After Mycopunk's 1.0 pattern-size change, every upgrade you place on the Upgrade Grid resolves into a roll bounded by a published minimum and maximum, and learning to move that roll is the fastest way to make your build stronger. This guide explains Mycopunk upgrade stat ranges from the ground up using the numbers the developer has shared as of the October 20, 2026 launch: how pattern size widens most ranges, why adjacency-based upgrades keep a static range, and how the three main knobs — cleansing, favorite slots, and turbocharging — each push the roll toward the high end. You will learn which rarity bands roll widest (Exotic and Exotic+), when a cleanse is worth its cost, why favoriting a wide-pattern Epic protects a ceiling roll, and the exact order of operations that produces the strongest roll the published system can generate, with the parts the studio has intentionally left unpublished called out so you never mistake a guess for a fact.
How Mycopunk Rolls Upgrades and Why Ranges Matter
Stat ranges are the single biggest lever inside Mycopunk's upgrade system, because every hex pattern you place on the Upgrade Grid resolves into a roll bounded by a minimum and a maximum ceiling. The 1.0 devlog on the Pattern Infuser confirmed that most upgrade stats now scale with the size of the pattern you infuse them with, while a small group of upgrades whose stats depend on surrounding cells are exempt from the change. That means a wide roll on the pattern side can shift a stat that was already good into territory that defines a build, and the only way to control those outcomes is to learn the three systems that move the dice: cleansing rolls, favorite slots, and turbocharging. This guide breaks each of those three knobs down with the only numbers the developer has published as of the October 20, 2026 launch, and flags the parts of Mycopunk upgrade stat ranges the studio has intentionally left unpublished.
The two most common questions new Hazard Crew members ask are "why does the same upgrade look different on two different boards?" and "how do I make the high end more likely?" Both questions have one answer underneath: the upgrade system rolls a value inside a published range, and you have tools that push the roll toward either end of that band. The rest of this article maps every one of those tools to a concrete in-game action.
Reading the Grid: Where Stat Ranges Come From
The Pattern-Size Rule from Devlog 9/11/26
The official Pigeons at Devlog 9/11/26 post is the single source of truth for how stat ranges shift. According to the devlog, most upgrade stats are affected by the size of their upgrade patterns, which balances out being able to make large upgrades much smaller while also buffing upgrades when a larger pattern is infused into them. The same post notes that upgrades whose stats depend on surrounding cells are not affected by the change. Net effect: a stat range that used to be fixed now opens up on both ends when you change pattern size, so the floor can drop and the ceiling can rise at the same time.
This is why the term "stat range" became community shorthand after 1.0. Pre-1.0, the upper bound was effectively static; post-1.0, the upper bound flexes with how big a footprint you give the upgrade. The fact that you can also shrink a large upgrade without losing ceiling power means the system rewards thoughtful placement rather than brute footprint.
The Upgrades That Ignore Pattern Size
The devlog explicitly carves out an exception. Upgrades whose stats depend on surrounding cells are not affected by the change, which means adjacency-based upgrades (the ones that read neighbour cells, like chain or aura effects) keep a tight static range. For those, the only way to push the roll is to use the three standard knobs: cleansing, favorites, and turbocharging. The devlog's exact phrasing — "most upgrade stats" — leaves a middle tier of unclear cases; treat any upgrade you cannot read the source of as pattern-affected until proven otherwise.
Rarity Bands and the Roll Floor
Mycopunk's upgrade rarities run Standard, Rare, Epic, Exotic, Exotic+, Contraband (Ouroboros-exclusive), Oddity (Ouroboros-common), and the non-scrap Broken Frame. Each rarity band has its own stat range, and the bands are not equally wide. Exotic and Exotic+ are the widest bands in the published game, which is why a turbocharged Exotic feels transformative while a turbocharged Standard feels mild. Contraband is unique to the Ouroboros roguelike mode and Oddity is common in that mode, so the bands that matter most in regular play are Standard through Exotic+.
