Neverness to Everness drops you into Hethereau, a sprawling supernatural city where anomalies are as common as traffic jams. You play as Zero, a new recruit at the Bureau of Anomaly Control, assembling a squad of four Espers to fight, explore, and somehow also manage a cafe and race cars. The game is a lot. But once you understand how its systems connect, everything starts making sense fast. This guide covers the essential pillars: character building, combat mechanics, gear, and the City Tycoon system that most new players ignore until it's too late.
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How do your two main levels work?
Before spending a single stamina point, understand that NTE tracks your progress through two separate level systems, and confusing them will slow you down.
Hunter Level climbs as you complete activities across the game. Every increase hands you free rewards, so you want to keep it moving. Appraisal Level unlocks once your Hunter Level hits specific checkpoints, and this one gates the real content. A higher Appraisal Level raises the difficulty of enemies but also increases the quality and quantity of rewards they drop. So even though tougher enemies sound like a downside, the payoff makes it worthwhile.
Think of Hunter Level as your daily momentum and Appraisal Level as the lock on the endgame door. You need both moving in tandem.
Hethereau's five districts
How to level up fast in Neverness to Everness
Stamina in NTE refills at one point every 6 minutes, with a cap of 240 points, which means a full 24 hours of regeneration to top off. Spending that stamina on Anomaly Zones is the fastest route to experience materials. According to neverness.gg, Houdini's Magic Stage is the safest early choice because it drops materials usable on any character, so you are not locked into a decision you might regret.
Each Anomaly Zone also offers double rewards claimable three times per day. Three quick runs is enough to stay ahead without burning your whole session on farming.
Other reliable experience sources include:
- Daily missions
- Exploration guides
- Anomaly commissions
- Side quests and in-game city activities
Most of these are one-time completions you knock out at your own pace. The simple rule: log in, do your dailies, spend your stamina. That alone keeps you ahead of players who log in sporadically.
How does the combat system work?
Fighting in NTE is faster than it looks. Every character has four move types: Basic Attack, Hold Attack, Skill, and Ultimate. You can swap between your four Espers freely at any time, either manually or by triggering a Cycle Skill.
The Esper Cycle is the core of the combat loop. As you attack, a gauge fills up. When it is full, swapping to another character triggers an elemental reaction that deals significantly more damage than standard attacks. Timing these swaps correctly keeps constant pressure on enemies.
Under every enemy's health bar sits a Break Meter (also called the stun meter). Sustained attacks chip this down. Once it empties, the enemy becomes Broken, freezing them in place and making them vulnerable to your biggest hits. That window is when you dump your Ultimates.
For dodging: a perfectly timed dodge just before an attack connects slows time briefly and nudges the enemy closer to being Broken. Mastering this rhythm is the difference between taking damage and taking none.
Esper Cycle swap timing
What are the elemental reactions?
Elements on the circular dial only react with neighboring ones, not every possible pairing. Here is a breakdown of each reaction based on neverness.gg's documentation:
For free-to-play players, Nova-based teams are worth building early. The damage output holds up well before you have had time to optimize a more specific composition.
How do you build a strong team?
Your squad of four needs balance across three roles. According to both BlueStacks and Game8's source material, a functional early team looks like this:
- Damage dealer (DPS): Mint is a strong A-Rank option, using energy swords and fast movement to deal burst damage before enemies can react.
- Support/Healer: Sakiri uses water-based abilities to heal allies and alter terrain to slow enemies, giving your damage dealers more time to work.
- Control/Utility: Lacrimosa manipulates gravity, keeping enemies locked in place or slamming them from the air.
- Tech/Mobility: Nanally can teleport and run up vertical surfaces when her skill is active, making her strong for both combat positioning and exploration.
Once you have settled on a team, resist the urge to spread resources thin. As Game8 notes, F2P players especially should invest in one team fully rather than partially upgrading several. Damage characters generally need more levels than support units since they carry early story progress.
The game also offers up to 40 free pulls after completing the prologue, which means rerolling for your preferred characters is a real option. There is no 50/50 system here: save enough and you are guaranteed the character you want, according to BlueStacks.
