Upgrade Station

“

When a robot kills a human, we erupt into a pleading mist of blood, meat particles and tears, which you can't really trade for anything. But when a robot dies, he explodes in a shower of money, which, during between-wave lulls, you can exchange at any Upgrade Station for weapon, item and ability upgrades. — Saxton Hale

”

An Upgrade Station is a place for players to buy weapon upgrades, abilities, and Power Up Canteen buffs in Mann vs. Machine, as well as Freaky Fair. Players may access any kiosk in the base at any time to purchase upgrades with collected credits. The cost of each upgrade does not increase with a repeated purchase. Between waves, players may modulate the number of levels in an upgrade by pressing the + and - buttons to redistribute their credits if they have made a mistake before accepting the upgrade. Once accepting the upgrade it cannot be revoked unless all upgrades are refunded.

Upgrades cannot be refunded during a wave. During the first wave, upgrades can be individually refunded by pressing the minus button to regain the money spent for it and forfeit the upgrade. This includes missions where there is only one wave, such as Caliginous Caper. During any wave, the button to refund is grayed out, preventing a full refund of every upgrade.

During the setup of the first wave of the mission, upgrades can be sold back if the player wants to change weapons, classes, or buy a different upgrade. During the setup for each wave, players may refund their upgrades in the upgrade station menu as many times as necessary. A wrench icon () appears next to a class in the Class Selection Menu if that class already has upgrades applied to it. Upgrades apply to only a single weapon or to a single class if the upgrades purchased directly affect the player. Un-equipping a weapon deactivates all upgrades associated with that weapon, but they are regained if the player re-equips it. Disconnecting from a server and rejoining allows the player to retain their current amount of credits and upgrades if the player chooses the same class.

Failing to complete a wave refunds the credits spent during the setup of that wave to give the player a chance to use a different strategy. It does not refund every upgrade gained across every wave.

Since there are no Resupply Cabinets in the base, purchasing an upgrade from an Upgrade Station restores the player's health and ammo. Players cannot heal using the Upgrade Station during waves and may only refill their ammo across all weapons.

User Interface

Upgrade Stations are accessed by walking up to them. By default, the primary weapon slot is selected. The UI automatically shades upgrades in a slot if the player cannot afford them. Players may hit the "Cancel" button at any time or simply walk away from the kiosk before accepting an upgrade to regain the credits used during the session.

Class

Classes' upgrades
Upgrade	Classes	Cost	Level	Notes
+25% Blast Resistance	All classes	300	3	Take less damage from explosions, including rocket and sticky jumps.
+25% Bullet Resistance		300	3	Take less damage from hitscan weapons and taunt attacks.
+10% Movement Speed		200	3	Adds 10% to movement speed.
+2 Health Regen		200	5	Regenerates health every second.
+20% Jump Height		100	3	Jump higher.
+25% Fire Resistance		150	3	Take less damage from fire and afterburn.
+30% Crit Resistance		150	3	Take less damage from critical hits.
+5 Metal Regen	Engineer	200	5	Metal is regenerated every 5 seconds.

