Last War DVA Awakening Guide: Stars, Skill and Upgrade Priorities

DVA Awakening in Last War is one of the major hero upgrades introduced during Season 6. It gives the UR Aircraft attacker a new Awakening Skill called Starred Ace, adds a separate Awakening Star progression track, improves her base combat attributes, and significantly increases the value of running DVA with other Aircraft heroes. DVA becomes the second Season 6 Awakening hero, following Kimberly. To unlock her Awakening, DVA must already be 5 stars, her Exclusive Weapon must be Level 20 or higher, and you need 50 DVA-specific Awakening Shards. Once unlocked, later upgrades can also use Universal Awakening Shards.

DVA Awakening Requirements

Requirement	Needed
Hero	DVA
Rarity	UR
Hero Stars	5 Stars
Exclusive Weapon	Level 20+
Initial Awakening Currency	50 DVA-specific Awakening Shards
Availability	Season 6 Week 3

DVA’s Awakening cannot be activated early by simply collecting Universal Awakening Shards. The first 50 shards must be the named DVA version. After the Awakening has been unlocked, both DVA-specific and Universal Awakening Shards can contribute toward the later tiers and full Awakening Stars.

Why Exclusive Weapon Level 20 Matters

DVA‘s Exclusive Weapon already plays an important role in an Aircraft squad before Awakening becomes available. At Level 20, the weapon unlocks Aircraft Specialist, improving Attack, Defense, and HP for Aircraft heroes in the formation. Reaching Level 20 therefore accomplishes two goals at once: it strengthens the wider Aircraft squad and satisfies the prerequisite for Hero Awakening. For Aircraft-main players entering Season 6, reaching Exclusive Weapon Level 20 should be completed before saving resources for deeper Awakening progression.

What Changes When DVA Awakens?

DVA’s existing Expertise Skill is replaced by Starred Ace. The Awakening Skill retains the inherited Expertise effects while adding a new temporary Airborne state and the Ace Boost mechanic. Awakening also provides permanent improvements to DVA’s:

• Attack
• HP
• Defense
• Damage Reduction
• Awakening Skill effectiveness

The result is not simply a larger Power number. Starred Ace changes how DVA deals damage by connecting her normal attacks to repeated follow-up strikes during the Airborne window.

Starred Ace Awakening Skill Explained

Starred Ace sends DVA Airborne for 5 seconds. While Airborne, each Auto Attack triggers an additional attack against one random enemy, with front-row targets receiving priority. At maximum skill level, the follow-up attack deals Energy Damage equal to 251.09% of DVA’s Attack. The current max-level version uses a 13-second cooldown. Starred Ace can be upgraded with Skill Medals and ultimately reaches Level 40, so players preparing DVA Awakening should save Skill Medals alongside Awakening Shards.

Ace Boost Explained

The most important part of DVA Awakening is Ace Boost. When Starred Ace activates, DVA receives one Ace Boost stack for every Aircraft hero in the formation. Each stack initially increases DVA’s Attack Speed by 20%, with a maximum of five stacks.

Aircraft Heroes in Squad	Ace Boost Stacks	Base Attack Speed Increase
1	1	20%
2	2	40%
3	3	60%
4	4	80%
5	5	100%

This is why DVA Awakening scales particularly well in a full Aircraft formation. Higher Attack Speed means more Auto Attacks during the Airborne window, and every Auto Attack triggers another Starred Ace follow-up.

DVA Awakening Star Bonuses

Awakening Stars	Starred Ace Upgrade
Unlock / 0 Star	Unlocks Starred Ace and Ace Boost
1 Star	Ace Boost gains an additional 10% Attack Speed per stack
2 Stars	Follow-up attacks deal 20% additional damage
3 Stars	DVA gains an additional 5% Attack per Ace Boost stack
4 Stars	Follow-up attacks deal 40% additional damage
5 Stars	Airborne duration increases by 1 second

Awakening Star 1

Star 1 increases the Attack Speed gained from every Ace Boost stack by another 10%. In a full five-Aircraft formation, DVA therefore receives the original 100% Attack Speed from Ace Boost plus another 50% from the Star 1 bonus while the effect is active. This makes Star 1 one of the first meaningful targets after unlocking DVA Awakening.

