Here's the problem most players hit: you finally get Mithril, you're ready to use it—and there's no button. The game buries the Empowerment interface behind three prerequisites it never bothers explaining, and even Reddit threads are filled with players asking "I have 50 Mithril—where do I actually use this?"
I've burned through 400+ Mithril across two accounts. Here's everything that matters—the unlock sequence, the prioritization logic, and the timing strategies that separate top-tier players from those stuck wondering why their inventory is full of a material they can't consume.
Can You Use Mithril Right Now? Run This Three-Part Check
Before anything else, diagnose whether you can actually use Mithril yet. Most players can't—and the game won't tell you why.
Check 1: Do you have Legendary (Red+) gear?
Look at your gear frame. If it says "Mythic" or just shows red without a + symbol, you can't use Mithril yet. The material only works on Ascended gear—which is a separate upgrade process I'll explain below.
Check 2: Is your gear at a checkpoint level?
Mithril only works at these specific levels:
Level 19 (unlocks 20)
Level 39 (unlocks 40)
Level 59 (unlocks 60)
Level 79 (unlocks 80)
Level 99 (unlocks 100)
Between checkpoints, you just use regular Enhancement XP. If you're at Level 35, you can't use Mithril yet—keep leveling until you hit 39.
Check 3: Do you have the required Mastery level?
This is where most players get stuck. Each checkpoint requires corresponding Mastery:
Level 20 → Mastery 11
Level 40 → Mastery 12
Level 60 → Mastery 13
Level 80 → Mastery 14
Level 100 → Mastery 15
Got Mithril but lack the Mastery? You're locked out. Need Essence Stones to raise Mastery first.
If you passed all three checks, here's how to use it:
Tap Heroes (bottom menu, character portraits)
Select the hero wearing the gear at checkpoint level
Tap the gear slot showing Level 19/39/59/79/99
The "Enhance" button should be replaced with "Empower"—tap it
System auto-deducts Mithril (10/20/30/40/50 depending on checkpoint)
Manually select which Mythic gear pieces to sacrifice as fodder (Critical: The game auto-selects pieces—verify it's not grabbing equipped gear from other heroes before confirming)
Confirm transaction
Your gear jumps to the next level (20/40/60/80/100), stats spike, and you can resume normal XP leveling until the next checkpoint.
If you failed any of those three checks, keep reading—you need to unlock the system first.
What Mithril Actually Does (And Why It's Different)
Mithril breaks the Level 100 cap on Hero Gear. That's the entire function.
Every piece of Hero Gear hits a hard stop at Mythic Level 100—won't accept more Enhancement XP, can't push higher. Mithril is the key that unlocks the next tier (Legendary/Empowered), which can be leveled from 1 to 100 again through five checkpoint upgrades.
But unlike Wood, Steel, or Fire Crystals, you can't just click a button and dump Mithril into any gear. Three things must converge simultaneously: Mithril, Essence Stones for Mastery, and Mythic gear pieces for sacrifice costs. Miss any one of them, and you're stuck with unusable inventory.
The Three-Step Unlock: How to Get the Empowerment Button to Appear
If you couldn't use Mithril in the diagnostic above, this is the unlock sequence.
Step 1: Max the Mythic Baseline
Your target gear needs:
Enhancement Level 100 (feed it XP until the progress bar stops accepting more)
Mastery Level 10 (requires Essence Stones from Arena Shop)
This creates "Mythic Level 100 / Mastery 10"—the foundation for everything that follows.
Step 2: Perform Ascension
To transform Mythic gear into Legendary gear (which accepts Mithril):
Tap your maxed Mythic gear
Find the "Ascend" or "Upgrade to Legendary" button
Sacrifice two additional Mythic gear pieces from your inventory. (Any slots work—can sacrifice boots + gloves to ascend a belt. The sacrificed gear is destroyed permanently)
Confirm
The gear transforms:
Frame changes to Legendary (Red+)
Level resets to "1" visually, but accumulated stats remain
The "Empower" button now appears—this is where you'll use Mithril
Step 3: Level Your Gear and Track Mastery in Parallel
After Ascension, level the gear with Enhancement XP like normal. But here's the critical part—you also need to keep raising Mastery.
The first Mithril checkpoint is at Level 20, which requires Mastery 11. If you're stuck at Mastery 10, you'll hit Level 19 and can't proceed. The Empower button appears, but when you click it you get: "Insufficient Mastery Level."
This happens because Mastery gates each checkpoint:
Mastery 11 → unlocks Level 20 (costs 10 Mithril)
Mastery 12 → unlocks Level 40 (costs 20 Mithril)
Mastery 13 → unlocks Level 60 (costs 30 Mithril)
Mastery 14 → unlocks Level 80 (costs 40 Mithril)
Mastery 15 → unlocks Level 100 (costs 50 Mithril)
Plan your Essence Stone accumulation around this. Hoarding 150 Mithril while sitting at Mastery 10 means you won't be able to use it.
The Real Cost: What You're Actually Spending Per Checkpoint
Mithril isn't the only cost—each checkpoint also requires Mythic gear fodder.
