I won't deny, I only made this guide because I wanted to make visual skill trees of my own. But that spiraled out of control & became the "unnecessarily long guide" that you see here. If you want to chip in, whether with better knowledge, formatting, or visuals, feel free to contact me at any time... but please show some common courtesy, as it's hard to find these days.

The rules are simple; steer the railgun left & right to shoot down all incoming enemies. Nuke an area every now & then in case the pressure becomes too much to handle. Protect the shield at all costs, because humanity bites the dust if Utopia's hit without the shield. Do whatever it takes to survive as long as possible!

Upgrades (or contracts) are vital to Utopia's survival. For the most part, you'll get one at the end of every day. However, performing mini-tasks within rounds will earn bonuses that contribute to earning even MORE upgrades. Some won't show up until you meet certain requirements.

You can also decline the offer, but know that you'll waste a point in the process.

FOR KEYBOARD USERS:
1 to 4 immediately unlock their assigned upgrade. R immediately rerolls.
(example : 1 unlocks the Nuclear Weapons Lab, 2 unlocks Blackout Protocol, & so forth)

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the one that unlocks stuff for multiple categories

ADVANCED MATERIALS LAB
Unlock a set of upgrades for everything except the nukes.
PREREQUISITE: beat day 12.

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special ledgers

OPERATION HERMIT*
Sacrifice all nuclear capabilities to unlock another set of upgrades centered around the shield & its arc flail. The shield gets a instant half recharge & +20% resistance, but the railgun is limited to one barrel.
Each day also yields 10% more points, at the cost of locking you out of Discipline.
PREREQUISITE: earn Nuclear Boycott.

BERSERKER CHARTER*
Sacrifice the shield to unlock a set of upgrades centered around offense. Nukes deal +10% more damage.
PREREQUISITE: earn Berserker.

*You only have one chance to get these. Ignore one & you'll never see it again.

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opportunities

These "upgrades" can modify your play style or provide a challenge for extra points. There's no explicit requirement for any of these, but all can be found naturally. Note that some of these are rarer than others, & you can only take 4 per run (and 1 per category).

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right slot (nukes)

CHEAP NUKES*
Get a set of 7 slow travelling nukes with (dangerously) varying properties. All of them have to be used before returning to your regular supply.
This can show up in the first week.

ILLICIT ARMS DEAL* (rare)
Give up 3 of your nukes & get a free upgrade in return.
This doesn't lock Nuclear Boycott, but as a hermit, is only available for the first week.

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bottom slot (vaguely related to automation)

WORK RETREAT*
Survive the next 3 days without the ability to earn upgrades or reconfigure outposts. Bonuses earned in this time are worth 100% more.

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top slot (vaguely related to railgun)

RED FLAG DAY*
Fight all of tomorrow's attack waves at once. If you survive, all of that day's bonuses yield x6 more points.

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left slot (shield)

CONTEXT SWITCH*
The shield will regenerate 666% faster if the railgun's on standby, but will regenerate 90% slower if it's firing.
You'll need Regenerative Shield for this to show up.

LIQUIDATE SHIELD NODES* (rare)
Drain a fully intact shield & get 3 nukes in return.
Getting this locks you out of Sanctuary & Blissful Ignorance.

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extras

CITIZEN PROPOSALS
Lie to the public like a real politician & source a new set of contracts. In other words: reroll upgrades.

HOPELESSNESS
This game's way of letting you know you can't upgrade anymore. You'll have to get very far to see this even once.

visual:


in depth:
The railgun is your main method of defense. It starts off with 900 RPM (15 bullets / second), but upgrades can enhance its attack speed, damage, & even add extra properties.

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bullet upgrades

EXTENDED MAG RAIL
Bullets fly +40% faster & deal +5% damage.

SUPERCONDUCTING MAG RAIL
Bullets fly +20% faster & deal +10% damage. +60% speed & +15% damage overall.
PREREQUISITES: get the previous upgrade & unlock the Advanced Materials Lab.

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speed & barrel upgrades

INCREASE FIRE RATE
Boosts the railgun's RPM. Known as MAXIMUM FIRE RATE on last upgrade.
PREREQUISITE: beat day 2 & so forth.

OFFENSIVE INNOVATION CENTER
Unlocks the railgun's branching paths along with a few other upgrades. Also boosts its fire rate by 50% (600 RPM).
PREREQUISITE: get the previous upgrade once, & beat day 6.

