After thoroughly playing through every mission on both normal and hard modes, and completing all dreams on normal, I’ve compiled my rankings for all the optional perk upgrades in the game. Innate upgrades aren’t included in this list as they are not optional. Each upgrade is ranked on its merits, noting how it can be significantly enhanced with other upgrades.
Disclaimer: These rankings are based on my own experience and playstyle. If you disagree with any rankings, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!
S Tier
These upgrades offer exceptional utility in nearly every situation, making them essential for any playthrough.
Jen
- Static Blast – Refreshing Jolt
- Description: Refreshing Jolt allows Jen to gain an extra movement after using Static Blast. In a game where positioning is everything, this ability to reposition a mobile character like Jen is invaluable, especially when combined with other abilities.
Dall
- Swap – Friendly Refund
- Description: Friendly Refund transforms Dall’s Swap into an almost unlimited resource, allowing her to swap positions with teammates for free (the 1 Mana required is immediately refunded). This upgrade is a game-changer, affecting every team member’s positioning and overall strategy.
A Tier
These upgrades significantly enhance character abilities and provide substantial utility in most situations.
Zan
- False Prophet – Persistent Delusion
- Description: Persistent Delusion refunds the mana cost for prophets that die before despawning, essentially making them free if used correctly. This can allow prophets to be used as fodder for other abilities and then reused for their intended purpose.
- False Prophet – Useful Fiction
- Description: Useful Fiction allows prophets to interact with objects like reinforcement doors and intel pickups, granting Zan +1 mana for each completed action. When combined with Dall’s Swap–Friendly Refund, this upgrade becomes S Tier, allowing you to control most of the map from the very first turn.
Jen
- Static Blast – Point Blank
- Description: Knockback is a key component of Jen’s playstyle, and doubling its effect makes this upgrade crucial for taking down tough enemies or displacing targets in key positions.
Dall
- Charge – Rampage II
- Description: Rampage II refunds Dall’s action after a successful Charge, turning her into a high-mobility powerhouse. Combined with other abilities like Swap and Throw Riot Block, this upgrade allows Dall to chain actions together seamlessly.
B Tier
These upgrades offer reliable utility most of the time or deliver major benefits in specific situations.
Zan
- 3 Bolt Burst – +1 Damage
- Description: While the extra damage is modest, it’s a consistent boost that applies in nearly every situation. It becomes particularly powerful when combined with other upgrades like Supportive Fire II.
Banks
- Sedative Cocktail – Stings
- Description: Adding direct damage to Banks’ toolkit makes her more versatile, especially since this damage doesn’t depend on mana. This upgrade enhances Banks’ ability to contribute to the team’s overall damage output.
C Tier
These upgrades provide occasional utility, but their impact is generally limited.
Jen
- Gale Grenade – +1 Use Per Encounter
- Description: While the Gale Grenade is a strong tool, this upgrade falls short because Jen has better options available. However, the extra grenade can come in handy in prolonged encounters.
Dall
- Censer Slam – +2 Damage
- Description: Though the extra damage is impressive, Censer Slam is typically reserved for finishing off weakened enemies. Dall has more impactful upgrades that might be a better investment.
D Tier
These are upgrades that offer very minimal or infrequent utility.
Zan
- Predictive Bolt – +1 Damage
Predictive Bolt isn’t the most reliable ability, and adding a single point of damage doesn’t elevate its usefulness much. There are typically better options available.
- Predictive Bolt – Penetrating
Allowing Predictive Bolt to penetrate a target can be situationally useful, but it often doesn’t provide significant enough advantages to justify its use over other upgrades.
Jen
- Static Blast – Energizing Shock
While restoring mana can be helpful, the conditions for this upgrade to be effective are too niche. It’s generally outclassed by other options that offer more consistent benefits.
- Gale Grenade – Fragmentation
Adding fragmentation to Gale Grenade sounds great in theory, but in practice, the added damage is often negligible. The ability’s main utility lies elsewhere, making this upgrade less impactful.
Banks
- Sedative Cocktail – Burning
Adding a burn effect might seem useful, but it often takes too long to deal significant damage, especially compared to other status effects like poison or unsteady. It’s not a bad upgrade, just not the most effective.
- Death’s Door – +1 Tile
Increasing the range of Death’s Door by a single tile can be handy in certain situations, but those instances are few and far between. The upgrade doesn’t see enough use to be worth prioritizing.
Dall
- Swap – Flashbang
Adding a flashbang effect to Swap can disorient enemies, but the opportunity to use it effectively doesn’t come up often. It’s a nice-to-have, but not essential.
- Charge – Impact
Adding an area-of-effect stun to Charge sounds useful, but it often doesn’t have the range or impact to justify its use over other, more versatile upgrades.
Rion
- Impaling Vine – Thorny
Adding damage to Impaling Vine’s knockback is situationally useful, but it’s often more effective to focus on positioning and control rather than relying on this extra damage.
- Rabid Bite – Contagious
While the idea of spreading Rabid Bite’s effects is intriguing, it’s often difficult to control and can backfire if it spreads to enemies you don’t want to empower. It’s too risky to be consistently useful.
F Tier
These are upgrades that rarely, if ever, provide meaningful utility.
Zan
- Time Boost – Time Skip
The upgrade allows you to skip a turn for a targeted ally, which could be useful in very specific situations, but generally, it’s too niche and restrictive to justify using over other, more universally beneficial upgrades.
- Predictive Bolt – Slow Motion
Slowing enemies can be useful, but Predictive Bolt isn’t reliable enough to make this upgrade worthwhile. There are better abilities for controlling enemy movement.
Jen
- Broom Breach – Wide Breach
While opening a wider breach could theoretically be useful, it often doesn’t align with the tactical needs of most missions. The upgrade rarely sees significant use.
- Gale Grenade – Gaseous
Adding a gas effect to Gale Grenade might seem useful, but it typically spreads too slowly to have a meaningful impact. The ability’s core strengths lie elsewhere.
Banks
- Spectral Skull – Haunting
This upgrade adds a fear effect to Spectral Skull, but the fear often sends enemies scattering in directions that complicate the situation rather than improving it. It’s not reliable enough to be effective.
- Death’s Door – Warding
Adding a warding effect to Death’s Door sounds appealing, but it rarely changes the outcome of encounters in a meaningful way. The upgrade doesn’t offer enough utility to justify its use.
Dall
- Swap – Disorient
Adding a disorient effect to Swap can be helpful in very specific scenarios, but it’s generally not worth the trade-off compared to other, more consistent upgrades.
- Charge – Shockwave
Shockwave adds a stunning effect to Charge, but it often doesn’t trigger most beneficially. The upgrade is overshadowed by more reliable options.
Rion
- Impaling Vine – Splintering
Adding a splintering effect to Impaling Vine might sound useful, but it often doesn’t add enough damage to make a difference in most encounters. The upgrade isn’t impactful enough to be prioritized.
- Spore Bomb – Mutagenic
Mutagenic effects on Spore Bombs are too unpredictable to be reliably useful. While it can occasionally turn the tide of battle, more often than not, it doesn’t add much to the encounter.