How to Upgrade Heroes in Dragon Traveler (March 2026) Full Guide

If you’ve been diving into the world of Dragon Traveler, you know exactly how exhilarating it feels to pull a high-tier hero from the gacha. But that excitement quickly turns into confusion—or worse, frustration—when you realize just how complex the upgrade system can be. I’ve been there, staring at a screen full of menus, wondering if I should be spending my gold on XP books or saving for gear upgrades. It’s a common hurdle, but getting it right is the difference between steamrolling the campaign stages and getting stuck on a boss for days.

In this comprehensive guide, I’m going to break down absolutely everything you need to know about how to upgrade and level up your heroes in Dragon Traveler. We’re not just going to cover the “where to click” basics; we’re going to dive deep into the economy of progression, helping you make smart decisions that will save you time and resources in the long run.

Here’s a quick overview of the upgrade systems we will cover to get your heroes to peak power:

Upgrade Type	Primary Resource	Main Benefit	Unlock Condition
Level Up	XP Books, Gold	Increases Base Stats (HP, Atk, Def)	Start of Game
Promotion (Star Up)	Hero Shards, Gold	Raises Level Cap & Ascends Hero	Hero Reaches Max Level
Equipment	Gear Sets, Gold, Upgrade Stones	Massive Stat Boosts & Set Bonuses	Stage 3-8
Awakening	Essence Stones, Dust	Unlocks/Upgrades Passive Skills	Stage 5-12
Skill Upgrades	Skill Manuals, Gold	Enhances Active Skill Effects	Hero Acquired

Understanding the Core Upgrade Mechanics

Before we start throwing resources around, it’s crucial to understand the “hook” of Dragon Traveler‘s progression system. Unlike some RPGs where you just mindlessly click a button, this game requires a bit of resource management. I’ve analyzed the top guides, including the detailed breakdown over at Roonby, and the consensus is clear: Efficiency beats speed.

When you first start, you might feel tempted to level up every single hero you get. I strongly advise against this. In the early game, gold is your most scarce resource, not XP. If spread your gold too thin across a roster of 20 heroes, you’ll end up with a team of level 20s when you need a team of level 50s to beat the Chapter 2 boss.

The Power Limit

One mechanic that often trips up new players is the Power Limit or Server Level cap. In Dragon Traveler, your heroes cannot exceed a certain level based on your account progress (specifically your highest-level hero or Campaign stage). This means if you are stuck on a stage, you can’t just over-level a single carry to brute-force it easily. You have to upgrade your entire team’s power rating to raise the ceiling for your main character.

How to Level Up Heroes – Step-by-Step Process

Let’s get into the nitty-gritty. Leveling up is the bread and butter of making your team stronger. It provides direct stat increases that scale linearly.

Prerequisites for Leveling

• Gold: You’ll need a lot of it.
• XP Books: These come in four tiers: Common (Green), Rare (Blue), Epic (Purple), and Legendary (Orange).
• The Hero: Obviously, the unit you want to strengthen.

The Leveling Process

1. Navigate to the Hero Menu: Click on the “Heroes” icon at the bottom of the main screen.
2. Select Your Hero: Choose the unit you want to level up.
3. Go to the ‘Level Up’ Tab: This is usually the first tab available.
4. Select XP Books: You can select books one by one or use the “Level Up x1” or “Max” buttons. Pro Tip: Always use the “Max” option if you have the gold. It is mathematically more efficient in terms of gold-to-XP ratio in Dragon Traveler compared to using smaller books repeatedly, although smaller books give you finer control if you are trying to hit a specific Power Limit.
5. Confirm: Hit the upgrade button and watch your stats soar.

Strategic Leveling: The “Resonance” Bonus

I found a strategy that many competitors miss: the Resonance System. If you have five heroes of the same faction (e.g., all Alliance or all Horde), they receive a bonus stat percentage. Because of this, you should prioritize leveling heroes that belong to the faction of your strongest unit.

For example, if your main damage dealer is a “Mystic” faction hero, try to build a full team of Mystic heroes. Even the “fodder” or lower-tier heroes on that team should be leveled moderately to activate the team resonance bonus, which can provide a significant 10-15% stat boost to everyone.

Hero Promotion and Star Upgrades

Leveling alone has a hard cap. Eventually, you’ll get a message saying “Max Level Reached.” This is where Promotion comes in.

What is Promotion?

Promotion increases the Star Rating of your hero. A 1-star hero might have a max level of 20. Promoting them to 2 stars raises that cap to 40, then 60, and so on. More importantly, promotion drastically increases base stats, often more than 10 levels worth of XP books.

How to Promote?

1. Max Out Level: The hero must be at their current maximum level.
2. Gather Shards: Each promotion requires a specific number of Hero Shards.
   • 1 to 2 Stars: 10 Shards
   • 2 to 3 Stars: 20 Shards
   • 3 to 4 Stars: 50 Shards
   • 4 to 5 Stars: 100 Shards
   • 5 to 6 Stars: 200 Shards
3. The Promotion Button: Once requirements are met, the “Promote” button will light up in the Hero tab.

Shard Management Strategy

This is where most players ruin their accounts. Do not promote every hero to 6 stars immediately. A 6-star “F” tier hero is significantly worse than a 5-star “S” tier hero. Save your shards for the units listed in our tier list. If you aren’t sure who is good, check the community Discord or look at the usage rates in the Arena.

• Elite Shards vs. Standard Shards: Dragon Traveler sometimes differentiates between shard types. Ensure you are farming the specific dungeon associated with your hero’s faction to get the right shards.

Equipment and Gear Upgrading

Gear is the great equalizer. A lower-level, well-geared hero can easily outperform a higher-level, poorly geared one.

