Solo Leveling: Arise Two Years Anniversary

 Today marks two years since the game went live for everyone.

 

 I didn't pay quite as much attention to the Live Stream because I was playing Tower of God: New World and the original host still can pronounce "Jinwoo" correctly, which is annoying.  He went to Korea for the competition last year and probably annoyed a lot of Koreans there.  Oops.

The character level is now a maximum of 150.  It seems as though I get close and they move it.

 Naturally, there are new characters and a beast of a big boss, plus a new chapter.  Hopefully, that will take more than 15 minutes to complete.

On the Windows version, they've finally been cleaning up bugs from months ago.  Hopefully, they clean up some that happened right after they first released the game, also. 

Update 2026.05.07: What were they thinking?  What was I thinking not paying close attention to the Live Stream?

It feels so different, although some parts are the same.  Something I tried was new and yet, had bugs in it as though it had been planned 1 year ago.  I appreciate that they wanted to refresh it. 

 

I'm up one job category and took a third job change but failed.  I'm not sure why giving me the track suit is a good thing.  In Korea, that's considered a middle-age thing to wear.

I was looking at the Monarch's icon in the lobby.  It shows me to equip 8 artifacts.  I thought "I don't want to find new artifacts." and then, I thought, "What if I disable and enable the same artifacts?"  That worked and I got a load of Hunters and their weapons, along with runes and Sung Jinwoo weapons through 29 different selections. 

 

Update 2026.05.08:  The blue wheel of progress, that we haven't seen since the first year, has returned.

Update 2026.05.10: I have so many level 100 artifacts that I'm re-equipping a bunch of Hunters.  Too many still have level 78 or level 73 equipment and the newer characters have mismatched equipment.  Hopefully, this will help with times in the new gates. 

Update 2026.05.13: They fixed the blue wheel of progress!  Someone must have remembered the solution from two years ago.

I noticed that they still have bugs on Windows, such as using the original Ultimate skill for Sung Jinwoo, regardless of what is configured.  That's been a problem since the alternative Ultimate skills have been available.  I suspect that testing is very minimal or their testing methodology is weak.  As well, the configurable QTE skills don't work the same in every game mode.

That said, there are level 120 artifacts, along with the level 100 they introduced last week.  My Character level seems to go up every 1.5 days (or 2 levels in 3 days, if that makes more sense).   Keeping the Hunters updated has been interesting, especially since Gina, Seorin, and the American Football star have been added.

Update 2026.05.18: I just changed machines today.  I have a much more powerful laptop computer than the one from 2022.  However, suddenly, I'm not able to finish gates with Sung Jinwoo.  They're all taking longer because of the forced difficulty but it's odd that those gates where the main character is involved, they're all failing today.

Update 2026.05.28: Still not having much luck.  I noticed that they're really pushing the coupons.  It feels as though they're not making enough money from the game to keep it going.  That's why the gates are harder.  They can push that monthly subscription, and you can just sweep the gates all the time.

 Why else would I be able to crush the story on Expert and have trouble with the gates? 

 

Update 2026.06.03: They had another livestream.  I watched a little, but didn't pay attention much.  However, there is a significant problem.  I can't just level up artifacts now, even those that were already started.  I have to calibrate them.

 I like SLA because I can go into it, play a little, and wait for the results.  It's a pain to play the gates now.  Even with everyone at level 150, I lose gate matches.  I can play Expert level on the story just fine, but gates?  No. 

Solo Leveling: Arise Only one month until two years have passed

 It's odd that May 3, 2026 will be two years since I started playing Solo Leveling: Arise.

It feels as though there hasn't been that much time, but they have advanced the game and still not fixed some bugs.

 Elena Renault will be added and I'm just glad that she wasn't Elena Citroen or Elena Peugeot.  Maybe, later she could be Elena Renault Fuego.

 Of course, there were codes.  I hope that I remember to use them.

 

I've been so busy playing Where Winds Meet that I've not been paying too much attention.  I must be poor.

I also didn't pay much attention to the drivel from the community managers.  Hope things are still good.

 

Update 2026.04.10: Finished the new chapters in Normal mode.  Also, got Sung Jinwoo through one job change that's been waiting a while.  Still need to do the second one, as it was available right away. 

A few other things happened about the same time. 

Update 2026.05.02: I got the D-5 at login yesterday.  We're almost to the two years' mark, even though I thought we started on 3 May.

They already gave me Gina and Seorin and their weapons.  That's amazing since other games can be so cheap.  For all the money Hoyoverse collected, Honkai: Star Rail and Genshin Impact weren't generous games.  Then again, I didn't spend any money on those and I spent a little money on SLA. 

