Progression
Chapters and the quest chain
How chapters unlock, what actually gates them, and where the level curve bends.
The quest chain is the game
Quests (top right of the screen) are linear, are the largest single source of XP, and are the only thing that opens the next chapter. The loop is always the same: kill one boss, take a chest, kill some monsters. When it asks you to fight a boss you already killed, fight it again; the earlier kill didn't count because it wasn't your active quest.
If you've outleveled the chain, quest XP looks tiny until you catch up. That's expected. Push through it rather than farming elsewhere.
Chapter 1 to Chapter 2
The "New World" quest unlocks when you have done all three: reached level 100, defeated Baal, and completed every Chapter 1 quest, including the raid-boss quests. The game then prompts you to move on. The blue portal beside your home base (behind Baal) travels between chapters, and you can always return to Chapter 1 for its quests and chests.
Chapter 2 brings harder bosses, new upgrade materials, more gold per kill, and the first red orbs (skill evolution). Traits unlock a few missions in.
Chapter 2 to Chapter 3
Finish the Chapter 2 chain and its bosses, ending with the Frost King (see Bosses). Level-gated quests were removed in v25.3.0, so the old "you need level 200" advice is now about being strong enough for the boss, not a hard gate. Players have entered Chapter 3 below 200 by finishing the chain. disputed
Chapter 3 (Frosthold) is where the community says the grind really begins: enemy HP jumps hard, and the final boss is double the Frost King's level. Auto-hunt order that works: Wraiths first if you can kill them, then Ice Bones for a longer stay, Dark Knights last. If Wraiths are too much, go back to Redrock Valley and auto-hunt Wolf Riders until they aren't. One to two weeks from Chapter 2 to 3 is a normal pace without spending.
The level curve
- Since the season 3 update, the first couple hundred levels are fast. Fifty levels a day from the pop-up tasks is realistic in week one; players reached 300 in about a week.
- Around 300 each level starts to cost real time; around 365-380 the missions stop giving XP and a level takes hours of monsters. After that, XP comes from boss raids, boss grinding and Invasion.
- Level matters less than it looks for bosses. Upgrades, hero rarity and weapon level decide fights; several players killed the Frost King well under the "recommended" level with the right build.
- Royal membership doubles XP. Max level is somewhere between 1500 and 1600. disputed
Small unlocks people miss
- The third weapon slot needs 10 stone. Walk up to any rock and mine it. Wood and stone have no other use worth farming.
- Trait slots open around hero levels 140, 160 and 200.
- Chapter 4 is listed in-game as scheduled for a future release. Chapter 3 is the end for now.
- To rename yourself: Invasion, tap your island in the center, then the edit icon by your name.
Community-sourced, not official. Compiled from player reports in the XP Hero Discord and last checked 4 Sep 2026 against game v25.3.0. Balance changes ship often; if something here no longer matches the game, it's probably the guide that's stale. XP Hero is made by Supercent, Inc.; this guide is not affiliated with them.