Build Your Champions Around Stats, Not Gear Sets
Gear can be one of the most confusing parts of Raid: Shadow Legends when you’re starting out. There are different sets, main stats, substats, stars, rarities, and dozens of different combinations.
The good news is that you don’t need to understand all of it immediately.
The most important rule to learn is:
Stats First. Gear Sets Second.
When you’re a new player, don’t force your champions into complete gear sets just because the pieces have the same symbol.
A set bonus can be useful, but having the wrong stats just to complete a set can make your champion much weaker.
If you have an excellent pair of Speed boots from one set and a great chest from another, use them together.
As your account gets older, you’ll collect more and more gear. Eventually, you’ll have enough good pieces that you can start combining good stats with good set bonuses.
But when you’re starting out, concentrate on getting the stats your champion actually needs.
First: Figure Out What Your Champion Does
Before putting gear on a champion, ask yourself:
“What is this champion’s job?”
Most champions fall into a few basic categories.
Damage Dealer
Their job is to kill the enemy.
You want:
Crit Rate → Crit Damage → Damage Stat → Speed
Support
Their job is to keep your team alive or make your team stronger.
You want:
Speed → HP/Defense → Survivability
Debuffer / Poisoner / HP Burner
Their job is to put harmful effects on the enemy.
You want:
Accuracy → Speed → Survivability/Damage
Some champions do multiple jobs, so their builds can be different. But these basic categories will get a beginner surprisingly far.
Damage Dealers
Let’s start with the easiest champion to understand: the damage dealer.
Your damage dealer’s job is to hit the enemy as hard as possible.
Aim for 100% Crit Rate
One of your biggest goals should eventually be getting your damage dealer to 100% Crit Rate.
Why?
Because a critical hit does more damage than a normal hit. If your champion only has 50% Crit Rate, they’re only getting that critical hit about half the time.
I’d rather have a champion who consistently hits hard than one who occasionally hits extremely hard.
Once you reach 100% Crit Rate, start focusing more heavily on Crit Damage.
Crit Damage vs. Attack
For a typical damage dealer, Crit Damage is extremely valuable.
You still want plenty of Attack, however. Crit Damage doesn’t do much if the underlying hit isn’t strong.
Think of it this way:
Attack makes the hit stronger.
Crit Damage makes the critical hit hit even harder.
You want both.
What Gear Should a Damage Dealer Wear?
A simple beginner setup is:
Gloves
Use Crit Rate gloves if you need them to reach 100% Crit Rate.
Once you can reach 100% Crit Rate without them, switch to Crit Damage gloves.
Chest
Use the champion’s relevant damage stat:
- ATK% for Attack-based champions
- DEF% for Defense-based damage dealers
- HP% for HP-based damage dealers
Boots
Speed boots.
Almost always.
If you don’t have good Speed boots yet, use whatever you have temporarily. But keep looking for Speed boots.
Amulet
Crit Damage is generally excellent for damage dealers.
Banner
Look for the champion’s relevant stat and useful substats.
Keep Your 4-Star Speed Boots
This is especially important for beginners.
You may eventually reach a point where 4-star gear isn’t very useful. But when you’re starting out, don’t automatically sell every 4-star pair of Speed boots you find.
Good Speed boots can be difficult to replace when your gear collection is small.
A decent 4-star Speed boot can keep a champion functioning much better than a 5-star pair of boots with a stat you don’t need.
Support Champions
Support champions aren’t there to kill everything.
They’re there to make sure your damage dealers can do their jobs.
They might:
- Heal your team
- Revive allies
- Increase your team’s stats
- Decrease enemy stats
- Remove debuffs
- Protect your team
For these champions, survival and Speed are usually much more important than Crit Damage.
Basic Support Build
Gloves
HP% or DEF%
Chest
HP% or DEF%
Boots
Speed
Crit Rate
Don’t worry about it unless the champion actually benefits from dealing damage.
If you can eventually get the champion to 100% Crit Rate without sacrificing their important stats, that’s fine.
But don’t sacrifice Speed and survivability just so your healer can land a critical hit.
A dead healer doesn’t heal anyone.
Debuffers, Poisoners, and HP Burn Champions
Some champions aren’t primarily trying to kill the enemy with their attacks.
Instead, they’re trying to put effects on the enemy.
Examples include:
- Poison
- HP Burn
- Decrease Defense
- Decrease Attack
- Decrease Speed
- Stun
- Weaken
- Other debuffs
For these champions, you need to pay attention to Accuracy.
Why Accuracy Matters
Imagine you build a champion specifically to Poison the enemy.
You give them amazing damage gear.
But every time they try to apply Poison, the enemy resists it.
Your amazing stats aren’t helping much.
That’s why Accuracy is so important for champions whose primary job is applying debuffs.