Awakening Star 2

Star 2 improves the damage of Starred Ace’s follow-up attacks by 20%. It does not change how the ability functions, but the increased damage benefits every follow-up triggered during Airborne.

Awakening Star 3

Star 3 adds 5% Attack per Ace Boost stack. A full five-Aircraft formation can therefore provide up to 25% additional Attack from this star effect during Ace Boost, on top of the increased Attack Speed. This makes Star 3 another strong breakpoint for players building DVA as a primary Aircraft carry.

Awakening Star 4

Star 4 provides another major follow-up damage increase, raising the bonus to 40%. At this stage, DVA has already accumulated the additional Attack Speed and Attack effects from Stars 1 and 3, so stronger follow-up attacks benefit from an increasingly developed Starred Ace window.

Awakening Star 5

The final star extends DVA’s Airborne duration from five seconds to six seconds. Because every Auto Attack made while Airborne creates a follow-up attack, extending the duration provides another opportunity to capitalize on the high Attack Speed generated by Ace Boost.

DVA Awakening Shard Costs

DVA uses the standard Season 6 Awakening progression. The initial activation requires named shards, while later tiers can also use Universal Awakening Shards.

Milestone	Additional Shards	Cumulative Shards
Unlock Awakening	50 named shards	50
Awakening Star 1	80	130
Awakening Star 2	200	330
Awakening Star 3	350	680
Awakening Star 4	400	1,080
Awakening Star 5	500	1,580

Fully awakening DVA from zero to 5 Stars requires 1,580 Awakening Shards in total. This makes resource planning essential. Unlocking DVA is relatively inexpensive compared with the later star levels, so players with limited Universal Awakening Shards should set a realistic stopping point rather than assuming every awakened hero must immediately reach 5 Stars.

DVA Damage Reduction by Awakening Star

Awakening also improves DVA’s survivability.

Awakening Stars	Damage Reduction
0 Stars	2.50%
1 Star	3.00%
2 Stars	3.50%
3 Stars	4.00%
4 Stars	4.50%
5 Stars	5.00%

This defensive progression is useful because DVA needs to remain alive to benefit from repeated Starred Ace activations. It does not change her fundamental role, however. DVA remains primarily a damage dealer and should normally be protected rather than treated as a dedicated frontline tank.

Where to Get DVA Awakening Shards

DVA Hero Awakening Trial

DVA’s Hero Awakening Trial becomes available around her Season 6 Awakening release. Completing the available Trial stages can provide up to 10 DVA-specific Awakening Shards, along with Skill Medals and other rewards. These named shards are especially important because Universal Awakening Shards cannot replace the 50 named shards required for the initial unlock.

Global Expedition

The DVA-focused Global Expedition follows her Awakening release and provides another major source of Awakening progression. Push as far through Global Expedition as your formations allow. Deeper progression can improve your shard income and provide flexible Awakening resources that become increasingly important after the initial unlock.

Universal Awakening Shards

Once DVA is awakened, Universal Awakening Shards can be used for her later tiers and stars. Because those shards can also be used on Kimberly, Tesla, and future eligible heroes, Aircraft players should avoid spending them casually on a secondary Awakening before deciding how far they want to take DVA.

Best DVA Awakening Upgrade Path

Step 1: Reach Exclusive Weapon Level 20

Do this before Season 6 Week 3 if possible. It activates the Aircraft-wide weapon bonus and removes the most important non-shard requirement for Awakening.

Step 2: Unlock Awakening

Collect 50 DVA-specific Awakening Shards and activate Starred Ace.

Step 3: Reach Awakening Star 1

This is an efficient early breakpoint because every Ace Boost stack receives another 10% Attack Speed. A full Aircraft formation therefore gets particularly strong value from this star.

