Five minutes until the star erupts. Fifteen minutes to survive. Supernova brings a new endgame ladder, radioactive battlefields and five Star Forged armor sets built around new ways to play each survivor. ENTER THE SUPERNOVA LADDER [*]Clear Event Horizon Level 10 to unlock Supernova. After Rebirth, defeat the World CPU again to reopen access. [*]Survive a full 15-minute run to clear a level. Clear your highest unlocked level to open the next, or replay an earlier level to hunt for gear. [*]Watch the star grow unstable throughout the opening five minutes. At 5:00 it erupts; at 5:30, the expanding fallout reaches the arena. [*]Radioactive impact zones become more frequent and harder to avoid as the run continues. Every impact is marked before it lands. [*]Explore an open field with no invisible wall. Radiation warns you when you travel too far from the starting center and grows more dangerous with distance. A MUCH DEADLIER BATTLEFIELD [*]Fight a roster of 25 enemy types, with new threats joining the mix as the run progresses. Vault Reaver does not appear in Supernova. [*]Supernova enemies have 100× the health and 3× the attack damage of their Horizon equivalents at the same level and point in the run. [*]Enemy arrivals intensify and come from all directions. Up to 800 enemies can be active. [*]Corrupted Shell gains a Supernova-only pull. Watch its warning tether, interrupt the cast or be ready to move when it draws you close. RADIATION: DANGER AND OPPORTUNITY Enemies caught in fallout become irradiated. Killing them triggers a warned death explosion, so clearing a pack is only half the job. Fallout impact zones drain 8% of maximum core every half-second. Irradiated death explosions deal 34% of maximum core after their warning. Cooling fallout zones can leave behind a yellow Radiation Pylon. Collect one for two minutes of immunity to fallout, death explosions and outer-field radiation. It instantly irradiates every hostile enemy across the field, and new enemies arrive irradiated while the effect lasts. Enemies remain irradiated after the buff expires. Another pylon refreshes the duration. STAR FORGED EQUIPMENT Star Forged armor drops only from irradiated enemies. Level 1 starts at Horizon Level 40 stat power, and higher Supernova levels improve the available rolls. These are rare finds, with no guaranteed drop per run. All five survivors receive a five-piece armor set with distinct two-piece and four-piece bonuses. At Rebirth 0, two pieces grant 50% more total damage; four pieces grant 125% more total damage combined, before these hero-specific effects: [*] Nova Runner: Turn movement into a charged Solar Arc on your next hit. Max Bandwidth and Evade can fully charge it and make the Arc strike again. [*] Kernel Knight: Turn Buffer Overflow landings into explosive Fusion Anchors. Sonic Aegis can detonate them together for doubled anchor damage. [*] Hex Witch: Brand enemies with support casts, then use different support abilities in succession to release three stellar pulses. [*] Archive Ghost: Alternate attacks with your Duplicate to trigger Crossfire explosions. Gain repeat explosions and damaging Recall bursts. [*] VEX.E: Consume Bleed stacks for Ruptures, add a wider follow-up wave and refund part of your Bladespin cooldown. Star Forged equipment also works outside Supernova on the matching hero in modes that use equipped gear. Fixed-loadout challenges exclude these effects. Horizon and Star Forged pieces count toward their own set bonuses separately. STAR FORGED CRYSTALS Discover 15 Star Forged crystal types, each 30% stronger than its Horizon counterpart. Like the armor, they drop only from irradiated enemies. Armor and crystals each have an independent 0.015% chance per eligible kill while that reward category has room. Higher ladder levels improve armor quality and raise the run limits; they do not increase the drop chance. STAR FORGED LIMITS PER RUN [*]Supernova Levels 1–10: up to 2 armor pieces and 4 crystals. [*]Supernova Levels 11–20: up to 4 armor pieces and 8 crystals. [*]Supernova Levels 21+: up to 6 armor pieces and 12 crystals. Limits use the level selected for that run. Drops count when they appear, including those left on the ground. Armor and crystal limits are separate. These are maximums, not guaranteed rewards. NEW VISUALS AND COMBAT CUES [*]New animated star phases carry the arena from instability through eruption and expanding fallout. [*]New Star Forged armor and crystal artwork across all five survivors. [*]Dedicated warnings for fallout, irradiated death explosions and Corrupted Shell’s pull. [*]A clear outer-field warning shows radiation intensity, distance and the direction back to center, alongside your pylon immunity timer. [*]Visible Fusion Anchor countdowns, a Solar Arc charge indicator and updated Supernova selection artwork.
