Shadow Fight 2 Eclipse Mode: Unlock Guide and How to Beat May (2026)
The Short Answer
Eclipse mode unlocks at level 8. Tap the Sun icon in the top-right corner of the map and the world goes dark: enemies hit harder, but you earn far more Shadow Orbs. The first time you activate it, Sensei explains what is happening in a short story scene. Tap the Sun again to switch back to normal mode any time.
Eclipse is the key to three things: farming red orbs for Medium enchantment recipes, replaying defeated bosses to win their weapons, and the hardest fight in the game, Eclipse May, at the end of Act VII. This guide covers how to unlock it, what it changes, how to farm it, and how real players beat Eclipse May. Everything here works in the Shadow Fight 2 mod version as well as the original game.
How to Unlock Eclipse Mode
Reach level 8, open the map, and tap the Sun icon in the top-right corner. It sits there on every map screen, fixed in place. Tap it once: the Sun turns from yellow to black, the map darkens, and a short dialogue plays where Sensei tells Shadow that opening the Gates of Shadows has caused an Eclipse, drawing out his enemies’ darker sides.
Tap the Sun again and it turns back to yellow. You are back in normal mode. You can flip between the two freely, with no cooldown and no cost.
Two honest notes. First, this only exists in the classic game: Shadow Fight 2 Special Edition has no Eclipse mode, because it has no Shadow Orbs or Forge. Second, Nekki’s help center warns that Eclipse does not behave properly on very old or cracked installs, so if the Sun icon does nothing, update the game first.
What Eclipse Mode Changes
Eclipse makes the game harder in exchange for better loot. Every enemy gets an offense and defense boost, but not equally: Tournament, Challenge and Survival fighters get a minor to moderate boost, bodyguards get a major one (watch out for the Assassin and Master), and demon bosses get only a minor boost since they are already tough. Challenger fights and Raids are completely unaffected: if you want to avoid the difficulty spike, that is where to play.
Eclipse Mode Rewards
Rewards in Eclipse are strictly better than in normal mode, and three reward types are exclusive to it.
Shadow Orbs in Eclipse
Shadow Orbs are the real currency of the endgame, because every enchantment recipe needs them. Green orbs drop from almost every fight, and Eclipse fights pay out noticeably more. Red orbs are the bottleneck: they drop only from Storyline, Tournament and Challenge fights, and Eclipse gives you much greater amounts. Red orbs are what Medium recipes demand, so Eclipse is the only sane way to farm them. Purple orbs are the rarest: you earn them by beating a demon boss in Eclipse for the first time, and after that your sources are the Mystery Box wheel and the Enchanter’s Chest in the raid shop for 299 gems.
For the full breakdown of what each enchantment costs and which ones deserve your orbs, see our best enchantments guide.
Eclipse Replays and Boss Weapons
Once you finish every Tournament, Challenge and Storyline fight in an act, those fights become replayable in Eclipse. These are called Eclipse Replays, and each replayable Tournament and Challenge runs 8 stages. They pay green orbs and achievements, and the big prize is this: beat a demon boss again in Eclipse and you win that boss’s weapon. Lynx’s Claws, Hermit’s Swords, Butcher’s Knives, Wasp’s Daggers, Widow’s Fans, Shogun’s Katana, all are earned this way. One warning: replays go temporarily unavailable during the Interlude. Plan your farming before the Interlude hits, not during it.
Titan in Eclipse
Titan has no weapon to win, so beating him in Eclipse does not hand you his Desolator. Player reports say the reward is an achievement plus a batch of green and red orbs. That comes from the community, not the wiki, so take the exact orb amounts with a grain of salt.
When to Turn Eclipse On and Off
The correct way to use Eclipse is not to leave it on all the time. It is a farming tool with a difficulty cost.
Turn Eclipse ON when you are farming. If you need red orbs, want boss weapons, or are replaying acts for achievements, the Sun should be black. Farming in normal mode is a waste of time.
Turn Eclipse OFF for fights you cannot afford to lose. If a boss is stonewalling you, drop back to normal mode, beat the progression fight, then flip Eclipse back on. There is no penalty for toggling.
Spend your orbs before you level up, not after. Enchantment orb costs scale with your level, so enchanting a piece of gear at a lower level costs fewer orbs than the same piece at level 52. This tip was buried in a Fandom thread and almost never makes it into guides.
Eclipse May: What Makes Her Hard
A word of honesty before the tactics: May’s mechanics below come from player reports, not the wiki. Nobody has written a verified technical breakdown of her Eclipse moveset.
May is the mini-boss at the end of Act VII, right before Titan. You need to win two rounds, and she hits like a truck: players report that she can take you down in one or two hits even at level 52 with maxed gear. Her kit, as reported, includes the Blaster Tonfa, an invisibility technique copied from Lynx’s stealth, and a ring-of-fire magic attack you must roll away from. After she loses a round, her equipment magic shifts from recovery to damage absorption and she gains Widow’s teleportation. She heals, she reflects damage, and she reads your inputs aggressively. Treat her as a boss who punishes slow weapons, punishes turtling, and punishes you for fighting at her pace.
Best Weapons and Enchantments for Eclipse May
The community has converged on a clear answer, repeated across the wiki forums and YouTube.