Step 4: Decide Whether to Push Star 3

Star 2 increases the follow-up damage, while Star 3 adds Attack for every Ace Boost stack. Together, they make Star 3 a strong medium-term target for players whose main combat formation revolves around DVA.

Step 5: Treat Stars 4 and 5 as Long-Term Investment

Going from Star 3 to Star 5 requires another 900 Awakening Shards. Star 4 strengthens follow-up damage, while Star 5 extends Airborne duration. These are powerful upgrades but require enough resources that you should compare them against other Awakening heroes before committing.

Best Formation for Awakened DVA

Starred Ace rewards an Aircraft-heavy formation because Ace Boost directly counts how many Aircraft heroes are present. A developed Aircraft roster can include heroes such as:

• DVA
• Morrison
• Schuyler
• Lucius
• Carlie
• Other Aircraft heroes available and developed on your server

Your exact lineup should still account for hero stars, gear, Exclusive Weapons, Awakening progression, and the opponent. A mixed formation can still use DVA effectively, but each non-Aircraft hero reduces the number of Ace Boost stacks available to Starred Ace. That tradeoff should be justified by what the replacement hero provides.

Where Should Awakened DVA Be Positioned?

DVA is primarily an offensive Energy Damage hero. In most formations, she belongs in the back row, protected by stronger defensive heroes. Starred Ace makes keeping her alive even more important because the value comes from repeated Auto Attacks during the Airborne window and additional skill activations as the fight continues. Awakening Damage Reduction improves survivability but does not make DVA a natural substitute for heroes designed specifically to absorb frontline damage.

DVA Awakening and Exclusive Weapon Synergy

DVA’s Exclusive Weapon and Awakening both emphasize Attack Speed, making the two systems complementary. The Exclusive Weapon provides mechanics such as Storm Surge, which increases DVA’s Attack Speed based on the Aircraft heroes in her formation. Starred Ace then introduces Ace Boost, another Aircraft-based Attack Speed mechanic. The practical result is that a developed DVA becomes increasingly effective in a dedicated Aircraft lineup where several parts of her kit benefit from the same team composition.

Should You Push Exclusive Weapon Level 30 First?

Once DVA has reached Exclusive Weapon Level 20, unlocking Awakening becomes an important next progression option. Exclusive Weapon Level 30 remains valuable, especially because it improves her opening combat sequence and interaction with Storm Surge. However, Awakening unlocks an entirely new skill. For a resource-limited Aircraft account, a practical development order is:

1. DVA at 5 stars.
2. Exclusive Weapon Level 20.
3. Unlock DVA Awakening.
4. Reach the desired Awakening breakpoint.
5. Continue Exclusive Weapon progression and deeper Awakening based on available resources.

Awakening Swap Strategy for DVA

Awakening Swap becomes available during Season 6 and lets two already-awakened heroes exchange key parts of their Awakening development. The current system can exchange:

• Awakening Stars
• Awakened Skill level
• Equipped gear
• Remaining named Awakening Shards

Both heroes must already have their Awakening unlocked. You cannot use Awakening Swap to avoid DVA’s normal 5-star, Exclusive Weapon Level 20, and 50 named-shard requirements. This feature can be useful to Aircraft-main players who accumulated more Awakening progress on Kimberly earlier in Season 6 and later decide that DVA should receive the deeper investment.

Is DVA Awakening Worth It?

DVA Awakening is a strong investment when DVA already holds a permanent position in your main Aircraft formation. The biggest reasons are:

• Starred Ace adds repeated Energy Damage follow-ups.
• Ace Boost scales directly with Aircraft squad composition.
• Star 1 substantially increases the Attack Speed available during the Awakening window.
• Star 3 adds Attack based on the same five-stack mechanic.
• Later stars increase follow-up damage and Airborne duration.
• Every tier adds permanent combat attributes.

The investment becomes less urgent if Aircraft is only a weak secondary squad. Getting DVA to 5 stars, building her Exclusive Weapon to Level 20, and committing hundreds of Universal Awakening Shards can delay progression for the formation you actually use most. Awaken DVA because she fits your long-term Aircraft plan, not simply because the Season 6 upgrade button exists.