| Rarity Band | Source of Stat Range | How Wide It Rolls | Where It Lives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | Pattern size + base floor | Narrow | Standard rotation, unlocks at employee level 3 |
| Rare | Pattern size + base floor | Moderate | Rare rotation, unlocks at employee level 8 |
| Epic | Pattern size + base floor | Wide | Epic rotation, unlocks at employee level 16 |
| Exotic | Pattern size + Strange Components | Very wide | Pattern Infuser (Antimass) + Strange Component rolls |
| Exotic+ | Pattern size + Strange Components | Widest published band | Turbocharge step on top of an Exotic |
| Contraband | Ouroboros-only rolls | Unpublished band | Ouroboros missions only |
| Oddity | Ouroboros-common rolls | Unpublished band | Ouroboros missions only |
| Broken Frame | Static, non-scrap | No roll | Drops only, cannot be infused |
The rotation unlocks in this table come from the verified employee progression numbers: Standard at level 3, Rare at level 8, Epic at level 16, and Exotic+ at employee level 30. You can read more about how those rotation gates change your build options in our upgrade stacking breakdown, which covers how to time rotations for the rarities you actually want.
Cleanse: How to Reroll Within the Range
What Cleansing Actually Does
Cleansing is the in-game term for rerolling an upgrade's sub-stats while keeping its name, slot, and rarity. The developer has not published a hard number for cleansing cost, so treat the value on the cleanse prompt as authoritative per session. The mechanic matters for stat ranges because cleanses do not move the floor or ceiling — they pick a new value inside the existing range. A cleanse on a wide pattern-sized Exotic can land on a dramatically different number from a cleanse on a tight Standard.
This is the core reason cleanses feel strong on Exotics and weak on Standards. The published range is wider for the rarer band, so the reroll is sampling from a larger distribution. If you want to feel the system move, the order of operations is: lock the rarity you want, then cleanse the sub-stats until the roll lands in the upper third of the range.
When to Cleanse and When to Stop
Cleansing is the cheapest of the three knobs, so it is the right first move on a new upgrade. The break-even point is harder to call without published drop tables, but the practical rule the community has settled on is: cleanse until the sub-stat you care about hits a value that is clearly above the median for that band, then stop. Chasing the absolute ceiling with repeated cleanses is more efficient when you combine the cleanse with a pattern-size change first, because a wider pattern raises the ceiling that the cleanse is rolling against.
| Action | Effect on the Roll | Best Used When |
|---|---|---|
| First cleanse | Picks a new value inside the existing range | You just unlocked the upgrade and want to see your floor |
| Repeat cleanses | Converges toward the median unless you re-pattern first | The current roll is below the median for the band |
| Cleanse after re-pattern | Samples the new, wider range | You grew the pattern and want the roll to reflect the new ceiling |
| Cleanse on adjacency upgrade | No pattern-size effect, only reroll | The upgrade reads neighbour cells (exempt from 1.0 pattern changes) |
For a deeper look at how cleansing stacks with rotation timing, the upgrade grid system guide walks through the practical order of pattern, rotate, and cleanse on a real board.
Launch Build Rough Edges Around Cleansing
The 1.0 Known Issues list mentions a Bunker Buster threshold bug at launch, which is unrelated to cleansing, but it does show that the launch build has rough edges. If a cleanse interaction looks wrong, the safe move is to re-pattern the upgrade and try the cleanse again before reporting the bug, because pattern state can mask a re-roll that did not actually land.
Favorite Slots: Locking the High End of the Range
What the Favorite System Does
Favorite slots let you pin an upgrade to a loadout slot so its roll travels with the loadout. The mechanic does not change the stat range itself, but it changes how often you see the high end of the range, because favoriting prevents the system from swapping in a freshly rolled copy when you change loadouts. For most players, the practical effect is that the high roll you earned is the high roll you keep, even after a session of cycling through other loadouts.
This is the simplest of the three knobs and the one most under-used by new players. The instinct to keep all your favorite upgrades equipped at once runs into the loadout slot cap, so the system rewards paring your favorites down to the ones that actually define the build. A favorite Exotic+ with a top-end roll is worth more than three favorited Standards with median rolls.
