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M5-A Gear Set Guide

Gear · 2026-03-19

What Is the M5-A Railgun?

The M5-A Railgun is a legendary weapon awarded for reaching 4,500,000 Combat Power (CP) during the Light of Hope event. Every new server runs this event in the first week, and the M5-A gives your primary squad a massive early advantage.

Why the M5-A Matters

The M5-A Railgun is the single biggest free power spike available to new players. It outperforms any gear you can craft in the first month, and the CP you build chasing it establishes the foundation for everything that follows. Missing it means starting behind players who did not.

The Goal: 4.5M Combat Power in One Week

The Light of Hope event runs for approximately 7 days. You need to reach 4.5M CP before it ends. This sounds daunting, but the game provides enough tools if you use them correctly.

Where CP Comes From

SourceContribution
Troop PowerThe largest share. Higher-tier troops (T5+) provide far more CP per unit than lower tiers
Building PowerEach building level adds CP. HQ and Barracks contribute the most
Hero PowerHero levels, skills, and star upgrades all add CP
Research PowerTech Center research contributes modest but consistent CP
Drone PowerDrone level and components add CP that many players overlook

Step-by-Step Strategy

Step 1: Rush HQ and Barracks to Level 17

This is the most important step. HQ 17 and Barracks 17 unlock T5 troops, which provide far more CP per unit than T4 or below.

1
HQ to Level 17Gates everything — troop tiers, building levels, hero level cap. Push HQ as fast as possible using all available speedups
Priority 1
2
Barracks to Level 17Unlocks T5 and T6 troop training. Must match HQ level — upgrade immediately after HQ
Priority 1
3
Tech Center (match HQ)Required prerequisite for each HQ upgrade. Always upgrade this first when it blocks your HQ
Priority 2
4
Other HQ prerequisitesWalls, Troop Centers, Alliance Center — whatever is required for the next HQ level. Check requirements and plan ahead
Priority 2

Use the HQ Progression Guide for the full requirements table at each level.

Step 2: Do NOT Play Mini-Games Early

This is the most commonly missed trick. Falcon Operation and Special Ops reward free troops whose tier matches your current maximum available tier.

The Mini-Game Timing Trick

Wait until you unlock T5 troops (HQ 17, Barracks 17) before completing Falcon Operation and Special Ops levels. If you play them at HQ 10, you receive T3 troops worth very little CP. If you wait until T5 is unlocked, the same levels award T5 troops — an instant CP surge of hundreds of thousands. This single trick can be the difference between hitting 4.5M and falling short.

It is fine to start the mini-games — just do not claim the completion rewards until T5 troops are available. Save them for the final push.

Step 3: Develop Your Heroes

Hero power contributes meaningful CP. Focus on a single squad:

HeroTarget
Murphy (Tank)Level 80. He is your main tank and the highest-priority hero early. Push him hard
Monica (SSR)Level 50. Unlock her on day 1 by clearing Stage 38. Essential for PvE farming that funds everything else
Kimberly (Tank DPS)Level 50. Your primary carry. If she has not appeared in the Tavern yet, use any attacking SSR Tank hero
Mason / VioletLevel 50. Fill your remaining squad slots with the best Tank heroes available

Do not spread EXP across many heroes. Five focused heroes at moderate levels outperform ten heroes at low levels in CP contribution.

Step 4: Pioneer Target Tasks

Pioneer Targets guide your progression and reward resources, speedups, and CP. Key milestones:

Task TypeStrategy
Upgrade Tech 5/10/15/30/60 timesPrioritise the Development branch to unlock the 3rd Barracks as quickly as possible
Upgrade Drone to Level 30Buy components with diamonds in the VIP Store. Farm Combat Data from Doom Elites actively
Building upgradesKeep both builders running at all times — never let a builder sit idle

Step 5: Resource Management

Resources are tight during Light of Hope. Every decision counts:

ResourceStrategy
Resource ChestsDo NOT open them "just in case." Their contents scale with HQ level — opening at HQ 15 gives more than opening at HQ 8. Save them for when you are short on a specific upgrade
Hero EXP ChestsSave blue EXP chests. Higher HQ level yields better rewards from them
DiamondsSpend on VIP activation (at least 1 week) and Drone components. Do not waste on speedups unless you are close to the deadline and need the final push
SpeedupsUse freely on HQ and Barracks upgrades. These are your highest-priority buildings — do not hoard speedups while your builders sit idle
Gold ChestsReserve for future technology research. Gold becomes a critical shortage later
VIP Priority

Activate VIP for at least one week at the start. The VIP Store gives access to Drone components and other items that directly contribute to CP. VIP 6 also unlocks a second builder queue — one of the most effective upgrades in the game. Save gems for VIP rather than spending them on summons.

