The Signal
The Signal has a readout. Once the Archive is decoded again after an Ascension, the strip under the top bar shows its meter, four frequency pips and the live multiplier. Hover it for what tunes each one.
Four frequencies, each ×1.5 on Signal decode: finish the Echoes Below charter, finish The Hollow Vigil charter, recover the Signal Lamp, embrace a Void Resonance once.
Resonance: hold one run at Depth 8 or deeper and the Signal decodes up to ×3 faster, full at 90 minutes. A Dive resets it.
Challenges
Three tiers per challenge: bank 1, 25 or 500 pearls in one dive under the handicap.
Each tier is a permanent perk on that challenge's theme: +2% / +5% / +10%. Cold Dark lifts power, Silent Running lifts autosell, Iron Sub speeds daemons, Dead Sea tightens the spread, Lead Boots trims depth gates, Barter lifts sales, Overpressure softens hazards, Glass Cargo lifts Markets, Overclock lifts production.
A dive that reaches a new tier pays ×1.5 pearls per slot. Two slots still stack.
The Challenges window shows tier pips and the next threshold per challenge. Existing clears count as tier 1.
Windows
Windows open below the top bar and above a bottom-docked panel, and can't be dragged over either.
A tutorial lesson closes every other floating window, the building inspector included. A pending event decision comes back on its own once the lesson ends.
Fixes
The Signal could not be reached in practice: nothing showed its progress, and re-decoding the Archive after Vault attunements fed it almost nothing. It has a readout and the multipliers above now.
Contracts: a production-sized order no longer grows with your contract rank, and asks about 30 seconds of production instead of 60. Contract income was outrunning the rest of the economy by a wide margin at high rank.
Iron Sub, Lead Boots, Overpressure and Glass Cargo paid their ×1.5 first-clear bonus for a first pearl the handicap never touched. Tiers 2 and 3 are where they bite.
A tutorial lesson could be covered by the Exchange window or the building inspector with no way to close them under the spotlight. Both close now.
Windows could open under the top bar, or be dragged over it.