Promotion Mission & Growth Guide

Beyond regular Story and Battle Missions, Chaos Zero Nightmare also has the Growth Guide — an account-progress mission system capped off by a Promotion Mission in each chapter. This page summarizes the mechanic and the confirmed level milestones.

What is a Promotion Mission?

The Growth Guide is an account-progress mission system (a book icon in the same menu as dailies and achievements), tied to your roster's Character Affinity. Each chapter has its own set of Growth Guide missions — for example, Chapter 1 has exactly 8: 7 regular missions and 1 special one called the Promotion Mission. You need to finish the chapter's Story and Battle Missions plus all 7 regular Growth Guide missions, and reach the required level, before the Promotion Mission appears; completing it uncaps your Captain Level and unlocks the next chapter.

The 3 mission types in Story Mode

Story Mission
The main mission line for each chapter — complete it to advance the story and unlock the next stage.
Battle Mission
Chapter-specific combat missions, often with a special win condition; some Battle Missions only unlock after making a specific Policy choice in Ark City. Each Battle Mission has 2 difficulty settings: Normal/Hard.
Promotion Mission
A special mission that appears once your account meets the chapter's requirements (Story/Battle/regular Growth Guide missions done, level requirement reached) — complete it to uncap your Captain Level and unlock the next chapter.

3 confirmed Promotion Mission milestones

Captain Level Unlocks
Lv20 Unlocks the Weekly Boss.
Lv30 Unlocks Difficulty 3 — adds a second map after the first boss, doubling the length of a Chaos run.
Lv40 Unlocks the Memory Fragments feature (combatant equipment).

Promotion Mission by chapter

Each chapter has its own story boss; clearing that chapter's Promotion Mission grants a new Captain rank and raises the level cap. Chapters 1-3 now have a confirmed boss, weakness attribute and recommended level; Chapters 4-5 have a confirmed rank/new cap/unlock, but their story boss hasn't been announced yet.

Chapter Story missions Story boss & weakness Promotion rank Unlocks
1
Black Rose
13 Kentris
Weak: Passion · Recommended Lv10
Beginner Captain
→ Lv20
Chaos Mode (The Blue Pot)
2
Wolf's Requiem
12 Bercula
Weak: Instinct · Recommended Lv20
Intermediate Captain
→ Lv30
Ark City
3
Pilgrim's Walk
12 Venom Spirit Kefox ×2
Weak: Order · Recommended Lv30
Veteran Captain
→ Lv40
City of Mist
4
Blooming Resolve
8 Not yet announced Expert Captain
→ Lv50
Swamp of Judgment
5
Hymn in Honor of Haven
8 Not yet announced Elite Captain
→ Lv60
The Foretold Ruin

3 confirmed story boss mechanics

Only the RULES are covered here (what to dodge, what threshold triggers what) — no HP, EXP or Crystal reward numbers.

Kentris (Chapter 1 boss)
Kentris keeps summoning Aqua Ball, so you need wide-area damage to clear them. Every time it loses 8% or more of its max HP, it triggers Frothing Rage — a debuff called Slippery that makes you discard a random card every time you play one, so avoid chaining plays while this debuff is active.
Bercula (Chapter 2 boss)
Once Bercula reaches a certain HP threshold, it charges Instant Execution — a wide-area hit that hits harder the more adds you've already killed — and shields itself. The counter is to focus damage onto Bercula to take it down before the hit lands, and stack your own shields to survive it.
Venom Spirit Kefox ×2 (Chapter 3 boss)
This fight has 2 Kefox. The left one carries the Wild Ignition buff — dealing 15% or more of its max HP in a single turn stuns it (once per turn). After killing the left one, Wild Ignition TRANSFERS to the right one, so the same stun-lock approach still works for the rest of the fight.

Story Mission rewards

Completing Story Missions grants several resource types as a FIXED amount per chapter (not random) — the source we have to cross-check exact figures is fairly old, so we're not printing specific numbers here, only the reward types; see the mechanics of each on the Items page.

Coordinates of Record Crystal Battle Memory Support Data Units

The Growth Guide/Promotion Mission mechanic is compiled from community guide notes, cross-checked for Captain Level 20/30/40 (their unlocks are confirmed). The story boss, weakness attribute, recommended level, Promotion rank and unlock for all 5 chapters have been cross-checked against a source whose content was readable; only the Chapters 4-5 story boss hasn't been announced by the source, and this page does not speculate further.

See also

Frequently Asked Questions about Missions

How is a Promotion Mission different from regular Story/Battle Missions?

Story and Battle Missions advance the chapter's plot; the Promotion Mission is a SEPARATE mission that only appears once your account has met that chapter's full requirements (including all 7 regular Growth Guide missions) — completing it is what uncaps your Captain Level and unlocks the next chapter.

What level unlocks the Weekly Boss?

Level 20. After completing the Promotion Mission at the Level 20 milestone, the Weekly Boss unlocks.

How many Growth Guide missions does Chapter 1 have?

Exactly 8: 7 regular missions and 1 Promotion Mission. The Promotion Mission only appears after the 7 regular missions (plus the chapter's Story/Battle missions and reaching the required level) are complete.

What's the difference between recommended level and new level cap?

The recommended level is what you SHOULD reach before attempting that chapter's boss (e.g. Level 20 before facing Bercula in Chapter 2). The new level cap is what gets UNLOCKED after clearing that chapter's Promotion Mission (e.g. clearing Chapter 2 raises the cap to Level 30) — the two numbers apply at different points in the chapter's progression.

Keep exploring

Chaos Zero Nightmare · Combatants · Tier List · Tools · Game mechanics wiki · Redeem codes · Banner & event schedule · Seasons · Ark City · Simulation · Fates · Items · Voice Actors · Outfits · Equipment · Builds · Banned Cards · Memory Fragments · Patch History · Combat Guide

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