Kojiro is the announced free SSR Buddy for the launch season. The S0: Twin Suns & Land of Radiance rewards preview names him alongside event-mission rewards, and the official launch presentation gives the specific free progression target: reach level 60 in the season’s Rumbling Furnace. Daily activities and hunts award experience for that seasonal feature.
This is an announced acquisition path in the October 28, 2026 pre-launch snapshot, not a claim that the reward has already been collected. Check the live season’s reward panel and its requirements after your service opens. Barim is a separate free SR Buddy from the Buddy Squad Investigation Notes event; he must not be relabeled as the free SSR.
The free Buddy rewards to distinguish
| Reward or offer | What is announced | Important boundary |
|---|---|---|
| Kojiro | SSR Buddy available through launch-season rewards; the presentation identifies Rumbling Furnace level 60 as the free target | Seasonal progression level is not your Adventurer’s character level |
| Paid Rumbling Furnace offers | Higher-rank purchases provide another acquisition route or additional copies | A paid purchase is separate from the free level-60 path |
| Barim | SR Buddy for completing all map investigations in the webpage event | Free acquisition does not change SR into SSR |
| Luka and Pyro | SSR Adventurers named in the season’s event rewards | Adventurers are playable characters, not SSR Buddies |
| Recruitment items for more than 400 recruits | A total announced across the first season | This is not a promise of 400 pulls in the opening mailbox |
The announced free SSR Buddy reward in the S0 season preview.
The reward category matters as much as the rarity. A page promising a free SSR can be referring to an Adventurer, a Buddy or a chance to recruit. Only the named Buddy reward answers this page’s question directly. Read the item and character labels before treating several launch offers as interchangeable.
Follow the free Kojiro progression path
The launch presentation connects Rumbling Furnace experience with daily activities and hunts. It does not give a universal amount of experience per hunt, a guaranteed completion time or a fixed number of days needed to reach level 60.
Use this progression order once the feature is available:
- Confirm that you are viewing the current launch season’s Rumbling Furnace progression.
- Inspect the reward at level 60 and identify Kojiro on the free reward path.
- Read which currently available activities supply experience for that feature.
- Complete the eligible activities that fit your account’s unlocked content.
- Return to the seasonal progress display and confirm that its level advances.
- Claim the reward through the live feature when the stated condition is met.
Do not confuse the target with account rank, a weapon level or the level of one Adventurer. Those systems can progress during the same play session while remaining separate from the seasonal reward condition. A high-level character does not establish that your Rumbling Furnace has reached its reward milestone.
The activity list also matters. The phrase “daily activities and hunts” does not establish that every possible encounter awards identical experience. Follow the current feature’s listed sources instead of repeating an unrelated hunt because it is quick. If a completion gives no relevant seasonal progress, inspect the eligibility before committing more time.
Check the season clock before planning the grind
Kojiro’s announced route belongs to the launch season, S0: Twin Suns & Land of Radiance. A seasonal milestone needs a deadline, but this page does not invent an exact end time or the daily experience needed to finish it.
Read the remaining duration displayed by the current season and compare it with your current progress. If you join later, the useful question is which eligible sources are still available and how much progress they visibly provide. Do not copy a first-day plan without considering the account’s actual starting point.
Distinguish a recurring source from a one-time mission. A one-time event reward can produce a useful jump in progress without being available every day afterward. Conversely, a daily source can matter because it returns, not because its first completion looked especially large.
Keep the play plan proportional to the reward. Complete relevant daily progress while also advancing the story and equipment needed for accessible hunts. Trying to repeat a difficult activity before the account can clear it reliably can slow both seasonal progress and ordinary development.
No beta energy cap, permit allowance or refill price should become a shortcut in this plan. Those are separate resource rules. The seasonal feature’s actual experience sources and the current activity’s entry requirements must determine what you can use.
Keep the free and paid routes separate
The launch presentation describes Kojiro at season level 60 as free. It also describes higher-rank Pot purchases as another way to obtain him, with the highest offer bringing the total to three copies. Those purchases do not turn the free milestone into a purchase requirement.
