Progression
The Journey advances in two tracks: the stars you collect across the map, and your personal Battle Level (and the rank it feeds, Echo's Ladder). Neither comes from combat XP — your fighters grow through gear, skills, essence, and ascension; you grow as a player.
The decision this page frames: each session, do you push new nodes, go back and 3-star old ones for milestone RSNC, or sweep cleared nodes to farm?
Stars
Every node clear is rated 0 to 3 stars, and your best-ever rating is kept for each node on each difficulty tier. With 16 nodes at 3 stars each, that's 48 stars per chapter, per tier.
| Stars | Roughly how you earn them |
|---|---|
| ★ | Clear the node |
| ★★ | Clear it with fighters still standing |
| ★★★ | Clear it clean (or fast enough on the tougher nodes) |
Stars are the map's real progression. They gate the next difficulty tier — 3-star a whole chapter on Normal to unlock Hard (see Difficulty tiers) — and they trigger star milestones that pay one-time RSNC for filling in a chapter's stars. Because milestones are one-time, back-filling old nodes you skipped is guaranteed value.
Battle Level
Battle Level is your rank as a fighter — separate from any single Avatar you own. You raise it by earning Battle XP (bXP) as you play the Journey (see Loot & rewards). It's the closest thing the Journey has to "your level," and it rewards showing up.
Echo's Ladder
Your standing on Echo's Ladder is a rank from 1 to 10, computed from your Effective Battle Level:
Effective Battle Level = Battle Level + ⌊ Tune-In level ÷ 10 ⌋
So every 10 Tune-In levels count as a bonus Battle Level on top of what you've earned by playing — spending in Tune-In quietly lifts your ladder rank.
What the ladder does: each rank grants a Journey-only PvE stat bonus to your whole team. It lifts your fighters against the campaign and never touches Arena PvP — that keeps PvP a pure test of your build rather than something Tune-In RSNC can buy into.
Choosing where to play
Your three moves each session are:
- Push new nodes — for first-clear rewards, boss first-clear RSNC, and new ground.
- 3-star old nodes — for star milestones and to unlock the next difficulty tier.
- Sweep cleared nodes — for a steady flow of ingredients and Essence once a node is 3-starred and first-cleared.
A healthy rhythm mixes all three: push while content is fresh, circle back to clean up stars for milestones, then Sweep the nodes you've mastered to keep the Kitchen and your Roster stocked.
See also
- Worlds & Where to Play Next — the world ladder and when to move on
- The Dissonance Ladder — pushing difficulty once worlds run out
- Loot & rewards — what stars, clears, and Sweep actually pay
- Run Mode — how the difficulty dial works
- Energy — the loot bonus behind all of this
- Tune In — your level, which feeds Echo's Ladder