Relics are a separate layer of gear in RAID: Shadow Legends — their own slot, their own stats and a unique effect that sits on top of your artifacts. Here is what the system does, where relics come from and how to judge which ones are actually worth a slot.
What relics are and how they differ from artifacts
Artifacts work in sets: 2, 4 or 6 pieces to trigger a set bonus. A relic is a standalone item in its own slot. It belongs to no set and conflicts with nothing — its stats simply add to whatever your champion already wears. On top of that, every relic carries its own effect: a passive bonus or a conditional trigger such as extra damage, a shield, healing, a chance to land control or a boost to buffs.
So treat a relic as a targeted tune-up for one champion, not as one more piece of gear. The same relic on a nuker and on a tank plays out completely differently, which means a relic can only be judged together with the champion wearing it.
How to get relics
Exact sources shift with the season, but the logic is stable — relics come from activity, not from handouts.
- Events and tournaments. Relics usually sit in score milestones, often on the higher steps. The most predictable way to fill a specific slot.
- Chests and PvE rewards. The harder the content, the better the odds of a decent rarity.
- Shop and in-game offers. Some relics cost in-game currency, some appear in paid bundles. Judge them by effect and stats, never by frame colour.
- Duplicates and upgrade materials. Levelling a relic almost always costs resources, and those drop in the same places as the relics themselves — don't spread your stock across everything.
Always check the current reward list in the client, since it depends on the event and the season.
What a relic is made of: rarity, stats, effect
Three parts matter:
- Rarity sets the ceiling: how many bonus stats the item can carry and how far it can be upgraded.
- Stats — one main stat plus several secondary ones. The priorities are the same as on gear: Speed, Accuracy, Resistance, HP, Defence, Attack and crit stats.
- Effect — the reason to equip the relic at all. It decides whether the item deserves the slot.
Rule of thumb: look at the effect first, the main stats second, rarity last. A legendary with a useless effect loses to an epic that patches a real hole in your team.
Which relic to pick: priorities by role
There is no universal best-in-slot list, but the priorities per role are fairly stable.
| Role | Look for first | Secondary |
|---|---|---|
| Damage dealer (Acrizia, Gnut, Whisper) | Attack, Crit Rate and Crit Damage, Speed | Accuracy if you need debuffs |
| Control and debuffs (Madame Serris, Dhukk the Pierced) | Accuracy, Speed | survivability |
| Tank and support (Mithrala Lifebane, Vogoth) | HP, Defence, Speed | Resistance, healing and shield effects |
| Clan Boss team (Maneater, Demytha, Geomancer) | Speed and survivability for speed tuning | Accuracy for debuffs |
| Arena (Arbiter, Yumeko) | Speed | Accuracy, control effects |
Careful: a Speed relic can break your speed tuning if you slap it on blindly. In a Clan Boss team the turn order matters more than a small damage bump.
Best relics: which effects to chase
- Speed and tempo. The most universal category — it works in Arena, Clan Boss and dungeons alike.
- Accuracy and control. Anything that helps land debuffs or strip buffs is critical for Arena and hard PvE.
- Damage. Crit Damage and Attack boosts are for pure nukers who already have Speed and Accuracy covered.
- Survivability and shields. Healing, shields and damage reduction keep supports and tanks alive in long fights.
- Team support. Effects that strengthen buffs or cleanse debuffs from the squad are worth more than raw stats in the endgame.
The best relic is the one that fixes a specific gap in your roster. If your team collapses from a lack of Speed, extra damage will not save it.
Common mistakes
- Choosing by frame colour instead of by effect.
- Stacking Speed on everyone and wrecking the turn order in Clan Boss.
- Pouring resources into random relics instead of waiting for a good effect.
- Skipping Accuracy on debuffers — without it their control simply doesn't land.
Summary
A relic is a separate slot that adds stats on top of your artifacts plus one unique effect. You earn them through activity — events, tournaments, chests, the shop — and upgrading them costs resources, so don't burn those on everything you find. When choosing, check the effect first, the stats for the champion's role second and rarity last. Speed and Accuracy are the universal priorities; after that it's situational: damage for nukers, survivability and support for tanks and supports. And keep speed tuning in mind — in Clan Boss and Arena, turn order beats a couple of percent of damage.
16/10/2026