Solo Leveing Arise: Two Months until Two Years

 Actually, it will be around the 3rd of May when the first open day of play happened.  It's difficult to believe that it has been two years.

  

I play too many games and it's always good to have an alternative while servers are down.  I was playing Tower of God: New World while the livestream was going.  It's a handheld Netmarble game.  I'm also playing Where Winds Meet, Wuthering Waves, and a bunch of old games, and a few racing games.

 There is a little bit new with Solo Leveling: Arise.  If you didn't read previously, there is a US$40 version on Steam.  I haven't spent much money but I've probably spent more than that in two years.  I'd rather have the PC version, although a Mac/iPad version would be really good now.

 I still haven't tried to play Cyberpunk 2077 on my Mac, but I play Wuthering Waves on it.  Now, that my M1 MacBook Air was released in 2020, I'm surprised that it does so well.  My ASUS ZenBook Pro running Win11 Pro with a Ryzen 7 5800H and NVIDIA RTX 3050 Ti seem strained on SLA while other games seem fine.  Where Winds Meet doesn't complain. 

I'm currently at Character Level 130 and have more than 40 Hunters.  Still don't have weapons or skills finalized but I'm doing well enough.  I won't be going to South Korea to compete.

Solo Leveling: Arise another month gone, 2 years on the horizon

 It doesn't seem that long but the other day, I was finding when I only had three Hunters and was struggling every time I played.

 The 16.0 live was just a few hours ago and you'll find the codes here, if you didn't watch.

More changes have been added and you'll see them when you enter the game.  The game is still a bit broken on Windows.

 They pushed my character level up twice, but I didn't really notice the maximum.  It's usually extended outward, as well.

Nothing much has changed with the hosts.

 

Happy holidays!

 

Update 2026.01.09:  I forgot to mention something.  I followed the seasonal story and it got the family to the shore to watch the sunrise, which is a typical Korean New Year's Day outing.  That was such a Korean thing to do.  Thanks to the developers for including that. 

Update 2026.01.27: Thinking about moving to a Linux-based OS.  CachyOS looks like a winner right now.  I wonder if this game will run but Lutris launcher seems to think it will.  I might try downloading it on Steam Deck, where I had the Steam-oriented SLA game Overdrive running.

 Besides, I just switched Guilds.  I joined a guild when guilds were new and there were two others.  Another joined and there were four of us.  I was the only one playing last week and the Guild Master barely played the week before that.  The guild I joined now has 50 members. 

 

Update 2026.02.11: I have codes from the latest livestream. 

Solo Leveling: Arise 1.5 year anniversary on the way

 The latest live stream was almost two hours.

 

You will see the codes, of course.  There are new Hunters and new Weapons.   There is a collaboration with Frieren.

In November, there will be a 1.5 year celebration.

How is everyone keeping up with all of the changes?  I feel as though I play regularly, but not as much.  I have characters at level 115 and a few weapons at level 120, with more at level 110.  Most of the skills are at level 7, and the level within Armory is level 7.  Finding resources is the main thing still.  I tried to keep everything balanced.

1 year anniversary of Solo Leveling: Arise

 We're close.  We started in May 2024 and here we are just one year later.  Everyone who started on that first day should be at about the same levels.  I'm at Character level 102 and Reputation level 66.

 

There are so many SSR-ranked characters and weapons, and we even have Shadows that can be General level.

I wonder if the people who spent loads of money are ahead of the people who did not spend much. There are several Korean players at the top and that's partly because they were playing before the rest of us.

I'm interested in what they could be changing.  I'm still trying to finish the latest Hidden Chapter that was added.  Even at Character level 102, I'm not quite there.

 There is a new level maximum for characters and for weapons, plus any Shadow that is at General level gets a weapon.  I'm not sure how they hold the weapons, but it's a game. 

 

Update 2025.05.06: Got to Monarch of Shadows: Adversary! That took two tries.  I wasn't sure exactly what they were trying to do and I wasted time.  Still, I cleared it the second time with 1.27 seconds remaining.  Finishing Hidden Chapter 6 was key to this opportunity to advance.  Feels good to have this accomplishment ahead of the 1st anniversary.

 

Update 2025.05.07: Anniversary codes are here, plus big changes in the game.  As I got to a new Job Title, they added another one.  Maximum character level will be 110.  There are 41 SSR-ranked Hunters. 

I've already used my free SSR-ranked Hunter for  Goto Ryuji and his weapon.  Plus, I used some free stuff to get my second Shadow up to General.

Update 2025.05.14: I'm making my way through the next chapters.  It's a struggle but it always is going through the new stuff.  I just got the Princess version of Cha Hae-In.  I never got one of the Japanese characters but I have her weapon ready at level 100, so the princess will be better with that than some minor weapon.

