Tron 2.0 C.O.W. upgrade priority

I haven't seen a write up on this yet, so I'll post my musings on how to get the most out of the Code Optimization Wares ( C.O.W.s) you find in the game. Ever upgrade the Ball Launcher to Beta only to kick yourself when you find it in the next archive bin? Then this is for you! When you find a C.O.W., start at the top of the list and work your way down until you find a subroutine you can upgrade at that point in the game.

Subroutine	Version	Wait Time for Next Upgrade (in build points)
You will never find a gold version of these ingame, so they should be your first choice to upgrade. I moved the defensive subroutines to the top of the list, since they apply to (almost) every situation. MegaHurtz, Corrode, and Primitive Charge stack with more than one weapon, so they are also useful in more situations. Since there is no timing involved with the upgrades in these first two sections, there is more freedom of choice as to what to upgrade.
Truncate	Beta	n/a	5% gain in defense.
Submask	Beta	n/a	Only a 3% gain here,
Support Safeguard	Beta	n/a	and here.
MegaHurtz	Beta	n/a	More/less important than defense? You decide!
Corrode	Beta	n/a	Slower acting than MegaHurtz
Primitive Charge	Beta	n/a
Sequencer Disc	Beta	n/a
Prankster Bit	Beta	n/a	There are no more COWs left to upgrade to gold, sorry! If you really want a gold version of this, you’re gonna have to cheat.
Drunken Dims	Beta	n/a
Cluster Disc	Beta	n/a
Ball Launcher	Beta	n/a
LOL	Beta	n/a
Energy Claw	Beta	n/a	There are no more COWs left to upgrade to gold, sorry! If you really want a gold version of this, you’re gonna have to cheat.
Suffusion	Beta	n/a
Triangulate	Beta	n/a
Fuzzy Signature	Beta	n/a
You will not find either beta or gold versions of these either.
Prankster Bit	Alpha	n/a	Will never get to upgrade these to gold
Energy Claw	Alpha	n/a	Why did I list them above?
Below are the alpha versions of the betas above. Eventually you will find these in game, but if you upgrade them to beta, they will be available for the next C.O.W. you find. This is where the timing of upgrades becomes critical. Times are listed in the gap between build points from when you find the alpha version to when you find the beta version. So beta upgrades that show up sooner after you find the alpha sink to the bottom of the list and you won't waste a C.O.W. on them. You will be waiting most of the game to upgrade the Primitive Charge to Beta. The Beta upgrade for the Sequencer Disk you will find very soon after you get the Alpha.
Primitive Charge	Alpha	640
Truncate	Alpha	367
Submask	Alpha	265
Ball Launcher	Alpha	265
Corrode	Alpha	213
LOL	Alpha	212
Fuzzy Signature	Alpha	162
Support Safeguard	Alpha	141
MegaHurtz	Alpha	139
Cluster Disc	Alpha	114
Drunken Dims	Alpha	105
Suffusion	Alpha	99
Sequencer Disc	Alpha	17
Same rules as the previous section, except that you will eventually find gold versions of all of these, so don't waste a C.O.W. on them unless you upgraded everything else you have.
Viral Shield	Beta	285	I bumped this up because you will want a gold version asap. It is nearly useless later on.
Peripheral Seal	Alpha	652
Power Block	Alpha	537
Base Damping	Beta	226
Y-Amp	Beta	214
Profiler	Alpha	167
Viral Shield	Alpha	152
Y-Amp	Alpha	138
Base Damping	Alpha	136
Profiler	Beta	107
Power Block	Beta	47
Virus Scan	Beta	45
Triangulate	Alpha	0	The first one you find is a Beta.
Virus Scan	Alpha	0	Same here.
Peripheral Seal	Beta	0	Jump from Alpha to Gold here.

So there you have it. C.O.W. choices made easy!

I'm also testing a theory about efficient version upgrade point usage. It goes like this:

version 1.0.0 spend all 7 upgrades on health
version 2.0.0 spend 1 on health, the rest on energy
version 3.0.0 spend all 7 upgrades on energy
version 4.0.0 energy again (surge mode)
version 5.0.0 health
version 6.0 0 spend 5 upgrades on health (surge mode), 2 on weapon efficiency
version 7.0.0 weapon efficiency again
version 8.0.0 and again
version 9.0.0 surge weapon efficiency, then whatever you fancy

So why do that? Infinate energy patches are everywhere, and health is finite, so go for health first. Stop getting health at version 2.0.0 so you can surge energy just in time for the sniper trial, and to get the beta Corrode, then finish surging health.