In CRYMELIGHT the only thing that survives death is what you built out of sin. Cards are gone, the hand is gone, time rewinds to before you left. Weapons and accessories carry over, so the order you upgrade them in is the same as the order of what is left standing after a loss.
From sin to power
Falling enemies leave Alice carrying their sin. Back at the base you confess it in the confessional and sublimate it, and the sublimated sin becomes power. That power goes into weapons and accessories, and the growth does not rewind.
The rule that follows from this: spend sin before you spend cards. Cards may not survive the next run. Sin does. When you are unsure where to put something, put it into sin.
What to raise, in order
| Order | Stat | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Revives | A death wipes the whole hand. One revive is one hand back |
| 2 | Max HP | The floor that keeps a bad hit from ending the run |
| 3 | Defence | The same hit leaves more HP behind |
| 4 | Evade count | More dodges, though some attacks still land |
| 5 | Attack | Only pays once a hand and its rank are in place |
Attack sits last because damage in this game rides on the poker hand. With nothing formed, there is nothing for attack to multiply. Revives and max HP pay out in every run, including the ones where the cards never come.
Cut the runs you lose before you speed up the runs you win.
Swap accessories to grow more than one
Clearing a stage levels up whatever accessory you are wearing. Wear the one you want to grow, and when it ranks up, switch to the next. One run then feeds several accessories instead of one.
Even an accessory whose effect does not suit you is worth wearing, because the rank stays with the item. Taking it off every time the effect is wrong leaves everything at rank one.
When the game feels too hard
Enemies feel armoured, damage feels short. The cause is usually the hand, not the attack stat: nothing is formed, or the five cards are not pointed at the same hand. Check what your current five can build in the poker hands guide before you pour more sin into attack.
More attack against an unformed hand just means you meet the same wall slightly faster.
What to unlock before you upgrade
The clock room at the base is worth as much as the confessional. It adds healing tiles, special-attack rewards and a shop, and those change whether a run survives at all. The priority order is in the clock room guide.