Hard Mode

Article

Structure

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Hard Mode
Level Requirement	None
Waves	30
Rewards
Token Reward	348 (Easy) N/A (Normal) N/A (Hard)
Experience Reward	85 (Easy) N/A (Normal) N/A (Hard)

Description

Hard Mode, previously called Normal Mode, is the second of the three main gamemodes. It themes around the ISC Faction, a space megacorporation run by Ignitus and his right man Saber Champion, being the bosses of this mode. It has a total of 30 waves.

As a middle gamemode, Hard Mode steps up the difficulty from Normal Mode by introducing flying enemies such as Winged and Glider, and more enemies that have Defense and Shield Health. Most late-game enemies have burn immunity or resistance, signifying the lava or molten theme of the ISC Faction.

When the Ranked-Up modifier is applied, the Vengeful Champion and True Ignitus are the main bosses. While the overall difficulty is raised, the final wave itself is arguably easier than the standard version.

Beating Hard Mode counts towards progression to unlocking Surveyor.

Enemies

• Standard
• Ranked-Up

Invader Wave 1	Sprinter Wave 3	Armored Wave 5	Cuffed Wave 6
Chained Wave 8	Winged Wave 9	Builder Wave 11	Creation Summoned
Major Sprinter Wave 13	Gargantuan X Wave 15	Mage Wave 17	Frost Wave 18
Glider Wave 19	Cursed Fire Wave 21	Static Wave 23	Flamer Wave 24
Summoner Wave 25	Gem Summoned	Reactor Wave 27	Lightspeed Wave 28
Apparition Wave 28	Saber Champion Wave 28	Prompter Wave 29	Hellflame Reactor Wave 29
Hellspeed Wave 30	Ignitus Wave 30

Swordsman Wave 1	Ninja Wave 3	Soldier Wave 5	Worker Wave 7
Metallic Wave 8	Jetpacker Wave 9	Builder Wave 11	Creation Summoned
Sprinter M5 Wave 13	Shielder Wave 15	Summoner Wave 17	Gem Summoned
Frost Wave 18	Glider Wave 19	Cursed Fire Wave 21	Pure Energy Wave 23
Flamer Wave 24	Faded Summoner Wave 25	Faded Summoned	Hellflame Reactor Wave 27
Hellspeed Wave 28	Mothership Wave 28	Vengeful Champion Wave 28	Prompter X Wave 29
Vengeful Speed Wave 30	True Ignitus Wave 30

Strategy

In Standard

• Due to the increase in difficulty, stronger towers such as Vulcan, Electricizer and Elite is recommended.
  • Beginner towers such as Slinger, Crossbower and Gunslinger are less effective in Hard Mode due to their low DPS, though they may be useful in certain occasions such as serving as stun bait.
  • Market is also recommended, though it is not necessary.
  • Support towers such as Bugler can boost your towers' DPS.
• Early-game is fairly easy, with a couple of Sharpshooters or Snipers being enough.
• Since flying detection is present in Hard Mode, towers with flying detection such as Sharpshooter, Elite or Surveyor are necessary to bring.
  • Some towers on certain paths cannot detect flying, such as Gunslinger and Electricizer, and some towers cannot detect flying at all, such as Vulcan.
• Crowd control towers such as Demolitionists can clear up hordes of enemies that are common in Hard Mode, such as Gems and Prompters.
• Due to the increased presence of Shield Health, Elite is recommended as it can deal 3x damage to shields.
• High DPS towers such as X-4 Vulcan, Electricizer and Lightbeamer should be present to deal with higher health enemies and the bosses.
  • As Saber Champion can target towers, spamming cheap bait such as Slinger or Market can help avert attention away from your main defenses, preventing loss of DPS.

In Ranked-Up

• Same thing but increased DPS.
• Unlike the normal variant, Vengeful Champion can be stunned by Mechanic or X-3 Electricizer.

Dialogues

Character	Wave	Dialogue
Captain	Wave 1, about Invader	"The time has come - they have began their attack! Quickly finish them off! As for you, I think you got the drill. Prepare for the Invaders."
Captain	Wave 3, about Sprinter	"Some of the fast ones are attacking us. You'd better kill them quickly!"
Captain	Wave 5, about Armored	"Nevermind then, some of them are heavily armored. Don't let them get close."
Captain	Wave 6, about Cuffed	"These ones are marked by their cuffs. They're the only ones coming, take them down."
Captain	Wave 8, before Winged comes	"I'm warning you now, but some of them can fly. Get some flying detection before they come!"
Captain	Wave 8, about Chained	"Large ‘Chained’ enemy inbound. This threat is even stronger than the Armored units we had already been dealing with."
Captain	Wave 9, about Winged	"This wave will determine if you listened to me or not."
Captain	Wave 11, about Builder	"This unit can build other units! Kill it first, don’t let it build it’s army."
Captain	Wave 13, about Major Sprinter	"Combining both the strength of a Chained and the agility of a Sprinter. A Major Sprinter."
Captain	Wave 15, about Gargantuan X	"A tougher Gargantuan unit? We must strengthen our defenses."
Captain	Wave 16	"Through your brilliance we survived. The battle is changing rapidly, so prepare for these next waves."
Captain	Wave 17, about Mage	"Those Mages from previous battle have returned. It seems like they joined forces."
Captain	Wave 18, about Frost	"Hey Freezers, You’re useless. Give. Up."
Captain	Wave 19, about Glider	"Gliders are appropriately named for their flying ability. Hopefully we have enough towers to combat this threat."
Captain	Wave 21, about Cursed Fire	"Fire enemies are approaching, with special healing properties."
Captain	Wave 23, about Static	"A white blur just passed by. Must be another threat."
Captain	Wave 24, about Unstable	"Unstable units can explode upon death and stun nearby towers. Watch out."
Captain	Wave 25, about Summoner	"Summoners are especially good at.. summoning. Let’s summon some lead in their faces."
Captain	Wave 26	"Unfortunately I have to leave. I’m sure you can do well on your own. Farewell."
Saber Champion	Waves 27	"Ah, good, another task.. You better make this easy for me." "Your attack must end. Your planet holds a lot of your economic value, so don't make me end your little tantrum here." "I know you can hear me. I learned your language just to say these words, you know?"
Saber Champion	Waves 27	Fine! If I have to best you in battle myself, I will!
Ignitus	Waves 29	"Impressive work defeating my.. overconfident leader." "His judgement was correct. End the assault, or I will end you." "Otherwise... I look forward to our battle. May the strongest win."
Ignitus	Wave 30	"A pity we couldn't use your assistance. Your technology is fascinating." "In violation of the Legion Act 31-C of the ISC, I, Ignitus, shall strike your rebellion down!"

Trivia

• Originally, Hard Mode had 40 waves, later reduced to 30 waves to make matches faster.
• The ISC Maps imply that the ISC is related to those maps, however, to obtain Mechanic, they have to be beaten in Expert Mode, which is centered around the XCF.
• ISC currently stands for Imperial Space Commerce.
  • ISC formerly stood for Intergalatic Solar Command.
• Unlike other gamemodes, the dialogue for bosses in Hard Mode is not represented by an Unknown speaker.

Gallery

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