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Upgrades & Armory

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.
UpgradeEffect / levelMax LvBase $Best for
Max Health+25 max HP, full heal12250Survivability core
Move Speed+5% speed4340Kiting & dodging
Damage+15% bullet damage10350Keeping up with boss HP
Fire Rate+10% fire rate8350DPS & crowd control
Armor−8% damage taken (cap 75%)7400Late-game durability
Regen+0.6 HP/sec6450Long Endless runs
Cash Magnet+pickup range, +6% cash8300Economy snowball
Stamina+18% regen, +8 max6280Dash/melee playstyles
Want a buy order? The Strategy Guide lays out what to grab and when, area by area.