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In Fortress Saga, leveling and promotion are separate upgrades: leveling raises a hero’s stats with progression materials, while promotion consumes copies of that same hero and Amplification Crystals. For efficient progress, invest in heroes your active team and account need, build the resource sources that support upgrades, and check the live promotion panel before spending scarce materials.
Leveling and promotion: what each upgrade does
Hero leveling raises stats using leveling materials. The cited guide identifies the Dangerous Bakery dungeon and the Kitchen facility as sources of materials used for hero leveling. Hero ownership also contributes a collection effect, so a newly acquired hero can benefit your account even when not deployed. See Kamigame’s character promotion and requirements guide for the documented routes.
Promotion is a distinct upgrade that consumes duplicate copies of the same hero and Amplification Crystals. It raises stats and, according to a September 2026 upgrade guide, expands the level cap and unlocks passive skills and potential. Promotion is therefore more than a stat increase: it can open additional progression for a hero you plan to use.
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- From the home screen, tap Heroes in the lower-left corner.
- Select the hero you want to promote.
- Choose the materials to consume. Check the displayed duplicate-copy and Amplification Crystal requirements before confirming.
- Choose the promotion or level-up control shown on the hero screen to complete the upgrade.
Localized labels and interface details may differ by game version. The documented route is from the promotion guide updated May 18, 2026; follow the current on-screen controls if your version presents a different label.
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What materials are required to promote heroes?
The May 18, 2026 Kamigame guide publishes the following total duplicate-copy requirements by star stage, and Amplification Crystal requirements by rarity and stage. These are dated reference values, not a guarantee of the requirements in a later game version. Check the hero’s current promotion panel before committing resources.
| Star stage | Total hero copies | Legendary crystals | Epic crystals | Unique crystals | Rare crystals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 star | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 stars | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 3 stars | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| 4 stars | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
| 5 stars | 10 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 |
| Total through five stars | 26 | 25 | 20 | 15 | 10 |
Source for the figures: Kamigame’s combat-power guide, updated August 5, 2026. The source’s total-copy progression is 1, 3, 5, 7, and 10 (26 total); its crystal totals are Legendary 25, Epic 20, Unique 15, and Rare 10.
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Where to get copies of a hero
Summons are the documented route to duplicate heroes. When you are targeting a particular hero, a featured or selection summon can make the attempt more focused, but it does not guarantee that you will receive a duplicate. Check the current banner and its terms in-game before using tickets or other resources.
Legendary Hero Coins can be used in the hero shop for summon tickets or eligible owned Legendary heroes, according to the August 2026 guide. Some heroes cannot be exchanged before you acquire them for the first time, so confirm eligibility in the shop rather than assuming every hero can be purchased directly.
How to choose upgrades efficiently
Put resources into heroes that address your current team or account-progression needs, rather than treating a tier list as a universal spending order. A useful comparison weighs several factors together:
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- Team role and synergy: Does the hero fill a role your active lineup needs, and does the hero work well with the rest of that team?
- Roster gap: Will improving this hero help with the stage or mode currently holding back your progress?
- Access to duplicates: Can you reasonably target more copies through available summons or shop options, without treating a banner as a guarantee?
- Crystal cost: The published reference table varies by rarity, so consider the cost shown for the hero in your current version.
- Progression bottleneck: Promotion can unlock more development, but concentrating all resources on one hero may slow the upgrades needed for a functional roster and account.
The September 3, 2026 guide to hero upgrade systems and priorities rates leveling, promotion, potential, hero equipment, Harmony Sanctuary, and Hall of Power highly. That supports thinking about hero upgrades alongside broader account systems; it does not establish one optimal investment sequence for every player.
Rankings are snapshots, not account-specific instructions. Pocket Gamer’s hero tier list, updated September 16, 2026, says it adapts rankings from the Japanese server to the global server and identifies version 2.1.02. Roles, team fit, hero availability, and later version changes can all affect whether a ranked hero is the right investment for your roster.
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Fortress Saga is presented on its Google Play listing as an idle RPG with automatic leveling and offline rewards. Those features do not remove the specific material and duplicate requirements for the upgrades described here. The official web store sells digital in-game currency, but the cited sources do not establish that buying currency is necessary to level or promote heroes. You can plan around in-game progression and choose whether any purchase fits your own preferences.
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