diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 0e00556..8e523f9 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -198,8 +198,8 @@ Kustomize resources live in `k8s/` and define:
 - ClusterIP port 3000 and Traefik ingress for `guide.sudloh.com`.
 - Cloudflare edge TLS with the cluster's standard HTTP Traefik origin route.
 - Startup, liveness, and dependency-aware readiness probes.
-- Web requests of 500m CPU/512 MiB and limits of 1 CPU/1 GiB.
-- HPA from 2 to 6 web replicas at 70% CPU and a PDB with one available.
+- Web requests of 500m CPU/1 GiB and limits of 1 CPU/2 GiB.
+- HPA from 2 to 6 web replicas at 70% CPU or 75% memory and a PDB with one available.
 - Non-root, read-only containers with dropped capabilities and seccomp.
 - ARM64 scheduling constraints matching the production hosts and images.
 - A versioned migration Job and namespace-scoped CI deployer permissions.
diff --git a/components/public/structured-directory.tsx b/components/public/structured-directory.tsx
index 9c1b574..777ff4f 100644
--- a/components/public/structured-directory.tsx
+++ b/components/public/structured-directory.tsx
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ export function StructuredDirectory({ guides }: { guides: GuideCard[] }) {
             <Link
               key={guide.id}
               href={`/${guide.slug}`}
+              prefetch={false}
               className="group rounded-xl outline-none focus-visible:ring-2 focus-visible:ring-ring"
             >
               <Card className="h-full overflow-hidden py-0 transition-transform group-hover:-translate-y-0.5">
diff --git a/k8s/base/deployment.yaml b/k8s/base/deployment.yaml
index c0821c0..0f7351b 100644
--- a/k8s/base/deployment.yaml
+++ b/k8s/base/deployment.yaml
@@ -57,10 +57,10 @@ spec:
           resources:
             requests:
               cpu: 500m
-              memory: 512Mi
+              memory: 1Gi
             limits:
               cpu: "1"
-              memory: 1Gi
+              memory: 2Gi
           startupProbe:
             httpGet:
               path: /api/health
diff --git a/k8s/base/hpa.yaml b/k8s/base/hpa.yaml
index 04e9f67..882e34a 100644
--- a/k8s/base/hpa.yaml
+++ b/k8s/base/hpa.yaml
@@ -23,3 +23,9 @@ spec:
         target:
           type: Utilization
           averageUtilization: 70
+    - type: Resource
+      resource:
+        name: memory
+        target:
+          type: Utilization
+          averageUtilization: 75
diff --git a/lib/guides/queries.ts b/lib/guides/queries.ts
index 843a15a..729733a 100644
--- a/lib/guides/queries.ts
+++ b/lib/guides/queries.ts
@@ -33,6 +33,28 @@ import type { PosterBlendMode } from "@/components/public/material-poster";
 const catalogVersionSchema = z.object({ version: z.string() });
 const posterBlendModes = new Set(["normal", "multiply", "screen", "overlay", "darken", "lighten", "color-dodge", "color-burn", "hard-light", "soft-light", "difference", "exclusion", "hue", "saturation", "color", "luminosity"]);
 
