Hardcore Rework

Description

Hardcore mode is one of the regular modes, being one of the hardest modes in the game. It can only be played by using the hardcore elevators or the hardcore matchmaking statue in the center of the lobby. This mode rewards Gems instead of Coins, unlike the other modes. Hardcore mode has 50 waves, and remains the second longest gamemode with the most waves to still be in game, with the only longer mode being Pre-MEGA Modes. It is not named after its final boss, the Void Reaver (Legacy). In this mode, shared cash is 0%, and enemies only give cash upon being killed. In this mode, there is also a 50% placement and upgrade price increase. Additionally, this mode has the HP Locked modifier, which makes it so the base health is always set to 100, regardless of players' levels. It also increases all currency rewards by 20%. You need to be at least Level 50 to play this mode.

Rewards

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

The game calculates how many Gems 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. These EXP bonuses multiply EXP after it has been multiplied by modifiers.

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

Currently, rewards are calculated as:

Gem Reward	EXP Reward
( 100 × (Waves/50)^1.75 + 150 (Triumph Only)) × 1.2	( 300 EXP × (Waves/50)^1.75 + 34 EXP (Triumph Only)) × 1.2

Triumphing Hardcore 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 (40%)
- Time Scale Ticket (1-2)
- Grenade (1-3)
- Flash Bang (1-3)
- Molotov (1-3)
Uncommon (30%)
- Low Grade Crate
- Spin Ticket
- Barricade (1-2)
- Supply Drop (1-2)
- AirStrike (1-2)
Rare (20%)
Legendary (10%)
- High Grade Crate
- Nuke

Badges

There are also two badges which you can obtain when playing this mode, which may have additional rewards alongside the badge. These are:

Triumph Hardcore
✔ OBTAINABLE

You triumphed over the strongest of armies. Congratulations you are truly, strong..

265,552 players earned this

Beat Hardcore Beta
✖ UNOBTAINABLE

Thanks for testing the hardcore beta and beating it!

Rewards:
1 Premium Crate

11,004 players earned this

Seasons

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

Season	Rewards
Season of Love	100^[2] × (Waves/30)^1.75
Solar Eclipse Season	50 × (Waves/30)^1.75
Frost Invasion Season	50 × (Waves/30)^1.75
Operation I.C.E Battle Pass	16^[3] per wave^[4]

Enemies


Abnormal Wave 1	Quick Wave 2	Hefty Wave 4	Invisible Wave 6

Balloon Wave 8	Lead Wave 10	Lead Boss Wave 10	Corpse N/A

Breaker2 Wave 11	Breaker N/A^[5]	Slow Boss Wave 15	Fallen Reaper Wave 16

Fallen Soul N/A^[6]	Hidden Boss Wave 17	Fallen Rusher Wave 19	Brute Wave 22

Giant Boss Wave 24	Molten Mech Wave 24	Breaker4 Wave 26	Breaker3 N/A^[7]

Grave Digger Wave 28	Lava Wave 30	Lead Balloon Wave 32	Tanker Wave 33

Patient Zero Wave 33	Molten Warlord Wave 35	Templar Wave 36	Circuit Wave 38

Fallen Guardian Wave 39	Fallen Honor Guard Wave 40	Fallen King Wave 40	Necrotic Skeleton Wave 40
	File:Soul Stealer (Legacy)FanRevamp.png
Rusher Wave 41	Soul Stealer (Legacy) Wave 43	Soul Wave 43	Soul Boss Wave 45

Jack-o-Bot Wave 46	Frost Hero Wave 47	Fallen Tank Wave 48	Awakened Fallen King Wave 48
File:Unknown SmallHexscape.png	File:Unknown SmallBoss.png	File:Void Reaver (Legacy)0.png
Unknown Small Wave 49	Unknown Small Boss Wave 49	Void Reaver (Legacy) Wave 50	Lord Exo Wave EX0

iWave Structure

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

($200 + ($50 × Waves Completed)) ÷ Players

Skip times are listed in the wave structure.

Bolded names indicates an enemy type's debut.

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

Regular Wave Structure

Upcoming

Exo Wave

Upcoming

Trivia

This is currently the only mode that still has the 2D Commander narrator.
The Hardcore mode remains the oldest gamemode to not have been reworked to still be in game as a normal gamemode. It has only received minor updates with time.
There used to be a different narrator that was meant to be used in this mode, that being the Void Caster, though she was never added into the mode.
- She has only appeared in certain public 2020 tests, where only the Wave 49 dialogue for her could be seen.
- She may be the reason why the Commander has so few lines in later waves, only talking once past Wave 41.

