Anime Paradox Early Guide: Fast Progression & Best Units 2026

Anime Paradox Early Guide

Master Anime Paradox from day one with this comprehensive early game guide. Learn optimal progression paths, essential units, gem farming strategies, and trait reroll tips for a strong start in 2026.

2026-02-01
Anime Paradox Wiki Team
Quick Guide
  • Kickstart your journey by redeeming codes and getting initial mythic units like Broly, Kilawa, or Cell.
  • Prioritize clearing story modes (Normal then Nightmare) for massive first-clear gem rewards.
  • Farm Ichigo from Legend Stages as your first secret unit; he's crucial for mid-game.
  • Save your precious trait rerolls specifically for Ichigo and later endgame units.
  • Actively complete challenges (hourly, daily, weekly) for essential evolution materials, gems, and rerolls.
  • Utilize Legend Stages for consistent gem, gold, and green essence farming while actively playing.

Welcome, aspiring Anime Paradox champions, to the ultimate anime paradox early guide designed to rocket your progression from day one in 2026! Navigating the initial hours of any new gacha-style tower defense can be overwhelming, with tempting banners, elusive traits, and various modes demanding your attention. This comprehensive guide cuts through the confusion, offering a streamlined path to ensure you maximize your resources—gems, rerolls, and time—without costly missteps. We’ll cover everything from your very first summons to efficient farming strategies and securing your first secret unit, setting you up for success in Anime Paradox.

First Steps: Initial Setup & Summoning Strategy

Your initial actions in Anime Paradox are crucial for establishing a strong foundation. Upon loading into the game, your first priority should be to redeem any available codes. These codes frequently provide a valuable influx of gems and other resources that can significantly boost your early game. After securing your freebies, focus on smart summoning to acquire powerful mythic units. Avoid blindly spamming banners; instead, target specific units that offer strong early-game utility.

Video Highlights:

  • Redeem available codes immediately upon release for early advantages.
  • Focus on summoning specific mythic units for fast story progression.
  • Understand the roles of top early-game units like Broly, Kilawa, and Cell.
  • Learn about optimal gem farming strategies from first clears.
  • Get a quick overview of the current meta tier list for beginners.

The standard banner can be misleading early on, as many legendary units quickly lose their effectiveness. Your goal isn't to build a perfect team immediately, but rather to acquire one or two mythics capable of clearing story stages and unlocking further content.

Broly (AoE DPS)

  • Wide Area-of-Effect (AoE) damage.
  • Strong damage output even without perfect traits.
  • Excellent for clearing waves and story stages.

Kilawa (Boss Killer)

  • High single-target damage.
  • Essential for defeating tough bosses quickly.
  • Offers stun on every attack, providing crucial crowd control.

Cell (Tank/DPS)

  • Extremely easy to evolve now.
  • Becomes one of the best tanks in the game.
  • Can clear most of the story with one strong DPS unit.
Summoning Focus

Aim to pull any two of Broly, Kilawa, or Cell. Having these units evolved will set you up for smooth early progression. Don't stress over perfect traits at this stage; even basic traits are sufficient for story content.

Story Mode & Challenges: Your Gem Engine

Once you've secured your initial mythic units, your primary objective should be to push through story mode. Story progression is the most reliable way to unlock crucial game systems and earn a significant amount of gems through first-clear rewards. Start with Normal difficulty, then advance to Nightmare.

Stage DifficultyFirst Clear Gem RewardRepeat Clear Gem Reward
Normal250 Gems25 Gems
Nightmare500 Gems50 Gems
Legend1,000 Gems100 Gems
Raid (Act 1-2)1,500 Gems150 Gems
Raid (Act 3)3,000 Gems150 Gems
Ichigo: Your First Secret Unit

Ichigo is the easiest secret unit to acquire in Anime Paradox and will dramatically boost your progression. He is farmable from Legend Stages with an approximate 2% drop rate, which is exceptionally high compared to gacha banners. Prioritize farming Ichigo after clearing Nightmare stages.

