Progression — Meroveil Guide

Leveling

Heroes level from 1 to a maximum of 60, scaling HP, ATK and DEF by about 10% of their base per level — a maxed hero is roughly 7× its level-1 stats. (Speed is the exception: it never changes with level.)

Leveling costs XP books only — no gold. Feed them in any time:

XP item	XP granted
Novice XP Book	100
EXP Potion	250
Apprentice XP Book	500
Master XP Book	2,000

The full climb 1→60 is ~228,000 XP, and the curve steepens with each rank band — so match book size to how much room a hero has left, and lean on the free idle income (≈48 EXP potions a day) to feed it.

Evolution & rank

A hero's level cap is gated by its rank (its star tier). You must hit the current cap before you can evolve to the next rank, which raises the ceiling by 10:

Rank	Level cap
1★	10
2★	20
3★	30
4★	40
5★	50
6★	60

Evolve	Gold	Evo Stones	Shards
1 → 2	1,000	1 Basic	10
2 → 3	5,000	5 Basic	20
3 → 4	20,000	8 Greater	30
4 → 5	60,000	20 Greater	50
5 → 6	300,000	35 Radiant	80

Three stone tiers, one per phase of the game: Basic carries ranks 1–2, Greater ranks 3–4 (buy one a day for 15,000 gold, or trade arena / raid / Labyrinth tokens for them), and Radiant only gates the last rank — it is deliberately absent from every shop. Radiant stones come from World Boss and Arena season mail, from chapter-boss first clears at World Tier 6 and above, and from the weekly auction activity chest.

Shards are the real gate, not gold

Every rank-up also costs shards of that specific hero — 190 in total to take one hero from 1★ to 6★. Shards come from pulling a duplicate of that hero, from battle pass and event duplicates, and nowhere else, so a hero you own exactly one copy of cannot be ascended at any price. Evolving grants no stats or abilities directly; its value is the higher level cap. The cost is back-loaded — 5★→6★ alone is 300,000 gold, 35 Radiant stones and 80 shards, roughly 78% of the gold in a full ascension (386,000). Keep your whole squad climbing rather than rushing one hero to 6★.

Bond

Every hero has a bond level (1–10) raised by giving gift items — no gold required. Bond is the most efficient power in the game:

+1% HP, ATK and DEF per level above 1 — up to +9% across the board at bond 10, applied directly in battle.
Milestone gems: +100 gems at bond 5, and +500 gems (plus a rare medal) at bond 10.
Bond also unlocks each hero's personal story scenes.

Bond your core squad first

Max bond is ~4,500 bond XP (about 23 Rare Gifts) for a permanent +9% and 600 gems back. It costs no gold and the gem milestones effectively refund the gifts — there's no cheaper power-up for your main carries.

Gear leveling

Equipment levels from +0 to +15, fed by enhancement stones plus gold (10 gold per XP point; 6,750 XP and 67,500 gold to fully max a piece — a minor stone is 100 XP, a major 500). Each level raises the piece's main stat by a fixed amount for its type: +50 HP, +5 ATK, +3 DEF or +0.5 SPD, which works out at roughly +30% of a top-tier main stat at +15 either way. See Gear & Sets for slots, set bonuses and the gear-score formula.

Sets before levels

Enhancement stones are no longer scarce — mercenary dispatch, the daily “level a hero” quest, the daily hub and every token exchange all pay them. But a full +15 is 67,500 gold for about +30% of one stat on one piece, while a completed set bonus is free once you own the pieces. Prioritize completing a set, then level the pieces on your best units.

Recommended order

Levels first. Raw level is the biggest stat multiplier (~7× at 60). Pour XP into your main 5.
Evolve to lift the cap the moment a hero is stuck at its rank ceiling — early ranks are cheap.
Bond your carries to 5, then 10. Cheap, permanent +9%, and it pays gems back.
Equip set pieces for the set bonuses; level gear last, only on your best units.