Whiteout Survival: stars, not levels, make a hero
A maxed star ladder is worth 3.7× the power of a maxed level ladder, on every hero. Levels run on Hero XP and your Furnace; stars run on 1,065 shards, most of them spent in the last 7 steps.
In Whiteout Survival, a hero at Star 30 gets 3.7× as much power from stars as a hero at Lv.80 gets from levels. That holds for all 68 heroes: their numbers differ, but every one scales both ladders in the same proportion. A hero's power is the two ladders added together, and the star half is by far the bigger one.
Two ladders, two different costs
The game lists both ladders for a hero whose Lv.1 power is 5,000. Every other hero's power follows the same ladder, scaled up or down.
- Levels, Lv.1 to 80, take the level half of that hero's power to 186,600. They cost 23,641,790 Hero XP in total and are gated by your Furnace: the last levels need Furnace Lv. 25.
- Stars, Star 0 to 30, take the star half from 10,000 to 691,800. They cost 1,065 hero shards.
Every level costs the same Hero XP, whichever hero you are levelling, and the bill is weighted to the top: Lv.80 alone costs 2,400,000 XP, 10% of the whole climb. Even so, the level half tops out at a fraction of what stars give. The star ladder is worth the most, so it is the one to plan around.
Every shard buys less than the last
| Star steps | Shards per step | Shards for the band | Power gained | Power per shard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1–2 | 1 | 2 | 8,000 | 4,000 |
| 3–6 | 2 | 8 | 23,800 | 2,975 |
| 7–11 | 5 | 25 | 42,600 | 1,704 |
| 12–17 | 15 | 90 | 90,800 | 1,009 |
| 18–23 | 40 | 240 | 160,300 | 668 |
| 24–30 | 100 | 700 | 356,300 | 509 |
The shard price per step climbs in bands, and it climbs much faster than the power it buys. The first stars give about 4,000 power per shard, roughly 8 times the 509 the last band gives.
The last 7 star steps cost 700 shards, 66% of the whole ladder, for 52% of the power stars add.
That last band is still the biggest single block of power a hero can gain, so it is not wasted. But it is the most expensive power on the ladder per shard. Your first few dozen shards on a hero are worth far more than your last few hundred.
What that means for your roster
Whenever you choose which hero gets shards, whether that means which recruitment to pull or which reward to take, this table is the one that matters. A hero still in the cheap bands turns each shard into several times more power than one on the last band. The final band is for heroes you will field for a long time, where the 100-shard steps are worth paying.
Levels need no such choice. The same Hero XP serves every hero and the Furnace sets the ceiling, so keep levels in step with your Furnace and let shards decide where the rest of your power comes from.
Every step of both ladders, with its exact power, stats and cost, is on growth ladders. Pick any hero, level and star in the stat calculator to see its own numbers.