Raid Weekly Recap 2024 – Episode 6

Patch Week always throws up a multitude of events and new information that makes the week exciting. This week saw the introduction of Update 8.20 bringing a raft of changes to the Blessing system, brand new champions and the Fragment Exchange System. A new valentine fusion event commenced celebrating the Royal Partnership of the Wights, Narses and Ankora. Finally, we saw the first set of champion rebalances in many months. Let us recap the week..

Each month we get a brand new update in Raid: Shadow Legends. Sometimes the update is minor with Quality of Life and additional new champions. Other updates contain significant changes and brand new game modes. Update 8.20 went live on Thursday, and it contained a significant overhaul to many blessings but also major changes to the stat distribution on blessings. The changes are aimed at making less desirable blessings, such as Carapace which is now known as Emergency Heal, into a state where they have real viable usage on champions. The stat changes now allow you to freely pick the blessing best fit for your champion and their role. All champions now receive the same stats (depending on their rarity) at each level.

This was not without some heartache, as Defence based champions and those depending on Accuracy now require additional awakened levels with Defence now on 3 star and Accuracy on 5 Star. This has caused some turmoil for players and we recommend everyone review their teams to ensure they continue to perform as you need.

In addition to these changes, the summoning system also received some changes with the Wishlist bonus moving from x2 to a x8 benefit and the odds of summoning legendary souls from stones has also increased. Make sure you check out our article on the changes to blessings and soul summoning systems.

February’s Fusion is always a special occasion as we are introduced to a new champion that partners with another brand new champion. From Siphi and Rotos to Cupidus and Venus, these champions are always a little more special than usual. This year is no different with the introduction of Wight Queen Ankora as the fusion partnered with Wight King Narses.

Ankora plays the support role to her King bringing debuff removal, shields and revival abilities. Pairing her with Narses brings incredible power and the duo are likely to join the other powerful partners in the Arena, Taras and Marichka, as top tier arena meta options. Narses however may allude you for a long time being that he is a Void Legendary, one of the hardest champion affinity and rarities to pull from shards.

With the fusion in full swing, why not check out our champion guide on Ankora to prepare you for her eventual arrival in your account.

We have our first glimpse at the new fragment exchange system as it went live with the Update on Thursday. We had been given sneak previews from Plarium on the contents of the container, and the brand new Legendary Exclusive Champion Hightmother Maud. The main question that left many players hesitant about the new system was how many fragments per chest and how frequently would they drop. Considering the cost (5 Legendary Fragments per chest), players were concerned about how long it would take to earn Maud.

Unfortunately, for many players the fears were realised as the Highmother Maud fragments appeared very inconsistent and certainly not a quick or easy acquisition. If players complete fusions, it will likely take many months if not over a Year to earn enough fragments. However, for those who often miss or have incomplete fusions – the backlog will allow you many opportunities for fragments.

10 Chests per week can be opened with the lock resetting on Monday’s meaning several weeks will pass before anyone gets their hand on the new Legendary.

Check out our content on the new system to learn more about what other rewards are available for Fragments.

Alongside our new duo, we have four new champions joining Teleria with one being a unique, brand new type of champion. Update 8.20 introduced Faction Unity Skills, a feature appearing on special champions in each faction where the effects of their skills will improve as more of the same faction is added to the team. Plarium have confirmed their intention to introduce at least 1 Faction Unity Champion to each faction through future content updates. These champions are considered Leaders of their factions and will provide powerful bonuses if you can build the team around them.

Our first faction unity champion is Acelin the Stalwart – a Bannerlord providing immense power to his abilities. He has a unique damage ability, consuming shields to deal massive damage whilst his faction unity bonuses provide protection, counter-attacks and shield bonuses to his team.

We also saw two new Mythical champions introduced, with the High Elves and Barbarians now receiving their first mythical champions. Starsage Galathir is a powerful support based champion that can carry your team whilst Alaz the Sunbearer brings possibly the highest overall damage kit of champions currently in the game and powerful HP burn abilities that will decimate your foes in arena.

Several months ago, we were promised a return to rebalance our favourite but less powerful champions in Teleria. The first names on the list were confirmed to be Fortus, a Void Legendary that was previously a guarenteed summons, and Angar, a Void Legendary carrying big provokes but lacking much of anything else. Void legendary champions should be roster defining to your account making you feel like they have a big impact and we all can agree that both of these champions whilst good at their role didn’t rise to the occasion.

Fortus received a very simple change – his Astral Terror’s secret skill received a damage increase which is more like a damage fix. The ability has long had issues matching its description – fears simply did not increase by 10%. With the update, Fortus now correctly scales his damage which should see roughly a 56% damage increase once 10 fears have been placed.

Angar meanwhile received some skill adjustments with a Decrease Attack on his passive, a chance to place Provoke for 2 turns whilst also changing his Aura to all battles. These changes have added more utility to Angar and he had a good 35% damage increase to his A3 ability.

Check out Saphyrra’s breakdown of the Fortus change in his spotlight video.

We have our glimpse at Rotation 3 of the Cursed City of Sintranos. Each month, the city’s defeated foes gather their strength and repopulate the stages requiring players to defeat them once more. Each rotation however, introduces new restrictions, new challenges and probably new frustrations! More importantly, the list of available champions in Amius also changes as the warden of the city continues his efforts to restore the city to its former glory.

You can check out the latest rotation requirements using our Stages Tool including the stats of the opponents you will face. Meanwhile, do take advantage of the free re-gearing event that is activated for the first few days of the new rotation. This is a great opportunity for you to create new teams, update your champions or look and plan ahead for the challenges you will face in the dreaded Soulcross region of Sintranos.

At HH Gaming, we like to facilitate and support players in their progression as much as we can so for the duration of the Free Re-gearing event, the Optimiser will unlock its premium features for free for all players!