What Reflect Damage Does in Raid: Shadow Legends
In this guide, we explore the importance of Reflect Damage Champions in Raid: Shadow Legends. We break down how Reflect Damage works, why it’s a powerful way to wear down enemies, which Champions utilise the mechanic, and where you’ll get the most value from using it across PvE and PvP.
What Reflect Damage does in raid
Understanding the Reflect Damage Mechanic
Reflect Damage is a buff that causes the wearer to return a portion of the damage they receive back to the attacker. It comes in two strengths, reflecting either 15% or 30% of the damage taken, and can be placed on the Champion themselves or on allies depending on the skill. This makes it a useful source of damage, steadily punishing enemies each time they attack a Champion protected by the buff.
Reflect Damage is most commonly used against the Fire Knight, where each reflected hit counts towards reducing the boss’s Shield counter. Pairing it with effects such as Counterattack can quickly remove the Shield while also allowing your team to begin damaging the boss sooner.
Outside of this, self placing Reflect Damage options are most effective on durable Champions who can absorb attacks. Champions that combine it with mechanics such as Taunt or Provoke can deliberately lure enemies into attacking them, allowing Reflect Damage to trigger more frequently.
Shield Interaction
There are a few important exceptions to keep in mind. Reflect Damage only triggers when the wearer actually takes damage, meaning attacks that only hit a Shield will not activate the effect. This is especially important when building strategies around Reflect Damage, as large Shields can prevent it from triggering in areas like Fire Knight.
Why Reflect Damage champions are valuable
Reflect Damage Champions are valuable because they turn enemy attacks into additional damage, punishing them every time they hit a Champion protected by the buff. This provides a steady source of bonus damage while allowing your team to focus on its normal strategy.
The buff becomes even stronger on durable Champions who can consistently absorb incoming attacks. When combined with control effects such as Taunt or Provoke, Reflect Damage can trigger more frequently on self placing champions, increasing its value across both PvE and PvP while helping wear down enemies over the course of a fight.
Unique Reflect Passives
Some Champions, such as Embrys & Galleus, also have unique skills that reflect a percentage of the damage they receive back to the attacker without relying on the Reflect Damage buff. While these effects are separate mechanics, they can often reflect a higher percentage of damage, making them a strong alternative for punishing enemies and wearing down bosses or Champions.
Best areas to use Reflect Damage champions
PVE
Reflect Damage is best viewed as a utility mechanic rather than a primary source of damage. Against PvE waves and bosses, it provides a steady source of additional damage whenever enemies attack a Champion under the buff, helping wear them down while your primary damage dealers focus on finishing them off. Over the course of longer encounters, this extra damage can add up, making Reflect Damage a useful complement to your team’s overall damage output.
Fire Knight
The buff can be especially helpful for progressing players tackling the Fire Knight. If you’re unable to fully control the boss before its first turn, the buff can chip away at the Shield counters as your Champions are attacked, with each reflected hit counting towards breaking the Shield. Pairing this with Counterattack can remove the Shield even faster, allowing your team to then use their skills to control the boss and deal full damage once its defences are down.
Arena
Reflect Damage can provide some value in PvP by punishing enemies for attacking Champions under the buff, adding a complementary source of damage throughout the fight. While it’s rarely the primary reason to include a Champion, it can influence enemy target selection, forcing opponents to decide whether to attack into the reflected damage or change their focus.
Reflect Damage Champion Examples
Here we’ll be highlighting some of the best Reflect Damage Champions in Raid: Shadow Legends, showcasing the strengths they bring. While this list isn’t exhaustive, it should give you an understanding of what makes these Champions effective. For even more options, be sure to check out our Champion Tier List.
Sniktraak
Sniktraak uses Reflect Damage to punish enemies for attacking his team, pairing it with Ally Protection to redirect damage onto himself. He complements this with Shields and Decrease SPD, while passively placing Leech on enemies that attack allies under Reflect Damage, improving your team’s sustain throughout the fight. His passive also increases the amount of reflected damage for both himself and his allies, making him a strong defensive support for PvE.
