Luminary Shared Progression

Shared progression in Luminary means character power, town upgrades, and world advancement persist whether you play solo or join three-player online drop-in co-op—not a separate co-op character or isolated gear track. Refractive Entertainment describes progression carrying across solo, co-op, and multiple playthroughs through planned New Game Plus in pre-release interviews ahead of Steam Early Access August 11, 2026. This guide clarifies what transfers, what stays personal per Luminary, and how drop-in friends experience your world state without resetting camps you already cleared.

Understanding shared progression prevents party arguments about loot ownership and who keeps town benefits. Luminary ARPG-lite tone targets friends and family groups where progression transparency matters as much as combat skill from builds hub.

What progresses across modes

Character level or power analog, inventory gear from camps and towers, town upgrade tiers, and open-zone advancement such as liberated towers and camp destruction typically persist on your Luminary save when switching solo to co-op mid-week. Town building described in store materials amplifies account-wide benefits—co-op sessions should contribute to shared town projects rather than feeling wasted if host owns town UI.

World state visibility may sync to host in online sessions—confirm exact host-authoritative rules at Early Access launch in patch notes. Guests still retain personal character progression when returning solo per design intent.

What stays personal

Weapon proficiency from proficiency tracks per character based on your weapon use—friends do not pass proficiency stats directly, though co-op fights help you personally level bow if you shoot. Input bindings from controls hub remain local per machine.

Cosmetic character creation choices across six races stay on your Luminary; friends see your appearance in co-op without copying it to their save.

Solo to co-op workflow

Play solo weekdays to push story and town; invite friends weekends without fear of invalidating solo progress—design goal per RPGamer and Steam store summaries. Drop-in friend joins with their progressed Luminary; power gaps reflect proficiency and gear, not separate co-op tier.

If friend is under-geared, tackle lower camps together rather than forcing tower pushes—weapon tier list relative power matters more than shared flag alone.

Co-op to solo workflow

Leaving party returns you to solo with same character stats and town unless session aborted mid-loot—verify loot commit rules at item pickup in Early Access UI. Disconnect during locomotion controls climb should not roll back proficiency earned before disconnect if combat credit already applied.

Town upgrades and party benefit

Town progression benefits all modes on your save—co-op friends helping gather resources should understand who keeps town tier on whose save when visiting worlds. Host-world vs guest-world etiquette: rotate host weekly in friend groups so everyone advances town on their Luminary.

New Game Plus outlook

Pre-release materials mention progression carrying into New Game Plus playthroughs at broader 1.0 horizon roughly one year after Early Access. Exact NG+ rules—what resets, what amplifies—confirm at feature launch. Until then, treat current progression as long-term investment.

Drop-in and shared state edge cases

Third player joining mid-tower assault inherits host zone state—cleared adds stay cleared if host session already defeated them. Late joiners catch up via how co-op works spawn rules and voice coordination from roles and party tips.

Exploit avoidance: Refractive may patch duplication bugs—legitimate shared progression avoids item duping via disconnect tricks; risk bans in online environments if terms forbid exploits.

Relationship to builds and roles

Shared progression does not auto-balance roles—party still needs melee, bow, and magic coverage from melee build, ranged build, and magic build. Proficiency gaps persist until each player trains weapons personally.

Return to co-op hub for session setup and weapons overview for swap planning independent of progression flags.