Day-by-Day Timeline

Here is a realistic pacing guide for the 7-day event:

DayGoals
Day 1Follow tutorial. Join alliance. Clear Stage 38 for Monica. Push HQ to 8-10. Start Drone development. Activate VIP
Day 2-3Push HQ to 13-14. Upgrade Tech Center to keep pace. Start Pioneer Target tasks. Level Murphy to 50+
Day 4-5Push HQ to 16-17. Upgrade Barracks to match. Use speedups aggressively on HQ prerequisites. Drone to Level 20+
Day 6HQ 17 and Barracks 17 should be done. T5 troops unlocked. Now play Falcon Operation and Special Ops for T5 troop rewards
Day 7Final push. Train T5+ troops. Claim any remaining mini-game rewards. Open saved resource chests if needed for last upgrades. Push Murphy to 80

Common Mistakes

  1. Playing mini-games immediately — you get weak T2-T3 troops instead of T5. This is the single biggest mistake new players make during Light of Hope
  2. Opening resource chests at low HQ — their contents scale with HQ level. Save them
  3. Spending diamonds on hero summons — VIP and Drone components provide more CP per diamond
  4. Spreading hero EXP across 10+ heroes — focus on 5 heroes in one squad
  5. Letting builders sit idle — always have something upgrading. Use speedups on blockers
  6. Ignoring the Drone — Drone power is a significant CP contributor that many new players skip
  7. Not joining an alliance on day 1 — alliance help reduces build timers by hours over the event
  8. Hoarding speedups "for later" — the M5-A Railgun is worth more than whatever you would save speedups for. Use them

The Full M5-A Gear Set

The M5-A is not just a Railgun — it is a complete 4-piece gear set. Each piece occupies one of the four gear slots every hero uses. Once you obtain the set, understanding what each piece does and the correct order to level and promote them is critical.

The 4 Pieces

PieceSlotWhat It Does
M5-A "Thor" RailgunGunRaw attack power. This is your primary damage stat. Every point of ATK on the Railgun directly increases your hero's damage output. The single most important piece for DPS heroes
M5-A Hunter Data ChipChipAttack stats and critical rate/damage. The Chip multiplies your Railgun's damage through crits. Without crit, your damage has a hard ceiling — the Chip removes it
M5-A "Guard" Reactive ArmorArmorPhysical defence and HP. Keeps your front-row heroes alive. Tanks need this to absorb damage long enough for your DPS to work
M5-A "Predator" RadarRadarEnergy defence and survivability. Protects against skill-based damage. Essential for tanks and also valuable on DPS heroes who need to survive enemy burst
Every Piece Matters — But Not Equally

The Railgun and Radar are the two highest-impact pieces. The Railgun because it directly scales your carry's damage, and the Radar because it keeps your tank alive against skill damage (which is the primary source of deaths in PvP). The Chip and Armor are important but provide less immediate impact per level invested.

Levelling Order: Getting to Level 40

Gear levels from 0 to 40. Each level adds a flat 5% of the piece's base stats — every level is worth the same — and every 10 levels unlocks a new bonus attribute. Level 40 delivers exactly 300% of base stats, verified in-game on all four slots. That is why pushing priority pieces to 40 before touching others matters: the attributes at 10, 20, 30 and 40 are the only uneven steps on the way up.

Levelling requires Gold and Upgrade Ore. Ore is the bottleneck.