 I'm surprised how good the giveaways are, especially while Wuthering Waves is much different.  I've heard a lot of people expected great things and were disappointed.  I'm okay but I'm only a few weeks into the game.  Honkai: Star Rail did okay with the certain 5-star characters and the numerous tickets for pulls.

 

Update 2025.05.17: Got through the new chapters and ready to go back and clean up with trophies I missed.  Ready for a Job Change but first try didn't quite work.

 

Update 2025.05.23: Got my first weapon elevated to the final level, eventually up to level 110 but it can go to level 120. 

 

Update 2025.06.04: Well, there was a new livestream today.  New Hunters will be available, of course.  New slots for Gems and more categorizations.

Be sure to use the new codes quickly.

 

Update 2025.07.02: I almost missed a livestream today.  Didn't get any notice.  If it weren't for the game being in downtime, I never would have known. 

Solo Leveling: Arise Are we there yet?

 I was just watching the latest livestream, 9.0, was it?

 New stuff, blah blah, new characters, blah blah, and the maximum character level is going up to 105.  I get close and then, it changes.  My Guild leader is at level 100.

 The list of updates is here.

CM Prizm mentioned that he uses "Radiant Goon", which is what I've been using for months, but I've never seen anyone else using it in the Top 100 listed.

 

 

We still have a month and a half until one year.  That seems crazy to be playing something that long, but I've still got Honkai: Star Rail going, even though I don't play often.

I suppose it's just business and they need to keep finding ways for us to spend money.  I've spent a little, where I didn't spend any on Honkai: Star Rail and still got my characters to maximum levels.

 

There are still loads of upgrades with artifacts and weapons and skills.  I'm still trying to increase Hunter skills, so that they're all at level 7 or more.  I've leveled up Hunter weapons, even for SR-ranked Hunters.

System has managed to allow me to Advance some of the early characters and their weapons recently, which has made the game more playable.  I'm still working on the story in Hard and Reverse mode, and apparently, they've added to the story again.

 Hopefully, it will all be interesting. 

 

Update 2025.03.15: Did you try upgrading the skills on your shadows yet?

 

Update 2025.03.16: Did you make it to the next Job Change?  It took me three tries.  I noticed later that the usual 30 points didn't appear.

Update 2025.03.19: Character level is 99 and Reputation level is also up. There have been so many strange bugs.  One of my QTE skills can't decide which to use and it seems to choose the one I want in certain circumstances and everything else when I need the stronger one.

 

Update 2025.03.31: Made it to character level 100. When the game was new, character level 80 was the maximum.  Now, it's 105.

Still working on Hidden Chapter 6 and a lot of Side Chapters.  Got to get those trophies.

Our little Guild has a new member but only two of us are really able to play consistently.  Rank C1 is just beyond us.

Got Goto Ryuji and his exclusive weapon, and it's on the way to level 100.  Almost all of the in-use weapons are at level 100.

I was looking at Game8's list of SS Tier characters and I have five of the seven.  I'm a bit surprised by the way some of the characters play and the Tier where Game8 has them. 

 

Update 2025.04.07: New LiveStream with higher levels of artifacts--level 100. New character was introduced and someone called it underwhelming.  Who knows?  New Codes are here.

Update 2025.04.23: It's getting closer to the 1st anniversary of SLA.  I didn't think a lot about it, but I recently got the update to Honkai: Star Rail for its 2nd anniversary, and I've started to play Wuthering Waves, which is about to hit the 1st anniversary this month.  Lots of celebrations at the headquarters, I can imagine.

 

I got my first General-class shadow: Ant Beru.  Does anyone remember Luke Skywalker's aunt?  Is it just me that, in English, this seems like a Star Wars takeaway?  In any case, he has a weapon, which is a recent addition. 

My Character Level is up to 101 and my Reputation level is 65.  I suspect most everyone who started that first day is about the same.

Solo Leveling Arise: A New Beginning, On to Jeju Island without leaving home

 Another Wednesday has passed and the game shows improvement.

Thanks to the developers for speeding up the animation slowdown in the shop and elsewhere!  I haven't seen that ugly blue progress circle since the new release.  It's been slightly more than seven months, so progress should be expected.  In development, it's always better to get it working correctly first and then, speed it up.  Trying to make it fast from the start often requires re-working it far down the line when there isn't time or money for it.

Now, Jeju (pronounced chey ju) Island is a real place in South Korea.  So far the game hasn't talked about much but Seoul and Jeju Island.  Now, the ant king is another matter.  I don't remember a king ant in biology, but a queen ant.  We'll see.

The whole year has been put into future plans.  I was wondering if the game would last a year with the quick progression toward maximum levels.

