Puzzles & Survival Hero Upgrade Guide (October 2026): Fragments, Antiserum and Stars

For Puzzles & Survival players who want to know where hero resources go and how to waste less of them. Checked October 2026.

Short answer: In Puzzles & Survival you unlock a hero with 10 fragments from Noah's Tavern recruits. Level it with Antiserum, evolve it with Combat Manuals when it hits the cap, and enhance it with more fragments to raise stats and Troop Skills. Heroes go up to 6 stars, and skills rise as the hero upgrades.

See Puzzles & Survival packs and prices

Hero growth in Puzzles & Survival uses four resources: recruits, fragments, Antiserum and Combat Manuals. Each one runs out at a different speed, so the trick is knowing which one is holding your best hero back.

Here is the full path from first fragment to 6 stars, plus how heroes link to your troops.

Step 1: get the hero

Heroes come from Noah's Tavern, next to your HQ. There are three recruit types, each with its own coin (BlueStacks, Pocket Gamer).

Each pull gives a fragment, not a full hero. You need 10 fragments to unlock a hero. Save coins for a 10x pull, which gives 11 items. Pocket Gamer values a 10x pull at 500 Diamonds.

Some heroes come from events instead. Samuel fragments come mainly from Distress Signal events, and Lee fragments from Traveling Merchant locked boxes (High Ground Gaming). The 7.0.149 notes added Ray Ramos to Timed Tavern III.

Step 2: Noah points for the fragments you want

Duplicate fragments you do not need can be recycled into Noah points. Noah points buy fragments: 50 points for a 3-star fragment, 250 for a 4-star and 1,000 for a 5-star (BlueStacks). Do not recycle fragments of a hero you plan to enhance.

Step 3: level with Antiserum

Antiserum is hero EXP. Each level costs more than the last. You get Antiserum from Zombie Lairs (paid with stamina), resource buildings, codes and events. It is the resource most players run out of first, which is why levelling 2-star heroes is a trap.

Step 4: evolve with Combat Manuals

When a hero hits its level cap, it needs Combat Manuals to evolve. Evolving raises stats and opens more levels. Manuals come mainly from the main campaign. High Ground Gaming notes that higher campaign manuals raise the cap from 350 to 400, and warns against spending AP on old stages when a higher stage drops better manuals.

Step 5: enhance and star up

Enhancing uses fragments or duplicate heroes. It raises base stats and boosts the hero's Troop Skills. Heroes can reach 6 stars, and skills go up to level 5 through hero upgrades (Pocket Gamer strategy guide).

How heroes link to your troops

Your Sanctuary trains four troop types: Fighter, Shooter, Rider and Vehicle, in the Fighter Camp, Shooter Camp, Rider Camp and Vehicle Depot (BlueStacks). Military heroes give Troop Skills, passive buffs for one troop type. Amber, for example, boosts Shooter attack damage by 100%.

• Send heroes with the march. A Troop Skill only applies when the hero is dispatched.
• Counters: Shooter beats Rider, Rider beats Fighter and Fighter beats Shooter (High Ground Gaming). Check this before a Commander Duel.
• Research: the Military and Military II trees boost troop stats like attack and march speed.

Where to put resources first

1. One hero of each colour, so you can counter any enemy in puzzle battles.
2. Your best 4-star or 5-star hero in each colour, once you get one.
3. Military heroes whose Troop Skills match the troops you train most.

Which heroes rank highest is in our hero tier list.

Bioenhancer, cores and other late systems

Later in the game, heroes get more systems on top. The 7.0.149 update added 10 levels to the Bioenhancer Challenge and a Core Preset that lets you save two cores per hero, unlocked at Lv.38 Horizon Hub (patch notes). High Ground Gaming lists Bioenhancer fragments among the resources to collect, and warns not to start a Prison run before checking for a Bioenhancer event the next day.

You do not need these in week one. Get your main heroes levelled and evolved first, then add the late systems to the heroes you are sure to keep.

For spenders and alliance leaders

• Find the real bottleneck. If your best hero is stuck on fragments, buy recruits. If it is stuck on level, Antiserum. Buying the wrong one is the most common waste.
• Score events while you grow. Hero Upgrade gives points for fragments, and Army Expansion gives points for training troops (AppGamer). Save recruit coins and Hero Choice cards for Hero Upgrade.
• Leaders: map which troop types your top members train, so rally leaders bring heroes whose Troop Skills fit.

Sources: BlueStacks hero and army guide, Pocket Gamer tips, Pocket Gamer strategy guide, High Ground Gaming guide, High Ground Gaming events, AppGamer events guide.

Spotted a mistake? Tell us in the Play Smarter Discord and we will fix it.

Where Packsify fits

If one hero is stuck on fragments or Antiserum, packs move it fastest. With Packsify you get up to 13% more pack value for the same money. Packsify buys the exact pack through the official Apple App Store or Google Play, so it lands in your account like any store purchase. Read how we keep accounts safe before your first order.

Check Packsify for Puzzles & Survival

More Puzzles & Survival guides: hero tier list, puzzle battle guide, best packs to buy, Diamonds guide.

Packsify is an independent service, not affiliated with Puzzles & Survival or its publisher.