The upgrade station, simple right? Well yes and no, at a base level the upgrade station is simple, click plus, get upgrades, but what's not shown is how it actually works. At the upgrade station, each stat you can upgrade has a hard cap, a few examples of these caps include:

• +40% faster firing speed on Demomans Stickybomb Launchers
  
• +100% ÜberCharge rate on Medics Mediguns
  
• +60% faster reload time on Snipers Rifles

To compensate for the hard capped stats on weapons with existing bonuses to said stats, certain points of these upgrades are removed so that the player doesn't reach the cap without utilizing the full extent of the upgrade purchased. This can be most easily noticed in the Scottish Resistance, which only reaches +35% faster firing speed with only 1 "+10% firing speed" upgrade, whereas the cap for Demomans Stickybomb Launchers if 5% higher than that.

In this guide I will be explaining the process of bypassing the soft cap implemented by removal of upgrades, allowing any weapon effected with said soft cap to reach the hard cap. I will also list any weapons this can be applied to, along with the Ghost Upgrade process of 4 particular weapons, which do not involve hard caps, but instead allow application of an upgrade that has been removed from the Upgrade Station UI.

Below are step by step instructions on how to purchase and apply ghost upgrades. I have also included screenshots of the process (applying +5% firing speed to the Scottish Resistance)

Step 0 (Optional) - Disable "automatically respawn after loadout changes in respawn zones."


Step 1 - Equip the stock version of the weapon you wish to ghost upgrade. (if you have done step 0, ensure said weapon is actively equipped by either swapping to another class and back, pressing the refund button at the upgrade station, or respawning)


Step 2 - Exit the spawn area. (skip this step if you have done step 0)


Step 3 - Equip the weapon you wish to ghost upgrade.


Step 4 - Go to the upgrade station and purchase an upgrade for anything that's not in the slot you are ghost upgrading. (do not exit the upgrade station after this step)


Step 5 (optional) - Refund the upgrade you just purchased with the minus button. (this can only be done at wave 1)


Step 6 - Click on the slot you are ghost upgrading, then purchase the necessary upgrade(s) to reach the hard cap.


Step 7 - Click accept or move away from the upgrade station, if done correctly the upgrade will not show on your upgrades list, but the credits will have been spent and the improvement will show on the stats page to the left of your upgrades.


Note - A few of these upgrades are still visible in the upgrade list after it is purchased, this could be a result of its removal late in development. (EG: Soda Popper/FaN and Rocket/Sticky Jumpers)

Note 2 - Although the minus button mentioned in step 5 can still be used past wave 1, it will only appear to remove the upgrade purchased in step 4. Once you exit the upgrade station said upgrade will still be purchased despite looking as though it has been removed in the UI.

In this section I will list every weapon which can be ghost upgraded, the improvement it provides and the necessary upgrades required to hit the hard cap for said weapon. There will also be 2 screenshots under each weapon, the left showing the weapon the upgrade to its standard limit, and the right being the upgrade boosted to the hard cap.

Force-A-Nature
Improvement - +10% faster firing speed
Required upgrade(s) - 1 "+10% Firing Speed" x1


Soda Popper
Improvement - +10% faster firing speed
Required upgrade(s) - "+10% Firing Speed" x1


Pretty Boy's Pocket Pistol
Improvement - +5% faster firing speed
Required upgrade(s) - "+10% Firing Speed" x3


Wrap Asassin
Improvement - +5% increase in recharge rate
Required upgrade(s) - "+15% Recharge Rate" x3
Note - For this weapon in particular the stock bat in the process needs to be replaced with the Sandman, as the stock bat does not have a cooldown reduction upgrade.


Rocket Jumper
Improvement - +50% max primary ammo on wearer
Required upgrade(s) - "+50% ammo capacity" x1


Scottish Resistance
Improvement - +5% faster firing speed
Required upgrade(s) - "+10% Firing Speed" x2


Sticky Jumper
Improvement - +50% max secondary ammo on wearer
Required upgrade(s) - "+50% ammo capacity" x1


Scotsman's Skullcutter
Improvement - +5% damage bonus
Required upgrade(s) - "+25% damage" x4
Note - For this weapon in particular the stock bottle in the process needs to be replaced with any of the other demos swords, and a shield must be equipped. This is because damage upgrades are only available from the Scotsman's Skullcutter and the other swords, and they are only purchasable with a shield equipped.


Family Business
Improvement - +5% faster firing speed
Required upgrade(s) - "+10% Firing Speed" x3


Vaccinator
Improvement - +8% ÜberCharge rate
Required upgrade(s) - "+25% ÜberCharge Rate" x2

And that's all, are these a game changer? Not really, most of them are straight up useless. Although some of them do pack a wallop, more specifically the Soda Popper and Scottish Resistance upgrades. I thoroughly checked through pretty much every weapon in the game during the making of this guide, but admittedly I did find two more when I was writing it up. If you do find any that I haven't listed in the guide or if you have any questions regarding ghost upgrading, send them my way.

Let me know what you thought of my first guide, any criticism is appreciated.