Intermediate Mode

GAMEMODE

STORY

WAVES

REWARDS

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Marked for Improvement

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"For players who are familiar with the game and want a balanced experience."

―Gamemode Description

"For players who are experienced with the game and want a little challenge."

―Former Gamemode Description

Description

Intermediate mode is one of the six main survival modes. It has 30 waves, and the final boss is Patient Zero.

Cash is only gained if an enemy is killed, or in some cases, damaged by a specific amount of health. Additionally, the amount gained is a set amount of cash, which is not always equal to the enemy's health. It uses a slightly different method of distributing cash between players, as enemies split their cash between players, regardless of how much damage the player dealt to it. If, in a duo, one player does all the damage to an enemy, both players will receive 50% of the cash the enemy would normally give in solo. This means that in solo, you receive 100% of the cash when an enemy is killed, or it is damaged enough. With each additional player, this is reduced to 50% in duo, 33% in trio and 25% in quad. If it is a decimal, it gets rounded up or down depending on the decimal value. If it is at least 0.5, it gets rounded up. If it is less than 0.5, it gets rounded down.

Rewards

For former rewards, see this mode's Rewards page.

The game calculates how many Coins and EXP you receive based on how many waves you survived and if you won a match. During periods of 100% more EXP (Friday – Sunday), any EXP earned is multiplied by 2x through the XP Boost modifier. The VIP gamepass also multiplies any EXP earned by 1.25x through the VIP Boost modifier. These two boosts are additive. Some maps like Mason Arch can also increase all rewards by a specific amount. Regular EXP boosts are multiplicative with other modifiers.

Any rewards that end in a decimal point is rounded down, no matter the first figure of the leading decimal.

Rewards are calculated as:

Coins Reward	EXP Reward
500 ÷ (1 + [(30 ÷ Current Wave) - 1]^1.3) + 100 (Triumph Only)	120 EXP ÷ (1 + [(30 ÷ Current Wave) - 1])

Triumphing Intermediate mode can give out an additional reward, which can be a crate, consumable or ticket. They are meant to be guaranteed, though due to a bug this does not always happen. Additionally, items are sometimes not given out. These items are:

• Common (65%)
  • Time Scale Ticket
  • Revive Ticket
  • Grenade (1-3)
  • Flash Bang (1-3)
  • Molotov (1-3)
  • Present Cluster Bomb (1-3)
  • Fruit Cake (1-3)
• Uncommon (20%)
  • Low Grade Consumable Crate
  • Spin Ticket
  • Barricade (1-2)
  • Supply Drop (1-2)
  • AirStrike (1-2)
  • Santa's Air Strike (1-2)
  • Festive Tree (1-2)
• Rare (10%)
  • Mid Grade Consumable Crate
  • Napalm Strike
  • Blizzard Bomb
  • UAV
• Legendary (5%)
  • High Grade Consumable Crate

Badges/Achievements

There are badges and achievements that you can or could obtain when playing this mode, which may have additional rewards alongside them. These are:

Defeated Patient Zero!

✔ OBTAINABLE

Destroy the apocalypse from its roots! You have defeated Intermediate mode!

6,466,208 players earned this

Battle Hardened

✔ OBTAINABLE

Triumph in Intermediate mode

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Rewards:
250

players earned this

Seasons

During some Passes, the Intermediate mode could give currency rewards which you used to progress through a season. Rewards for all the seasons were calculated as:

Season	Rewards
Operation I.C.E Battle Pass	10 per wave
Ducky Revenge Battle Pass	10 per wave
Surf & Turf Battle Pass	10 per wave
Null & Void Battle Pass	10 per wave
The Final Act Battle Pass	10 per wave

Enemies

Normal Wave 1 42 Total	Speedy Wave 3 21 Total	Slow Wave 4 20 Total	Normal Boss Wave 6 4 Total
Abnormal Wave 7 26 Total	Quick Wave 7 34 Total	Heavy Wave 7 54 Total	Elite Abnormal Wave 9 22 Total
Hidden Wave 10 56 Total	Breaker2 Wave 12 179 Total	Breaker N/A 179 Total	Bolt Wave 13 159 Total
Reaver Wave 15 75 Total	Ghoul Wave 16 74+ Total	Hazmat Wave 18 62 Total	Living Experiment Wave 18 26+ Total
Speedy Boss Wave 20 10+ Total	Slime Wave 21 141 Total	Breaker4 Wave 25 38 Total	Breaker3 N/A 114 Total
Failed Experiment Wave 20 18 Total	Giant Boss N/A N/A Total	Patient Zero Wave 30 1 Total

Wave Structure

In Intermediate mode, the formula for calculating the wave bonus on each wave is:

$200 + (Waves Completed - 1) × $150

Depending on player count, the wave bonus is reduced using multipliers. These multipliers are:

Players	Reduction per Player	Total Reduction
Solo	0%	0%
Duo	6%	12%
Trio	7%	21%
Quad	6%	24%

Prior to the 11th of September 2024, the formula for calculating the wave bonus depended on the wave. They were:

• Between Waves 1-10 and on Wave 30:

  ($200 + (Waves Completed - 1) × $150) ÷ (1 - 0.08 × Players)

• Between Waves 11-20 and on Wave 30:

  ($200 + (Waves Completed - 1) × $200) ÷ (1 - 0.08 × Players)

• Between Waves 21-28 and on Wave 30:

  ($200 + (Waves Completed - 1) × $350) ÷ (1 - 0.08 × Players)

• On Wave 29:

  $15,000 ÷ (1 - 0.08 × Players)

The wave clear bonus appears when every enemy from that wave was killed. It is 35% of the wave bonus in solo, while for duo, trio and quad it is 20%.

The waves in Intermediate mode follow these timings:

Waves	Wave Timer	Skip Time
1-29	1:00	0:19
30	∞	N/A

Bolded names indicate an enemy type's debut.

There is a total of 766 enemies in Intermediate mode excluding enemies that are summoned.

For former wave structures of Intermediate mode, visit the Waves page.

Wave Structure

Wave	Commander Dialogue		Enemy Type & Amount
1	Commander	There's reports of zombie activity nearby.	4x Normal
	Commander	Secure the area and keep an eye out. We have teams that are pushing them in our direction.
2	-		7x Normal
3	Commander	We've got Speedy zombies coming in!	6x Normal, 3x Speedy
4	-		4x Normal, 5x Speedy, 4x Slow
5	Commander	It's nice to have some normal missions for a change. It's been awhile after everything that's happened.	6x Slow, 6x Speedy, 6x Normal
	Commander	Well, as normal as it can be.
6	-		8x Normal, 3x Slow (Bloated), 1x Normal Boss
7	Commander	Something's not right about the hoard. It looks like they've… mutated?	2x Normal, 2x Speedy, 2x Slow, 4x Abnormal, 4x Quick, 4x Heavy
	Commander	I'm contacting V for more insight. Be careful.
8	-		4x Abnormal, 8x Heavy, 6x Quick (Nimble)
9	Commander	I don't like the look of that Boss. These things are strong!	8x Abnormal, 8x Heavy, 1x Elite Abnormal (Boss)
	Commander	I don't want any surprises. Make sure we can see any Hidden enemies that could get behind us.
10	-		6x Heavy, 8x Quick (Nimble), 10x Hidden
11	Professor V	Commander? It's V. I'll be overviewing your mission while Dispatcher is… away.	4x Heavy (Bloated), 3x Quick (Nimble), 4x Heavy, 3x Quick, 8x Hidden, 2x Elite Abnormal
	Professor V	From what I can tell, Patient Zero's virus has started to evolve. It'll definitely need to be studied, so drag me back a corpse or two?
12	-		6x Breaker2, 5x Hidden, 3x Heavy, 7x Hidden, 2x Elite Abnormal
13	Professor V	That looks like a Bolt zombie! Medic has been dying to cut into one of those!	8x Bolt, 5x Breaker2, 3x Elite Abnormal, 6x Heavy (Bloated), 5x Breaker2
	Professor V	Hmm… Maybe when she's done, I could use a hydraulic press and shove it into a battery.
	Commander	There is something seriously wrong with the both of you!
14	-		6x Bolt, 10x Hidden, 5x Abnormal (Bloated), 5x Quick (Bloated), 8x Breaker2, 4x Bolt (Nimble)
15	-		5x Hidden, 3x Reaver, 5x Hidden, 3x Reaver, 5x Breaker2, 4x Bolt (Bloated), 2x Elite Abnormal, 1x Elite Abnormal (Bloated)
16	Commander	Watch out! There's a mutated ghoul somewhere in the hoard. It looks like it's Hidden, so be careful.	6x Hidden, 4x Bolt (Hidden), 2x Reaver (Hidden), 5x Breaker2, 2x Elite Abnormal, 1x Ghoul (Boss, Bloated, Hidden)
17	-		6x Heavy (Bloated), 2x Elite Abnormal, 1x Elite Abnormal (Bloated), 3x Reaver, 3x Bolt, 1x Boomer, 1x Bolt (Nimble), 1x Bolt (Nimble, Bloated), 3x Ghoul (Hidden), 8x Breaker2, 4x Bolt
18	Commander	I see a Living Experiment up ahead!	6x Hazmat, 4x Reaver, 8x Bolt, 4x Ghoul (Hidden), 4x Reaver, 6x Hazmat, 1x Living Experiment (Boss), 4x Breaker2
	Commander	Take it out quickly!
19	-		4x Reaver, 2x Ghoul (Hidden), 8x Hazmat, 4x Breaker2, 4x Bolt, 4x Bolt (Bloated, Nimble), 6x Hazmat, 3x Ghoul (Hidden), 4x Reaver, 6x Hazmat
20	Commander	Concentrate your fire on that Speedy Boss! Don't let it get past us!	8x Bolt, 8x Bolt (Bloated), 8x Bolt (Bloated, Nimble), 1x Speedy Boss (Boss, Bloated)
21	-		6x Hazmat, 7x Slime, 5x Breaker2, 3x Reaver, 5x Breaker2, 7x Slime, 3x Reaver (Bloated, Nimble), 3x Elite Abnormal, 2x Living Experiment (Bloated), 4x Ghoul (Hidden), 4x Slime
22	Professor V	Hey Commander, I've made some discoveries going through the files.	3x Bolt (Bloated, Nimble), 1x Boomer, 5x Slime, 1x Living Experiment, 3x Breaker4, 1x Speedy Boss, 7x Hazmat, 3x Ghoul (Hidden, Bloated, Nimble), 6x Bolt (Bloated, Nimble), 1x Living Experiment (Bloated), 5x Hazmat
	Professor V	It seems a medical specialist named Dr. Herrschaft used to work at a local town hospital, but was fired for experimenting on his patients.
	Professor V	According to the documents gathered so far, he spent time as a virologist who worked on viruses that were thousands of years old. That's insane.
23	-		1x Living Experiment, 5x Breaker2, 4x Slime, 6x Hazmat, 4x Slime, 8x Elite Hazmat, 4x Ghoul (Hidden), 2x Breaker4, 5x Elite Hazmat, 1x Boomer, 5x Bolt (Bloated, Nimble), 1x Hidden Boss (Boss, Bloated, Nimble), 7x Slime, 5x Elite Hazmat
24	Professor V	Here's some more. It was a hunch, but Dr. Herrschaft had created the foundation for the healing tech we use because of his cell replication studies.	6x Elite Hazmat, 3x Breaker4, 4x Reaver (Bloated), 6x Slime, 1x Speedy Boss, 6x Bolt, 4x Ghoul (Hidden, Bloated), 6x Slime, 1x Boomer, 6x Elite Hazmat, 1x Speedy Boss (Nimble), 6x Bolt (Bloated, Nimble), 6x Elite Hazmat, 3x Breaker4, 6x Slime, 4x Ghoul (Hidden), 1x Boomer, 3x Reaver (Nimble), 2x Living Experiment, 1x Living Experiment (Bloated)
	Commander	That healing technology is based off of a virus that forces damaged cells to repair and multiply, and that was the center of his work. Instead of losing all that research, TDS took possession of it and had Medic create a healing particle beam. Woah.
25	Professor V	From my guess, Dr. Herrschaft lost his license and went to his hometown to work on the virus once more. This date is right around the time the zombie outbreak happened!	6x Slime, 2x Ghoul (Hidden), 3x Hidden Boss, 6x Elite Hazmat, 4x Breaker4, 5x Slime, 3x Reaver, 3x Ghoul (Hidden), 3x Slime, 1x Failed Experiment (Boss), 4x Bolt
	Professor V	Wait... What if Dr. Herrschaft is Patient Zero? I mean, it wasn't until after the zombies started taking over the cities, and if he were to get infected it wouldn't surprise me he would be first in contact.
	Commander	I'll contact Headquarters. This discovery needs to be reported ASAP. Keep everything that was found between you and I.
	Professor V	Yes sir...
26	-		3x Living Experiment, 3x Breaker4, 4x Ghoul (Hidden), 6x Slime (Bloated, Nimble), 1x Boomer, 6x Hazmat, 6x Elite Hazmat (Nimble), 5x Reaver, 6x Slime, 4x Ghoul (Hidden, Bloated), 3x Living Experiment, 1x Speedy Boss, 6x Bolt (Bloated, Nimble)
27	-		2x Living Experiment (Bloated), 3x Reaver, 9x Elite Hazmat, 5x Reaver (Hidden), 5x Breaker4, 1x Living Experiment, 6x Slime, 10x Bolt (Bloated, Nimble, Hidden), 4x Ghoul (Hidden), 4x Ghoul (Bloated, Nimble, Hidden), 7x Elite Hazmat, 6x Slime, 1x Failed Experiment, 3x Reaver, 3x Breaker4, 1x Living Experiment, 6x Elite Hazmat, 6x Bolt (Bloated, Nimble), 1x Speedy Boss (Bloated, Nimble), 4x Breaker4, 5x Elite Hazmat, 5x Slime, 4x Ghoul (Hidden, Bloated, Nimble)
28	Commander	We've got eyes on Patient Zero. Make sure all units are ready!	10x Bolt (Bloated, Nimble), 6x Elite Hazmat, 1x Boomer, 1x Living Experiment, 3x Ghoul (Hidden, Bloated, Nimble), 6x Elite Hazmat, 6x Slime, 5x Bolt (Bloated, Nimble, Hidden), 5x Reaver (Bloated), 1x Boomer, 3x Breaker4, 6x Slime, 1x Speedy Boss, 2x Reaver (Bloated, Nimble), 1x Giant Boss (Bloated, Boss)
	Commander	When we get back to base, I'm going to have a long talk with Medic.
29	-		6x Elite Hazmat, 1x Boomer, 8x Bolt (Bloated, Nimble), 4x Ghoul (Hidden, Nimble), 2x Speedy Boss, 3x Breaker4, 7x Slime, 8x Elite Hazmat, 2x Living Experiment, 3x Ghoul (Hidden), 1x Boomer, 5x Reaver, 8x Slime, 8x Elite Hazmat, 4x Ghoul (Hidden, Bloated), 1x Living Experiment (Bloated), 1x Failed Experiment, 1x Speedy Boss (Bloated, Nimble), 6x Bolt (Bloated, Nimble, Hidden)
30	Commander	There's Patient Zero, give it everything we've got!	5x Normal (Bloated), 5x Speedy (Bloated), 5x Slow (Bloated), 5x Abnormal (Bloated), 5x Quick (Bloated), 5x Heavy (Bloated), 5x Slime, 1x Boomer, 3x Normal Boss (Bloated, Nimble), 3x Elite Abnormal (Bloated), 2x Breaker4, 1x Boomer, 5x Slime, 3x Reaver (Bloated), 3x Ghoul (Hidden, Bloated, Nimble), 6x Bolt, 2x Living Experiment, 1x Patient Zero, 1x Giant Boss (Bloated), 1x Boomer, 3x Elite Hazmat (Nimble), 3x Bolt (Nimble), 5x Slime, 1x Living Experiment
Lose Dialogue
		One icon and dialogue is randomly chosen upon defeat: •We're toast! •OOF! •Mission Failed, we'll get em' next time. •Not enough numbers! •Mistakes are just part of the journey.. •We're overrun chief! •We'll get them next time! •Don't give up! •We need back up sergeant! •We just had our grave dug.. •We have to fall back soldier! •Oops! Try again! •The enemies got to the base! •Strategy is key!

