Two currencies
Coins buy heroes in the lobby shop. Mana is generated during the match and is the only currency that places or upgrades a hero. A code that pays 20 or 50 coins does not raise your mana.
Lemonade Cat is the listed economy hero: 230 coins in the shop, placement limit 4, and 1,400 mana per wave once the listed investment of 9,800 mana is in. Sell or stop upgrading farms when the boss is close and the damage heroes are still low.
Placement rules the tutorial teaches
- Select the hero from the hotbar. Number keys 1 through 9 select hotbar slots.
- Place beside the path. The bubble is the range. A hero outside that bubble does not hit enemies walking past the gap.
- Upgrade with mana. Each hero has 5 upgrades. The tutorial's stated goal is a high level by the boss wave.
- Respect the placement limit. Wizard is listed at 13, Chef at 12, Spectre at 1, Slime King at 1, and Jester at 1. Extra copies past the limit will not place.
What changes the mana you feel
A 2024 beginner tutorial states that a crowded Hard server gives each player less mana per round. Treat that as a lobby warning from that video, and watch the mana counter in your own server before you copy a solo loadout into a full 23-player room.
Discount Dog lowers upgrade cost for heroes in its radius, down to -40% at level 5, for a listed 13,100 mana. From level 3 it also debuffs damage slightly. The discount misses most summoners. Spectre does the opposite pressure: from level 3 it raises the upgrade price of heroes inside the aura, up to +10% at level 5, while granting up to +100% damage. The Spectre ability is a separate 10,000 mana spend for 25% attack rate and does not get more expensive on reuse.
A practical spend order
On a first clear, put mana into one damage hero that can actually see the path, then one economy or discount hero, then the rest. Buzzer's level-5 path is listed at 20,930 mana plus 40,000 for the explode ability, so opening on Buzzer strands the early waves. Keith is listed as the cheapest hero to max, at 9,880 mana. Wafer's final upgrade alone is listed at 6,000 mana.
Corner placements matter for short-range melee. Yasuke's level-5 range is listed at 4.7 studs, the shortest in that table. A straight lane wastes him.