Guide · Difficulty
Covenant Ranks 1–10, Explained
Covenant is Monster Train 2's stacking difficulty system: each rank adds one permanent modifier on top of all the ranks below it. The exact effects below come straight from the game files.
Every Covenant modifier
| Rank | Modifier (exact game text) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Enemies are stronger. Add additional random cards to your starting deck. |
| 2 | Battles have additional enemies. |
| 3 | Merchant reroll costs are 50% higher and purge costs scale 50% faster. |
| 4 | Bosses have increased Attack and Health. Non-Flying Bosses have an additional mechanic. |
| 5 | Add 2 Vengeful Shards to the starting deck. |
| 6 | One card per draft also adds a Calcified Ember. |
| 7 | There is no longer an empty wave before bosses. |
| 8 | Enemies are stronger. |
| 9 | Your Pyre takes 30% damage at the start of the run. |
| 10 | Elite Chosen enemies appear during Flying Boss battles. |
Ranks stack: at Covenant 10 you are playing with all ten modifiers at once. The difficulty unlocks one rank at a time per clan as you win.
The ranks that actually change your game
Covenant 1 adds junk to your starting deck and buffs enemies — from here on, deck thinning matters. Prioritize purges at merchants and don't draft cards you won't play.
Covenant 5 seeds two Vengeful Shards into your starting deck. Each one damages your Pyre while it sits in hand, so purge them early or route around merchant floors at your peril.
Covenant 6 attaches a Calcified Ember to one card per draft. Check drafts carefully: sometimes the right play is skipping a good card to avoid the blight tax.
Covenant 7 removes the empty wave before bosses — your engine has to be online a turn earlier than you're used to. Cheap units and Summon effects gain value.
Covenant 9 burns 30% of your Pyre's health at the start of the run. Healing the Pyre and Pyre Heart choice both matter far more from here up.
Covenant 10 adds Elite Chosen enemies to Flying Boss fights — the final wall. Bring answers for large single targets: stacked Frostbite, big Multistrike units, or burst spells.
Climbing efficiently
- Climb with a strong pairing first — the tier list favors Underlegion and Melting Remnant for consistent ladders.
- Build around a keyword engine, not "good cards": check a card's keyword page to see every payoff before committing.
- From Covenant 3 up, merchant costs rise — plan purges before upgrades, and let the deck builder sanity-check your curve between runs.