Guide · 03
Gate strategy: do the math, keep the squad
A gate is not decoration. It is a calculation under pressure. Read the operator, count the squad, then take the lane with the better next fight.
Gate rows are the backbone of a run. Each row offers two gates, or three gates in some later sectors. There is always at least one clearly helpful option. That guarantee is not permission to stop thinking. A blue +7 can be worse than a blue ×2. A gold weapon tier can beat a small squad gain before a boss. A heal can be worthless when no one has fallen. Read the operation, not only the colour.
All gate results are rounded to whole soldiers and the squad cannot exceed 400. When a gate removes soldiers, those losses become fallen soldiers. That matters because medkits and revive gates can recover fallen soldiers later. Below are the exact transformations the road uses.
Every gate type and its math
| Panel | Result | Practical rule |
|---|---|---|
| Blue +N soldiers | New count = current count + N | Best when the other lane is weak or dangerous. |
| Blue ×N squad | New count = current count × N | Usually strongest once you have a real base. |
| Red −N soldiers | New count = current count − N | Pay only if the other lane is worse. |
| Red ÷N squad | New count = ceil(current count / N) | Division is brutal at high count; avoid it. |
| Gold weapon tier | One tier up or down, limited to I–VII | Take the upgrade when damage is the bottleneck. |
| Fire rate ±% | Rate multiplier changes, limited to 0.50–3.00 | Positive rate stacks with every soldier and weapon. |
| Revive fallen | Restores up to N fallen, with 400-count cap | Only valuable when casualties exist. |
| Purple ? gamble | 50% ×3; 50% ceil(count / 2) | Take only when its downside is survivable. |
Good gate generation can make additions of +3 to +7 in the opening sector, increasing with sector. Positive multipliers are normally ×2, with a growing chance of ×3 later. Bad subtractions also grow with sector. Negative division is always ÷2. Positive rate panels are +15%, +20%, or +25%; negative rate panels are −15%, −20%, or −30%.
Blue additions versus blue multipliers
Write the two outcomes in your head. At 6 soldiers, +7 produces 13 and ×2 produces 12: take +7. At 20 soldiers, +7 produces 27 and ×2 produces 40: multiply. The break-even point for +A versus ×2 is simply current count = A. If the additive panel says +10, ×2 wins above 10 and ties at 10. Against ×3, multiplication wins whenever your current count is more than half the displayed addition.
Cap pressure changes the answer. At 260 soldiers, ×2 tries to create 520 but stops at 400. A +60 gate reaches 320, so ×2 still wins. At 390, both +60 and ×2 cap at 400. If both lanes hit the cap, choose the one that leaves a better position for the next immediate hazard; neither creates a hidden reserve beyond 400.
Worked example: small squad
You have 9 soldiers. Left is +6; right is ×2. Left produces 15. Right produces 18. Take ×2 if the path to it is equally safe. If the right lane forces you into a live spike plate while the left is clear, the three extra soldiers are not worth stepping into the plate. Gate math happens inside road geometry.
Worked example: recovery choice
You have 38 living soldiers and 12 fallen. One lane is +8. The other is revive +10. The addition produces 46 and leaves 12 fallen. The revive produces 48 and leaves 2 fallen, so revive is stronger by immediate count. If you had zero fallen, that same revive panel produces no one and +8 is the only useful lane.
Red gates: know the real price
A subtraction costs exactly its printed number. Division rounds up, but that mercy is small. ÷2 takes 31 to 16, 80 to 40, and 201 to 101. A −12 looks worse than ÷2 at 20 soldiers because it leaves 8 versus 10. At 100 soldiers, −12 leaves 88 while ÷2 leaves 50. The rule is direct: at counts larger than twice the subtraction, choose −N over ÷2. At counts below twice N, calculate both instead of guessing.
Rate penalties do not create fallen soldiers, but they cut every soldier’s output. They matter most when your count and weapon are already good. A −30% rate gate turns a 1.00 rate multiplier into 0.70; a later +20% gate then multiplies that lower value, rather than restoring a flat 20 points. Avoid rate loss before bosses when you have the lane choice.
Gold gates: shoot to raise
A shootable gate is a gold +N lane with the label SHOOT TO RAISE. It begins at +1. Each point costs damage, and each next point costs more: the cost is perPoint × (1 + current value / 6). In sector 1, perPoint is 40 damage and the cap is 30. Each later sector multiplies perPoint by 1.5, while the cap increases by 15: 45 in sector 2, 60 in sector 3, and so on.
Your bullets are absorbed by the gold panel while they are improving it. That is useful when no horde is in auto-aim range and dangerous when a real threat is closing. Use the gate’s approach time. Start centered in its lane early. If runners, a retcher, a turret, or a barricade demands fire, stop farming the number and protect the squad. A raised +12 is not a win if the road takes 20 soldiers while you stare at it.
Example: a sector-one gate at +1 needs 40 × (1 + 1/6), or about 46.7 damage, for the next point. At +6, the next point costs 80 damage. The rising price means the first improvements are cheap and the final improvements are expensive. Take the easy points; do not assume you can always reach the cap.
Weapon and fire-rate gates
Weapon tiers matter more when a boss is near, the squad is thin, or you need pierce to solve a packed line. Carbine I deals 10 damage at 3.2 shots per second per soldier. Minigun VI deals 24 at 8 shots per second. Ion Rifle VII deals 46 at 5.2 shots per second and pierces three targets. A tier-up is wasted at VII; a tier-down at I has no effect. That is why a gold weapon gate can be a safe choice near the ceiling but still competes poorly with a major multiplier below it.
Positive fire rate is a force multiplier. It applies to the entire firing line and stacks with weapon rate, Overclock, and Trigger Work. Take +25% rate over a tiny soldier addition when your squad is already large and you expect a boss. Take soldiers instead when you need bodies to absorb the next road hazard or when you are too small to maintain fire volume.
Purple gamble: never confuse expected value with survival
The purple gate has a 50% chance to triple your squad and a 50% chance to halve it, rounded up. Its average numerical outcome is 1.75 times your count, so it has positive expected value. Expected value does not revive a dead run. From 12 soldiers, it yields either 36 or 6. From 60, it yields either 180 or 30. Ask one question: can the halved squad beat the next visible problem?
Take purple when the safe outcome is already bad, when a boss is distant, or when the halved count still clears the next ordinary horde. Avoid it before a boss arena, before a known trap sequence, or when you are depending on a current high count to clear a barricade. A gamble becomes reasonable after you have a medkit, a revive gate ahead, or a backup branch that protects its failure. It is still a gamble.
A fast lane-choice checklist
- Read both operators. Colour tells direction; the symbol tells magnitude.
- Calculate living count. Add, multiply, subtract, or round division up.
- Check fallen. A green revive lane is only as good as its available fallen count.
- Check the next 10 seconds. Boss, trap, elite, turret, barricade, or gold target can change the best answer.
- Steer early. A correct late lane is still a wrong gate.
Common mistakes
Taking +N because it looks safer. Compare it against ×2. Taking a multiplier at the cap. It cannot exceed 400. Calling every gold panel a weapon tier. Shootable gold gates are soldier gains that grow under fire; read the subtitle. Choosing revive with no fallen. It says no effect because it has nobody to restore. Forcing a purple gamble before a boss. A 50% collapse at the wrong time ends the run. Farming gold through a horde. The panel eats bullets until you cross it.