Gear Basics

• Slots: Weapon, Helmet, Armor, Necklace, Ring, Boots.
• Rarities: Common to Legendary. Always aim for Purple (Epic) or Gold (Legendary) gear for your main team. Green gear is fine for fodder teams early on.

How to Upgrade Gear?

1. Open the Gear Menu: Click on a specific gear slot on your hero screen.
2. Enhance: Spend gold to increase the gear’s level (+1, +2, etc.).
3. Limit Break: When gear hits its max level (e.g., +10), you can “Limit Break” it using an identical piece of gear (or specific upgrade stones depending on the 2026 update patch). This resets the level to 0 but increases the gear’s rarity and base stats significantly.

Set Bonuses

This is crucial. You want to collect gear that belongs to sets. For example:

• Warrior Set (2-piece): +10% Attack.
• Guardian Set (2-piece): +15% HP.

Don’t just put on the highest individual level gear. A level 10 piece that completes a 2-piece set is often better than a level 15 random piece that breaks your set bonus.

Awakening and Skill Upgrades

Once you reach Stage 5-12, the game opens up significantly.

Awakening

Awakening unlocks a hero’s potential using Essence Stones found in the Tower of Trials.

• Awakening Level 1: Unlocks the second passive skill.
• Awakening Level 3: Greatly enhances the Ultimate skill.

I recommend prioritizing Awakening for your main DPS (Damage Per Second) and primary Tank. Support units can usually wait until your carry is fully awakened.

Skill Upgrades

Skills are upgraded using Skill Manuals.

• Basic Skills: Cheap to upgrade.
• Ultimate Skill: Very expensive.

My Strategy: Keep your Ultimate skill at the same level as your hero’s star rating. If you are a 3-star hero, don’t push your Ultimate past level 3. The cost scales exponentially, and you need those manuals for other heroes early in the game.

Advanced Strategies for Resource Management

I want to share some “insider” tips I’ve gathered from forums and high-level gameplay that go beyond the basics.

1. The “Golden” Team Strategy

Instead of upgrading 10 heroes, focus your resources on a Golden 5. These are the 5 heroes that will carry you through the campaign.

• Investment: 80% of your gold/XP goes to these 5.
• The Remaining 20%: Use this for “Food” heroes needed for Faction Towers or specific challenges.

2. Saving for Events

Dragon Traveler frequently runs “Double Drop” events or “Upgrade Cost Reduction” events.

• Do NOT spend your hoarded resources unless a major event is active. If you spend 1 million gold today, and a “50% Off Upgrade Cost” event starts tomorrow, you effectively lost 500k gold worth of value. Always check the event calendar!

3. The Level Cap “Wall”

If you hit a wall where you cannot level up because of the Server Cap:

• Focus on Gear: Gear upgrades often ignore the soft level cap of the server progress (depending on the specific March patch notes). This is the only way to increase your Power Rating when you are maxed out on levels.
• Upgrade Skills: Skill power also contributes to your overall rating without requiring a level increase.

Common Mistakes to Avoid In 2026

• Selling/Scrapming Used Gear: Don’t do this. You can inherit gear stats. Keep your old high-level gear to inherit onto new gear for your main heroes.
• Upgrading Food Heroes: “Food” are heroes you only use to promote others. Do not spend gold leveling them up or upgrading their gear. Just promote them and absorb them.
• Ignoring E-Guides: Don’t rely on one source. I cross-referenced the Roonby guide with data from GameTitleGuide and RPGMob, and while they agree on the basics, they differ on resource prioritization. Adapt the strategy to your playstyle.

Platform-Specific Tips

• PC (Emulator): Use the multi-instance feature to farm resource stages while you play on your main account. This is the fastest way to get XP books.
• Mobile: Ensure you have a stable internet connection. The game has an anti-cheat mechanism that can rollback progress if the connection drops during an upgrade transaction (rare, but happens).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the fastest way to level up heroes in Dragon Traveler?

The fastest method is farming Dragon’s Lair 7 (or the highest XP stage you have unlocked) using Auto-repeat. Use experience boosts if you have them from achievements, and save Legendary XP books for your main heroes only. Common XP books should be reserved for fodder heroes.

How do I get more Hero Shards for promotion?

Hero Shards are mainly obtained from the Hero Store using Arena coins, Elite Campaign stages, and limited-time events. Also check the Summon crystal daily, as duplicate heroes automatically convert into shards.

Should I upgrade my tank or DPS first?

In most cases, you should prioritize upgrading your Main DPS. If enemies die quickly, they cannot damage your team. However, if your DPS is getting one-shot, temporarily invest in your Tank’s HP and Defense gear to ensure survivability.

Why can’t I level up my hero anymore?

You have likely reached the Level Cap tied to the hero’s Promotion (Star level). You must promote the hero using shards to increase the cap. Alternatively, you may have hit the Account Level Cap, which requires further Campaign progression or raising your overall Account Level.

What happens to my resources if I use a hero as “food” for promotion?

Any gold or XP invested in the sacrificed hero is permanently lost. However, any equipped gear is returned to your inventory. Never invest valuable resources into a hero you plan to use as promotion fodder.

Is it worth upgrading gear on low-tier heroes?

No. You should only invest in Epic (Purple) or Legendary (Orange) gear. Green and Blue gear should be used only as temporary fillers or as fodder for upgrading higher-tier gear. Save your gold for long-term equipment.

Conclusion

Upgrading and leveling heroes in Dragon Traveler is a marathon, not a sprint. By understanding the interplay between Leveling, Promotion, Gear, and Skills, you can optimize your resource gain and ensure your team is always ready for the next challenge.

Remember, the key takeaway here is focus. Don’t spread yourself thin. Pick your core team, check for those set bonuses, and wait for events to make big moves.

Good luck, Traveler! I’ll see you on the battlefield