RAID: Shadow Legends Starter Champion Guide – Kael, Elhain, Galek or Athel?

The very first decision RAID asks you to make is which starter champion to take. You can’t swap later, and this champion will carry your account through the early campaign. Here is what each one brings and how to decide.

The four starters at a glance

Starter	Role	Best at	Falls off?
Kael	Attack / poisoner	Campaign farming, Dragon’s Lair, early Clan Boss	Rarely – stays useful for months
Elhain	Attack	Single-target and AoE damage in the campaign	Mid-game
Galek	Attack	Strong single-target hits early	Mid-game
Athel	Attack / support	Debuffing one target, early Arena	Mid-game

All four are rare champions, so none of them are “bad”. The difference is how long they stay relevant.

Why most players pick Kael

Kael is the community’s default answer for a reason:

• Area damage. His third skill hits every enemy, which is exactly what you want for clearing campaign waves quickly.
• Poison. Poison deals damage based on the target’s maximum HP. Against bosses with huge HP pools – Clan Boss, Dragon, Spider – that scales far better than raw attack.
• Easy to gear. He wants Attack, Speed, Critical Rate and Critical Damage – the same stats every early damage dealer wants.
• Great first farmer. With Lifesteal gear he can solo campaign stages to level food champions, which speeds up the entire account.

If you are unsure, take Kael. You will not regret it.

When to choose someone else

• You love Arena. Athel’s debuffs give you a slightly better start in early PvP.
• You want a pure single-target hitter. Galek and Elhain hit hard early and feel great in the first chapters.
• You plan to reroll anyway. Some players restart accounts until they summon a strong legendary; in that case, your starter matters less.

How to build your starter

1. Push them to level 30, then 40, then 50 as fast as possible using campaign food.
2. Equip the best Speed and Attack pieces you have. In the first weeks, substats with Speed beat higher-rarity gear without it.
3. Once you reach the gear dungeons, aim for Lifesteal so they can farm without a healer.
4. Rank them to 6 stars first. Your first 6-star champion should almost always be your farmer – see our rank-up guide for how it works.

The bigger lesson

Starters are just the beginning. Within a few weeks you will have rares and epics from shards, missions and events that outperform any starter in specific content. Treat your starter as your farming engine and first damage dealer, and build the rest of the team around them.

Next step: learn how affinities change every fight in the game.