies take their turns, allowing damage to scale rapidly with more targets present. It can also be instantly activated by champions like Ninja or Artak, providing strong burst damage in both single-target and AoE scenarios.
Debuff Limits
The debuff bar is limited to 10 slots, so it’s important to leave space for key effects like Decrease ATK, Decrease DEF, and Weaken if your strategy relies on them. Overfilling the bar with Poison can prevent these crucial debuffs from being applied. While HP Burn is less likely to cause this issue, it’s still something to be mindful of – especially in encounters like Frost Spider, where landing HP Burn is essential.
Champions That Use Poison And HP Burn
Bad-El Kazar
This champion brings a simple yet highly effective kit for both the Dragon and Ice Golem, and with the right build and stats, is even capable of soloing these encounters. His ability to cleanse debuffs, apply Continuous Heals for sustained recovery, and consistently place Poisons creates excellent synergy for longer fights. On top of this, his passive increases the damage allies deal to poisoned targets by 20%.
Kael
Kael offers a simple and reliable Poison based kit for progression. His A3 attacks four times, with each hit having a chance to place Poison debuffs, providing strong damage over time. His A1 brings additional 2.5% Poisons, while his A2 helps clear waves with AoE damage. Overall, he’s an excellent early game option for progressing through content.
DARK KAEL
Dark Kael’s A3 places three 5% Poison debuffs alongside Poison Sensitivity on a short cooldown, allowing for consistent and reliable application across all affinities, as it does not rely on hits. His A1 can then activate existing Poisons, enabling bursts of damage to speed your runs. In addition, he brings Decrease ATK and debuff extension, helping to keep Poisons active for longer and further improving his overall effectiveness.
Corvis
Corvis is easily one of the best Poison champions for waves & bosses. His A3 places four Poison debuffs alongside Poison Sensitivity, increasing the damage from each tick. This, combined with his ability to extend buffs and debuffs, as well as passively reduce damage taken from poisoned enemies, makes him a top-tier choice for various encounters.
Xenomorph
Xenomorph excels not only in raw damage, using his Infest ability to deal splash damage, but also in his ability to stack Poisons efficiently. His A1 can place three Poison debuffs on a target when it lands as a critical hit, allowing for rapid buildup of damage over time. These Poisons also enhance the effectiveness of his A3, increasing his overall damage output and helping bring down the boss more quickly.
Artak
Artak is a powerhouse when it comes to HP Burn, capable of placing it on all enemies while also activating a tick, alongside applying Decrease ATK for added damage mitigation. With the right build, he can even solo content, making him highly effective for Hydra and Spider progression, as well as a strong option for taking down the Ice Golem, even on 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 also instantly activating it against bosses. This allows for rapid burst damage, which synergises perfectly with his already strong raw damage, especially as his passive scales in longer fights like Hydra.
Elenaril
We’ve mentioned Elenaril here as she fulfils a dual role as both an HP Burn and Poison champion. She can place Poisons on all enemies, instantly activate them for Poison Explosion strategies, and also brings an A1 HP Burn that cannot be resisted, making her especially reliable against bosses like Frost Spider or Draugnell in the Grim Forest.
Mordecai
A classic AoE HP Burn option, capable of placing the debuff without relying on affinity, making him reliable across all matchups. He also provides strong offensive support through Increase ATK and Turn Meter manipulation, boosting your team while decreasing the enemies. A simple yet highly effective choice for content like Spider.
Geomancer
The interaction between Geomancer’s A3 and passive has stood the test of time since his release. His A3 fully depletes a target’s Turn Meter while placing HP Burn and Weaken, setting up his passive to deflect damage back at enemies. This not only accelerates damage output but also reduces incoming damage, making him excellent for both faster runs and improved team sustain.
When Poison is the better strategy
Clan Boss
Poison has long been one of the most effective ways to deal damage against the Clan Boss. It doesn’t rely on heavy hits or top-tier gear, and performs exceptionally well over longer fights. Each stack adds consistent damage every time the boss takes a turn, making it an excellent option for players who may not have access to high end damage dealers.
Dragon Dungeon
Poison deals its damage when the Dragon takes a turn, rather than when your champions attack (unless the effect is instantly activated). This allows for strategies where a full team carries you through the waves, enabling champions like Bad-el-Kazar, when properly built, to solo the boss through strong self sustain and consistent Poison application.
This damage over time approach is especially important during the Dragon’s Inhale phase, where dealing enough damage can prevent the hidden skill, Scorch, from being unlocked. If sufficient damage is dealt during this phase, the skill remains sealed. The same principles apply in Hard Mode, with the added interaction between Draconis Gaze and Toxic Incineration while the skill is active.
PVP & Bosses
Poison can also be widely used across most bosses that aren’t immune or do not passively counter the effect. It’s also effective against waves in Poison Explosion setups, or in PvP alongside Lethal Dose and Arachnelixir, allowing you to wear down enemies or burst them down through stacked debuffs.
When HP Burn is the better strategy
Spider Dungeon
The Spider Dungeon is one of the best encounters for HP Burn, as there can be up to 11 enemies in the fight. This allows the debuff to generate massive amounts of splash damage – every time a spiderling takes a turn, it triggers a 3% MAX HP hit onto the main Spider, rapidly wearing it down.
In Hard difficulty, however, the Spider becomes significantly faster, which can make this strategy less reliable. As a result, many teams shift towards using HP Burn activation champions. While these are rare, they can instantly trigger HP Burn ticks, allowing you to deal burst damage without needing to wait for the spiderlings to take their turns.
Hydra Boss
Beyond its damage potential and the ability to activate HP Burn for burst damage, it also plays a key role in countering Poison Cloud. In situations where the Hydra heads gain this buff, HP Burn placed without requiring a hit can still be applied through it. Alternatively, you can rely on the Neutralize Blessing if your strategy depends on hitting through Poison Cloud. Overall, HP Burn provides strong, consistent damage, and becomes even more effective when paired with activators like Ninja.
PVP & Bosses
Thanks to the Incinerate Blessing and relics like Skull of Treason, HP Burn can deal meaningful damage in shorter PvP fights. However, its main strength comes from the massive 5x damage bonus it gains against Stoneskin, allowing you to quickly break through these otherwise difficult defenses – making it one of the most effective counters to Stoneskin heavy teams.
HP Burn is also highly effective against bosses such as the Ice Golem (Hard difficulty), Chimera Clan Boss, Amius, Doom Tower, and Grim Forest encounters. When paired with HP Burn activators, its effectiveness increases significantly, allowing for faster damage output and greater overall impact in these fights.