Craklin
Craklin uses Reflect Damage to support his team, pairing it with restoring HP and Continuous Heals to improve survivability. This makes him especially effective against the Fire Knight, where reflected hits help reduce the Shield counters while restoring destroyed HP. Alongside Reflect Damage, he brings Weaken, Decrease ACC, Heal Reduction, and an A1 that teams up with a random Ogryn Tribes ally, providing strong utility for a variety of PvE encounters.
Gnarox
Gnarox combines Reflect Damage with Provoke and Ally Protection, luring enemies to attack into the buff while protecting his team. This is particularly useful in Hard Faction Wars, where Reflect Damage and his self Counterattacks can help finish off enemies for specific stage conditions. He also brings a Faction Wars DEF Aura, passive Provoke on enemies attacking protected allies, and Decrease SPD on his A1 for additional utility.
Lethelin
Lethelin combines Reflect Damage with a Taunt, allowing a chosen ally to absorb single target attacks while the rest of the team reflects damage back to attackers. This pairing is especially useful against the Phantom Shogun and other encounters that rely on targeted attacks. He also supports the team by reducing debuff durations, providing healing, and placing Decrease C.Rate to help mitigate incoming critical hits.
Angar
Angar combines Reflect Damage with an AoE Provoke & self counterattack, forcing enemies to attack him while punishing them with reflected damage. This combination also makes him a useful option for the Fire Knight, where reflected hits help reduce the boss’s Shield counters. Alongside this, he brings crowd control for areas like Doom Tower, Hard Faction Wars, and Cursed City, making him a durable Champion capable of protecting his team while disrupting enemies.
Giath
Giath combines Reflect Damage with Ally Protection, allowing her team to punish attackers while redirecting damage onto herself. She complements this by placing Strengthen and Increase RES on herself, making her better equipped to withstand the incoming attacks. Outside of this, she extends ally buffs to increase her own damage, while passively placing decrease C.Rate and C.DMG whenever allies under Reflect Damage are attacked, providing both offensive and defensive support.
Mathias
Mathias combines Reflect Damage with Taunt, encouraging enemies to attack him while punishing them with reflected damage. He also grants Increase RES to the team, helping allies resist incoming debuffs. He further enhances this through a passive Counterattack whenever hit under Taunt, creating more opportunities to remove enemy buffs. His triple hit A1 also provides useful value against the Fire Knight by helping reduce the boss’s Shield counters.
How to build Reflect Damage Champions
Build Focus
Building Reflect Damage Champions effectively comes down to maximising their primary role while ensuring they have enough survivability to withstand incoming attacks and trigger the effects of the buff. HP%, DEF%, and RES are often the most valuable stats, helping them absorb damage & counter debuffs, while hybrid damage dealers such as Mathias can also invest in their primary damage scaling stats to complement their utility.
If your Reflect Damage Champion also brings debuffs, be sure to build enough Accuracy to land those effects consistently. Beyond that, invest in enough Speed to keep your defensive buffs available when you need them most.
Recommended Artifact Sets
Artifact Sets for Reflect Damage Champions should focus on improving their survivability while ensuring they can keep the buff active throughout the fight. Speed focused sets are valuable for cycling back to Reflect Damage more quickly, while sets such as Protection are excellent for safeguarding buffs from being removed or stolen, with the 9 piece bonus also increasing your team’s damage output.
If your Champion also places debuffs, Accuracy focused sets such as Perception, Pinpoint, or Feral are great options for reaching the necessary thresholds. Hybrid damage dealers can instead opt for offensive sets like Savage, Lethal, or Merciless to maximise their damage while still benefiting from the utility Reflect Damage provides.
Tips for using Reflect Damage Champions
Reflect Damage is most effective on Champions who can consistently absorb incoming attacks without being taken down. Pair it with effects such as Taunt, Provoke, Ally Protection, or strong defensive buffs to increase the number of times enemies attack into Reflect Damage, while ensuring the wearer has enough survivability to withstand the hits.
Remember that the buff is a complementary source of damage rather than your primary way of defeating enemies. It works best alongside your main damage dealers, gradually wearing down attackers over the course of a fight. Against the Fire Knight, timing Reflect Damage before the boss attacks can also help reduce Shield counters, especially when combined with Counterattack for even more reflected hits.