Soundtrack

Wave 1-9 & Wave 10-14
These soundtracks can be randomly chosen to play between these waves.

Wave 15-24
These soundtracks can be randomly chosen to play between these waves.

Wave 25-29
These soundtracks can be randomly chosen to play between these waves.

Final Wave
This soundtrack is played on the final wave.

• YouTube Upload
  YouTube Upload
• In-Game Version
  In-Game Version

Ambience
This soundtrack used to play between Wave 1-29.

• YouTube Upload (3 May 2024 – 25 September 2024)
  YouTube Upload (3 May 2024 – 25 September 2024)
• In-Game Version (3 May 2024 – 25 September 2024)
  In-Game Version (3 May 2024 – 25 September 2024)

Gallery

Icons

• 
  Current Intermediate mode icon.
• 
  Version 3 Intermediate mode icon.
• 
  Version 2 Intermediate mode icon.
• 
  Version 1 Intermediate mode icon.

Trivia

• Intermediate mode is the first regular survival mode to have music play on waves other than the final wave.
  • Hardcore mode does have music play on Waves 45-50 before Void Reaver spawns, though it is not a survival mode.
  • Fallen mode had ambient music added during a revamp released after Intermediate mode was added.
• Intermediate mode was first teased in an update forecast in September 2023, slated to release in early November 2023.
• The mode is not named after its final boss, Patient Zero.