Common DVA Awakening Mistakes

• Ignoring Exclusive Weapon Level 20: DVA cannot Awaken without meeting the weapon requirement.
• Saving only Universal Awakening Shards: The initial 50 shards must be DVA-specific.
• Stopping just short of Star 1: The first full Awakening Star significantly improves Ace Boost Attack Speed.
• Ignoring Aircraft composition: Ace Boost becomes stronger as more Aircraft heroes are deployed.
• Forcing five Aircraft regardless of quality: A severely underdeveloped hero may still weaken the overall formation.
• Putting DVA on the frontline unnecessarily: Her main role remains dealing damage.
• Ignoring Skill Medals: Starred Ace can be upgraded to Level 40.
• Skipping Global Expedition: It is a major source of Season 6 Awakening progression.
• Spreading Universal shards across every hero: Aim for meaningful star milestones.
• Performing Awakening Swap without checking named shards: Those shards can move during the swap.

Optional Faster Starting Point

DVA Awakening is designed for mature Season 6 accounts with significant Aircraft investment already completed. Players who prefer starting from an established position can browse Last War accounts for sale on Heaven Guardian. When comparing accounts, check DVA’s star level, Exclusive Weapon, Awakening Stars, Skill level, Aircraft teammates, available Awakening Shards, and server progression rather than relying only on total Power.

FAQs

When does DVA Awakening unlock?

DVA Awakening becomes available during Season 6 Week 3, making her the second Season 6 Awakening hero after Kimberly.

What does DVA need to Awaken?

DVA must be 5 stars, have an Exclusive Weapon at Level 20 or higher, and have 50 DVA-specific Awakening Shards.

What is DVA’s Awakening Skill?

Starred Ace sends DVA Airborne for five seconds. During this period, each Auto Attack triggers an additional Energy Damage attack that prioritizes front-row enemies.

What is Ace Boost?

DVA gains one Ace Boost stack for every Aircraft hero in her formation. Each base stack increases Attack Speed by 20%, up to five stacks with a full Aircraft squad.

What does DVA Awakening Star 1 do?

Star 1 adds another 10% Attack Speed to every Ace Boost stack. With five Aircraft heroes, that adds another 50% Attack Speed during the effect.

What does DVA Awakening Star 3 do?

Star 3 adds 5% Attack for every Ace Boost stack. With five stacks, DVA can receive up to 25% additional Attack from this star effect.

How many shards are needed to max DVA Awakening?

The complete path from initial unlock to 5-star Awakening currently requires 1,580 Awakening Shards.

Can Universal Awakening Shards unlock DVA?

No. DVA needs 50 named DVA Awakening Shards for initial activation. Universal shards can contribute to later upgrades after Awakening has been unlocked.

Where do DVA Awakening Shards come from?

The DVA Hero Awakening Trial and Global Expedition are major Season 6 sources. Additional seasonal sources can vary with the current game version.

Is DVA Awakening worth it for Tank or Missile mains?

The upgrade still makes DVA stronger, but the investment is harder to justify when Aircraft is not an important formation on your account. Universal Awakening Shards are usually better concentrated on heroes supporting formations you actively use.

Conclusion

The Last War DVA Awakening is one of Season 6’s most important upgrades for Aircraft-focused players. Prepare DVA at 5 stars, reach Exclusive Weapon Level 20, and collect the 50 named Awakening Shards needed to unlock Starred Ace when her Week 3 Awakening becomes available. After activation, focus on meaningful milestones rather than blindly spending Universal Awakening Shards. Star 1 significantly strengthens Ace Boost’s Attack Speed, Star 3 adds Attack for each Aircraft hero in the formation, and Star 5 extends DVA’s Airborne damage window. The more committed your account is to Aircraft, the more value these mechanics provide. For more Season 6 strategies, hero progression advice, and event walkthroughs, explore our additional Last War Survival guides.