Patch notes and announcements
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- Added Portal Zeta and the Zeta Form loot series. - Added the unique Unstable Power Stone. - Refined Zeta loot, nearby reinforcement pods and item tooltips.
- Fixed an unused controller blocking input from an active Xbox controller. - Improved desktop controller fallback activation when moving the stick. - Corrected button prompts for Xbox Wireless controllers. - Teddy portals no longer spawn on Event Horizon levels. - Fixed missing Crit Chance rolls on VEX.E Horizon gear, including Recalibration Cube options on existing pieces. - Horizon gear can now roll Crit Chance alongside its fixed Crit Chance bonus. - Reduced performance drops when using Critical Kernel with Bladespin. Damage and critical promotion chances remain unchanged. - Fixed continuing enemy waves stopping in long Infinite runs, including the sudden cutoff around 55 minutes in Accelerated Deletion.
PURGE PROTOCOL IS BACK, THIS WEEKEND ONLY The kill race returns. Open now until Sunday 4 October, 20:00 CEST. Every kill counts towards one account total: any hero, any level, any build. Top 10 win Signal Shards: - 1st place: 1,000 shards - 2nd–5th: 500 shards each - 6th–10th: 250 shards each Only new kills count. Lifetime kills and the September event don't carry over. Prizes go to your Steam account automatically after the challenge closes. September's Purge Elite and Purge Victor frames stay with their winners. FIXES & CHANGES - Banning an upgrade for a weapon, passive or ability you already own now locks it at its current level. Once everything else is maxed, level-ups are skipped as normal instead of offering Emergency Patch over and over. - Emergency Patch now heals 25% of your max health instead of a flat 35.
World CPU: safe-zone damage matches the visible ring, with “Protected from rain” feedback. Gear: sensible ranges for capped stats, comparisons showing actual benefit, distinct reroll choices, and one free replacement for eligible oversized legacy stats. Unstable Cube: costs 250 down from 500. Lifesteal: clearer, readable hover explanation. Endgame journey: replaces campaign guidance after World CPU with maximum-difficulty milestones and ladder records. Portal Zeta and Supernova appear as coming soon.
- Added Ban to level-up choices. Unlock up to two bans in Character Upgrades for 25,000 Credits each. Banned weapons or abilities stay out of later rolls for that run. - Added Restart to the pause menu and Play Again to the results screen. - Quick Compare can be enabled in Display settings. Stash items and enchants now compare with what you’re wearing in the same slot, including item-versus-enchant comparisons in both directions. - Save Rebirth keeps earned Supersize Doses. Active Doses keep their original 24-hour timer. - Save Rebirth carries up to 500,000 Credits. - Improved pause-menu alignment and level-up choice-card readability.
