Levels and ranks

Where XP comes from

Your Level rises as you earn XP. Every way to earn it:

• Missions: every successful run, more on later Campaigns and higher Stars (see Missions and bosses).
• Fights with other players: a win earns XP, and more against a stronger opponent. A loss costs a little XP, and being killed costs a little more, but you never lose a Level: XP only ever counts up to the next one.
• Boss hits: every hit on an Invasion Boss, a demo boss or a Clan Boss.
• The tutorial, which takes you to Level 2.

One of the passive tactics and the Clan Doctrine both raise the XP you earn.

Levelling up

Every Level you gain gives you:

• 5 Ability Points, to spend on HP, Energy, Ammo, Attack or Defence;
• 2 Tactic Points, to spend on your Tactics;
• 1 GB;
• a full refill of HP, Energy and Ammo.

XP left over carries into the next Level, and one big reward can carry you up several at once. The top Level is 450. The XP each Level needs:

Levelling faster

• Play the newest Campaign you have open. No Campaign pays less XP for the Energy than the one before it, so going back to an early one is the slow road.
• Use the refill. A level-up fills your Energy, so spending your last Energy on the mission that tips you over the line hands you a full bar to spend again.
• Raise your Max Energy. Ability Points spent on Energy mean more missions from every full bar and every refill.
• Hit the bosses in your range. Every hit on an Invasion Boss pays XP as well as Cash, and costs Ammo rather than Energy, so it adds to your missions instead of competing with them.
• Make the most of Boot Camp. In your first 120 hours your bars refill twice as fast, which means twice the missions (see Getting started).

What your Level opens

• Campaigns open at set Levels, up to Level 50 (the table is in Missions and bosses).
• Armory gear, land and Bases each unlock at a Level (see Resources).
• Power-Ups unlock one by one as you level (see Combat).
• Who you can fight. Players and Invasion Bosses inside your level range, which moves up with you.
• Allies who count. A higher Level raises how many of your Allies fight alongside you, up to Level 100.
• Clans. Joining a clan needs Level 5 (a clan can ask for more), and founding one needs Level 20 and 50 GB.
• Field Training. A player below Level 25 can ask for a Mentor, and graduates at Level 30. A player of Level 100 or more can apply to become a Mentor.
• A third Tactic. From Level 300 you can switch on three Tactics at once on each side instead of two.

Ranks

Your Rank is the frame around your flag, shown wherever your flag is: your profile, chat, the Leaderboards and fight results. The ladder runs:

1. Rookie: where everyone starts, with a bare flag and no frame;
2. Bronze;
3. Silver;
4. Gold;
5. Platinum;
6. Diamond;
7. Warlord, the top of the ladder.

A Rank is not your Level and does nothing in a fight: it is a mark of standing on the server, awarded by the game team, and it cannot be bought. Your flag stays the same size at every Rank; the frame goes around it.

Other ladders

Two more things in the game count up in steps, and neither is your Level or your Rank:

• Awards track what you have done, such as fights won or bosses beaten, each with five steps you claim one at a time, most of them for Gold Bars.
• Leaderboards rank every player on one measure at a time; your position moves as the measure does.