A major inefficiency has been discovered in the Quick Add algorithm for leveling up Cartridges and Consoles in Neverness to Everness (NTE), leading players to inadvertently waste massive amounts of Beetle Coins and EXP materials.
This issue was brought to light by the Reddit user Urakihs and has quickly gained traction within the community, with some players realizing they may have lost millions of Beetle Coins to this oversight.
The Problem: The “Lowest Denomination First” Algorithm
When you use the Quick Add button to level up a Cartridge or Console, the game’s algorithm attempts to fill the required EXP by prioritizing your lowest-tier materials first (e.g., 1k EXP Manholes before 20k EXP Manholes).
This creates a massive overcap problem.
Example Scenario: Let’s say your Console needs exactly 8,000 EXP to reach the next level. You have one of each Manhole type: 1k, 5k, and 20k.
Here is how the game’s flawed algorithm processes this:
- Adds the 1k Manhole (7,000 EXP remaining).
- Adds the 5k Manhole (2,000 EXP remaining).
- Adds the 20k Manhole (Requirement met).
The total EXP added is 26,000. While the game does feature an auto-refund system that gives you back the excess 18,000 EXP in the form of lower-tier materials, there is a hidden cost.
The Beetle Coin Trap
The critical flaw is that Beetle Coin upgrade costs are calculated based on the total EXP consumed before the refund, and these coins are NOT refunded.
In the example above, you are paying the Beetle Coin cost for 26,000 EXP, even though you only needed 8,000. For high-level players pushing their characters and gear to Level 70, this overcap can easily drain millions of Beetle Coins over time.
The Secondary Problem: Material Crafting
The algorithm inefficiency also extends to how the game handles material upgrades.
If you are leveling up a character’s talent and are missing a specific mid-tier material (e.g., “Suspended Whispers”), but you have enough low-tier materials to craft it, the Quick Add system may ignore your low-tier stash. Instead, it will suggest opening a valuable Material Selection Box to fill the gap.
Furthermore, if you try to manually craft the lower-tier materials into higher-tier ones in your inventory to bypass this, the game charges you a Beetle Coin fee for the manual crafting process. However, if the game auto-crafts during a level-up (when it works correctly), there is no Beetle Coin fee.
How to Avoid Wasting Resources
Hotta Studio silently fixed this exact issue for Character and Arc level-ups in the Version 1.1 patch, which is why those upgrades now often show uneven EXP numbers. However, they forgot to apply the fix to Cartridges and Consoles.
Until a hotfix is deployed, you must take manual precautions:
- Never use Quick Add for Consoles or Cartridges: Always manually select your highest-tier EXP materials first (High to Low), and only use the lowest-tier materials to fill in the final sliver of EXP needed.
- Double-Check Talent Upgrades: Before allowing the game to open a Material Selection Box for a talent upgrade, check your inventory to see if you have enough lower-tier materials that the game should be auto-crafting.
- Avoid Manual Inventory Crafting: Try to let the game’s auto-craft system handle material conversions during the upgrade screen to save on Beetle Coin crafting fees.
A support ticket has already been filed by the community, and we expect Hotta Studio to address this in an upcoming hotfix. For now, keep a close eye on your Beetle Coins!