Every hero in DragonSword: Awakening can be pushed well past their starting power, and the game hands you four separate systems to do it. Leveling raises raw stats, Breakthrough lifts the level cap, Karma reshapes how a hero’s weapon behaves, and Awakening rewrites parts of their kit. Each one draws on its own material, so knowing what feeds what saves you from grinding the wrong thing.
Quick answer: Level heroes with Combat Texts and clear a Breakthrough at each cap to reach the maximum level of 80, upgrade abilities with Record of Battle from Hunts, apply General or Exclusive Karma to change a hero’s signature weapon, and spend Stigma Awakened Stone on Awakening once you hit the mid-game.
The four hero upgrade systems and their resources
Before you spend anything, it helps to see which system changes what and where its material comes from. Each track is independent, so a hero can sit at a high level with weak skills, or carry strong Karma while still capped early.
| System | What it changes | Main resource | Where to get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leveling | Base stats | Combat Texts | Quests, chests |
| Breakthrough | Raises the level cap | Breakthrough materials | Grinding stages |
| Skills | Ability strength and options | Record of Battle | Hunts |
| Karma | Weapon traits and exclusive effect | Fragment of Memory / Exclusive resources | Tower of Trials, Treasure Chest, Hero Quests, Shanoa |
| Awakening | Playstyle, strengths, weaknesses | Stigma Awakened Stone | Fragments of Sacred Light from Sudden Missions |
Leveling and Breakthrough to reach level 80
Leveling is the simplest and fastest way to make a hero stronger, and it directly raises their base stats. You feed a hero Combat Texts, which you collect by completing quests, opening chests, and general play. Pour enough in and the numbers climb quickly in the early game.
The catch is the level cap. Growth stops at the first ceiling, level 20, and you cannot push further until you clear a Breakthrough. Each Breakthrough has its own required materials that you gather by grinding. There are five caps in total to clear, and working through all of them lifts a hero to the maximum level of 80.
You know it worked when the level bar unlocks past the old cap and your Combat Texts start applying again. If a hero refuses to level, the usual reason is that you have hit a cap and still owe the Breakthrough for it.
Upgrade Hero skills with Record of Battle
Each hero has a set of abilities that decide how they perform in a fight, and leveling those abilities makes them stronger while opening up more advanced options. The material you need is Record of Battle.
The most reliable source is Hunts. Once you clear the early part of the game, Hunts open up and ask for a team of Level 20 heroes. Finishing them rewards Record of Battle, and you can repeat them as many times as you need to keep feeding skill upgrades.
Apply Karma to change a hero’s weapon
Karma is where hero customization gets interesting. Every hero carries a signature weapon, and the Karma you slot in decides how that weapon actually works. Swapping Karma changes the weapon’s traits and its exclusive effect, so it can shift a hero’s whole playstyle rather than just bumping a number.
There are two kinds. General Karma works across heroes and is upgraded with Fragment of Memory, which you find in the Tower of Trials and in Treasure Chests. Exclusive Karma is locked to a specific hero, and the resources for it come from Hero Quests. You can also obtain what you need through transportation, which you handle by heading to Shanoa.
Awakening for advanced hero upgrades
Awakening is the deep-end upgrade you use to max a hero out. Each hero has six Awakening levels, and moving through them can adjust their playstyle along with their strengths and weaknesses. Theresia, for example, gains The Mace of Branding at Awakening level 1.
The material for it is Stigma Awakened Stone. You get one Stigma Awakened Stone by exchanging 200 Fragments of Sacred Light, and those Fragments drop from Sudden Mission completions. They become plentiful once you are past the early game, which is exactly why Awakening is a mid-game project.
Note: taking one hero through all six Awakening levels burns a large amount of resources. It is usually better to spread Awakening across your team rather than dumping everything into a single hero.
If you are early on, the order that pays off fastest is leveling and Breakthrough to keep your main damage dealer viable, skill upgrades from Hunts to sharpen their rotation, and a matching Karma to lock in their weapon effect. Save Stigma Awakened Stone and Awakening for the mid-game, when Fragments of Sacred Light stop being scarce and you can afford to raise the whole team instead of one hero.
