Read the estimate before spending
Start with your Paragon family and actual game difficulty. Damage, eligible income and paid sacrifice cash describe towers that will merge; slider investment describes cash injected at creation. The upgrade price sets the cash conversion rate but does not itself grant Power. Override it when the displayed in-game price differs.
The result separates raw resources, category-limited Power and final effective Power. An increasing raw total can leave Degree unchanged if its category is already full. Wasted category Power and total Power above 200,000 are separate, so you can identify which limit is responsible.
A worked threshold example
For Ascended Shadow Medium, $500,000 eligible non-T5 cash supplies 20,000 Power. Add 18,000,000 damage for another 100,000. This 120,000 total reaches Degree 79, just 115 Power below Degree 80. With the damage category still open, 20,700 additional damage closes that gap in the integer model.
This assumes no extra T5s, Totems or knowledge bonus. Each proposed addition is checked by the forward engine. A category can have spare capacity yet still be unable to close the entire target gap. A single-resource infeasible result does not rule out a combined plan.
Choose a practical stopping point
Compare the next Degree with the next 20-Degree Boss stage before spending. Event restrictions, placement space and time to earn damage remain game constraints. Use the tower builder when you have individual paths rather than a cash total, and retain the rules version when sharing an old run.