Hey there, racer fam — hope you’re ready to shift into high gear, because I’m about to take you through one of the most electrifying aspects of MoonKarts: its Power-Ups. These aren’t just flashy extras — they’re strategic tools that can change the course of a race.
What Are Power-Up Cards?
In MoonKarts, power-up cards give you active in-race abilities. They don’t directly change your kart’s base stats like speed, handling, or acceleration — those come from your kart, driver, and tech cards. But power-ups let you influence your opponent or manipulate the race environment using tactical activates.
Think of them as your race-time arsenal — deploy them at the right moment, and you can disrupt your rivals or gain an edge you wouldn’t otherwise have.
Common Types & Effects
Here are a few power-up examples that players are already talking about:
- Missiles: A favorite among competitive racers. When you fire one, it not only deals damage to the opponent’s kart but can also reduce their handling for the rest of the race. The more upgraded the missile card, the stronger the effect. In one player’s experience, even a level-1 missile could inflict ~25% damage and reduce handling by 4%.
- Lunar Bolt (and other shock / trap type power-ups): These let you throw traps or deploy area effects that disrupt your opponent — slow them, interfere with their trajectory, or otherwise throw a wrench in their momentum.
Each time you use a power-up mid-race, it goes into cooldown, meaning you must wait before triggering it again. For instance, that level-1 missile mentioned above has an 18-second cooldown between uses. In multiplayer settings, well-timed power-ups can turn a losing match into a win. One user described using missile power-ups in the first lap and gaining an upper hand, even with lower-level kart parts.
Strategy Tips & Considerations
You’ll want to balance your base stats and your power-up choices. A kart with strong speed but weak handling may suffer when hit by power-ups unless you also carry defensive or control-type ones.
Strategy Tips & Considerations
Because power-ups don’t alter baseline stats, they’re especially useful if your collection is underpowered — they can act as “equalizers” in competitive matchups.
Watch your cooldowns. A poorly timed power-up is worse than none. Using your boost too early or when the opponent is out of reach wastes its potential.