Woodshed 2000 reference
Power leveling: assemble the engine first
The efficient route is governed by unlocks, working effects and kills per minute, not by a fixed list of level brackets.
| Stage | What to do | Upgrade target |
|---|---|---|
| Start → venue unlocks | Clear Rusty Nail → Backyard Party → City Streets → Midnight Rave, reporting to Sir Don after each relevant milestone. | Backyard opens Workbench/crew; City opens Midnight/poker/pinball; Midnight's briefing unlocks Woodshed. |
| Early class progression | Guitarist: learn Fusion's chain, Heaven's Circuit and Pick Rake/Legato support; add Metal/Punk utilities. Drummer: take Heavy Hands, Pocket Control and one reliable spender early. | Use the best actual weapon you find. Do not wait for a perfect named relic to progress. |
| Level 18 → 70 | Use one legal ultimate until Skull Collector is available. Add useful nodes with one hard point before concentrating on the chosen core. | By level 70, complete the 69-point class plan once the Skull mechanic permits the three-ultimate setup. |
| Level 70 → first Album | Farm fast venue bosses. Equip early relic effects and useful two-piece sets. Make a Manager relic kit as Vials allow. | Album, Skull Collector, core weapon/offhand, Harness, Royal Albert and main survival effect. |
| Working build → mid Legacy | Start with Aura, Resonance and the branch that fixes your current weakness: Groove for sustain or Elemental for damage. | Obtain an Album with +3 Additional Legacy Trees before attempting all six branches. |
| Growing Legacy → Woodshed farm | Add the other branches, fill the common core, seed the pools and build Armor toward 925. Favor fast dense clears over high Amp labels. | Enough sustain to clear successive waves without deaths or long recovery stops. |
| Approaching 2000 → final push | Finish the exact 1,930-point allocation, max the listed socket stones, then improve borrowed effects and remaining rolls. | 90% Legacy reduction, correct unique effects, reliable follower uptime and measured wave clear speed. |
A practical priority order
Survive first: invest in Thick Skin and obtain Iron Curtain through its prerequisites; Drummer also prioritizes Pocket Control. Then fund the damage and resource engine. Before the Album, points are much scarcer and only three branches are available — do not try to copy the final six-branch allocation early.
Make the first useful sockets and borrow the essential missing mechanic before chasing two perfect effects on every small slot. Use modest stones immediately, saving +5 stones for durable final hosts. A first Album with imperfect rolls can be a large upgrade even though it cannot reproduce every final breakpoint.
What “power leveling” can honestly promise
Level 2000 requires 399,700,050 cumulative Fame under the current formula. Enemy Fame scales with player level and enemy type; Amp has no direct Fame multiplier. Manager's promotion and suitable crowd/reward bonuses improve the route. Poker and pinball do not substitute for combat leveling. No hours-to-2000 estimate is justified without your measured clear rates.