Open the perks menu from the left side of the screen and treat it as an account plan, not a place to dump Gold evenly. Anime Squadron stages can fail for different reasons, and each perk solves a different failure. Max Yen helps when you cannot hold enough money to place or upgrade the unit you need. Yen Generation helps when a run lasts long enough that income speed decides whether your lineup stabilizes. Base Health helps when the run is mostly controlled but a leak or boss hit ends the stage.
Max Yen is the lowest-waste first upgrade for most new accounts because placement and upgrade timing decide early Story clears. If your team has a good unit but you cannot afford to place it before enemies pressure the lane, more raw damage on paper will not help. A higher money cap gives you room to save for expensive placements and smoother upgrades. This is especially important when a stronger unit costs more to deploy than your starter units.
Yen Generation comes next when the problem is income speed rather than the money cap. If you can hold enough Yen but the stage moves too quickly for you to buy units and upgrades on time, generation matters. This perk becomes stronger in longer stages and modes where the board has time to scale. Upgrading it first only because income sounds universal can miss the real blocker; if you hit the cap often, Max Yen is the cleaner fix.
Base Health is not the default first upgrade, but it becomes correct when leaks are the only thing stopping clears. If your units handle most waves and a single enemy slipping through ends the run, health buys time. If bosses or waves are walking through your whole defense, health only delays the loss. In that case, fix damage, economy, traits, or placement instead of spending Gold on a base that will still fall.
Avoid splitting Gold evenly across every perk at low levels. Equal spending feels balanced, but it often leaves the account with no solved problem. If your current blocker is placement money, put the next Gold into Max Yen until that blocker changes. If the blocker becomes income timing, move to Yen Generation. If the blocker becomes one fatal leak, move to Base Health. Perks work best when they follow your losses, not a cosmetic balanced build.
Test after each meaningful upgrade. A perk level is worth more when it changes how a stage plays. After increasing Max Yen, try the stage where you previously could not place a key unit in time. After increasing Yen Generation, watch whether your placements happen earlier. After increasing Base Health, check whether the leaked enemy no longer ends the run. If the upgrade does not change the loss, stop spending on that perk and fix the real problem.
Perks also interact with summons, traits, and gear. A damage trait on a carry can reduce the need for emergency base health because enemies die earlier. Gear on a damage unit may make income less painful because waves end faster. A farm or economy unit can change the value of Yen-related perks. Perk priority changes after your roster improves; rerun the failure test whenever the team changes.
Gold cost data can change, so priority logic is safer than fixed math. Spend Gold where it unlocks the next clear. Hold Gold if you are about to test a new unit, because a better roster can change which perk is actually needed. Push Story and farming content after each upgrade so the account earns more resources instead of staying in the menu.