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There is no RPG-style hero-upgrade screen in Order of the Sinking Star. In the Heroes and Light crossover, each character keeps the ability learned in Hearty Heroes of Hauling, while beams temporarily add powers that change how a puzzle works. The useful priority is therefore a learning and unlock order: understand each hero’s base rule, master beam-enhanced movement, follow the area dependencies, and verify that a walkthrough matches the current board.
For Heroes and Light, Advanced, begin with the Bard memory rooms and the outer courtyard, then complete the burned Hell-town chain to activate the Hell teleporter to the Antipode. A broad campaign route of North, East, West, South, then Gold Rooms is a low-friction recommendation, not a universal lock. The October 14, 2026 update changed some levels and checkpoints, so a mismatched starting layout is a reason to stop and identify the room rather than force an old move sequence.
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At a glance
| Name | Best for | Key spec | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Learn every hero’s base rule | Building a reliable mental model | Abilities carry over from Hearty Heroes of Hauling | Oct 2026 |
| 2. Learn beam-enhanced behavior | Solving movement and routing interactions | Standing in a beam grants that beam’s power | Oct 2026 |
| 3. Follow unlock dependencies | Heroes and Light, Advanced progression | Bard rooms and courtyard precede the burned Hell-town chain | Oct 2026 |
| 4. Use a flexible world route | Reducing early backtracking | North, East, West, South, then Gold Rooms is recommended | Oct 2026 |
| 5. Verify the current board | Avoiding obsolete walkthrough inputs | October 14, 2026 patch changed some levels and checkpoints | Oct 2026 |
What does “hero upgrade priority” mean in Heroes and Light?
It means deciding what to learn and what to unlock next, not spending currency on stronger statistics. The available documentation describes a puzzle-progression system built around fixed hero abilities, beam interactions, room dependencies and route choice. It does not document levels, ascensions, equipment, a hero tier list or a persistent upgrade shop for this area.
That distinction matters because an RPG-style answer can send you looking for a menu that does not exist. Your practical progression is measured by whether you can predict an ability’s effect, route a beam through the room, recognize the next unlocked branch and identify the exact puzzle layout shown by a guide.
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How do hero abilities and beams work together?
Each character retains the normal ability learned in the Hearty Heroes of Hauling world. Heroes and Light adds the Vault of the Beamcasters’ logic on top: placing a hero in a beam gives that hero the beam’s power. A solution is therefore a sequence of positions and beam states, not a permanent build.
Start with the base ability
Before considering a color or a route, identify what the hero can do without assistance. Read the room as if the character were standing outside every beam. This establishes which movement, placement or interaction is supplied by the hero and which effect must come from the environment.
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When a hero stands in a beam, treat the color’s power as an active condition. Moving the hero out of the beam removes that condition, so the same character can have different legal actions at different points in a solution. Plan the handoff between ordinary and beam-enhanced states instead of assuming the power is permanently learned.
Account for crystals and goblins
Crystals and goblins are part of the beam-routing system as well as obstacles or objects in the room. A correct hero position may still fail if the beam cannot reach it, or if moving an object changes the route that powers another object. Solve the geometry and the hero action together: first ask where the beam must travel, then ask which character can occupy the required square at the required time.
Which abilities should I learn first?
The order below is the most dependable “upgrade” plan because each step supplies knowledge needed by the next. It is a learning sequence, not a claim that one hero has better permanent statistics than another.
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1. Learn the rule for every available hero
Do not specialize in a single character before you know the roster’s basic behaviors. The advanced area documents five heroes: Thief, Bard, Wizard, Warrior and Druid. The goal at this stage is recognition: when a room presents one of those heroes, you should know what the unpowered character contributes before touching the beam network.
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After the base rules are clear, isolate the effect of each beam. In the advanced documentation, the relevant beam colors are purple, gold and green. Observe which hero is standing in the beam, what power is added, and what changes when the hero leaves it. This prevents a common error in which a player attributes an environmental effect to the hero’s ordinary ability.
3. Practice object routing, not just hero routing
Crystals and goblins can alter the path or availability of a beam. Work out their positions before committing to a long movement sequence. If a move seems to remove a power unexpectedly, inspect the beam’s path and the object that may have interrupted it rather than assuming the hero’s ability has changed.
4. Learn the unlock triggers
Once the interaction rules are familiar, prioritize rooms that open the next region. In Heroes and Light, Advanced, the documented dependency begins with Bard memory rooms and the outer courtyard. Those rooms are strategically important because they lead into the burned Hell-town chain, whose completion activates the Hell teleporter to the Antipode.
5. Treat route advice as a comfort setting
A broad recommendation of North first, East second, West and South afterward, then Gold Rooms, can reduce cognitive load by introducing the world in a manageable order. It is not an enforced global sequence. A local puzzle dependency, rather than its printed number or a generalized route, decides whether you can proceed.
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What is the difference between the main area and Heroes and Light, Advanced?
They are separate documented puzzle areas, not two upgrade tiers for the same hero roster. The main Heroes and Light walkthrough combines Hearty Heroes of Hauling with the Vault of the Beamcasters, while the advanced area is a smaller, separately mapped set of screens with its own route details.
| Area | Documented scope | What the documentation emphasizes |
|---|---|---|
| Heroes and Light | 54 puzzles | Crossover mechanics combining the hero world with beam-routing rules |
| Heroes and Light, Advanced | 22 puzzles across six screens | Thief, Bard, Wizard, Warrior and Druid; purple, gold and green beams; dependencies leading to the Antipode |
The different counts explain why a guide for one area may appear to skip rooms in the other. Confirm the area label and screen before applying any sequence.
How do I progress through Heroes and Light, Advanced?
