Choose the Mods Your Reward Pods Can Offer
Your Mod Deck selects the unlocked Mods that Reward Pods can offer during an expedition; putting a Mod in the deck makes it a possible reward rather than immediately activating it. Your unlocked library remains available for future expeditions, and you can change the selected deck between shifts.
Separate Research, Deck Selection, and Active Rewards
Research expands the library you can draw from when planning later expeditions. Your deck narrows those possibilities to the Mods you want in the reward pool. During a shift, choosing upgrades from Reward Pods develops the build you are actually using.
Unlocking another Mod therefore gives you another planning option. Before deploying, review your selected rewards instead of assuming the new unlock has become an active bonus. The deck gives you control over the possibilities, while adapting to the rewards offered remains part of the expedition.
Earned experience and challenge progress are retained even when a mission fails. That makes the return to your progression choices useful after an unsuccessful attempt as well as a successful extraction. Review what stopped the previous build from finishing the objective before deciding what to change.
Mod Changes That Affect Your Next Deck
The November 6 patch adjusted several damage Mods and fixed missing rewards for Cluster Grenades and Controlled Burn. The changes affect damage scaling, magazine use, chaining, and explosion coverage. Use the comparison below to decide which parts of an older build deserve another look.
| Mod | Change and deck-planning advice |
|---|---|
| Live Wire / Chain Lightning | Damage, chain length, and range were reduced, especially at higher levels, with weaker damage scaling across successive targets. Reassess its coverage during crowded fights before relying on it to handle every approaching group. |
| Rising Pressure | More of its damage bonus now sits toward the end of the magazine. Consider it when you are comfortable using the remaining rounds before reloading, and pay attention to whether your reload habits suit that bonus. |
| Kill Chain | Damage gained per kill was slightly reduced, and the maximum stacking bonus was lowered. Judge the revised bonus during your next shift before making it the main reason to keep a particular deck. |
| Trigger Happy | Its maximum damage bonus at the highest level was slightly reduced. If your previous plan depended on that upper-end bonus, compare how the build performs through the shift instead of judging it only by its strongest moments. |
| Rocket Barrage | Explosion radius was slightly reduced at higher levels. Watch how much of an enemy group the explosions catch, especially when deciding whether your build needs another way to handle spread-out attackers. |
| Cluster Grenades | The patch fixed an issue that could prevent this Mod from appearing as a reward despite its inclusion in the deck. Reconsider it if missing reward appearances were the reason you stopped selecting it. |
| Controlled Burn | The patch fixed the same reward-appearance issue for this Mod when it was included in the deck. Review its place in your next selection if you previously removed it because it never appeared. |
Plan a Deck, Choose Rewards, and Refine the Build
- Review your available Mod research before the next expedition. Compare the requirements of potential purchases so you know which additions to your future choices you can afford.
- Choose a purpose for the next deck based on the previous mission. Think about whether you struggled to damage enemies, maintain defenses, or stay alive while reaching the objective.
- Select unlocked Mods in the Mod Deck Builder before deploying. This establishes the Mod reward pool for the expedition and lets you pursue a more deliberate build.
- Choose Reward Pod upgrades that help the build you are playing at that moment. Adapt your plan to the offered choices, keeping both the mission objective and your existing bonuses in mind.
- Evaluate the changed Mods during combat. For Rising Pressure, notice whether you reach the end of the magazine; for Rocket Barrage, watch the area caught by its explosions.
- Revise the deck between expeditions using what you learned. Keep choices that helped you complete the job and reconsider those that did little for the situations you actually faced.
Compare Crowd Control and Team Support
Gravity Bomb pulls enemies closer together, Live Wire chains electricity through crowds, and Life Sap helps keep the pack fighting. These give you different purposes to consider when reviewing your unlocked choices. Start with the job you want a Mod to perform, then judge whether the rewards you select are helping with that job.
Keep Demo Deck Rules Separate From Early Access
The demo introduced a deck containing 10 common Mods and up to 2 Showstoppers from your unlocked library. Early Access offers a wider collection of 60 unlockable Mods, including 12 Showstoppers; those collection totals describe available unlocks, rather than bonuses already active in a shift. Follow the selection limits displayed in your game when assembling your next deck.
Check Your Selection When a Reward Is Missing
Start by checking whether the Mod is in your selected deck, since unlocking it and selecting it serve different purposes. Cluster Grenades and Controlled Burn also received a specific fix for failing to appear despite being selected. The Early Access update aligned several Mod names between the Research Lab and in-game menus, which helps when comparing research choices with expedition rewards.