Read This First: One Budget, Three Currencies
Credits, shards and gear cannot be transferred between accounts in Galaxy of Heroes. Anything a third-party seller calls “credit delivery” is either a piloted service on your login or a whole account — the market picture, and the crystal top-up that is legitimate, is in our Galaxy of Heroes buying guide. Farming is the sanctioned route, and this guide is about spending its one scarce resource — energy — well.
The three resources do different jobs. Credits pay for character levels, ability materials, mod upgrades and promotion costs. Character shards unlock a character and then raise it through seven stars. Gear pieces fill the six slots of each gear tier, and gear — not levels — is where most accounts stall, because late tiers demand many pieces for a single upgrade.
Because everything competes, sequencing is the whole game. The Journey farming-order guide researched for this page is blunt about it: focus your daily energy strictly on the shard requirements for one Journey Guide objective at a time, and avoid splitting resources across unrelated factions. A roster farmed in order unlocks functional squads; a roster farmed by whim unlocks a collection of half-built characters.
Shard Farming: Hard Nodes and Cantina
Character shards come principally from Hard nodes in Light Side and Dark Side battles and from Cantina battles, each with a daily attempt structure, plus the game’s several shops, which sell shards for currencies earned in their own modes. The farming-order guide’s priority table puts shard farming for your current Journey target at the top, gear for that same target second, and everything else last — and its worked examples start with Commander Luke Skywalker (built on Old Ben Kenobi, Princess Leia and R2-D2) and then Jedi Knight Revan, because each Journey forces you to farm a squad that stays useful afterwards.
Cantina deserves its own note because its energy is separate. The EA Forums’ long-running Cantina discussion records the basics players plan around — Cantina energy regenerates slowly across the day, and shard nodes there are the standard home for characters who cannot be farmed on Hard nodes. Treat Cantina as your second, parallel farm rather than a spare: assign it a target of its own and do not raid it for whatever caught your eye that morning.
Credits and Gear: The Daily Engine
Credits arrive from the activities you should be doing anyway: the daily activities list, Galactic War, events, and selling unneeded gear and materials. The veteran F2P guidance collected on the EA Forums is consistent on the spending side: keep your Squad Arena and Fleet Arena teams funded first, invest in your best mods rather than upgrading every mod, and raise star and gear levels only on heroes you are currently using. Credits feel scarce precisely when they are spread across the whole roster.
Gear farming is the mirror discipline. Spend normal energy on gear pieces only for your current target, and only once that target’s shard nodes are done for the day or capped — the farming-order guide lists gear as the medium priority, behind shards, for exactly this reason. High-tier pieces also arrive from raids and events, which is why an active guild is a farming tool in this game and not just a social feature: raid income is gear income you cannot replicate solo.
Energy Refreshes, Honestly Framed
Refreshes are where Galaxy of Heroes farming turns into arithmetic with crystals — the premium currency covered in our buying guide. The F2P strategy guidance on the EA Forums recommends daily energy refreshes and daily Cantina refreshes as the core crystal spend for free and light-spending players, ahead of packs, because a refresh buys targeted progress on the node you chose instead of a random pull.
The honest framing: a refresh does not create value, it accelerates a plan. Refreshing energy for a focused Journey farm is the documented efficient use; refreshing to chase three half-finished characters at once just reaches the same wall faster. Decide the target first — Commander Luke’s requirements, Jedi Knight Revan’s, or your guild’s current raid need — then refresh into that target, and let other characters wait their turn. If you are not buying crystals at all, the same plan works at natural energy speed; it simply takes the calendar longer.
A Daily Farming Routine
- Finish the daily activities list first — it is the account’s baseline credit, XP and material income.
- Spend Hard-node attempts on your single current Journey target until its daily attempts are done.
- Spend Cantina energy on its own assigned target; refresh Cantina only under the plan in the section above.
- Run Galactic War as far as your roster allows, every day — its shop and credit income compound.
- Spend leftover normal energy on gear for the same target, not on a second character.
- Bank crystals for refreshes on double-drop and event days rather than spending them on packs.
Buying Crystals & Accounts
Crystals are the one legitimate purchase here, through the in-game store and the authorised top-ups covered in our Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes buying guide. Credits, shards and gear themselves have no legitimate market — they are account-bound — so third-party offers under those names resolve into whole accounts or piloted play on your login, both against EA’s terms and both able to lose you the roster you paid for. See also the Galaxy of Heroes page and the leveling guide, where the farmed resources are spent.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I farm first in Galaxy of Heroes?
One Journey Guide target at a time. The farming-order guide researched for this page starts players on Commander Luke Skywalker, then Jedi Knight Revan, with daily energy spent strictly on the current target’s shard requirements and gear farmed for that target second. Splitting energy across unrelated characters is the documented way to stall an account.
Where do character shards come from in SWGoH?
Principally Hard nodes in Light and Dark Side battles and Cantina battles, topped up by the mode shops (Galactic War, Arena, Fleet and others) that sell shards for their own earned currencies. Each farming location has its own roster, which is why a farm plan assigns each energy type its own target.
Are crystal energy refreshes worth it?
For a focused player, the veteran F2P guidance says yes — daily energy and Cantina refreshes are the recommended core crystal spend, ahead of packs, because they buy progress on a node you chose. They accelerate a plan rather than replacing one, so they only pay off when the farming target itself is well chosen.
Can you buy credits or shards for Galaxy of Heroes?
No — credits, shards and gear are account-bound and cannot be transferred. Crystals can be bought officially in game. Third-party “credit” or “shard” offers are whole-account sales or piloted services, covered with their risks in our buying guide.
Sources
Checked October 19, 2026. Game systems change with patches, so confirm numbers in game.
- AAYYY: Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes Journey Guide farming order (Commander Luke, Jedi Knight Revan, focus energy on one Journey at a time)
- EA Forums: SWGoH Strategy and Tips (Adaptive F2P guide: crystals on daily energy and Cantina refreshes, credits on Arena teams and mods)
- EA Forums: SWGoH Cantina energy discussion (Cantina energy regen, shard drop discussion, refresh practice)
