Last Updated on February 18, 2023
In NieR Reincarnation, there are multiple ways to enhance a character. So let’s take a closer look. I’ll be using my 4* A2 as an example here.
From the Mama Menu, go to Enhance > Characters. Then tap on the character you want to work on.
Character Enhance – Unit Level
You will then be taken to the Character screen, which looks like this. You will see the rarity (4*), weapon affinity (Greatsword), name of the character (A2), and version (Divergent Attacker). Under it is the current level/level cap (70/75), then the amount of ascensions completed (the diamonds next to the level – in my case, I’m at 1/4).
Under that is their current Force (overall power), and statistics.
On the right hand side are 3 tabs – Enhance, Skill, and Ascend.
Enhancing a character means to increase their level. As you can see under Enhance, there’s various kinds of enhancement items. There’s the neutral Character Enhancement items at sizes “Small” “Medium” “Large” and “XL”, with each one increasing the amount of XP given. Then there’s weapon-related character enhancement ones as well. These will give bonus XP to characters with that preferred weapon. If you tap on the items, it will tell you where to get them. Usually, in the case of character enhancement items, farming Hard or Very Hard main quests will give characters a lot of XP and enhancement items.
Character Skill
During battle, a border around the character’s portrait charges up. This gets them ready for their unique character skill. Some skills do damage, others do healing. In the case of A2, she does single target damage and her critical damage is increased. You can enhance the skill by farming specific materials under Subquests > Daily Quests.
Tapping on the specific materials shown here will tell you where to get them. But the rotating daily quests seem to be the optimal choice.
To enhance the character skill to level 15, you will need 1 Insignia of Skill, which can be acquired from event exchange shops. They cannot be farmed.
Character Ascend
Ascending a character does two things: increases their level cap and enhances their passive abilities (in the case of A2, it’s her Vigor [Attack up] and Ambush [Critical rate up]). You can ascend a character 4 times, as shown in the 4 diamonds next to the unit level. Keep in mind that the first ascension of a character also unlocks their second passive ability.
Ascending a character is often the most difficult out of the 3 forms of enhancement, as the items are not as easily available. The level cap is different for each character rarity:
2* – level 70
3* – level 80
4* – level 90
Characters stay at their initial rarity, and cannot be evolved to a higher one. So 2* stay at 2*, and so on.
The first way to get a character’s unique text is through successfully pulling duplicates of the character in the gacha (Summons). This will be the case for most of the 3* and 4* characters. Since some characters are limited time, pulling while they’re available should be prioritized.
In the case of the 2* characters, which are the original versions of the main characters, you get their unique items through their respective Main Quest chapters, and via Subquests > Character Quests. In some cases, for farmable event characters, you can get their unique texts through the Exchange shop while their event is running.
There are also the neutral ascension items called Handbooks, which also differ by rarity. 2* are called Beginner’s Handbook, 3* are Intermediate Handbook, and 4* is Advanced Handbook. These will also be available during limited events. 4* handbooks are the rarest of the 3 sets, and will be limited to either 1 or 2 sets (10 pieces a set) of them a month. So keep an eye on limited time Events in Subquests and their related Exchange shop or Event Summons to prioritize the 4* character you want to work on the most. For the most part, people currently save Advanced Handbooks for EX characters (Dark Memory) as they do not have their own unique texts available at the moment.
Character Rank
In the character list, tap and hold on a Character. This is where you can check their rank. The higher the rank, the more bonus stats you get. The only way to increase a Character’s rank is to just use them in battle. A character’s rank is tied to their character, not their costume. For example, with any A2 I farm, all other versions of A2 will get the same rank bonus. Same goes for all other characters. There are multiple costumes of the main characters like Akeha, Fio, Lars, Gayle, and so on. But whichever costume you farm with, all others will get the same rank.
Currently, farming the hardest difficulty possible (usually Very Hard) in Main Quests or Event Quests will give a lot of rank points. Typically, the higher the force required, the more XP and rank points are given.
For the main story characters, farming the Hard/Very Hard Quests of their own chapter will give them extra rank points and XP. For example, using Rion on Chapter 1, Gayle on Chapter 2, and so on. Make sure to tap “Bonus Details” before entering a main quest to see what bonuses drop – gold, XP, and drop rate. This also applies to event characters and weapons during limited time event quests.
Mythic Slab
The mythic slab is a skill tree, currently consisting of 2 monuments (Stone Tower and Cursed God), each with 3 ranks. The mythic slab will boost your character’s stats, and add passive abilities. This is a considerable increase in force, so it should be prioritized, especially late game. As a personal anecdote, my main team jumped from 106K force to 120K force in a matter of days, solely through the mythic slab. I’ve published a detailed guide about the Mythic Slab here.
Awakening
When pulling a duplicate of a character, you will gain an awakening stone. You can awaken a character 5 times. This will add new stats, a new passive, and a passive that can be equipped named Debris. A detailed awakening guide can be read here.
Exalt
Characters can now break the level cap of 90 to get to 100, 2 levels at a time, with an item called Verse of Truth which you gain from fate board quests. Exalting a character will apply to all costumes for that character. When exalting, you need 1 Verse of Truth for 2 levels. So you will need a total of 5 Verse of Truth items to max the exalt. You can access the exalt screen by going to Enhance>Exalt and seeing all the characters. Then when you pick a character, you will immediately go to their Exalt screen.
Hopefully this guide helps makes things easier. Enjoy the game.