After completing story modes, dive into Challenges. These are a goldmine for evolution materials, trait rerolls, gold, and essences. Challenges typically have fewer waves (around 10) compared to story stages (15 waves), making them quicker and easier to complete.

1

Clear Normal Story

With 1-2 evolved mythics, push through all Normal difficulty story stages. This unlocks Challenges and Nightmare mode.

2

Conquer Nightmare Stages

Once you have 2 evolved mythics, tackle Nightmare difficulty for increased gem rewards and rerolls.

3

Farm Legend Stage 3 for Ichigo

Focus on Legend Stage 3. Keep farming until you acquire Ichigo, saving all your trait rerolls for him.

4

Daily & Weekly Challenges

Regularly complete hourly, daily, and weekly challenges for consistent resource income.

Mastering Resources: Gems, Gold & Rerolls

Efficiently managing your resources is key to long-term success in Anime Paradox. Gems are primarily for summoning, while gold and various essences are vital for unit evolution and upgrades. Trait rerolls are extremely rare and should be used strategically.

Resource TypePrimary Early Game SourcesBest Use
GemsFirst-clear story rewards, Legend Stages, Challenges, Time Chamber, MilestonesSummoning new units, unlocking Battle Pass tiers.
GoldSelling duplicate units, Legend Stages, Time Chamber, Challenges, Gold MerchantPurchasing essences/rerolls from merchants, unit upgrades, ascension.
Trait RerollsChallenges, Nightmare clears, Milestones, Raid Shop, Gold Merchant (limited)Optimizing traits on SSS-tier units like Ichigo and later secrets.
EssencesChallenges, Gold Merchant, Raid Shop, Legend StagesUnit evolution, crafting specific evolution materials.
Stat ChipsChallenges, Gold Merchant, Raid Shop, Siege ShopRerolling unit stats (after Level 50 and good traits).
Trait Reroll Management

Do not waste trait rerolls on early legendary or even non-Ichigo mythic units. These are incredibly scarce. Save every single reroll for your most powerful units, starting with Ichigo, to ensure you get optimal traits for endgame content.

Gold Farming Strategies:

  • Summon and Sell: Summoning often yields many common units. Selling these duplicates is a quick way to accumulate gold.
  • Legend Stages: Repeatedly clearing Legend Stages offers a steady income of gold, alongside gems and green essences.
  • Time Chamber: If you have VIP and Premium game passes, the Time Chamber provides AFK rewards, including gold (around 131 gold per 2 minutes).
  • Gold Merchant: Visit the Gold Merchant hourly to purchase essences and trait rerolls.

Resource Management Checklist:

  • Redeem all available codes for initial gems and rerolls.
  • Prioritize first-clear gem rewards from all story difficulties.
  • Farm Legend Stages for consistent gem, gold, and essence income.
  • Complete daily/weekly challenges for guaranteed resource drops.
  • Save all trait rerolls for Ichigo and future secret units.
  • Regularly check the Gold Merchant for hourly deals on essences and rerolls.

Unit Evolution & Ascension: Powering Up Your Team

Once you have your core units, evolving and ascending them is the next step to maximizing their potential. Evolution significantly boosts a unit's stats and often unlocks new abilities. Ascension, using duplicates, provides further incremental power increases.

Evolution Simplified

Evolution used to be a bottleneck, but it has been heavily streamlined. Evolving your key mythic units early is now very achievable through challenges and merchant purchases. For example, Kilawa only requires crafting a specific "euro thing" using easily obtainable essences from merchants.

Key Evolution Materials and Their Sources:

Material TypePrimary Source(s)Crafting Notes
Green EssenceGold Merchant, Raid Shop, Legend Stages, ChallengesBasic essence, used in many crafts.
Red EssenceGold Merchant, Raid ShopCrafted from 3x Green Essence.
Pink EssenceGold Merchant, Raid ShopCrafted from 3x Green Essence.
Purple EssenceGold Merchant, Raid ShopCrafted from 3x Green Essence.
Blue EssenceGold Merchant, Raid ShopCrafted from 3x Green Essence.
Yellow EssenceGold Merchant, Raid ShopCrafted from 3x Green Essence.
Rainbow EssenceGold Merchant, Raid Shop, Rainbow Essence ChallengeCrafted from 3x Red, Pink, Purple, Blue, Yellow Essences + 10x Green Essence.
Broken Igris HelmetSiege Shop (4,000 Siege Coins)Used to craft Igris Helmet (5x Broken Helmets + 12,500 Gold).
Sung Jin Wu's DaggersRaid Shop (500 Raid Coins)Evolution item for Sung Jin Wu.

