Aurum Nova AI: settings guide and recommended setups for XAUUSD

Aurum Nova AI is a gold (XAUUSD) Expert Advisor with two engines: Nova, nine breakout strategies checked by two neural network models, and Orion, nine classic breakouts of hourly, 4-hour and daily levels. This guide explains which settings to change, which to leave alone, and how to pick a risk level you can live with.

Download the full guide. The 30-page PDF user guide and three ready-made set files (Conservative, Balanced, Growth) are attached to this post as a ZIP file below.

1. Before you start

• Chart: XAUUSD, H1. Any gold symbol whose name contains XAU or GOLD works (XAUUSD, XAUUSDm, XAUUSD.raw, GOLD...).
• Account: hedging. Nova does not open new trades on netting accounts unless you allow it.
• 2-digit (2650.25) and 3-digit (2650.250) gold quotes are both supported. Pips and stops are converted automatically.
• Broker: low gold spread and reliable execution matter more than anything else for a breakout robot. Raw / ECN accounts with commission are fine; count the commission as part of the spread.
• One chart is enough. Use a different magic number on each chart if you run it more than once.
• Start on a demo account for at least one or two weeks.

2. Quick setup: the only setting most users need

00 | QUICK SETUP chooses which Nova strategies run and how open profit is protected:

• SET 1 Default: the five core strategies (Sirius, Vega, Rigel, Altair, Polaris) with the classic 50% NovaLock. Best starting point.
• SET 2 Adaptive: same five strategies, NovaLock tuned per strategy.
• SET 3 All 9: adds the four add-ons (Deneb, Antares, Capella, Arcturus). More trades and more positions open at the same time.
• SET 4 All 9 Adaptive: all nine strategies with per-strategy NovaLock.

More strategies do not automatically mean better results. They mean more trades and more exposure at the same time.

3. AI mode

01 | AI profile: Conservative (default) uses both neural network models and skips trades either model rejects. More Trades is less strict. Without ONNX runs the breakout logic without the AI filter. These modes do not take the same trades, so compare results only between runs that use the same mode.

4. Lot size and risk

02 | LOT SIZE & RISK. In the Strategy Tester, AUTO uses 2% risk per trade; on a live or demo chart, AUTO uses the fixed lot. Always set the sizing mode yourself so backtest and live match.

Compounding grows the account much faster, and it also grows the drawdown. Pick the drawdown you can accept first, then the profit. Use Maximum lot for % risk to cap the lot size once the account is large, because brokers limit the total volume per symbol.

If you prefer fixed lots that still grow, use 16 | AUTOMATIC FIXED-LOT GROWTH: for example, start at 0.01 and add 0.01 for every 500 USD of growth, up to a maximum you choose.

5. Stop loss and profit protection

• Every Nova trade has a fixed safety stop loss on the server (Initial stop loss, default 20 gold pips).
• NovaLock locks part of the best open profit once a trade is in profit (default: 50% of the peak). Keep it on.
• Protection mode: VirtualOnly (default, recommended) keeps the fixed server stop and manages profit protection in the EA. Combined also moves the server stop.
• Your own break-even and trailing (group 04) are used only when NovaLock is off.

6. Orion breakout engine

• Orion Breakout engine on/off: switch Orion on or off without touching Nova.
• Trade Frequency: Extreme conservative (3 strategies), Conservative (5), Moderate (7), Intense (8), Extreme (9), or Auto (chooses by balance and the maximum drawdown budget).
• Risk mode: fixed lots, or a percentage of the balance per trade. Each Orion order has a fixed stop loss.
• Fake-breakout filter: skips setups where the previous candle already broke the level. In our tests the levels Low, Medium and High made almost no difference; Medium is fine.
• Orion trades gold symbols only, uses its own magic numbers (48000+) and closes everything before the weekend.

7. News, weekend and spread

• NFP, CPI and FOMC pauses are on by default (group 10). Keep them on.
• Weekend pause (group 09) stops new entries before the Friday close and removes pending orders, and waits after the Monday open.
• Wide-spread protection (group 12) is off by default. Turn it on if your broker's gold spread often jumps above 2 USD.

8. Daily loss limit and prop firms

• 13 | Daily loss limit: stops new entries (and optionally closes Aurum Nova trades) after a daily loss you choose.
• 14 and 15 | Prop firm limits: enter the firm's daily loss and total drawdown limits; the EA stops a little before them and can pause at the profit target. Use a fixed lot or a low risk per trade on challenges.

9. Dashboard

The on-chart dashboard shows equity, balance, open profit, results for the week and month, max drawdown, the loss if every stop is hit, spread, the next news pause and the weekend pause. The strategies card shows trades, win rate and net profit for each strategy, for Nova and for Orion. Pause entries and Close all ask for a second click.

10. Common questions

The EA does not trade. Check that AutoTrading is on, the chart is H1, the account is hedging, and that no pause is active (news, weekend, entry hours, daily limit). The dashboard shows the next pause.

My backtest differs from another user's. Compare the quick setup, AI mode, sizing mode, broker spread and test period. Use "Every tick based on real ticks".

Can I run it with other EAs? Yes, as long as every EA uses its own magic number. Keep the total risk of all EAs in mind.

Trading gold with leverage is high risk. Backtest results do not guarantee future results. Start on demo and use a risk level you can afford to lose.