A free account in Raid is mostly a timing game. Keys refill on timers, chests reset daily and weekly, the Market refreshes every hour and the Gem Mine pays out whether you log in or not. Miss those and you fall behind spenders; hit them and you build a strong roster in a few months. This page is the routine and the economy behind it. Shard saving, events, beginner mistakes and campaign farming already have their own guides, linked below, and the Raid: Shadow Legends hub has the rest.
The daily routine
Do these in this order. The point is that one action ticks several boxes: a Clan Boss hit counts for daily quests, Clan Activity and often a tournament at the same time.
- Claim everything. Login reward, Playtime Rewards and quest chests. Since update 10.90 a Claim All button collects rewards from quests, battle passes, events and playtime rewards in one tap.
- Check in with your clan. The check-in button is the first of three daily Clan Activity stars.
- Hit the Demon Lord. You get one key every six hours; use them before they stack up.
- Climb Doom Tower. You get 10 Gold Keys a day for new floors, and they do not carry over. Since update 11.50 regular floors can be climbed in the background.
- Fight in Classic Arena. Medals feed the Great Hall, and Arena fights count for Clan Activity. More in the Arena guide.
- Spend energy. Dungeons for gear, or the campaign for food leveling. Queue a Multi-Battle before you put the phone down.
- Look at the Market. It refreshes every hour; buy Mystery Shards and useful champions for Silver.
- Finish the dailies and claim the quest rewards again before the reset.
Per the official clans guide, the second Clan Activity star needs 30 minutes of play, one Clan Boss fight, six Arena fights and 10 campaign or dungeon stages. The third star doubles that: 90 minutes, two Clan Boss fights, 12 Arena fights and 20 stages. If your Multi-Battle runs in the background, the stage count takes care of itself.
RAID For Beginners The weekly layer on top
Some of the best free rewards run on a weekly clock, and they are easy to forget because they do not nag you every day.
- Hydra. You get three Hydra Keys a week, and unlike Demon Lord keys they cannot be bought with Gems. Use all three before the weekly reset. Hydra chests contain Clan Gold, Mortal Soulstones, Clan XP, Champion Fragments for the Legendary Mithrala Lifebane and Stone Skin and Protection artifacts. If a run goes badly, the Free Regroup button on the pause menu lets you change the team without spending another key. Team ideas are in the Hydra and Chimera guide.
- Classic Arena. Climbing the tiers gives weekly Arena chests, and the Medals you win upgrade the Great Hall, which boosts every champion of an affinity in every mode. It is a permanent stat bonus you earn with time alone.
- Clan vs Clan Tournaments. Your clan earns points from objectives you are already doing: campaign stages, dungeons, Arena, Faction Wars. Both clans get rewards, the winner gets more, so line up your energy spending with the tournament when one is running.
Write the reset times down once. A Hydra key burned on the last day still pays; one left unused is simply gone.
Energy: where it comes from and where it goes
Energy regenerates over time and also arrives from quests, events, Playtime Rewards and Full Energy items. Update 11.30 lets you use several Full Energy items at once, so hoarding them for an event no longer costs you a minute of tapping. It is the one resource free players most often waste, simply by letting it sit at the cap.
- Early account: campaign. It levels food champions for your first 6 stars and drops gear. The campaign farming guide covers stages and farmers.
- Once a farmer is ready: dungeons. Gear sets and Mastery Scrolls come from there; see the dungeons guide for which ones first.
- During events: save Full Energy items for Champion Training and dungeon events, where the same energy also earns event points. Our events guide explains which ones are worth it.
Multi-Battle attempts are the other limit. Raid Card subscriptions add attempts, and so does your clan: higher Clan Levels give members extra Multi-Battles each day, one more reason to join an active clan.
Free shards: what to collect and what to save
Free shards come from daily and weekly quests, Clan Boss chests, Arena chests, Doom Tower, the Market and Progress Missions. Open Mystery Shards whenever you like: they are food and Faction Wars filler. Ancient, Void and Sacred Shards are different. The best free accounts save them for summon events and 2x weekends, which is the whole subject of our shard saving guide and the Ancient Shard events page.
