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How foes get tougher
Every wave sends more foes, and each one is tougher, faster, better armored and worth a little more gold. Your depth, difficulty and the world's twist stack on top of that.
| Wave | Foe health | Boss health | Foes in the wave | Bosses | Speed | Bonus armor | Gold per kill |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ×1 | – | 11 | – | +1% | +0 | ×1.00 |
| 5 | ×2.2 | ×1.2 | 24 | 1 | +6% | +2 | ×1.12 |
| 10 | ×5.5 | ×4.9 | 40 | 1 | +12% | +5 | ×1.27 |
| 15 | ×14 | ×11 | 55 | 1 | +18% | +7 | ×1.42 |
| 20 | ×34 | ×23 | 71 | 2 | +24% | +10 | ×1.57 |
| 25 | ×85 | ×51 | 87 | 2 | +30% | +12 | ×1.72 |
| 30 | ×211 | ×112 | 102 | 2 | +36% | +15 | ×1.87 |
| 35 | ×340 | ×181 | 118 | 3 | +42% | +17 | ×2.02 |
| 40 | ×548 | ×291 | 133 | 3 | +48% | +20 | ×2.17 |
These numbers are for the Surface level on Normal. A campaign is 40 waves; if you keep going after wave 40, the same growth carries on. Bosses arrive on every fifth wave. Bonus armor only applies to foes that already have armor, like beetles.
Foe health grows by a little less each stage, so the early waves ramp up quickly, the middle of a campaign is the steep climb, and the late game levels off:
| Waves | Foes, per wave | Bosses, per wave |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 5 | +22% | +22% |
| 6 to 25 | +21% | +17% |
| 26 to 30 | +19% | +17% |
| 31 and up | +14% | +10% |
That rate multiplies on itself every wave. A wave whose foes share 10 health on wave 1 shares about 57 on wave 10, 390 on wave 20, 2,400 on wave 30 and 8,900 on wave 40. A boss starts at 650 and reaches about 15,000 on wave 20 and 190,000 on wave 40.
Depth. Each depth adds +35% health on top of that. Depth 10 foes have ×4.5 health, depth 20 foes have ×8.
Difficulty.
| Difficulty | Health | Speed | Lives | Rewards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Easy | ×0.7 | ×0.92 | +5 | ×0.6 |
| Normal | ×1 | ×1 | – | ×1 |
| Hard | ×1.45 | ×1.08 | −3 | ×1.5 |
| Nightmare | ×2.1 | ×1.16 | −7 | ×2.25 |
| Oblivion | ×3.1 | ×1.24 | −10 | ×3.5 |
World twists. Some worlds add more: tougher foes (×1.15 to ×1.2 health), faster foes (up to +18%), extra armor (+2 to +5), bigger swarms (up to +30% foes), healing tides or surprise mini-bosses. The Hollow Harvest event has ×1.35 health and +8% speed, and its foes and bosses start gaining the extra +10% a wave from wave 11 instead of wave 31.
Camp upgrades. Giant’s bane lowers boss health and Small fry lowers the health of every other foe.
A wave sends about 11 foes on wave 1 and roughly 3 more each wave after that, close together. They come in clumps of eight with a short breather between clumps. Each foe carries its share of the wave's total health and gold, so fewer foes means each is tougher, not that the wave is easier. Swarm worlds send up to 30% more.
The mix changes as you go:
- Moths make up most of every wave.
- Wisps (fast) join from wave 2.
- Beetles (armored) join from wave 3 and become more common each wave, up to 30% of the wave.
- Broods (burst into moths) join from wave 6.
- Depth foes. Every depth introduces its own foe, and it shows up in the very first wave so you meet it right away. Deeper worlds mix in all the foes from the depths before them. The newest one appears most often, and deeper runs send more of them (14% of the wave at the Surface level, up to 42% at depth 20).
A boss comes every fifth wave:
| Waves | Bosses |
|---|---|
| 5 to 15 | 1 |
| 20 to 30 | 2 |
| 35 to 40, and on past 40 if you keep going | 3 |
| Endless, after 50 | one more every 15 waves, up to 8 |
A boss that gets through costs 8 lives, but early bosses cost less: 4 on wave 5 and 6 on wave 10, full cost from wave 15.
Early bosses are gentler. Before wave 10 a boss's health is cut (55% on wave 5, full by wave 10), and its armor ramps up until wave 15: a boss wears about 2 armor on wave 5 and 6 on wave 10 instead of the full 6 and 9.
Every world has its own boss with its own tricks, and a few have more or less health or armor. See World bosses.
Foes move 1.2% faster every wave and 4% faster for every depth. Ice and storm worlds and harder difficulties add more on top.
Every kill pays 3% more gold per wave than on wave 1. Clearing a wave also pays a bonus of 6 gold plus about 0.7 per wave (the Wave tithe camp upgrade adds more).
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