Beginner's Guide to Character Progression (King of Fighters All Star) [OUTDATED]

This is an outdated guide on character leveling and progression in King of Fighters (KOF) All Star, aimed towards new players. While the information is still accurate, IT DOES NOT COVER some of the newer mechanics such as awakening past Level 90.
Evolve: 1:00
Level Up: 4:20
Limit Break: 7:00
Core: 14:20
Affinity: 16:58
Equip: 19:10

EVOLVE:
3 star base characters can go up to a max of Lv 30, 4 star base characters up to a max of Lv 40, and 5 star base characters can go up to a max of Lv 50. So, 3 star characters need to be evolved three times, 4 star characters two times, and 5 star characters only once to have them reach 6 stars and raise their max level to 60. Evolution materials can be farmed in the Fighter Evolution Dungeon. The /”rainbow/” evolution material can also be crafted if you don’t get them as drops.

LIMIT BREAK:
Limit Breaking a character further raises their max level to 90. You need Fighter Souls, KOF/AS souls, Elemental Colour Souls, or Rainbow Souls to Limite Break a character. First 10 levels (61-70) require 10 souls each, next 10 levels (71-80) require 20 souls each, and the last 10 levels (81-90) require 30 souls each, for a total of 600 souls to fully limit break a character.
FIGHTER SOULS can be acquired in the Soul Quest dungeon. 4 entries per day for a total of 16 fighter souls per day. They can also be exchanged in the Soul Dust Exchange shop (only works for characters in the general pool); you can buy 60 Fighter souls for a character per day with Soul Dust, which drops in events, can be acquired by /”Salvaging/” souls from fighters you don’t need or have 600 souls of. If you summon a fighter that you already had in your account, then you’ll get their Fighter souls as well.
KOF/AS SOULS: FES characters use Purple KOF souls and they are super rare, sometimes given out in events, and usually bought with . Gold KOF Souls and AS Souls can be farmed in the Weekly Element Dungeons (in Event tab) and are usually given out through Growth/Super Missions.
ELEMENTAL SOULS: Farmed in the Weekly Element Dungeons. They also drop through Item Summon tickets and various other reward boxes from events and logins. You can also buy them with Guild Coins (I don’t recommend) or Rubies (I don’t recommend).
RAINBOW SOULS: Given out as quest rewards in Epic Quest, and sometimes through Super Missions. Rare, so use them wisely. They can be used for any fighter, but I suggest saving them for FES/Collab characters.

LEVEL UP:
Fighters gain EXP by going through dungeons, but that’s slow progression. Simply use EXP capsules that you can farm in the EXP dungeon or get as drops frequently in Story/Epic Quest stages.
CAPSULES: You can use up to 99 HP, ATK, DEF capsules on a fighter to boost their stats even further. If you have maxed this out, you will see a small green 297 on your fighter portrait, indicating that they have been maxed out with capsules. Capsules drop through Item Summon tickets and various login/event boxes. You can also buy them with Arena/League coins or Rubies (Not recommended). They drop in Epic Quest as well. Ideally, you should focus all your capsules on one fighter at a time until they are maxed.

CORE:
Unlocking all the cores significantly boosts your fighters, with extra stats, useful passives, and boosts to their skills. You should aim to unlock all the cores of the fighters you are raising/using the most. Cores can be farmed in the Core Dungeon. They do cost quite a bit of gold though – about 6-7 mil gold for complete core tree. /”Rainbow/” Cores can be crafted if you don’t get them as regular drops.

AFFINITY:
Fastest way to raise affinity is to feed them with their /”favourite food/” or the food item with the smiley face. If you click on their favourite food, it will show you which Story stage will drop them. Do the highest difficulty stage that you can complete. Raising their affinity level to Lv 15 gives you 50 Rubies, Extra stats, and 50 of their FIGHTER SOULS!

EQUIP:
Significant portion of CP comes from equipment. You can equip 1 Special Card (specific to your fighter), 3 Set Cards, and 2 Option Cards.
SPECIAL CARD: Primarily acquired through Battle Card summons. Some are given out for free through missions (such as for Kyo and Mai). Some events will drop a 3 star version of a Special Card which can also be equipped to get access to the Specials (such as for Ralf, Clark, Yamazaki, Yashiro, etc).
SET CARD: Get the /”Favorite Thing/” Set (or the Kula Set), so use any Battle Card set selectors you get to complete this set first. They raise your attack significantly and has a nice offensive set effect that is useful for all characters.
OPTION CARD: Strategic Retreat and Unreal Peace. Both of these cards provide 1.9s CD reduction at max level, so they are extremely useful on anyone. If you get access to Option Card selectors, choose these two. You can also trade in 6 Option Cards to get 1 Option Card of your choice in the Exchange Shop.