How do you upgrade cards in KOTAMON?
Open the binder and find three copies of the same card at the same Quality. An eligible card receives a yellow border and upward arrow; select it and press the green Level Up button to exchange the three copies for one higher-Quality copy.
The official August 27 update also says the resulting card can be a foil. Foil is possible, not guaranteed, and the developer does not publish an upgrade-to-foil percentage.
| Card action | Input | Where it happens | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level Up | 3 copies of the same card at the same Quality | Binder | 1 higher-Quality copy; a foil is possible |
| Fragment repair | 5 torn card fragments | Garage glue table | 1 complete card after the manual puzzle |
| Cleaning or mending | 1 dirty or damaged copy | Garage work area | Improves that individual copy through its own interaction |
Find the yellow border and upward arrow
Eligible cards are marked directly in the binder. The yellow outline and arrow are the visual prompt that a three-copy exchange is ready, so you do not need to count every card manually before checking the page.
- Open the card binder and select the relevant color tab.
- Look for a card framed in yellow with an upward arrow.
- Select that card and confirm that the binder shows three copies at the same Quality.
- Use the green Level Up control to complete the exchange.
- Inspect the new copy before selling it or marking a foil.
What happens after you press Level Up?
The exchange consumes the three eligible copies and returns one copy at a higher Quality. The card name stays the same; this is a copy-quality upgrade, not a way to unlock a different missing character.
| Question | Current answer |
|---|---|
| Does the card name change? | No. Three copies of one card become a higher-Quality copy of that card. |
| Can mixed Quality copies be combined? | No. The official instructions require the three copies to share the same Quality. |
| Can the result be foil? | Yes, it can be; the result is not guaranteed to be foil. |
| What are the foil odds? | No percentage or pity counter is published. |
Lost cards after a merge: normal cost or extra loss?
A successful Level Up uses three copies and returns one, so your total number of copies normally falls by two. Losing the three input copies is not, by itself, a bug.
An August 29 Steam report describes a different result: four two-star copies became one three-star copy, with no two-star copy left over. That exceeds the cost of one documented three-copy exchange. Another reply suspects missing upgraded cards but is less certain. These are player reports, not a developer-confirmed cause or a reproducible fix.
- Before a large batch, keep a separate manual save and a backup of the full local save folder.
- Record the card name, Quality, foil status and exact copy count before one exchange; capture the result before performing another.
- If more cards disappear than the normal three-for-one cost, stop merging and preserve both the current state and the pre-merge backup.
- Report the build, counts and screenshots in the linked Steam discussion. Do not overwrite the only pre-merge save or assume reinstalling will restore missing cards.
| Starting stack | Expected after one exchange | Worth reporting |
|---|---|---|
| 3 matching copies | 1 higher-Quality copy | No resulting copy appears. |
| 4 matching copies | 1 higher-Quality copy plus 1 unused original copy | The unused fourth copy is missing too. |
Repair versus upgrade: do not mix them up
A Level Up does not assemble card fragments, and the glue table does not combine three whole duplicates. If you have torn pieces, finish the five-fragment repair puzzle. If you have three whole same-name copies at the same Quality, use the binder Level Up route.
How many duplicate cards do I need to upgrade in KOTAMON?
Three copies of the same card at the same Quality.
What does the yellow border mean in the KOTAMON binder?
It marks a card stack that is ready for the Level Up exchange. An upward arrow appears with it.
Where is the KOTAMON Level Up button?
Select an eligible yellow-bordered card in the binder; the green Level Up control appears beside its copy count.
Can KOTAMON card upgrades give foil cards?
Yes. The official August 27 update says an upgraded card can even be foil, but it does not publish the odds or guarantee a foil result.
Can I mix card Qualities for Level Up?
No. The official instructions require all three copies to be the same card and the same Quality.
Does Level Up repair five card fragments?
No. Five fragments use the separate manual glue-table repair puzzle in the garage.
Why did cards disappear after a KOTAMON merge?
Level Up normally consumes three matching copies and returns one. An August 29 player report also describes an unused fourth copy disappearing. If your loss exceeds the normal exchange cost, stop merging, keep a pre-merge backup and report the exact counts; no official recovery procedure is published.