Reference

The Magus Circle Upgrades: Build Paths Explained

Last updated: September 11, 2026 · Pre-release (Steam launch September 24, 2026)

Upgrades are where The Magus Circle stops being about drawing and starts being about decisions. The drawing is the input; the upgrades are the strategy layer on top of it.

Quick answer

You have two upgrade layers. In a run, level-ups offer you choices you pick from — you adapt to what you are given rather than following a fixed order. Between runs, permanent progression applies, and the official listing ties that layer to increasing difficulty and random rewards. Across both, official copy describes a large pool of unique upgrades.

The two layers

The two numbers look like a contradiction and are not necessarily one. The Steam figure describes the in-run pool at the time that store copy was written. The STOVE figure comes from a later listing and explicitly adds upgrades outside the run. We report both with their dates rather than picking the larger number for effect.

The later, larger figure is also a useful signal in itself: it suggests the pool grew substantially during the months between those two listings.

What upgrades actually change

The pre-release demo exposed eight stats on the character panel. These tell you what upgrades compete for:

• Spell Power
• Projectile Speed
• Damage-over-Time Potency
• Damage-over-Time Duration
• Mana Regen
• Mana Cost
• Crit Chance
• Crit Damage

Notice the shape of that list. Four of the eight are offensive multipliers, two govern damage-over-time behaviour specifically, and two are economic — mana regeneration and mana cost. An upgrade that lowers mana cost is competing against an upgrade that raises crit, and which one you want depends entirely on what the run has already given you.

An Arcanist archetype also appeared in the demo, carrying sample modifiers such as −15% mana cost and +15% crit chance. If you have played other bullet-heaven games, that pairing — cast more, hit harder — will be familiar.

These values come from a pre-release build. We are reporting them as an illustration of what the upgrade system touches, not as final numbers.

Adapt, do not plan a shopping list

The most important sentence in the official material on this topic is not about quantity. It is this:

“Every run, you must adapt your spells and upgrades around the hand fate deals you.”

That is an explicit statement that the game expects you to improvise. Two practical consequences:

1. Learn what each stat does, not what each specific upgrade is called. Stat literacy transfers between runs; memorising a favourites list does not.
2. Have two or three directions in mind, not one. If the run refuses to give you crit, the mana-cost direction is still open.

Why we do not publish a tier list

This is the one place where being early is a genuine disadvantage, so we want to be explicit about the choice.

• No official values exist. The developer has not published an upgrade table, per-upgrade numbers, or drop rates.
• Pre-release numbers move. The figures above come from a demo build. The game launches on September 24, 2026, and a launch build commonly rebalances exactly this kind of system.
• The pool is large. Ranking several hundred upgrades meaningfully requires the shipped values and real playtime across a range of runs.

A ranking published now would be confidently wrong within weeks, and readers would still find it. We would rather build that page once, after launch, with real data. In the meantime this page describes the mechanics honestly instead of inventing a hierarchy.

Stacking is the preferred direction

One clear preference came out of demo reviews: players specifically named stacking spell upgrades as a mechanic they enjoyed. The implication is straightforward — concentrating upgrades into a smaller number of skills outperformed spreading them thinly across many.

That also fits the stat list. Crit chance and crit damage compound with each other; damage-over-time potency and duration compound with each other. Pairing related stats is worth more than collecting single points in unrelated ones.

Difficulty is an upgrade-adjacent decision

The out-of-run layer is tied to difficulty. The STOVE listing describes increasing difficulty through out-of-run enhancement elements while adding random rewards — in other words, the permanent progression and the difficulty scaling are connected rather than separate systems.

That combination matters for how you use it, which is covered in more detail on the challenges page.

Practical habits

1. Read the stat, not the name. Knowing that you need mana cost reduction is more useful than knowing a specific upgrade you once liked.
2. Commit rather than spread. Stacking was the pattern players praised.
3. Treat mana upgrades as real choices. The mana economy is the system demo players argued about most, so upgrades that touch it are not filler.
4. Experiment in the pre-release build while numbers are still settling. Nothing you learn now is wasted, but nothing you learn now is final either.

FAQ

How many upgrades are there? Two official figures: over 250 on the Steam page (June 2026) and over 600 in-game plus out-of-run on the STOVE listing (August 2026). We report both, with dates.

In-run versus out-of-run? In-run picks apply to that run only; out-of-run progression is permanent and is tied to difficulty scaling and random rewards.

Which stats do upgrades change? Spell power, projectile speed, damage-over-time potency and duration, mana regen, mana cost, crit chance, crit damage — per the pre-release demo interface.

Should I plan a build? Have directions in mind rather than a fixed list. Official copy says you adapt around what the run offers.

Is there a best upgrades tier list? Not from us. No official values exist, and pre-release numbers will move at launch.

Do upgrades stack? Yes, and demo reviewers singled out stacking as the part they enjoyed.

What to do next

The spells guide covers what these upgrades are modifying. The challenges page explains how out-of-run progression connects to difficulty.

Sources and update note

Based on the official Steam store page key features, the STOVE Early Access listing, the pre-release demo interface, and aggregated reviews of the February 2026 demo.

Content last verified: September 11, 2026. Launch is September 24, 2026. We deliberately publish no upgrade ranking before launch and will build one once official values exist.

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