Status & Fuel
Create the junk on purpose, collect the trigger, then burn it for Energy.
The sequel lets Defect use Status cards as a resource. Creation can trigger Orbs or damage, drawing a Status can trigger Iteration, and Compact turns Status cards in hand into zero-cost Fuel. The same Status cannot also be spent by Flak Cannon.
Read the exact rules
Rules before recommendations
How Status & Fuel works
Status cards are still hand and draw pollution, but Defect has effects that trigger when they are created, when the first one is drawn, or when Compact converts those currently in hand.
Compact grants Block and transforms every Status in hand into Fuel. Once transformed, those cards are no longer Status cards and cannot also be counted by Flak Cannon.
Trash to Treasure, Smokestack and Rocket Punch react to creating a Status. Drawing an existing Status or turning it into Fuel does not trigger creation effects again.
Fuel is a zero-cost Skill that grants Energy and Exhausts. Main Fuel also carries draw; Beta removes that draw and moves the upgrade value into more Energy.
The resource loop
What you are trying to convert
- 1
Install Trash to Treasure, Smokestack or another creation payoff before making Status cards.
- 2
Create Dazed, Void, Burn, Wound or Slimed and collect the creation triggers.
- 3
Draw the Status cards later, using Iteration to soften the bad draw.
- 4
Choose Compact for Fuel or Flak Cannon for damage, then spend the Energy on the next draw-and-create cycle.
The pieces that matter
Cards and relics that support Status & Fuel
Cards
CompactProvides Block and turns every Status in hand into Fuel.
IterationDraws after the first Status drawn each turn.
Trash to TreasureChannels an Orb whenever the deck creates a Status.
SmokestackTurns Status creation into area damage.
Rocket PunchGets cheaper as Status cards are created.
Flak CannonConsumes Status cards for a separate damage payoff.
TURBO / OverclockStrong actions that deliberately create future Status fuel.
Relics
Blessed AntlerAdds another source of Status creation.
Tea of DiscourtesyCreates Status cards that the engine can later convert.
Letter OpenerCan reward repeated zero-cost Fuel Skills.
Joss PaperCan benefit from Fuel's Exhaust rhythm.
Execution
Play tips that save real HP
- Decide whether the current Status batch belongs to Compact or Flak Cannon. Never count the same cards as both payoffs.
- Use Iteration to turn the first Status draw from a dead card into a bridge toward the rest of the hand.
- Play Trash to Treasure and Smokestack before the bulk of the Status creation turn.
- On Beta, Rocket Punch needs repeated creation to reach 0 cost; one Status no longer completes the discount.
- Compact is also a Block card. Converting even a small batch can be correct when it prevents current damage.
Common mistakes
- Creating Status cards without Compact, Iteration or another consumer to clean them up.
- Using Flak Cannon first and then expecting the same Status cards to become Fuel.
- Treating a Status drawn from the deck as a new creation trigger.
- Using Main assumptions that Fuel still draws and one Status makes Rocket Punch free on Beta.
Experimental branch
Beta v0.111.0 differences
Beta needs Iteration or another draw engine to keep the Energy loop supplied with cards.
The attack needs several creation actions to become free.
The engine starts less automatically but is cheaper when drawn.
Continue with Defect
See where this mechanic fits beside the character's other build packages, Act 1 picks and relic priorities.
Open the Defect guide