OFFICIAL STARTER GUIDE · progression
Progression priorities: invest where the next goal needs it
Keep a useful core, choose the right resource expedition, and separate permanent account growth from Tower counterplay.
Pick one near-term goal
Decide whether you want a better auto Ladder result, a daily resource clear, a new roster option, or a Tower chapter. Write the goal in plain terms: survive the first burst, finish the healer, or obtain the resource for an upgrade. That makes the next investment easier to judge.
Build a core before widening every project
Training Grounds levels heroes; Upgrade heroes changes rank; Equipment and Sigils shape combat builds. These are different systems. Inspect the preview and cost in the relevant screen instead of assuming that one type of progress substitutes for another.
Develop the units you regularly use in progression modes. Keep a utility bench, but avoid pouring resources into five simultaneous projects just because each new pull is interesting. A coherent core is easier to test.
Hero rank caps differ: S stops at level 125, while Z stops at level 200. An SSS equipment grade or +50 refinement label is not a hero rank/level promise. Read the training and promotion preview before estimating the cost of a project.
Let resources support the plan
Daily Adventures offers a separate expedition for the resource you need. Personal successful clears advance each track; skipped days do not reset it. Read the current reward and encounter preview. The difficulty labels and old reward tables do not mean you can skip directly to a chosen new-run tier.
Use the in-game controls for Training and equipment runs, including their access requirements and current allowances. A guide cannot override a lock or promise that a particular resource budget will bypass it.
Know when investment is the wrong answer
Tower rule 2 normalizes stats. More levels, gear, mastery or account bonuses do not fix an incorrectly timed Guard, a missed Interrupt, or spread damage into a healer in that version. Study the enemy's counter hint and native kits as well as its numbers.
On auto Ladder or in Daily Adventures, investments can improve the team, but utility still matters. If the enemy's mechanic is defeating your current lineup, compare a counter role before blindly increasing damage.
Budget a dungeon recipe before farming
An equipment-dungeon floor's trained-core unlock is an entry minimum, not a winning build. Stronger gear is allowed on earlier floors. The late v13 examples use Z200 non-Chaos heroes, finite prior-floor whole-item pools and legal five-star Sigils, without Overdrive, mastery or account/collection multipliers. The build-plan article itemizes candidate counts and Armory Point costs and discloses the unpriced ownership, drop and farming-time costs. Keep performance samples separate when their rules, inventories or loadouts differ.
Protect useful collection options
Read every sacrifice, fusion or rank-up preview carefully. A spare unit may still be your only copy of a needed utility kit or variant. Keep the option until you understand the tradeoff. This guide does not prescribe a universal fodder list or recommend sacrificing named rare heroes.
Revisit goals after a clear
One successful change does not establish a forever build. Enemy compositions and mode demands change. Check the next encounter, update the goal, and use the same deliberate process. Campaign is currently removed or pending repair, so no Campaign farm is part of these priorities.