New weekend challenge: SIZE MATTERS [*] Find it under Live Leaderboards > CHALLENGE and press ENTER CHALLENGE . [/*][*] Everyone plays the same Kernel Knight in the DARKNET skin. Dash and shield are maxed from the start; you pick everything else as you level up. [/*][*] Enemies grow for 20 seconds after they spawn. Bigger enemies are tougher and worth more points. [/*][*] The swarm builds fast, up to 400 enemies at once, and a new enemy type joins every 45 seconds. [/*][*] The arena shrinks over time. [/*][*] From 10:00 one quarter of the arena at a time turns to blue frost for 10 seconds: walking through it is 80% slower (your dash is not). From 20:00 two quarters freeze at once. [/*][*] At 4:00 a red pylon starts firing a rotating laser. It gains a beam at 8:00, 12:00 and 16:00, and its damage climbs until 20:00. Dash through a beam to take no damage. [/*][*] At 5:00 and 15:00 an Ascension Vault appears: touch it to max-ascend one of your weapons. [/*][*] Touch a crown pylon for +50% speed and damage for 10 seconds (once per pylon). [/*][*] A repair pickup (+) drops every 30 seconds. [/*][*] Your best run counts. The challenge closes Sunday 27 September at 20:00 CEST . [/*] Prizes (top 10) [*] 1st: DARKNET skin (400 Signal Shards instead if you already own it), 1,000 Signal Shards and 1,000,000 credits [/*][*] 2nd: 500 Signal Shards and 750,000 credits [/*][*] 3rd: 500 Signal Shards and 500,000 credits [/*][*] 4th–5th: 500 Signal Shards and 200,000 credits [/*][*] 6th–10th: 200,000 credits [/*][*] Every top-10 player also gets a Supersize Dose (+25% XP for 24 hours). [/*] Enemy crowds [*] Enemies no longer stack on top of each other . They can still crowd in very close, but always keep a small gap, so a big horde now surrounds you as a packed crowd instead of one pile. This applies in every mode. [/*][*] Enemies slide around each other to reach you instead of squeezing into the same spot. [/*][*] Pulling abilities still work: Null Well, Faultline, the Kernel Knight's flag loop, VEX.E's Bladespin, Max Bandwidth, Code Injector implosions and ascended weapon pulls still drag enemies together. When the pull ends, the clump spreads back out. [/*][*] Because enemies can no longer all stand on the same spot, fewer of them can reach you at once when you are completely surrounded. [/*] World CPU [*] The World CPU fight is now zoomed out 25% so you can see more of the arena. The camera eases out once you install your boot-cache weapon and eases back in when Phase V (System Overload) begins. [/*] Save Rebirth [*] The Character XP stat now includes your Save Rebirth bonus (+50% per Rebirth) and lists it in its breakdown, so the number you see is the one you get. [/*][*] The Character XP cap now rises with Save Rebirth. Character XP from gear was stuck at +30%; it now rises by 20% with each Rebirth ( +36% after one, +60% after five ), so a max-roll Wristband keeps its full Rebirth boost. [/*] Performance [*] Higher frame rate on ROOT//PRIME's crown and in the SIZE MATTERS arena. [/*][*] XP gems are cheaper to draw in every mode. [/*] Fixes [*] Challenge runs no longer unlock achievements. [/*]
A new permanent progression system has arrived. Save Rebirth lets veteran survivors restart their current Seasonal save while retaining key endgame accomplishments. In exchange, every Rebirth permanently increases the power and progression speed of that save. Save Rebirth Requirements [*] Clear Event Horizon Ladder Level 10. [/*][*] Reach Infernal Prestige Level 100 with any survivor. [/*] Credits are not required. Rebirth can be performed once per Copenhagen week, with a maximum of five Rebirths per save. Permanent Rebirth Bonuses Every Rebirth grants: [*] +50% Character XP earned by every survivor. [/*][*] +20% to all item stats from every item and stat source. [/*][*] A Rebirth tag on the leaderboards, ranging from Rebirthed (x1) to Rebirthed (x5). [/*] These bonuses stack with every Rebirth. What Rebirth Resets Rebirth returns ordinary progression to a fresh Seasonal start: [*] Character levels and Character Prestige. [/*][*] Items, equipment, loadouts, and upgrades. [/*][*] Ordinary unlocks and currencies. [/*][*] Runs, scores, and other standard progression. [/*][*] The contents of regular inventory folders. [/*] Rebirth is permanent and cannot be undone. A clear confirmation screen now explains everything that will be reset before the Rebirth can be completed. What You Keep The following progress is protected: [*] Achievements. [/*][*] Your lifetime Purge counter. [/*][*] Tutorial and storyline completion. [/*][*] Leaderboard name and equipped leaderboard cosmetics. [/*][*] Signal Shards and Season Pass progress. [/*][*] Pets and the Pets folder. [/*][*] Existing inventory folder names and organization. Regular folder contents are cleared. [/*][*] Event Horizon Ladder progress. [/*][*] Null Tide levels, upgrades, and configuration. [/*][*] Code Abyss levels, Code Pieces, and Code Injector Pieces. [/*] Null Tide and Code Abyss progress remains preserved but becomes available again only after those systems are naturally unlocked on the reborn save. Prestige & Rebirth Page The Character Prestige page is now the Character Prestige & Rebirth page. [*] Prestige progression has been reorganized to make room for the new Rebirth panel. [/*][*] The panel clearly displays your Rebirth count, requirements, permanent bonuses, and weekly limit. [/*][*] Eligible saves receive yellow notification markers on Survivor Systems and Prestige & Rebirth. [/*][*] The eligible Rebirth panel now glows to make it immediately recognizable. [/*][*] The irreversible confirmation screen uses clearer lists and larger text. [/*] Mode Select Page Redone The Mode Select page has been completely rebuilt to make choosing your next run clearer and faster. [*] Your Journey now clearly shows your progression, completed milestones, current objective, and upcoming challenges. [/*][*] Each mode has improved artwork, larger difficulty cards, clearer settings, and better selection highlighting. [/*][*] Mode descriptions and entry requirements now explain what you need to do next. [/*][*] Expected Loot now shows the rewards available from each difficulty, including rare and mode-specific drops. [/*][*] Special progression routes, such as the World CPU, now use illustrated step-by-step guidance. [/*][*] Tutorials and hints have been updated to work with the new layout. [/*] You can now quickly see where you are, what comes next, what each mode requires, and which rewards you can earn.
