How exactly do the upgrade installations and stacking work? It's not clear and never explained in game.

[darthokkata]

What stacks, what doesn't? What's the limit and how does it work?

As far as I can tell, hazard shield upgrades don't stack. I've been on a planet with an extreme heat hazard, and only one of the three heat shields I have installed ever runs down before I start taking damage. It seems to pick the highest rated one as I have an S, an A, and a C ranked heat shield and the A and C ranked upgrades remain unused and seemingly do nothing.

That only seems to apply to some of the upgrades though, and I'm unsure if it's a bug or that's how it's supposed to work.

I'm unsure how the upgrade modules work in general beyond that. Mostly in regard to how they can stack.

I know you can use more than one because you can "overload" them by installing too many. It's also clear that more than one can be active as they still have the linking effect as connected upgrades of the same type will still be outlined in the same color.

I'm not entirely clear on the details of how they interact and stack exactly though.

Can you only have one of each rank?

Does each rank have a "value" and the combined amount can't go over a set amount?

Does the game only apply the highest value of any one stat boost out of what you have installed?

For example, would five C ranked upgrades be of equal value to two S ranked upgrades so I can either have five C ranked or two S ranked or something along those lines? Or can I install a set number of any level of upgrade and have them all stack, or does it only stack one of each rank?

Say I have three upgrades that have two or more effects that they boost, but they al boost damage by a different ammount, say +10% +12% and a +15%, does it stack all three, or only go with the +15% damage upgrade?

What about upgrades that boost stats by the same amount? Like say two +15% damage upgrades? Can they work together, or can you only have one +15% upgrade at a time, but other values still stack?

Do duplicate upgrades stack? Say I have two C ranked Double Ionizers for the Boltcaster, should I install both, or can I only have one Double Ionizer installed?

Should I be trying to obtain all S ranked upgrades or one of each ranking?

This needs clarification. I'm unsure of how much space and nanomachines I'm wasting with upgrades I don't need or whether or not I should bother with installing multiple upgrades of the same rank or whether duplicate upgrades do any good or not.

There are a lot of things that aren't as clear as they should be regarding this new upgrade system.

EDIT:

Still experimenting. I'm playing with a save that has an absurd bank account due to many hours of grinding pre-Next. Tons of nanites and Units to burn as I have a Capital S ranked Freighter with six S ranked ships with maxed out inventory spaces, five of which I mostly used as cargo holds while strip mining planets.

I keep running into empty systems or systems with abandoned space stations. So I've had trouble finding NPCs to sell me upgrades. I'm also not bouncing from system to system just to test this and am actually playing the game as I go.

Anyway, what I've figured out so far...

It does seem that each rank has a value. I think you can have one of each rank, or fewer of multiple higher ranked upgrades. For example, five C ranked, or two S ranked. Or Two C ranked, a B ranked, and an S ranked, or a C, a B, an A, and an S ranked. I don't know if those exact numbers are correct, but the general idea that they all have a different value and that there is a cap regarding how high the total value of all your upgrades for a particular tree can be.

I'm still not entirely sure how they stack or whether or not having two S ranked upgrades does any good or not.

I'm guessing that the lower level shields not working when you have a higher level shield is a bug, as I just got the "overloaded" error when I tried to add another heat shield, which implies they should be working together. Again, I have one of each rank, so it's not duplicate shields just not stacking [I'm still not sure if duplicates stack or not].

I'm not sure how many variations of upgrades there are. I'm fairly certain it's not an RNG like Diablo or Borderlands as I've found a couple of duplicate upgrades with the exact same name and effects.

I also have some upgrades I can craft, though I'm not entirely sure how obtaining those works. I'm pretty sure they were automatically unlocked with my save because of all the stuff I already had. They are also ranked, so I think it's possible to get a lot of the upgrades you can buy randomly from stores as blueprints so you can craft as many as you want, while the upgrades you buy with nanomachines from stores are single use.

There are also a lot more containers with nanomachines, but they give fewer per drop. However, upgrades also cost less than they used too, so far that's worked out to actually be less of a grind than it was before the way it's currently balanced.

[Mio Rin]

Upgrades cap out at 3 for each module.
If you have 3 of each elemental hazard protection, one of each being 'S' tier, it may be counting the other elemental 'S' tiers in that calculation, before it can reach your 'A' and 'C' rank heat mods.
(I'm not entirely sure on this, but it sounds like what's happening in your case.)

[darthokkata]

Originally posted by Miorin:

Upgrades cap out at 3 for each module.
If you have 3 of each elemental hazard protection, one of each being 'S' tier, it may be counting the other elemental 'S' tiers in that calculation, before it can reach your 'A' and 'C' rank heat mods.
(I'm not entirely sure on this, but it sounds like what's happening in your case.)