The Correct Levelling Order

1
All 4 pieces to Level 10Cheap and fast. Unlocks the first bonus attribute on each piece. Gets your hero baseline stats quickly. Do not skip any piece — the cost is low and the return is immediate
Level 10
2
M5-A "Thor" Railgun to Level 40Your carry's Gun is the single biggest damage increase in the game. Every ore spent here provides more power than anywhere else. Rush this — do not split ore between pieces after Level 10
Level 40
3
M5-A "Predator" Radar to Level 40Your main tank's Radar. Energy defence keeps your front line alive against enemy skills. If your tank dies early, your carry's Railgun power is wasted because there is nobody left to protect them
Level 40
4
M5-A "Guard" Reactive Armor to Level 40Physical defence for your tank. Complements the Radar — your tank needs both energy and physical defence to survive. This pairs with the Radar to create a durable front line
Level 40
5
M5-A Hunter Data Chip to Level 40Crit stats for your carry. This is last because the Chip multiplies an existing damage base — the Railgun must be high first for the Chip to have something to multiply. At Level 40, the Chip unlocks devastating crit scaling
Level 40
Why This Order?

Offence before defence, and base damage before multipliers. The Railgun provides flat ATK that scales everything your hero does. The Radar and Armor keep your tank alive so the DPS has time to deal that damage. The Chip comes last because crit is a multiplier — a multiplier on a low base gives a low result. Get the base high first (Railgun to 40), then the Chip amplifies it.

Level 10 Breakpoints

Each piece unlocks a bonus attribute at Level 10, 20, 30, and 40:

PieceLevel 10 BonusLevel 40 Bonus
RailgunATK% boost — immediately increases all damageFull ATK scaling at 300% of base by Level 40, 1200% at 5-star Mythic. Enables massive carry damage
Data ChipCrit Rate boost — your hero begins landing critical hitsHigh crit rate + crit damage. Transforms consistent DPS into burst damage
Reactive ArmorDEF% boost — noticeably reduces physical damage takenFull physical mitigation. Tank survives far longer in melee exchanges
RadarEnergy DEF boost — reduces incoming skill damageFull energy mitigation. Essential against enemy burst skills in PvP

Star Promotion: Level 40 to Mythic

Once a piece reaches Level 40, you can star promote it at the Gear Factory (requires Gear Factory Level 20). Each star is four further levels of the already-maxed piece, with blueprints needed on the last of the four, and each multiplies the Level 40 base: 1★ 1.40x, 2★ 1.89x, 3★ 2.51x, 4★ 3.21x, 5★ 4x — verified in-game. Stars 1-4 also upgrade one bonus attribute each, and the 5th unlocks a fifth attribute locked until then, transforming the piece from Legendary (gold) to Mythic (red).

The star track is worth more than the level track

Levelling 0 to 40 triples a piece. Starring it 0★ to 5★ quadruples it again — a Mythic is twelve times a fresh Legendary. Blueprints, not value, are what make the star track slow.

Star Promotion Costs Per Piece

Star LevelBlueprintsDielectric CeramicCoins
1 Star5 Legendary75093.75M
2 Stars10 Legendary (15 total)975121.9M
3 Stars15 Legendary (30 total)1,200150M
4 Stars20 Legendary (50 total)1,425178.1M
5 Stars (Mythic)10 Mythic1,650206.3M

Each star also consumes Upgrade Ore: 62,500 / 81,250 / 100,000 / 118,750 / 137,500 per star (500,000 per piece).

Per piece total: 50 Legendary Blueprints + 10 Mythic Blueprints + 500,000 Upgrade Ore + 6,000 Dielectric Ceramic + 750M Coins. (Blueprint, Ore, Ceramic and Coin costs are verified in-game; "Coins" is the in-game currency, not Gold.)

Full set (all 4 pieces): 200 Legendary Blueprints + 40 Mythic Blueprints for complete 5-star Mythic gear on one hero.

Star Promotion Power Spikes

Every star is bigger than the one before it, and the 5th is the biggest. This guide previously said the jumps came at 2-star and 4-star and told you to stop at 4 — measured in-game, there is no cliff at either, and stopping at 4-star leaves the largest single gain on the table along with the attribute only the 5th star unlocks:

Star LevelPiece is now worthThis star added
1 Star ★1.40x the Level 40 base+40% of base, plus one bonus attribute upgraded
2 Stars ★★1.89x+49% of base
3 Stars ★★★2.51x+62% of base
4 Stars ★★★★3.21x+70% of base
5 Stars (Mythic)4x — and the locked 5th attribute unlocks+79% of base. The biggest single step on the track

The Correct Star Promotion Order

This is where most players go wrong. Do not spread star promotion evenly across all 4 pieces. Focus one piece at a time — not to hit a breakpoint, but because the steps grow and the cost to finish a piece collapses as you near the top.

