Yukimasa, Demon of Ice – Champion Spotlight

Yukimasa, Demon of Ice, is the Christmas Fusion for 2025 in RAID: Shadow Legends. In this guide we break down how his skills work, how to build him, his best relics and blessings, give team suggestions, and more!

Check out our dedicated Champion page for Yukimasa for even more info and ratings!

Yukimasa, Demon of Ice, is the Christmas Fusion for 2025, and is a powerful damage dealer with strong CC effects and a revive. His biggest strength is actually his incredible single-target damage with his A3: his AoE attacks aren’t overly strong, and his revive can be difficult to use due to his lack of survivability.

A1 – WINNOWING WINTER

An AoE A1 is always nice, though the damage here is not particularly high. The chance to land Block Active Skills is also fairly low, but can have a massive impact on battles if it prevents a Mythical from Metamorphing.

The bonus effect here is very powerful, ensuring Yukimasa can continue to threaten teams even if they have strong CC. It complements his passive as well, though it should not use the passive damage boost.

A2 – BLIZZARD OF STRIKES

This attack has a ton of utility, but is not particularly impressive in terms of damage. Ignoring Block Damage is very useful against squishy champions such as Siegfrund or squishy damage dealers protected by Niamhe. It’s a very common buff in the PvP meta right now, so having a counter is very useful.

An AoE Freeze on a 3-turn cooldown is very nice as well, particularly since he can cycle turns quickly with his A3.

The Revive here is a big selling point for Shadowkin Faction Wars, though it can be very difficult to keep Yukimasa alive. Check out our gearing sections for some tips to make use of it.

A3 – STAIN THE SNOW

While most players will initially be impressed by his A2, this is the real selling point of his kit! This Steals Turn Meter, deals extra damage per TM stolen, and temporarily swaps Yukimasa’s DEF with theirs for the hit… In short, this can hit incredibly hard! (Yukimasa has terrible DEF, so swapping is almost always a massive damage boost).

It’s weaker against enemies like bosses who are immune to Turn Meter Steals.

P1 – SOLITARY DEMON

This passive helps mitigate the effect of enemy CC champions. The Turn Meter boost and massive 50% Ignore DEF bonus on his next A2/A3 can potentially swing a fight: we recommend building him with good SPD to give him a good chance to take a turn with these effects.

One big effect of this passive (and his free A1 attacks) is that he is not reliant on the Wand of Submission Relic like many other damage dealers, and can opt into interesting offensive options such as The Cat’s Gaze or the new Coronot of Gloom relic from Grim Forest.

AURA – 33% ATK IN ARENA

A pretty underwhelming aura. You should generally prefer SPD auras for the types of team where you will be running Yukimasa.

Yukimasa is a great damage dealer with strong CC and reviving potential, though he needs to be paired with other CC champions to ignore RES.

FACTION WARS

Yukimasa is particularly good at Faction Wars, since Shadowkin are lacking revivers. You should build him faster than the waves, to ensure he can chain CC with Lady Mikage. You could consider a tanky build with Regen set as well, if you are struggling to keep your team alive but have plenty of damage already.

ARENA AND SIEGE

Yukimasa is a good PvP damage dealer, bringing strong kill potential with his A3, and a strong answer to champions like Niamhe or Siegfrund with his A2. Watch out for Nais: Yukimasa probably won’t do enough damage to kill him through his Block Damage.

Try pairing Yukimasa up with Lord Entertainer Fabian: he can Increase Skill Cooldowns (helping Yukimasa stay alive), then Yukimasa can punish Mythicals with his A1 Block Active Skills; he is also one of the most reliable sources of CC through his A2, enabling Yukimasa to ignore RES.

Best Stats

The key stats to look for on Yukimasa are:

1. 100% C.RATE
2. SPD
3. C.DMG%
4. ATK%
5. ACC

Yukimasa will typically be built as a damage dealer.

C.RATE should be built to 100% for the best damage.

SPD is essential to rotate through his turns and land his CC before enemies can attack. For Faction Wars, consider building him faster than the enemies on whichever stage you are on (up to 300+ SPD on FW Hard 21). Use our Raid Stages Tool to check each stage.

Balancing ATK% and C.DMG% ensures the best damage output. Use our Raid Optimiser Tool to find the best balance with the gear you actually have!

ACC is good to make his CC effects more consistent. Prioritise it if you don’t have other CC champions to enable him to ignore RES.

NOTE: it is also possible to build Yukimasa as a pure support (high SPD, ACC, and HP%). This is basically a pure Faction Wars build for players who have enough damage already.

Best Gear Sets

The best sets for Yukimasa are:

1. Merciless
2. Lethal
3. Savage
4. Stoneskin
5. Perception

In general, we are looking for sets that will give maximum Ignore Defence, while also providing key stats in ACC and SPD.

Merciless gives the highest damage output by far, plus cooldown reduction on your actives.

Lethal, Savage, and Instinct are all strong 4-piece damage sets if you don’t have Merciless gear.

Stoneskin is key to surviving in PvP. Perception is a viable option for PvE due to the SPD and ACC stats.

Best Masteries

Check out our dedicated Yukimasa champion page to see his best masteries!

As a damage dealer, it is important to pick the best Blessings and Relics for Yukimasa. We are expecting some sort of event to earn his 5-star soul sometime after his Fusion!

Best Blessings

Check out our Blessings Tier List for full details on all Blessings!

There are a few viable Blessings:

1. Lightning Cage (Legendary): This is by far the best option for PvP. This is particularly strong when run with top-tier buffs, such as Stoneskin sets.
2. Nature’s Wrath (Epic): The best PvE option below 6-stars. Yukimasa is a powerful damage dealer, though he can usually only stack this against waves; bosses are usually immune to his debuffs.
3. Crushing Rend (Epic): The best PvE option but only at 6-stars. It’s a massive damage boost against any high level enemy (i.e. PvE content). Below 6-stars it only applies to the first hit or two, so you shouldn’t pick it for him.
4. Heavencast (Epic): An easy to use–but weaker–PvE option. Viable at any star level.

Best Relics

Check out our Relics Tier List for full details on all Relics!

There are several great options for Relics:

1. Coronet of Gloom (Mythical Grim Forest Relic): The best option. This new Grim Forest Relic gives Yukimasa great offensive stats and gems, while also providing an incredibly powerful defensive effect to help him actually stay alive to use his revive.
2. The Cat’s Gaze (Legendary Event Relic): A massive damage boost in all content, with strong offensive gem sockets.
3. Gorecrescent (Legendary Chimera Relic): A more accessible high-rarity damage relic. Bad for bosses, amazing for waves.
4. Perched Shadow (Epic Faction Relic): This relic is the best option for cycling through your skills against waves for maximum CC.
5. Wand of Submission (Legendary Standard Relic): This is always a good option for PvP, protecting Yukimasa from CC effects and Polymorph. Due to his passive, it is not as important for him as it is for typical PvP champions.
6. Steel-Eyed Cutter (Rare Grim Forest Relic): The new budget damage-dealer relic from Grim Forest is a good starter option.