If you just started playing Sword x Staff, the game can feel overwhelming fast. There are seasonal systems, permanent progression, Fantomons, relics, food buffs, enhancement levels, Astral Pact upgrades, and a mountain of menus thrown at you almost immediately.
The good news is that the game is actually much simpler once you understand one important thing:
Everything in Sword x Staff is split into two categories:
Permanent progression and Seasonal progression.
Once you understand the difference between those two systems, the entire game starts making sense.
Sword x Staff Beginner Guide Wiki – Progression, Events
Your character power, also called CP, comes from multiple systems working together. Some systems stay forever, while others reset every season.
Think of it like this:
- Permanent systems are long-term investments
- Seasonal systems are temporary power boosts
A lot of new players make the mistake of dumping all their resources into seasonal upgrades without realizing those boosts disappear later.
That is why understanding progression early is extremely important.
Seasonal
Seasonal progression is temporary progression that gets reset at the end of the season.
These systems are mainly designed to help players push current-season content, raids, dungeons, and rankings.
The biggest seasonal systems are:
- Character levels above 100
- Fantomon levels above 100
- Gear enhancement above +100
- Skill levels above 100
- Relic levels above +10
Anything pushed beyond those limits is considered seasonal progression.
For example, if you level your Fantomon to 160 during the season, it will eventually reset back to 100 after the season ends.
The same happens with gear enhancement. A weapon upgraded to +145 during the season will later return to +100.
This is completely normal and part of the game’s core design.
Gear
Seasonal gear is one of the biggest reasons players gain massive CP during a season.
High-end seasonal gear can give insane stat boosts compared to permanent progression systems.
A Divine seasonal weapon alone can massively increase your attack and CP, especially at higher levels.
However, once the season resets:
- The gear level gets scaled down
- Stats become weaker
- CP drops heavily
That is why many players lose millions of CP after a reset.
Do not panic when this happens. It happens to everyone.
Seasonal gear exists to help players progress through current content, not to permanently inflate power forever.
Permanent
Permanent progression is what truly matters long-term.
These systems stay with your account even after seasonal resets.
The most important permanent systems are:
- Skill ascensions
- Fantomon ascensions
- Fantomon aptitudes
- Guild buffs
- Companion affinity
- Relic ascensions
- Permanent food buffs
These systems usually give smaller stat increases compared to seasonal upgrades, but they never disappear.
That makes them incredibly valuable over time.
If two players have similar seasonal gear, the player with stronger permanent progression will almost always have the stronger account overall.
Fantomons
Fantomons are one of the biggest progression systems in the game.
New players often focus only on leveling them, but the real long-term power comes from:
- Ascensions
- Aptitudes
- Permanent stat growth
Seasonal Fantomon levels help increase CP quickly, but permanent Fantomon upgrades are what truly strengthen your account across multiple seasons.
If you are unsure where to invest resources, permanent Fantomon progression is usually a safe investment.
Relics
Relics are another major source of power.
There are two important things to understand:
- Relic levels above +10 are seasonal
- Relic ascensions are permanent
This means upgrading relics beyond +10 helps during the current season, while ascensions help forever.
Many experienced players recommend using Destiny Fruits wisely to complete strong relic sets instead of randomly upgrading everything.
Blue relic sets are especially valuable for early and mid-game players.
Food
Food is much more important than most beginners realize.
There are generally three types of food in Sword x Staff:
- Healing food
- Temporary buff food
- Permanent stat food
The third category is the important one.
Some dishes provide permanent stat boosts that stay on your account forever. These permanent food buffs become extremely valuable over time and are one of the easiest ways to slowly increase account strength.
A lot of players ignore cooking early and regret it later.
Daily
Daily content is the backbone of progression.
Most of your resources, gear upgrades, materials, and progression items will come from daily activities.
Important daily priorities include:
- Daily dungeons
- Gathering ores
- Collecting ingredients
- Farming gems
- Event participation
- Relic progression
- Fantomon upgrades
Skipping daily content slows progression dramatically.
Even casual players should try to complete core dailies consistently.
Events
Events are one of the best ways to gain resources quickly.
Some events, like Grand Treasure Hunt, reward players heavily if they save resources ahead of time and plan properly.
This is why experienced players often hoard upgrade materials instead of spending everything immediately.
Planning ahead matters a lot in Sword x Staff.
Astral Destiny
Astral Destiny is the system that connects seasonal progression to permanent progression.
This is one of the most important systems in the entire game.
At the end of each season, your seasonal progress gets converted into a Season Rating Score.
That score is based on things like:
- Seasonal gear
- Dungeon performance
- Raid performance
- PvP performance
- Seasonal upgrades
Your rating then converts into Primostars.
Primostars are used inside Astral Pact to unlock permanent account bonuses.
This includes:
- ATK boosts
- HP boosts
- Speed boosts
- EXP bonuses
- Drop rate increases
- Progression bonuses
So even though seasonal systems reset, they still help your account grow permanently through Astral Destiny.
That is why seasonal grinding still matters.
Ranking
The Season Ranking system is mainly cosmetic.
Top players on each server receive special seasonal titles based on their final Season Rating Score.
Usually:
- Rank 1 gets a unique title
- Rank 2 gets another unique title
- Rank 3 gets another unique title
- Rank 4 to 10 share a title
There are no major gameplay advantages tied to ranking.
It mostly exists for prestige and competition.