Equipment
- Damage core
- Lab Rat with a functioning defensive troop
- Support cards
- Recycler, Concabulator; useful adjacent upgrades
- Enchantments / tome actions
- Overhaul for its stated upgrade targets; Reinforce on a valid troop; optional Rainbow Patronage
Skills
- Card access
- All five plotted cards are Progress cards. Patronage is an optional Rainbow tome; its availability is not guaranteed.
- Effect condition
- B1 Recycler and B3 Concabulator touch B2 Lab Rat. Neighboring upgrades level the Rat; a discard triggers Recycler growth, not a Rat level by itself.
Best for
Develop adjacent upgrade opportunities for Lab Rat while keeping Recycler discards and Reinforce survival as separate mechanisms.
Avoid if
A discard is not an upgrade. Removing a neighbor with Overhaul also changes the current board; do not destroy the only useful protection to chase possible later levels.
How it works
Put Recycler at B1 beside Lab Rat at B2. Its upgrades can supply adjacent level events; selected pit discards separately add damage and HP to the Rat. Keep useful troop upgrades instead of discarding every card for a small immediate buff.
Equipment priority
| Priority | Equipment | Instruction |
|---|---|---|
| 1 · Stabilize | Lab Rat with a functioning defensive troop | Establish an attacker and enough protection to survive now. A Rat can begin at B2, but Defender alone is not an ordinary attacking carry. Use an available Progress attacker if the upgrade package arrives too slowly. |
| 2 · Connect | Recycler, Concabulator; useful adjacent upgrades | Put Recycler at B1 beside Lab Rat at B2. Its upgrades can supply adjacent level events; selected pit discards separately add damage and HP to the Rat. Keep useful troop upgrades instead of discarding every card for a small immediate buff. |
| 3 · Develop | Overhaul for its stated upgrade targets; Reinforce on a valid troop; optional Rainbow Patronage | Develop Concabulator at B3 when its level-three payoff serves a working board. Patronage is a documented Rat-chain trigger if actually obtained. Reinforce supplies battle-time HP growth; it does not restore the removed Rat-level damage interaction. |
Build order
- Establish an attacker and enough protection to survive now. A Rat can begin at B2, but Defender alone is not an ordinary attacking carry. Use an available Progress attacker if the upgrade package arrives too slowly.
- Put Recycler at B1 beside Lab Rat at B2. Its upgrades can supply adjacent level events; selected pit discards separately add damage and HP to the Rat. Keep useful troop upgrades instead of discarding every card for a small immediate buff.
- Develop Concabulator at B3 when its level-three payoff serves a working board. Patronage is a documented Rat-chain trigger if actually obtained. Reinforce supplies battle-time HP growth; it does not restore the removed Rat-level damage interaction.
How to play
If the Rat dies before useful upgrades, improve immediate survival. If it survives but enemies remain healthy, check the actual level events and damage contribution before adding another delayed support.
What can break the build
A discard is not an upgrade. Removing a neighbor with Overhaul also changes the current board; do not destroy the only useful protection to chase possible later levels.
Evidence limit
Mechanics checked against the official card reference and developer Patches #29–31 on 2026-10-15. Layout and priorities are editorial; no measured clears, win rates or damage benchmarks are claimed.