Hardpoints & Pearls — the socket system from the design spec — now exists as real, tested code. A part carries 1 to 3 Hardpoints depending on its own rarity tier; unlocking one costs a flat batch of Parts, never a roll. Twenty-five Pearls are in the catalog, five families across all five rarity tiers, each granting one stat bonus. Fusion trades three Pearls of the same family and tier for one of the next tier up, deterministically — no dice anywhere in that path.
Refinement is the part we spent the most care on. A socketed Pearl climbs from +0 to +10; +1 through +5 always succeed, no roll at all. From +6 the odds are real — 70%, 60%, 50%, then 25% and 15% at the top — and here's the promise we're stating outright, because it's the entire reason to trust the system: a failed refine never destroys or downgrades your Pearl. You keep it exactly as it was, and starting at +6 a miss pays back pearl dust for the trouble. The two hardest rungs, +9 and +10, always have a second door too — a fixed, deterministic dust buy-out sits beside the dice, no luck required if you'd rather just walk through. Pearls themselves are earned only, from dives and creatures and the Breachstone — never for sale.
Full honesty on where this stands: the math, the content and the save data are done, but there's no screen in the game yet to unlock a Hardpoint or spin the Refinement wheel. The Pilot ladder already names Level 8 for it. Nothing changes in play at that level today — the guide says so, and so do we.