Steal a PC Pen & Treadmill Upgrades

Upgrades are how Steal a PC turns successful steals into permanent power. The two systems that matter every session are the pen (more slots, more income) and the treadmill (more Speed/s, shorter Guardian chases). Trails multiply Speed, but they do not replace these foundations. This guide lists priority breakpoints, key published costs, and how Equip Best / offline income fit the plan.

Why upgrade order matters

A Divine PC in your inventory earns zero while your pen is full of Grass fillers. A max trail on a neglected treadmill still fails Desert if base Speed/s is tiny. Always ask: Is my bottleneck slots, Speed/s, or multiplier? Then spend on that lever only.

Pen upgrades — slots are income

Each pen level adds capacity for placed PCs. Placed units generate cash while you steal, train, or stay offline.

Highlighted costs:

• Lv7 → Lv8 ≈ $24,000,000 (+1 slot)
• Lv8 → Lv9 ≈ $320,000,000

When you are holding better PCs than you can place—especially Secret/Divine targets from the PC Tier List—pen ranks beat almost every vanity purchase. Hitting Lv8 for twenty-four million is often more valuable than rushing Blaze at fifty million.

Pen habits

1. After every unbox wave, place or sell—never logout with inventory clutter and empty slots.
2. Use Equip Best to auto-propose a lineup, then manually protect mutations.
3. Fund slots with code cash (1MVISITS, 300KGROUP, DISCORDGIFT) when you are close to a level threshold.
4. Remember offline income: a filled high-tier pen works while you sleep.

Treadmill upgrades — Speed/s is the gate key

Standing on the treadmill converts time into Speed. Upgrading the treadmill raises Speed gained per second, which compresses the grind between Grass (5), Forest (1.5K), Mushroom (67.5K), and Desert (650K).

Highlighted costs:

• Lv2 → Lv3 ≈ $770,000
• Lv3 → Lv4 ≈ $2,000,000 — large Speed/s jump; prioritize hard

Leave the treadmill with Space (see Controls). Do not AFK through timed 2x Money windows from 3MVISITS; those minutes belong on steals with a full pen.

Treadmill habits

1. Dump early code cash into Lv3/Lv4 before shopping mid trails.
2. Train in short focused blocks, then immediately test a steal on the next zone.
3. Stack treadmill gains with trail multipliers and temporary 2x Speed buffs for gated pushes.
4. If scripts auto-walk the treadmill for you, read the Scripts risk notes first.

Upgrade priority ladder

1. Place starter / Community Pc.
2. Treadmill ranks through the $770K and $2M spikes.
3. Cheap trails if chases still fail: Cloud Puff → Lime Streak (Trails Guide).
4. Pen ranks whenever S-tier PCs are waiting.
5. Ocean Wave ($1M) when Mushroom is the goal.
6. Pen Lv7→8 / Lv8→9 as Divine inventory appears.
7. Blaze and beyond only with surplus cash.

Cross-check prices on the Trails Tier List before any $50M+ flex.

Equip Best, diamonds, and Gem Shop

Equip Best optimizes visible pen value quickly after bulk unboxes. It is not mutation-aware in a human sense—glance at the result.

Diamonds from steals open Gem Shop purchases. Sometimes the correct “upgrade” is a Gem Shop spend rather than another pen level. Evaluate weekly rotation before melting every diamond into ignore.

When fuse farming fills the pen, clear duplicates at the Sell stall and open the Fuse Machine guide before buying vanity trails. Landmarks for Speed gates live in the Zones Guide.

Mapping upgrades to zones## Mapping upgrades to zones

Goal	Spend on
Clear Forest reliably	Treadmill Lv3/Lv4 path
Fill income after Forest	Better PCs + early pen ranks
Enter Mushroom	Ocean Wave + Speed/s
Hold Desert loot	Pen slots + mid trails
Cosmic+ Secret hunts	High trails + max practical slots

Use How to Steal Boxes and Tools to verify Speed before depositing millions into a zone you still fail.

Mistakes that stall accounts

• Buying Galaxy-tier trails while pen is still clogged.
• Ignoring Lv3→4 treadmill because “trails look cooler.”
• Selling Divine units “for upgrade money” instead of waiting one more steal cycle for slot cash.
• Upgrading during empty-pen sessions—fix slots first.
• Forgetting night resets: upgrade before reset so you can bank new boxes immediately.

Session template

1. Redeem new codes.
2. Equip Best + manual locks.
3. Note cash toward the next treadmill or pen threshold.
4. Steal until you hit the threshold or fill slots.
5. Buy the upgrade immediately.
6. Take one scouting run in the next zone.

Upgrades are pacing tools. Hit the published breakpoints, keep slots honest, and let Speed/s—not hopium—open the next biome.