Start a run
Escalation unlocks at Therapy Level 15 and supports one to four players. Use the Sleep Room terminal to choose an Escalation program. Your ordinary upgraded loadout is not simply carried in as a complete starting build.
Pick from the initial random selections, including a Rig and first-tier Prescriptions. Further selections can offer Rig upgrades, Prescriptions, AMPs and items. Commit to a tool you can use across different tasks, rather than assuming the next Trial will match your preferred map.
Weekly or Endless?
Weekly Escalation gives players the same sequence of Trials and Variators, while loadout choices remain random. Its theme and leaderboard reset every Tuesday at 10:00 AM ET. The first Season 7 Hardcore theme is not a permanent description of every future weekly run.
Endless Escalation uses randomized Trials and Variators. It is the option for an ongoing run rather than a weekly theme that expires at the reset.
Build between Trials
- Finish the main assignment and escape.
- Choose the next offered upgrade or item. Completing the secondary objective grants an additional selection.
- Review the next Trial and your loadout before entering. Variators can disable a tool you were relying on.
- Continue, or choose the save-and-quit option after the successful Trial.
Difficulty rises through the run. Main Trials can appear at every tenth stage, rather than every stage being an MK-Challenge. Once available upgrades are exhausted, choices move to supplies and boosters.
You retain health, night-vision battery and ordinary inventory items when continuing, but do not assume booster stat increases or special objective items carry between stages. Use the actual loadout and inventory display when preparing the next Trial.
Saves belong to the leader
Only the group leader carries that run’s save. Other group members cannot take it away and continue independently. Progress saves after a successfully completed Trial; a failed Trial is not a checkpoint.
Use Save & Quit after completion for a planned stop. Starting another run can replace saved progress, so check what you are resuming before committing.
After an unexpected disconnect, the documented return window is five minutes. September 8 added save restoration for disconnects and crashes. This corrects older advice that every such interruption necessarily destroys the run, but it is not a guarantee that every possible network failure can be recovered. Check Return to Trial and the available save before abandoning progress.
A total party defeat ends the run. Solo and co-op revival rules differ; read the active Variators before assuming a remaining revive will protect you.
Joining and leaderboard eligibility
Join-in-Progress Group Finder matches into stages 1–5. A group leader who is still in the lobby can resume a saved run beyond that range.
Leaderboard placement uses the highest Trial reached, with total run time as the tiebreaker. You must have been present at the start of the run. Players joining later are not eligible; starting players who miss more than two Trials before returning lose eligibility too. A resumed group and a leaderboard-eligible player are not the same thing.
Rewards and late-stage rules
XP and stamps depend on the Trial, difficulty, grade, performance and streak. Secondary objectives can also contribute. Check the result screen rather than expecting one fixed payout at every stage.
Read late-stage Variators directly. September 8 added Permanent Damage and No Revive to Ultra II, then September 11 removed those two Ultra II Variators. That correction does not erase a separately themed run’s own rules. Older tables that still list the removed Ultra II combination should not overrule the later official hotfix.