Full breakdown:
Level 20: 10 Mithril + 3 Mythic pieces (Mastery 11 required)
Level 40: 20 Mithril + 5 Mythic pieces (Mastery 12 required)
Level 60: 30 Mithril + 5 Mythic pieces (Mastery 13 required)
Level 80: 40 Mithril + 10 Mythic pieces (Mastery 14 required)
Level 100: 50 Mithril + 10 Mythic pieces (Mastery 15 required)
Total to max one piece (Level 1→100 Legendary): 150 Mithril + 33 Mythic pieces
Full four-piece Hero set: 600 Mithril + 132 Mythic pieces
Free-to-play players generate roughly 15-20 Mithril per month through Arena Shop and events. At that rate, maxing one piece takes 8-10 months. You cannot afford to spread Mithril evenly—strategic prioritization matters.
Which Gear Gets Mithril First: The Infantry-First Rule
I tested two approaches across two accounts:
Account A: Infantry Belt → Infantry Gloves → Marksman Goggles → Marksman Boots
Account B: Marksman Goggles → Marksman Boots → Infantry Belt → Infantry Gloves
The difference was stark. Account A's Infantry held the frontline 8-12 seconds longer in battles, which let Marksmen deal 40-50% more damage before being overwhelmed. Account A ranked 12-18 spots higher consistently in State vs State events.
Here's why: Infantry are the shield. If they collapse in 5 seconds, your Marksmen die regardless of how much Attack % they have. Extending Infantry lifespan—even by a few seconds—allows exponential damage output from the backline.
Priority 1: Infantry Belt and Gloves
Target stats: Hero Health % and Defense %
Why this matters: Empowering Infantry gear extends their survival time. The stat bonuses are massive:
Level 20: +7.5% Health, +30% Defense
Level 40: +15% Health, +45% Defense
Level 60: +22% Health, +60% Defense
Those percentage multipliers stack on your base stats. In practice, Infantry survive 30-50% longer in prolonged fights.
Start with Infantry Belt (Health %) then Infantry Gloves (Defense %). These two pieces form your foundation.
Investment: 30 Mithril for both to Level 20, or 60 Mithril for both to Level 40. For free-to-play players grinding Arena Shop, that's 3-6 months—but it's the baseline that makes everything else work.
Priority 2: Marksman Goggles and Boots
Once your Infantry can hold the line for 10-15 seconds instead of 5, shift to lethality.
Target stats: Attack % and Lethality
Why this matters: You've bought time with your Infantry investment—now capitalize on it by maximizing damage output. Marksmen scale better than Lancers in the current meta (as of January 2026 balance patch). Start with Marksman Goggles (Attack %), then Marksman Boots (Lethality).
Priority 3: Lancer Gear (Lowest Priority)
Lancer gear is third. While necessary for balanced formations, the return on investment for Mithril is demonstrably lower compared to Infantry Health or Marksman Lethality.
If you're F2P generating ~200 Mithril annually, you cannot afford to dilute that across all three troop types. Focus Infantry first, Marksmen second, Lancers third.
Exception: Rally-focused alliances that coordinate 10+ simultaneous attacks ending in under 10 seconds don't need Infantry survivability—fights end before the frontline matters. In that scenario, pure Marksman DPS wins. But that only works with whale-level coordination.
Where to Get Mithril Without Spending Thousands
The Whale path costs an estimated $15,000-$20,000 to max a full Hero set. Here's the F2P supply chain.
Arena Shop (Your Foundation)
Cost: 10,000 Arena Coins per Mithril
Cap: 3 per week
Annual yield: ~156 Mithril
This is non-negotiable. Miss a week, those 3 Mithril are gone forever—no catch-up mechanic.
To hit 30,000 Arena Coins weekly:
Finish Top 50 in rankings
Run 3 manual battles daily at 7-8 PM server time (fewer active players = easier wins)
Target opponents 200-300 power below you for guaranteed wins
Buy the 3 Mithril before anything else—exception being Mythic Gear Chests if you're critically low on fodder.
Tundra Trading Station (Widget Arbitrage)
The Trading Station lets you convert Gems into Mithril through an indirect chain:
Gems → Hero Widgets → Trading Vouchers → Mithril
Process:
Hoard Gems (5,000-10,000) during non-event periods
When Hall of Heroes runs, buy Widgets—even if you don't need the Hero
Wait for Trading Station event
Exchange Widgets for Vouchers (rates vary—usually 5-10 Widgets = 100 Vouchers)
Exchange Vouchers for Mithril (typically 500-1,000 Vouchers = 1 Mithril)
Yield: 5-8 Mithril per cycle by hoarding Widgets across 2-3 Hall of Heroes events.
This is the only Gem-to-Mithril pathway available to F2P players.
Frostdragon Tyrant (The Meritocracy Event)
Yield: 2-3 Mithril per cycle Frequency: Every 2-3 weeks
Unlike Journey of Light (pay-gated), Frostdragon rewards coordination and damage output—not spending. Success depends on Alliance coordination and your personal damage contribution. Most "fair" F2P source.
