Why the deck exists
In the playtest, every mod you unlocked went into one big pool. The more you unlocked, the less likely you were to see the ones you wanted. Octopus Panic’s fix, added for the demo and kept in Early Access:
- Build a deck of 10 common mods and up to 2 Showstoppers from your library.
- Reward pods only draw from that deck during expeditions.
- Swap the deck between expeditions to try different builds.
You still pick from what pods offer, so there’s some luck, but only inside the 12 cards you chose.
How to use it
- Unlock a couple of mods in the Research Lab’s Mods tab. The Deck Builder appears once you have enough. See mods.
- In the Research Lab, use the Deck Builder prompt at the bottom of the Mods screen.
- Fill the 10 common slots and up to 2 Showstopper slots.
- Every time you unlock a new mod, add it to the deck, or it won’t appear in runs. A streamer hit exactly this on launch week (“you might need to equip it in the deck”).
Starter decks
Built from mods we’ve confirmed in Early Access. Pick 10 of these and add your Showstoppers once you have them.
| Deck | Core mods |
|---|---|
| Crit engine (Pulse Rifle) | Lucky Strike, Critical Impact, Payback, Hotshot, Rocket Barrage, Live Wire, Big Shot, Quickshot, Stockpile, Lock & Load |
| Turret builder | Courtesy Turret, Industrial Grade, Field Mechanic, Safety Protocols, Cutting Edge, Express Delivery, Hazard Pay, Overtime Bonus, Grit and Bear It, Vampiric |
| Runner / support | Skybound, Booster Bonus, Pipeline Drift, Critical Surge, Grav Leash, Life Sap, Vampiric, Stay, Express Delivery, Hazard Pay |
| Explosives (Grenade Launcher) | Blast Radius, Cluster Grenades, Inferno Grenades, Hotshot, Dead Drop, Kill Chain, Trigger Happy, Big Shot, Stockpile, Last Stand |
In co-op, split roles so you don’t all fight over the same pods. One builder, one runner and two damage dealers is a sensible pack of four.
These decks are our suggestions from each mod’s description, not tested builds.