Cauldron — A new interactive object placed on every map. Sacrifice any item to receive a choice of 3 items of the same rarity tier. Common in = 3 new Commons to choose from. Legendary in = 3 new Legendaries. Rarity tier is strictly preserved — the Cauldron cannot upgrade or downgrade rarity. Available from the first wave of every run, including Endless Mode. No usage limit per run. The sacrificed item is permanently consumed with no undo.
v1.0.3 — The Cauldron Update
The largest content patch since launch. New mechanic, pause, 8 items.
Eight days after launch, Cakez shipped the first major content update — adding the Cauldron mechanic that retroactively changed the value of every item in the pool, a pause feature that was the single most-requested feature from day one, eight new items, and a balance pass. This patch fundamentally changed optimal Endless Mode strategy.
🧙 Developer Note — Cakez
"I have some good news for you! The Cauldron is here! Take any items, toss it in, stir, and voilà, you can choose any item of the same tier! You can now Pause the Game! Since many of you asked for this, it's actually quite relaxing to play now. Thank you for your incredible support, and I hope you have fun with these changes!"
Steam Community post · March 17, 2026
New Feature
The Cauldron
1 mechanic
ADD
🔮 Build Impact
The single largest strategic change in any post-launch patch. Stat-only Common items now have positive value as Cauldron fodder — no item is ever wasted. Early-run items that are superseded by better drops can be recycled rather than discarded. The optimal Endless Mode strategy now includes a specific Cauldron schedule based on round number and item availability. Pumpkin King and Venom Bow — both introduced in this patch — are best targeted through Cauldron draws. See the full Cauldron Guide for strategy.
The Cauldron interaction with existing items creates a few important strategy points:
- Common and Rare items you would previously ignore now have value as Cauldron input — recycle them for a chance at the specific Epic or Legendary you need
- Legendary-in / Legendary-out is extremely powerful — if you already have the Wand of Lightning and draw a second one, Cauldron it for a different Legendary
- The Cauldron does not have a cooldown and can be used mid-wave in v1.0.3+ (Pause was also added this patch, making Cauldron use safer)
- Do not Cauldron an item you want to keep — the sacrifice is permanent and irreversible
Pause
1 feature
ADD
Game Pause — The game can now be paused at any time, including mid-wave during active enemy spawns. Pause is mapped to the standard system key and works from any game state. Cakez noted: "it's actually quite relaxing to play now." This was the single most-requested feature in the Steam Community discussions in the first week.
The pause feature has a specific interaction with the Cauldron that constitutes an advanced technique: pausing after opening the Cauldron menu but before selecting an item prevents accidentally committing to an unwanted result. See the Cauldron Timing section of the Advanced Tips guide for details.
New Items — 8 Added
New Items
8 items
ADD
8 new items added to the item pool. All are immediately eligible to appear in the shop and from Cauldron draws upon installation of this patch:
Stone HammerRare
Ban HammerEpic
Ivy BowRare
Venom BowEpic
Pumpkin LordRare
Pumpkin KingLegendary
Ultra Vision GogglesEpic
Emerald BowEpic
ADD
Pumpkin King (Legendary, Any class) — Summons a Pumpkin Golem that fights alongside your party. The golem's critical interaction: it is not classified as an allied tower for the Lone Ranger proximity check, meaning the Archer retains its +20% damage bonus while the golem deals additional DPS. This makes Pumpkin King the highest-ceiling Legendary in the current meta for Archer builds. See the Pumpkin King item guide.
ADD
Venom Bow (Epic, Archer) — On-hit: applies a 5-stack poison that bursts for 5% of the target's maximum HP. Scales with enemy HP — does not hit the flat damage wall in Endless Mode. Currently S-tier for Round 50+ Endless runs where flat-damage items lose effectiveness. Core component of the Venom + Pierce combo build.
ADD
Emerald Bow (Epic, Archer) — Pierce attacks with a damage multiplier per enemy pierced (ramping). Pairs with Venom Bow to apply poison through multiple targets simultaneously. The Venom + Pierce combo was established this patch as the Endless Mode benchmark build.
ADD
Ban Hammer (Epic, Defender) — Heavy knockback on each Defender attack. Pairs with Stone Hammer (Rare) to create a repeating knockback loop on the primary choke path. Known as the Knockback Wall strategy — enemies are pushed back faster than they approach.
ADD
Ultra Vision Goggles (Epic, Any class) — Significant range increase. Currently the best-in-slot range item for maintaining Lone Ranger isolation on maps where the default Archer range makes safe positioning difficult. Increases the isolation bubble without requiring the Archer to reposition further from the action.
ADD
Stone Hammer (Rare, Defender) · Ivy Bow (Rare, Archer) · Pumpkin Lord (Rare, Any) — Supporting rare-tier items that complement the new epic/legendary additions. Ivy Bow provides bleed buildup as a Rare-tier precursor to Venom Bow builds. Pumpkin Lord summons a weaker version of the Pumpkin King golem.
🔮 Build Impact
Venom Bow + Emerald Bow together form the current Endless Mode meta setup for the Archer — percentage-based damage survives the flat damage wall that kills most builds by Round 50. Ban Hammer + Stone Hammer enable the Knockback Wall choke strategy. Pumpkin King is the highest single-item ceiling addition since launch. Ultra Vision Goggles solves the Lone Ranger range problem without sacrificing Archer positioning. See the full Item Tier List for updated rankings.
Balance Changes
Balance Changes
3 changes
NERF
Ork HP reduced — Ork enemy HP reduced from 12,000 → 10,000. 17% reduction. Community feedback identified Orks as disproportionately tanky relative to their role as a mid-tier wave filler enemy. Their damage output and behaviour were not changed — purely a survivability reduction to improve wave pacing in the maps where they appear in large groups.
CHANGE
Minor spawn pattern tweaks — Several maps received adjustments to enemy spawn timing and wave grouping. Specific values not disclosed. Intent: more consistent wave pacing between early and mid-game rounds, reducing the "spike" moments where unusually large groups arrive simultaneously in a narrow time window.
CHANGE
Minor adjustments to boss damage and enemy health — General light downward tuning across several map variants. No specific numbers were provided by the developer beyond "minor tweaks." Community testing has not identified specific changed values. Assumed to be in the 3–8% range based on observed survivability differences.
Quality of Life
Quality of Life
2 additions
ADD
Manual Level-Up Control (Settings) — Option added in Settings to control Tangy and tower level-ups manually rather than automatically. With Manual enabled, skill points queue when earned and are only allocated when you open the level-up screen deliberately. This eliminates the disruptive automatic skill-allocation popup that previously appeared mid-combat. Strongly recommended for all players past Map 3. Setting persists across runs. See Skill Tree Overview for full guidance.
ADD
Language Selection at First Launch — On first game launch, players are now prompted to select a language before the main menu. Supported languages: English, German, Spanish (Spain), Italian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Turkish, Russian, Ukrainian. Language can be changed at any time from the main menu. Translators were credited by name in the Steam post.
What Changed for Your Builds
Every Endless Mode build changed with this patch. The Venom Bow + Emerald Bow combo became the benchmark. Pumpkin King entered immediately as S-tier. The Cauldron gave every item in the pool a second purpose. If you're building an Endless Mode run, start with the Endless Mode Build guide which was updated for v1.0.3 meta.
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v1.0.2 — Balance Pass →