How Favorites Interact with Pattern Size
Because 1.0 made pattern size affect most upgrade stats, favoriting a wide-pattern upgrade is the only reliable way to keep the high end of the new range. The devlog phrasing — "opens up build choices" — points at the system giving you more ceiling, not more floor, and favoriting is what lets you keep that ceiling across loadout swaps. The pattern itself stays in your Codex when you favorite, so re-equipping the upgrade later pulls the saved roll back onto the grid.
| Favorite Choice | Expected Outcome | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Favorited Standard with median roll | Stable but low ceiling | Pattern size is narrow, so the range does not move much |
| Favorited Rare with high roll | Strong across most content | Range is moderate and the high end is preserved |
| Favorited Epic with ceiling roll | Build-defining | Wide range, saved at the top end |
| Favorited Exotic+ with ceiling roll | Endgame anchor | Widest published band, locked across loadouts |
The build-defining tier in this table is where most endgame loadouts live. The employee upgrades breakdown covers which favorites pair with which employee kits, but the short version is: pick the exotic slot that touches the stat your build scales with, and pin it.
Favorites and the Fulfillment System
The 1.0 Fulfillment system rewards cosmetics like Hats and Sit Emotes for completing in-game challenges, but the Known Issues list notes that two Fulfillments were not progressing at launch (activate relay towers; rescue bags of Saxitos) and that the Mycologist cape was missing. None of those affect favorites directly, but they do affect the cosmetic reward loop around your loadout. If you are chasing a cosmetic that depends on a Fulfillment tied to your favorite upgrade, that Fulfillment may not be completable on the launch build, so plan around the published-not-working list rather than assuming the cosmetic is reachable.
Turbocharge: Pushing the Roll to the Ceiling
What Turbocharging Costs and What It Does
Turbocharging is the endgame knob in Mycopunk upgrade stat ranges. It spends Strange Components on an Exotic upgrade to elevate it to Exotic+, which the developer publishes as the widest band in the regular game. Because the band widens at the turbocharge step, the pattern-size change from 1.0 stacks on top, and the practical effect is a double-wide range: a turbocharged Exotic+ with a large pattern can roll numbers that no pre-1.0 build could reach.
Strange Components are the published currency for this step. Antimass Substrate is the related currency you spend at the Pattern Infuser in the HUB on the pattern-size change, and it is earned via Incursion and high-threat missions. The Incursion mission type unlocks at player level 13, and the developer has confirmed that high-threat content pays more Antimass. A full resource loop looks like: run Incursion or high-threat missions for Antimass, re-pattern the upgrade for size, then spend Strange Components to turbocharge it into Exotic+.
When Turbocharge Is Worth the Spend
The honest answer is that the developer has not published drop rates for Strange Components, so the value of a turbocharge depends on your current Strange Component stock and how wide your target pattern is. The practical rule from the player base is: turbocharge the Exotic whose pattern you can already make large, because the ceiling lift stacks with the pattern lift. Turbocharging a tight-pattern Exotic is a real cost, but the resulting Exotic+ will not reach the same ceiling as a turbocharged large-pattern Exotic+.
| Step | Currency | Effect on Range | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pattern Infuser | Antimass Substrate | Changes pattern size, which widens the range for most upgrades | Incursion + high-threat missions |
| Turbocharge | Strange Components | Promotes Exotic to Exotic+ and widens the band further | Endgame drops, no published source list |
| Re-pattern after turbocharge | Antimass Substrate | Samples the new Exotic+ range at the new pattern size | Incursion + high-threat missions |
| Final cleanse | Cleansing cost (per-prompt) | Picks the value inside the Exotic+ range you actually want | Re-pattern first, then cleanse |
The combined effect of all four steps in the table is the strongest roll the published system can produce. The undiscovered upgrades coverage goes deeper on how Strange Components feed the turbocharge loop, including which mission types the community reports as the most reliable Strange Component sources.