This update improves combat performance, reduces work while paused, lowers image-loading overhead, and makes progression, armor changes and season-pass checkout clearer. Performance: higher frame rates and steadier combat Across four controlled stress-test comparisons, the final optimization pass delivered 31.5% to 79.8% higher frame rates . The desktop test build improved by 45.7% in Godfall and 75.7% in Extraction . [*] Godfall — 2560 × 1440, 600 enemies : 46.1 FPS → 67.1 FPS ( 45.7% higher FPS) [*] Extraction — 2560 × 1440, 240 enemies : 54.2 FPS → 95.3 FPS ( 75.7% higher FPS) These comparisons used fixed enemy populations and six active weapons. Extraction included player movement. Resolution and combat workload were preserved within each comparison, and the 4K tests waited for relevant artwork to load. Longer frames also became shorter. The 95th-percentile frame interval improved from 30.6 to 19.4 milliseconds in Godfall and from 22.3 to 14.0 milliseconds in Extraction. Across all four tests, this measure improved by approximately 21% to 37% , alongside the higher average frame rates. The percentages measure the final optimization pass against its own baseline. Earlier performance and memory fixes are also included in this update. What changed during gameplay [*] Faster enemy health-bar rendering. Matching bars reuse their rendered appearance, avoiding repeated work in large crowds. Health values, warning thresholds, colors and visibility remain accurate. [*] Less repeated wall rendering work. The game reuses wall clipping information while the relevant walls, camera and display remain unchanged. Changes to gates, room geometry or the view refresh it correctly. [*] Less work outside the screen. Long decorative network lines and large floor rings draw only the portions that can reach the visible area. Visible shapes, moving dashes and timing are preserved. [*] More efficient Extraction effects. Fixed a glow effect from moving network packets spilling onto long route lines. Camp rings, security sweeps, chest markers and labels now respect the arena's existing glow settings and performance limits. [*] Faster World CPU targeting. Removed repeated full-crowd searches from ordinary target evaluation. Out-of-range candidates are rejected earlier. Target priorities, attack range and wall checks are preserved. [*] Lighter interface updates. The HUD and minimap avoid rewriting unchanged information. Menu-only unlock checks no longer run throughout every gameplay frame. [*] Less repeated effect and animation setup. Ground Fault lightning and ChainPing beams reuse their paths for layered strokes. Damage numbers avoid redundant font changes, while enemy animations and asset lookups reuse existing information safely. Visual quality The improvements preserve character artwork, animation frames and timing, enemy counts, weapon behavior and selected rendering resolution. Health bars retain their rounded appearance and accurate health display. The Extraction glow correction removes unintended decorative blur. Floor optimizations can produce tiny differences at antialiased edges; they preserve the visible shapes and movement. Visual checks covered 84 displayed health-bar comparisons , 1,278 floor-effect cases , wall rendering and Code Abyss rooms, plus character preview and fallback behavior. Pause-menu and background performance [*]Pausing now retains a frozen arena image instead of repeatedly drawing the entire battlefield at the gameplay frame rate. [*]Pause-menu input and the resume countdown remain responsive. Resizing or recovering the display refreshes the frozen image when needed, and resuming restores normal rendering. [*]The desktop game stops requesting unnecessary window repaints while hidden or minimized. Restoring or focusing the window refreshes it immediately. [*]The existing visible Steam-overlay refresh cadence is preserved. In a three-second settled-pause test, full arena redraws fell from 1,067 to zero . Time spent submitting those arena draws fell from approximately 1,043 milliseconds to zero . Minimized desktop repaint requests fell from roughly 60 per second to zero . Menus, input and window composition still require some CPU and GPU activity. Memory use and image loading [*]High-resolution hero, armor-skin and