[This post was created as part of NEXON PEAK activities.]

Hello! It’s 온야.

In my last post, I covered the summer boosting event and my progress from the early stages to taking on raids.

This time, I’d like to walk you through Elsword’s account progression systems.

At first, I thought I only needed to focus on building up my main character.

But as I learned more about the game...

I realized that making your main stronger also means developing alternate characters.

That leaves quite a bit to work on.

1. Leveling Alts Makes Your Main Stronger?

Elsword has a Collection system that helps your whole account progress as you develop multiple characters.

Put simply,

• the more different characters you build up, the more your main benefits

That’s the basic idea (similar to MapleStory’s Legion system …).

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

In Elsword today, enhancing your main’s gear isn’t the only important way to progress. Strengthening your account as a whole by building up alts matters too.

So naturally...

“How many characters do I need to level, then?”

That’s the question that comes to mind.

2. Understanding Class Advancement, Step by Step

In Elsword, each character progresses through several stages of class advancement.

The basic sequence is:

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

You advance through these stages in order.

Filling out your Collection means raising characters across different class paths yourself, so you’ll be playing a variety of characters besides your main.

That’s why I started leveling alts too.

When I looked into it, I found there were quite a few characters to work on.

Elsword currently has no fewer than 60 class paths.

Each character has 4 class paths, so with 15 characters and 4 paths each, that makes 60 in total.

Each character contributes to your account’s Combat Power in a different way, so I recommend starting with characters that directly affect your attack power.

3. The Goal for Alts Is Master Class

When building up alts, the main goal isn’t simply to gain levels, but to advance all the way to Master Class.

I’ve been working on my alts one at a time to fill out my Collection.

Reaching Master Class takes quite a bit longer than I expected.

Fortunately, I’ve sometimes been able to get help from other players along the way.

For example, another player helped me with one character’s Master Class advancement.

Thanks to their help, I finished in a single day what I’d expected to take several days.

Helping one another and playing in parties have been part of the fun of returning to Elsword after so long.

4. What Is El Resonance?

Alongside Collection, there’s another progression system worth knowing about.

That’s El Resonance (the blue number in the screenshot).

As I mentioned earlier, normal leveling in Elsword ends when your character reaches level 99.

After that, you can keep progressing through El Resonance.

El Resonance progresses separately from your regular character level.

This lets you keep building up your character and gaining additional stats even after reaching the level cap.

When I returned last winter, event support let me start at El Resonance Level 200.

Since then, I’ve been gradually raising it by playing.

My current El Resonance Level is...

370!

The current summer vacation Combat Power boosting event lets you start at 350!

5. How to Raise Your El Resonance Level

To raise your El Resonance Level, you need to earn EXP by playing different types of content.

Running dungeons that award plenty of EXP is especially important.

Since this often means repeating specific dungeons for El Resonance EXP (Plegas’s Portrait, Breath of Magma, 메테인 로딩도크),

regular dungeon runs are necessary for long-term character progression.

Focusing on repeated runs of these “EXP dungeons” during double EXP events is how you build up your El Resonance Level.

6. My Thoughts on Elsword’s Progression After Returning

Comparing Elsword today with the game I played 10 years ago, one of the biggest changes I noticed was the depth of progression.

Back then, progression revolved around one character’s level and gear (the days of Secret Dungeon gear and Heroic weapons…). Now, you need to manage not just your main, but also other characters, El Resonance, Collection, and more.

“Why do I need to level alts when I’m trying to build up my main?”

That was my first reaction.

But once I tried it, I enjoyed playing different characters and learning about the game’s classes and combat styles.

Trying classes completely different from my main also made it fun to learn about each character’s role.

7. What to Prepare Before the Boosting Event Ends

During the boosting event, temporary items let you raise your Combat Power quickly.

When the event ends in 2 weeks, those temporary accessories and costumes will expire, and your Combat Power may drop again.

Once a major progression event ends, I recommend strengthening your account’s foundation while you wait for the next one.

A good place to start is leveling alts to fill out your Collection one entry at a time, while steadily raising your El Resonance Level.

If you’re new, work on replacing your temporary boosting items with permanent ones and picking up the titles you need along the way.

Rather than simply chasing a higher Combat Power number,

① Fill out your Collection
② Raise your El Resonance Level
③ Get the gear and items you need (rare costumes, weapons and accessories)
④ Work on other ways to progress, such as titles

I recommend keeping these goals in mind as you play.

In this post, I’ve shared what I’ve learned since returning about account progression through Collection, building up alts, and El Resonance.

If you’re starting Elsword for the first time or returning after a long break, the number of progression systems can feel a little overwhelming at first.

Build up your main → Level alts for Collection → Raise El Resonance → Get gear and work on other progression goals

Breaking the process down into goals like these can make it a little more manageable.

I still have plenty of room to grow myself, so I’m learning about each part as I play.

Next time, I’ll share more about Elsword’s other content and efficient ways to progress, drawing on my own experience in the game~