INSTALL TWIN SHOT
Gives the railgun a second barrel along with adjustable spread, but reduces its fire rate by 600 RPM & locks it out of the cobalt side grades.
PREREQUISITE: get the previous upgrade & beat day 8.

INSTALL TRIPLE SHOT
Gives the railgun a third barrel, but reduces its fire rate by 600 RPM once more.
PREREQUISITE: get Increase Firerate 2 times, Twin Shot, & beat day 12.
Are the unlock requirements constantly changing between hotfixes?

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extra upgrades

RICOCHET MUNITIONS
33% of the railgun's bullets will bounce off of enemies.
PREREQUISITE: get the Offensive Innovation Center.

ADVANCED RICOCHET
Doubles the bounce rate to 66%.
PREREQUISITE: get the previous upgrade & beat day 15.

IMPROVE GIMBAL SPEED
The railgun aims faster. No stats are listed. You can get this twice if you go for the cobalt sidegrades, but only after getting Increase Coil Rate twice.

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cobalt upgrades

COBALT COIL GUN

Transforms the railgun into a coil gun. The coil gun has a max fire rate of 3600 RPM (doubled), its bullets fly 20% faster (and slightly fall), and they deal double damage to shields. However, getting this locks you out of multiple barrels & the shotgun sidegrade (as it's limited to one barrel).
This upgrade has a higher chance of appearing for hermits.
PREREQUISITES: unlock the Offensive Innovation Center & beat day 8.

INCREASE COIL RATE
Boosts the fire rate of the coil gun. Known as MAXIMUM COIL RATE on last upgrade.
PREREQUISITE: switch to the Cobalt Coil Gun & beat day 11 & so forth.

GRAPHENE TIPPED RODS
Bullets that pass through nuclear fireballs get a pierce and damage boost, at the expense of falling faster.
PREREQUISITES: switch to the Cobalt Coil Gun, unlock the Advanced Materials Lab, & beat day 13.

FULL GRAPHENE COATING
The pierce & damage boost provided by fireballs is 50% more effective.
PREREQUISITES: get the previous upgrade, invoke Operation Hermit, & beat day 22.
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berserker upgrades

SAWN-OFF BARRELS
Each barrel gets a spread boost, and their bullets fly 10% faster.
PREREQUISITES: get Extended Mag Rail & invoke the Berserker Charter.

SHOTGUN CANNON CONVERSION
Transforms the railgun into a shotgun. The shotgun has 4 barrels that fire 8 bullets at a time (32 per shot), but it fires 8 times slower. 10% bonus DPS overall.
PREREQUISITES: get Triple Shot, Sawn-off Barrels, Superconducting Mag Rail, & invoke the Berserker Charter.

ORBITAL BLUNDERBUSS
Gives the shotgun a fifth(!) barrel with further enhanced spread & velocity. 12% bonus DPS overall.
PREREQUISITES: get the previous upgrades & beat day 25.

visual:

in depth:
Nukes are limited stock area cleaners. You start off with 3, and all of their upgrades require the Nuclear Weapons Lab in some way, shape, and form (and it'll make a nuke every 2 days). Upgrade a certain way & they can rival the railgun as a main source of damage.

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misc upgrades

NUCLEAR WEAPONS LAB
Unlock a set of upgrades for the nukes. Also grants a nuke every 2 days.
If no prerequisites are mentioned for an upgrade, that's because it only needed this.

STOCKPILE NUKES
The one (normal) upgrade in the entire game that behaves as a purchase. Gives you 3 nukes for free & can be purchased as many times as you need. This is only available for the first week.

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generation upgrades

INCREASE PRODUCTION
Get a nuke every day.

URANIUM STRIP MINING
Get 2 nukes every other day, but your population will slowly die from radiation poisoning if there's more than 20 in stock. This is also necessary for a very absurd achievement.
PREREQUISITES: invoke the berserker charter & beat day 26.

RATIONED WARHEADS
Double the production speed & stockpile of nukes & boost their flight speed by +25%, at the expense of reducing their fireball radius by -40%.

TACTICAL NUKES
Doubles nuke stock & production again at the cost of further reducing their blast radius by -25%. Nukes also fly +25% faster & last +25% longer. -65%, +50%, & +75% overall.
PREREQUISITES: get Extended Plasma Decay, the previous upgrade, & invoke the Berserker Charter.

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duration upgrades

ANTIMATTER WARHEADS
Nukes will last +20% longer & pull in all nearby enemies.

EXTENDED PLASMA DECAY
Nukes last +30% longer. +50% total.
PREREQUISITES: get the previous upgrade & beat day 12.

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extra upgrades

LIQUID OXYGEN BOOSTERS
Nukes fly 50% faster.

OVER-FUELLED BOOSTERS
Nukes fly 30% slower, but leave trails that deal 150DPS.

visual:


in depth:
The shield tanks hits for Utopia & powers its auto attacker; the arc flail. The shield also does damage to the surrounding area every time it's hit. If it goes down, so does the flail, & so can Utopia. Upgrades can grant the shield regenerative properties, last ditch saves, & knockback capabilities. While also granting the flail longer chains, faster attacks with more damage, & even boosts at the shield's expense.

Most of the upgrades require...
PLASMA PHYSICS LAB
Unlock a set of upgrades centered around the shield & its flail. The shield also gets +10% resistance.
PREREQUISITE(s): get Regenerative Shield or the Arc Flail.

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shield regeneration

REGENERATIVE SHIELD
The shield can recover. It regenerates while it's down, & recharges while it's online.

RAPID REGENERATION
The shield recovers 40% faster.
PREREQUISITES: get Regenerative Shield & unlock the Plasma Physics Lab.

PRIORITY CHARGING
The less HP (and charge) the shield has, the faster it recovers.
PREREQUISITES: get Regenerative Shield & unlock the Plasma Physics Lab.

ENERGY EFFICIENCY
The shield recovers +40% faster & the flares recharge 25% faster.
PREREQUISITES: get Rapid Regeneration & invoke Operation Hermit.

SHIELD CAPACITY
Instantly recovers the shield & grants it +15% max HP. Getting it again increases its max HP by +10%. +25% total.
PREREQUISITES: get Priority Charging & invoke Operation Hermit.

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shield reflex

SHIELD BLAST (previously known as SHIELD REFLEX)
On hit, the shield knocks enemies & gibs back further & deals more damage.
PREREQUISITES: beat day 8 & unlock the Plasma Physics Lab.

PULSE REFLEX
The shield slightly repels everything in its range every second.
PREREQUISITE: get the previous upgrade.

HYPER REFLEX
The repellent is 25% more effective.
PREREQUISITES: get the previous upgrade & beat week 3.

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shield protocol

BLACKOUT PROTOCOL
If the shield falls, time will slow down & the railgun will fire extremely fast, but only temporarily. If using a Cobalt Coilgun, it'll fire out of 2 barrels during the protocol.
This is a single use item without any upgrades.

BLACKOUT SURGE AGREEMENT
A blackout protocol can be used every 2 days, but only one is stored at a time.
PREREQUISITES: get Regenerative Shield, the previous upgrade, & unlock the Advanced Materials Lab.

POWER RATIONING LAWS
Now you can use a protocol once every day.
PREREQUISITES: get the previous upgrades & beat day 30.

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flail & range

ARC FLAIL
Unlocks the arc flail for use.

EXTENDED FLAIL
The arc flail's range is extended by 80%.
PREREQUISITE: get the Arc Flail & unlock the Plasma Physics Lab.

STRATOSPHERIC FLAIL
The arc flail's range is extended further by 66%. 146% total.
PREREQUISITE: get the previous upgrade, unlock the Advanced Materials Lab, & beat day 16.

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flail speed

RAPID ARC FLAIL
The flail attacks +50% faster.
PREREQUISITE: get the Arc Flail & unlock the Plasma Physics Lab.

FLAIL CAPACITOR PRIORITY
The flail attacks +50% faster, but the shield is 25% less resistant. +100% (x2) overall.
PREREQUISITES: get the previous upgrade, invoke Operation Hermit, & beat day 13.

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flail chains

COMBO ARC FLAIL
The flail's attack can now jump 3 times, with each bolt doing less damage than the last.
PREREQUISITE: get the Arc Flail & unlock the Plasma Physics Lab.

SUPERCONDUCTING FLAIL
The flail's attack now jumps 5 times, with each jump extending 25% further & each bolt losing 25% less power.
PREREQUISITES: get the previous upgrade & unlock the Advanced Materials Lab.

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flail damage

INCREASE FLAIL AMPERES
Each bolt deals +40% damage.
PREREQUISITES: beat day 12 & unlock the Plasma Physics Lab.

MAXIMUM FLAIL AMPERES
Bolts deal +15% damage. +55% overall.
PREREQUISITES: get the previous upgrade & beat day 15.

