Combolands Potions & Paints
Potions manipulate the map; paints change what a building targets. Everything below is quoted from a patch note or a named community source. Three of the potions were added in the Next Fest demo (2026-06-15) and have not been re-described in a 1.0 patch note, so they are marked demo-era — the effects are the developers' own words, but the numbers around them may have moved in the 1.0 progression overhaul.
| Name | Kind | What it does | Version | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ghost Paint | Paint | Changes what a building targets. The developers introduced it as "kind of like opposite rainbow paint". | Demo v6 (2026-04-17), still referenced in launch-week guide coverage | Demo v6 announcement; community guide video |
| Rainbow Paint | Paint | The paint Ghost Paint is described as the opposite of. Its best-known use is joining two Marketplaces so they "trigger x10 every turn for the rest of" the run. | Current | Demo v6 announcement; Best & Worst Guild thread |
| Red / Green / Gold / Blue paint | Paint | Four coloured paints. The launch-day v1.0.3 patch reduced all four of their durations — the only public statement about them, and confirmation that paints are timed rather than permanent. | Current | v1.0.3 patch notes, 2026-08-24 |
| Blueprint potion | Potion | Gives a blueprint of the target building. | Demo-era | Demo v9 patch notes, 2026-06-15 |
| Free-placement potion | Potion | Allows the next placed building to be placed anywhere — the developers emphasised the word "anywhere" in the patch note. | Demo-era | Demo v9 patch notes, 2026-06-15 |
| Rarity potion | Potion | Makes the next building roll, blueprint satchel, or heirloom chest only contain rare or better. | Demo-era | Demo v9 patch notes, 2026-06-15 |
| Duplicate potion | Potion | Duplicates. Named by an endless-mode player in the out-of-bounds trick below; the developers have not published its exact wording. | Community-reported | Secret Final Boss thread, 2026-08-30 |
Paints are timed, not permanent
The clearest evidence for this is the launch-day patch: v1.0.3 on 2026-08-24 "reduced the durations" of red, green, gold and blue paint. A paint you apply is on a clock, which is why the two-Marketplace loop is worth setting up early enough that the rest of the milestone can ride it.
The Marketplace loop
The single most-cited combination from launch week, described by a player as: "Literally 2 marketplaces connected with rainbow paint on them will trigger x10 every turn for the rest of" the run. Getting there needs gold to fish for the right paint — which is the argument several players make for the Commercial guild being the strongest opener.
The out-of-bounds trick
An endless-mode player reports that you "gain 2 additional buildable rows/columns by spawning fish outside of bounds then using duplicate potions to put buildings over the fish", and flags it themselves as a possible exploit. It is one player's account, it has not been acknowledged by Crux Games, and it may not survive a patch — we list it because it is the kind of thing an endless run runs into, not as advice.
Potion list re-checked: