Gold & levels
Gold buys pieces, rerolls and XP. You start with 0 gold and can hold at most 100; anything above that is lost.
Income each round
At the start of every preparation round you receive:
- Base income: 1 gold in rounds 1–2, 2 in rounds 3–4, 3 in rounds 5–6, and 4 from round 7.
- Interest: +1 gold for every 10 gold you're holding, up to +4 (at 40 gold or more).
- Streak bonus: for consecutive wins or consecutive losses against players: +1 at 2–4 in a row, +2 at 5–9, +3 at 10 or more.
Other gold sources:
- +1 gold for each battle you win against a player.
- Creeps drop gold when killed: 1 for weak creeps, up to 4 for the strongest.
- 5 gold for revealing a hidden legendary (see Shop & odds).
- Gold left by eliminated players is scattered to the survivors.
- Talents such as Reaper and Penance (see talents).
Only fights against players count toward streaks. Creep rounds don't break them, and a draw resets both win and loss streaks.
Selling pieces
Selling gives back gold equal to the piece's level (cost, +2 for each extra star):
| Sells for | ★ | ★★ | ★★★ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-cost | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| 2-cost | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| 3-cost | 3 | 5 | 7 |
| 4-cost | 4 | 6 | 8 |
| 5-cost | 5 | 7 | 9 |
You never get back more than you paid. Pieces bought with Heart of the Machine tokens sell for 0, and fished pieces are capped at half their level.
Courier level and XP
Your courier level decides how many pieces you can have on the board and which pieces show up in your shop. Ways to gain XP:
- Buy XP: 4 gold for 4 XP.
- Passive XP: +1 XP at the start of every round from round 2.
- Humans: the Human synergy gives extra XP each round.
The maximum level is 10, or 16 with the Flourish talent.
| Level up | XP needed | Total XP |
|---|---|---|
| 1 → 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 → 3 | 1 | 2 |
| 3 → 4 | 4 | 6 |
| 4 → 5 | 8 | 14 |
| 5 → 6 | 16 | 30 |
| 6 → 7 | 32 | 62 |
| 7 → 8 | 48 | 110 |
| 8 → 9 | 56 | 166 |
| 9 → 10 | 64 | 230 |
| 10 → 11 | 64 | 294 |
| 11 → 12 | 64 | 358 |
| 12 → 13 | 64 | 422 |
| 13 → 14 | 64 | 486 |
| 14 → 15 | 64 | 550 |
| 15 → 16 | 64 | 614 |
Board size
You can field as many pieces as your courier level: 1 piece at level 1, 10 pieces at level 10. If you have too many on the board when the battle is about to start, the extras are sent back to the bench automatically, lowest star first.