Between every wave the Armory opens. It's where runs are won or lost — the right buy order
keeps your damage ahead of the horde's health. Here's how the shop works and what each of the eight upgrades does.
How the Armory Works
Clear a wave and a short shop cutscene opens the Armory, stocked from your run cash. It has three tabs (hotkeys
1/2/3):
⌖
Weapons
Buy new guns, or top up ammo on guns you already own. See the full Weapons list.
▣
Gear
The deployables — Boom Barrel, Proximity Mine, Sentry Turret. Buy in bundles.
▲
Upgrades
Eight permanent (per-run) stat boosts. Each level costs more than the last.
Everything you buy lasts for the current run only — a fresh run starts you back at fists. There's
no persistent meta-progression in the Alpha build (gems, the meta-shop and cosmetics are
switched off in Alpha).
Cash & Economy
You earn cash two ways:
Kills — every enemy drops gold nuggets worth its bounty (see the
enemy table). You must run over them to collect — the
Cash Magnet widens that pickup vacuum.
Wave-clear bonus — a flat bonus for clearing each wave that scales up with difficulty,
so your income grows as guns get pricier and you can always keep buying the next tier.
Income is deliberately difficulty-neutral: a denser, hordier wave doesn't pay more per kill —
there's just more to shoot. Bosses are the exception; they pay a large bounty and dump a resupply of health and ammo
on death.
The Eight Upgrades
Each upgrade stacks up to its own level cap, and every level costs more than the last (base price + a per-level
step). Plan around the caps — Damage goes to 10, but Move Speed only to 4.
Max Health
+25 max HP per level (and heals you to full)
Max Lv 12From $250
The survivability backbone, and it heals you to full on purchase — so buying HP mid-run is also
an emergency top-up. With the highest level cap in the shop (12), it's the single biggest pool of effective health
you can buy. A core early purchase on any run aiming to finish the Campaign.
Move Speed
+5% movement speed per level
Max Lv 4From $340
More speed means cleaner kiting and easier dodges — every fast enemy (Runner, Spawnling) becomes more
manageable. Capped at 4 levels (+20% total) so it can't trivialise the chase. A little goes a long way; one or two
levels smooths out the whole game.
Damage
+15% bullet damage per level
Max Lv 10From $350
A flat multiplier on all your weapon damage, up to 10 levels. This is what keeps your kill speed ahead of the
bosses' scaling HP — under-investing here is the most common reason a run stalls at the Necromancer or the
finale. Stack it alongside whatever gun you're maining.
Fire Rate
+10% fire rate per level
Max Lv 8From $350
Tighter time between shots — effectively more DPS and more bullets in the air for crowd control. Pairs
especially well with high-per-shot guns (Pulse, Carbine) and turns the Uzi into a genuine shredder. Eight levels
available.
Armor
−8% damage taken per level (caps at 75%)
Max Lv 7From $400
Flat damage reduction on everything that hits you, up to a 75% cap. Multiplies the value of your health pool —
pairing Armor with Max Health makes you remarkably hard to kill in the late areas. Note it does not
protect against the out-of-bounds drain.
Regen
+0.6 HP/second per level
Max Lv 6From $450
Passive health regeneration — small per tick, but it adds up across the calm between waves and turns chip damage
into something you recover from for free. Great on longer Endless runs where you can't always reach a health drop.
Cash Magnet
+pickup range & +6% cash per level
Max Lv 8From $300
Two effects in one: it widens the vacuum that sucks gold and pickups toward you (so you stop missing nuggets
mid-kite) and raises your cash income +6% per level. An economy snowball — buy it early and every later
purchase comes faster. Cheapest base price of the eight.
Stamina
+18% stamina regen and +8 max per level
Max Lv 6From $280
Faster stamina recovery and a bigger bar — more dashes and more melee
before you tap out. Essential for dodge-heavy play against Stalkers, Bombers and the fast bosses (Warlord, Subject
Zero), and for anyone leaning on the Fists. Cheap and high-impact for an evasive playstyle.
Upgrade Table
CUBEHEAD run upgrades — Alpha build. "Base" is the first level's price; each level costs more.