If you’ve ever stared at your Brawl Stars roster wondering why every other player in your lobby has that shiny new chromatic brawler before you, you’re not alone. I’ve spent three years playing the game across two accounts, one fully free-to-play, so I’ve tested every trick in the book to unlock characters quicker without wasting resources or violating Supercell’s terms of service. Today, we’re breaking down exactly how to get brawlers faster in Brawl Stars, no hacks, no exploits, just moves that are explicitly allowed and can cut your grind time by nearly half if you stick to them consistently.
How to get brawlers faster by optimizing your Starr Road progression
The Starr Road is the core system for unlocking brawlers in the current version of the game, but most players use it in a way that slows down their progress drastically. Credits are the most reliable resource for unlocking brawlers, so spreading them across multiple rarity tiers at once means you’ll hit the pity timer for new unlocks far slower than you would if you focus on one tier at a time. For example, if you still have 3 common brawlers left to unlock, pour all your credits into the common tier first before touching higher rarities. Once you clear out all lower rarity tiers, every credit you earn goes straight to epic, mythic, or legendary unlocks, no wasted progress.
Most new players also don’t know that chrome credits can be converted to regular credits at a 1:1 rate if you’re stuck on a high-tier unlock. Don’t spend your chrome credits on cosmetics until you’ve unlocked all the brawlers you want – those credits can be the difference between unlocking a new mythic brawler this week and waiting another month to grind enough regular credits. I tested this strategy on my F2P account last year, and I unlocked 12 brawlers in 6 months, compared to just 4 brawlers in the 6 months before I switched to this method.
Maximize Starr Drop rewards to unlock extra brawlers for free
Starr Drops are the second biggest source of new brawlers for most players, especially free-to-play users who don’t buy the paid Brawl Pass every season. These drops come in four rarities, and higher rarity drops have a much higher chance of containing a full brawler, credits, or chrome credits to speed up your Starr Road progress. You can increase your Starr Drop rarity by completing 3 daily quests in a row – that bonus rarity boost makes it 3x more likely you’ll get a brawler directly from a drop, according to official Supercell drop rate stats.
You don’t have to play for hours every day to stack up Starr Drops either. There are simple, low-effort ways to earn extra drops every week without draining all your free time:
- Complete all 7 daily quests each week to unlock the 500 pass point weekly bonus, which levels up your Brawl Pass faster for more drops
- Play at least 3 matches a day to hit the daily play streak reward, which includes a free common Starr Drop even if you lose all three matches
- Join an active club that completes all club quests every week, as these give 2+ rare Starr Drops per reset with almost no extra effort
If you make a point to hit these small milestones every week, you’ll get at least 2-3 rare or higher Starr Drops per week on top of your regular quest rewards. Legendary Starr Drops have a 10% chance of dropping a brawler of any rarity, so even if you never spend a cent on the game, you can get a free legendary brawler every few months just by stacking these drops.
Use the Brawl Pass strategically to cut unlock time in half
The Brawl Pass is one of the most misunderstood parts of Brawl Stars progression, especially for new players who think it’s only worth it if you spend real money. Even the free version of the Brawl Pass gives 1000+ credits, multiple Starr Drops, and hundreds of gems per season if you level it up fully, which is more than enough to unlock at least one new brawler per season without spending anything. If you’re willing to spend a small amount once, the paid Brawl Pass is the single best investment for faster brawler unlocks, as it gives a free chromatic brawler at tier 30 plus 2000+ extra credits over the full season.
The biggest mistake players make with the Brawl Pass is wasting time on low-value quests that don’t give many pass points. Prioritize quests that give the most pass points first – if you have a quest that gives 200 points for winning 2 matches of Bounty, do that before a quest that gives 50 points for playing 10 matches of Knockout, so you level up the pass far faster. You can also reroll one daily quest a day for free, so always reroll the lowest point quest to get a higher reward. That small change adds up to 500+ extra pass points per season, which is almost 2 full levels of extra rewards.
Avoid these common mistakes that slow down your brawler unlocks
Even if you follow all the tips above, small mistakes can add weeks or even months to your unlock time for new brawlers. The most common mistake I see new players make is wasting free gems on skins instead of saving them for the paid Brawl Pass. You earn enough free gems from the free Brawl Pass every season to buy the next season’s paid pass for 169 gems, so you never have to spend real money to get the paid pass rewards if you plan ahead. A single skin doesn’t help your progression at all, but the paid Brawl Pass gives you enough resources to unlock 2-3 new brawlers per season.
Another common mistake is hoarding credits for months waiting for a specific legendary brawler to show up on the Starr Road. The pity timer for legendary brawlers is consistent, so even if you unlock a different legendary first, you’ll still hit the pity for the one you want faster than if you hold onto credits for months. You’re better off unlocking any available brawler as soon as you have enough credits, because each new brawler gives you extra daily quest options that can help you earn more credits faster.
Playing alone instead of with a small squad of friends is another hidden progress killer. You win 30% more matches on average when you play with people you communicate with, which means you finish quests faster, level up quicker, and get more rewards per hour of play. You don’t need a full team of pro players, even one friend to queue with makes a huge difference in your win rate and daily progress.
Unlocking brawlers faster doesn’t require fancy hacks or hundreds of dollars spent on microtransactions. It just requires being intentional with how you spend your resources, prioritizing high-reward quests, and sticking to a consistent play schedule even if it’s just 20 minutes a day. The tips we’ve laid out work for both free-to-play and paying players, and I’ve used them personally to build a full roster of brawlers on both of my accounts. Now that you know how to get brawlers faster in Brawl Stars, jump into a match and start knocking out those daily quests to build your dream roster faster than ever.