The leagues, phase 4: the duel learns, tin tiers by league, level buffs, the board wears the badge

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

PROJECT.md

@@ -491,6 +491,37 @@ zombie (now an occasional opponent, `TUNE.racketEvery`, not the every-game fixtu
   `RETURNED`, `DOUBLE KILL`) is a footnote to something you already watched happen. Sharing the loud
   FACE with the milestone cards is right; sharing their SIZE made every footnote read as a milestone.
 
+## Session log: THE LEAGUES, PHASE 4 — the duel learns, tin tiers, the level is you (2026-08-29, STAGING ONLY)
+
+Phase 4, the last of the built plan. STAGING ONLY — the whole feature waits on Oliver's own
+phone test before merging to main.
+
+- **THE DUEL LEARNS.** The diagnosis held: in a duel the racket zombie played with every ladder
+  term inert (chase collapsed to `racketSpeed`, read to flat `aiRead`, flub a flat 0.2, quality
+  capped 0.55) and only hp stiffened — at `duelFirst 2 / duelEvery 3` that made it a weapon
+  DISPENSER, the same inflation class the barrel economy was cured of. `gameplay.duelSkill()`
+  (0 → 1 over `TUNE.duelRampGames` 24, on `G.runGames` — gore's own clock, the league never
+  rekeys the director) now ramps its legs (`duelSpeedMax` +35%), read (`duelReadMax` 0.93),
+  whiff (`duelFlubCut`: 0.2 → 0.08) and return quality (`duelQBonus`: 0.55 → 0.75). Game 0 is
+  exactly the shipped duel (calibration rule). Losing already costs plenty (opponent game +
+  runGames++ + the 5-body surge + no tin/heal) — now it can actually happen late.
+- **THE TIN TIERS** (settled: no starting loadout). `tinLadder()` (pure, tested): a barrel weapon
+  joins the duel pot when the RUN unlocks it (as ever) OR when the LEAGUE says so —
+  `config.TIN_LEAGUE` lasers at 3, rockets at 4 — and league 5 duels pay DOUBLE tins
+  (`TIN_DOUBLE_LEAGUE`, the card says ×2N). "Weapons are only ever won" stays literal.
+- **THE LEVEL IS YOU**: `profile.bonus()` — level 1 = all factors 1 (shipped), scaling linearly
+  to the cap: melee cooldown FLOOR ×0.75 (the ceiling untouched), parry reach/arm ×1.25, hurt
+  grace ×1.35. Read at the dial sites (meleeCooldown, keyPressed's parry arm, zombies' parry
+  window + face-offset, hurtPlayer). Applies everywhere the dials do — gore included, which is
+  the cross-mode incentive the plan asked for.
+- **THE BOARD WEARS THE BADGE**: score rows carry `lg` (server clean() bounds it 1-5, default 1;
+  context, never a sort key), `stats.submit` takes it as a parameter (profile cannot be imported
+  there — cycle), main passes `prof.lg`, and drawRanks renders the little shield before the name.
+  Old rows carry none and show none — no migration.
+- Tests 121 → 124 (duel ramp shape + its caps stay fallible, tin tiers incl. the double tin and
+  the run-gate fallback, bonus() bounds + the grace landing on `G.hurtT`). Seeds fuzzed.
+  Server round-tripped live (`lg: 4` stored, served, and drawn as the navy shield on the board).
+
 ## Session log: THE LEAGUES, PHASE 3 — the character card, badges, the skill trail (2026-08-29, STAGING ONLY)
 
 Phase 3. STAGING ONLY, like 1 and 2.
@@ -601,7 +632,7 @@ before the wider group) — do not merge to main until his verdict.
   118, seeds fuzzed. Pane-verified end to end (identity flow, POST 200, death screen with +16 XP
   and the bar; NOTE this pane session has rAF dead again — `T.step(1/60)` loops drove the clock).
 
-## THE LEAGUES — the meta-progression plan (2026-08-29, AGREED, PHASE 1 BUILT — see log above)
+## THE LEAGUES — the meta-progression plan (2026-08-29, AGREED; PHASES 1-4 BUILT ON STAGING — see the four logs above; phase 5 deliberately parked)
 
 Worked out with Oliver in discussion, decisions settled below. The goal in his words: an incentive
 to keep opening the game beyond beating the next opponent — levelling through play, with a clearly