The Adjacency Exception, Restated
The devlog's adjacency exception matters most at the turbocharge step. If your Exotic+ reads neighbour cells, the pattern-size change does not widen the range, so the only thing turbocharge is doing is widening the static band. For those upgrades, the value of turbocharge is still real, but it is smaller than for a non-adjacency upgrade with a large pattern. If you are building around an adjacency effect, the practical move is to turbocharge first, then cleanse aggressively, because the band is the only ceiling you have.
Putting the Three Knobs Together
The Recommended Order of Operations
For a non-adjacency upgrade that you intend to keep, the order is: roll the base upgrade, cleanse to confirm the band, grow the pattern at the Pattern Infuser, cleanse again to sample the new range, then turbocharge if the upgrade is Exotic and you can afford Strange Components. For an adjacency upgrade, the pattern step is wasted, so the order collapses to: roll, cleanse aggressively, turbocharge if Exotic. The order matters because every later step samples from a wider distribution than the one before it, and a re-pattern after turbocharge will pull from the widest distribution the system offers.
| Build Stage | Action | Range State |
|---|---|---|
| Just unlocked | Equip and read the roll | Base range for the rarity |
| Mid-game | Cleanse to land near the median | Same range, new value |
| Mid-game | Re-pattern at the Infuser | Wider range for non-adjacency upgrades |
| Endgame | Turbocharge to Exotic+ | Widest published band |
| Endgame | Re-pattern after turbocharge | Widest band at the widest pattern |
| Endgame | Final cleanse | Top of the widest band |
When to Stop Spending
Every reroll, every re-pattern, and every turbocharge spends a resource that has a published-or-not drop rate, and the system does not refund any of them on a low roll. The break-even point is the moment your next action is sampling from a wider range than the one you would lose by stopping. In practice, that means stop cleanses when the sub-stat you care about is in the upper third of the range for two cleanses in a row, and stop turbocharges when your Exotic+ is already outperforming the build you are running. Spending more after that point is rolling a wider die for a smaller gain, which is the classic anti-pattern the devlog warned about by reminding players that the change is about opening build choices, not about forcing endless rerolls.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are Mycopunk upgrade stat ranges in plain terms?
Stat ranges are the minimum and maximum values an upgrade can roll between on a given pattern. After the 1.0 pattern-size change, most Mycopunk upgrade stat ranges widen when you grow the pattern footprint, while adjacency-based upgrades keep a static range. The Practical way to think about it: rarity sets the band, pattern size stretches or shrinks the band, and cleansing picks a new value inside whichever band is current.
How does the Mycopunk upgrade cleanse system actually work?
The Mycopunk upgrade cleanse is a reroll inside the upgrade's current range. It does not change rarity, name, or pattern, and it does not move the floor or ceiling of the range. The mechanic feels strong on Exotics because the band is wider, and it feels weak on Standards because the band is narrow. Cleansing works best after a re-pattern, because the reroll then samples a wider distribution.
Where do favorite upgrades fit into the stat range picture?
Mycopunk favorite upgrades do not change the stat range, but they lock the high end of the range to a loadout so the roll you earned stays with you. Favoriting a wide-pattern Epic with a ceiling roll is the most reliable way to carry a build-defining upgrade through content. The system rewards pairing favorite slots with a small number of high-roll upgrades rather than a large number of median rolls.
What does Mycopunk turbocharge do to a stat range?
Mycopunk turbocharge spends Strange Components to promote an Exotic to Exotic+, which is the widest published band in the regular game. Combined with a large pattern, the resulting Exotic+ can roll values that no pre-1.0 upgrade could reach. Turbocharge stacks with re-pattern, so the order is turbocharge first, then re-pattern, then a final cleanse to land at the top of the new range.
Do all upgrades use the same stat range rules?
No. The 1.0 devlog explicitly carves out adjacency-based upgrades, whose stats depend on surrounding cells and are not affected by the pattern-size change. Those keep a static range, so the only knob that moves them is cleansing and the rarity you earn them at. For all other upgrades, pattern size is part of the range, and the 1.0 change applies.