Into the Breach: Complete Strategy Guide

Everything you need to win runs in Into the Breach: how the grid, Grid Power, and telegraphed attacks work, how to think through a turn, the squads (including the Advanced Edition five), pilots, the shop, and a plan for unlocking every squad and hitting Hard and Unfair.

Researched September 2026 — current as of version 1.2.88 (January 23, 2023), including the free Advanced Edition content from July 2022. Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Quick Start

1. Your real health bar is Grid Power, not your mechs. Civilian buildings power the grid. Every building you lose drains Grid Power; hit zero and the timeline is lost. A damaged mech is fine; a destroyed building is a permanent cost.
2. Every enemy attack is telegraphed. Before you move, you can see exactly where each Vek will strike and in what order. You are solving a puzzle, not guessing.
3. You rarely need to kill everything. Pushing a Vek one tile so its attack hits empty ground or another Vek is often better than damaging it.
4. Block spawns. Standing on a tile where a Vek is about to emerge stops it from spawning (you take a point of damage). This is one of the most important habits in the game.
5. Read the attack order. Vek attack in a numbered order; killing or moving one can change what the next one hits.
6. Use Undo Move. You can undo a mech's movement as long as it has not attacked yet (attacks cannot be undone). Use it to test positions.
7. Grab Time Pods and bonus objectives. Pods contain Power Cores, weapons, or pilots. Bonus objectives award Reputation (spend it in the shop) or Grid Power.
8. Start with the Rift Walkers on Easy or Normal. Learn the fundamentals with Combat Mech, Cannon Mech, and Artillery Mech before unlocking the rest.

The Rules That Matter

Grid Power and Grid Defense

• Grid Power is the bar at the top-left. It drops when buildings take damage. Lose it all and you lose the run.
• Grid Defense is a percentage chance that a building resists damage entirely. It rises with some rewards and Power Grid upgrades. Treat it as a bonus, never a plan.
• You can restore Grid Power through mission rewards, perfect island rewards, and the shop. Earning Power when the grid is already full "overpowers" it, which raises the cap (the Rusting Hulks' "Overpowered" achievement needs this twice).

The Turn Order

Each turn goes roughly:

1. Vek already on the board reveal their queued attacks.
2. Emerging Vek show where they will spawn.
3. You move and act with each mech (move then attack, in any order across mechs).
4. Environmental effects happen.
5. Vek attack in the displayed order.
6. New Vek emerge from the ground.

Hover over any enemy to see its attack, and use the attack-order display to confirm who fires first.

Push, Block, and Redirect

The core tricks you will use every turn:

"Unwitting Allies" (Steel Judoka) rewards four enemies dying from enemy fire in one battle, which is exactly this redirect style.

Terrain and Tile Effects

• Water: non-flying ground Vek drown; mechs survive but are hampered while submerged, so do not park them there.
• Chasms: non-flying units fall and die.
• Mountains: block movement and projectiles; take two hits to destroy.
• Forests: catch fire when damaged.
• Fire: units standing in fire burn for 1 damage per turn.
• Smoke: units in smoke cannot attack (and cannot repair).
• ACID: doubles damage taken by the affected unit.
• Ice: cracks when hit and then breaks into water.
• Cracked tiles (Advanced Edition): certain weapons crack the ground; a cracked tile that takes more damage becomes a chasm.

Campaign Structure

• Four Corporate Islands: Archive, R.S.T., Pinnacle, and Detritus, each with its own terrain themes and environmental hazards.
• You can secure 2, 3, or 4 islands before the final assault on the Vek hive. More islands means stronger mechs but a harder finale.
• Each island offers several missions per region choice; each mission lists its rewards (Grid Power, Reputation, or Power Cores).
• Island bosses: each island ends with a harder mission.
• Perfect Island: complete every objective on an island for a bonus reward. "Perfect Island", "Perfect Strategy" (10 of them), "Good Samaritan", and "There is No Try" track this.
• The final battle is a two-phase mission. You can take any pilots and mechs you have built up.

Squads

The original game has eight themed squads plus a hidden Secret Squad, with Random and Custom options; the Advanced Edition added five more. Signature weapons below are taken from each squad's achievements.

Unlocking squads: achievements award coins you spend to unlock new squads. Each squad has three squad-specific achievements, so playing a squad well also funds the next one. "Complete Victory" requires winning with all 10 primary squads.

Custom and Random squads: once unlocked, you can build a Custom squad from any mechs you own, or roll a Random one. Several achievements ("Mech Specialist", "Class Specialist", "Flight Specialist", "Change the Odds", "Loot Boxes!", "Lucky Start") need these.

