Pick a tree from the last flight
The developer advertises more than 180 upgrades. The useful cut is the branch for the weapon or airframe you just used. Read the Credit price on that node. If you cannot name the job the node improves, do not buy it to fill the menu.
Reported chain-gun nodes are Hot Barrel, Linked Belts, Twin Feed, Gatling Conversion, and HE-Frag Rounds. Reported rocket nodes are Airburst Fuzes and Pod Extension. Reported airframe nodes are Turbine Tuning, Kevlar Cockpit, and Armored Hull. A code roundup also mentions Twin Guns and Hot Barrels on the Apache tree. Hot Barrel and Hot Barrels may be the same heat node under two wordings. The screen label wins.
What each branch is for
Chain gun is the sustained crowd tool, and it overheats. Heat and feed nodes match the first-flight job. Rocket nodes match splash on clumps and shielded targets, which is the second attack to add. Airframe nodes are the durability branch when you are the one getting shot down, including Howler lasers.
Defense nodes belong to a placement you already use. Do not open a Cryo tree, if that pass is what your Store shows, until the squad has agreed who shoots the frozen group.
Respec and the October warning
A respec that refunds points into a new build is reported. Its cost is not published, so do not plan on a free rebuild. The October developer note says pre-existing content did not get a real balance pass and that new systems may be too weak, too strong, or too grindy. Re-open the node after that update and read the current price before you spend a large balance.
A simple order
- One chain-gun node if the M230 is your repeat attack and heat or uptime is the problem you felt.
- One rocket node if clumps or shielded targets are surviving the gun.
- One airframe node if you are leaving fights early.
- One defense node for an approach you already drop on.
- Stop and fly again before a second branch.
The Calculator payback form can turn a price you typed into a run count. It cannot tell you the node is good.