Weapon

Primary

Primary weapons' upgrades
Upgrade	Weapons		Cost	Level	Notes
Destroy Projectiles	Heavy Minigun (Iron Curtain) Natascha Brass Beast Tomislav Huo-Long Heater		400	2	Bullets destroy Rockets and Grenades mid-flight. Increased accuracy and frequency per level. Level decreases cooldown (0.3 / 0.1 seconds) and how many hits it takes to destroy a projectile (2 / 1). Crits take one hit to destroy a projectile regardless of level.
Knockback Rage			350	3	Generate Rage by dealing damage. When fully charged, press the Special-Attack key to activate knockback. Activation cuts damage by 50%.
+1 Projectile Penetration			400	3	Projectiles penetrate an additional enemy player.
+20% Damage	Demoman Grenade Launcher Loch-n-Load Loose Cannon Iron Bomber		500	4
+25% Projectile Speed	Demoman Grenade Launcher Loch-n-Load Iron Bomber		150	4, 3
Rocket Specialist	Soldier Rocket Launcher Direct Hit Black Box Rocket Jumper Liberty Launcher Cow Mangler 5000 Original Beggar's Bazooka Air Strike		300	4	+15% rocket speed per point. On direct hits: rocket does maximum damage, stuns target, and blast radius increased +15% per point.
+25% Damage	Scout Scattergun Force-A-Nature Shortstop Soda Popper Baby Face's Blaster Back Scatter	Soldier Rocket Launcher Direct Hit Black Box Rocket Jumper Liberty Launcher Cow Mangler 5000 Original Beggar's Bazooka Air Strike	400	4, 3
	Pyro Flame Thrower (Nostromo Napalmer) Backburner Degreaser Phlogistinator Rainblower Dragon's Fury	Sniper Sniper Rifle (AWPer Hand) Huntsman (Fortified Compound) Sydney Sleeper Bazaar Bargain Machina (Shooting Star) Hitman's Heatmaker Classic
+2 Clip Size	Soldier Rocket Launcher Direct Hit Black Box Rocket Jumper Liberty Launcher Original Beggar's Bazooka Air Strike	Demoman Grenade Launcher Loch-n-Load Loose Cannon Iron Bomber	400	4
	Medic Crusader's Crossbow
+50% Clip Size	Scout Scattergun Force-A-Nature Shortstop Soda Popper Baby Face's Blaster Back Scatter	Soldier Cow Mangler 5000	400, 200	4
	Engineer Shotgun Frontier Justice Pomson 6000 Rescue Ranger Panic Attack	Medic Syringe Gun Blutsauger Overdose
Projectile Penetration	Scout Scattergun Force-A-Nature Shortstop Soda Popper Baby Face's Blaster Back Scatter	Engineer Shotgun Frontier Justice Widowmaker Rescue Ranger Panic Attack	400, 200	1	Projectiles penetrate enemy players.
	Medic Crusader's Crossbow	Sniper Sniper Rifle (AWPer Hand) Huntsman (Fortified Compound) Sydney Sleeper Bazaar Bargain Machina (Shooting Star) Hitman's Heatmaker Classic
Explosive Headshot	Sniper Sniper Rifle (AWPer Hand) Sydney Sleeper Bazaar Bargain Machina (Shooting Star) Hitman's Heatmaker Classic		350	3	Headshots (lethal or otherwise) damage and slow enemies near target. Rank increases damage (150 / 170 / 190), explosion radius, slow strength (50% / 65% / 80% slow) and duration (2 / 3 / 4 seconds).
+25% Faster Charge			200	4
+5s Bleed On Target	Sniper Huntsman (Fortified Compound)		200	3
+50% Ammo Capacity	All classes All ammunition-using Primary weapons		250	3	Ammo pickups grant more ammo proportionately.
+20% Reload Speed	Scout Scattergun Baby Face's Blaster Back Scatter	Soldier Rocket Launcher Direct Hit Black Box Rocket Jumper Liberty Launcher Cow Mangler 5000 Original Beggar's Bazooka Air Strike	250	3
	Demoman Grenade Launcher Loch-n-Load Loose Cannon Iron Bomber	Engineer Shotgun Frontier Justice Pomson 6000 Rescue Ranger Panic Attack
	Medic Crusader's Crossbow	Sniper Sniper Rifle (AWPer Hand) Sydney Sleeper Bazaar Bargain Machina (Shooting Star) Hitman's Heatmaker Classic
+10% Firing Speed	Scout Scattergun Shortstop Baby Face's Blaster Back Scatter	Soldier Rocket Launcher Direct Hit Black Box Rocket Jumper Liberty Launcher Cow Mangler 5000 Original Beggar's Bazooka Air Strike	200, 350, 100	4
	Demoman Grenade Launcher Loch-n-Load Loose Cannon Iron Bomber	Heavy Minigun (Iron Curtain) Natascha Brass Beast Tomislav Huo-Long Heater
	Engineer Shotgun Frontier Justice Widowmaker Pomson 6000 Rescue Ranger Panic Attack	Medic Syringe Gun Blutsauger Crusader's Crossbow Overdose
+25 Health On Kill	All classes All damage-dealing Primary weapons		200, 100	4
+25% Burn Damage	Pyro Flame Thrower (Nostromo Napalmer) Backburner Degreaser Phlogistinator Rainblower		250	4	Afterburn damage bonus.
+25% Burn Time			250	4	Afterburn duration. Defunct on Flamethrower weapons but still works on applicable Flare gun weapons.
+25% Airblast Force	Pyro Flame Thrower (Nostromo Napalmer) Backburner Degreaser Rainblower Dragon's Fury		100	4
Mad Milk Syringes	Medic Syringe Gun Blutsauger Overdose		200	1	Syringes deliver a highly concentrated dose of Mad Milk. Duration increases per hit to a max at 4 seconds.

