Magnum Ship Guide for Quasimorph

The Magnum is your persistent home in Quasimorph — a corporate vessel orbiting the war-torn solar system where clones deploy, die, and occasionally return with loot worth keeping. Magnum Scriptum’s turn-based extraction RPG treats the ship as more than a menu screen. Version 1.0 (Steam, July 31, 2026) completes the Magnum with seven upgrade departments: Navigation, Engineering, Supply, Research, Hangar, Cloning, and the new Pact department. Those tracks gate destinations, crafting depth, storage, clone recovery, and S.K.U.L.L. metamorph contracts across five storylines and nine endings.

This guide explains each department, upgrade priorities by campaign phase, how the Pact bay exchanges low-tier pacts for rarer ones, and how the Magnum connects to Quasimorph Solar System exploration and Quasimorph Factions Guide barter. Pair it with Pacts and S.K.U.L.L. Project when you start consuming metamorph cards.

Ship loop recap

Between missions you:

1. Deposit extracted loot into ship storage — only extracted goods persist; clone deaths lose on-body inventory per Getting Started with Quasimorph.
2. Barter with docked faction traders — reputation rules in Bartering on the Magnum.
3. Use the Trade Shuttle when typed barter, reputation sells, or proxy cargo beat station terminals — see Trade Shuttle Guide.
4. Craft and disassemble via department benches.
5. Upgrade departments with resources and credits.
6. Work the Pact department when you have spare low-tier pacts or rite materials.
7. Brief the next clone with class, operator, and kit from Classes Hub and Loadout Planner.

Patch 1.0.2 lets Cryochamber and Recycling stacks feed projects and Pact reforging without hauling them to the inbox tab first. Configure Cryochamber perishable filters before you hit Sort, or overflow walks right to left through other cargo tabs — Inventory Management. Travel destination tooltips now show estimated faction technology growth during the hop; a long flight can age station tech before you land.

The Magnum never moves turn-by-turn like station maps; time advances on the galactic layer while you manage the ship.

Video guide

Navigation

Navigation unlocks solar system map nodes — new stations, storyline destinations, and horror-capable targets outside Mars’s Absentia moons. Under-investing Navigation stalls entire campaigns: you cannot reach Tezctlan, RealWare, or Xiomara beats locked behind map expansion.

Prioritize Navigation early enough to reach your first deliberate non-Absentia station only when ready for Quasimorphosis in Quasimorph, not by accident. Pair unlocks with Campaign Overview so story missions appear when your kit can survive them.

Engineering

Engineering expands ship infrastructure — power for benches, repair efficiency, and structural prerequisites other departments need. Engineering is the silent enabler: players who skip it hit crafting bottlenecks even with maxed Research formulas unlocked.

Engineering upgrades also support sustaining heavier loadouts from Weapons and Armor and Resistances without drowning in repair costs after every near-miss extract. Quasimorphic augmentation slots and some Pact workflows assume Engineering has already unlocked the supporting benches.

Supply

Supply controls production throughput for consumables and ammunition components. Medkits, bandages, splints, sorbets, and ammo feed every station run; Supply determines how fast you refill after a wipe.

Horror missions in Quasimorphosis zones burn consumables faster than Mars farming. Supply upgrades reduce downtime between Quasimorphosis Survival Guide attempts. Sync Supply progression with Crafting and Consumables knowledge so you craft stabilize-all kits before deep pushes. On Unfair difficulty, production may start locked and crafting runs slower — see Difficulty Settings before you assume Supply fills gaps overnight.

Research

Research unlocks crafting recipes, advanced weapon mods, and tech needed to counter faction-tier enemies. Dilthey and RealWare stations drop inputs that matter only if Research benches can use them.

Research is mid-to-late priority after Navigation opens required stations and Supply keeps you solvent. Class Chip synergies from Builds often assume Research-tier crafted gear, not mission-found gray weapons.

Hangar

Hangar expands deployment options — additional clone slots, storage for prefab loadouts, and mission prep quality-of-life. Hangar matters when you rotate multiple kits for different Mission Types in Quasimorph: a Defense farmer, a horror assault kit, and a storyline specialist.

Use Hangar capacity to stage barter purchases safely before you risk them on station. Losing a fresh Class Chip on a dead clone hurts more when barter access was limited.

Cloning

Cloning accelerates recovery from permadeath — the core extraction RPG tension. Clones are expendable fiction but costly progress when they carry unextracted loot. Cloning upgrades shorten the loop between failed horror runs and the next attempt.

Cloning does not replace skill. It replaces calendar time between learning Room Clearing Tactics under eccolapse pressure.

Pact department (1.0)

The Pact department is the Magnum’s seventh track and the last core bay Magnum Scriptum finished for launch. It lets you work the S.K.U.L.L. collection between missions: exchange low-tier pacts for higher-tier pacts, chase outcomes that do not drop from Barons, and feed rite materials into metamorph progression alongside Tezctlan and storyline rewards.

Practical rules:

• Treat Pact upgrades as a mid-to-late investment after Navigation and Supply stabilize your campaign.
• Spend junk pacts here instead of hoarding every card forever — 1.0 ships 142 pacts, with roughly seventy tied to rites.
• Read Quasimorphosis costs on the resulting card before consuming it; metamorph power often raises horror pressure per Pacts and S.K.U.L.L. Project.
• Do not open the Pact bay mid-Rapture fantasy — consume on the Magnum, then deploy with an updated meter budget.

If you are hunting Baron drops, keep How to Beat Baron in Quasimorph and extract thresholds separate from department grinding.

Upgrade priority by phase

Early campaign (Mars triangle)

• Navigation to first optional stations, not deep horror.
• Supply for baseline medkits.
• Light Engineering for bench access.

Mid campaign (faction storylines)

• Navigation for storyline nodes.
• Research for mixed-damage kits.
• Hangar for role-specific loadouts.
• Light Pact department investment once you bank spare low-tier cards.

Late campaign (horror and endings)

• Research max for resist counters.
• Supply surge for Rapture attempts.
• Cloning to iterate nine-ending routes.
• Pact exchanges for build-defining metamorph contracts before finale deploys.

Adjust if your chosen 1.0 arc — Civil Resistance, Tezctlan, Xiomara, AnCom, or RealWare — demands specific stations early.

Magnum and faction barter

Docked traders represent Quasimorph Factions Guide powers: AnCom smugglers, Tianmìng bulk sellers, RealWare industrial goods, and others. Ship upgrades do not replace reputation; they multiply what reputation buys. Sub-zero standing still removes barter points regardless of Hangar size. The Trade Shuttle adds a second economy lane when terminals cannot fill a typed request.

Controls and quality of life

Ship management uses the same PC interface as missions. Keyboard Controls and optional Steam Deck layouts affect inventory sorting speed between deployments. Slow ship UI costs real time while Quasimorphosis tutorials wait. Post-launch Q4 Bestiary and QoL work may further polish Magnum flows — track Post-Launch Roadmap.

Magnum mistakes to avoid

• Unlocking horror stations before Supply can refill meds — eccolapse runs become unrepeatable.
• Maxing Hangar before Research — pretty storage for kits that cannot kill outer robots.
• Ignoring barter reputation — ship benches cannot craft Class Chips locked behind faction traders.
• Deploying without Loadout Planner checks — overweight clones die in horror retraces.
• Burning rare pacts without reading Quasimorphosis cost — the Pact department is not a junk sink for every metamorph card.

The Magnum is Quasimorph’s second half of every mission. Upgrade all seven departments with the same discipline you use to clear rooms and the solar system opens instead of stonewalling your story.