Back to Heat Heat Recommendations
Pick low-friction Heat first, then scale toward 8, 16, and 32 Heat rewards.
The lazy route is to spend Heat where it changes the fewest fundamentals: timers, early boss variants, small shop tax, and one-hit shields. Add enemy speed, mirror removal, or boon-choice limits only after your clears are stable.
Recommended Heat Steps
1-5
First bounty climbs
- Tight Deadline 1: 9 minutes per biome usually removes survival rooms and barely matters once you clear comfortably.
- Extreme Measures 1-2: learn Furies and Bone Hydra variants early; the Heat is efficient.
- Damage Control 1 or Convenience Fee 1: small friction if your weapon hits often or your build does not rely on early shops.
Example 5 Heat: Extreme Measures 2 + Middle Management. Swap Middle Management for Tight Deadline 1 + Damage Control 1 if mini-bosses feel rough.
8
First Skelly statue
- Extreme Measures 2, Tight Deadline 1, Middle Management, Damage Control 1, Convenience Fee 1.
- Use this as the default 8 Heat template for most weapons.
If Damage Control hurts slow-hit weapons, use Hard Labor 1 or Lasting Consequences 1 instead.
16
Stable mid-Heat farming
- Extreme Measures 3, Tight Deadline 2, Middle Management, Benefits Package 1, Damage Control 1, Convenience Fee 1, Hard Labor 1.
- Keep Forced Overtime off until you are comfortable dodging Elysium and Styx enemies at normal speed.
This route preserves your Mirror and boon choices, so builds still come online normally.
32
32 Heat statue template
- Extreme Measures 3, Tight Deadline 3, Benefits Package 2, Middle Management, Underworld Customs, Convenience Fee 2, Damage Control 2.
- Add Forced Overtime 1, Jury Summons 2, Lasting Consequences 1, and Hard Labor 1 to reach 32.
Avoid Extreme Measures 4, Routine Inspection, and Approval Process unless you specifically train those constraints.
Pact Priority
Take early
Tight Deadline 1-2, Extreme Measures 1-3, Middle Management, Convenience Fee 1, Damage Control 1
High Heat for low disruption; easiest to reuse across weapons.
Build-dependent
Benefits Package, Underworld Customs, Jury Summons, Hard Labor, Lasting Consequences
Good filler once damage and survivability are stable.
Delay
Forced Overtime, Approval Process, Routine Inspection, Heightened Security, Extreme Measures 4
These attack fundamentals: enemy speed, build control, Mirror safety, trap lethality, or the final boss.
