# ONOMOGO Speed & Hazards Guide

Canonical page: https://onomogo.com/guides/speed-and-hazards

Speed is powerful because it changes how many decisions fit into a run. Hazards exist to make extreme Speed and long combo streaks a real trade-off rather than an automatic choice.

## What Speed actually changes

Speed reduces the cooldown between card picks. The run clock and the pick cooldown are separate systems, so permanent Speed can increase the number of cards you are able to take before the run ends. Temporary Speed applies for a limited number of future picks.

Some cards grant an instant re-pick. That is different from a permanent Speed increase: it removes the wait for the next choice without necessarily making every later cooldown shorter.

## The three heat tiers

Heat uses the higher of your current Speed tier and your current raw same-tag combo tier. When a new offer is dealt, that heat tier determines the number of hazards attached to the row.

- Getting Hot: at least 70% Speed or combo 4 → 1 hazard.
- Overheating: at least 80% Speed or combo 7 → 2 hazards.
- Blistering Hot: at least 90% Speed or combo 10 → 3 hazards.

## Hazards apply to the next row, not the current row

Once an offer row is visible, its hazard layout is fixed. If Accelerator grows your Speed across a threshold while you are looking at the current cards, hazards do not suddenly appear on those cards. The new tier is used the next time a set of cards is generated.

The same principle applies after a Speed card, a combo-building pick, Shuffle or another action that causes the next offer to be shown. Heat is evaluated for the newly dealt set.

## The hazard types

A hazard only fires if you choose the card carrying it. That means extra boxes and a good offer can still let you route around danger. The current hazards include a score crash, a temporary lock that forces core scoring stats to 1, and a clock penalty.

Hazards therefore reduce option quality rather than simply subtracting a fixed amount from every hot run.

## When more Speed is still worth it

Crossing a heat threshold can be correct when the extra Speed materially increases total picks or enables a Speed-based synergy. Permanent Speed taken early has longer to pay back than the same increase taken near the finish.

Before crossing a tier, compare the marginal benefit with the expected loss of choice quality. Jumping from 69% to 70% for a tiny benefit is a very different decision from taking a major Speed card that transforms the number of remaining picks.

- [All guides](https://onomogo.com/guides)
- [Card Library](https://onomogo.com/cards)
