How do I unlock the permanent upgrades?
Four independent 1.0-era recordings describe the same structure: points from completed runs, one general tree plus one tree per Survivor, later columns gated on level, and a free reset.
Quick Answer
Permanent upgrades are bought in the Training Yard inside the Camp. Finishing a run — win or lose — grants XP, and levels convert into points. Your overall survival level funds the general tree, which raises things like health, movement speed, fire rate, ability damage, experience gain and cash; each Survivor’s own level funds that Survivor’s tree, which is also where synergies are unlocked. Rows are bought with points, and further columns stay locked until the relevant level is reached, so a low-level Survivor sees only the first column. Points can be reset for free at any time from the same screen.
Steps
- Finish a run. Completion and failure both grant XP, so a lost run still pays.
- Return to the Camp and open the Training Yard, the location where Survivors are trained.
- Spend general points on the shared tree. Those points come from your overall survival level, shown as the total level on the screen rather than belonging to any one Survivor.
- Spend a Survivor’s own points on that Survivor’s tree. Each Survivor has a separate colour-coded pool that does not transfer to the others.
- Keep playing the Survivor whose later columns you want. Those columns open as that Survivor’s own level rises, not as your account level rises.
- Use the reset control if you want the points back. It is free and available at any time.
Requirements / Limits
- Two different levels do the gating: your overall survival level for the general tree, and each Survivor’s own level for that Survivor’s tree.
- Levels are named as thresholds only twice in the checked sources, on different Survivors: MabiVsGames says more of a character’s tree opens “once you hit 20, level 20 with that character”, and ProRogueBear reads a locked tier that needs the Survivor to “be level 40 himself”. No source states that 20 and 40 are consecutive tiers, so this page does not present a ladder.
- A node’s cost rises with the level being bought, described by ProRogueBear as “the level you’re doing is what they cost”.
- Passive nodes on the global tree cap at 5. That is developer-written, from the achievement “Power Overwhelming — Level up a passive node on a global skill tree up to 5.”
- Respecs are free and apply to any tree, per the developer achievement “Forget It — Reset points spent into any skill tree. Free respecs!”
- Three of the four recordings behind this page were made on 1.0 preview builds supplied by the studio; only the release-day session was recorded on the retail build. The current public build, hotfix 1.0.0b of 21 August 2026, post-dates all four and changes fixes and mission handling rather than these rules.
Common Mistakes
- Levelling your account and expecting a specific Survivor’s tree to open. The Survivor’s own level is what unlocks that Survivor’s later columns — ProRogueBear runs into exactly this: “This guy’s only level 18, so he only has this first column.”
- Hoarding points out of fear of misspending. Reset is free, so there is no permanent cost to a wrong choice.
- Looking for Survivor synergies inside a run. They are unlocked in this menu; ProRogueBear discovers mid-run that a pairing he expected to work “needs to be unlocked” first.
- Reading older guides that use “training points” for this menu’s currency. In the 1.0 recordings that phrase is attached to an item picked up on the floor during a run; the menu currency is called points or skill points.
- Carrying over the pre-1.0 figure of 15 training points for Power Overwhelming. The current developer wording states the 5-cap only and gives no such figure.
Sources Checked
- Developer changelog · accessed 22 August 2026Yet Another Content Update 0.7
Developer update, 3 October 2024. Reworks account and Survivor progression and introduces the Badge system.
- Player thread · accessed 22 August 2026Steam discussion: Permanent Upgrades
March 2025 player thread. Participants distinguish always-on nodes from badges, but no developer confirms the current 1.0 interface wording.
- Official store · accessed 22 August 2026Achievement list on Steam (229 entries)
Developer-written achievement names and descriptions published by Steam and current for the shipped 1.0 build. Read in full on 22 August 2026. Authoritative about the conditions it states and silent about everything else.
- Player thread · accessed 22 August 2026100% Achievements Guide (JHG)
Player-written achievement guide, posted 18 July 2023, last updated 27 December 2025. Pre-1.0. Independent of the wiki.
- Player thread · accessed 22 August 2026Synergy Guide (GoldMath)
Player-written guide, last updated 21 August 2026 and explicitly written for V1.0. The only 1.0-era community source checked.
- Video walkthrough · accessed 23 August 2026ProRogueBear — fresh-account 1.0 preview run
Uploaded 19 August 2026 on a 1.0 preview build supplied by the studio. A 79-minute run from an empty account, including a long pass through the Training Yard. Machine captions.
- Video walkthrough · accessed 23 August 2026MabiVsGames — release-day retail session
Uploaded 20 August 2026, the release day, on the retail build. The only checked recording not made on a pre-release preview key. Machine captions.
- Video walkthrough · accessed 23 August 2026I Dream of Indie Games — Version 1.0 review
Uploaded 19 August 2026. A description of the 1.0 camp and skill trees rather than a run. Machine captions.
- Video walkthrough · accessed 23 August 2026Born 2 Game — 1.0 first look
Uploaded 19 August 2026 on a studio-supplied 1.0 key. Describes the post-run reward loop and the in-run selection-screen options. Machine captions.
- Developer changelog · accessed 22 August 2026Yet Another Update 1.0.0b (Hotfix)
Developer hotfix, 21 August 2026. Latest public patch checked; it changes fixes and mission handling, not the unlock rules on these pages.