+// Leave most of the per-pod pool available to other visitors during cache misses.
+const PUBLIC_QUERY_CONCURRENCY = 3;
+
+async function runWithConcurrency<
+  const T extends ReadonlyArray<() => Promise<unknown>>,
+>(
+  tasks: T,
+  concurrency = PUBLIC_QUERY_CONCURRENCY,
+): Promise<{ [K in keyof T]: Awaited<ReturnType<T[K]>> }> {
+  const results = new Array<unknown>(tasks.length);
+  let next = 0;
+  await Promise.all(
+    Array.from({ length: Math.min(concurrency, tasks.length) }, async () => {
+      while (next < tasks.length) {
+        const index = next++;
+        results[index] = await tasks[index]();
+      }
+    }),
+  );
+  return results as { [K in keyof T]: Awaited<ReturnType<T[K]>> };
+}
+
 function catalogCharacterWithUrls(
   item: typeof catalogCharacters.$inferSelect,
   materialByKey = new Map<string, typeof catalogMaterials.$inferSelect>(),
@@ -221,7 +243,11 @@ export async function listPublicGuideCards() {
     .from(guides)
     .innerJoin(media, eq(media.id, guides.coverMediaId))
     .where(and(eq(guides.isPublic, true), isNull(guides.trashedAt)))
-    .orderBy(desc(guides.sortOrder), desc(guides.createdAt), asc(guides.name)), getDb().select().from(glossaryAliases)]);
+    .orderBy(desc(guides.sortOrder), desc(guides.createdAt), asc(guides.name)), getDb().select({
+      kind: glossaryAliases.kind,
+      catalogKey: glossaryAliases.catalogKey,
+      alias: glossaryAliases.alias,
+    }).from(glossaryAliases)]);
   const grouped = aliasesByItem(aliases);
   return rows.map(({ coverObjectKey, ...guide }) => ({
     ...guide,
@@ -303,22 +329,26 @@ async function getGuideContent(slug: string, publicOnly: boolean) {
   const materialKeys = [...new Set(
     [...row.character.ascension, ...row.character.leveling].flatMap((group) => group.items.map((item) => item.key)),
   )];
-  const [sections, weaponConditionsRows, groups, profile, constellationGroups, teamConditionRows, teams, aliases, materials, poster, bleeding] = await Promise.all([
-    getDb().select().from(guideSections).where(and(eq(guideSections.guideId, row.guide.id), eq(guideSections.enabled, true))).orderBy(asc(guideSections.sortOrder)),
-    getDb().select().from(weaponConditions).where(eq(weaponConditions.guideId, row.guide.id)).orderBy(asc(weaponConditions.sortOrder)),
-    getDb().select().from(artifactGroups).where(eq(artifactGroups.guideId, row.guide.id)).orderBy(asc(artifactGroups.sortOrder)),
-    getDb().select().from(artifactProfiles).where(eq(artifactProfiles.guideId, row.guide.id)).limit(1),
-    getDb().select().from(constellationConditions).where(eq(constellationConditions.guideId, row.guide.id)).orderBy(asc(constellationConditions.sortOrder)),
-    getDb().select().from(teamConditions).where(eq(teamConditions.guideId, row.guide.id)).orderBy(asc(teamConditions.sortOrder)),
-    getDb().select().from(teamCompositions).where(eq(teamCompositions.guideId, row.guide.id)).orderBy(asc(teamCompositions.sortOrder)),
-    getDb().select().from(glossaryAliases),
-    materialKeys.length
+  const [sections, weaponConditionsRows, groups, profile, constellationGroups, teamConditionRows, teams, aliases, materials, poster, bleeding] = await runWithConcurrency([
+    () => getDb().select().from(guideSections).where(and(eq(guideSections.guideId, row.guide.id), eq(guideSections.enabled, true))).orderBy(asc(guideSections.sortOrder)),
+    () => getDb().select().from(weaponConditions).where(eq(weaponConditions.guideId, row.guide.id)).orderBy(asc(weaponConditions.sortOrder)),
+    () => getDb().select().from(artifactGroups).where(eq(artifactGroups.guideId, row.guide.id)).orderBy(asc(artifactGroups.sortOrder)),
+    () => getDb().select().from(artifactProfiles).where(eq(artifactProfiles.guideId, row.guide.id)).limit(1),
+    () => getDb().select().from(constellationConditions).where(eq(constellationConditions.guideId, row.guide.id)).orderBy(asc(constellationConditions.sortOrder)),
+    () => getDb().select().from(teamConditions).where(eq(teamConditions.guideId, row.guide.id)).orderBy(asc(teamConditions.sortOrder)),
+    () => getDb().select().from(teamCompositions).where(eq(teamCompositions.guideId, row.guide.id)).orderBy(asc(teamCompositions.sortOrder)),
+    () => getDb().select({
+      kind: glossaryAliases.kind,
+      catalogKey: glossaryAliases.catalogKey,
+      alias: glossaryAliases.alias,
+    }).from(glossaryAliases),
+    () => materialKeys.length
       ? getDb().select().from(catalogMaterials).where(inArray(catalogMaterials.key, materialKeys))
-      : [],
-    row.guide.posterArtMediaId
+      : Promise.resolve([]),
+    () => row.guide.posterArtMediaId
       ? getDb().select().from(media).where(eq(media.id, row.guide.posterArtMediaId)).limit(1)
       : Promise.resolve([]),
-    getDb().select({ layer: guidePosterBleeding, asset: media }).from(guidePosterBleeding).leftJoin(media, eq(media.id, guidePosterBleeding.mediaId)).where(eq(guidePosterBleeding.guideId, row.guide.id)).orderBy(asc(guidePosterBleeding.sortOrder)),
+    () => getDb().select({ layer: guidePosterBleeding, asset: media }).from(guidePosterBleeding).leftJoin(media, eq(media.id, guidePosterBleeding.mediaId)).where(eq(guidePosterBleeding.guideId, row.guide.id)).orderBy(asc(guidePosterBleeding.sortOrder)),
   ]);
   const groupedAliases = aliasesByItem(aliases);
   const materialByKey = new Map(materials.map((item) => [item.key, item]));
diff --git a/tests/deployment-contract.test.ts b/tests/deployment-contract.test.ts
index 20838cf..75a9610 100644
--- a/tests/deployment-contract.test.ts
+++ b/tests/deployment-contract.test.ts
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ describe("production deployment contract", () => {
     expect(deployment).toContain("path: /api/health");
     expect(deployment).toContain("kubernetes.io/arch: arm64");
     expect(deployment).toMatch(
-      /requests:\s+cpu: 500m\s+memory: 512Mi\s+limits:\s+cpu: "1"\s+memory: 1Gi/u,
+      /requests:\s+cpu: 500m\s+memory: 1Gi\s+limits:\s+cpu: "1"\s+memory: 2Gi/u,
     );
     expect(deployment).toContain("runAsNonRoot: true");
     expect(deployment).toContain("runAsUser: 1000");
@@ -53,6 +53,8 @@ describe("production deployment contract", () => {
     expect(hpa).toContain("minReplicas: 2");
     expect(hpa).toContain("maxReplicas: 6");
     expect(hpa).toContain("averageUtilization: 70");
+    expect(hpa).toContain("name: memory");
+    expect(hpa).toContain("averageUtilization: 75");
     expect(pdb).toContain("minAvailable: 1");
   });
 
diff --git a/tests/public-performance.test.ts b/tests/public-performance.test.ts
index 83ab490..e2dd90d 100644
--- a/tests/public-performance.test.ts
+++ b/tests/public-performance.test.ts
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ describe("public rendering performance", () => {
       'fetchPriority={index === 0 ? "high" : undefined}',
     );
     expect(directory).not.toContain("preload={index === 0}");
+    expect(directory).toContain("prefetch={false}");
   });
 
   it("publishes a public-only crawler policy", () => {