Explorer rank
Completing contracts raises your explorer rank, and rank is the spine everything else hangs on. The cap is 30 — the Tempered by Madness achievement marks it, with waypoints at 10 (Proven in the Field) and 20 (Scarred but Standing). Higher-tier contracts pay more and ask more; the achievement ladder (Basic → Mid → Advanced → Legendary) is the difficulty curve in miniature. The cap is worth reaching for more than the achievement: the rank-30 reward ring trims isolation-driven sanity buildup by about 20% (community-measured in the demo).
The armory: rank locks
Shop weapons carry rank locks, and the pattern is cleaner than it first looks. Rank 1 opens the matchlock family (arquebus, pistol), the polehammer, and the Aged rungs of the side sword, halberd and crossbow. Rank 2 is where the finished melee arrives — Conquistador Side Sword, Dark Tizona, Halberd — plus the Crossbow and Recurve Bow. Rank 3 is the rain-proof tier: Flintlock Musket, Flintlock Pistol, Latchet Crossbow and the Swivel-Breech. The quiet detail worth knowing is that a great deal of the armory has no rank lock at all — the Longbow, the Machete, the Francesca Axe and most Aged pieces — so a rank-1 explorer is nowhere near as limited as the shop makes it feel. The launch build added the Weapon Upgrade Anvil — a station on the Tempestad where you spend tokens to improve or upgrade the weapons contracts issue you, so token rewards finally matter beyond a single run. Still on the roadmap and confirmed by ACE Team: a block & counterattack system for certain weapons (in development), and melee durability that scales with rank. See the patch notes for the full launch changelog.
The roster: rescue to recruit
New playable explorers join by rescue: complete rescue-type contracts or carry found survivors home and they become selectable. Filling the roster earns Seven Willing Souls. It's progression you can see standing on the deck — the Tempestad gets more crowded as you get better at the job.
The reliquary: saints and cosmetics
Patch 1.01 moved saints out of the woodshop — you now equip a sacred figure at the ox wagon before an expedition, for a smaller cost — all nine earns Nine Guardiansand a full spread of blessings to pick from. Weapon and trinket cosmetics unlock through play, and the Deluxe Edition's packs add two more playable explorers plus Cthulhu-engraved gear skins on top — paid shortcuts to nothing, which is the right kind of deluxe.
Where to next
What rank 30 and the collection sets actually cost in hours.
The full list, and which ones gate on rank.
Where rank comes from.
What each rank unlocks in the shop.
The collection track that runs alongside rank.
Rescues grow the roster as you climb.
Progression questions
What is the max rank in The Mound?
Rank 30 — the Tempered by Madness achievement marks the cap, with waypoints at rank 10 and 20. Ranks come from completing contracts.
How do weapon unlocks work?
Shop weapons carry rank locks: matchlocks, the polehammer and the conquistador side sword at rank 1; the crossbow and recurve bow at rank 2; the flintlock pistol, flintlock musket and latchet crossbow at rank 3. On top, the launch update added the Weapon Upgrade Anvil to spend tokens upgrading contract weapons.
How do you unlock new characters?
Rescue survivors — rescue contracts or survivors found mid-run join your playable roster once brought home. Unlocking the full roster earns the Seven Willing Souls achievement.
Is there gear score or loot rarity?
No — progression is rank locks, coin and unlocks, not randomized loot. Your power comes from what you can buy, what you've learned, and who you've rescued.
What's the endgame in The Mound?
Four pillars: the rank climb to 30, Legendary-tier contracts, the Story line's final descent into the Mound itself, and the collection hunt (all 9 saints, 13 logbooks, the creature codex). ACE Team has also confirmed post-launch systems — token weapon upgrades and blocking — so the endgame is built to keep growing.