Monk’s Katars with Frenzy: the Consensus Pick
The most repeated advice in the community is short and fast weapons: Monk’s Katars with Frenzy. Frenzy adds 150 percent melee damage for 5 seconds and it stacks. Against May you need every proc you can get. If you want the full weapon rankings first, read our best weapons guide.
Knuckles with Frenzy: the Proven Free-Player Build
A Fandom player reported beating Eclipse May as a free player after months of trying with this setup: all items at level 52 with the Tempest Rage mythical set, Knuckles with Frenzy, armor with Damage Absorption, Force Wave magic with Poison, and Needles as the ranged weapon with Frenzy. Constant attacking with the knuckles’ double attack, low punches to control distance, needles when she goes invisible (a crit reveals her), and bursting her down fast enough that her Regeneration never gets going.
Shogun’s Katana: the Reach Option
A StarInSky video demonstrates beating May with Shogun’s Katana, whose long reach keeps her Blaster Tonfa at a distance. That video was Special Edition, not Eclipse, so treat it as transferable weapon advice rather than an Eclipse-specific result.
Enchantments: What Goes Where
Armor gets Damage Absorption, because negating one full hit from a boss who kills in two matters more than any trickle of healing. Regeneration on the helm is near-useless here, since her hits drop you before regen does anything. Ranged weapon gets Frenzy. Magic gets Poisoning, which melts at 10.2 percent per second. For the full rankings, read our best enchantments guide.
One critical warning from the Korean wiki guide: do NOT use Time Bomb against May. Her damage-absorption equipment magic blocks its damage. Bleeding is the safer damage-over-time option if you prefer a weapon enchantment that ignores her absorption tricks.
Perks and Fight Strategy
Gear wins fights, but the Fandom free-player report credits the perk tree retune as the decisive factor. Resetting your perks costs 35 gems at level 52, which is cheap compared to buying a 500-gem weapon. The recommended stack is attack-speed and damage perks: Desperate, Furious, Avenger, Block Breaker, Enlightenment and Pain Rage.
The fight tactics, gathered from the forum threads: block the first two hits of her combo, then interrupt the third with a fast strike. Patience wins: let her come to you, do not chase her into her own offense. When she goes invisible, throw your ranged weapon at her, because a critical hit reveals her. Roll away from the ring-of-fire magic instead of trying to tank it. Use leg sweeps to interrupt her high fan attacks. Watch the buff icons under the health bars so you see her Regeneration and damage-absorption triggers coming. And keep your enchantments at Medium tier or better: Simple enchantments do not proc reliably enough at level 52 for this fight.
No mythical set? You still have a path. Most Eclipse May guides assume the Monk or Sentinel set, but the Fandom free-player win was earned on non-mythical gear first. The core of the build is not the mythical set: it is a fast weapon with Frenzy, Damage Absorption on armor, an attack-speed perk tree, and practice.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you unlock Eclipse mode in Shadow Fight 2?
Reach level 8, open the map, and tap the Sun icon in the top-right corner. The Sun turns black, a short Sensei story scene plays, and you are in Eclipse mode. Tap the Sun again to switch back.
Is there an easy way to defeat May in Eclipse mode?
Honestly, no. The player who reported the most detailed win says it took months of attempts with level-52 gear. The closest thing to an easy answer is the community consensus: fast weapon with Frenzy (Monk’s Katars or Knuckles), Damage Absorption on armor, an attack-speed perk tree, and constant pressure so her Regeneration never gets going.
What is the trick to make Eclipse May weaker?
No trick weakens her directly. The “trick” is preparation: reset your perk tree at level 52 (35 gems), stack damage perks like Desperate, Furious and Avenger, and bring a fast weapon with Frenzy. Some videos claim you can skip her and fight Titan directly by toggling Eclipse off inside the Underworld. That comes from a secondary write-up of one video and is unverified, so do not rely on it.
Is there a Super Eclipse May?
No. “Super Eclipse May” is just a forum thread title, not a separate form. There is one May in Eclipse: the Act VII mini-boss before Titan, and she is already the hardest fight in the game.
Where is the fastest place to farm red Shadow Orbs?
In Eclipse mode. Toggle the Sun black and replay Storyline, Tournament and Challenge fights, the only fights that drop red orbs. Players report that rematching Shogun in Eclipse pays roughly 2000 green and red orbs combined, and Eclipse Duels give boosted orb rewards.
How do I get orbs after finishing the story?
Eclipse Replays. Once an act’s Tournaments, Challenges and Storyline fights are complete, they replay in Eclipse for green and red orbs, achievements, and boss weapons. Survival mode also pays green orbs. For purple orbs, your remaining sources are the Mystery Box wheel and the Enchanter’s Chest in the raid shop for 299 gems.
What equipment should I use against Eclipse Hermit?
The same Eclipse logic applies to every demon boss. Fast weapons with Frenzy carry the fight, Damage Absorption on armor negates the worst hits, and Medium-tier enchantments or better are mandatory.
How do I beat May in Eclipse to reach Titan?
Win two rounds in Act VII with the consensus build: Monk’s Katars or Knuckles with Frenzy, Damage Absorption on armor, Poisoning on magic, and an attack-speed perk tree. Roll away from her ring of fire, reveal her with ranged attacks when she goes invisible, and keep the pressure on. It took dedicated players months, so expect a grind, not a one-shot.