Starter advice per squad

• Rift Walkers: push with Titan Fist, line up Cannon shots to push along a row, and use Artillery to push the tiles around the target. Learn water drowning early ("Watery Grave").
• Zenith Guard: shields on buildings are extremely strong; lasers pierce lines of enemies but also hit buildings in the line.
• Steel Judoka: focus on redirecting Vek so they hit each other. Very little raw damage.
• Frozen Titans: freezing a Vek cancels its attack; freezing a building protects it. Be careful not to freeze your own mechs in a bad spot.
• Hazardous Mechs: high damage but mechs hurt themselves; plan healing.
• Flame Behemoths: set Vek on fire and let them burn; the teleporter swaps positions for creative repositioning.

Pilots

Pilots gain XP from kills and level up, unlocking skills. When a timeline is lost (or won), one pilot can be sent into the next timeline, keeping their level.

A few well-known pilot abilities:

The Advanced Edition added four new pilots and tripled the number of random skills pilots can roll on promotion. Check pilot tooltips in-game; skill rolls are random.

Pilot tips:

• Pilots are found in Time Pods and as mission rewards.
• A mech without a pilot (an AI unit) cannot level up; get real pilots into all three mechs early.
• "I'm getting too old for this..." requires the same pilot to fight the final battle three times, so keep carrying your favourite forward.

Reputation, Shop, and Power Cores

• Reputation comes from bonus objectives and island completion. Spend it in the shop after each island.
• Shop priorities:
  1. Grid Power if you are low.
  2. Power Cores (they upgrade weapons or add mech stats like health and movement).
  3. Weapons that fix a gap in your squad (for example, a push weapon for a damage-heavy squad).
• Advanced Edition change: most weapons now use less reactor power to equip, so you can use new gear immediately; to compensate, weapon prices in the shop rose by 1 Reputation and shop options are limited on the first two islands.
• Power Cores priority: usually mech movement or key weapon upgrades first, health second. Upgrades that add pushes or extra damage to your main damage dealer are huge.

Difficulty

You can toggle the new Advanced Edition content off (except balance changes) if you want the base-game experience.

How to Think Through a Turn

1. Scan threats. Which attacks hit buildings? Which hit mechs? Which hit nothing?
2. Prioritise building threats. Mechs can take hits; buildings cannot afford to.
3. Check spawns. Can you block one without leaving a building exposed?
4. Look for multi-kills. Can one push send a Vek into water, a chasm, or another Vek's line of fire?
5. Check the attack order. Moving the first attacker can change who the second attacker hits.
6. Test with Undo Move before committing an attack.
7. Leave mechs in useful spots for next turn, not just safe ones.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Killing instead of protecting. Damage is secondary; a zero-damage push that saves a building is a great turn.
• Hitting your own buildings with lasers, artillery splash, or pushes into structures. Check the preview.
• Forgetting emerging Vek. Unblocked spawns stack up and overwhelm you on later turns.
• Standing in fire or ACID without a reason.
• Ignoring objectives such as protecting specific units or buildings; they are often worth more than kills.
• Not buying Grid Power when low. Losing a run to one missing bar is common.
• Taking all four islands on your first runs. Two or three islands make the finale easier.

Advanced Tips

• Body-block with durable mechs. A mech standing in a Vek's attack line protects a building behind it.
• Use enemy attacks as your damage. Many high-level turns involve zero mech damage and multiple Vek kills via redirected attacks.
• Save a mech's action for last to handle the Vek that emerge or shift after your other moves.
• Psions buff all Vek (for example, armour, regeneration, or explosive deaths). Kill them early.
• Plan for Alpha Vek: they hit much harder. Redirect or block them before anything else.
• Chronophobia and similar challenge achievements are easier on Easy with a strong squad. Many achievements can be done on any difficulty.
• Keep one pilot promoted and carry them forward between timelines to snowball future runs.

FAQ

Is the Advanced Edition free? Yes. It released July 19, 2022 as a free update on all platforms, with five new squads, new enemies and bosses, new pilots, around 39 new weapons and equipment, and Unfair mode.

How do I unlock new squads? Earn achievements to get coins, then spend them on squads in the squad selection screen.

What happens when I lose? The timeline is lost. You can send one pilot into a new timeline, keeping their level and abilities.

How long is a run? A 2-island run is short enough for one sitting; a full 4-island run takes considerably longer. Plan by the number of islands you choose to secure.

Does it support controllers? Yes, full controller support has been in since November 2018.

Can I turn off Advanced Edition content? Yes, the new content (except balance changes) can be toggled off.

Sources

• Steam store page: Into the Breach
• Steam news: Advanced Edition, 1.2.82, 1.2.88 patch notes
• Steam global achievements list (squad achievements and weapon names)
• Wikipedia: Into the Breach