Narcos: Cartel Wars & Strategy: How to Promote Sicarios to 7 Stars

To promote a Sicario to 7 stars in Narcos: Cartel Wars & Strategy, you must raise your primary 6-star Sicario to its maximum level cap of 60, prepare multiple 6-star sacrifice Sicarios, and combine them in the promotion menu. Because high-tier units cannot simply be bought outright, reaching 7 stars requires systematically ranking up low-tier recruits into 6-star fodder.

Prerequisites for a 7-Star Promotion

Before initiating a 7-star upgrade in your Sicario Compound, you must satisfy two strict conditions:

1. Max out the target Sicario: Your primary unit must reach level 60. If it sits even one level below the cap, the promotion button remains locked.
2. Clear assignments on sacrifice fodder: A Sicario cannot be consumed as promotion material if it is assigned to base defense, stationed at an active outpost, or marked as a favorite. You must manually unassign and unlock these units before they appear as selectable fodder.

Building the Fodder Pyramid

Generating 6-star sacrifices requires converting common 1-star and 2-star recruits into higher tiers. Never sacrifice unique, high-utility combat leaders as food. Instead, use disposable recruits obtained from daily drafts, recruit contracts, and cartel reward crates.

Each star tier requires leveling the base unit to that tier's cap and sacrificing duplicate star-rank units:

The Level 1 Fodder Rule

While your main Sicario must reach level 60, keep all 6-star fodder units at level 1. Spending Sicario XP and Cash to level a unit past rank 6 provides zero bonus when it is consumed as promotion fuel.

Managing XP and Cash Efficiently

Promoting units across multiple star tiers places heavy demands on your Cash reserves and Sicario XP. To keep your base progression steady during the grind:

• Level fodder only to the minimum required cap: Never invest extra XP into intermediate 2-star through 5-star units once they hit the level threshold needed to rank up.
• Farm player raids and campaign missions: High-medal base attacks provide the most reliable influx of Cash and recruitment contracts.
• Buy XP and contracts from the Smuggler: Trade surplus regional goods and cartel tokens for Sicario XP bundles and draft contracts rather than cosmetic items.
• Promote in batches: Stockpile sufficient fodder and Cash to complete a full promotion cycle at once so your active squad is not weakened mid-cycle.

Choosing Your First 7-Star Sicario

Invest your first 7-star promotion into an offensive raid leader rather than a defensive commander.

Defensive Sicarios stationed at your perimeter only generate value when your base is attacked by other players. An offensive leader directly improves manual raid performance across all game modes. Reaching 7 stars provides substantial increases to base health and damage per second, while also maximizing the percentage scaling of equipped talents. A stronger lead attacker lets you crack higher-level bases with fewer casualties, securing the resources needed to fund subsequent 7-star upgrades.