Hero upgrade: stars, skills and levels

A hero grows along three lines: stars (shards), skills (manuals) and level (Hero XP). This guide puts numbers on each so you can see what a fully built hero takes. For gear, see the Hero Gear guide.

Plan a hero end to end with the Hero Upgrade calculator.

Stars: shards

Unlocking a hero costs 10 shards. From there, each of the 5 stars is reached in 6 smaller steps:

That's 1,065 shards to 5★ — the same for every hero; the hero's rarity only decides which shards (Rare, Epic or Mythic). The fifth star alone is about 56% of the total.

Skills: manuals

Each hero has 3 exploration and 3 expedition skills. Raising one skill from level 1 to 5 takes 165 manuals, so all six take 990 — 495 of each kind, since exploration and expedition skills use different manuals.

Stars also cap skills: a skill can go one level higher per star (level 1 at 0★, up to level 5 at 4★), and the later skills unlock at 1★ and 2★. So stars come first.

Level: Hero XP

Taking a hero from level 1 to 80 costs about 23.6M Hero XP, and 63% of it is in the last ten levels. Levels are also gated by your Furnace — level 80 needs Furnace 26.

How to plan

1. Stars before skills. Skill caps and unlocks follow stars, so manuals spent early hit the cap.
2. Budget the fifth star. It's over half of a hero's shards — save for it.
3. Level with your Furnace. The last ten levels are most of the XP and are gated by Furnace level; push them when your Furnace allows.