Resonator Progression

Upgrading your Resonators in Wuthering Waves will enhance their combat capabilities, allowing you to challenge and overcome the more difficult content that the game offers.

The main ways for a Resonator to grow stronger in Wuthering Waves are:

Increasing the Resonator level
Upgrading the Resonator’s Fortes
Unlocking the Resonator’s Resonance Chain
Equipping Weapons
Equipping Echoes

Character Level and Ascension

Each Resonator in Wuthering Waves has a Resonator Level ranging from 1 to 90 and gains additional stats as they level up.

Once a Resonator reaches certain level milestones, they will need to be ascended in order to increase their level further. Resonators start with a base max Level of 20. Each time you ascend a Resonator, their level cap will increase by 10 up to a maximum of 90. To ascend a Resonator, you will need to gather materials from Boss Challenges and collect materials from enemies and plants in the overworld.

Also, note that your Union Level (Account Level) will also determine how many times you can ascend a Resonator. Even if you have all of the required ascension materials, you will not be able to ascend a Resonator past a certain Level unless your account is also of the appropriate Union Level.

Fortes

Fortes are a skill upgrade tree that each Resonator has. Unlocking and upgrading the various nodes in a Resonator’s Forte will provide them with stat bonuses, extra passive abilities, and enhancements to their 5 Skills.

Fortes can be upgraded by using materials obtained by completing Forgery Challenges, Weekly Challenges, and killing overworld enemies. Also, note that the ability to upgrade Fortes is tied to your Resonator’s Ascension, so you will need to level your Resonator first before being able to upgrade their Fortes.

Resonance Chain / Wavebands

Resonance Chain enhances Resonator’s abilities or provides them with new passive bonuses. Each Resonator has 6 Resonance Chain upgrades with each upgrade providing a different bonus.

Resonance Chain upgrades can be unlocked by obtaining duplicate copies (called Wavebands) of the Resonator from Convenes (the gacha system) or through in-game missions and events. Though compared to other games, you can also buy Wavebands from the in-game shop using a currency you obtain from pulling - but the shop limits the amount of Wavebands you can buy to 2 per character (and this includes the current rate-up characters).

The only exception to this is the Main Character. You can obtain their Wavebands via in-game missions and Relic Merchant rewards.

Weapons

Weapons are a type of equipment that all Resonators can equip and they provide stat bonuses to the Resonator and a new passive. Similar to Resonators, Weapons also have a Level ranging from 1 to 90 . They can be leveled up and ascended as well. Doing so will increase the stat bonus that they provide to the equipped Resonator.

Each Weapon also has a Weapon ability which is a passive bonus. A Weapon Ability starts at Rank 1 and can be upgraded to Rank 5 by using the Synthesis function.

To use the Synthesis function, you will need to expend duplicate Light Cones of the one that you are upgrading. Each duplicate Weapon that you use will increase the Weapon’s Ability Rank by 1. Note that any Weapons used as a Synthesis material will be consumed and destroyed. Increasing the Rank of a Weapon Ability will enhance some or all of the numerical portion of the bonus that it provides.

Keep in mind that Weapons can only be equipped if the Resonator can use that weapon type.

Echoes

Echoes are the other type of equipment in this game and serve the function of armor and accessories in a traditional RPG game. Equipping Echoes to your Resonator will provide them with a variety of stat increases from HP to ATK to Energy Regeneration. Echoes will provide your Resonators with the main bulk of their stat increases.

Every Echo has an active Echo ability.
There are 5 total Echo slots. The Echo equipped in the first slot will have its active Echo Ability available for you to use. The order of the rest does not matter.
Each Echo comes with a COST requirement that ranges between 1 to 4 depending on the Echo’s Class. Each Resonator has a COST limit of 10 at the start and it is possible to upgrade it to 12 through Data Dock upgrades. Resonators can only equip Echoes up to the COST limit.

There are 4 different Echo Classes:

Common Class (1-COST)
Elite Class (3-COST)
Overlord Class (4-COST)
Calamity Class (4-COST)

Each Echo has 2 main stats and up to 5 sub-stats. Primary main stats differ while secondary main stats are set for each Echo Class. Depending on the Echo Class, the possible primary main stats are: