Difficulty and unlock context
| Label | Supported meaning |
|---|---|
| Casual | The lower difficulty tier shown in the game selector and achievement requirements. |
| Normal | The middle tier. The supplied UI recording shows Heroic becoming available after a Normal clear; treat this unlock detail as an observed UI flow, not a published official rule. |
| Heroic | A higher-difficulty clear used by Pioneer achievements and multiple challenge conditions. |
Pioneer versus Conqueror
| Achievement tier | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Pioneer | Clear that region on Heroic. |
| Conqueror | Clear on Heroic, meet the region’s Infernal Shard threshold, and do not use a Special Event Character. |
The listed Conqueror thresholds are Misty Forest 5, Bone Desert 12, Frost Ruins 18, Sealed Citadel 24, and Void Depths 24. Infernal Shards are unlocked after completing the full game according to the 1.0 announcement material.
Heroic challenges added or highlighted in 1.0
- Void Depths Pioneer: clear Void Depths on Heroic.
- All In: defeat the Void Depths boss before the end of round 8 on Heroic.
- Mad Genius: clear Void Depths on Heroic without using talents.
- Thinking with Portals: clear Chaos Realm on Heroic using Void Flame.
- Emberwarder: clear all five regions on Heroic at Infernal Shard 24 without using an event character.
Strategy notes and version limits
Older community advice mentions Flamethrower with Sniper, fire damage, a spiral or multi-turn maze, and poison synergies. Those recommendations were posted before 1.0 and are not verified current meta. Darkness mechanics described in older guides may also be outdated.
A reliable general approach is to leave room for tower footprints, build a route that gives your selected towers time to work, and adapt upgrades to the wave. The research does not establish one exact current build that guarantees every Heroic clear.
Sources and scope
This is an independent guide, not an official Refic Games page. Source roles and version limits are stated alongside each reference.
- Emberward 1.0 achievement notesMirrored developer update for Void Depths, shards, and Heroic achievements.
- Emberward Steam achievementsCurrent live achievement conditions.
- Community Heroic tower discussionHistorical strategy suggestions; pre-1.0.