Upgrades
There are many upgrades avaliable to you in MotherLoad, all of which help you in the game. It would be hard, if not impossible, to complete the game without them.
Shown on this page are two types of upgrades; ones you can buy from the Upgrade Vendor and ones thats are free from doing certain things in the game.
The upgrades that can be bought are:
-Drills
-Hulls
-Engines
-Fuel Tanks
-Radiators
-Cargo Bays
-Blueprints
-Oil Angel
-Guardian Angel
Drills
Drills speed up the digging process, the better the drill you have, the faster you will dig through the soil. Also, as you go deeper the soil gets harder to drill, and will slow you down greatly without a good drill.
| Name | Image | Cost ($) | Speed (Ft/s) |
| Silvide Drill |  | 750 | 28 |
| Goldium Drill |  | 2 000 | 40 |
| Emerald Drill |  | 5 000 | 50 |
| Ruby Drill |  | 20 000 | 70 |
| Diamond Drill |  | 100 000 | 95 |
| Amazonite Drill |  | 500 000 | 120 |
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Hulls
Hulls provide a defence for your machine. Whenever you crash, or when gas explodes near you it damages your hull. When your hull reaches 0 HitPoints (HP) its game over.
Hulls can be repaired using Hull Repair Nanobots or by visiting the Repair Vendor.
| Name | Image | Cost ($) | HP |
| Ironium Hull |  | 750 | 17 |
| Bronzium Hull |  | 2 000 | 30 |
| Steel Hull |  | 5 000 | 50 |
| Platinium Hull |  | 20 000 | 80 |
| Einsteinium Hull |  | 100 000 | 120 |
| Energy-Shielded Hull |  | 500 000 | 180 |
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Engines
A large engine enables your machine to carry more weight, such as more minerals.
In this instance, HP stands for Horsepower.
| Name | Image | Cost ($) | Power (HP) |
| V4 1600 CC |  | 750 | 160 |
| V4 2.0 Ltr Turbo |  | 2 000 | 170 |
| V6 3.8 Ltr |  | 5 000 | 180 |
| V8 SuperCharged 5.0 Ltr |  | 20 000 | 190 |
| V12 6.0 Ltr |  | 100 000 | 200 |
| V16 Jag Engine |  | 500 000 | 210 |
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Fuel Tanks
Fuel tanks are perhaps the most important upgrade to buy. The better your fuel tank, the further you'll be able to go without coming back to the surface.
| Name | Image | Cost ($) | Capacity (Ltrs) |
| Medium |  | 750 | 15 |
| Huge |  | 2 000 | 25 |
| Gigantic |  | 5 000 | 40 |
| Titanic |  | 100 000 | 60 |
| Leviathen |  | 100 000 | 100 |
| Liquid Compression |  | 500 000 | 150 |
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Radiators
Radiators aren't terribly important until get down to about -3000 where lava pockets and hidden gas pockets start to appear. Radiators will minimise the damage taken to your hull. Their effectiveness is measured in percent (%), the higher the percentage the less damage done to your hull when you hit a gas pocket.
For example, the dual fans are 10% effective. This means that they will dissipate 10% of the heat, meaing 10% less damage to your hull.
| Name | Image | Cost ($) | Effectiveness (%) |
| Dual Fans |  | 2 000 | 10 |
| Single Turbine |  | 5 000 | 25 |
| Dual Turbines |  | 20 000 | 40 |
| Puron Cooling |  | 100 000 | 60 |
| Tri-Turbine Freon Array |  | 500 000 | 80 |
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Cargo Bays
The cargo bay is where your minerals go. The larger the cargo bay, the more minerals you can store meaning less visits to the surface.
Cargo bays are measured in Cubic Feet (Ft3)
| Name | Image | Cost ($) | Capacity (Ft3) |
| Medium |  | 750 | 15 |
| Huge |  | 2 000 | 25 |
| Gigantic |  | 5 000 | 40 |
| Titanic |  | 100 000 | 70 |
| Leviathan |  | 100 000 | 120 |
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Blueprints
Blueprints are a rare find in the game; if you are lucky enough to find one you will be rewarded handsomely.
These blueprints are found below -4000ft, except the multi-drill which is gained for completing all 12 challenges. Only one blueprint is available per 'map' - to find another one you have to save and reload. When you beat a level you also lose any blueprints you have gained and have to find them again to get your upgrades back.
The transmissions regarding the fuel integrator, hyper-driver and portable wormhole were very kindly provided by TwinA - thanks!
Fuel Integrator
Larger than a Liquid Compression Tank and collects fuel from gas pockets. Be warned - it doesn't stop the damage from these gas pockets!
Hyper-Drive
Faster than a V16 Jag Engine and allows unlimited teleportation to the surface.
Portable Wormhole
Larger than a Leviathan Bay - gives you virutally unlimited storage capacity.
Multi-Drill
Faster than an Amazonite Drill and can drill through rocks.
Regenerative Hull
Stronger than Energy-Shielded Hull and regenerates lost health slowly over time.
Thanks to Maui Kürner for the provision of this image!
Magma Converter
Stronger than Tri-Turbine Freon Array - Money is also earned when you drill into lava pockets. Be warned - it doesn't stop the damage from these lava pockets!
Thanks to Maui Kürner for the provision of this image!
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Oil Angel
Upon reaching a depth of -500Ft, you can go back upto the surface and located in the top right hand corner is a new bot (picture left).
When you drive into this bot, you will get the transmission shown below, and will get an "Oil Angel" (pictured right) to accompany you, along with $1000.
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Guardian Angel
By flying up to +10 000Ft. you get a transmission from God (shown below) with a Guardian Angel (pictured right) and $3000.
The guardian angel halves all damage done to your hull.
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