Items refer to stuff that can be found on the Mission Map during Missions, and also be received as rewards after Missions. The Items are mainly usable for the Hero Players, although the Overmind Player can gather Items to prevent the Hero Players from getting them, and to recycle Items into Abduction Points.
Items are represented by small cards, and are usually drawn randomly from the Item deck. The Items are of two main types: single-use Items that are discarded to trigger some effect and then are gone, and equipment that provides some permanent ability or bonus. Some equipment Items can be Upgraded to an "Advanced" form; those Items have the "Advanced" form printed on the back of the Item card, while non-upgradeable Items have cards with a generic "Item" back side.
Since some of the cards have Item information on both sides, cards should normally be drawn from the bottom of the Item deck rather than from the top.
An item card has a name at the top, then an image showing the Item, then a line with Resource icons, and then a text box that describes how the Item works. Upgradeable Items have an icon with two arrowheads pointing up next to the Resource icons, to indicate that the Item is upgradable. For upgradeable Items, the Resource icons indicate the Upgrade cost, while for other Items, the Resource icons indicate how much Resources can produced by discarding the Item to pay for another Items Upgrade cost.
Upgrade
This page describes upgrading Items and the Space Station for the Hero Players. For Overmind Player upgrades, see Upgrade Nodes.
During the Resolution Phase, the Hero Players may spend Resources to Upgrade Items. Upgrading an Item is only possible for items that have an Advanced form; those Item cards are double sided, and have the Basic form of the Item on one side, and the Advanced form on the other side. (The sides are distinguished by the Advanced form having the word "Advanced" first in the Item name.)
All Items have one or more Resource icons in their middle area, between the image and the text box. Each Resource icon has a number next to it, indicating how many Resources of that type it is worth.
Upgradeable Items also have an icon with two arrow heads pointing up next to the Resource icons, to indicate the Item is upgradeable; and for those Items, the Resource icons indicate the upgrade cost. For non-upgradeable Items, the Resource icons indicate the Resource value. To Upgrade an Item, discard non-upgradeable Items and/or Resource tokens of enough combined Resource value to cover the upgrade cost. Then flip the upgraded Item over to the Advanced side.
If the discarded Items generated more Resource value than what was needed to pay for the upgrade, you get change back in the form of Resource tokens.
The Hero Players may generally only upgrade units during the Resolution Phase, not during an ongoing Mission; although special abilities may allow exceptions.
Space Station Upgrades
During the Resolution Phase, the Heroes can spend also Resources to extend their Space Station. All Space Station room cards except the two starter ones ("HQ" and "Warehouse") have a Resource cost marked on them, which is paid to build the room. Heroes can freely move between any Space Station rooms that have been built, although some rooms sets a limit (specified on the card) on how many Heroes may use the room at the same time.