Leveling Units: Avoid relying on feeding units for XP, as it provides minimal value. The most efficient way to level your units is to simply include them in your active team and clear stages normally. XP is shared globally across your team, meaning everyone levels up faster by just playing the game. Once a unit reaches Level 50, then you can consider using stat rerolls to optimize their attributes.

Ascension: Keep your duplicate units! Ascension allows you to enhance a unit's star rating, providing slight buffs to damage, range, and cooldown. This process typically costs a duplicate unit, 10 gems, and 1,000 gold. For example, ascending Ichigo to 2 stars requires duplicates and resources.

Beyond Early Game: Raids, Siege & Endgame Prep

Once you've established a strong foundation with Ichigo and evolved mythics, the game opens up to more challenging endgame content like Raids and Siege mode. These modes offer powerful secret units and additional sources of rare resources.

Endgame ModePrimary GoalKey RewardsCurrent Difficulty & Notes
RaidsFarm Sung Jin Wu200 Gems/clear, 1,500 Gold/clear, Sung Jin Wu drop chanceChallenging but farmable. Sung Jin Wu is the second-best secret unit. Raid Shop offers rerolls, essences, and evo materials.
SiegeFarm IgrisSiege Coins, Stat Chips, Trait Rerolls, Chahane/Steel evo materialsCurrently very difficult and not beginner-friendly due to high token costs (50,000 tokens for Igris) and slow coin gain.
Raid ShopAcquire Rerolls & MaterialsTrait Rerolls, Essences, Stat Chips, Sung Jin Wu evo materialsRestocks weekly, a crucial source for late-game progression. Prioritize Igris evolution materials if farming Siege.
Siege ShopAcquire Igris Evo & RerollsBroken Igris Helmet (4,000 coins), Trait Rerolls, Stat ChipsRequires significant Siege Coin farming, which is currently inefficient.
Siege Mode Caution

As of early 2026, Siege mode is extremely challenging and inefficient for beginners. Igris is a powerful unit, but the 50,000 Siege Coin cost for him and the slow coin gain make him an endgame-only pursuit. Focus on Raids and Ichigo first.

Optimizing Gameplay Flow (General Strategy):

  1. Place DPS First: Position your main damage dealers near enemy spawn points.
  2. Strategic Farm Placement: Place your farm units as far from enemy paths as possible to protect them. Upgrade your farm until enemies start spawning near it (around wave 3).
  3. Stack Units: In Anime Paradox, you can stack multiple units in the same spot, which is an effective strategy for maximizing damage output.
  4. Utilize Healers: Units like Orihime are essential, especially if your DPS units don't have optimal traits, as they can die quickly without healing support.

FAQ

Q: What should I do immediately after starting Anime Paradox in 2026?

First, redeem all available codes. Then, focus on summoning one or two strong mythic units like Broly, Kilawa, or Cell to help you clear story mode quickly. Don't worry about perfect traits yet.

Q: How do I get gems fast in the early game?

The fastest way to get gems early is by completing first clears of all story stages (Normal, Nightmare, Legend). Regularly complete daily and weekly challenges, and farm Legend Stages repeatedly for consistent gem income.

Q: Which secret unit should I aim for first?

Ichigo is the easiest secret unit to get. You can farm him from Legend Stages with a 2% drop rate. Prioritize getting and building Ichigo before attempting harder endgame content.

Q: Should I use trait rerolls on my early units?

No, save all your trait rerolls for SSS-tier units like Ichigo and other secret units you acquire later. Trait rerolls are very rare, and wasting them on temporary units will hinder your long-term progression.

Anime Paradox Early Guide: Fast Progression & Best Units 2026 - Anime Paradox