Orc Incremental Upgrade Priority

Quick facts

Survival

Buy it when a required role cannot complete its job.

Damage

Buy it when the correct target is reached but does not fall.

Targeting

Test position before paying to overpower a bad matchup.

Economy

Compare time to a useful purchase, not the largest displayed number.

Reset

Require a clear next-cycle benefit before giving up the run.

Replace a fixed list with a bottleneck decision

The official sources describe an incremental auto battler with unit drafts, Totems, formations, combat, gold, Dark Rebirth, and permanent bonuses. They do not publish a complete version 1.0 cost table or a universal purchase order. A fixed list would hide the build, formation, and wall that make a choice useful.

Use this decision table instead:

Observation	Upgrade category to test	Evidence that the test worked
A required ally dies before acting	Survival	The ally completes the missing action
Allies reach the blocker but cannot defeat it	Damage	The same target falls sooner
Damage goes somewhere unhelpful	Position or target access	More useful attacks reach the blocker
The plan wins but the next useful purchase is too slow	Economy	Comparable runs reach that purchase sooner
Short-run purchases no longer alter the wall	Permanent progress or reset	The next cycle changes the stated failure

The progression guide helps name the layer. This page selects a purchase within it.

Check survival without overbuying it

Survival matters when a unit required by the plan is removed before performing its job. It is not automatically useful because the run ends in defeat. A formation can survive longer and still fail to reach or damage the important enemy.

Before buying survival:

1. Record which ally falls first.
2. State what that ally needed to do.
3. Test one position change.
4. If exposure remains, buy one relevant survival choice.
5. Replay and check whether the missing action now occurs.

If the unit survives but the result does not change, stop buying the same category. The problem may be damage delivery, target access, or economy. See the staged formation guide for verified placement details once available.

Separate damage from target access

Raw damage is a reasonable priority only when attacks already reach the blocking target. If they do not, another damage purchase may increase a number without changing the encounter.

Use a two-part test:

• Access: Does the relevant unit attack the enemy that must be removed?
• Conversion: When it attacks that enemy, does more power change the outcome?

Position, role, and tactical actions can affect access. The official store confirms formations and spells but does not publish every hidden targeting rule in the checked material. Do not state a formula from a single replay. The staged unit roles reference should keep observation and official facts separate.

Measure economy by the next useful decision

Economy is not simply the upgrade with the biggest currency label. Measure how long it takes to reach a purchase that changes the diagnosed wall. A purchase that increases income but delays the useful combat change can be a poor choice for that specific run.

For a controlled comparison, keep the route and formation stable. Record starting gold, ending gold, elapsed segment, and the useful purchase reached. Change one economy option and repeat. If the build or encounter changed, mark the comparison invalid rather than smoothing the numbers together.

Official sources also say offline progression generates gold. That can affect the starting state of a comparison. Use the offline gains checklist to verify save and time conditions before attributing a difference to an upgrade.

Evaluate a reset as an opportunity cost

Dark Rebirth and permanent bonuses are official systems. Historical Demo v0.09 also discussed Blight in a Dark Rebirth cycle. The exact gain formula and a universal reset threshold were not published in the checked sources.

A reset is a choice between the remaining value of this run and a stated permanent improvement. The Dark Rebirth evidence guide provides a build-labeled opportunity-cost record. Ask:

• Can one affordable short-run purchase still change the wall?
• What permanent option becomes available after the reset?
• What exact failure should the next cycle avoid?
• How much repeatable progress is being abandoned now?
• Is the claim tied to this build rather than an old Demo note?

Use the Blight evidence guide to separate historical input wording from unpublished math. The future rebirth planner will require current evidence before supplying numerical comparisons.

Use historical Demo balance only as a warning

Demo update v0.08 introduced Battlefront as the main incremental mode and warned that the Demo became imbalanced after several hours because some upgrades and rarities were reserved for the final game. This directly limits old optimization advice.

An order that worked in that Demo may still inspire a test. It does not prove a version 1.0 priority. Likewise, v0.09 comments about Rage, Blight, Totem stacking, Missions, or Trials must stay labeled historical. Use the patch notes ledger to find the build context before applying a claim.

Keep announced systems out of unsupported rankings

The version 1.0 announcement confirms several larger progression systems without publishing a complete purchase table. The Blight Tree reference keeps announced scope separate from a current node map. Broad roles are published for Assassin, Troll, Warg Raider, and Juggernaut, while exact costs and numerical balance are not.

Do not recommend an announced unit, bloodline, node, or Totem as a universal priority. A useful future ranking would need a named build, a clear objective, controlled inputs, enough repeated observations, and an explanation of uncertainty. Until then, the Demo comparison is the honest scope reference.

Run a four-step upgrade experiment

1. Name the wall in one sentence.
2. Choose the smallest upgrade that should affect that wall.
3. Replay the same measurable segment.
4. Keep, reject, or retest the hypothesis based on the result.

Write the result in plain language: "the front unit now acts twice," "the blocker still receives no attacks," or "the useful purchase arrives one comparable run earlier." Do not turn a small test into a global claim.

Upgrade mistakes that waste evidence

• Buying survival, damage, and economy before replaying.
• Calling longer survival a successful purchase when the target remains untouched.
• Comparing runs with different formations or offline starting states.
• Importing a historical Demo order into version 1.0.
• Resetting because the run feels slow without naming the expected benefit.
• Publishing exact returns, costs, or formulas that the source set does not contain.

The useful priority is the next controlled answer to a known bottleneck, not a permanent list.

Official source

Frequently asked questions

Is there one universal upgrade order?

No verified universal order appears in the checked sources. Priority depends on the observed bottleneck, available choices, build label, and whether the next useful change affects survival, damage delivery, economy, or permanent progression.

How can I compare two upgrades without a formula?

Hold the formation and battle constant, buy one candidate, and record the result. Compare time survived, target reached, wave completed, or gold gained rather than relying on a vague feeling.

Can historical Demo balance guide a current purchase?

It can explain why an old run behaved a certain way, but it cannot establish current numerical priority. Demo v0.08 explicitly warned that some later upgrades and rarities were reserved for the final game.