Basic Debuffer Build
For a beginner, think:
Accuracy → Speed → Survivability
An Accuracy-focused chest and Accuracy banner can be useful, depending on the champion and the content you’re fighting.
And once again:
Speed boots.
If the champion also does good direct damage, you can start adding Crit Rate.
I’d still try to get them toward 100% Crit Rate if possible, but I wouldn’t sacrifice the Accuracy and Speed they need to perform their primary job.
What Are Main Stats?
Every piece of gear has a main stat.
This is the big number displayed on the item.
For example:
ATK%
HP%
DEF%
Speed
Crit Rate
Crit Damage
Accuracy
When you’re building a champion, these main stats should be your first concern.
Don’t look at a piece and say:
“This has a really good set bonus, so I need to use it.”
Instead ask:
“Does this piece have the stats my champion needs?”
That’s the more important question.
What Are Substats?
Substats are the smaller stats underneath the main stat.
These are where you can improve your champion even further.
For example, a piece might have:
Main Stat: ATK%
And then substats such as:
- Speed
- Crit Rate
- Crit Damage
- HP
- Defense
You want substats that support the champion’s job.
For an Attack-based damage dealer, Attack, Speed, Crit Rate, and Crit Damage can all be useful.
For a tanky support, HP, Defense, and Speed might be much more useful.
For a debuffer, Accuracy and Speed can be extremely valuable.
Don’t Chase Perfect Gear
This is another important beginner lesson:
Your gear does not need to be perfect.
Your first goal is to make your champions functional.
Don’t spend hours trying to create the perfect six-piece set for a champion when you could simply equip six decent pieces and move on.
Your gear will constantly improve as you play.
You will replace today’s “good” gear with tomorrow’s “great” gear.
That’s normal.
Don’t Be Afraid to Mix Gear Sets
Let’s say you have:
Pair of Speed boots: Great
Crit Rate gloves: Great
ATK% chest: Great
But they’re all from different sets.
Use them anyway.
If those pieces give your champion the stats they need, that’s more important than completing a set.
Eventually you’ll collect enough gear that you might find:
- Great Speed boots
- Great Crit Damage gloves
- Great ATK% chest
- Great accessories
- Great substats
And they may all belong to useful sets.
That’s when you can start taking advantage of set bonuses.
When Gear Sets Become Important
As your account progresses, you will naturally collect more gear.
Eventually, instead of having one good pair of Speed boots, you’ll have dozens.
Instead of having one good ATK% chest, you’ll have several.
Now you can start being picky.
At that point you can say:
“I want these stats AND I want this set bonus.”
That’s where gear sets become much more important.
Think of your progression like this:
Early Game
Stats > Set Bonus
Mid Game
Stats + Set Bonus
Late Game
Excellent Stats + Excellent Set Bonus
Don’t try to play like a late-game player when you don’t have a late-game gear collection.
A Simple Checklist Before You Equip Gear
When looking at a piece of gear, ask these questions:
1. Does the champion need the main stat?
If yes, keep considering it.
If no, it’s probably not useful for that champion.
2. Does it have useful substats?
Look for things such as:
Speed, Crit Rate, Crit Damage, Accuracy, HP, Defense, or Attack, depending on the champion.
3. Does it help the champion do their job?
Damage dealer?
Look for damage.
Support?
Look for Speed and survivability.
Debuffer?
Look for Accuracy and Speed.
4. Am I only using it because it completes a set?
If the answer is yes, take another look.
The set bonus may not be worth sacrificing good stats.
The Beginner’s Gear Rules to Remember
If you don’t remember anything else from this guide, remember these:
1. Build around the champion’s role.
Know what the champion is supposed to do.
2. Stats are more important than gear sets.
Don’t force a set just to complete it.
3. Get your damage dealers toward 100% Crit Rate.
Then start pushing Crit Damage.
4. Speed is incredibly important.
Look for Speed boots.
5. Supports need to survive.
HP, Defense, and Speed are often more valuable than damage stats.
6. Debuffers need Accuracy.
If they can’t land their debuffs, they’re not doing their job.
7. Use substats to fill in the gaps.
Once you have the important main stats, use substats to improve the build.
8. Save good lower-star Speed boots while you’re developing your account.
They can be extremely useful.
9. Don’t worry about perfect gear early.
Your gear will improve naturally as you progress.
10. Gear sets become more important later.
As your gear collection grows, you’ll eventually have enough good pieces to combine great stats with strong set bonuses.
The Most Important Rule
When you’re unsure whether a piece of gear is good, don’t ask:
“What set is this?”
Ask:
“What does this gear do for my champion?”
If it gives your champion the stats they need, it’s probably doing its job.
As you progress, you’ll eventually reach the point where you don’t have to choose between good stats and good sets.
You’ll have enough gear to have both.
Until then:
Stats first. Sets second. Build the champion, not the gear set.
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