Secondary

Secondary weapons' upgrades
Upgrade	Weapons		Cost	Level	Notes
+20% Damage	Demoman Stickybomb Launcher Scottish Resistance Sticky Jumper Quickiebomb Launcher		500	4
+50% Clip Size	Scout Pistol (Lugermorph, C.A.P.P.E.R) Winger Pretty Boy's Pocket Pistol	Soldier Shotgun Reserve Shooter Righteous Bison Panic Attack	200, 400	4
	Pyro Shotgun Reserve Shooter Panic Attack	Demoman Stickybomb Launcher Scottish Resistance Sticky Jumper Quickiebomb Launcher
	Heavy Shotgun Family Business Panic Attack	Engineer Pistol (Lugermorph, C.A.P.P.E.R)
	Sniper SMG Cleaner's Carbine	Spy Revolver (Big Kill) Ambassador L'Etranger Enforcer Diamondback
Projectile Penetration	Scout Pistol (Lugermorph, C.A.P.P.E.R) Winger Pretty Boy's Pocket Pistol	Soldier Shotgun Reserve Shooter Panic Attack	200	1	Projectiles penetrate enemy players.
	Pyro Shotgun Reserve Shooter Panic Attack	Heavy Shotgun Family Business Panic Attack
	Engineer Pistol (Lugermorph, C.A.P.P.E.R) Short Circuit	Sniper SMG Cleaner's Carbine
	Spy Revolver (Big Kill) Ambassador L'Etranger Enforcer Diamondback
+25 Health On Kill	All classes All damage-dealing Secondary weapons		100, 200	4
+50% Ammo Capacity	All classes All ammunition-using Secondary weapons		125, 250	3, 2	Ammo pickups grant more ammo accordingly.
+20% Reload Speed	Soldier Shotgun Reserve Shooter Righteous Bison Panic Attack	Pyro Shotgun Flare Gun Detonator Reserve Shooter Scorch Shot Panic Attack	250	3
	Demoman Stickybomb Launcher Scottish Resistance Sticky Jumper Quickiebomb Launcher	Heavy Shotgun Family Business Panic Attack
+15% Recharge Rate	Scout Bonk! Atomic Punch Crit-a-Cola Mad Milk (Mutated Milk) Flying Guillotine	Pyro Gas Passer Thermal Thruster	250	4	Gas Passer only: Recharge rate is also applied to recharge rate done by damage, while also increasing the base rate that builds over time.
	Heavy Sandvich (Robo-Sandvich) Dalokohs Bar (Fishcake) Buffalo Steak Sandvich Second Banana	Sniper Jarate (Self-Aware Beauty Mark) Razorback
+25% Buff Duration	Soldier Buff Banner Battalion's Backup Concheror		250	2
+10% Firing Speed	Scout Pistol (Lugermorph, C.A.P.P.E.R) Winger Pretty Boy's Pocket Pistol	Soldier Shotgun Reserve Shooter Righteous Bison Panic Attack	100, 200	4, 2, 1
	Pyro Shotgun Flare Gun Detonator Reserve Shooter Manmelter Scorch Shot Panic Attack	Demoman Stickybomb Launcher Scottish Resistance Sticky Jumper Quickiebomb Launcher
	Heavy Shotgun Family Business Panic Attack	Engineer Pistol (Lugermorph, C.A.P.P.E.R) Short Circuit
	Sniper SMG Cleaner's Carbine	Spy Revolver (Big Kill) Ambassador L'Etranger Enforcer Diamondback
-35% Speed On Target	Scout Mad Milk (Mutated Milk)	Sniper Jarate (Self-Aware Beauty Mark)	200	1	Does not stack.
+100% Charge Recharge Rate	Demoman Chargin' Targe Splendid Screen Tide Turner		150	4
-30% Push Force On Wearer			100	3	Reduced the push force from enemies attack.
+25% Burn Damage	Pyro Flare Gun Detonator Scorch Shot		250	4	Afterburn damage bonus.
+25% Burn Time			250	4	Afterburn duration.
Explode on Ignite	Pyro Gas Passer		400	1	Explosion deals up to 350 splash damage.
Able to re-launch while already in-flight	Pyro Thermal Thruster		400	1
Stun enemies when you land			300	1
+25% ÜberCharge Rate	Medic Medi Gun Kritzkrieg Quick-Fix Vaccinator		300	4, 3, 1
Projectile Shield			300	2	Build energy by healing teammates or healing teammates attacking. When fully charged, press the Special-Attack key to deploy a frontal projectile shield. The shield damages robots who touch it. Level 2 upgrade increases the shield width.
+2s Über Duration			250	3
Overheal Expert			250	4	+25% more Overheal, +50% longer duration per point
Healing Mastery			250	4	+25% heal rate for patient, +25% faster revive rate, and +25% self heal rate, per point
Canteen Specialist			200	3	Share Canteens with your heal target, +1 duration, -10 Canteen upgrade price per point (minimum cost of 5). Must confirm upgrade for price reduction to work.

