/upgrade

What it does

/upgrade is the single command for spending team XP on a player. Pick whether you're buying an attribute bump or a dev-trait promotion, and the bot opens an interactive builder for that flow. This is the new home for what used to live across /claim (attribute purchase) and /xp dev_upgrade — both retired, both folded into this one entry point.

Both flows enforce every league rule automatically: per-attribute caps, position-specific pricing, weekly claim limits, dev-tier costs, and (if your league turns it on) commissioner approval for the bigger upgrades.

How to use

/upgrade type:<Attribute|Dev Trait> [notify_when_done:true]

• type (required) — pick one:
  • Attribute — opens the attribute builder. Choose a player, then click attributes you want to bump (SPD, AWR, THP, etc.). Each click adds one tier; the running cost updates live before you confirm.
  • Dev Trait — opens the dev builder. Choose a player, the bot shows their current dev (Normal / Star / Superstar / X-Factor) and the cost to promote to the next tier. Confirm to spend the XP.
• notify_when_done (optional) — set to true and the bot DMs you when a commish approves the upgrade (only matters in leagues where upgrades go through approval). Skip it if you don't care to be pinged.

Examples

• /upgrade type:Attribute — pick your QB, bump SPD +1, THP +1, AWR +2, confirm.
• /upgrade type:Dev Trait notify_when_done:true — pick a breakout WR, confirm the Normal-to-Star promotion, get DMed when the commish approves.
• /upgrade type:Attribute and then exit without confirming — no XP is spent.

A few things to know

• Attribute costs scale with the target rating. Use /prices to see the full table.
• Dev costs scale by the destination tier — Normal-to-Star is cheap, Star-to-Superstar is medium, Superstar-to-X-Factor is the league's biggest single XP sink.
• Both flows respect your team's current tax bracket — the builder shows the post-tax cost before you confirm.
• Upgrades apply to your in-game roster on the next EA league export. After confirming, push a fresh export from the Madden Companion app.

Madden-style upgrades

Some leagues run attribute upgrades Madden style. Instead of picking each attribute, you pick a player and one of his archetypes, the same ones Madden uses (Field General, Elusive Back, Deep Threat and so on). The bot then rolls a handful of attributes from that archetype and shows you what went up.

• Each archetype rolls the ratings that fit it. A Man To Man corner rolls Man Coverage and Press; a Pass Protector rolls Pass Block and Awareness.
• Physical ratings (Speed, Acceleration, Agility, Strength, Jumping, Change of Direction and Stamina) can land now and then as a bonus. They cost more and stop at a lower ceiling than skill ratings.
• Stamina can roll for players who run: running backs, receivers, tight ends, the whole defense, and quarterbacks built to scramble.
• If your league has switched physical ratings off, none of them roll, Stamina included.

Age resets, contract adjustments and Clear Salary Cap

If your league has switched them on, /upgrade lists three more options after attributes and dev traits:

• Age Reset — pick a player and a new age, down to 20.
• Contract Adjustment — pick a player and a new number of years left.
• Clear Salary Cap — clears your team's salary cap penalties. There is no player to pick: the card shows the price, and asks you to confirm.

Age Reset and Contract Adjustment take the XP when you confirm and send a request to your commissioners — nothing changes in Madden until a commissioner makes the change in the game.

Clear Salary Cap is different: the bot clears the penalty itself the moment you confirm, so there's nothing for a commissioner to do. If your team has no salary cap penalty right now, the purchase is refused before it charges you anything.

Your league sets the price for each, and can limit how many a team buys in a season.

The upgrade cart

Some leagues switch on the upgrade cart (off by default; a commissioner turns it on under Setup). With it on, /upgrade opens a cart instead of one purchase at a time:

• Pick a player, pick several archetypes (or the classic attributes your league buys instead) and a count for each, then add them to the cart. Switch players and keep adding — dev trait, age reset, contract adjustment and Clear Salary Cap can all ride in the same cart.
• The cart shows a running worst-case total, your balance, and what is left after, with a filter to show only what you can still afford.
• Buy a single line right away, or submit the whole cart at once.
• One Submit charges everything in the cart and posts one receipt with what was actually charged, reserved and refunded. If a cap is hit partway through a multi-roll line, the receipt says exactly how many rolls landed and why the rest were refused — the rolls that already landed stay charged.
• A cart left untouched for 30 minutes expires; add your lines again.

Every upgrade bought through the cart lands in the same place one bought the old way does — your /profile Upgrades tab, your commissioner's approval queue, the same prices and caps. The cart only changes how many purchases you can line up before paying.

If your league has not turned this on, /upgrade works exactly as described above: one purchase at a time.

Common questions

Q: I want to see what something costs before I commit. A: Both builders show the running cost in the header before you click confirm. The number already includes your team's tax bracket.

Q: The bot says my balance is too low but I just got paid. A: Run /balance to check what the ledger actually shows. The builder reads from the same source — if your balance just changed, give it a few seconds and re-open the builder.

Q: The upgrade succeeded but I don't see it in Madden. A: Upgrades apply on the next EA league export. After you confirm, push a fresh export from the Madden Companion app. If it still doesn't show after an export, ping a commish to check the ledger.

Q: What happened to /claim and /xp dev_upgrade? A: Both retired. /upgrade type:Attribute is the old /claim flow; /upgrade type:Dev Trait is the old /xp dev_upgrade flow. Same builders, same costs — just one entry point now. /claim itself is now the daily XP reward command.

Q: What does notify_when_done actually do? A: If your league requires commish approval for upgrades, setting this to true tells the bot to DM you when your upgrade is approved (or denied). If your league auto-approves, the option is a no-op.

Q: Can I undo a dev-trait promotion? A: Not on your own. A commish can use admin tools to reverse it, but there's no self-service refund.

Q: Why are dev upgrades so expensive? A: They're the biggest dynamic-power lever in Madden — a Superstar player gains skill points roughly twice as fast in-game as a Normal player. Most leagues price them as once-or-twice-a-season splurges.