Raid Shadow Legends
⚔️ Champion Leveling & Food
Exact run counts to max each rank, whether to rank up 1★ food, and when to use XP Brews and Chickens.
⚔️ Contents
Quick Action Plan
- 1
Always have XP Boost running while farming
Halves every run count in the table below. Skipping it effectively doubles the cost of every 6★ champion you build.
- 2
Rank 1 champions: build the food chain, don't just use as XP slots
Level 1 target to lvl 10 (3 runs), sacrifice 4 raw 1★ to rank it up to 2★, level to 20 (8 runs). Repeat. Don't discard 1★ as mere XP padding — they're chain links.
- 3
Farm Brutal 12-3 for ranks 1–5
Best XP-per-energy of any stage. Drops Shields which sell for more silver than Boots from 12-6. Always run 1 farmer + 3 food slots.
- 4
Level 6★ in Minotaur Labyrinth, not campaign
Campaign XP-per-energy falls off a cliff at 6★. Minotaur is dramatically more efficient for the final push to level 60.
- 5
Save XP Brews for Double XP events AND use on highest-rank champions
Brews give fixed XP. During a 2× event they double in value. But rank matters too — Champion Training events award ×4 points per level on 5★ champions vs ×1 on 1★. Always use brews on your highest-rank champion during any event window.
- 6
Save Chickens for 4★→5★ and 5★→6★ rank-ups
A 5★ Chicken saves ~236 Brutal 12-3 runs (nearly 2 million XP). Wasting them on lower ranks burns your most valuable resource.
Leveling Recipes — Brutal 12-3
The table below assumes XP Boost + Raid Pass active (~10,382 XP per food champion per run). Without boosts, multiply run counts by ~2.4.
| Rank | Max Level | XP Required | Runs (boosted) | Runs (no boost) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1★ | 10 | 22,761 | ~3 | ~6 |
| 2★ | 20 | 81,326 | ~8 | ~19 |
| 3★ | 30 | 200,681 | ~20 | ~46 |
| 4★ | 40 | 449,082 | ~44 | ~103 |
| 5★ | 50 | 963,806 | ~93 | ~220 |
| 6★ | 60 | 2,010,669 | — | Minotaur only |
1 farmer + 3 food = no wasted XP
Every champion in the team earns the same XP per run. Run one high-level farmer to clear the stage in under 30 seconds, with three food champions filling the other slots. All three food champs level simultaneously at zero extra energy cost.
Stage Comparison
| Stage | Energy | XP/champ (base) | XP/energy | Silver drops |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Normal 12-3 | 4 | ~4,300 | ~1,075 | Low |
| Hard 12-3 | 6 | ~6,900 | ~1,150 | Medium |
| Brutal 12-3 | 8 | ~10,362* | ~1,295 | Best (Shields) |
| Nightmare 12-3 | 10 | ~12,000+ | ~1,200 | High |
*With XP Boost + Raid Pass
Nightmare loses on XP-per-energy
Nightmare gives more XP per run but costs more energy per run. The XP-per-energy ratio is actually worse than Brutal. Stay on Brutal unless you have energy to burn and want maximum raw XP speed.
Rank 1 Champions — Food Chain vs XP Fodder
Mid/late game answer: rank them up. Don’t just dump them in XP slots.
The bottleneck building toward 6★ is always the rank-3 and rank-4 food supply. Every 1★ you properly chain into a 2★ keeps that pipeline moving. Parking them in XP slots as cannon fodder discards their compounding value.
The Efficient 1★ → 2★ Chain
- Pick 1 target 1★ champion
- Level it to max (lvl 10) — 3 Brutal 12-3 runs
- Sacrifice 4 other 1★ champions at level 1 (no leveling needed)
- It ranks up to 2★
- Level to max (lvl 20) — 8 more Brutal 12-3 runs
- That’s your 2★ food ready to sacrifice for a 3★ rank-up
Total cost per 2★ ready-to-sacrifice champion: ~11 runs
The 4 sacrificed 1★ don't need leveling
Only the TARGET champion (the one being ranked up) needs to be at max level. The 4 food sacrifices can be raw level 1. Don’t waste runs leveling champions you’re about to consume.
When to Just Use 1★ as XP Fodder
If you have a genuine surplus — more 1★ commons and uncommons from Mystery Shards than you’ll ever need for the food chain — the excess can fill the 3 food slots on campaign runs. They’ll absorb XP you’d otherwise waste. But the moment you’re running low, funnel everything back into the chain.
Timing & Boosts
| Condition | XP/run | Multiplier vs base |
|---|---|---|
| Base (no boosts) | ~4,400 | 1× |
| XP Booster active | ~8,800 | 2× |
| Raid Pass active | ~5,280 | 1.2× |
| XP Boost + Raid Pass | ~10,382 | ~2.36× |
| Double XP event | stacks above | Best window to grind |
Stack everything during Double XP events
Double XP event + active XP Booster + Raid Pass = roughly 4.7× base XP per run. This is the window to pop Brews, burn stacked energy, and push the food chain hard. Outside of this window, regular farming is fine — just keep the XP Boost up.
Sparring Pit
A fully upgraded Sparring Pit passively levels low-rank food while you do other things. For 1★ and 2★ champions it’s roughly equivalent to 30 minutes of campaign farming — for free. Set it, collect, repeat. Not a replacement for campaign grinding but a free daily supplement that adds up.
Chickens — When to Use Them
Chickens (rank-up items) instantly rank a champion without needing same-rank food sacrifices.
| Chicken Rank | Replaces | Saves |
|---|---|---|
| 2★ Chicken | 4× maxed 1★ food | ~12 runs |
| 3★ Chicken | 4× maxed 2★ food | ~44 runs |
| 4★ Chicken | 4× maxed 3★ food | ~112 runs |
| 5★ Chicken | 4× maxed 4★ food | ~236 runs |
Never use Chickens below 4★
The run savings at 1★ and 2★ are trivial. A 5★ Chicken saves ~236 Brutal 12-3 runs — that’s the equivalent of nearly 2 million XP. Hoard them for the final two rank-up steps.
Mid/Late Game Priority
The real bottleneck at mid/late game is 3★ and 4★ food — not 1★ or 2★. Focus your energy there:
- Keep XP Boost running continuously
- Run 1 farmer + 3 food on Brutal 12-3 (or your highest unlocked Brutal stage)
- Rank 1★ → 2★ in batches as needed to keep the 3★ pipeline full
- Use Sparring Pit daily for free low-rank XP
- Save Chickens and Brews for Double XP event windows
- Once you hit 6★: switch to Minotaur Labyrinth for leveling