How to get and use Acorns in AFK Journey

Acorns are essential for leveling up your characters in AFK Journey. The issue is that the mechanic is poorly explained in-game. It’s possible to make costly mistakes with this currency, so let me show you how to get and use Acorns in AFK Journey.

What are Acorns in AFK Journey?

Acorns are one of several currencies in AFK Journey that are required to rank up heroes. You usually need duplicate characters or Soulstones to upgrade, but you’ll sometimes require Acorns instead.

The first time you’ll likely need Acorns is when you upgrade your first S-Level (Gold) hero from Epic + to Legendary. This upgrade costs 50 Acorns. You’ll need 100 Acorns to rank up an S-Level unit from Legendary + to Mythic and a further 200 from Mythic + to Supreme.

Regular units don’t require Acorns until you upgrade them from Mythic + to Supreme. This costs 200 Acorns, just like S-Level units. You can get two types of Acorns: faction-specific or Omni. The latter can be used to upgrade a unit regardless of faction.

How to get Acorns in AFK Journey

Acorns are valuable, and there are multiple ways to obtain them. The most obvious is at the Noble Tavern, as you’ll get an assortment whenever you recruit new units. 

You can also purchase Acorns from the Emporium in the Recruitment and Guild store. However, the Emporium route always costs currency that’s better spent elsewhere. Like many mobile games, AFK Journey will always offer ways to speed things up, but you’ll win in the long run if you’re patient.

How to use Acorns in AFK Journey

You can spend Acorns to level up your characters in the Resonating Hall. Tap on any unit to see what’s required to level them up. For example, my Rowan (pictured above) needs two duplicates or Soulstones to reach Legendary +. You can press this button when you have the required currency to level up your hero.

As Acorns are a finite resource, it’s good to keep track of how many you have. You can check the amounts in your Inventory. Each Acorn has its matching Faction symbol on the front, and the Diamond symbol means it can be used on anything.

What’s the best way to spend Acorns in AFK Journey?

It makes sense to spend Acorns on the best units in the game. That said, many heroes have niche uses, so feel free to upgrade your favorites if you’re getting value from them. I recommend keeping a stockpile in reserve if your units are about to reach Mythic + rank, as you’ll need 200 Acorns to upgrade from there.

At the time of writing, AFK Journey is new, so most players don’t have high-rank units. I expect Acorns to be pretty scarce later on as upgrades become more expensive. I’m going to spend Acorns on units I have success with, but a wiser, more patient player may want to plan.