How Glyph fusion works
A Fusion combines two base Glyphs into one named weapon. In a played run, the Draft can offer a new Glyph fused with an unfused Glyph already on your board.
Choose a Fuse offer
- Draft a base Glyph onto your board.
- When a later Draft offers a compatible new Glyph, look for a FUSE card that names both parents and the result.
- Read its carrier, partner, and effect details, then choose the FUSE card to replace the Glyph on your board with the Fusion.
The Fusion uses that existing slot and keeps its current run level. The offered Glyph joins it directly, so you do not need a second empty slot for the pair. A played Draft offers this combination of a new Glyph and an existing Glyph. It does not merge two Glyphs you have already placed.
A fused Glyph cannot fuse again. When the run ends, the weapon leaves the board with the rest of the run build. Its Codex discovery and banked mastery remain.
Which pairs are compatible
The 32 base Glyphs have 451 compatible pairs. The parents must be different Glyphs, and at least one must support the carrier role. Compatibility is separate from unlocking the Glyphs and meeting the pair’s mastery requirement.
These ten Glyphs can be partners but cannot carry a Fusion: Halo, Bloom, Coil, Resonator, Bulwark, Discharge, Reactor, Filament, Sentry, and Corona. Any pair made only from that list is incompatible. For example, Halo and Bloom cannot fuse.
Each of the other 22 base Glyphs can fuse with any different base Glyph. Ember can fuse with Halo. Tendril can fuse with Bloom. Two copies of the same Glyph cannot form a Fusion, and crafted Glyphs cannot fuse.
The game chooses the carrier and partner. Picking the pair in a different order does not create a second recipe.
Named fusion examples
| Parents | Fusion | What combines |
|---|---|---|
| Ember + Tendril | Stormember | Tendril carries the chain pattern. Ember adds projectiles. |
| Ember + Halo | Emberorbit | Ember carries the bolts. Halo adds orbiting nodes. |
| Thorn + Mortar | Spinefall | Thorn carries the piercing shot. Mortar adds shells and burn. |
Check the pair’s entry in Codex → Fusions for its tier and requirements. A compatible recipe may still be locked for your account. The Draft offers Fusions from the Glyphs available in that run.
What the Fusion keeps
The carrier provides the main firing pattern. When the parents have different firing patterns, the partner adds a secondary attack. The result also combines properties such as chains, pierce, range, and effects.
Burn and Exposed effects from the parents add together. Slow effects combine as multipliers. These Glyph effects contribute to the Core’s hits while the Fusion is on the board.
Both parents still count toward Glyph sets. A Fusion takes one slot, but keeps both base-Glyph identities for set counting. A set activates at three matching identities, so fusing a member does not remove its contribution.
The Fusion receives 60% of each parent’s mastery bonus. It also earns its own Fusion mastery, which adds damage. The in-run level on the slot and the permanent mastery recorded in the Codex are separate values.
Mastery requirements
Common Fusions need no parent mastery. Each higher power tier needs another mastery level on both parents, up to Mastery 4 for Apex. Apex also requires Convergence 12.
Use a parent Glyph in banked runs to earn mastery XP, or buy Glyph XP with Data in the Codex. Run level-ups improve the weapon for the current run and do not clear permanent mastery requirements.
At first, a Draft can show one Fusion option. Total account mastery opens more options at 20, 45, 80, 115, and 150 mastery levels. These thresholds raise the maximum number of Fusion options a Draft can show, up to six. A Draft still needs eligible new Glyphs and compatible unfused Glyphs on your board.
Aegis Trials uses its daily kit and allowed Fusion pairs. Your account’s unlocks and upgrades apply in Ascendant Ladder. The Ranked guide explains those two rulesets.
Fusion and crafting
Fusion happens inside a run and combines two base Glyphs. Crafting lets you forge a Glyph between runs from a chassis, shot, and parts, then temper and finalize it for use in Drafts.
Crafting opens once all four requirements are met:
- Clear Strain 1.
- Unlock five Cores.
- Unlock 20 base Glyphs, including starters.
- Bank runs that field ten different Fusions.
A finalized crafted Glyph can appear in a Draft when a Glyph slot is free. Crafted Glyphs cannot fuse. If you bind a base Glyph or Fusion as a crafted Glyph’s Source, that is a separate crafting step with its own mastery requirement.