1
Railgun to 2-StarYour carry's Gun benefits the most from the earliest stars. By 2-star it is at 1.89x its Level 40 attack, which makes every fight noticeably easier. This is always your first promotion target
2★
2
Railgun to 4-StarPush straight through to 4-star before promoting other pieces, then finish it to 5. One hero with a 4-star Gun outperforms two heroes with 2-star Guns, and a 4-star Gun is one cheap step from Mythic — the largest single gain in the system
4★
3
Radar to 2-StarNow secure your tank. A 2-star Radar is at 1.89x its Level 40 defence and HP, keeping your tank alive against enemy skill burst that would otherwise drop them
2★
4
Radar to 4-StarPush tank defence on to 4-star — 3.21x the Level 40 values. A 4-star Radar makes your tank far harder to kill, buying more time for your now-powerful Railgun carry to work
4★
5
Data Chip to 2-StarWith a 4-star Railgun providing a high ATK base, the Chip's crit scaling now has a large number to multiply. Two stars on the Chip is 1.89x its Level 40 values
2★
6
Reactive Armor to 2-StarRounds out your tank's physical defence. By this point your carry is strong and your tank has energy defence — physical defence closes the last gap
2★
7
Railgun to 5-Star (Mythic)Push your carry's Gun to maximum. This is the endgame — Mythic Railgun provides the highest ATK in the game. Requires Mythic Blueprints which are very scarce
5★ Mythic
8
Data Chip to 4-Star, then Armor and Radar to 4-StarContinue pushing remaining pieces to 4-star. Priority: Chip (multiplies your Mythic Railgun), then Radar, then Armor
4★
Why Focus the Railgun First?

Concentration beats distribution — and it is worth knowing why, because the reason people usually give is wrong. There are no 2-star and 4-star breakpoints. Every star is bigger than the last: +40%, +49%, +62%, +70%, +79% of the Level 40 base. Four pieces at 1-star buys you four +40% steps; one piece at 4-star buys +40, +49, +62 and +70 on the same slot, and leaves that piece one cheap step from the largest gain in the system. Spreading blueprints means paying the expensive early stars over and over and never reaching the cheap late ones. Railgun first because offence wins fights; Radar second because your tank surviving is what enables that offence.

Blueprint Sources

Legendary and Mythic Blueprints are your bottleneck for star promotion. Here is where to get them:

SourceStrategy
Honor ShopBuy Legendary Gear Blueprints every refresh. This is the single best value purchase in the game — nothing else compares
EventsParticipate in every event that awards gear blueprints. These are your primary source alongside the Honor Shop
Ammo BonanzaExchange 600+ bullets for up to 10 Mythic Blueprints per cycle. This is the primary Mythic Blueprint source in Season 1
Anniversary EventsBest Mythic Blueprint source overall. Save resources for these events
Season StoreLimited availability — check each refresh for Legendary and Mythic Blueprints

Realistic Timelines

Star promotion is a long-term investment. Set expectations:

MilestoneTimeline
Railgun to 2-star1-2 months of focused blueprint collection
Railgun to 4-star3-4 months total from start
Railgun to 5-star (Mythic)6-10 months total. Mythic Blueprints are the gating factor
Full set at 4-star8-12 months of focused effort
Full set at 5-star (Mythic)2-3 years. This is the endgame goal — do not rush it

Common Star Promotion Mistakes

  1. Spreading blueprints across all 4 pieces evenly — one piece at 4-star beats four pieces at 1-star. Focus the Railgun first
  2. Promoting the Chip before the Railgun — the Chip multiplies ATK. If the Railgun's ATK is low, crit scaling has little to work with
  3. Ignoring the Radar — your tank dying early wastes your carry's damage. Radar is the second-priority piece, not last
  4. Treating the 5th star as competing with the other pieces — it does not. The first four stars cost Legendary blueprints and the 5th costs Mythic blueprints, which are a separate currency you cannot spend on anything else. Push other pieces to 4-star with your Legendary blueprints and take a finished piece to Mythic the moment you have the 10 Mythic blueprints. Holding Mythic blueprints back to "be fair" to the other slots wastes them
  5. Not buying Honor Shop Legendary Blueprints — this is the best value purchase in the game. Buy them every single refresh
  6. Hoarding blueprints without a target — always know which piece and which star level you are working toward. Spend as soon as you reach the next threshold

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