Core FragmentsWeapon · Combination · Troop Cores
Core Fragments are the roguelite soul of Pax Autocratica: officials promise "every expedition becomes an ever-changing war machine built around you, your squad, and the chaos you unleash together."
Acquisition & Selection
Core Fragments are collected during expeditions — combat rewards and exploration nodes both grant them. Mechanics confirmed from the official gameplay UI:
- Pick 1 of 3 — earning a core opens a "CHOOSE A CORE FRAGMENT" screen offering three cards to pick from
- Redraw — a Redraw button at the bottom of the screen refreshes the candidates for a limited number of uses
- Skip Reward — lets you pass on the choice entirely (meaningful under certain build strategies)
- Active for the run — core buffs keep stacking for the current expedition and vanish when it ends; the next run builds from zero
- Collection codex — a "Core Fragment Collection" screen records the core types you have unlocked (gameplay shows 12/12 collection progress)
Core Types
Officials confirm three major core types:
| Type | Role |
|---|---|
| Weapon Cores | "Reshape how your guns feel and perform" — change a weapon's firing behavior and form |
| Combination Cores | "Create synergy between core combinations" — linked buffs built around archetypes |
| Troop cores (no separate official name published) | Empower your troops, or turn them into "sacrificial shields" |
Buff directions observed by hands-on press include fast reloads, direct damage boosts, missiles, energy bolts, explosions and homing attacks — stacked together they can turn an ordinary weapon into "a screen-sweeping projectile storm."
Confirmed Core Examples
The following cores come directly from official gameplay footage (defer to in-game text; values may change between versions):
| Core | Tags / Archetype | Effect (compiled from UI text) |
|---|---|---|
| Retaliation Core | Retaliation | Periodically gain Retaliation stacks (capped); when you take damage, consume stacks to reduce it |
| Drone EMP | Drone | Equips drones with EMP bombs: deals damage and briefly paralyzes the shields of elite and boss enemies |
| Toxic Drone Core | ☣ Toxic Fog + ✚ Drone | When Toxic Fog damages enemies, summons a temporary drone (inherits part of your drone stats; has a cooldown) |
Note the dual tags [☣ Toxic Fog] [✚ Drone] printed on the Toxic Drone Core card — this is exactly the synergy clue behind "Combination Cores": cores carry archetype tags, and stacking picks around the same tag triggers stronger combos. The collection screen likewise shows that cores have a Stack Count (stack cap) attribute.
Build Strategy
- Commit to archetype tags — prioritize fragments sharing tags with the cores you already hold (Drone, Toxic, etc.) so Combination Core synergies come online
- Match Weapon Cores to your main gun first — guide consensus is that first priority goes to the Weapon Core "that matches the gun you are currently running"
- Use Redraw wisely — when every candidate is off-archetype, redrawing beats taking a bad pick
- Be greedy in the run, reset between runs — cores only last for the current run, so do not save for "later"; turn yourself into the storm this run
Officials have not published the total core count or a complete codex (the pre-existing wikis likewise note "core count not announced"). This page records only core examples that have appeared in official gameplay footage; more cores will be added as Early Access continues.