Best Upgrades
There is no useful universal upgrade order. The right buy is the one that fixes the thing currently slowing the run: damage, hauling, mithril, artifacts, safety, or late-game gates.
Buy by Bottleneck
Section titled “Buy by Bottleneck”| Bottleneck | Upgrade Picks | What They Do |
|---|---|---|
| Need first damage | Miner · BIG BAD BOMB · Flaming Bolt | Miner starts the basic damage line. BIG BAD BOMB gives Demodwarves a heavy explosive throw. Flaming Bolt makes harpoons ignite for extra damage and fire fields. |
| Need burst or den damage | C.L.U.S.T.E.R.P.I.C.K. · Thunderboom Tips · Nuke · HOLY HAND GRENADE | These are the explosive or multi-hit tools that help punch through large health bars, dens, and late hazards. |
| Need hauling | Runner · Gorilla Arms · Mithril Chainmail · Pixie Cocaine | Runner unlocks the job; the others improve capacity, delivery speed, stun resistance, dodge, or recovery. Buy these when ore value is being lost before reaching storage. |
| Need mithril | Spelunker · Mithril Divining · Mithril Forging | Spelunking adds non-damage mithril routes, Mithril Divining improves mithril-luck, and Mithril Forging opens mithril-based forge upgrades. |
| Need artifacts | Treasure Hunter · Forge Artifact · Ritual Power | Treasure Hunters and Forge Artifact are the most direct ways to turn progression into stronger artifact options. |
| Need economy scaling | Great Mother Altar · Great Maw Altar · Rune of Fortune | Great Mother improves housing and ore/gem value, Great Maw improves reclaim/sacrifice play, and Rune of Fortune raises luck across dwarves. |
| Need late unlocks | Alchemy · Cyberdwarf · Bullet Ballin | These are not first purchases. They matter when your run is ready for science, advanced runner/miner upgrades, rocket tools, and late-game chains. |
Spending Rules
Section titled “Spending Rules”| Rule | Payoff |
|---|---|
| Do not buy a new weapon line just because it is available. | A half-built damage branch is often worse than finishing the branch already carrying the run. |
| Mithril-cost upgrades need a plan. | If dens and mithril-luck are weak, a strong mithril upgrade can sit unaffordable while cheaper gold upgrades would help now. |
| Hauling upgrades are damage upgrades when reclaim is active. | A mountain kill that leaves ore on the ground is not a full economy win. |
| Forge and Treasure Hunter upgrades need support. | They shine once you can feed mithril, souls, dens, and safe expeditions into them. |