Starlight Wardens guide
How a run goes
Every run starts at wave 1 and has no last wave. How far you go is your party's choice.
Opening the rift
At the Rift Gate in Haven the party picks a land and a difficulty, and may add curses: each curse makes the run harder and adds to its reward. Pressing OPEN THE RIFT starts a ready check for everyone in the world; when all are ready, a short countdown, and the whole party starts together at wave 1.
Waves
A wave ends when its monsters are slain. Every fifth wave brings elites; every tenth wave is a boss wave: the land's mini-bosses, and every twentieth wave its Shardbearer. Deeper in, each step of ten waves is harder than the last, and the land keeps bigger things of its own for those who go far.
Between waves
When a wave is cleared there is a short breath, then each Warden picks one of three boons for the rest of the run. Now and then something else comes along between the waves.
Checkpoints and Press On
After every tenth wave's boss, once the arena is clear, the run stops at a checkpoint. The panel shows what returning now takes home and what reaching the next checkpoint would. Each Warden chooses for themselves: PRESS ON into the next ten waves, or RETURN TO TOWN with everything earned. The run goes on while anyone presses on, and a Warden who went home can step back in through the rift arch at the next wave.
The hoard
Coming home from a checkpoint banks a bonus on top of everything the run's waves paid you, and it grows with depth:
| Checkpoint | Bonus on the run's pay |
|---|---|
| Wave 20 | +25 % |
| Wave 30 | +50 % |
| Wave 40 | +75 % |
| Wave 50 | +100 % |
| Wave 60 | +110 % |
and a little more at each checkpoint after.
A wipe keeps your pay, loses the bonus.
Three stars a land
Each land has three stars on each difficulty: ★ for clearing wave 20, ★★ for wave 30 and ★★★ for wave 60. Each pays a one-time reward the first time, and the stars open the next difficulty.
Falling, and losing
At no health a Warden is downed and crawls. A friend who stands beside them for a few seconds brings them back, and anyone still down stands up again for the next wave. If every Warden in the run is down at once, the run ends. A lost run still keeps what its waves paid.
At the gate and the checkpoint, the world says
Deeper pays more: items, Starsteel and Mythic chances grow with every ten waves.
First Light: until your first checkpoint, monsters deal you half damage.
Step into the portal, or press READY.