Upgrade game guide

Your first duel and the upgrade loop

Your first robot is chosen at random and starts at +0. The upgrade goal is to reach +40 and complete a core. A loss may lower your current level, but a level you have already reached stays in your best-level record.

1. Check your current upgrade level and choose an available difficulty.
2. Find an opponent, then read the estimated win rate, win rewards, and loss outcomes shown on screen.
3. Check whether protection applies and whether it is on cooldown, then start the duel.
4. Read the result and choose your next difficulty for the level you now have.

You can change difficulty before finding your next opponent. Once a match is confirmed, start the duel within ten minutes or that match is automatically canceled.

Difficulty rewards and worked examples

There are four selectable duel difficulties. A reward of +1 means an increase of one upgrade level. The maximum +5 in Hard and Inferno is a possible result, not a guaranteed reward for every win.

Example 1: your robot is at +4

A Normal win takes you to +5; a loss while you are at +4 leaves your level unchanged. Once you reach +5, later losses can reduce your level. Easy and Inferno are not available yet.

Example 2: choosing your next target at +12

A Normal win gives you +13. An Easy win leaves you at +12 or takes you to +13. A Hard win takes you to a level from +13 through +17. Compare the chance of a larger jump with Normal's fixed one-level win reward. Inferno can also take you as high as +17, but choosing it means accepting the possibility of a reset to +0 on a loss.

Example 3: you have reached +30

You are outside the Easy and Inferno level range, so choose Normal or Hard. A difficulty you used at +29 may no longer be available: check your current level and choices before the next match.

Level losses and protection

• At +0–+4: losing a duel does not reduce your level.
• At +5–+9: a loss can reduce your level by one or two.
• At +10–+39: a loss can reduce your level by one, two, or three.
• Inferno's additional risk: while available at +10–+29, a loss can also reset the robot to +0.

Every five cumulative attack wins earn one protection ticket; every twenty earn one robot change ticket. Check your automatic protection setting and whether it applies before the duel. If protection applies, is ready, and you have a ticket, a two- or three-level loss consumes one ticket to keep your level unchanged. A win or one-level loss does not consume a ticket.

Protection cannot block a one-level loss or an Inferno reset. After a ticket triggers, protection is unavailable for the next two duels. It becomes available again from the following duel.

Example: a +22 robot with protection

If protection is available and applies, a two-level loss uses one ticket and leaves you at +22. A one-level loss instead takes you to +21 without using a ticket. An Inferno reset takes the current robot to +0 regardless of protection. A ticket is therefore not coverage against every losing outcome.

Current, stored, and best levels

A robot change ticket randomly selects a different robot, excluding your current one. It stores the level of the robot you are leaving. If you have used the selected robot before, you resume from that robot's stored level.

• Current level: the actual level of the robot you are upgrading now. Duel results can raise or lower it.
• Stored level: the level left behind when changing robots. If a later change ticket selects that robot again, this is where it resumes.
• Best level: the highest level you reached with that robot. A setback does not erase this record, but the record does not restore lost levels.

Example: best +18, current +16

If you change robots now, +16 is stored and the best record stays at +18. When a change ticket later selects that robot again, it resumes at +16, not +18. A change ticket also does not let you pick a specific replacement, so check your current level before using one.

Keep or extract a +40 core?

At +40, you need to process the completed core before continuing to upgrade. Choose Keep or Extract. Both preserve your collection's best-level record and lifetime core count. After either choice, a randomly selected robot starts a new run at +0.

• Keep: retain the completed +40 core as a robot available for Defense.
• Extract: receive 100,000 Core Energy. The extracted core can no longer deploy in Defense.

For example, if you want to use your first completed +40 robot in your next Defense run, keeping it serves that goal. If you need Core Energy for item exchanges, compare the extraction reward with giving up that core as a deployable asset. A best-level record of +40 does not put an extracted core back into your squad.

Use upgraded robots in Defense

The 500-round Defense challenge uses your current robot and stored robots. You cannot field duplicate copies of the same robot. Upgrading several robots and keeping completed cores can expand your deployable squad. Extracted cores remain in your lifetime record but are not deployable assets.

A win advances to the next round; a loss moves you back one. Your best cleared round is kept separately. When choosing your next upgrade goal, check the levels of robots you can actually deploy as well as your best-level records.

Read the forms and collection

The 12 robots use Mobile, Heavy, or Energy frames. Their forms change at +10, +20, +30, and +40. The collection records discovered robots and their highest unlocked forms; undiscovered robots and unreached forms remain obscured. These are a few examples of the basic forms.

Frequently asked questions

Why did an Easy win leave my level unchanged?

Easy's win rewards include +0. It is still a duel win and counts toward the cumulative attack wins used to earn protection and robot change tickets.

Does a +5 Hard reward at +39 take me to +44?

No. The upgrade cap is +40. Even if a reward has steps remaining, upgrading stops at +40 and you move on to the completed-core choice.

Does an Inferno reset change my robot?

A reset returns the same robot to +0. Its stored level also becomes +0, while its best-level record remains. This differs from processing a completed core, which starts a new run with a randomly selected robot.

This guide is based on the game's implemented upgrade, protection, and core-processing rules. Updates may change those rules; check the current in-game win and loss details before starting a duel.