Gems: what pays back and what to avoid
Free accounts earn Gems slowly, from quests, achievements, events and the Gem Mine, so every purchase needs to come back to you as more resources or permanent value.
| Purchase | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Gem Mine (unlock and upgrades) | Buy first | Plarium says it pays for itself after about 100 days, then produces Gems for free. Guides put the full cost at 1,500 Gems. |
| Market upgrades | Buy early | Extra Market slots mean more Mystery Shards and champions for Silver every hour. Some slots cost Silver, some Gems. |
| Energy refills | Only with a goal | Good during events or once you farm a high dungeon stage, poor as a habit. |
| Champion Vault space | Prefer Silver | Expansions can be paid with Silver or Gems. Clear food and duplicates first. |
| Shards at shop price | Avoid | The same Gems in the Mine and Market return far more over time. |
| Extra Demon Lord keys | Avoid early | Keys can be bought with Gems, but a weak team turns them into small chests. Fix the team first. |
If you only remember one rule: Gems that buy a one-off convenience are gone, Gems that buy income keep working. The 10 beginner mistakes page has the other classic traps.
RAID For Beginners Plarium Points Program and Treasure Tickets
The Plarium Points Program sits in the side menu of the Bastion. You earn Plarium Points by playing and by completing in-game activities, and Plarium's PC page says playing through Plarium Play earns more points, with rewards that include a Legendary champion you cannot get any other way, plus artifacts, accessories and Souls. Update 11.65 rebalanced the program so rewards come faster and added more valuable rewards further along. If you play on PC anyway, see our Raid on PC guide for the setup.
Update 11.50 added Treasure Tickets on top. Every player gets a Free Draw every 72 hours, and Gold Tickets come only from Plarium Points milestones, which come round every 30 days. Silver Tickets come from Shop offers, so a free player can ignore them. The Chances button in the window shows the odds of each reward.
Clan Shop, Market and the Guardian Ring
Clan Shop. It sells items such as Skill Tomes, Glyphs and Champion Fragments for Clan Gold, which you earn from Clan Quests and Hydra chests. Higher Clan Levels unlock more slots. Since update 11.30 you can choose how many of an item to buy at once. Fragments and Tomes are the usual best buys for a free player; Silver in the Clan Shop is rarely worth the Clan Gold.
Market. It sells gear, shards and champions for Silver and refreshes every hour. Mystery Shards bought here are cheap food, and Rare champions occasionally show up. Silver is also what you spend on gear upgrades, so do not let the Market drain you before a big enhancement event.
Guardian Ring. Three free systems in one building. The Sparring Pit levels champions passively; per the 11.40 patch notes, a slot gives 4,200 XP per hour without a Raid Card. Keep it full of food or your next project at all times. Faction Guardians take duplicate champions and give stat bonuses to every champion of that rarity in the faction. Empowerment uses duplicates to strengthen champions, and since update 11.10 limited event and collaboration champions can be Empowered with a surrogate.
Duplicates are worth more than they look: a duplicate fed in the Tavern upgrades a skill without a Tome, exactly as Plarium's beginners tips suggest. Only use Skill Tomes of the same rarity as the champion.
Login rewards, quests and Progress Missions
The Daily Login Rewards calendar hands out champions to anyone who keeps logging in: High Khatun on day 30, Yaga the Insatiable on day 60 and Dark Athel on day 90. High Khatun's Speed Aura is one of the best free Arena leaders for a new account, as the official tips point out. The rewards follow your login days, so log in even on days you do not play.
Progress Missions are the extended tutorial, and they pay like no other free source. Plarium's beginners tips note that completing half of them unlocks the Arbiter. Work through them in roughly the order the game suggests, and do not skip the dull ones: each block hands out shards, gear and champions. For a timeline that uses all of this, see how to progress fast and, if you have not chosen yet, our starter champion guide.
RAID For Beginners FAQ
Can you play Raid: Shadow Legends free to play?
Yes. Free accounts progress through daily quests, Clan Boss chests, Doom Tower, login rewards and Progress Missions. It is slower than spending, but consistent daily play builds a strong roster.
What should I spend gems on in Raid as a free player?
Gem Mine first, since Plarium says it pays for itself after about 100 days, then Market upgrades. Use energy refills only with a clear goal such as an event, and avoid buying shards at shop price.
How do you get free shards in Raid: Shadow Legends?
From daily and weekly quests, Demon Lord chests, Arena chests, Doom Tower, the Market and Progress Missions. Save Ancient, Void and Sacred Shards for summon events.
What are Plarium Points in Raid?
Points you earn by playing and completing in-game activities, with extra points when playing through Plarium Play. They unlock reward tracks, including an exclusive Legendary, and Gold Treasure Tickets at milestones every 30 days.
What do you get for logging in to Raid every day?
The Daily Login Rewards calendar gives champions including High Khatun on day 30, Yaga the Insatiable on day 60 and Dark Athel on day 90, plus resources on the days in between.
How do you get the Arbiter for free in Raid?
Complete half of the Progress Missions. Plarium's own beginners guide confirms the Arbiter as the reward.