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flail extras

HIGH VOLTAGE ARCING
The bolts do +66% more damage & can jump +25% further, but the shield is -33% less resistant.
PREREQUISITES: get Maximum Flail Amperes, Superconducting Flail, invoke Operation Hermit, and beat day 22.

TRACER FLARES
Replace the nukes with flares that can temporarily extend the flail's reach. The limit is 3, but 1 is added every 8 seconds.
PREREQUISITE(s): invoke Operation Hermit.

LONG LIFE FLARES
Tracer flares last longer & fall slower by 33%.
PREREQUISITES: get the Tracer Flares & beat day 13.

visual:


The machines (or more specifically, laser towers & drones) are self-maintaining auto attackers. They have HP like the shield, and as such, need to recharge if they go down. Access to (upgrading) these requires the...

INSTITUTE OF AUTOMATION
Unlocks the machines & most of their respective upgrades. The starting outpost limit is 2, but you can get one of your choice for free.
PREREQUISITE: beat day 5.

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extra space & extra

OPTIMIZED OPERATIONS
All outposts recover 50% faster. Any that have just regenerated will have full HP.
PREREQUISITE: have at least 1 outpost of any kind.

SUPERCONDUCTING POWER LINES (prev. known as SUPERCONDUCTIVE COMPONENTS)
Doubles the outpost capacity to 4.
PREREQUISITE: unlock the Advanced Materials Lab & beat day 12.

ALPHA AUTOMATION
Further increases the outpost capacity to 6, but slows the recovery time of all outposts by 25%.
PREREQUISITES: get the previous upgrade, invoke the Berserker Charter, & beat day 17.

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laser watchtowers

DEPLOY LASER WATCHTOWER
Create a laser watchtower that'll shoot at enemies in its range.
PREREQUISITE: have at least one empty slot.

Q DISRUPTOR TOWER
Modify any watchtower of your choice to fire a laser that, while no longer damages enemies, slows them down by 75%. You can only have 2 of these at a time.
PREREQUISITES: unlock the Advanced Materials Lab & beat the first 2 weeks.

HIGH FREQUENCY LASER
Upgrade any watchtower of your choice to do 175% more DPS, but it recovers 50% slower.
PREREQUISITES: have at least one non-upgraded watchtower & beat day 12 (or 9 as a berserker).

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drones

DEPLOY DRONE FACTORY
Create a drone factory to make & maintain a drone. The drone will then fly & fire away at enemies. Only 2 of these can exist at once by default.
PREREQUISITE: have at least one empty slot.

ROBOTICS SPECIALIST
Doubles the maximum factory cap to 4.
PREREQUISITE: get Superconducting Power Lines, have 2 factories, at least one free slot, & beat day 17 (or 11 as a hermit).

TWIN DRONE FACTORY
Upgrade a factory to support 2 drones at a time.
PREREQUISITES: have at least one non-upgraded factory & beat day 8.

DOUBLE-BARRELED DRONES
Modify a factory to make drones with 2 barrels. The drones will now fire from 2 barrels with x2.1 more damage & 5% more spread, at the expense of moving 40% slower.
PREREQUISITE: have at least one unmodified factory, unlock the Advanced Materials Lab AND Offensive Innovation Center, & beat day 12.

ATOMIC DRONES
Sacrifice 6 full size nukes to modify a factory to create drones that explode on death.
PREREQUISITES: have at least one unmodified factory, give up 6(n)/12(r)/24(t) nukes, unlock the Nuclear Weapons Lab, & beat day 12.

achievements:
As of version 0.735, every achievement in this game is also a bonus you can earn ingame.

I wouldn't blame you if you think this whole guide is useless or was nothing but a mess. Even I think it's worse than the one I made for Dubio! It doesn't help that I might've overworked myself this time around.

If you managed to get something out of this not-so-super guide, I'm proud of you. If you didn't, so be it, at least you tried to make sense of the nonsense.

...phew. i oughta take a break from making guides like these. ,-_-,

this patch was a lot more manageable than the last one, unsurprisingly. there still won't be an alien chart (or a tips section) until the full game releases, so make of that as you will.

PLANS (from here until launch) :

• resurrect the tips section & improve on it.
  
• fix any errors & adjust the text for consistency.
  
• make adjustments to the trees in the event anything changes.
  
• sourcing translations is still in my plans, but don't expect me to actively pursue this until the full game launches.