True to the manhwa series it originated from, Solo Leveling: Arise allows Sung Jinwoo to call upon various Shadows along with an army of Shades to help him during combat.
Scroll down and read more if you'd like to see our Shadows tier list for Solo Leveling: Arise, what each of the Shadows can contribute to your team, and who among them is worth the investment!
Solo Leveling: Arise – Shadows Tier List (All Shadows Ranked)
As you can see from our Shadows tier list in the image above, the best Shadows in Solo Leveling: Arise are Igris and Blades—both of whom improve your team's DPS potential. They're followed by Iron and Tank, who boost your team's survivability instead.
Listed below are all the Shadows you can unlock for Sung Jinwoo, their Shadow Authority, skills, and rankings based on how well they perform in various areas of the game.
NOTE: You can deploy up to three Shadows per battle, but do note that only the leader's Shadow Authority will be active. Choose your leader wisely!
S-Tier Shadows
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| Shadow's Authority |
| Common Rank: All team members' Critical Hit Rate increases by 4% Elite Rank: All team members' Critical Hit Rate increases by 5% Knight Rank: All team members' Critical Hit Rate increases by 6% Elite Knight Rank: All team members' Critical Hit Rate increases by 7% |
| Skills |
| Basic Attack 1: The user attacks by slashing with a longsword twice diagonally from bottom to top. Damage: 139.24% of Jinwoo's Attack Basic Attack 2: The user attacks by performing 4 quick and powerful consecutive slashes with a longsword. Damage: 266.24% of Jinwoo's Attack Quadruple Wave: The user gathers their power and fires sword energy 4 times to attack the enemy from a distance. Damage: 381.15% of Jinwoo's Attack Earth Slash: The user gathers their power and jumps to attack the enemy by powerfully striking downward with their sword. Damage: 321.25% of the user's Attack When this skill hits, inflicts [Bleed] on the target (cannot be applied to World Bosses). [Bleed] Deals additional damage equal to 0.6% of the user's current HP every 3 second(s). Duration: 30 second(s) Blade Axle (Unlocked at Knight Rank): The user gathers their power and charges forward while slashing quickly, attacking enemies in their path with sword energy. Damage: 415.52% of the user's Attack When using this skill, apply the [Attack Increase] effect. [Attack Increase] Increases the user's Attack by 100%. Duration: 10 second(s) |
Unlock Requirement: Clear Story (Chapter 9)
Igris is the first Shadow you unlock in Solo Leveling: Arise. This doesn't mean he's any weaker than the ones you unlock later on, however, as he offers Sung Jinwoo and your Hunters a boost in Critical Hit Rate, which is invaluable for raising your team's overall DPS.
We highly investing in Igris and promoting him to at least Knight Rank, as he'll gain enormous DPS potential with Blade Axle's [Attack Increase] and [Bleed] effects, which makes him even more dangerous against tanky enemies that aren't immune to debuffs.
Furthermore, having Igris as your leader will lessen the need for you to allocate some AP to Sung Jinwoo's Agility stat, which leaves points for Sung Jinwoo's other best stats (i.e. Precision & Strength).
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| Shadow's Authority |
| Common Rank: All team members' Attack increases by 3% Elite Rank: All team members' Attack increases by 4% Knight Rank: All team members' Attack increases by 5% Elite Knight Rank: All team members' Attack increases by 6% |
| Skills |
| Basic Attack 1: The user attacks by performing two large left and right swings with a dagger. Damage: 150% of Jinwoo's Attack Basic Attack 2: The user gathers energy into the daggers in both hands and attacks by performing a large slash to the front. Damage: 164.35% of Jinwoo's Attack Moonlight Dancing: After gathering their power, the user attacks by performing a zigzag circular spinning slash towards the front. Damage: 316.01% of Jinwoo's Attack Frost Gazer: The user gathers the power of the coldness into a sword, plunges it into the ground, and then attacks by unleashing a blast of coldness to where the enemy is located. Damage: 353.75% of Jinwoo's Attack Spinning Strike (Unlocked at Knight Rank): The user gathers their power and creates a circle of sword energy around themselves, then propels it forward in a straight line to attack enemies within the range of the effect. Damage: 293.75% of the user's Attack When using this skill, apply the [Attack Increase] effect. [Attack Increase] Increases the user's Attack by 100%. Duration: 10 second(s) |
Unlock Requirement: Clear Story (Chapter 11), x100 Traces of Shadow
Blades is the fourth Shadow you unlock in Solo Leveling: Arise. The most optimal way to play the game is to just stack as much damage as you can for Sung Jinwoo and your Hunters, then take full advantage of the Extreme Evasion feature to survive.
This is exactly why Blades, whose Authority and Skills revolve around improving your team's Attack stat, is the best Shadow to invest your resources in alongside Igris.
Getting him to Knight Rank isn't as much of a priority compared to Igris, but his final skill (Spinning Strike) is still a must-have if you want to further unleash his full potential as a damage dealer.
