Sugar Rune priority: Stop spending on the wrong Cookies

Give Milk the first serious Rune budget

Milk Cookie's Crunchy Strong Pediatrician, shortened to Milk here, earns early investment because the same support appears in many working teams. ATK Amp helps push Milk to the top of the team's ATK ranking for effects that select the strongest attacker, including the intended Welfare recipient.

That target matters more than filling every slot with matching letters. A Rune setup can keep one or two Skill Amp or Skill Haste lines if Milk still wins the ATK check. You do not need to erase useful rolls just to make the page look tidy.

Check your roster against the CookieRun: Crumble tier list before committing scarce materials. A high rank helps you shortlist investments, but frequency of use settles the order. Milk appearing in your daily teams deserves more attention than a specialist you bring out once a week.

There is a limit to this recommendation. An ATK-heavy Milk build supports a particular targeting plan. If you switch that plan, the ideal Rune mix can change. Get the setup working, then spend elsewhere before chasing tiny improvements on every line.

Check the 10% leader bonus before rerolling

The displayed ATK comparison can mislead you. Milk's relevant leader bonus adds 10% to ATK, DEF, and HP, and that bonus is not already included in the stat value you are checking. Include it when you work out the intended highest-ATK Cookie.

For a simple example, 100,000 displayed ATK becomes 110,000 after a 10% increase. Compare the other Cookie under the applicable battle conditions too. The example explains the arithmetic; it does not set a minimum ATK target for your account.

Then watch Macaron's opening skill. Macaron selects the ally with the highest ATK, so the recipient gives you a practical check. If the skill goes somewhere other than Milk, stop rolling and find the Cookie that overtook him.

You can raise Milk's ATK or reduce a competing Cookie's level. The second option can cost damage, so use the smallest adjustment that restores the intended target. Repeat the opening after each change. A stat screen helps you estimate; the skill recipient tells you whether the setup behaves as expected.

Pomegranate introduces another targeting decision. If you want her beam on Macaron and Skating Queen, excessive ATK Amp on damage dealers can make those targets harder to arrange. The Milk Dungeon buff setup explains that more demanding support-target plan. Decide which version you want before rolling several attackers.

Build Pomegranate, Skating Queen, and Macaron next

Pomegranate's straightforward Rune target is Skill Amp. Start by aiming for an SSR Skill Amp first line, where crafting costs are lower. That is a sensible place to spend deliberately because she supports so many teams.

A second SSR line is a budget choice. If materials are tight, accept SR Skill Amp on the later lines and move to the next Cookie. If chasing that second SSR leaves you with nothing for Milk or Herb, keep the SR roll.

Skating Queen generally wants Skill Amp and Skill Haste. Those stats improve the support job without forcing a complicated ATK contest. Macaron has a similarly practical default: prioritize Skill Amp when you cannot afford to rebuild the Runes whenever you change formations.

Players with large reroll reserves can use ATK Amp on these supports to raise their targeting priority. That can help direct Pomegranate or Macaron effects toward the desired recipients. It also asks you to control the rest of the team's ATK, which gets awkward when you keep changing damage dealers.

For an ordinary material budget, stay with the simpler support stats. Check the recommended teams to see which supports recur in the formations you use. Invest in that shared group first, then work on Cookies specific to one fight.

Keep the debuffers and healers alive

After the shared supports, pick the next Rune owner by the failure you can see. A dead healer and a missed debuff call for different fixes.

• Dark Choco wants Skill Haste and Focus for the debuff role. Keep one Damage Reduction line if he dies too quickly, then reconsider it once survival improves.
• Pinot Noir puts Skill Haste first and Focus second. Give the Cookie that enables your Multi-strike team enough attention to do that job reliably.
• Herb often needs Damage Reduction because he can fall before the healing helps. Skill Amp, Skill Haste, and useful ATK rolls are also worth keeping.
• Nameless Cake Hound can use Damage Reduction or Skill Haste. Favor survival when the front line collapses before the team settles into its rotation.
• Scorpion benefits from Focus when you need debuffs to land consistently. Reaching five stars does not mean every application will ignore enemy Resistance.