I don't think that's accurate. I think that each tier has a different value, and you have a set cap to how high the combined value of upgrades can be for each module. That's how it seems to work in what testing I've done so far.

While I'm not certain of that, I am sure that you can have more than three upgrades per module. If it is a number like that, it's four.

So far I've found that you can have one of each rank, or a lesser number of a higher rank, like say two B ranked, and an S ranked, or five C ranked, or two S ranked. I don't know the exact amounts, those are just examples to illustrate how it seems to work.

It will be interesting to see how people min max these stats once they figure out how that works exactly. It might be best to not use S ranked upgrades if you can get better stats using a combination of lower ranked upgrades instead. Like say three B's and an A, or something along those lines. People who are better at math than me will have to figure that out once it's established how the rankings work exactly.

I'm pretty sure the hazard protection upgrades are bugged. They also hit an overload cap if you add too many of one type. Each elemental type is a separate tree from the others, but only the highest ranked shield ever degrades before I start taking damage from hazards.

It's also not consistent and I think that each module may have a different value. For example, I currently have five movement upgrades. Three A ranked, a B ranked, and an A ranked. Though, I'm not sure if the rocket boots count towards the total or not.

I think that perhaps some of the special upgrades, such as the rocket boots, might not count towards the total, but even then I still have four other upgrades in movement, two A ranked, a B ranked, and an S ranked.

I also have four on the Phase beam on my ship. S, A, B, and C ranked.

I haven't found enough higher ranked upgrades to try and fill one up with all A or S ranked yet. I'm going to try that and see how it works out.

[darthokkata]

It's absolutely not consistent.

I just added a B tier upgrade to my Infra-Knife on my starship giving it one of each level upgrade and got an overload error. I dismantled the C ranked one, and they all fit.

However, my Phase Beam also has one of each tier with no overload error.

I also tried adding another S ranked upgrade to my movement tree, which had an S, a B, two A, and a C ranked and it overloaded it as expected. However, only four of the upgrades got the "overloaded" error, while two remained unaffected by it. All of them were linked by the same color.

I got rid of the C ranked upgrade and suddenly they all played nice together again with two S ranked, two A ranked, and a B ranked.

It's worth pointing out that the B ranked upgrade is one of the ones I have a blueprint for and built rather than bought. So that might be a factor as well.

Here's how I think it works after some trial and error, though I'm still not certain as the "rules" seem like they might be a bit different depending on the tech you're upgrading.

Each module has a set number of upgrades it can take, but it isn't the same number for every module. Some can take three, but most Modules can have up to four upgrades.

All the environmental protection upgrades cap at three. The weapon modules vary, but seem to be three or four.

Certain upgrades don't count towards the total. The Advanced Mining Laser and Rocket Boots being two examples. Which were the two in my testing that didn't get the overload error when the grouping they were in had too many upgrades.

Though I haven't managed it yet, I think you can have four S ranked upgrades for most of your tech. I have managed two A ranked and two S ranked for movement.

[darthokkata]

I've got it mostly figured out I think.

The modules have a set number of upgrades they can have. They can be any rank. Some are three [the hazard protection upgrades] some are four [most ship weapons]. It varies from tech to tech even within different inventories. So you don't get four for all the ship upgrades, and you aren't stuck with three for all the multi-tool or suit upgrades.

Certain upgrades don't count towards the total. Jet Boots, Advanced Mining Laser, etc... Pretty much anything that doesn't provide a stat boost and just provides new functionality doesn't count towards your total.

Upgrades are not randomly generated. There is a set number of them. Any upgrade that has the same name as one you already have will have the exact same stats. So there probably is an optimum set for each tech module.

It's also the sort of thing that can be easily multiplied by future patches. I expect we'll be seeing more of these upgrades added to the pool on a fairly regular basis. That's both good and bad, because it will add more variety, but will also make it harder and even more of a grind to find what you want if you're going for a specific build.

[Saeed M]

Originally posted by darthokkata:

I've got it mostly figured out I think.

The modules have a set number of upgrades they can have. They can be any rank. Some are three [the hazard protection upgrades] some are four [most ship weapons]. It varies from tech to tech even within different inventories. So you don't get four for all the ship upgrades, and you aren't stuck with three for all the multi-tool or suit upgrades.

Certain upgrades don't count towards the total. Jet Boots, Advanced Mining Laser, etc... Pretty much anything that doesn't provide a stat boost and just provides new functionality doesn't count towards your total.