My Sung Jinwoo is quite strong and the Hunters are showing their strength, also.  It was good to see that they have new light-oriented weapons for Sung Jinwoo.  For so long, I had one R-ranked weapon and then, one SR-ranked weapon.

Now, I have several weapons in both categories that are at level 100.  I've eliminated all of the R- and SR-ranked weapons except for Hunters, and those that remain are for Hunters I have rarely used.

Our tiny, 3-member Guild is going strong, on the way to C-rank.  With the re-balancing last month, it's become easier to finish every daily task.

I'm still unable to enhance/enchant artifacts.  Also, I have three cores, already assigned, but I'm slow to learn how to enhance those.  Being that I started playing the first official day, I should be picking it up better, but I'm sure people with school or jobs are having much more difficulty.

I hope you're all having fun.

Update 2024.12.21: I started on the journey to Jeju Island.  I'm a little concerned about some of the language.  I'm Japanese and I've had Korean friends.  I have the audio in Japanese, but I'm using English subtitles.  All along, when Korea is mentioned, the characters say in Japanese "Japan", which is very confusing since there is at least one word for Korea.

Ahead of the trip to Jeju Island, the Japanese Hunters meet the Korean Hunters in Korea.  There is some dialogue which is aggressive, as though our countries are not friendly.  I'm surprised, especially since this is a video game.

In any case, the first few episodes have been okay, but I'm not to the point where the characters met the queen ant or rather, king ant yet.

Update 2024.12.24: Character level is up to 91 and Army of Shadows is up to level 55 of 72.  Reputation level is 59.

Update 2024.12.28: The Army of Shadows is up to level 57 now.  Battle Tier is up, as well.  Plus, our little three person Guild ツムツム is up to C-rank level 2 and will probably be at C-rank level 1 by Wednesday.

I'm working on getting weapons upgraded with better skills, and getting the Hunters' skills up as well.

Update 2025.01.06: Character level is up to level 92 and Army of Shadows is up to level 60.  I've been fighting the Ant King, but without enough success.  He was down to level 15 when I ran out of time, so I have to have different Hunters, different weapons, a better strategy.  I'm not sure what else I can do, but, as with the rest, I'll figure it out.

 Getting the Hunters skills up to level 10 would be nice.  I still have some level 5 skills, so I definitely need to continue to upgrade them.  Resources take time or money and sometimes, you can spend money and still not get what you want.  I could have concentrated on three Hunters but I typically use nine regularly.  Also, I've been using the SSR-ranked healers lately.  Getting everything up to maximum is difficult for so many.

Update 2024.01.13: Got through the entrance to The Workshop of Brilliant Light.  Therefore, I have four more Cores for a total of seven now.  Trying to fill out those trophies to get to the next level.  Got the Gold-Tailed Fox for my second light-oriented weapon, finally, and it's at level 100 now.  Getting Hunters' weapons also to level 100 is happening slowly.  Getting the skills of Sung Jinwoo's weapons up takes time, also.

Update 2024.01.14: Up to character level 93. Resources are few right now, but I'm doing my best to continue to upgrade anything and everything that the character use regularly.  I have an SSR-ranked healer for Dark, Wind, and Light now.  Min Byung-Gu is the newest and most of his skills are at level three, so he's okay, but isn't quite as useful as he will be and he still needs his own weapon.  The other two have skills at level five, which is somewhat better.

  

Update 2024.01.15: New raid style, Esil Radiru is being added as a character.  About 3.5-4.0 hours until maintenance is finished.  Also, found that Tower of God, another Netmarble game, is under maintenance.  I suppose it's easier to do all of them at once, if new server hardware is involved.  Lag has improved.  After playing five different games from Netmarble, I'm down to two.  I removed Genshin Impact, as well but I still have Honkai: Star Rail.

 

I got a couple of surprises, Esil Radiru and Truth: Kasaka's Venom Fang.  It will be a while to get them up to max levels, but it's interesting to get the latest and greatest.

Update 2025.01.16: Also have Esil Radiru's weapon.  Working on Workshop of Brilliant Light again.  Have more Cores to add to Hunters.

 

Update 2025.02.09: Character level is 95.  Reputation level is 62 and Army of Shadows is at level 66.  I'm still working to level up Hunters' skills to level 7 or higher.  Having so many Hunters in use every day makes it difficult to find the resources.  Trying to do everything required for more of everything.

 

Update 2025.02.11: Got through Jeju Island and defeated the Ant King.  Still working on the Ant Queen in a side chapter.  It's clear but not complete. 

 

Update 2025.02.13: Another Live Stream and more codes.  CM Prizm is still out, but they showed him going to get chicken through their promotional deal.  He wasn't even good at that.

Guild Boss is now the Queen Ant.