Anime Zero Shadow Monarch Guide: Unlock and Evolve

Get Sung Jinwoo from the raid, then inspect Evolution

Shadow Monarch is the Sung Jinwoo progression introduced in Anime Zero’s Update 2. Begin with the raid acquisition route, then open the Evolution panel once the character is in your inventory. Those are separate goals: clearing the encounter can award the character, while later upgrades consume their own requirements. Do not spend normal summon resources expecting them to replace the raid route.

The October 8 walkthrough by MK shows the encounter, an Igris boss phase and three evolution stages. A later community reference calls the queue Shadow Gate and describes Nightmare access. Use the exact raid listing and the requirements displayed on your account before forming a party. A guide recording can show the right sequence while still showing an earlier attempt limit. This page uses the recording for the sequence and treats the current queue as the authority for entry.

What to check before using an attempt

Open the raid panel and check the selected mode, difficulty, entry conditions and reward preview. Then inspect your equipped setup. Your objective is a repeatable clear with the kit you own, not an impressive damage number borrowed from a creator using different equipment. If ordinary dungeon bosses are still ending most of your runs, use the beginner progression route before committing to a raid session.

Write down one reason the last attempt failed. You may have entered the wrong queue, lost track of the boss phase, used important skills when the boss could not take damage, or run out of a resource required by the lobby. Each problem needs a different correction. A random reroll is a poor response to an unclear failure because it consumes resources without telling you whether the new result fixed anything.

Read the Igris phase before attacking again

At about 1:40 in MK’s video, Igris becomes immune while smaller enemies appear. The creator’s route is to defeat those enemies before resuming attacks on the boss. A later phase includes a clone; the walkthrough directs attention to the smaller enemies rather than making clone damage the required step. Watch the chapter beside this guide so you can connect the written instruction with the visible transition.

During that transition, stop treating a falling damage total as proof your build is weak. Check whether the encounter has changed state. If the boss is immune and the required enemies remain alive, spending every cooldown on the boss delays progress. Reposition, identify the live targets and keep the attack you need for the next damage window. This is a response to the observed phase, not a promise that a particular build can ignore incoming attacks.

When damage resumes, avoid changing your whole setup in the middle of the diagnosis. First ask whether you recognized the phase earlier than on the previous attempt. Then ask whether your attacks reached the correct target. Finally, review survival. This order separates an encounter-reading problem from a stat problem. If your party is helping, agree on the targets before entering so players do not divide attention between an immune boss and the enemies that unlock the next phase.

Why this page does not promise a fixed pity count

MK’s October 8 recording says 35 clears; the later Sung Jinwoo community page reports 32. Both also discuss attempt restrictions that were changed around launch. We have not independently verified a current universal pity threshold. Check the counter and reward rules shown in your own raid panel, and do not buy attempts based on an older recording.

Keep a simple record of completed clears and the counter shown after each one. Count completed, credited runs rather than merely opening the queue. If your visible progress does not match your notes, capture the result screen and the counter before submitting a bug report through the developer’s community. A useful report includes the queue, approximate time and what was credited. It does not need your password, account recovery information or a paid purchase to make the problem understandable.

Turn the evolution menu into your next objective

Once Sung Jinwoo is obtained, inspect the Evolution panel before farming another long session. The walkthrough shows three stages: an initial ultimate-related upgrade, an Igris summon and a later longsword upgrade that changes attack reach. It also shows a separate upgrade surface for Igris. Acquiring the character, evolving it and developing the summon should therefore be tracked separately rather than collapsed into one vague “max build” goal.

Choose the next stage you can actually complete. Read every required item and quantity, compare them with inventory and record only the shortfall. Keep an item needed by a planned craft in reserve instead of treating the whole inventory as available spending. The materials guide explains that ledger and includes a small calculator where you enter the recipe currently displayed in game.

Exact stage quantities remain unconfirmed in this guide. The community reference names Shadow Essence, Igris’ Crest, Shadow’s Cloak and Monarch’s Blessing as raid materials, but that list does not establish the recipe for each stage. Do not substitute a list of possible drops for a complete recipe. A successful evolution plan names the current stage, each missing requirement and the run whose reward preview includes it.

Check the upgrade before moving on

After confirming an evolution, reopen the relevant equipment or evolution surface. Check that the stage changed and that the intended character is still equipped. Then try the changed action in a manageable encounter. If the upgrade concerns a summon, look for that summon rather than judging the upgrade only by the character’s basic attack. If it concerns reach, compare the attack you actually use instead of assuming every skill gained the same range.

Make one change at a time while checking a result. Replacing a trait, changing accessories and buying several upgrades together may produce a stronger character, but it makes it difficult to explain which change mattered. A clean comparison keeps the weapon, stage and encounter consistent, changes one choice, then records what you can observe. This is a planning method; this site has not performed a controlled damage benchmark.

A practical session stopping point

Finish the session when you have a credited clear, a newly obtained character, a completed evolution or a clearly identified missing requirement. Those are useful checkpoints even when the whole Monarch path is not finished. Before leaving, record your current stage and the next material target. When you return after a patch, check the raid and recipe again before following the old plan. That small check prevents yesterday’s attempt restriction or material requirement from becoming today’s wasted session.