Hello! It’s Onya.

In my last post, I went over the process of using the summer boosting event, getting through early progression, and eventually taking on raids.

This time, I want to look at Elsword’s account growth system.

At first, I assumed I just needed to focus on building up one main character.

But once I got a better feel for the game...

I realized that to make your main stronger, you also need to raise alts alongside it.

So yes, there’s a fairly big homework assignment waiting here.

1. Raising alts makes your main stronger too?

Elsword has a Collection system that supports overall account growth as you build multiple characters.

Put simply,

• the more different characters you raise, the more it also helps your main grow

That’s the easiest way to think about it. (For example, it’s similar to MapleStory’s Union system...)

If you’re a returning player like me who planned to focus on only one main, this can feel a little unfamiliar at first.

In current Elsword, it’s important not only to strengthen your main character’s gear, but also to raise alts and build up your account’s overall foundation.

So naturally...

“Then how many characters am I supposed to raise?”

That question starts to come up.

2. A step-by-step look at the advancement stages

In Elsword, each character grows by going through several class advancement stages.

Basically,

1st Job → 2nd Job → Transcendence → 3rd Job → Master Class

is the order you follow.

Since filling out Collection requires you to personally raise characters across different advancement paths, you naturally end up playing a variety of characters beyond your main.

I also started raising alts to fill out my Collection.

Once I checked, I found there were quite a lot of characters to work on.

At the moment, Elsword has a total of 60 advancements.

Each character has 4 advancement routes, so with 15 total characters and 4 lines each, that adds up to 60 advancement classes overall.

Since each character offers different benefits that increase your account’s combat power, I recommend raising the ones that directly affect attack power first.

3. The goal when raising alts: Master Class

When you raise alts, the main goal is not just to level them, but to advance them all the way to Master Class.

I’m currently doing this myself, raising alts one by one to fill out the Collection.

And getting a character to Master Class takes more time than I initially expected.

Thankfully, there were times when I could get help from other players along the way.

When I was working on one character’s Master Class advancement, for example, another player helped me out.

Thanks to that, I finished in a single day what I had expected would take several days.

One of the things I enjoyed about returning to Elsword was exactly this kind of player support and party play.

4. So what is ERP?

There’s one more progression system you should know about alongside Collection.

It’s ERP (the blue number in the screenshot).

As I mentioned earlier, once an Elsword character reaches level 99, standard leveling is essentially finished.

After that, you continue progressing through ERP.

ERP is a separate progression system from your character’s normal level.

That means even after hitting max level, you can keep developing your character and gain additional stats.

I also started at ERP 200 right after returning last winter, thanks to event support.

Since then, I’ve been raising it little by little through regular play.

My current ERP is...

370!

And with the current summer vacation combat power boosting event, you can start from 350!

5. How to increase ERP

To increase ERP, you need to build up experience by playing a range of game content.

In particular, it’s important to repeatedly run dungeons that give a lot of EXP.

Since players often farm certain dungeons specifically for ERP EXP (Plegas's Reflection, Magma's Breath, Methein Loading Dock)

consistent dungeon play is necessary if you want long-term character growth.

In practice, players usually raise ERP by focusing on so-called “EXP dungeons” during 2x EXP event periods.

6. How Elsword’s progression felt after returning

When I compare the Elsword of 10 years ago with the game now, one of the biggest changes I noticed was the depth of progression.

In the past, progression centered on one character’s level and gear (back in the secret dungeon gear and Hero Weapon days...), but now you have to manage not just your main, but also multiple characters, ERP, Collection, and several other systems together.

At first, I found myself thinking, “Why do I have to raise alts just to make my main stronger?”

But after playing for myself, I found it genuinely fun to try different characters and learn more about the game’s classes and combat styles.

It was also interesting to raise classes that were completely different from my main and get a better sense of what each character’s role is.

7. What to prepare before the boosting event ends

During the boosting event, you can use temporary items to raise your combat power quickly.

But once the event ends in two weeks, those temporary accessories and avatar items will disappear, and your combat power may drop again.

Once the large-scale growth event is over, I recommend focusing on your long-term foundation while you wait for the next one.

For now, it’s a good idea to fill out Collection one step at a time by raising alts, while also steadily increasing your ERP.

If you’re a newer player, try replacing your temporary boosting items with permanent ones, and start preparing the titles you need as well.

Rather than just trying to push your combat power number higher without a plan,

① Fill out Collection
② Raise ERP
③ Secure the gear and items you need (Ice Burner Avatar Set, Weapon Accessories)
④ Prepare extra progression elements such as titles

I recommend playing with goals like these in mind.

In this post, I’ve summarized the account growth methods centered on Collection, alt progression, and ERP that I experienced myself after returning.

If you’re just starting Elsword or coming back after a long break, all of these progression systems can feel a little complicated at first.

Main growth → Raise alts for Collection → Grow ERP → Secure gear and additional progression elements

If you break things down and tackle them one goal at a time like this, the whole process feels much more manageable.

I still have plenty left to work on as well, so I’m continuing to learn things step by step through actual play.

Next time, I’ll also share other Elsword content and efficient growth methods I’ve experienced while actually playing~