pet preview sheets now load when needed instead of all being requested at startup. Gameplay animation sheets remain ready for use. [*]Previews retain a visible matching fallback while their full-resolution artwork loads. Missing image formats fall back safely. [*]Starting a run releases eligible large preview images once the matching gameplay artwork is ready. Returning to a preview reloads its full-resolution artwork. [*]Default ROOT//PRIME artwork loads the 12 legacy fallback frames it needs , with the other 542 frames deferred until legacy artwork is selected. Full legacy artwork remains available. [*]Leaving a run releases retained wall images, wall geometry and health-bar graphics. Graphics caches have explicit limits and recover correctly after display resets. The initial image-loading comparison showed approximately 47% less estimated uncompressed image data : 4,193.5 MiB down to 2,220.0 MiB. Deferring unused legacy frames separately avoided another estimated 357.8 MiB of image data. These are image-dimension estimates, not percentages of total Windows RAM or GPU memory. Nine repeated run-to-menu cycles across Warmup, Godfall and Code Abyss confirmed that the tracked wall and health-bar caches were cleared on every return. This verifies that cleanup path; it does not establish a universal memory limit for long sessions. Display settings and resolution [*]Valid saved graphics-quality preferences are preserved instead of being reset to High. [*]World CPU now respects the selected rendering quality and scale. [*]Applying a resolution keeps the requested selection visible while confirmation is pending. The Apply button becomes Keep during confirmation. [*]The confirmation is brought into view and focused after the window shrinks, including keyboard and controller navigation. [*]Display errors remain visible through subsequent display updates. Confirmed settings are retained; Revert and the 15-second automatic rollback remain available for unconfirmed changes. Clearer progression and locked modes [*]Locked mode, difficulty and destination cards can be inspected to see their requirements. [*]Requirements clearly show completed and remaining steps, with a shortcut to the next required run where applicable. [*]Normal and Extraction progression are explained separately. ROOT//PRIME prerequisites, earlier-tier guardian or extraction requirements, and Encryption Keys held versus needed are shown where relevant. [*]Fixed an error when opening help for a locked Code Abyss tier. Existing unlock requirements remain unchanged. Armor, enchants and inventory [*]Equipment explanations now distinguish complete armor from enchants applied to eligible base armor. Complete equipment replaces that slot's base armor; it is not another stacked armor layer. [*] Review Armor Swap shows the resulting character power for the proposed swap before anything is removed. [*] Confirm · Swap & Enchant returns the equipped complete item to inventory with its socketed gems attached, then applies the selected inventory enchant to the appropriate base armor. [*]Replacing an existing enchant is stated in the confirmation. Cancelling leaves equipment unchanged, and outdated or repeated confirmations are rejected. [*]Renamed Sell Armor to Sell Upgrades to describe the action more clearly. Season pass and store [*]Purchase progress, results and errors are now visible instead of being hidden by the interface. [*]Opening the pass refreshes account, balance and ownership information. Refresh account provides a recovery action. [*]A balance that has not loaded remains unknown instead of being treated as zero. Checkout waits for an account read already in progress. [*]Repeated clicks and simultaneous checkout options are guarded while a purchase is pending. Refreshed ownership prevents starting another order for an already-owned pass. [*]Steam authorization timeouts now show an explanation and overlay guidance, clear the pending state and allow a retry. [*]Opening the pass without supported Steam access explains that the game needs to be launched from the Steam Library. The update passed 95 regression checks , including display confirmation, pause and resume, progression, armor and gem preservation, Recalibration Cube behavior, and simulated checkout recovery.
