‘Arthdal Chronicles: Three Factions’ (hereinafter Arthdal Chronicles) has rolled out its latest expansion, introducing an awakening system for Spirits and Mounts. It is essentially a progression mechanic where you pump levels into these entities to squeeze out extra stats. But how does this awakening actually work, and which ones should you be prioritising? We asked the folks at KookminTree to dig into the details.

How to awaken, and what to prioritise?

You can find the awakening tab under the Spirit and Mount menus. It is strictly for Hero grade or higher. To level these up, you will need 'Awakening Tokens', which are sourced from extraction, summon tickets, successful synthesis, or the consolation prizes from failed synthesis attempts. You can push these up to a maximum of level 2, with each type offering different stat bonuses.

If you manage to push a Legendary item to level 2, you get a fancy dedicated effect, while Mythic grade items actually change their appearance at both level 1 and level 2. Just a heads-up: the awakening effects only trigger while you actually have the Spirit or Mount equipped. Since most players are already running Legendary or Mythic gear, the stats from awakening Hero grade gear might seem negligible at first glance.

However, do not ignore those Hero grades just yet. The real value lies in the Awakening Collection. Filling out the Hero grade collection provides a stat boost that can rival Legendary tiers, and the materials are far easier to come by. Since hitting level 2 on Hero gear requires a significant stash of tokens, the strategy should be to get every Hero grade Spirit and Mount to level 1 first, then aim for level 2 as your secondary goal.

[Awakening Priority]

= Priority 1: All Hero grade items to level 1 (Dump all Rare and Hero grade Awakening Tokens here)

= Priority 2: All Hero grade items to level 2

= Priority 3: All Legendary grade items to level 1 (Dump all Legendary grade Awakening Tokens here)

= Priority 4: All Legendary grade items to level 2

= Priority 5: Your main Mythic grade items to level 2 (Dump all Mythic grade Awakening Tokens here)

The biggest reason to grind these collections is the resistance stats against status effects and crowd control. The current Hero, Legendary, and Mythic collections are packed with these specific bonuses. If you max them out, you become essentially immune to most crowd control, giving you a massive edge in PvP. If you are a fan of competitive play, focus on filling your collection before you even think about awakening your main Mythic gear.

Pro tip: Do not skip your 16 hours in the Temple of the Sun

Once you hit the Path of Light stage in the Temple of the Sun, you can start farming Rare and Hero grade Awakening Tokens from monster drops. It gives players a real reason to visit the temple, which previously felt like a chore for just cloth and silver. Make sure you spend your full 16-hour weekly quota there. Just be careful: the entry time is now shared across the entire server account rather than per character, so do not waste your time on an alt by mistake.