Melee

Melee weapons' upgrades
Upgrade	Weapons		Cost	Level	Notes
+10% Attack Speed	All classes All melee weapons but Wrap Assassin and Sandman		200	4	Increasing the Engineer's melee speed allows him to build, upgrade, resupply, and repair buildings faster.
+25 Health On Kill	All classes All Melee weapons		100, 200	4, 3, 2
+25% Damage	Demoman Eyelander (Horseless Headless Horsemann's Headtaker, Nessie's Nine Iron) Scotsman's Skullcutter Claidheamh Mòr Half-Zatoichi Persian Persuader		400	4, 3	Upgrade only appears if the Demoman equips a Shield. If the Demoman equips any Stickybomb Launcher, this upgrade no longer appears; however, any previously purchased levels still apply.
Armor Penetration	Spy Knife (Sharp Dresser, Black Rose) Your Eternal Reward (Wanga Prick) Conniver's Kunai Big Earner Spy-cicle	All classes3 Saxxy Golden Frying Pan Prinny Machete	400	4	Allows backstabs against giant robots at X% (out of 750) damage.
+2s Crits On Kill	Demoman Bottle (Scottish Handshake) Eyelander (Horseless Headless Horsemann's Headtaker, Nessie's Nine Iron) Scotsman's Skullcutter Pain Train Ullapool Caber Claidheamh Mòr Half-Zatoichi Persian Persuader	Spy Knife (Sharp Dresser, Black Rose) Your Eternal Reward (Wanga Prick) Conniver's Kunai Big Earner Spy-cicle	350	2	2 seconds of 100% Critical hit chance per level; switching weapons retains critical hits.
	All classes3,4 Frying Pan1 Saxxy Conscientious Objector1 Freedom Staff1 Bat Outta Hell1 Memory Maker1 Ham Shank1 Golden Frying Pan Necro Smasher2 Crossing Guard1 Prinny Machete
+15% Recharge Rate	Scout Sandman Wrap Assassin		250	4, 2	Faster baseball/bauble recharge rate.
+100% Max Misc Ammo			100	6	Gives the Scout one extra baseball/bauble per level.
Ball Marks Target	Scout Sandman		500	1	One target at a time is marked for death on hit with either the Sandman or its baseball projectile. The time is reduced to 7 seconds if the target is a giant robot.
Notes	1 Usable by all classes except Engineer and Spy.
	2 Usable by all classes except Spy.
	3 Only when equipped by Spy.
	4 Only when equipped by Demoman.

Other

Sapper

Building weapons' upgrades
Upgrade	Weapons	Cost	Level	Notes
Robot Sapper Power	Spy Sapper (Ap-Sap, Snack Attack) Red-Tape Recorder	350	3	Increases robot Sapper radius and duration. The first level does not increase duration, but gives the sapper 200 Hammer units of range, while higher levels increases sapper duration by 1.5 seconds and the range by 25 Hammer units.

Buildings

These are available only to the Engineer.

Buildings' upgrades
Upgrade	Buildings	Cost	Level	Notes
+1 Disposable Sentry Gun	Engineer	500	1	Gives the player a disposable Mini-Sentry, which is built by choosing to build a Sentry Gun when the player's primary Sentry already exists. This Mini-Sentry cannot be upgraded, repaired, resupplied, or wrangled. It is slightly smaller than the Combat Mini-Sentry from the Gunslinger and fires at the rate of normal level 1 Sentry Gun. Once it runs out of ammunition, it self-destructs. Not affected by building health upgrades.
+50% Max Metal Capacity		200	4	+50% metal to the Engineer, not the buildings.
+100% Building Health	All Buildings	400	3
+10% Sentry Firing Speed	Sentry Gun Combat Mini-Sentry Gun	350	3	10% faster sentry fire rate.
2-Way Teleporters	Teleporters	250	1	Allows players to stand on a Teleporter Exit and teleport to the Entrance in addition to the normal Entrance-to-Exit functionality. Both directions use the same charge meter. If there is a player on each end, whoever got there first is teleported to the other side.
+100% Dispenser Range	Dispenser	100	3	Players can stand further away from the Dispenser to gain Ammo, Metal, and Health.