Upgrades are not randomly generated. There is a set number of them. Any upgrade that has the same name as one you already have will have the exact same stats. So there probably is an optimum set for each tech module.

It's also the sort of thing that can be easily multiplied by future patches. I expect we'll be seeing more of these upgrades added to the pool on a fairly regular basis. That's both good and bad, because it will add more variety, but will also make it harder and even more of a grind to find what you want if you're going for a specific build.

Thanks I am looking for similar explanation to what you just said, was difficult to find so thank you for posting this ^^

[🐾]

Originally posted by darthokkata:

What stacks, what doesn't? What's the limit and how does it work?

As far as I can tell, hazard shield upgrades don't stack. I've been on a planet with an extreme heat hazard, and only one of the three heat shields I have installed ever runs down before I start taking damage. It seems to pick the highest rated one as I have an S, an A, and a C ranked heat shield and the A and C ranked upgrades remain unused and seemingly do nothing.

That only seems to apply to some of the upgrades though, and I'm unsure if it's a bug or that's how it's supposed to work.

I'm unsure how the upgrade modules work in general beyond that. Mostly in regard to how they can stack.

I know you can use more than one because you can "overload" them by installing too many. It's also clear that more than one can be active as they still have the linking effect as connected upgrades of the same type will still be outlined in the same color.

I'm not entirely clear on the details of how they interact and stack exactly though.

Can you only have one of each rank?

Does each rank have a "value" and the combined amount can't go over a set amount?

Does the game only apply the highest value of any one stat boost out of what you have installed?

For example, would five C ranked upgrades be of equal value to two S ranked upgrades so I can either have five C ranked or two S ranked or something along those lines? Or can I install a set number of any level of upgrade and have them all stack, or does it only stack one of each rank?

Say I have three upgrades that have two or more effects that they boost, but they al boost damage by a different ammount, say +10% +12% and a +15%, does it stack all three, or only go with the +15% damage upgrade?

What about upgrades that boost stats by the same amount? Like say two +15% damage upgrades? Can they work together, or can you only have one +15% upgrade at a time, but other values still stack?

Do duplicate upgrades stack? Say I have two C ranked Double Ionizers for the Boltcaster, should I install both, or can I only have one Double Ionizer installed?

Should I be trying to obtain all S ranked upgrades or one of each ranking?

This needs clarification. I'm unsure of how much space and nanomachines I'm wasting with upgrades I don't need or whether or not I should bother with installing multiple upgrades of the same rank or whether duplicate upgrades do any good or not.

There are a lot of things that aren't as clear as they should be regarding this new upgrade system.

EDIT:

Still experimenting. I'm playing with a save that has an absurd bank account due to many hours of grinding pre-Next. Tons of nanites and Units to burn as I have a Capital S ranked Freighter with six S ranked ships with maxed out inventory spaces, five of which I mostly used as cargo holds while strip mining planets.

I keep running into empty systems or systems with abandoned space stations. So I've had trouble finding NPCs to sell me upgrades. I'm also not bouncing from system to system just to test this and am actually playing the game as I go.

Anyway, what I've figured out so far...

It does seem that each rank has a value. I think you can have one of each rank, or fewer of multiple higher ranked upgrades. For example, five C ranked, or two S ranked. Or Two C ranked, a B ranked, and an S ranked, or a C, a B, an A, and an S ranked. I don't know if those exact numbers are correct, but the general idea that they all have a different value and that there is a cap regarding how high the total value of all your upgrades for a particular tree can be.

I'm still not entirely sure how they stack or whether or not having two S ranked upgrades does any good or not.

I'm guessing that the lower level shields not working when you have a higher level shield is a bug, as I just got the "overloaded" error when I tried to add another heat shield, which implies they should be working together. Again, I have one of each rank, so it's not duplicate shields just not stacking [I'm still not sure if duplicates stack or not].

I'm not sure how many variations of upgrades there are. I'm fairly certain it's not an RNG like Diablo or Borderlands as I've found a couple of duplicate upgrades with the exact same name and effects.

I also have some upgrades I can craft, though I'm not entirely sure how obtaining those works. I'm pretty sure they were automatically unlocked with my save because of all the stuff I already had. They are also ranked, so I think it's possible to get a lot of the upgrades you can buy randomly from stores as blueprints so you can craft as many as you want, while the upgrades you buy with nanomachines from stores are single use.

There are also a lot more containers with nanomachines, but they give fewer per drop. However, upgrades also cost less than they used too, so far that's worked out to actually be less of a grind than it was before the way it's currently balanced.

This is a good guide to how you should place modules and how they work.

https://www.reddit.com/r/NoMansSkyTheGame/comments/99e14k/visual_guide_the_technology_configuration_chart/