- Improved wall depth, textures and shading. Walls fade when your character is behind them. - Walk behind tall objects and cross low bases with a slight slowdown. - Sharper characters with lighting that better matches the environment. - Equipment specials now show cooldowns, active effects, stacks and charges beside passives. - Fixed overlapping moving walls and scenery drawing over walls. - Ground effects, including Glitch Mine, Frost and Earthquake, stay beneath walls and scenery. - Optimized Faultline effects to address freezes during heavy use. - Divergent Ancients keep their original item names and rarity colors. - Open Multiple comparisons now wrap long names and stat-quality details. - Comparison cards stack on smaller screens, keeping stats and Equip buttons accessible.
Turn the ground around you into a constantly pulsing earthquake, cracking the arena and slowing enemies by 30% while dealing damage over time. Hold your ground to raise boulders that wait for nearby targets, then launch and shatter, damaging and pulling enemies inward. Pair Faultline with Firewall to unlock Molten Faultline: flaming boulders that leave two-second fire patches dealing triple normal ignite damage. [img src="{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/46211516/d3ed6950cbfdfe908bf45fbf8f6e63019caa5c63.png"]
Inventory -Folders now cost 50,000 Credits and can hold up to 50 items. -Items stored in folders no longer consume main inventory space. -Pets no longer consume inventory space and remain available through the PETS folder. -Inventory counters have been updated to reflect these rules. Equipped Items -Equipped physical items, including trinkets, accessories, Ancient gear, and Event Horizon pieces, no longer appear in the inventory or consume inventory space. -Use UNEQUIP TO INVENTORY from an equipment slot to return an item to the bag. -Equipped items retain their stats, upgrades, sockets, and ownership. Enchanting -Removable equipment must be unequipped before its slot can be enchanted. -Blocked attempts display REMOVE EQUIPMENT FIRST and do not consume the enchantment. -Default armor can still be enchanted normally. Case Results -The multi-case results window is now larger and automatically selects the first reward. -Item stats and effects now support proper scrolling across mouse, keyboard, and touch controls. -Equipment and enchantment actions follow the same inventory rules as the character screen. Axiom Grafts -Axiom Grafts now sell for exactly 10,000 Credits everywhere they can be sold.
Optimized leaderboard responsiveness and reduced delay from up to several seconds to around 40ms.
• Added unique leaderboard avatars for all 15 character skins. • Existing records will update to display each player’s currently equipped skin after they return to the game. • New records will permanently display the skin equipped when the record was set. • Improved initial leaderboard loading speed. • Improved loading when switching between heroes and leaderboard categories. • Previously loaded standings remain visible while updated results load in the background. • Improved reliability during temporary connection issues.
- The minimap now unlocks with the tactical overlay after completing the Guide Beacon mission. Updated mission and settings text to reflect this. - Compiler Rage now grants +3% total weapon damage per rank, up to +15%, multiplying existing damage bonuses. - Fixed the Reset Altar showing “Bit Orbit” for VEX.E. It now displays VEX.E Dagger Orbit with the correct icon and reset messages. - Optimized Godfall’s floor rendering to reduce unnecessary GPU workload while preserving its appearance.
Visibility & Gameplay Update - Added a minimap transparency setting. - Added an option to enable or disable the minimap. - Added a “How VEX.E works” guide to the Weekend Challenge, explaining Bladespin’s healing and Monster Protocol’s burst damage. Control hints reflect your current keyboard or controller bindings. - Increased the text size of the FIRST BLOOD and BYTE PET tags. - Disabled the loot bag and item reward drops in the Weekend Challenge. XP and health pickups remain available. Reworked ground textures following feedback about distracting backgrounds. - Floors are now calmer and bright areas darker, while preserving each level’s distinctive look. [img src="{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/46211516/da94ce6b00b984c5593157503ecf3ec3a3eff081.png"] [img src="{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/46211516/6660eda8944560b67b4f58fc033a8cbeb319bbb3.png"] [img src="{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/46211516/51ffea0de463fff417b1d6cdde35c04ac56a9756.png"] Following feedback that the game could use a bit more challenge early on: - Increased enemy health and damage by roughly 20% on Warmup through Blackout. Root Prime and higher difficulties are unchanged.
Added a minimap to help you navigate during runs. Added the VEX.E // BOSS BYTE Weekend Challenge, featuring a dedicated leaderboard and exclusive companion rewards.
Fixed a small bug that caused players unable to start a warmup run when skipping the tutorial