Anime Defenders New Raid Boss: Solo Strategy (No Premium Units)

Anime Defenders: How to Solo Raid Bosses without Premium Units

You can clear raids solo without secret units or a loaded roster. I have done it using a free-to-play setup — and this guide explains in detail how.

Even the most seasoned players, however, believe solo raids are impossible without pulling from the limited banner. That’s wrong. Sure it’s hard, but with the right units and placement (and maybe the patience it requires), you can beat any current raid on your own — no premium needed.

Prepared for Update 11 (2026): the full breakdown.

What Are Raids in Anime Defenders?

Raids are the most difficult permanent game mode in Anime Defenders. All these events start for 3,000 Gold (and 5,000 Gold for the Vampire Castle raid). You have to be a minimum of Level 20 to compete, and there is a mandatory reset every two hours for the raid shop.

So right now, you have access to 4 raids. They each throw 25 rounds of enemies at you, culminating in a boss that hits way harder than anything in Story Mode.

The catch? Raids are designed to be played with other players, due to how hard they can be. Solo means you are hauling all that weight yourself — no co-op units to stall for you before getting prompted into support.

Which is why unit selection and placement are more important here than any other part of the game.

Before You Go Solo Raiding

Don’t walk in blind. Check these three things first:

• Level 20+ — Hard requirement before entering
• Gold stash of minimum 40,000 — You will need it for deploying and max-upgrading your units during the run
• Max-level units with traits rolled — Even B-tier units are decent once you have put something into them

And as you well know from Infinite Mode, positioning alone can carry you 20+ extra waves — the same principle goes for raids. Every single time, a well-placed unit beats a stronger unit dropped in the wrong location.

Review by Reddit about Help with Raids

Best Free Units for Solo Raids (Update 11)

You don’t need King of Dragons or Shadow Dragon to have this work. These are the units that normally carry free-to-play solo runs.

Flame Dragon God (Primary DPS)

This is your backbone. Put 2–3 Flame Dragon Gods at the junctions. The mobs will be no trouble for the Flame Dragon Gods, but the bosses at the end of the raid can still cause problems.

Max this out before anything else. It is their AoE damage that prevents the waves from seeping through in the early levels.

Prime Carp (Boss Killer)

Drop Prime Carp and dedicate resources to its level 11 upgrade for max AoE. After that, it becomes your main answer to the raid bosses.

Prime Carp has a lot of damage potential against single large enemies that most free units simply cannot match. Don’t skip it.

Admiral of Ice (Crowd Control)

Pretty nice for the slow effect is Admiral of Ice. Put it somewhere at the beginning of the track — where it can slow down mobs for Prime Carp — and level it up to max.

In solo runs, slowing enemies is a must. Otherwise, fast enemies in the late waves will occasionally slip through past your DPS before it can connect.

Iron Golem (Budget Frontline)

A Tier: Iron Golem accumulates 140K DPS and costs roughly half the Gold of SSS units. It is a decent placeholder DPS until you pull better units. Plus, it acts as a damage sponge on the front path during solo runs while your main DPS is free to handle the middle. If you are also grinding other Roblox games and running into issues, this Roblox not loading fix might save you a run.

Vine Archer (Secondary Slow)

Vine Archer has a quasi 15% slow baked into it — it is sort of like Frost Empress on a budget that can at least be used to some effect in Story Mode. Run it next to the Admiral of Ice for double slow coverage on cluttered waves.

Unit Comparison: Free vs. Premium for Solo Raids

The free lineup is more than capable. The gap is not a problem until after Wave 18, where enemy HP spikes hard.

The Solo Strategy: Phase by Phase

This is the very setup I use for solo raid clears.

Phase 1: Waves 1–10 (Economy Phase)

Don’t max anything yet. Get 1 Flame Dragon God and 1 Admiral of Ice on the field to stall the first waves. Make sure you keep your Gold above 25,000 for the mid-game power spike.

• Set Admiral of Ice on the first corner in only
• Drop Flame Dragon God at the longest straight for more uptime
• Don’t upgrade Iron Golem — it is a Gold trap early on

Phase 2: Waves 11–18 (Power Spike)

This is when you commit.