Building your squad of four
Do not spread upgrade materials across multiple characters before you have a clear main team. Hunters' Guides and Beetle Coins are the primary leveling resources and currency, and running out of either will halt your progress entirely.
What is the City Tycoon system and why does it matter?
Hethereau has five regions, a train system, motorcycles, various cars, and fast travel points called ReroRero Phone Booths. But the city is not just a backdrop for combat. The City Tycoon mode is effectively a second game running inside NTE, and players who ignore it fall behind on funds and passive progression.
As soon as you can, push through the main story until you meet Chiz. Her quest unlocks the Tycoon menu, which opens access to cafes, deliveries, races, and more.
Running your cafe
Your cafe earns passive income even while you are doing other things, including when you are offline. You assign employees to it (for example, Edgar boosts customer traffic by 18), set a menu using ingredients bought from city shops, and earn money based on how well the setup runs.
Two things to avoid early: do not over-buy ingredients before you understand which menu items you will actually use, since menus upgrade as you level and excess stock becomes dead weight. Restock in 4-hour windows while you are still learning, and switch to 24-hour restocks when logging off for the day. Buying cafe furniture as soon as you can afford it raises popularity, which directly increases customer count and income.
How City Stamina works
The Tycoon system runs on its own City Stamina pool, separate from your combat stamina. It resets weekly, and the cap grows as your Tycoon Level increases. According to neverness.gg, every City Stamina point spent equals 1,000 funds regardless of which activity you choose. The options include:
- Deliveries: transport cargo around the city, with urgent jobs paying a premium
- Races: compete across different circuits for achievement rewards
- Barista mini-game: a rhythm-style cafe service activity
- Taxi mode: pick up passengers and earn ratings based on your service
Since the payout per stamina point is identical across all activities, just do whichever one you enjoy.
What to spend your funds on
Once money starts accumulating, spend in this order:
- Reinvest in your cafe (furniture, supplies, menu upgrades)
- Hunter Exchange shop for pool currency and character upgrade materials
- Cars and cosmetics once the essentials are covered
Cafe setup and management
How does gear work?
Two gear types matter: Arcs and Consoles.
Arcs are weapons. Each character uses a specific Arc type, and Arcs come with stats plus passive abilities that upgrade when you use duplicate copies. You can earn Arcs from the Arc Shop or by defeating specific anomalies. According to neverness.gg, beating the Headless Biker drops solid free Arcs early on, so do not commit resources to weaker ones before you have explored what is available.
Consoles are gear pieces with random stats and set bonuses, farmed from the Rabbit Hole Anomaly Zone. The standout feature here is that NTE shows you all sub-stats before you spend anything on upgrading. If the stats look bad, skip it. Most gacha games hide this information until after you have already invested, so use this transparency to your advantage.
The Artifact system functions like a grid puzzle. You slot pieces that look like Tetris blocks and crescents into a character-specific grid. Matching colors and shapes to complete sets grants bonus stats like critical hit rate, better defense, or increased damage. Always check what a piece actually does before upgrading it.
The Witch's House and daily Oracle Stones
As you explore Hethereau, you will find Oracle Stones scattered across the map. Bring them to the Witch's House and she will exchange them for Annulith, Hunter EXP, and Fons. On top of that, the Witch gives you one of three daily rewards: a short side-quest called Lost Tales that pays out various resources, a Bless that buffs your party, or a Treasure Hunt pointing you to another Oracle Stone location. According to Game8's documentation, this is a daily routine worth building into your session.
Also worth unlocking in each region: the local Wertheimer Tower. Activating it reveals the full map of that area, making it much easier to spot anomalies, points of interest, and fast travel nodes.
Neverness to Everness rewards players who engage with all of its systems rather than treating it purely as a combat game. The city side of things is genuinely deep, and the passive income from a well-run cafe adds up faster than most new players expect. Get your team sorted, keep your stamina spent, and let Hethereau do the rest. For more gaming guides across all genres, browse the latest at GAMES.GG.