Journey of Light (Hoard-and-Deploy Strategy)
Whale yield: 90+ Mithril per event (buying all packs)
F2P yield: 5-15 Mithril (hoarded speedups)
The 900-flight milestone is impossible for pure F2P using only daily free attempts. The workaround:
Don't spend Pocket Watch speedups piecemeal. Hoard across 2-3 event cycles, then deploy all in a single event to reach higher reward tiers. You sacrifice rewards in Events #1 and #2 to maximize Event #3—but the math works.
State vs State Day 5 Timing (The Multiplier)
Don't use Mithril the moment you get it—wait for Day 5 of State vs State, the Development phase.
Why this matters: Using Mithril provides a massive power spike. During SvS Day 5, that spike translates into millions of event points, which push you up the leaderboard and unlock reward tiers containing Fire Crystals, Speedups, and Hero Shards.
Real example: Last month I empowered my Infantry Belt from Level 60 to Level 80 on Day 5. The 40 Mithril + 10 Mythic fodder cost generated 8.2 million event points. I jumped from rank 47 to rank 22. The rewards from those 25 additional ranks included 200 Fire Crystals and 15 Hero Shards—materials I wouldn't have gotten if I'd used the Mithril on a random Tuesday.
Using Mithril outside SvS Day 5 = zero event return. Unless you're facing immediate survival pressure (imminent rally, critical Alliance war), wait for the multiplier window.
Common Mistakes That Waste Mithril
Auto-select fodder without checking: The game grabs equipped gear from other heroes if it's Mythic tier. Always manually verify selections before confirming. I once sacrificed my Marksman's Level 80 boots because I clicked through too fast—had to use Reforge to undo it.
Hoarding Mithril without Mastery: Sitting on 80 Mithril at Mastery 10 means you can't use it. Balance your Arena Shop purchases between Mithril and Essence Stones. Rough ratio: for every 30 Mithril you accumulate, ensure you have enough Essence Stones to raise Mastery by one level.
Spreading across multiple heroes early: Three pieces at Level 20 is weaker than one hero with two pieces at Level 40. Concentrate investment—focus one hero's full set before moving to secondary heroes.
The Reforge System: Your Undo Button
Made a mistake—wrong gear prioritization, accidental sacrifice, meta shift? The Reforge system lets you reset.
How it works:
Tap the gear you want to reset
Select "Reforge" tab
Confirm reset
Cost: Free once per 24 hours per piece (subsequent resets cost Gems)
All materials return to inventory—Enhancement XP, Essence Stones, Mythic Fodder, and Mithril
The gear resets to base Legendary Level 1. You can reallocate materials elsewhere.
Don't let fear of making the wrong choice paralyze you—the Reforge system gives you a mulligan. Better to use Mithril and adjust later than to hoard indefinitely waiting for perfect information.
What Doesn't Work (Myths and Misinformation)
Map farming: Mithril is not gatherable. It doesn't spawn on map nodes. Guides claiming this are wrong—either outdated or AI-generated nonsense. The only "map" interaction is deploying troops to events like Frostdragon Tyrant, which reward Mithril upon completion.
Steel conversion: Steel is a building material. Mithril is a hero gear material. They exist in separate economic systems with no conversion between them.
Alliance chests: Some alliance reward chests contain Mithril, but drop rates are abysmal. I've opened 200+ chests over six months and received Mithril twice (1 unit each time). Treat it as a bonus, not a strategy.
The Free-to-Play Timeline: What to Expect
I tracked Mithril accumulation across six months on a pure F2P account:
Month 1: 15 Mithril (Arena + Frostdragon)
Month 2: 18 Mithril
Month 3: 22 Mithril (added Trading Station)
Month 4: 20 Mithril (deployed hoarded speedups in Journey)
Month 5: 19 Mithril
Month 6: 21 Mithril
Six-month total: 115 Mithril
This was enough to:
Empower Infantry Belt to Level 40 (30 Mithril)
Empower Infantry Gloves to Level 40 (30 Mithril)
Empower Marksman Goggles to Level 40 (30 Mithril)
Bank 25 Mithril for future use
That's three pieces at Level 40—which put the account in the top 30% of active players in a competitive State.
For comparison: A Whale spending $500/month generates 150+ Mithril monthly. They can max a full set (600 Mithril) in about four months.
The gap is real. But the F2P path exists.
What Actually Matters
Arena Shop 3 Mithril per week = your foundation. Everything else is supplementary.
Infantry first unless your alliance specifically demands otherwise.
Time Mithril usage to Day 5 SvS for event point multiplier—don't use it on random Tuesdays.
Track Mastery and Mithril in parallel—having one without the other creates bottlenecks.
Reforge exists—test strategies, adjust later. Don't let fear paralyze decision-making.
The system is convoluted, the UI buries critical information, and the game punishes misinformed decisions. But once you understand the unlock sequence, prioritization logic, and timing strategies, Mithril becomes the lever that pushes you into competitive endgame play.