A-Tier Shadows
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| Shadow's Authority |
| Common Rank: All team members' Max HP increases by 6% Elite Rank: All team members' Max HP increases by 7.5% Knight Rank: All team members' Max HP increases by 9% Elite Knight Rank: All team members' Max HP increases by 10.5% |
| Skills |
| Basic Attack 1: The user attacks by swinging the battle hammer left and right two times. Damage: 82.29% of Jinwoo's Attack Basic Attack 2: The user attacks by pushing the target with a shield and then striking down powerfully with a battle hammer. Damage: 92.86% of Jinwoo's Attack Iron Hammer!: The user raises a hammer and slams it down to attack, distorting the terrain. Damage: 185.93% of Jinwoo's Attack Charge, Iron!: The user jumps towards the front and attacks by slamming down with a hammer. Damage: 143.75% of the user's Attack When this skill hits, apply the [Defense Decrease] effect. [Defense Decrease] Decreases Defense by 12%. Duration: 10 second(s) Iron Angry! (Unlocked at Knight Rank): After attacking the enemy with a loud shout, the user strikes down powerfully with a shield and attacks the surrounding area. Damage: 432.26% of the user's Attack When this skill is used, it applies a [Shield] effect. The [Shield] is equal to 10% of the user's Max HP and is granted to all Shadows. Duration: 10 second(s) |
Unlock Requirement: Clear Story (Chapter 11), x100 Traces of Shadow
Iron is the third Shadow you unlock in Solo Leveling: Arise. He specializes in making your team and his fellow Shadows tankier by giving them HP bonuses and Shields with his skills and Authority.
This makes Iron the perfect Shadow for Hunters like Seo Jiwoo and Emma Laurent—both of whom get stronger the more max HP they have and are among the best Hunters in Solo Leveling: Arise.
He's less useful for improving your team's DPS which made his ranking take a hit compared to Igris and Blades, but his [Defense Decrease] makes him a very good Shadow to unlock for additional damage nonetheless.
B-Tier Shadows
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| Shadow's Authority |
| Common Rank: All team members' Defense increases by 6% Elite Rank: All team members' Defense increases by 7.5% Knight Rank: All team members' Defense increases by 9% Elite Knight Rank: All team members' Defense increases by 10.5% |
| Skills |
| Basic Attack 1: The user attacks by quickly slashing the target from side to side with its front claws. Damage: 135% of Jinwoo's Attack Basic Attack 2: The user attacks by quickly slashing both sides with its front claws, and then performs a powerful upward strike. Damage: 220.1% of Jinwoo's Attack Tank Crash: The user attacks the target with a powerful lunge. Damage: 365.36% of Jinwoo's Attack Tank Press: The user gathers their power, leaps high into the air, and attacks the enemy by slashing downward toward them. Damage: 382.92% of the user's Attack. When the last attack in the combo hits, [Stuns] the target. [Stun] This skill immobilizes the target. Duration: 1 second(s) Tank Overkill (Unlocked at Knight Rank): The user raises its front claws to attack by quickly and powerfully slashing the target, and then performs a powerful downward strike. Damage: 517.56% of the user's Attack When using this skill, apply the [Defense Increase] effect to all Shadows. [Defense Increase] Increases Defense by 40%. Duration: 10 second(s) |
Unlock Requirement: Clear Story (Chapter 10), x100 Traces of Shadow
Tank is the second Shadow you unlock in Solo Leveling: Arise. Although he's ranked lower than other Shadows, this doesn't necessarily mean Tank is downright awful—only that his skills and Authority don't align with the game's optimal playstyle (i.e. glass cannon build).
Nevertheless, he's great if you're looking to power up specific Hunters whose skills scale with Defense, such as Baek Yoonho and Woo Jinchul, or if you just want your Shadows to have extra survivability through his Defense boosts.
Tank can also inflict [Stun] on enemies with Tank Press, which can be useful for disrupting enemy attacks during battle.
Unlocking, Promoting, and Upgrading Shadows
As you can see from the image above, simply clearing Story chapters doesn't give you access to Shadows directly. You also have to use Shadow Extraction on each Shadow, which requires an item called Traces of Shadow. You need 100 of them to unlock a Shadow.
You can farm Traces of Shadow mainly by clearing Gates. The higher the difficulty, the better!
TIP: We highly recommend unlocking Blades via Shadow Extraction first, then either Iron or Tank depending on your preference. You'll need to conserve Traces of Shadow for Promotions, so it'll be wise to unlock only three Shadows first, especially if you're a beginner.
Promotions allow you to increase the rank of your Shadows:
- Common
- Elite (x150 Traces of Shadow required)
- Knight (x350 Traces of Shadow required)
- Elite Knight (x600 Traces of Shadow required)
Promoting a Shadow increases your Max Army Level, the number of Shades that you can summon in combat, and the effectiveness of the Shadow's Authority. Shadows also get an additional Skill once you promote them to Knight Rank.
Just like Shadow Extractions, Promotions also cost Traces of Shadow, so don't forget to spend them wisely. You'll also need quite a hefty amount of Gold to Promote Shadows, so feel free to check out our Gold Farming Guide for Solo Leveling: Arise!
TIP: Make sure to use our Shadows tier list when choosing which Shadows to promote first. On that note, we recommend getting Igris > Blades > Iron > Tank to Knight Rank—prioritized in that order, as only then will you be able to unlock all of their most useful Skills.
Last but not least, we have Shadow Upgrades, which allow you to increase the amount of Power a Shadow provides to your Army of Shadows. You need the following items to Upgrade a Shadow in Solo Leveling: Arise:
- Gold
- Abyssal Fragment
- Abyssal Energy
- Abbysal Essence
Unlike Shadow Extractions and Promotions, Upgrading a Shadow isn't as restrictive as it doesn't consume Traces of Shadow, which are quite hard to farm.
With that in mind, feel free to invest your Abyssal materials, which you can farm mainly by clearing Gates and playing Battlefield of Time, on Shadows that you'll use most often—preferably Igris and Blades.
Conclusion
Now that you've seen our Shadows tier list and how each Shadow ranks in viability compared to other Shadows in Solo Leveling: Arise, check out our list for Sung Jinwoo's Best Weapons and Best Artifacts to further improve his performance in fights!
