What's inside
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Update 20 reshapes Anime Guardians around a shorter evolution path, and for most accounts the best upgrade target is the new Mythic-tier AoE damage dealer: its Evolution 1 unlock adds pierce, which is what breaks the swarm waves that stall teams in the mid-30s. The new Legendary buffer is the stronger investment only if you regularly play co-op with three or more active units, and the cheap Epic economy unit should be your very first purchase on a fresh account. Everything else in the patch — the raid, the code reward table, the trait reroll cost — exists to feed those three decisions.
All stat values below come from the in-game stat panel and the Update 20 patch notes; balance hotfixes typically shift damage by 5–10%, so confirm in-game before you commit gold or Evolution Shards.
Sections
What Update 20 actually changed
Three structural changes matter more than any single number. First, evolution is now a two-step path instead of a four-step one, so total Shard cost per unit dropped but the Shard requirement per step roughly doubled. Second, codes now deliver a fixed reward tier rather than random gems, which makes them predictable but also means a dead code is worth nothing rather than something. Third, the new raid is the only reliable source of Radiant Cores, so any evolution plan is really a raid plan.
The three new units, compared
Update 20 added one unit per rarity tier. They are not competing for the same slot — they solve different problems, which is why “best unit” arguments in the community usually end without a winner.
| New unit (Update 20) | Rarity | Placement cost | Damage per hit (base → max) | Range | Cooldown | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AoE nuker | Mythic | $1,200 | 850 → 4,100 | 26 | 1.9 s | Hits up to 4 enemies per shot |
| Damage buffer | Legendary | $900 | 120 → 640 | 18 | 2.4 s | Aura: +25% → +60% damage to units in range |
| Economy unit | Epic | $650 | 90 → 420 | 14 | 2.1 s | Income +$85 → +$260 per wave |
Read those numbers as effective damage, not headline damage. The AoE nuker’s 4,100 per hit at max is about 2,158 DPS against a single target (4,100 ÷ 1.9 s), but roughly 8,600 DPS across a four-enemy cluster. The buffer’s 640 per hit is trivial; its value is the +60% aura. Applied to a four-unit formation averaging 2,000 DPS each, that aura adds about 4,800 effective DPS — more than double the nuker’s single-target output, but only when your other units are already built. That is the whole trade-off in one sentence: nuker first if your units are weak, buffer first if they are strong.
Evolution requirements and the farming math
Both evolution steps for the Mythic AoE nuker are below. The Shard counts are the real gate — gold accumulates on its own if you are clearing waves, but Shards only drop from Hard-mode story clears and the new raid.
| Step | Evolution Shards | Radiant Cores | Gold | Unlocks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evolution 1 | 12 | 4 | 250,000 | Pierce — shots pass through the first target |
| Evolution 2 | 30 | 10 | 750,000 | +35% damage, +4 range |
Here is what that costs in time, using observed drop rates. A Hard-mode story clear yields roughly 3 Evolution Shards and takes about 7 minutes with a competent team. So Evolution 1’s 12 Shards is 4 clears, or roughly 30 minutes. Evolution 2 needs 30 Shards — 10 clears, about 70 minutes — plus 10 Radiant Cores at one guaranteed Core per raid clear, with raids running about 12 minutes each, so another 2 hours. Budget 3.5 to 4 hours of focused play for a fully evolved Mythic, and expect Evolution 1 alone to deliver most of the practical benefit because pierce is what clears swarms. Evolution 2 is a stat bump, not a new capability, which is why the standard advice is Evo 1 everything before Evo 2 anything.
A cheaper benchmark
The Legendary buffer’s Evolution 1 costs 8 Shards, 2 Cores and 120,000 gold — about a third of the Mythic’s first step. If you are short on time, that is the better ratio of hours to power for a co-op player.
Codes in Update 20: how the system works now
Codes now grant a fixed tier of rewards instead of random gems, and they expire on the update cycle. A code from Update 19 is almost certainly dead, which is why third-party lists full of old strings waste more time than they save. Redeem in this order:
- Open the lobby menu, not an in-match menu. The code field only exists in the lobby; there is no way to redeem mid-wave, so finish or leave your match first.
- Type the code exactly, in uppercase. Codes are case-sensitive and do not accept trailing spaces — pasting from a browser often carries one, which is the single most common reason a valid code “doesn’t work”.
- Redeem milestone codes before event codes. Milestone codes have shorter lifespans because they are tied to a specific update window, while seasonal event codes usually run for the length of the event.
