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In RAID: Shadow Legends there are 4 starting heroes: the Orc Galek, the High Elf Archer Elhain, the Dark Elf Sorcerer Kael, and Athel, a warrior of the Sacred Order. All four starting heroes are of rare quality, but when compared to each other, they are not equal. Among all four heroes, Kael is the most powerful and useful for beginners. I have been playing RAID: Shadow Legends for about 3 years, and in this article, I will try to explain in detail why Kael is the best starting champion.
Before we start, I should note that in the game there are enhanced epic and legendary versions of the starting heroes. You will even receive some of them guaranteed for completing game activities. However, these heroes are not connected with the starting rare champions. In other words, you will not be able to develop rare Kael into an epic or legendary one – heroes in RAID never change their quality.
Newcomers might also find it useful to know that there is a small animated series about the RAID: Shadow Legends universe on YouTube, available on the game’s official channel. The starting champions: Galek, Athel, Elhain, and Kael, are at the heart of the series’ plot. The episodes are short but quite interesting, especially for old players familiar with the game universe.
Poisons
Kael’s ability to apply poisons with his skills is the main reason he is recommended as the starting hero. Neither Galek, Elhain, nor Athel have abilities that apply poisons to targets. Poisons themselves are valuable because they inflict damage equal to 2.5% or 5% of the maximum health of the enemy they affect. Against weak enemies, this is insignificant damage, but in fights against bosses, poisons are extremely useful, especially for a beginner who does not yet have decent equipment.
The two main bosses against whom Kael’s poisons will greatly assist you are the Demon Lord clan boss and the Dragon. The Dragon’s Lair is the main and perhaps the easiest dungeon in the game, which players farm the most for Speed set artifacts. Poisons are the best weapon against this boss (not counting skills with damage from maximum health, of course).
As for the Demon Lord clan boss, this boss has a gigantic amount of health, and killing him is basically impossible. You just need to inflict as much damage as possible, and then once a day, receive chests with rewards. These chests are the main source of shards of all colors and skill tomes for developing skills for heroes of all rarities.
And if you can somehow defeat the Dragon as a beginner without poisons, you certainly won’t be able to deal enough damage to the Demon Lord at the start of the game. In my opinion, this fact alone is enough to choose Kael as the starting hero.
Multi-Hit
Despite Athel being the queen of multi-hits among the starting champions in RAID, Kael also has a skill that deals 4 hits to random targets. In fights against bots, this is not very effective, but there is a boss in the game, Fire Knight, who cannot be defeated without multi-hits at all. At the end of each of his turns, he covers himself with a shield that blocks almost all incoming damage. The player’s heroes must deal a certain number of hits to the boss’s shield. Only after that will the Fire Knight remove the shield, and you will have the opportunity to inflict some substantial damage on him.
Kael is not the best hero in a fight against the Fire Knight. However, if you set up the preset in such a way that the hero starts the fight against the boss with his “Disintegrate” skill with 4 hits, and then you will reduce the boss’s turn bar, not allowing him to make a move, you will have a pretty good beginner team. Pay attention to the uncommon hero Armiger, who is quite easy to get, and who is incredibly useful in such situations.
Turn Meter Fill after AOE Kills
If Kael kills an enemy with his mass skill, his turn meter immediately fills up by 25%. This is a pretty useful feature in fights against regular bots in dungeons, but its true potential is revealed in the Spider’s Den dungeon. At the beginning of each turn of each hero, the boss summons 2 spider minions, of which there can be a total of 10 at once.
Thus, if Kael kills several spider minions with his mass skill, he essentially instantly gets the next turn. This is important because, thanks to this “extra turn”, the cooldown of his mass skill will be reduced by 1 turn, and he will be able to use it again faster.
Is there a worthy alternative to Kael?
In my opinion, the only worthy alternative to Kael among the other starting heroes is Athel. Athel doesn’t have poisons, but she can apply a 25% Weaken debuff (increasing incoming damage to the target by 25%) with her basic skill, which also deals 3 hits.
In my Athel guide, I have demonstrated in detail what this heroine is capable of, so I recommend familiarizing yourself with it. I would not advise choosing the other heroes (Galek and Elhain) as starters, as their skills are too ordinary and do not offer any advantages.
Conclusion
Otherwise, Kael does not stand out from the quartet of starting heroes. All four have almost the same damage for the AOE skill (A2). All four’s A2 have an increased 15% chance of dealing critical damage. All four have the same aura that adds +15% to the base health of the heroes in the team in all battles. If for some reason you don’t like Kael, you can choose Athel, Galek, or Elhain. In this case, you will find some aspects of the game a little more difficult at first, but in the long run, it will not affect anything.