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.
Start Here
Section titled “Start Here”| Stage | Buy First | If you are stuck |
|---|---|---|
| Opening | Miner and Runner | If ore sits on the ground, buy hauling before more damage. If mountains crawl, buy the damage branch already working. |
| First branch | Cooldown, damage, and reliability upgrades for one weapon line. | If a new building appears, do not switch unless it solves the current wall better than your funded branch. |
| Mithril wall | Mithril Divining, dens, and Mithril Forging | If a mithril upgrade looks strong but unaffordable, build mithril income before chasing it. |
| Late gates | Alchemy, Forge Artifact, and special-mountain prep | If the wall is a gate or artifact checklist, more ordinary damage may not move the run forward. |
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. |
Weapon Line Priorities
Section titled “Weapon Line Priorities”| If You Are Building | Prioritize | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Flameworks | Flamer · Searing Wounds · Flamelord's Wrath | Fire is the clearest damage plan once unlocked: Flamers carry normal mountains, then Wrath becomes the payoff if its worker requirements and field support are met. |
| Ballistics Workshop | Harpoon Ballista · Lubed Crank · Monster Bane · Multi-shot · Flaming Bolt | Commit when dens, veins, and projectile support are the bottleneck. A lone Harpoon Ballista is not the build; the cooldown, den damage, multishot, and fire support are what make it work. |
| Artillery Hall | Great Duke Cannon · Nuke · Air Strike | Artillery is for burst and late cannon/rocket chains. Buy it after the run can afford the mithril cost without starving Alchemy, forging, or your current carry. |
| Grand Laboratory | Laser Cannon · Alchemy · Cyberdwarf | Laboratory is as much an unlock building as a damage building. Lasers help, but Alchemy and Cyberdwarf often matter more for gates and late scaling. |
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. |
Unlock-Sensitive Upgrades
Section titled “Unlock-Sensitive Upgrades”| Upgrade | Do Not Chase Until |
|---|---|
| C.L.U.S.T.E.R.P.I.C.K. | Tier 4 prestige and Cyberdwarf tier 2 are ready. |
| Ritual Power | Ritual Power prestige, Runesmiths, and a soul economy are ready. |
| Alchemy | Alchemy prestige and enough Scientists are ready. |
| Bulldozer | Manufactorum is bought and placed. |
| Flamelord's Wrath | The fire path, worker requirements, and field-stack support are visible in your run. Do not stall a run waiting for it. |