What it feels like to start Raid: Shadow Legends with Galek

Who is the best starter Champion in Raid: Shadow Legends is a question that is asked so often in the community, and the answer has always been Kael by the majority, with a few leaning towards Elhain, when considering longevity.

Galek is nearly always regarded as the worst option, and with the Free to Play series that has recently started, a grand total of ONE person had the exciting experience of starting with Galek to look forward to… and that person was me!

So I’ve taken the opportunity to really dive into what it’s like starting with Galek and comparing the progress I’ve made with my Galek to the likes of Saphyrra and his Kael.

Galek Skills

Cross Slash [ATK]
Attacks 1 enemy 2 times.
Level 2: Damage +5%
Level 3: Damage +5%
Level 4: Damage +5%
Level 5: Damage +5%

Damage Rating
Multiplier: 1.5*ATK + 50
Overall Grading*: Average

Hellraiser [ATK] – 3 Turn Cooldown
Attacks all enemies. Has an extra 15% chance of inflicting a critical hit. Places a 30% Increase SPD buff on this champion for 2 turns.
Level 2: Damage +5%
Level 3: Damage +5%
Level 4: Damage +5%
Level 5: Damage +5%
Level 6: Damage +5%

Damage Rating
Multiplier: 4.5*ATK
Overall Grading*: Strong

Cursed Blade – 5 Turn Cooldown
Attacks 4 times at random. Has a 30% chance of placing a 30% Decrease DEF debuff for 2 turns. Has a 30% chance of placing a 60% Decrease DEF debuff for 2 turns if the target has more than 2 debuffs.
Level 2: Damage +10%
Level 3: Buff/Debuff Chance +5%
Level 4: Damage +10%
Level 5: Buff/Debuff Chance +5%

Damage Rating
Multiplier: 1.6*ATK
Overall Grading*: Weak

(Aura)
Increases Ally HP in all battles by 15%

Campaign

The campaign was fine and dandy, I had no real issues pushing and farming 12-3 Brutal within a short space of time and was able to be the first to 6* their starting Champion, it’s always been said that all of the Starter options are viable when it comes to campaign farming though, so this didn’t take me by surprise.

My fully mastered, level 60 Galek is capable of farming 12-3 Brutal between 20-30seconds currently, with a perfect-RNG chance of getting a 12-second run if the stars align with masteries triggering cooldown reduction on the A2.

Dungeon Progress

Early on my Dungeon progress felt very equal to the other challengers, however, as we’re approaching the later stages (12-13+), especially Dragon, it is becoming more and more noticeable how far the drop-off is on Galek, due to the fact that outside of raw damage, he truly brings NOTHING to your team besides a small version of Decrease DEF which is not even AOE!

Galek in Fire Knight is somewhat okay due to the 4-hit a3, and double-hit A1, however, I truly believe he still falls behind the others here too, especially Athel and Kael.

Arena

This is one area where I’ve not noticed a huge drop-off with my Galek, due to his multipliers only being slightly behind Kael, he is perfectly viable – although Elhain still takes the crown here with her double-AOE abilities.

I am capably able to hold my own on offence and have pushed into Gold Arena, however, the power jump in Gold 1 Arena is absurd, and all of the challengers have been struggling to find match-ups that they are able to win, so I know it’s not just Galek letting me down here!

Clan Boss

Now this is the real kicker, and where I am very clearly falling behind the crowd, Galek brings absolutely nothing to the team, and as soon as I have 5x level 60s with masteries that actually have a purpose in Clan Boss, he will be finding himself quickly benched, whereas Kael has the longevity of providing invaluable poisons, something I’ve been unable to acquire unfortunately.

Poisons are one of if not THE best way to deal damage to the clan boss, and not starting with Kael or getting lucky with your shards will be a huge setback when it comes to pushing your Clan Boss through the lower levels.

How to build Galek

Building any of the starting Champions at the start of Raid is fairly identical, as you will always want to use the Lifesteal gear that you are provided in the first 7 days, paired with typically the Divine Life weapon and Shield that you acquire from Campaign.

This will greatly enhance your survival potential and allow you to blast your way through the campaign and be able to farm your food more efficiently, and faster.

Once you are level 60, with masteries, there is a much smaller need for the divine life, so you can begin changing up your build whilst maintaining the Life Steal gear.

Once Ascended, Galek only requires 85% critical rate to crit with his A2 ability, which is the most important skill that you have, to be able to clear through waves, any additional Critical Rate helps with the A1 and A3 however is not necessarily needed.

Also unlike Kael, you don’t need to worry about building any accuracy into your build for Galek, as much as he does bring Decrease DEF on his A3, it is a random hit and the weak version, meaning there are many better options to join your teams such as Warmaiden who is a farmable rare, or Deacon Armstrong who you can pick up at the start of the game via promo-code.

Overview

While in the first few days there seemed to be little to no benefit of having one of the alternatives over my Galek, as we progress further and further into the game it is becoming more clear that the other Starting Champions simply outshine Galek, he’s just not that great!

Now of course, I will have to make this work, but my advice for any new players beginning the game is to not follow suit, and pick the BEST starting Champion, which I stand by the opinion of Kael, with Elhain as a second choice option.

Do you have any experience with starting Raid with Galek? Let us know in the comments!