Hero levels, stars and shards explained

Levels use EXP and a Castle cap

Hero level upgrades use the EXP curve. The reference Castle table caps heroes at five times the Castle level, through hero level 150 at Castle 30. Enter your current Castle in the EXP calculator so the target can be checked.

Enter EXP already earned into the current level separately from EXP items in your inventory. Partial progress is deducted once; available items then fund the remaining requirement. An unavailable transition stays unknown rather than becoming zero EXP.

Stars have five substeps

A star is built through five substeps. Enter both full stars and the filled substeps when describing your current position. Five full stars has no further standard substep in this curve.

The standard reference star-up curve totals 975 shards from zero to five stars, excluding recruitment. The calculator shows the cost from your actual starting position instead of charging the full curve each time.

Keep shard types distinct

Specific shards fund their own hero. Universal shards must match that hero version’s rarity. The star calculator allocates specific shards first, then matching universal shards, then reports the remaining shortfall.

Budget the hero you currently own. Recruitment, stars and skill upgrades have separate requirements, so enough shards for a star does not pay for the other upgrades.

Check availability in your kingdom

A future Kingdom Chronicles portrait is useful identity evidence, but it does not mean that hero is recruitable in every kingdom today. Treat server progression, current recruitment access and upgrade costs as separate questions.

Open the hero page to check skills, star caps and level gates before investing. Where an effect or acquisition rule is unclear, the library marks the gap instead of filling it with another hero’s values.

What each upgrade actually asks you to spend

Start with the hero you will field. Write down level, full stars, partial star steps and skill levels. These are four separate bits of progress. Saying a hero is almost four stars hides the exact shard bill; saying skills are upgraded hides which skill received the medals.

Use the hero's role to choose the next milestone. A tank that falls before the next cast may benefit from a survival upgrade. A damage hero that survives the fight needs a different comparison. Neither decision follows automatically from rarity.

A useful upgrade order for a limited budget

Keep one squad functional before funding every hero in the library. That doesn't mean every member must have identical levels or equipment. It means you have a reason for what you spend: keep the front alive, improve the damage you rely on, or reach a skill gate that changes the fight.

Specific shards are easier to commit because they belong to that hero. Universal shards can solve several different plans. Before using them, compare the next star substep on the heroes you actually use. Spend them once in the roster budget, not once per hero worksheet.

Avoid buying EXP to fix a star or skill problem. If the next level is blocked by the Castle, park the target and work on the gate. If medals are the shortage, adding EXP beyond a useful hero-level gate doesn't fill that shortage.

Test an investment without pretending to simulate a battle

Choose a repeatable target and compare before and after. Keep the formation, troop tier, starting count and other equipment as close as possible. Look at what changed in the report: survival, casts, damage and losses. One unmatched power screenshot tells you very little.

The library's skill previews explain recorded effects. They don't predict the entire battle, and they don't prove that a future hero is available in your kingdom. Check acquisition separately before spending around a replacement you cannot recruit.