Learn to Fly 2 Upgrade Order: What to Buy First and What to Skip Until the Payload Days

The four lines and what each one does

Every day in Learn to Fly 2 ends in a notebook with four tabs. Sleds (Good Ol' Sled, Bobsleigh, Omega Coil) set how fast you leave the ramp and how well you keep that speed. Gliders (Kite, Old Glider, Hang Glider, Umbrella, Pingu Balloon, Omeglider) decide how long the air holds you and how much control you have over the tilt. Boosts (Rocket Firework, Sugar Rocket, "Whistle" Rocket, Solid Booster, Auxiliary Boosters, Pulse Jet, THOR Ramjet, Omega Drive) add thrust while Space is held and drink from the fuel tank, which is its own upgrade. Payloads are weights that make a collision with an obstacle count for more. On top of that, the ramp's length and height are two more sliders of money.

Days one to five

Glider first, always. The Kite is a toy; the Old Glider is the first purchase that changes what a run looks like, and the Hang Glider a few days later is the second. Between them, buy one step of ramp height, because it is cheap and it lengthens every run for the rest of the game. Do not buy a boost yet. A rocket on day two adds a few hundred feet; the same money in the glider line adds that on every day after.

The middle days

Once the Hang Glider is on, alternate: a sled step, a boost step, a fuel step. The Sugar Rocket is the first boost worth having and the Solid Booster is the first one that feels like a second launch. Fuel is easy to under-buy; a bigger tank on a small rocket is often better than a bigger rocket on a small tank, because the burn at the top of the arc is what you want to make longer.

Payload days

Story Mode puts an obstacle at a fixed distance. When your average run is landing at or past it, buy a payload and carry it for the days it takes to knock the obstacle's health to zero. The weight costs you distance, so as soon as the obstacle is rubble, take it off again and go back to banking money. Treat the payload as a tool you pick up for a job, not as the next thing on the shopping list.

The Omega tier

The Omega Coil, the Omeglider and the Omega Drive are the end of each line and they cost accordingly. By the time they are affordable you are usually one or two days from the end of Story Mode; buy whichever one covers your weakest stat, and leave the others for Classic and Arcade, where a full kit is what the leaderboard is for.