The mercy system is Raid's bad-luck protection: once you open a set number of shards of one type without pulling a champion of a given rarity, your odds for that rarity rise with every further shard until you hit one, and then the counter resets. Plarium confirms how the mechanic works but keeps most thresholds internal, so the figures players rely on (Legendary mercy after 200 Ancient or Void Shards, or after 12 Sacred Shards) come from long-standing community guides that agree with each other. Below is what is official, what is community-sourced, and how to plan your pulls around it.
We checked this against Plarium's RAID support articles on the mercy system, summoning events and Progressive Chance events, the shard odds published on the official RAID site, HellHades' Legendary and Primal Shard guides plus its October 2026 preview of Update 11.90, and Ayumilove's mercy page (updated September 2026), in November 2026.
What Plarium Officially Says About Mercy
Plarium's support article describes the system plainly. It switches on after you summon a certain number of shards without getting a champion of a specific rarity, and from then on each consecutive shard of that type adds to your chance of that rarity until you land one. The article's own example: after 20 Void Shards without an Epic champion, your Epic chance from Void Shards rises by 2 percent with every shard, and once the Epic arrives the odds drop back to the default summoning table.
Four rules in that article matter more than any single number:
- Each shard type has its own counter. A Legendary from a Sacred Shard does nothing to your Ancient Shard count, and the reverse is also true.
- Epic and Legendary are tracked separately on Ancient and Void Shards. Pulling a Legendary does not reset an Epic drought you are already 20 shards into.
- The increases are additive. A 2 point bump on top of an 8 percent base gives 10 percent, not a multiplied figure.
- The counter is not shown in the game. Plarium says the information is internal, so you have to keep count yourself.
Mercy Thresholds for Every Shard Type
Because Plarium publishes only the Void example, the remaining thresholds come from community tracking. HellHades and Ayumilove, two of the most widely used Raid references, list the same figures for Ancient, Void and Sacred Shards, and those figures have held steady for years. The one place they split is the Mythical counter on Primal Shards.
| Shard and rarity | Base odds | Mercy starts after | Added per shard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ancient, Epic | 8% | 20 shards with no Epic | +2% |
| Ancient, Legendary | 0.5% | 200 shards with no Legendary | +5% |
| Void, Epic | 8% | 20 shards with no Epic | +2% |
| Void, Legendary | 0.5% | 200 shards with no Legendary | +5% |
| Sacred, Legendary | 6% | 12 shards with no Legendary | +2% |
| Primal, Legendary | 1% | 75 shards with no Legendary | +1% |
| Primal, Mythical | 0.5% | 200 shards with no Mythical | +1% (HellHades) or +10% (Ayumilove) |
Turning those steps into pull counts shows how different the climbs are. On Ancient or Void Shards the Legendary chance jumps 5 points per shard after the 200th dry pull, so a Legendary becomes a sure thing within roughly 20 more shards, around the 220th in total. Sacred mercy starts much sooner but climbs more slowly: from the 13th dry shard the chance moves from 6 to 8 percent and keeps adding 2 points, which on paper tops out around the 59th Sacred Shard. Primal Legendary mercy is the slowest of the three, and HellHades calculates a sure Legendary by shard 174.
The Primal Mythical counter is the honest exception. HellHades' launch coverage of Primal Shards works out to a sure Mythical on the 301st shard, while Ayumilove's steeper step would end the drought far sooner. Until Plarium publishes the figure, plan around the slower number. We also found one smaller guide claiming Ancient mercy adds only half a point per shard after 200; it contradicts both major references, so we do not use it.
Why You Have to Count Pulls Yourself
Raid does not show a mercy counter in the Portal. In a 2021 Reddit AMA covered by HellHades, Plarium said it had shipped an update that disabled third-party mercy counters for security reasons, warned that some third-party apps could compromise accounts, and added that it did not dismiss the idea of an in-game counter. As of November 2026 the official support article still says the counter is not displayed, so tracking is your job.
A simple routine is enough:
- Write down the date of your last Legendary from each shard type (Ancient, Void, Sacred and Primal), plus your last Epic for Ancient and Void.
- Every time you open shards, add the number to the matching tally before you do anything else. If you summon ten at once, add ten.
- Reset only the tally for the rarity and shard type you actually hit. A Sacred Legendary leaves your Ancient tally untouched.
- Screenshot the Portal results after big sessions so you can rebuild the count if you lose your notes.
Here is how the tally pays off. Say your notes show 185 Ancient Shards since your last Ancient Legendary and you are holding 30 more. The first 15 of them still roll at the 0.5 percent base, but once you pass 200 dry pulls each further shard adds 5 points, so by the tenth shard past the threshold you are rolling at roughly 50 percent per pull. The back half of that stack is far more valuable than the front half, and without the tally you would have no idea you were that close.
A phone note or a small spreadsheet does the job. Given Plarium's warning about third-party apps, a manual tally is also the option that puts nothing between your login and someone else's software.