• Upgrade Flame Dragon Gods to max first
• Drop Prime Carp and make it instantly go to level 11
• After getting Prime Carp leveled up, max out the Flame Dragon Gods
• Vine Archer can be added at Wave 13 if enemies are starting to move through your kill zone before you can put them down

Phase 3: Waves 19–25 (Boss Phase)

The final boss hits hard and plays at a blistering speed. Here is what changes:

• Place Admiral of Ice pretty far back — you want max time to slow before the boss reaches Prime Carp
• Your Flame Dragon Gods automatically take care of mobs, stop worrying about them by now
• Focus the upgrade path only on Prime Carp — it is your sole reliable source of boss damage

The Mistake I Made (And You Can Avoid)

The first 3 times I tried this solo, I failed at Wave 22. I kept positioning Admiral of Ice too close to my DPS cluster, which meant enemies were only really slowed for maybe 2 seconds before reaching my frontline.

Moving it back closer to the spawn point — about 8–10 tiles — extended that slow window up to nearly 5 seconds. That single change turned a consistent Wave 22 wipe into a full clear.

Placement positioning is not intuitive when you have been used to co-op, where someone else takes care of the first path. Solo, you need to think about every tile.

Pro Tip Most Guides Do Not Cover

Redeem all active codes as soon as you hit Level 8 — free Gems and Trait Crystals go fast. What no one tells you is that trait crystals on your slow units matter just as much as traits on DPS.

The Speedster trait on Admiral of Ice increases its attack speed, which means it applies the slow debuff more frequently — enemies stay slowed longer because you refresh the debuff more often. Most players dump all their trait crystals into Flame Dragon God. Split it. An Admiral of Ice at Speedster tier will carry harder than another DPS upgrade in the final waves.

If you play other unit-based Roblox games, the same thinking about trait priority applies — the Anime Last Stand tier list is a good reference to see how support units are ranked relative to raw DPS picks.

What Changes in the Vampire Castle Raid?

Currently, Vampire Castle is the hardest raid of them all. You have to pay 5,000 Gold — already 2,000 more than ordinary raids.

The boss has a regeneration mechanic that can only be broken with sustained DPS. This is where Prime Carp’s burst damage does not work as well, because the boss recovers health in between hit intervals.

For Vampire Castle solo, swap Prime Carp for 2 more Flame Dragon Gods. Clearing it without premium units will simply require multiple attempts. It is still very doable, but Waves 23–25 are an absolute slog.

FAQ

Can I really solo raids at Level 20 with no premium units?

Yes, but only the normal raids — Cursed Train is the most steady one. You need your units maxed with at least one trait rolled on your main DPS. Going in at Level 20 without upgrades won’t fly.

Which raid is easiest to solo as a free-to-play player?

Cursed Train. Out of all the maps, it has the least random enemy movement, and positioning your Admiral of Ice is pretty simple. Vampire Castle is much more difficult and may not be suitable for your first solo attempt.

How many units do I need to clear a raid by myself?

In practice, if they are all maxed and placed well, you can clear with 4 units. I use: 2 Flame Dragon Gods, 1 Prime Carp, 1 Admiral of Ice. Adding a 5th unit — a Vine Archer or Iron Golem — gives you a safety buffer.

Does unit placement really matter that much?

More than most players realize. With your main DPS unit, you want to put it where it covers the most path — especially at bends and intersections. A well-placed B-tier unit beats a poorly placed S-tier unit in solo runs every time.

What is the best use of Gold during a solo raid run?

Max in this exact order: Admiral of Ice, Flame Dragon Gods, then Prime Carp to level 11. Never upgrade multiple units simultaneously — it leaves everything half-powered during the critical mid-wave window.

Real talk: soloing raids as a F2P player is probably the most rewarding thing available in Anime Defenders. It takes something like 3–5 tries to get the positioning right, but once you do, you will farm Raid Crystals like nobody’s business. Forget the premium banner pressure — perfect your placement. That is what this mode really tests.

Read Also

• King Legacy Sea Beast Locations