Evolutions are the biggest power spikes in Anime Vanguards. A base Mythic is good. An evolved Mythic is broken. I’ve been grinding evolutions since I started playing in October 2025, and some of them took weeks to complete.
This guide covers every evolution in the game, what materials you need, and where to farm them efficiently.
How Evolution Works
Every unit above Rare rarity can evolve. Evolution requires:
- The base unit (obviously)
- Evolution materials (specific to each unit)
- Quest completion (some units have quest requirements)
- Takedown counts (some units need X kills)
Once you have everything, go to the Evolution menu and select your unit. The game shows what you’re missing.
Priority Evolutions
Not all evolutions are equal. Here’s what to focus on first.
Tier 1 Priority (Game Changers)
Secret Luffy The best unit in the game. Worth every hour of grinding.
Elastic Captain (Evolved) New Update 10 Mythic. 5,000 takedowns is brutal but the evolved form is S+ tier.
Sosuke (Storm) If you have base Sosuke, evolve him immediately.
Tier 2 Priority (Strong Upgrades)
Fire Foot (Chef) New Update 10 unit. Chef evolution adds team utility.
Saber (Black Tyrant) Boss killer. Evolution adds bleed stacking.
Skele King (Rock) Music passive becomes team-wide with evolution.
Tier 3 Priority (Nice to Have)
Tempest Pirate Wind evolution improves AoE.
Most Legendary evolutions Solid upgrades but not game-changing.
Secret Luffy Evolution
The most requested guide. Here’s exactly how to get Secret Luffy.
Requirements
- Evolve Sanji to final form
- Evolve Nami to final form
- Evolve Brook to final form
- Complete the Straw Hat Quest Chain
- Collect Luffy Evolution Materials
Step-by-Step
Step 1: Get Sanji, Nami, and Brook
You need all three base units. They’re Legendary rarity so not too hard to pull. I got all three within my first 50 pulls.
Step 2: Evolve Sanji
Sanji needs:
- 500 takedowns with Sanji in party
- 10 Chef Hats (drop from Legend Stage Act 4)
- 5 Fire Essence
Farm Legend Stage Act 4 (EX) for Chef Hats. They drop roughly 1 per 3 runs. Took me about 2 days of grinding.
Step 3: Evolve Nami
Nami needs:
- 500 takedowns with Nami in party
- 10 Weather Orbs (drop from Legend Stage Act 4)
- 5 Lightning Essence
Same farm spot. Weather Orbs have similar drop rates to Chef Hats.
Step 4: Evolve Brook
Brook needs:
- 500 takedowns with Brook in party
- 10 Soul Fragments (drop from Legend Stage Act 4)
- 5 Dark Essence
You’re seeing the pattern. Legend Stage Act 4 (EX) drops everything.
Step 5: Complete Straw Hat Quest
Once all three are evolved, a quest appears. You need to:
- Clear Legend Stage Act 5 with all three in party
- Defeat the special boss (spawns after wave 10)
- Collect the Straw Hat Token
The boss is tough. I failed twice before I brought proper supports.
Step 6: Collect Luffy Materials
After the quest, you need:
- 1 Straw Hat Token (from quest)
- 20 Rubber Fragments (drop from Legend Stage Act 5)
- 10 Conqueror’s Haki Essence (rare drop from Act 5 boss)
The Conqueror’s Haki Essence is the bottleneck. Maybe 10% drop rate from the boss. Took me 4 days of farming.
Step 7: Evolve
Go to Evolution menu, select Luffy, and evolve. Congratulations, you have the best unit in the game.
Total Time Estimate
If you’re efficient: 2-3 weeks If you’re casual: 4-6 weeks
I did it in about 3 weeks playing 2-3 hours daily.
Elastic Captain Evolution
New Update 10 Mythic. Simpler requirements but time-gated.
Requirements
- 5,000 takedowns with Elastic Captain in party
- 15 Rubber Bands (drop from any Infinite Mode)
- 10 Captain’s Log (drop from Legend stages)
The Grind
5,000 takedowns is the real requirement. Everything else drops naturally while you’re getting kills.
Fastest method: Run Infinite Mode with Elastic Captain. You get 100-200 takedowns per run depending on how far you push.
At 150 takedowns per run, you need about 33-34 runs. If each run takes 15-20 minutes, that’s roughly 10 hours of grinding.
I’m at 3,200 takedowns right now. Should have him evolved by end of week.
Fire Foot (Chef) Evolution
One of the easier Update 10 evolutions.
Requirements
- 1,000 takedowns with Fire Foot in party
- 10 Chef Knives (drop from Fire stages)
- 5 Flame Essence
Farm Spot
Fire Tower in Elemental Towers drops Chef Knives. Kill two birds with one stone. Farm tower rewards AND evolution materials.
I got the evolution in about 4 days of normal play.
Skele King (Rock) Evolution
Music-themed evolution. Adds team-wide attack speed buff.
Requirements
- 1,500 takedowns with Skele King in party
- 10 Guitar Picks (drop from Dark stages)
- 5 Soul Essence
- Complete “Concert” quest (clear wave 50 in Infinite with Skele King)
Tips
The Concert quest is the hard part. Wave 50 in Infinite requires a solid team. Don’t try to solo carry with just Skele King.
Tempest Pirate Evolution
Wind/storm evolution. Improves AoE significantly.
Requirements
- 1,000 takedowns with Tempest Pirate in party
- 10 Navigation Charts (drop from Wind stages)
- 5 Storm Essence
Farm Spot
Wind Tower in Elemental Towers. Charts drop from floor 20+.
General Evolution Tips
Takedown Farming
Best method: Infinite Mode with the unit in your party. Even if the unit is weak, just having them deployed counts.
Faster method: Story Mode speed runs. Lower waves, faster clears, still counts.
AFK method: Auto-play in Elemental Towers (Update 10 feature). Set it and forget it.
Material Farming
Legend Stage Act 4 (EX) drops materials for:
- Sanji, Nami, Brook (Secret Luffy prereqs)
- Several other evolutions
Elemental Towers drop element-specific materials:
- Fire Tower = Fire evolution materials
- Dark Tower = Dark evolution materials
- etc.
Infinite Mode drops generic materials:
- Rubber Bands
- Generic essences
- Gold (for upgrades)
Resource Management
Don’t spread yourself thin. Focus on one evolution at a time.
I made the mistake of trying to evolve 3 units simultaneously. Took forever. When I focused on just Secret Luffy, I finished in 3 weeks.
Priority order:
- Your main DPS unit
- Your main support unit
- Element-specific units for towers you’re pushing
Evolution Checklist
Before starting any evolution:
- Do I have the base unit?
- Do I know all requirements?
- Do I know the best farm spots?
- Is this evolution worth the time investment?
Check our Anime Vanguards Tier List to see if the evolved form is actually good. Some evolutions aren’t worth the grind.
Common Mistakes
Starting evolutions you can’t finish. Check all requirements first. Some need specific quest completions or rare drops.
Ignoring takedown requirements. These take the longest. Start farming takedowns immediately, even before you have materials.
Wrong farm spots. Legend Stage Act 4 (EX) is the best spot for most materials. Don’t waste time on inefficient stages.
Evolving bad units. Not every evolution is worth it. Check tier lists first.
Related Content
- Anime Vanguards Codes - Free materials and rerolls
- Anime Vanguards Tier List - Which evolutions are worth it
- Anime Vanguards Elemental Towers Guide - Farm materials while pushing towers
- Anime Last Stand Codes - Similar anime TD
- Type Soul Codes - Another anime game
