If you’re diving into Grow A Garden pets for the long haul, one of the first things you’ll notice is how critical upgrades are to your progression. Whether you're focused on arena combat, resource farming, or passive buff stacking, knowing what to upgrade first can save you hours of grinding and help you dominate faster.

Here are 19 things you should consider upgrading early on to set your team up for success.

1. Pet Star Level

Star level directly influences your pets’ stats and passive effects. Upgrading star level should be your top priority, especially for high-tier companions with strong synergy potential.

2. Core Skills

Each pet has one or two core active abilities. Upgrading these skills not only boosts damage or healing but often shortens cooldowns, giving you a tactical edge in high-pressure encounters.

3. Energy Capacity

Many pet builds rely on sustained abilities. Upgrading energy capacity early ensures your pets can stay in the fight longer without running dry.

4. Support Buff Duration

Support-oriented pets often have buffs with limited durations. Upgrading this feature makes your team more consistent in longer missions.

5. Attack Speed

Attack speed can make a massive difference in DPS, especially in burst-heavy builds. Prioritize this for pets with multi-hit or stacking effects.

6. Defense Modifiers

Glass cannon pets may fall off quickly in late-game content. A modest investment in defense upgrades can drastically increase survivability.

7. Passive Buff Radius

For buffs that affect allies, increasing the effect radius means your whole squad benefits—especially helpful in crowded PvE zones.

8. Elemental Resistance

Some environments or elite bosses deal heavy elemental damage. Upgrading elemental resistance for pets that tank or frontline can be game-changing.

9. Crit Rate and Crit Damage

These two stats scale well together. Pets built around burst or spike damage should have these upgraded as early as possible.

10. Cooldown Reduction

This is one of the most underrated upgrades in Grow A Garden pets. Lower cooldowns mean more uptime on both offense and defense skills.

11. Pet Bonding Level

Bonding not only increases loyalty but also unlocks synergy passives. Make sure to nurture these early to open up more team composition options.

12. Auto Skill Priority

You can customize which skills trigger automatically in battle. Investing in smarter AI logic makes your team more efficient during auto-mode grinding.

13. Resource Gathering Speed

For players farming materials or looking to buy Grow A Garden pets with in-game currency, boosting gathering speed means faster progression across the board.

14. Stamina Efficiency

Many missions and activities consume stamina. Upgrading your efficiency means you get more runs for the same cost—especially helpful when farming for rare drops.

15. Arena Traits

If you're competing in PvP, look at traits like dodge rate, interrupt resistance, or status effect immunities. These upgrades will set you apart from unprepared players.

16. Summon Speed

If you’re using rotating or timed summons, faster deployment means you can react quickly to battlefield changes.

17. Healing Output

Support pets with healing skills should get an early upgrade here. Higher healing means better sustain for you and your team.

18. XP Gain Rate

Leveling pets quickly allows you to unlock more advanced builds. You can also consider exploring cheap Grow A Garden pets for faster roster expansion while grinding.

19. Companion Inventory Slots

It may seem minor, but more inventory means fewer return trips and longer farming sessions—especially useful if you're grinding with U4GM’s farming strategies in mind.

Upgrading wisely in Grow A Garden pets isn’t just about power—it's about efficiency. Investing in these 19 areas will set a solid foundation whether you're a casual player or aiming to dominate the arena. And if you're looking to expand your pet roster, consider checking for cheap Grow A Garden pets deals or reliable sources where you can buy Grow A Garden pets to round out your team. Sites like U4GM are often referenced in the community for quick access to needed resources without the grind.