Micro-Upgrades (often called "MUs" for short) are small modifications for turrets, hulls and some of the paints, which increase their stats. They are not as powerful as upgrading the M version of an equipment, yet are capable of making it more powerful or protective. When facing an identical enemy without the proper modifications, the one with the overwhelming stats will destroy the other.
Mechanism
A micro-upgrades window of Railgun M2
When selecting any of the bought items in the garage which has micro-upgrades available, an "Upgrade" button will appear on the left of its "Equip" button. Clicking it will reveal a popup window, showing the parameters which can be micro-upgraded. Each parameter has a minimum value, which is the value of the parameter when buying thee item; and a maximum value, which is the point at which the parameter cannot be upgraded any further. For hulls and turrets there are 50 upgrading steps, and the amount of steps for paints varies. The steps grow linearly (e.g. each step for hulls adds 1/50 of the total progress).
In the popup window, the list of parameters with their current values is shown, as well as a label showing the growth value for the next upgrade, as well as a number indicating the next parameter value. Below the list of parameters a progress bar shows the number of previously-bought micro-upgrades, and also displays the time it would take for the next upgrade to be applied after bought. On the very bottom is an "Upgrade" button. Pressing it will level-up all parameters by 1 step, and the more micro-upgraded item is, the more expensive the next upgrade would be.
When an upgrade is being applied, the "Upgrades" button on the garage for that item has a timer below the word "Upgrade", showing how much is left of the cooldown. Players can skip the cooldown waiting time by opening the Upgrade popup and pressing the "Speed up" button, which replaces the ordinary "Upgrade". The price of the speed-up is starts as half of the current upgrading price, and gradually decreases over time.
Micro-Upgrades overview
Turrets and Hulls
In turrets and hulls, the micro-upgrades' values are not as effective as buying the next M upgrade, yet can mean that the tanker can last longer in battle, tanks to parameters such as speed, protection, and even turret damage- which will tanke down enemies before they can deal more damage.
When fully micro-upgrading a stat (buying all the steps for a particualar parameter), the player well receive a discount for buying the next M upgrade. A fully micro-upgraded parameter of M(n) is identical to the initial value of that parameter in the M(n+1) upgrade of that turret or hull. For instance, the weight of Hunter M0 is 1,500kg, and the weight of the M1 upgrade is 1959kg; when fully-upgrading the weight parameter of Hunter M0, its weight will be 1959kg.
When all parameters are fully micro-upgraded, the player will be able to get the next M upgrade for free, if or when he reaches the rank required for buying the next M. A fully micro-upgraded M3 turret or a hull are often referred as "M3+" or "M4".
Paints
Paints do not have an M upgrade, yet most paints that provide protection against turrets also allow bossting that protection, using micro-upgrades. A paint that can be micro-upgraded will have a list of parameters- each one for a turret which the paint provides protection against. Micro-upgrading any of it will increase the percentage of protection against that turret.
The highest possible protection against any turret is 50%. The only paints that provide a 50% protection without the need to micro-upgrade are Graffiti, Zeus and Clay.
History
- Originally, the value of a fully micro-upgraded parameter was only 75% of the way, and when upgrading all parameters, the discount for the next M upgrade was 70%, rather than 100%.
- On November 12, 2015, the number of steps for upgrading any items became 50, which grow linearly. Before that, each item had had its own number of steps for each parameter, and each next step was smaller than the previous ones. In additin to that, the speed-up boost, which could formerly go much higher than the actual micro-upgrade price, was set to start at half the price of the micro-upgrade. In addition, before this update, each parameter had had to be upgraded separately, and multiple parameters couldn't be upgraded simultaneously (required using a cool-down and then buying the others).[1] In addition to that, upgrades of the Weight parameter for hulls no longer has an effect on parkour mode in format battles.[2]
Trivia
- There are occasional discounts specifially for micro-upgrades. Most major events also have at least one day with a discount such as this- mostly a 50% discount.