If you’ve spent even a few hours exploring Wuthering Waves’ open world, you’ve probably run into locked content that requires a higher Union Level to access. I remember hitting a wall at level 12 early on, unable to take on the story chapter I’d been waiting for or claim the premium login rewards sitting in my inbox. That frustration is exactly why I put together this breakdown of how to gain Union Level in Wuthering Waves, based on 70+ hours of playtime across two accounts. No grind hacks that get you banned, just consistent, efficient methods that work for casual and hardcore players alike.
How to Gain Union Level in Wuthering Waves: Core Progression Basics
First, it’s critical to understand that Union Level is your account-wide progression rank, separate from the individual levels of your characters, weapons, or echoes. You don’t have to neglect building your main team to raise your Union Level, in fact, most activities that give Union EXP also give resources you’ll need to upgrade your units anyway. Union EXP is tracked independently across your entire account, so any progress you make on one character applies to your whole roster.
Every action you take in the game contributes a small or large amount of Union EXP, but not all activities are created equal. Some take 5 minutes to complete and give more EXP than an hour of mindless open world wandering. The key to fast progression is prioritizing the highest-yield activities first, then filling in gaps with lower-effort tasks when you have extra time. You don’t need to spend all day grinding to level up quickly, you just need to be intentional about how you spend your playtime.
High-Yield Activities to Farm Union EXP Fast
After testing every possible activity for EXP gain per hour, these are the only four you need to focus on if you want to level your Union Level as quickly as possible:
- Main story quests: These give the single largest chunks of Union EXP per completion, with later chapters giving up to 3,000 EXP per mission. Prioritize these first if you’re stuck on a level lock for story content, and don’t save them for later unless you’re underleveled for a boss fight.
- Daily and weekly commission missions: Dailies give 200 EXP each, with a 500 EXP bonus for completing all four per day, adding up to 1,300 EXP daily for 15 minutes of work. Weeklies give 5,000 EXP total for 60 minutes of play, making them one of the most time-efficient sources available.
- Tacet Suppression runs: Each run gives between 400 and 1,200 EXP depending on difficulty, and you can run them as many times as you want as long as you have stamina. Save these for after you complete your dailies and weeklies for consistent, predictable gains.
- Open world exploration objectives: Unlocking fast travel points, clearing echo hunting spots, and solving puzzle chests give 50 to 150 EXP each, and they’re a great way to level up while you explore for fun instead of grinding on repeat.
I used to skip exploration entirely to grind Tacet Suppression runs, but I found that mixing in 30 minutes of exploration every day made the grind way less boring, and I ended up with extra echo upgrade materials I would have had to farm for later anyway. Stamina is the only limiting factor for most high-yield Union EXP activities, so don’t let your stamina cap out if you’re trying to level fast. Logging in twice a day to use your stamina will cut your level time in half compared to logging in once every 24 hours.
Common Mistakes That Slow Down Union Level Progression
Even if you’re doing all the right activities, small mistakes can add up to weeks of extra grind time to hit your target level. The most common mistake new players make is wasting stamina on low-reward activities before they hit level 20. A lot of new players spend all their stamina farming low-difficulty weapon upgrade materials early on, but those materials are way easier to farm at higher Union Levels, when you unlock higher difficulty runs that give twice as many drops per stamina point spent. That means you’re getting way less Union EXP per stamina point spent, and you’ll have to re-farm those materials later anyway.
Another common mistake is ignoring daily commissions because they feel too small to matter. I’ve had friends who skip dailies because they only have 10 minutes to play, but doing them every day gives you 9,100 EXP a week, which is enough to level up from 19 to 20 in just three days. Skipping them for a month will put you multiple levels behind players who take 10 minutes to knock them out each day. You don’t have to complete every side quest to progress your Union Level, but don’t skip the main story just because you’re focused on grinding other content. Main story quests give such large EXP chunks that holding them back will lock you out of higher difficulty activities for weeks.
If you’re stuck on a story boss that’s too hard to beat, you can grind a few Tacet Suppression runs to get enough EXP to unlock higher level gear, then come back to the story later. Don’t force yourself to beat a boss underleveled when an extra 30 minutes of grinding will make the fight trivial.
Hidden Perks of Raising Your Union Level You Might Not Know About
Most players only care about Union Level because it unlocks story chapters, but there are a ton of hidden perks that make leveling even more worth the effort. Higher Union Levels unlock higher rarity echo drops from all activities, so you’ll get way more S-tier echoes when you farm at level 30 than you do at level 20. That alone makes leveling your Union Level a top priority for anyone trying to build a meta team, since you’ll spend half as much time farming for good echoes later on.
You also unlock exclusive Union Level reward chests that give free premium currency, 5-star character shards, and limited-edition cosmetics. I got my first 5-star weapon from a level 25 Union reward chest, and I didn’t even know that chest existed until I hit the level. At level 22, you unlock co-op play for high-difficulty activities, which lets you farm materials and EXP way faster with friends, instead of struggling through runs alone. You also unlock the weekly Union Pass bonus track at level 15, which gives you extra rewards for every activity you complete, including even more Union EXP. It’s a positive feedback loop: the higher your level, the easier it is to gain even more levels faster.
Even casual players who don’t care about meta builds will benefit from higher Union Levels, since you unlock quality of life features like faster fast travel, extra storage space for items, and more character slots for your roster. You don’t have to rush to hit max level, but every level you gain makes the game more convenient and fun to play.
At the end of the day, the best way to approach progression is to find a balance that fits your playstyle. You don’t have to grind 8 hours a day to hit max level in a week; even 30 minutes a day of dailies and stamina use will get you to the endgame in a few weeks. If you follow the tips we’ve laid out, you won’t have to stress about level locks stopping you from enjoying the content you want to play. Whether you’re a casual player just here for the story or a hardcore player trying to clear endgame content as fast as possible, knowing how to gain Union Level in Wuthering Waves will make your entire playthrough way more fun and rewarding. Don’t forget to stop and explore every once in a while, too—you’ll be surprised how much EXP you pick up without even trying.