Update History

29 October 2020 - Overhaul v1.0.0
- Hardcore mode added.
- Bug: Tower placement cost is not increased.
- Bug: Summons give cash upon death.
31 October 2020 - Overhaul v1.1.0
- Placement and upgrade cost increase changed from 50% to 30%.
- Bug: Final wave music cuts out after the intro.
23 November 2020 - Overhaul v1.1.1
- Placement and upgrade cost increase changed from 30% to 50%.
8 May 2021 - Overhaul v1.3.0
- Bugfix: Fixed placement cost not being increased.
26 May 2021 - Overhaul v1.3.1a
- Final wave music changed to Raze The Void.
- Bugfix: Fixed final wave music not playing
12 March 2022 - v1.1.0
- Wave 47-50 timer changed from 200:00 to N/A.
17 April 2022 - v1.2.0
- Corrected "approaching" being spelt as "approacing" on Wave 1.
23 April 2022 - v1.2.1
- Wave structure changed.
- Triumph bonus increased from 50 to 150.
- Corrected making being misspelt as makining on Wave 27.
4 July 2022 - v1.2.5
- HP Locked modifier added.
- Hardcore mode is now referred to as Hardcore instead of Survival on the Triumph and You Lost! screens.
28 October 2023 - v1.9.0
- Bug: Starting cash is no longer given before Wave 1 starts.
31 October 2023 - v1.9.0g
- Bugfix: Starting cash is now given before Wave 1 starts.
22 March 2024 - v1.16.0e
- Added Infernal Abyss, Black Spot Exchange, Night Station and Cyber City to the map pool.
18 May 2024 - v1.22.0
- Triumphing now has a chance to give one of these rewards:
  - Low Grade Crate with a 50% chance.
  - Mid Grade Crate with a 25% chance.
  - Time Scale Tickets with a 25% chance.
23 May 2024 - v1.23.0
- Disabled the consumables hotbar.
- Bug: Rewards are sometimes not given upon triumphing.
31 May 2024 - v1.23.5
- Bugfix: Summons no longer give cash upon death.
7 June 2024 - v1.24.0
- Bugfix: Rewards are now always given upon triumphing.
19 July 2024 - v1.26.0
- Bonus rewards for triumphing changed.
  - Now has a 40% to give one of these Common items:
    - Time Scale Ticket (1-2)
    - Grenade (1-3)
    - Flash Bang (1-3)
    - Molotov (1-3)
  - Now has a 30% chance to give one of these Uncommon items:
    - Low Grade Crate
    - Spin Ticket
    - Barricade (1-2)
    - Supply Drop (1-2)
    - AirStrike (1-2)
  - Now has a 20% chance to give one of these Rare items:
  - Now has a 10% chance to give one of these Legendary items:
    - High Grade Crate
    - Nuke
- Bug: 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.
2 August 2024 - v1.27.0
- Wave structure changed.
25 September 2024 - v1.33.0
- EXP equation changed.
23 October 2024 - v1.37.0
- Bug: Timers for Wave 47-50 are no longer infinite timers.
16 December 2024 - v1.46.0
- Bug: Tower hotbar does not have the increased placement costs listed when starting a match in matchmaking, as it shows the incorrect base prices instead.
- Bug: HP Locked icon is no longer displayed.
15 January 2025 - v1.49.0
- Bugfix: Tower hotbar now displays increased placement costs correctly in matchmaking.
- Bugfix: HP Locked icon is now displayed.

Notes

↑ Only starts playing when Void Reaver (Legacy) spawns.
↑ Originally was 50
↑ Before 18th of December 2024, the rewards were 20 per wave.
↑ Is not given out due to bugs.
↑ Does not appear naturally, it can only be spawned by the Breaker2.
↑ Does not appear naturally, it can only be spawned by the Fallen Reaper.
↑ Does not appear naturally, it can only be spawned by the Breaker4.

Gamemodes
Survival	Easy Mode • Casual Mode • Intermediate Mode • Molten Mode • Fallen Mode (Hidden Wave) • Frost Mode • Challenge Trials
Hardcore	Hardcore Mode • Voidcore Mode
Special Maps	Polluted Wasteland II • Badlands II • Pizza Party
Sandbox Only	Sandbox Mode • Legacy Molten Mode • Golden Mode • Legacy Fallen Mode
Other	Tutorial • Story Mode • PVP
Removed	Versus • Pre-MEGA Modes • Legacy Hidden Wave • PVP Test

Waves
Survival	Easy Mode • Casual Mode • Intermediate Mode • Molten Mode • Fallen Mode • Frost Mode • Challenge Trials
Hardcore	Hardcore Mode • Voidcore Mode
Sandbox Only	Golden Mode
Special Maps	Polluted Wasteland II • Pizza Party
Removed	Pre-MEGA Modes • PVP Test

Rewards
Survival	Easy Mode • Casual Mode • Intermediate Mode • Molten Mode • Fallen Mode • Frost Mode
Hardcore	Hardcore Mode • Voidcore Mode
Special Maps	Polluted Wasteland II • Badlands II • Pizza Party

[1] Only starts playing when Void Reaver (Legacy) spawns.

[2] Originally was 50

[3] Before 18th of December 2024, the rewards were 20 per wave.

[4] Is not given out due to bugs.

[5] Does not appear naturally, it can only be spawned by the Breaker2.

[6] Does not appear naturally, it can only be spawned by the Fallen Reaper.

[7] Does not appear naturally, it can only be spawned by the Breaker4.

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