How Mercy Interacts With Summon Events
Summon events change different parts of the math, and mixing them up is the most common way players misjudge a pull session.
- x2 events double the base rarity odds. Plarium's FAQ lists 16 percent for Epics and 1 percent for Legendaries from Ancient and Void Shards, and 12 percent for Legendaries from Sacred Shards, while the boost is live.
- Featured champion boosts (long known as x10 events) leave rarity odds untouched and only raise the chance that an Epic or Legendary you do pull is the featured champion. HellHades reported that Update 11.75 raised this regular boost from x10 to x15.
- Progressive Chance events start your chosen champions at x20 and climb to x25 and x30 as you pull champions of the same rarity. Plarium states the boost does not change your chance of pulling a rarity in the first place.
- Set-champion events, where a specific champion arrives after a fixed number of shards, work without resetting your mercy counter according to Ayumilove's event page.
Plarium's FAQ does not say whether mercy steps are themselves doubled during a x2 event, so assume the doubling applies to the base odds only. For Ancient and Void Shards the practical takeaway is simple: far from mercy, x2 events are where those shards do the most work; once you are past 200 dry pulls, the 5 point step per shard dwarfs the base rate and the event matters much less.
Sacred Shards get their own promotions too. HellHades covered a 2-for-1 Sacred event that began on October 13, 2026, in which the first Legendary pulled from a Sacred Shard brought a second, different Legendary once per player. For stockpiling and timing advice, see our Sacred Shards guide.
Planning Your Pulls Around the Counter
Knowing your tallies lets you make better calls than opening everything the moment a banner appears.
- Do not spread pulls thin. Because every shard type keeps its own count, ten Ancient pulls and ten Void pulls nudge two separate counters instead of pushing one counter twice as far.
- Sacred mercy arrives early. With the climb starting after only 12 dry pulls, even a modest Sacred stash opened during a x2 event benefits from the doubled base rate first and from mercy if your luck runs cold.
- Primal Shards are a long road. With a 0.5 percent base Mythical chance and mercy that only begins after 200 dry pulls, chasing a specific Mythical belongs in boosted events.
- Remember the routes with no luck involved. Monthly fusions and fragment events hand out Legendaries on a schedule; our fusion guide explains how they work.
- Know what you are pulling for. Before you empty a stash chasing one name, check where that champion lands on a current tier list for the content you actually play.
Relic Crafting Is Getting a Mercy System Too
Mercy is spreading beyond shards. HellHades' first look at Update 11.90, published October 29, 2026, says Relic Crafting will get two counters. Mythical Mercy triggers after 1,700 Mythical crafting materials are spent without a Mythical Relic, which makes the 17th such craft a Mythical, and any Mythical resets the count. Group Mercy is tracked per Relic Group and triggers after 700 materials from one Group without a Relic from that Group.
Only crafts made entirely with Mythical crafting materials count toward either counter. The preview adds that if Mythical Mercy triggers on a Relic Group that cannot produce Mythicals, you receive a Legendary instead and the Mythical counter carries over to your next eligible craft. No release date for 11.90 had been published when we checked, so treat these numbers as announced rather than live.
If You Would Rather Not Count Shards for Months
Mercy turns a Legendary drought into a long but finite grind. If you would rather start from a roster that is already built, the store's Raid Shadow Legends account page is where it lists Raid accounts. Each listing names the account's headline champions and stocked resources such as shards, gems and Energy, so you can compare rosters before checkout; platform notes vary by listing.
One caution before buying any account from anyone: Plarium's terms forbid trading accounts, and its support team says restore requests for accounts obtained through third parties may be rejected. Our account guide explains what that means in practice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you see your mercy count anywhere in Raid?
No. Plarium's support article says the counter is internal and not displayed, and the company disabled third-party counters in 2021. Keep your own tally per shard type.
Does a Sacred Shard Legendary reset Ancient Shard mercy?
No. Plarium confirms each shard type has its own counter, so only a Legendary from an Ancient Shard resets the Ancient Legendary count.
Is Void Shard mercy the same as Ancient Shard mercy?
The community figures are identical: Epic mercy after 20 dry pulls at 2 points per shard, and Legendary mercy after 200 dry pulls at 5 points per shard. The counters are still separate, so Void pulls never move your Ancient tally.
Do mercy counters reset when an event ends?
Mercy resets only when you pull the rarity from that shard type. Progressive Chance multipliers are different: Plarium says they reset with each new Progressive Chance event.
Should I wait for a x2 event if I am already past mercy?
For Ancient or Void Shards past 200 dry pulls, the 5 point step per shard matters far more than a doubled 0.5 percent base, so waiting gains little. Far from mercy, x2 events are the better time to pull.
How many Sacred Shards until a Legendary is certain?
Using the community figures, mercy starts after 12 dry pulls and adds 2 points per shard, which tops out around the 59th Sacred Shard on paper. In practice the drought almost always ends long before that.