Solo Leveling Arise Army of Shadows guide: How to unlock, use, & more

Army of Shadows is an in-game feature in Solo Leveling Arise containing various shadows that aid your team in battles. You can include the shadows in your formation and summon them on the battlefield to fight against enemies. However, you must unlock the feature first by clearing Chapter 9, and then you can unlock the shadows to use them on the battlefield.

Currently, the title has four unlockable shadows, each with upgradable skills, unique movesets, and the ability to buff all team members. This article provides a complete guide to unlocking shadows, using them, and more.

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How to unlock the Army of Shadows and Shadows in Solo Leveling Arise?

Clear Chapter 9 to unlock the Army of Shadows in Solo Leveling Arise. (Image via Netmarble)

Army of Shadows feature unlocks upon clearing Chapter 9, The Birth of a New Monarch. However, you cannot unlock shadows right after completing the chapter. You must then change Sung Jinwoo’s Job to The Shadow of Monarch, which will be available after clearing Chapter 9 and unlocking the Necromancer Job.

The first shadow you will have access to is Igris, like in the webtoon. You don’t need to put extra effort into unlocking Shadow Igris; clearing Chapter 9 and unlocking the Army of Shadows will do the job. However, the same is not valid for other shadows.

The table below lists all the shadows and conditions to unlock them.

Shadows	Unlock Conditions
Igris	Unlock Army of Shadows by clearing chapter 9, The Birth of a New Monarch.
Blades	Clear Episode 1 of Chapter 12, The Strange Raids.
Iron	Clear Episode 5, of Chapter 11, The Ice Slayer King.
Tank	Clear Episode 9 of Chapter 10, The Red Gate.

Fulfilling the above conditions gives you the ability to unlock shadows. After meeting the requirements, you must extract them using 100 Traces of Shadow for each shadow. You can obtain Traces of Shadows from the Gates game mode and story mode (in Chapter 10 and onwards).

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How to use Army of Shadows in Solo Leveling Arise?

Summoning a shadow once in the battle costs Shades. (Image via Netmarble)

After unlocking a shadow, you will see a fourth slot in the team formation menu. You can put the desired shadow in the slot and bring them to the battle. While fighting, you will see a summon button; click on it to call the shadow during combats in Solo Leveling Arise.

You can use up to three shadows in any particular fight. Summoning shadows and their army once in a battle costs Shades, which you can obtain from Gates, Story missions, Instance Dungeons, Battlefield of Trials, and Battlefield of Time. However, you can only obtain Shades from these game modes by playing with Sung Jinwoo.

Each shadow has Shadow Authority, which buffs all team members. The Shadow Authority of a shadow designated as leader only takes effect in the battle. You can make any shadow a leader by placing them in the slot with a crown icon or the first slot.

The table below shows the Shadow Authority of all Solo Leveling Arise shadows:

Shadows	Shadow Authority
Igris	Increases team members’ Critical Hit Rate.
Blades	Increases team members’ attack.
Iron	Increases team members’ HP.
Tank	Increases team members’ Defense.

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How to increase Army of Shadows’ combat power in Solo Leveling Arise?

Upgrading the Army of Shadows requires Shadow Energy and Gold. (Image via Netmarble)

You can boost the Army of Shadows’ combat power by increasing its level or upgrading and promoting individual shadow. Upgrading its level is upgrading the shadows as a whole. The process requires Shadow Energy and Gold and increases the maximum Army capacity, Total Power, and number of Shades you can hold.

On the other hand, you can Upgrade or Promote individual shadows. The Upgrade feature increases the shadow’s Total Power and requires Gold, Abyssal Fragment, Abyssal Energy, and Abyssal Essence.

Promoting shadows increases their ranks, boosts their Shadow Authority’s ability, and unlocks an additional skill. You need Traces of Shadow and Gold in Solo Leveling Arise to promote shadows. The shadow’s rank ranges from the lowest, Common, Elite, and Knight to the highest Elite Knight. When you promote any particular shadow to the Knight rank, it gets an additional skill.