How Character Progression Works for Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot

With the release of a new gameplay trailer, Bandai Namco has given fans a deeper look into how character progression works for Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot. The new trailer can be seen below, and offers a glimpse of what content will be available to get stronger in the new DBZ game. By departing from the more linear structure of previous franchise titles, the developer wants to focus more on an RPG spin.

With that new RPG system, comes a completely new system for leveling and character customization. But because you’re playing Goku, you’re mostly going to focus on stats. This is a big change from the deep character customization in the Xenoverse games, but it will allow Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot to focus on more refined combat.

Now that you watched the trailer, I bet you’re wondering what it all means. So let’s break it down a bit in this guide on character progression in Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot.

There are seven different boards, each with a unique series of passive skills available for your characters. Each board offers a targeted upgrade path, focusing on key areas; so if you want a strike-heavy character with good tanking abilities, focus on a board offering high boosts to Melee ATK and HP. A fighter using tons of ranged blasts will want to focus on Ki ATK increases. There’s much more to character customization though, so let’s dive in.

Temporary Buffs and Eating

Eating is the best way to prepare for any battle. Much like Monster Hunter, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot will constantly remind you that eating before a fight is a good idea. This grants your fighter temporary buffs that increase your power, but the more advanced meals also offer minor increases to character stats. These gains may be minor, but over the course of the game, they really stack up. And yes, Chi Chi will be pumping out full course meals that really pack on the buffs. These recipes aren’t always easy to unlock though, for that you will need to explore.

Powering up Through Exploration

Exploring around mission areas, hubs and other locales offers excellent boons in this game. Finding recipes and ingredients scattered through the various game maps is one major bonus. This will also help you reveal other pickups. You will also find Z orbs scattered around, these are the currency used to unlock stat boosts and new abilities on the ability board for each character.

The Community Board

This first component to increasing your power is the Community Board. This special upgrade tree is linked to both the missions you undertake and the hidden items you find. The core currency within this upgrade path is Soul Emblems. You receive Soul Emblems by completing side quests and tasks from around the world. Each of these could comprise a fight with a specific target, or a mini-game like fishing.

Each area of the Board has a series of links, and by unlocking links on the board by slotting in Soul Emblems can get your character plenty of power boosts. And each character’s Soul Emblem has a slot that they can be put into on the main board. Linking characters together can unlock unique attacks or dialogue options. For example, Goku and Adult Gohan have some unique combinations. Be sure to test out different Soul Emblem combinations if you want to see all of the unique content.

How to Learn Super Attacks

Each of these special moves is locked behind a different series of steps. First, you need to collect the hidden Z orbs scattered around. There are Red, Blue, and Green orbs. These orbs are then used on the ability tree to unlock the potential new Super Attack. But to actually learn the new move, you need to trade in the requisite number D Medals, which are items hidden throughout Kakarot. The best way to find these to explore the map using the Search for Ki ability.

Trading these two items in will unlock a special training exercise with a training partner. So if you want to unlock Destructo Disc, head to Krillin, for example. Completing that training exercise will unlock the training module.