Quasimorph Magnum upgrades guide: HIS Magnum departments, best upgrade order for early game, material costs, and the modules that fix real problems.
Quasimorph Magnum Upgrades: Ship & Base Upgrade Priority
The HIS Magnum is your mobile headquarters — a Heavy Interplanetary Spacecraft that doubles as your base of operations, crafting station, and clone depot. Everything that makes your PMC stronger over time lives in its upgrade trees: six departments spanning Navigation, Engineering, Supply, Cloning, Research, and the Hangar. Spend your materials in the wrong order and you'll starve your early economy; spend them right and each upgrade removes a specific pain point from your loop. This guide breaks down how the system works, what each department does, and the community-proven priority order.
Here's what you'll learn:
- How Magnum upgrades and departments work
- The six departments and what each tree actually unlocks
- The best early-game upgrade order (and what to skip)
- What 1.0 changed about upgrade costs and requirements
- How the Capsule, Trade Shuttle, and Augmentics modules fit the bigger picture
Official resources: Steam store page · Official Quasimorph Wiki — Magnum PMC · Official Quasimorph Wiki — Ship Upgrades · Official Quasimorph Wiki — HIS Magnum · GOG store page
How Magnum Upgrades Work
The Magnum's upgrade system is a module + department tech tree. Each department has a base module (unlocked once) and a list of upgrades that boost it. Most upgrades need specific items — Weapon Parts, Ceramic Plates, Microchips, Specialist Rosters, Ledgers, Military Parts — which you extract from missions or barter from stations. You click a node, see its item recipe, and install it when you have the goods.
The game's own tutorial pushes you toward the Conveyor first: the Supply tree's base module, which adds one crafting slot and one queue slot for the Magnum's production line. From there, the rule the community repeats is: buy the upgrade that fixes the failure you just experienced — not the one that sounds coolest.
Patch 1.0 added the ability to click any upgrade in the tree and see its required items — not just the next one in line. Use it to pre-plan which station goods you need to extract before flying across the system. The economy guide explains where those components come from.
The Six Departments
The wiki's ship-upgrade table lists 123 upgrades across the trees. Here's what each department does:
- Navigation — the mission layer. Its base Monitoring module creates an extra random mission in the current system (2 charges, 168h cooldown) and reads the mission board. Upgrades add reputation gain, reward-per-floor points, scanner range, and mission consequences. Management (a Navigation upgrade) lets you take control of a minor corporation — a major midgame pivot.
- Engineering — production and gear. Arsenal modifies armor parameters, Weaponry modifies weapon parameters; upgrades cut project time and material cost. Augmentics unlocks augment and implant production, then Biophysics of Quasimorphs allows installing quasimorphic augments — the augmentations guide covers that branch in depth.
- Supply — the economy floor. Conveyor (crafting slots), Recycling (auto-disassemble items into components with 100% material drop), and Scavengers (extra ammo/food/medicine/weapons after missions). The wiki notes Recycling disassembles with 100% material drop — the single best source of upgrade components.
- Cloning — the roster layer. Genome modifies operative parameters with chips; Trainings passively levels perks for living operatives; Condensator lets operative rank give stat bonuses; Classes (under Research) lets you swap class perks with class chips.
- Research — unlocks Travel (navigate the Solar System through bramfaturas, needed for the Baron boss fights and the Unchained Belt), plus Classes and deeper Genome work.
- Hangar — logistics. Capsule summons an evacuation capsule to ship items out mid-mission (4 inventory slots, 168h reload — upgradable); Trade sells items at distant stations (delivery time, shipment value); Space Shuttle gives the shuttle its own inventory rows.
Best Early-Game Upgrade Order
Community consensus (Steam discussions, the wiki, and early 1.0 guides) converges on this priority for the first 20–30 hours:
- Conveyor (Supply) — one production slot and one queue slot. Your first crafting line means replacement medkits, ammo, and gear instead of buying everything.
- Monitoring (Navigation) — more missions on the board means you're never forced into a bad contract. The "change faction type" Management upgrade is a midgame goal, not a starter.
- Scanner (Navigation) — reveals the first floor automatically (range 1 floor, upgradable with Iridium-192 and Wolfram Insulators). Blind elevator searching is how clones die with full bags.
- Capsule (Hangar) — evacuate items mid-mission. The single biggest loot insurance: you can ship the valuable haul home and fight/die freely.
- Recycling (Supply) — auto-disassemble junk into components. Combined with Scavengers' extra drops, this feeds every other tree.