Power Up Canteen

These are available to any class with a Power Up Canteen, Battery Canteens, or Kritz or Treat Canteen in their Action Slot. Canteens can have a maximum of three charges and only one charge type at a time.

Canteen's upgrades
Upgrade	Classes	Cost	Notes
Become Crit Boosted	All classes	100	Crits user and triples Sentry Gun fire rate for 5 seconds.
Become Übercharged		75	ÜberCharge and puts a Wrangler shield that blocks 90% of incoming damage around your Sentry for 5 seconds. This Wrangler shield does not stack with existent Wrangler shields.
Refill Clips and Ammo		25	Instantly refills almost all weapons' clips and ammunition. Refills metal for Engineers and Sapper for Spies. Does not refill the charge for Gas Passer, Demoman Shields, Lunchbox items for Heavy, Energy-based weapons aside from the Phlogistinator, the Razorback, or Cloak.
Teleport to Spawn		10	Instantly teleport to spawn and grants a 5 second speed boost.
Building Upgrade	Engineer	50	Upgrades all existing buildings to Level 3 and fully restores their health.

Note certain weapons cannot be upgraded. These include:

• Gunboats
• Mantreads
• B.A.S.E. Jumper
• Ali Baba's Wee Booties (Bootlegger)
• Wrangler (Giger Counter)
• Darwin's Danger Shield
• Cozy Camper

Related achievements

Mann vs. Machievements

Maximum Performance Max out all resistances on a single class. System Upgrade Max out all primary weapon upgrades. Shell Extension During a wave, use a canteen charged with 'Ammo Reload' to refill an empty weapon slot. Ghost in the Machine Use a canteen charged with 'Teleport to Spawn' and then kill the bomb carrier within 5 seconds. Kritical Terror Use a canteen charged with 'Crit Boost' to destroy a giant robot. German Engineering Use a canteen charged with 'ÜberCharge' to destroy 15 robots. Undelete During a wave, use a canteen charged with 'Instant Building Upgrade' to build a new sentry gun within 3 seconds of your previous sentry gun's destruction.

Do Androids Dream? As a Scout, use the Sandman to mark 15 robots for death in a single wave. Heavy Mettle During a wave, use rage as a Heavy to push a robot about to deliver the bomb. Vial Sharing As a Medic, share your canteen 5 times in a single wave. Wall of Pain Block 5,000 damage with the shield as a Medic in a single life. Robot Flush Kill 5 enemies with a single rocket while upgraded with rocket specialist. Dazed And Defused Stun 50 robots while upgraded with rocket specialist.

Update history

August 15, 2012 Patch (Mann vs. Machine Update)

• Added Mann vs. Machine.

August 17, 2012 Patch

• Fixed a client crash related to the Mann vs. Machine upgrade panel.
• Fixed seeing incorrect upgrades in the Mann vs. Machine upgrade panel.
• Updated upgrade icons to remove numbers.

August 23, 2012 Patch

• Fixed the Metal Regen upgrade displaying a percentage instead of an incremental value.

September 4, 2012 Patch

• Fixed a client money display issue when purchasing or selling bottle charges after changing classes.
• Fixed Sniper Rifle reload upgrade not reducing the time delay from hip shot to scoping.

September 21, 2012 Patch

• Added the ability to buy projectile penetration for the Crusader's Crossbow.
• Fixed the Medi Gun overheal duration attribute causing the overheal effect to decay faster, rather than slower.
• Fixed the Demoman shields not saving their upgrades upon round reset.

September 27, 2012 Patch

• Fixed a bug where players could only buy 1 upgrade at a time from the upgrade station.