Update History

• 3 May 2024 - v1.20.0
  • Intermediate Mode added.
  • Bug: Commander's observant animation does not play on Wave 16.
  • Bug: Rewards are unaffected by the difficulty based rewards on community maps.
• 6 May 2024 - v1.20.1
  • Now rewards a badge upon triumphing this mode for the first time.
  • Wave structure changed.
• 10 May 2024 - v1.21.0
  • Bugfix: Commander's observant animation now plays on Wave 16.
• 18 May 2024 - v1.22.0
  • Triumphing now has a chance to give one of these rewards:
    • Low Grade Consumable Crate with a 25% chance.
    • Mid Grade Consumable Crate with a 10% chance.
    • Time Scale Tickets with a 10% chance.
• 23 May 2024 - v1.23.0
  • Bug: Consumable crate and Time Scale Ticket rewards can no longer be gotten.
• 31 May 2024 - v1.23.5
  • Starting cash is now $500 regardless of player count.
• 19 July 2024 - v1.26.0
  • Triumph bonus reduced from 100 to 50.
  • Bonus rewards for triumphing changed.
    • Now has a 65% to give one of these Common items:
      • Time Scale Ticket
      • Revive Ticket
      • Grenade (1-3)
      • Flash Bang (1-3)
      • Molotov (1-3)
    • Now has a 20% chance to give one of these Uncommon items:
      • Low Grade Consumable Crate
      • Spin Ticket
      • Barricade (1-2)
      • Supply Drop (1-2)
      • AirStrike (1-2)
    • Now has a 10% chance to give one of these Rare items:
      • Mid Grade Consumable Crate
      • Napalm Strike
      • Blizzard Bomb
      • UAV
    • Now has a 5% chance to give one of these Legendary items:
      • High Grade Consumable Crate
  • Bug: Spin Ticket and Revive Ticket triumph rewards are not always given out despite being shown on the triumph screen.
  • Bug: Triumph rewards sometimes are not given out or shown in the triumph screen.
  • Bugfix: Triumph rewards now work again.
• 6 August 2024 - v1.27.2
  • Bugfix: Spin Ticket and Revive Ticket triumph rewards are now given out.
• 11 September 2024 - v1.31.0
  • Wave structure changed.
  • Wave bonus equation changed.
• 25 September 2024 - v1.33.0
  • Wave structure changed.
  • Updated ambient music.
  • Coins and EXP rewards increased.
• 23 October 2024 - v1.37.0
  • Updated bonus triumph rewards.
    • Uncommon rewards now also include the Turkey Leg (1-3) and Pumpkin Bomb (1-2).
    • Rare rewards now also include the Sugar Rush (1-2).
• 11 December 2024 - v1.45.0
  • Updated description.
  • Updated icon.
  • Changed Wave 24 and 28 dialogue.
• 15 January 2025 - v1.49.0
  • Updated bonus triumph rewards.
    • Turkey Leg, Pumpkin Bomb and Sugar Rush removed from the reward pool.
    • Common rewards now also include the Fruit Cake (2-4).
    • Uncommon rewards now also include the Present Cluster Bomb (1-3).
    • Rare rewards now also include the Festive Tree (1-3) and Santa's Air Strike (1-3).
• 26 February 2025 - v1.55.0
  • Updated ambient music.
    • Early-game tracks now include Biohazard and Synthesia instead of Into The Void, Melancholy Hill, Rebelution, Rain Dance and The Horde.
    • Mid-game tracks now include Liminal Oblivion, Oasis Plague and Drezzed instead of Contaiment Breach, Shellshock, Neuro Raze, Art Of War and Fill Them With Lead.
    • Late-game tracks now include Sound The Alarm!, Funky Zombie and Contaiment Breach instead of Catharsis, Desolate Dystopia and Portal To Hell.
• 5 March 2025 - v1.56.0
  • Base coins reward increased from 450 to 500.
  • Triumph bonus increased from 50 to 100.
  • Removed Operation I.C.E Event consumables from the reward pool.
• 12 March 2025 - v1.57.0
  • Enemies now always give the same amount of cash on death or after receiving enough damage, regardless of how much damage the player deals, but the amount is split between players, meaning in solo, an enemy gives 100% of its cash, 50% in duo, 33% in trio and 25% in quad.
  • Level requirement of Level 5 added.
• 9 July 2025 - v1.70.0
  • Updated bonus triumph rewards.
    • Uncommon rewards now also include the Sandcastle (1-3).
    • Rare rewards now also include the Heatwave (1-2).
• 18 October 2025 - v1.77.0
  • Updated bonus triumph rewards.
    • Sandcastle and Heatwave removed from the reward pool.
    • Common rewards now also include the Turkey Leg (1-3) and Pumpkin Bomb (1-3).
    • Uncommon rewards now also include the Sugar Rush (1-3).
    • Rare rewards now also include the Unholy Storm (1-2) and Necromancer's Tome (1-2).
• 20 December 2025 - v1.83.0
  • Updated bonus triumph rewards.
    • Sandcastle, Heatwave, Pumpkin Bomb, Turkey Leg, Sugar Rush, Unholy Storm and Necromancer's Tome removed from the reward pool.
    • Common rewards now also include the Present Cluster Bomb (1-3) and Fruit Cake (1-3).
    • Uncommon rewards now also include the Santa's Air Strike (1-2) and Festive Tree (1-2).

Notes