- Scavengers (Supply) — more food/medicine/ammo per mission; the "freezer" (Cold Rooms) preserves perishables like gavvakh and meat for Quasimorphosis management.
- Training (Cloning) + Genome — perk levels and stat chips turn the same clone into a stronger operative; pairs with the classes tier list advice to train clones while main operatives rest.
The 1.0 patch notes explicitly increased the total cost of a full spacecraft upgrade by 20%, with the increase focused on late-game and optional upgrades. That's a deliberate sink: early materials are better spent on Monitoring, Scanner, and Capsule than on Level 100% weapon crafting nodes.
What 1.0 Changed About Upgrades
Version 1.0 (July 31, 2026) rebalanced the whole upgrade economy — this is official, straight from the 1.0 patch notes:
- Clone upgrades: chips are now the main limiting factor (not needed for the first few levels); item requirements dropped dramatically — level 100 upgrades now need 450 items instead of 3,000; stats per level reduced.
- Weapon/armor upgrades: overall availability increased, maximum cost lowered, more different items required, stats per level adjusted; different armor pieces have different upgrade steps (helmet < chest piece in cost and protection).
- Full spacecraft upgrade cost +20%, weighted toward late-game and optional modules.
- Monitoring recharge time increased — so the Scanner/Management path matters more.
- New: Pact Department on the Magnum (exchange low-tier pacts for high-tier, with a chance at pacts that don't drop from Barons), and the Trade Shuttle rework (sells any item; non-required items at reduced price).
Per the official 1.0 patch notes from Magnum Scriptum: "The number of items required for upgrades has been reduced; for example, level 100 upgrades now require 450 items instead of 3000. The number of stats granted per upgrade level has been reduced."
The Capsule, Trade Shuttle, and Augmentics in Practice
- Capsule chain (Hangar → Capsule → Extended Hull/Hanging Pods/Storage Optimization/Fuel Pumps/Additional Airlock/Refueling Drones) turns the mid-mission evac into a real strategy: max it if you run high-risk loot missions.
- Trade Shuttle chain (Hangar → Trade → Space Shuttle → Bill of Lading/Warehouse Network/Improved Electronics/Route Beacons) lets you sell junk remotely and even farm reputation by selling goods. 1.0's rework added three trading modes: typed barter, sell-for-reputation, and cargo transport.
- Augmentics (Engineering) produces augments and implants; Disarticulation adds augments-on-amputation; Biocompatibility removes the health malus from all augmentations. This entire branch is what makes the augmentations guide relevant mid-game.
- Travel (Research) is your gate to the bramfaturas — required for the Baron fights and the Unchained Belt storyline covered in the campaign walkthrough.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are Magnum upgrades in Quasimorph?
They're the meta-progression system on your mobile HQ, the HIS Magnum: six departments (Navigation, Engineering, Supply, Cloning, Research, Hangar) with a base module each plus ~123 total upgrades. They unlock crafting, mission generation, scanners, evacuation capsules, clone training, and bramfatura travel.
Which Magnum upgrades should I get first?
Conveyor, then Monitoring, Scanner, Capsule, Recycling, and Scavengers — in roughly that order. The rule: buy the upgrade that fixes the failure you just experienced, not the one that sounds coolest.
How do I unlock Magnum upgrades?
Each node requires specific items (Weapon Parts, Ceramic Plates, Microchips, Specialist Rosters, etc.) extracted from missions or bartered at stations. 1.0 lets you click any upgrade to see its recipe before committing.
How much do Magnum upgrades cost in Quasimorph?
Costs vary by node. 1.0 rebalanced the economy: clone upgrades now need far fewer items (450 instead of 3,000 at level 100), weapon/armor upgrades have lower maximum cost, and the full spacecraft upgrade total went up 20% with the increase focused on late-game nodes.
What is the best ship upgrade in Quasimorph?
The Capsule (mid-mission item evacuation) and Recycling (100% material drops from disassembly) are the two community favorites — both protect and compound your loot. Monitoring is the best early QoL pick for reading the mission board.
Related Guides
- Quasimorph Economy Guide — Stock Exchange, Bartering & Trade Shuttle
- Quasimorph Combat Guide — Stances, AP & Room Clearing
- Quasimorph Augmentations Guide — Implants & Body Mods
- Quasimorph Baron Boss Guide — Rapture Fights Explained
- Quasimorph Campaign Walkthrough — All Storylines & 9 Endings
- Quasimorph Classes Tier List — Best Class for New Players
Last updated: August 14, 2026.
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