October 9, 2012 Patch

• Balance changes:
  • Explosive Headshots
    • Damage is now 150 regardless of upgrade level.
    • Damage is done in one tick instead of the previous six.
    • Added a slowing effect based on upgrade level (50%-80% slow, 2-4 second duration).
    • Radius still scales with upgrade level (unchanged).
  • Marked For Death duration reduced to 7 seconds from 15 seconds when the target is a giant robot.
  • Reduced the "effect bar recharge rate increased" upgrade from 20% increments with an 80% cap to 15% increments with a 60% cap.

July 10, 2013 Patch

• In MvM, when robots are killed by Sniper headshots or explosive headshot upgrade, they will drop 'red' money that will automatically be collected when it would otherwise dissolve.

August 27, 2013 Patch

• Fixed a bug that prevented the Medi Gun's "Share Power Ups" upgrade from working correctly in Mann vs. Machine mode.

October 29, 2013 Patch

• Inspecting a player in Mann vs. Machine (default key: F) now shows the upgrades of the player who is currently being inspected.

November 21, 2013 Patch (Two Cities Update)

• Players can earn a "Refund Upgrades" credit by collecting money during waves
  • The amount required is listed in the scoreboard, and varies per-mission
  • Any money collected – whether winning or losing – will count toward earning a credit
  • To redeem, visit an Upgrades station and click the "Refund Upgrades" button
  • Any money spent on buy-backs and Canteen charges will not be refunded
• Medic
  • Projectile Shield Upgrade
    • Build Energy by healing teammates, reviving and preventing damage via Invuln ÜberCharge.
    • Press ATTACK3 to activate when Energy meter is full (mouse3 by default)
    • While active:
      • Blocks all enemy projectiles
      • Damages enemies on touch
  • Mad Milk Syringes Upgrade
    • Syringe Gun needles apply Mad Milk (heal-on-hit for teammates) on contact
  • Healing Mastery Upgrade (previously two separate upgrades)
    • +25% heal rate per point
    • +25% revive rate per point
    • +25% self-regen rate per point
  • Overheal Expert Upgrade (previously two separate upgrades)
    • +25% more overheal per point
    • +50% duration per point
  • Canteen Specialist Upgrade
    • Shares canteen charge effects with heal target
    • +1 second charge duration per point
    • -10 canteen charge price per point
• Soldier
  • Rocket Specialist Upgrade
    • +15% rocket speed per point
    • On direct hits
      • Stuns target (duration increases per point)
      • +15% increased blast radius per point
      • No range-based falloff damage
• Heavy
  • Attack Projectiles Upgrade
    • Now has two levels
      • Level one is less effective than before
      • Level two is more effective than level one used to be
    • Price reduced from 600 to 400 per point
  • Rage Pushback upgrade activation moved to ATTACK3 (mouse3 by default)
• Lowered the cost of the Bullet and Blast Resistance upgrades from 350 to 300
• Added Demoman upgrade: -30% Push Force on wearer

November 22, 2013 Patch

• Fixed a server crash related to damaging the tank with the new Medic shield.
• Fixed the Health Regen MvM upgrade string mistakenly displaying %

December 6, 2013 Patch

• Fixed players who join in the middle of a mission not receiving the Upgrade Refund credit if it has been earned by the team.
• Fixed an exploit that allowed purchasing upgrades for weapons other than what they were intended for.

January 9, 2014 Patch

• Fixed an exploit in Mann vs. Machine related to purchasing upgrades.

February 7, 2014 Patch #1

• Fixed an exploit that allowed players to purchase/sell the Canteen Specialist upgrade to get more money than they originally spent.
• Fixed a bug that caused players to not receive an Upgrade Refund Credit when they should have.
• Fixed the UI not updating properly if an Upgrade Refund Credit is earned after the wave has ended.
• Fixed the MvM upgrade menu closing when a Strange item has its counter increment.

February 19, 2014 Patch

• Fixed a Mann vs. Machine bug related to upgrades after a retry/reconnect.

March 5, 2014 Patch

• Fixed an exploit in Mann vs. Machine mode related to purchasing upgrades for free.

May 15, 2014 Patch

• Fixed the Engineer being able to purchase the Disposable Sentry Gun upgrade in Mann vs. Machine, build a disposable Sentry Gun, and then refund the upgrade without the Sentry being destroyed.

June 20, 2014 Patch

• Updated the B.A.S.E. Jumper to prevent buying unusable upgrades in Mann vs. Machine.

October 27, 2017 Patch

• Removed the "Faster recharge rate" upgrades from The Dragon's Fury.
• Fixed the missing "Increased Airblast Push Force" upgrade on The Dragon's Fury.

