Diablo Immortal Shadow War: how to join, rewards, and Rite of Exile

The Diablo Immortal Shadow War is a PvP tournament exclusive to the Shadows faction that promises clan prestige and the opportunity to become an Immortal

Diablo Immortal Shadow War: A Barbarian from the Diablo Immortal Shadow clan stands victorious over his fallen foe, arm raised in triumph as the rest of his group surround him

Curious about the Diablo Immortal Shadow War? Blizzard’s mobile RPG game includes a surprisingly complex PvP combat system that can be confusing at first glance. That said, after spending so much time collecting all the best Diablo Immortal set items, legendary gems and charms for your character, we wouldn’t blame you for wanting to see how it all fares against another player, and the Shadow War is sure to put your build through its paces.

Put simply, the Diablo Immortal Shadow War is a weekly PvP clan tournament that pits up to 90 Shadows faction members against towering Immortals controlled by other players. If PvP in Diablo Immortal is entirely new to you, it’s absolutely vital that you check out our guide on the Diablo Immortal Shadows faction, which includes details on how to join, ranks, rewards, and more. If you’re not a member, you won’t be eligible to take part in the Shadow War.

How to join the Shadow War

Once you’re a member of the Shadows faction, you may participate in the Shadow War as part of a Dark Clan. The option for clan leaders to register will be available on Monday through Tuesday, and signing up allows members of the clan to join the various battles taking place during the rest of the week.

Anyone above Level 51 within the clan will automatically be allowed to participate, so check out our Diablo Immortal leveling guide if you’re lagging a bit behind. Ideally, 90 players from your clan should take part in the Shadow War: 30 for the main battle, and 60 for the support battles. More on those later.

Diablo Immortal Shadow War: A Diablo Immortal Immortal stands in a full set of golden armour, hands outstretched, with wings and a cloak made of smoke spread out behind them.

The Diablo Immortal Shadow War is split into tournament-style brackets consisting of two playoff rounds between opposing clans. Preliminary battles take place on Thursdays, and these will decide which clans will be taking part in the finals on Saturday. The battles for each bracket will commence between 7pm – 9pm server time.

In order to decide which clans face off against each other, the groups in each bracket are split into three ranks, A through C. Initially, your clan’s rank in the Shadow War will match its rank within the Shadows faction, but this will change based on your clan’s victories and losses in subsequent battles.

Shadow War main and support battles

As we mentioned earlier, the Diablo Immortal Shadow War is split into two separate battle modes: main and support.

In the main battles, the leader of each participating Dark Clan is transformed into a powerful Immortal, complete with an entirely new skill set capable of dishing out some serious damage. Effectively, they are a PvP raid boss that must hold their own against /all/ of the opposing clan members taking part in the main battle. The first clan to down the Immortal leader they’ve been pitted against takes the victory.

This might seem like a straightforward all-out brawl on the surface, but the outcome of the main battle can be swayed by the two support battles taking place simultaneously. Players assisting in support battles will fight their own Immortals, this time as an AI rather than being controlled by another player. Successfully downing them will grant significant buffs to your Immortal clan leader’s health and damage during the main battle.

As a general rule, it’s best for clan leaders to send higher-level players into the main battle and lower-level players into the support battles. We’d also recommend including classes in the main battle that naturally excel at PvP, such as the Diablo Immortal Necromancer, Crusader, Wizard and Barbarian. By distributing the clan in this way, you can be sure that all the efforts of your most powerful members will be focused on securing the win as quickly as possible.

Shadow War rewards

Every victory within the Diablo Immortal Shadow War will net you a wide variety of loot, including legendary items, scrap materials, gold, and experience. More importantly, the Shadow War functions as the deciding factor as to which Dark Clans are worthy enough to take part in the Rite of Exile.

The Diablo Immortal Immortals' Immortal faces off against multiple Shadows in the endgame challenge

Rite of Exile

The culmination of the Cycle of Strife, the Diablo Immortal Rite of Exile sees the top ten Dark Clans face off against the Diablo Immortal Immortals faction. The Dark Clans use this opportunity to try and overthrow the server’s reigning clan and become the new Immortals.

The Rite of Exile is triggered by the Shadows faction when it reaches the Showdown phase, and it can also be triggered in the Reckoning phase. The Rite of Exile always takes place on Sundays at 8pm server time.

There are three stages to the Rite of Exile:

  • Rite of Exile
  • Challenge of the Immortal
  • The Final Battle

The initial Rite of Exile phase sees the top ten Dark Clans each send their eight best fighters into an 8v8 battle against eight Immortals, for a total of ten simultaneous 8v8 fights. These fights take place on the standard battlegrounds map, and involve sub-objectives such as escorting statues to new locations, and destroying key objectives on the map. If the Shadows win six or more of these battles, the Rite of Exile progresses to the next stage.

Challenge of the Immortal

The top thirty Shadows players are brought together to fight in a 30v1 match against the server’s Immortal. The Immortal is transformed into a powerful raid boss with special abilities, and the Shadows need to defeat the Immortal before the time runs out or a death cap is reached. If the Shadows win, they enter the final phase.

The Final Battle

After the Immortal is beaten, all 30 players are immediately resurrected and fight in a battle royale against each other, and the winner claims the Eternal Crown. The leader of the Dark Clan the winner belongs to then becomes the new Immortal, and their clan also forms the core of the Immortals faction going into the new Cycle of Strife.

Once the latest iteration of the Immortals has been assembled, the current Cycle of Strife officially ends and a new one begins. This process automatically disbands every other Dark Clan, and the Shadows players that didn’t join the new Immortals faction become adventurers once again.

If the Shadows lose during any stage of the Rite of Exile, the reign of the current Immortals continues, forcing the Shadows to try again the following week. The Rite of Exile can be attempted repeatedly until the Shadows, inevitably, win.

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If you’ve glutted yourself on everything that the Diablo Immortal’s PvP system has to offer, why not turn your attention to slaying one of the game’s many world bosses, such as the Diablo Immortal Blood Rose or Ancient Nightmare? Alternatively, if you’re feeling the pinch when going toe to toe against other players, check out the best Diablo Immortal builds to refine your character even further.