Upgrade draft: how to pick, and when to reroll
Every draft gives the whole team the same rarity, so nobody gets carried by a lucky Legendary. What you pick still decides the run.
Pick the upgrade that fixes your weakest moment, not the one with the biggest number. Save Flux Quartz for a draft where all three cards are dead, and reroll at the elevator before the timer restarts.
Every upgrade in a run comes from the same place: deposit Expenite into the R.E.P.D. drone and a draft opens. What changed since launch is how that draft behaves, and two of the changes matter more than the rest.
Chosen cards are replaced with new ones, so everyone in the team sees the same number of options. All cards in a draft share one rarity. And "Skip for Health" is gone, with health upgrades now sitting in the normal pool instead.
How the draft works
Deposit Expenite into the R.E.P.D. and a button appears on the drone. Any Reclaimer can press it, wherever they are, and the game pauses for everyone. Players then take turns picking in a random order.
| Players | Cards offered | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 3 | 3 | Everyone sees the same rarity |
| 4 | 4 | Same rule, one more option each |
| Any, with Flux Quartz | +1 reroll | Refractor Terminal in the elevator |
Card counts are from the community wiki, checked 2026-11-15. The first upgrade costs 120 Expenite, the price rises by 10 per upgrade to 150, then by 15 until 300, and after that it climbs faster.
Picking rule
Pick the card that fixes your weakest minute, not the card with the biggest number. A run dies to a specific moment: the swarm you cannot clear, the Gatekeeper phase you cannot survive, the walk back with no ammo. Cards that do nothing about that moment are the wrong pick even if they are Legendary.
Three questions in order:
- Can I currently kill a swarm without spending all my ammo?
- Can I survive one hit I did not see coming?
- Can I move to the elevator fast enough on the last floor?
Answer no to the first and take anything that adds damage or ammo efficiency. Answer no to the second and take armour, healing or a defensive ability. Only take the flashy card when the first two are already answered.
Rerolls: when to spend
Flux Quartz powers the Refractor Terminal in the elevator, available from the second floor of every run. A reroll replaces the whole draft, and the level timer stays paused until the first Reclaimer leaves the elevator, so rerolling at the start of a floor costs no time.
| Situation | Reroll? |
|---|---|
| All cards are Common and none help | Yes |
| One card is Rare and it is the one you want | No, take it |
| You are missing health and no health card appeared | Yes |
| You need damage and a damage card is there | No |
| Last floor before the Gatekeeper and the draft is defensive | Yes |
The reroll is a resource, not a habit. A run with three saved rerolls can survive one terrible draft at the boss floor, which is exactly when it matters.
Official Ghost Ship Games announcement art.
What shared rarity does
Shared rarity means nobody gets a personal Legendary while the rest of the team picks Commons. It also means a Legendary draft is a team event, and it is worth pausing your own plan to check what the other three Reclaimers need. On a four-player run, a Legendary that duplicates someone's build is a wasted draft.