July 7, 2022 Patch

• Fixed Übercharge charge rate and duration upgrade not working for the Vaccinator.

July 12, 2023 Patch #1 (Summer 2023 Update)

• Fixed the Mann vs. Machine upgrade panel closing after receiving a matchmaking party invite.

Unused content

• There are many additional sound files for Projectile Shield upgrade; they are referred to in the game files as "prefix_burn_suffix". These would likely be used when multiple projectiles are blocked by the Projectile Shield. There is also another unused sound that would be used if the user retracted the shield after switching weapons.
• Inside the game files, there are 3 upgrades to be found that are not currently in the game; They include a radius of Sentry Gun upgrade, regeneration of a percent of a mercenary's max ammo every 5 seconds upgrade, and gaining more credits through an additively stacking percent multiplier upgrade.
• There is an unused song in the game's files that would possibly be played while the player used an Upgrade Station.

Bugs

• Changing a weapon via loadout screen before walking up to the upgrade station, then buying a single upgrade, prevents buying (most) upgrades that cannot normally be bought on the new weapon. For example, having the Air Strike equipped, switching to the Cow Mangler, buying a movement speed upgrade, and then buying ammo capacity in the Air Strike tab does not take credits away from the player's balance and does not apply the ammo upgrade to the Cow Mangler since it cannot be normally bought that. Purchasing an upgrade in the original item, such as a damage upgrade on the Air Strike, the money is taken away and the player does not get the damage upgrade on their Cow Mangler, however any future upgrades in the Air Strike tab apply to the Cow Mangler if they can normally be bought. The first upgrade bought cannot be refunded if the player is not on wave 1.
  • There are select weapons that have "ghost upgrades" that can be purchased using this bug. The most commonly abused and useful one of these is being able to buy a firing speed upgrade on the Soda Popper.
• Occasionally, when on the Canteen charges page, clicking once on any upgrade's + sign gives the player two charges for the Canteen, at the same cost of purchasing one charge twice, though only one circle fills. The player ends up with those two charges upon clicking "accept", and the interface returns to the correct number of circles filled the next time the player goes to the station.
• The second firing speed upgrade for every Minigun (except Tomislav) has no effect; also due to the firing rate being tick based, the indicated percentage is wrong, the first/second upgrade increases firing speed by 14%, third by 29% and fourth by 43%. For the Tomislav, the first firing speed does not work, and the second tick increases the rate by 13%, 25% for the third upgrade, and 38% for the fourth upgrade.
  • Sentry Guns do not benefit from the second or third upgrades of firing speed in a normal server; however, if the server's simulation tick timing is slightly off, then the first tick does not work and the second tick is required to gain any benefit. Using hitsounds is the best way to judge if the first tick actually worked since it is impossible to know if the server tick is off. A Crit canteen always gives the player the fastest firing speed possible regardless of how many ticks are purchased or if it is wrangled.
• Inspecting another player, walking up to the Upgrade Station, and hitting cancel results in showing the player an upgrade screen for the other player. The only buttons that can be pressed are cancel and refund, which refund your upgrades.
• Buying "+2s Crits On Kill" and/or "+25% Damage" upgrades on the Half-Zatoichi as a Demoman can carry over when the player switches to Soldier with the same weapon equipped, despite the Soldier being unable to buy neither Crits On Kill nor Damage upgrades.
• The "Mad Milk Syringes" upgrade on the Medic's Syringe Guns can lower the duration of milk already applied by the Scout's Mad Milk.

Trivia

• There are several items visible inside the Upgrade Station, the most notable being one of the many scrapped weapons used for the scrapped grenade slot, which are the Bear Trap and the Frag Grenade.
• The texture for the Upgrade Station contains a hidden note in the top left corner, which cannot be seen in-game, which reads:

 "WEAPONS OF THE DAY: GRENADES
  FREE AMMO REFILL WITH PURCHASE

  HAVE A NICE DAY.
  DON'T DIE, OR, WELL, DO DIE... WHATEVER.
  JUST DON'T GET BLOOD ON MY FLOOR."

• Comments in the game's development code suggest that the Canteen Specialist upgrade would have originally increased how many Canteen charges the Medic could carry, up to 6 at once.

Gallery

• 

  A demonstration of the Projectile Shield effect.

• 

  The Upgrade Station texture showing the hidden note.

See also

• Credits

External links

• "The Mercs" update page