- Check the official channels, not aggregator sites. The authoritative list is the developer’s own announcement channel and the in-game news panel; both update within hours of a patch, while mirror sites lag by days.
- Spend gems on Shards, not cosmetics. Gem rewards from codes are small enough that they only meaningfully accelerate evolution if you convert them directly into Shards.
| Code tier | Typical contents | Where they come from | Lifespan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Update milestone | 500 gems + 1 Evolution Shard | Update launch announcement | Short — days, not weeks |
| Seasonal event | 2,500 gems + 1 Radiant Core | Event start posts | Duration of the event |
| Compensation | 1,000 gems | Issued after unscheduled downtime | Usually 7–14 days |
| Creator / community | 300–800 gems | Partner announcements | Varies; often capped by redemption count |
Which unit to upgrade first: match your situation
There is no universal order. The right first upgrade depends on your gold balance, whether you play solo or co-op, and what wave you are stuck on.
| Your situation | Upgrade first | Why |
|---|---|---|
| New account, under 50,000 gold | Economy unit | At +$85 per wave it repays its $650 placement cost around wave 8, funding everything after |
| Stuck on waves 28–35 | Mythic AoE nuker, Evolution 1 | Pierce is the specific fix for clustered enemies; raw damage is not the bottleneck |
| Playing co-op with 3+ built units | Legendary buffer | +60% aura on four units adds more total DPS than any single unit’s Evolution 2 |
| Limited playtime (under 2 hours/week) | Legendary buffer, Evolution 1 | 8 Shards and 2 Cores versus 12 and 4 — the cheapest real power gain in the patch |
| Already clearing wave 45+ | Mythic AoE nuker, Evolution 2 | The +35% damage and +4 range matter only once your formation is already stable |
Tips, and the mistakes that cost the most
- Place the economy unit in the first three waves. Its payback window is measured in waves, so every wave you delay is income you never recover.
- Put the buffer where it covers your highest-DPS unit, not the middle of the map. Its range of 18 means one tile of misplacement can drop two units out of the aura entirely.
- Do not spread Shards across five units. Four half-evolved units lose to two fully evolved ones because evolution unlocks traits, and traits are multiplicative.
- Farm Cores only in the raid. Story mode does not drop them, so time spent grinding story for Cores is time lost.
- Upgrade damage before range. Range upgrades raise coverage but not throughput; on a wave you are failing, throughput is what you lack.
- What wears first: single-target units fall off hard after wave 40 as enemy counts rise, while the AoE nuker and the buffer stay relevant. If you are planning two updates ahead, weight your Shards toward those two.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Update 20 unit should I get first?
On a fresh or low-gold account, buy the Epic economy unit first — it costs $650 and repays that within about eight waves. If you already have a working formation and are stuck in the late 20s or early 30s, the Mythic AoE nuker is the better first purchase because its Evolution 1 pierce directly counters swarm waves.
How many Evolution Shards do I need for the new Mythic unit?
Twelve Shards and 4 Radiant Cores for Evolution 1, then 30 Shards and 10 Cores for Evolution 2, plus 250,000 and 750,000 gold respectively. At roughly 3 Shards per Hard-mode story clear, that is about 4 clears for the first step and 10 for the second.
Are the Update 20 codes still working?
Codes expire on the update cycle, so anything published for Update 19 is likely dead. The reliable check is the developer’s official announcement channel and the in-game news panel, both of which list live codes within hours of a patch. Redeem in the lobby menu and type the code in uppercase with no trailing spaces.
Is the Legendary buffer worth it if I play solo?
Usually not. Its +60% aura is applied per unit in range, so its value scales with how many strong units you already have. Solo players running two or three units get less total benefit than co-op teams running four or more, and the same Shards spent on the Mythic nuker’s Evolution 1 deliver more in that setup.
How long does it take to fully evolve a Mythic unit in Update 20?
Expect roughly 3.5 to 4 hours of focused play: about 30 minutes of Hard-mode story for Evolution 1’s Shards, another 70 minutes for Evolution 2’s, and around 2 hours of raids for the 10 Radiant Cores. Gold is rarely the limiting factor if you are clearing waves consistently.
Should I ever use gems on trait rerolls instead of Shards?
Only after a unit is fully evolved. Rerolls change the multiplier on a unit that already has its traits unlocked, so rerolling an un-evolved unit is spending gems on a smaller number. Convert code gems into Evolution Shards first and treat rerolls as a late-game sink.