Use the dependency chain below rather than sorting rooms by their displayed numbers. The guide documentation explicitly warns that puzzle numbers do not necessarily equal play order.
- Identify the advanced area. Confirm that the screen belongs to the 22-puzzle, six-screen advanced set and that the available roster includes the Thief, Bard, Wizard, Warrior and Druid.
- Clear the Bard memory rooms. These rooms are part of the documented opening dependency. Apply the Bard’s normal rule first, then account for any purple, gold or green beam state required by the room.
- Complete the outer courtyard. Treat the courtyard as the next unlock checkpoint in the documented route, not as an optional detour chosen by puzzle number.
- Enter the burned Hell-town sequence. Finish the connected chain as a group. If a room appears inaccessible, recheck the preceding memory-room and courtyard requirements before searching for a hidden upgrade.
- Activate the Hell teleporter. Completing the burned Hell-town chain activates the teleporter that leads to the Antipode.
- Verify the destination and board. If the room shown on your screen does not match the guide’s starting arrangement, stop and identify the current version or checkpoint before moving pieces.
Is North, East, West, South and Gold Rooms the mandatory order?
No. That sequence is a broad route recommendation, not a universal progression lock. It is useful as a low-friction learning path, while individual puzzle dependencies determine what is actually available at a given moment.
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Following North, then East, then West and South, with Gold Rooms afterward, gives you a consistent orientation through the broad worlds. It can make a walkthrough easier to follow and limit unnecessary returns to previously visited areas.
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When to depart from it
Depart when the game presents an available local branch that matches your current ability knowledge, or when a guide’s route assumes a checkpoint you do not have. Do not abandon a solvable room merely because it appears outside the suggested world order; likewise, do not force a later region if its prerequisite chain is incomplete.
How to record your own route
Write down the world, screen, room identifier and the condition that opened it. Recording dependencies is more useful than recording only puzzle numbers because the numbers are not guaranteed to express the order in which rooms should be played.
Why does a walkthrough not match my board?
The most important current explanation is version drift. A map reference records an October 14, 2026 update that changed some levels and checkpoints, so an older solution can show a different starting layout even when it names the same room.
Check the starting state before making a move
- Compare the room’s arrangement of heroes, beams, crystals and goblins with the guide’s first diagram or description.
- Confirm the area label: main Heroes and Light and Heroes and Light, Advanced have different documented scopes.
- Check whether your checkpoint was created before or after the October 14, 2026 update.
- Look for a room or screen identifier instead of relying on a sequential puzzle number.
What not to do
Do not execute a move list blindly when the initial state differs. In a beam-routing puzzle, one changed object or checkpoint can invalidate every subsequent position. Re-identify the board, find a current solution for that layout, or back out and approach the dependency from the preceding room.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How should I choose the next puzzle when several are open?
Choose by information and unlock value rather than by an imagined hero power ranking. The following decision process keeps optional exploration from obscuring the progression chain.
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- Ask whether the room teaches a new base ability. If you cannot yet predict what the hero does outside a beam, prefer that room over a harder color-routing challenge.
- Ask whether it isolates a beam effect. A room that clearly demonstrates purple, gold or green behavior can make later multi-object rooms easier to read.
- Ask whether it changes access. Memory rooms, the outer courtyard and the burned Hell-town chain matter because they affect the route to the Antipode.
- Ask whether the board is current. A room that does not match the post-update layout should be deferred until its identity is confirmed.
- Only then use the broad world route. North, East, West, South and Gold Rooms is a useful tie-breaker, not a substitute for a local prerequisite.
What mistakes make progression seem blocked?
- Searching for a stat screen: the documented system is ability-and-beam based, so look for a room interaction rather than currency or ascension controls.
- Assuming beam power is permanent: a hero gains the beam’s power while standing in it; moving away changes the state.
- Ignoring crystals and goblins: these objects can determine whether the beam reaches the hero or another target.
- Sorting by puzzle number: advanced puzzle numbers do not necessarily indicate play order.
- Treating the suggested world route as a lock: the North-to-Gold sequence is guidance, while local dependencies control access.
- Forcing an old solution onto a new board: the October 14, 2026 changes to levels and checkpoints make initial-layout verification essential.
- Confusing the two areas: the main area’s 54-puzzle documentation and the advanced area’s 22 puzzles across six screens are separate references.
What is the practical priority order for a first advanced run?
Use this compact workflow each time you enter a new screen:
- List the heroes present and recall each base ability.
- Mark the purple, gold and green beam paths before moving a hero.
- Note where crystals and goblins can interrupt or redirect those paths.
- Solve the smallest interaction that demonstrates the room’s rule.
- Prefer Bard memory rooms and the outer courtyard when they are available.
- Complete the burned Hell-town chain once its prerequisites are open.
- Use the activated Hell teleporter to reach the Antipode.
- Compare every guide’s opening position with your actual board, especially after the October 14, 2026 update.
This workflow gives you the benefit normally sought from an “upgrade priority” list—knowing what to do next—without inventing a character-stat system that the documented game does not have.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who made Order of the Sinking Star?
Arc Games describes it as a massive narrative puzzle adventure developed by Thekla, Inc., led by Jonathan Blow. That identity is useful when checking that a guide applies to the correct game rather than to another title using similar hero terminology.
How large is the full game compared with Heroes and Light?
The official announcement describes more than 1,000 hand-crafted puzzles and hundreds of hours of gameplay. The 54-puzzle and 22-puzzle figures in this guide refer only to the two documented Heroes and Light areas, not the entire game.
What if I meant a different game called Heroes and Light?
Give the platform or publisher before relying on an upgrade guide. The exact Order of the Sinking Star title uses puzzle abilities and beam states, while a separate mobile or strategy RPG could use conventional hero levels, currencies and ascensions.
Quick Recap
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