Avoid treating this as a queue you must finish from top to bottom. If Herb dies in every attempt while Dark Choco already survives, Herb gets the next useful defensive roll. You can come back to Dark Choco after Herb survives the opening.

For most damage dealers, Skill Amp and Skill Haste are practical starting choices. ATK Amp can help damage, but check the support targets again after adding it. A roll that steals Pomegranate's beam can leave the overall team worse off even when that attacker's personal stats rise.

Spend Crystals on promotion breakpoints

Promotion priority follows a different order from Rune priority. In a Multi-strike account choosing between Pinot Noir and Cherry Cola, aim for Pinot Noir's five-star target first. Pinot Noir supplies the synergy that the team uses; Cherry Cola benefits from it. Building the enabler first gives the rest of the formation a clearer purpose.

With a larger Crystal reserve, the next plan is Pinot Noir at seven stars, followed by Cherry Cola at five. Treat those as spending targets, not entry requirements. You can try Cherry Cola in a story team before reaching five stars, and a lower promotion does not automatically make the formation unusable.

After those targets, saving for another update is reasonable. Further promotions depend on what you can afford and how much you use the Cookie. Decide where to stop before opening the summon screen. It is much easier to keep a budget before the next pull starts looking irresistible.

Brightseeker has a separate five-star consideration for players who can comfortably afford the investment. The summoned drone count rises from two to three at that point. That is a concrete reason to consider five stars, but it does not make the target mandatory for a limited budget.

Use these priorities when the relevant summons are available. Do not empty your reserves because a roster page contains an unfinished star row. Level resets make EXP allocation easier to correct; a spent Crystal budget needs time to rebuild.

Make Chargemellow a limited Pet exception

Cookie promotions contribute to Stellar Link unlock conditions. Pets do not, which is why ordinary Pet summoning is a weaker default use of Crystals for this plan.

Chargemellow has a specific exception: level 10 raises its Multi-strike synergy contribution to two. For a team built around that synergy, reaching the breakpoint can justify attention even when you normally keep Crystals away from Pets.

Set level 10 as the target, then reassess further Pet spending. The exception is for completing an important synergy contribution. It does not justify continuing Pet pulls indefinitely or neglecting Pinot Noir's promotion plan.

If Chargemellow already meets the target, return to the Cookie budget. Check what you own before summoning; an old recommendation to reach a breakpoint cannot help you twice.

Allocate EXP after choosing your buff targets

When EXP is scarce, give Milk the highest level first. Raise the damage dealers next, then the healers. Keep the remaining Cookies at a more even level instead of spreading every upgrade equally across the full roster.

The reset feature lets you redistribute levels when the team changes. You can rebuild an allocation from level one if necessary, but do not dismantle a working roster merely to copy an example. Check whether a smaller change solves the targeting problem first.

The level 100 EXP priority guide covers the larger allocation decision. For this Rune plan, the check is simpler: after changing levels, confirm that Milk still receives the intended highest-ATK effect.

Before your next crafting session, choose one Cookie and one reason to improve it. Perhaps Milk needs to regain the opening buff, or Herb needs to survive long enough to heal. Keep a useful result, test the same fight, and stop when that problem is solved. Save the remaining materials for the next Cookie whose build needs work.

Sugar Rune spending FAQ

Who should get Sugar Runes first?

Start with Milk for the highest-ATK support setup, then Pomegranate and the supports you use across several teams. Move a fragile healer or failing debuffer ahead when that Cookie is the reason attempts collapse.

Does Milk need ATK Amp on every line?

No. One or two Skill Amp or Skill Haste lines can stay if Milk still meets the intended ATK ranking. Include the relevant 10% leader bonus and check Macaron's opening recipient before replacing useful Runes.

Should I force SSR on every Pomegranate line?

Aim for SSR Skill Amp on the cheaper first line. A second SSR is optional; SR Skill Amp on later lines is a reasonable stopping point when materials need to cover several Cookies.

Is five-star Scorpion guaranteed to land debuffs?

No. Five stars does not remove the enemy Resistance check. Focus helps when failed applications disrupt the run, so keep it in consideration even after promotion.