Core Combination Planner and Current Core Sample

The interactive panel above this article searches the small current Core sample and checks two selected inputs against recorded combination relationships. It has one rule that matters more than its size:

Current sample at a glance

These are readable cards from the current media set. The sample is not a complete Core catalogue, and the numbers can change during Early Access.

The one recorded pair

Selecting Toxic Fog and Drone resolves to Toxic-Drone Core. The current card displays both tags and the resulting effect, so the tool can make that relationship explicit.

Selecting Retaliation, EMP, or another pair returns an unknown state. Do not interpret that response as a negative recipe. It is a prompt to check the current collection or choice screen.

How to evaluate a Core beyond its name

Read five parts:

1. Trigger: damage taken, Toxic Fog damage, a Drone action, time, or another event.
2. Payload: damage, defense, disable, summon, or utility.
3. Target: player, nearby attacker, elite, boss, or another defined group.
4. Window: duration, range, cooldown, stack limit, and uptime.
5. Exception: immunity or a condition that prevents the effect.

Drone EMP is a good example. “Disable elite or boss abilities” sounds broad, but the same readable card explicitly says Sector Overlords are immune. The exception is part of the build decision, not a footnote.

Planner workflow while playing

1. Search the table for the Core or tag visible in your current choice.
2. Compare the effect with your weapon behavior and the next encounter.
3. Select two input tags only when the current card or collection provides a reason to test them.
4. If the tool returns unknown, inspect the current in-game text instead of rerolling around an assumed recipe.
5. Recheck the effect after an update changes duration, immunity, cooldown, or tag vocabulary.

Build questions for the three samples

Retaliation Core

• Will you be close enough for the 4 m retaliation?
• Does the one-stack guard align with the type of incoming damage?
• Are you using the defensive window deliberately or merely hoping it triggers?

Drone EMP

• Is the encounter an elite or boss whose abilities can be disabled?
• Can your Drone deliver the effect often enough for the 15-second cooldown to matter?
• Is the target a Sector Overlord, where the stated immunity removes the control payoff?

Toxic-Drone Core

• Can your build apply Toxic Fog reliably?
• Does a temporary Drone add damage or utility during the 20-second window?
• Are repeated triggers likely to align with the 30-second cooldown?

Scope and next steps

The planner intentionally excludes unreadable icons, inferred names, and pre-Early-Access combination tables. Expand it only when a current card exposes both inputs and the result clearly.

Continue with Weapon Cores for terminology and selection, Weapons and Firing Modes for the weapon side of the build, or Expeditions and Sectors for the encounter context.