Before selecting anything, identify whether the screen is showing the free reward path, a paid upgrade or an additional-copy offer. Promotional panels can place them near each other while describing different conditions. Judge the free route by its own requirement rather than by the most prominent purchase button.
The preview’s additional-copy statement also does not mean that all copies are free. Nor does it establish how much a duplicate improves a Buddy or whether a particular upgrade is necessary for the content you want to play. Read the current training and duplicate rules before treating three copies as the minimum useful result.
If your objective is simply to obtain the announced free SSR Buddy, follow the free progression condition first. A purchase decision has a different purpose and should not be smuggled into a free-reward checklist.
Barim is a useful free SR reward
Barim comes from Buddy Squad Investigation Notes, a separate webpage activity. Completing all map investigations awards Barim, Zenny x2,000, Dewberry x5 and Verdant Dew x5. The event identifies its Buddy reward as SR, so receiving him does not complete an SSR-specific goal.
That does not make the reward irrelevant. An available companion can support early progression while the account works toward a seasonal milestone. Use the Buddy’s actual ability and eligibility rather than discarding it solely because another free reward has a higher rarity.
The webpage event also has a different delivery process from a seasonal progression feature. After launch, create a game character, return to the event rewards page, select the correct server and account, and claim the delivered items through the in-game mailbox. Do not assume that finishing the webpage investigations automatically completes the separate Kojiro milestone.
The event ends November 30, 2026 at 14:59 UTC, and its daily login quest resets at 15:00 UTC. Those are the webpage event’s times. They do not establish the Rumbling Furnace reset or season deadline, which must be checked separately.
Buddy type, rarity and class are different labels
Palico, Rutaco and Trillan are Buddy types, not three rarity ranks. Individual Buddies can differ in appearance and abilities, and a type name does not prove that a particular companion is SSR or free.
The pre-launch class structure connects Palicos with Assault, Rutacos with Disruptor and Trillans with Support. Palicos use weapons and items, Rutacos are associated with tools and Radiantite construction, and Trillans support through their voices. Check the actual Buddy and Adventurer pairing permitted by your current client before planning a synergy.
Rarity answers another question: the classification of that specific Buddy. The reward route answers a third: what condition lets you obtain it. Keep those labels separate when comparing a free SR reward, an announced free SSR milestone and a Buddy appearing in recruitment.
The Fated Adventurer also has Buddy-related interactions in beta descriptions. That makes the companion’s actual ability relevant to a build, but it does not mean any Buddy grants every effect mentioned for the protagonist. Read the equipped Buddy’s current description and the Adventurer’s applicable skill together.
Do not mistake recruitment changes for universal free claims
Buddy recruitment changed during testing. Dedicated targeted Buddy pools were removed, and free routes for featured SSR Buddies were introduced. That does not mean Buddies vanished from every mixed recruitment pool, nor does it mean every SSR Buddy can be claimed immediately without a condition.
The announced Kojiro route is stronger evidence than an assumption based on a banner’s absence because it names a reward and a progression target. For another Buddy, look for the same specificity: the exact name, rarity, required activity and claim condition.
Standard or Featured Contracts are recruitment resources, not guaranteed direct Buddy rewards. A beta pity rule or selector milestone also is not automatically the launch route for the Buddy you want. Keep recruitment decisions separate from a seasonal reward you can obtain through its stated progression.
A costume, avatar frame or wallpaper featuring a Buddy is another distinct reward. Its artwork does not establish ownership of the companion. Confirm that the reward list names the actual Buddy before treating it as an acquisition offer.
Invest in the companion you can actually use
Once a Buddy is obtained, inspect its ability, pairing and available training before spending resources. A rarity label alone does not tell you whether it serves the Adventurer and party function you are developing.
Focus training on an active pairing instead of spreading materials across every newly acquired companion. If Kojiro’s seasonal milestone remains ahead, a useful existing Buddy can still help the account progress toward the hunts and activities that supply seasonal experience.
If a reward appears missing, check the relevant system rather than repeating another one: seasonal level and free-path claim for Kojiro, completed webpage investigations and delivery account for Barim, or recruitment history for a recruit. These separate checks resolve the specific condition without turning a launch preview into a claim that every reward is already in your inventory.