Six campaigns
Difficulty changes the shape of the game
Each campaign changes its length, economy, gate pressure, pacing, and enemy roster—not only creep health. All six can be played in Standard or as a Ranked Challenge.
Campaign ledger
| Difficulty | Waves | Starting gold | Campaign shape |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apprentice | 60 | $80 | One gate at a time and a relaxed learning pace. |
| Journeyman | 80 | $70 | Crossing streams begin at wave 12; mixed waves begin at wave 20. |
| Master | 100 | $60 | Dual streams arrive at wave 6, mixed waves at 12, and escorted Burls from wave 40. |
| Grand Master | 125 | $80 | Specialist roster, varied late-campaign decks, and command bosses. |
| Legendary | 160 | $70 | Relays, champions, denser formations, and thin economic margins. |
| Impossible? | 200 | $60 | Four-thread ground gauntlets, route warfare, and the fastest campaign pace. |
Grand Master, Legendary, and Impossible? unlock the costly Masterwork level 6 at wave 100. It doubles level-five damage without adding more firing-rate load.
What gets harder
More routes
Later campaigns start dual streams immediately and can split traffic across several deterministic ground threads.
Denser rosters
Specialists, armored air, splitting enemies, relays, champions, and command bosses arrive in varied seeded decks.
Less idle time
Countdowns shorten from a relaxed opening to nine seconds between later Impossible? waves.
Standard or Ranked Challenge
The campaign rules are the same within one published game version. Standard permits Finder and runbook guidance; Ranked Challenge locks the run, assigns a seed through a signed ticket, and can award CERT after exact verification.
Share the campaign ledger
Send the six-difficulty comparison or save its workbench card.