Pilots — since the July 13 update, we have focused on making Nova Swarm easier to understand, more rewarding to master, and more exciting to play.
Mayhem Tactical is now the recommended main mode. You have more control over your upgrades, Daily and practice modes are clearer, Ace hunts are easier to follow, Bombs and Point Defense are under your control, and every ship can now earn lasting mastery.
Three rare Cabinet Wonders may also appear between waves.
Thank you to everyone who has shared feedback, run reports, and clips. Keep them coming.
Mayhem Tactical is now the main mode
Mayhem Tactical is now the recommended way to play Nova Swarm.
It remains ranked, and every defeated boss is followed by a choice of permanent upgrades that last for the rest of the run.
Mayhem Pure remains available for players who prefer the original ranked rules without Tactical upgrade drafts.
Daily Challenge, Scout Run, and Sector Run now explain their purpose before launch, including whether they are ranked and what progress they allow.
Every mode also has its own spoken description, with smoother navigation using mouse, keyboard, or controller.
More control over your build
Mayhem Tactical now gives you more influence over how your build develops.
At Sector 5, every run includes a guaranteed Combo Anchor option—a major mid-run choice that helps define the direction of your build.
You can also:
- Ban an unwanted upgrade for the rest of the run.
- Hold an upgrade while considering other options.
- Rescan to replace the current selection.
- Build Overdrive up to three stacks.
Certain upgrade pairs now activate one of four Fusion Protocols. These special combinations create stronger and more distinctive builds without changing leaderboard scoring.
Tactical Directives now contain 50 stages, and unfinished progress carries into future runs.
Pilot Orders are also available in Mayhem Tactical.
Your current upgrades are easier to review during play, on the Pause screen, and in the Flight Report.
Graze Break’s counterattack is now larger, brighter, and easier to see. Its damage is unchanged.
Daily Challenge is easier to understand
Daily Challenge is a local, unranked run with a fixed ship, a fixed route, Tactical upgrades, and one clear goal: complete Sector 10.
Before launching, the Daily briefing shows:
- Today’s objective.
- The assigned ship.
- Your local record.
- The reset time.
- Your clears during the current seven-day period.
Failed attempts are compared by deepest sector. Successful clears are compared by score, followed by completion time.
The Daily screen also includes a seven-day Flight Log, local bests, a result card you can save, and a ready-made caption for sharing your run.
Daily Challenge remains local and does not submit to a public leaderboard.
Ace hunts are easier to follow
When an Ace appears, a clear contract shows:
- The gold-marked target.
- The attack style to expect.
- The reward for destroying it.
After the contract disappears, the Ace keeps a visible DESTROY ACE marker and reward label.
If an Ace and a Nemesis both award the same pickup, both rewards now appear separately.
Ace rewards remain available for longer and are easier to collect after the fight.
Destroying an Ace gives its normal score value. Hunting it is an optional way to earn useful loot, not a requirement for competitive scoring.
Three rare Cabinet Wonders
Three rare visual events can now appear between waves:
- Ghost Fleet Salute
- Starwhale Constellation
- Aurora Crown
Only one Wonder can appear during a run, and many runs will not contain one at all.
Wonders are purely atmospheric. They do not affect score, rewards, enemies, difficulty, or upgrade choices.
They appear behind the action and HUD, respect Reduced Motion, and avoid bosses, challenges, important messages, and the busiest combat moments.
Bombs are now under your control
Bomb pickups now grant three stored charges.
To launch one, stop firing, line up a boss, durable enemy, or useful group of targets, and press fire again.
Bomb charges remain stored during wave breaks, messages, upgrade drafts, and other moments when they cannot be used properly.
A charge is only spent when there is an available target and you deliberately press again.
Point Defense is clearer and more useful
Point Defense now clearly shows:
- The area it protects.
- Its remaining duration.
- When it activates and expires.
- When an enemy projectile is intercepted.
Point Defense destroys hostile projectiles inside its protection ring. It does not damage enemies.
The Flight Report now shows how many projectiles Point Defense intercepted during the run.
Clearer powerups and enemy projectiles
Timed powerups no longer lose duration while gameplay is stopped by menus, upgrade drafts, or intermissions.
Weapon-focused effects count down while firing. Other timed effects use time spent actively playing.
Twelve types of enemy projectiles now have more distinct shapes, cores, halos, trails, and movement styles.
This makes crowded fights easier to read without changing their hitboxes or collision rules.
Permanent ship mastery
Every ship can now earn its own permanent Mayhem mastery medals through ranked results.
Practice modes do not advance mastery.
Newly unlocked ships, and ships you have never used, keep a FIRST FLIGHT marker until their first launch.
Ship details also show how many local runs you have started with each ship.
More detailed run statistics
The Pause screen and Flight Report now show:
- Effective damage dealt.
- Average damage per second.
- Peak damage per second.
- Projectile accuracy.
- Your highest-damage weapon or effect.
Personal-best celebrations also remain visible for longer and carry cleanly into the end-of-run screen.
The Named Rival Ladder gives your next ranked run a specific pilot or Top-40 score to chase.
Better practice modes
Scout Run now includes three focused practice options:
- Calibration — a gentler run for checking controls, weapons, and basic systems.
- Bullet School — practice reading and avoiding enemy projectiles.
- Boss Lab — focused preparation for boss encounters.
Scout Run remains local and unranked. It cannot advance career progress, unlock achievements, or submit leaderboard results.
Swarm Elite
The achievement previously called Top Of The Swarm is now called Swarm Elite.
It is earned by submitting a ranked score of at least 250,000 points.
Existing achievement progress is preserved.
Clearer effects and stronger sound
Boss events, wave clears, pickups, combos, and other important moments now have stronger and more readable visual effects.
Reinforcement Swarms, Super Storms, Rare Chaos Visitors, Nova Miracle, and powerups also have more distinct presentations.
Thirty additional elite enemies have been added, bringing the total elite roster to 50.
Special-enemy warnings now use smaller, cleaner layouts that avoid important parts of the HUD.
Elite enemies show their protected state more clearly when they arrive and wait briefly before attacking.
Combat audio has also been improved with stronger impacts, better stereo detail, more variation, and cleaner mixing.
Longship Row Core now plays its full chant without being cut short.
Railbreaker’s sustained firing sound is shorter, quieter, and better paced.
More unique voice lines and sound effects have been added across bosses, menus, Tactical choices, Fusion Protocols, rare encounters, and powerups.
Quality of life and accessibility
Reduced Motion now applies more consistently to combat effects, Ace Contracts, rare encounters, and Cabinet Wonders.
Controller navigation has been improved throughout the game.
Returning from submenus is more reliable, compact HUD layouts are clearer, and interface scaling has been improved for 4K displays.
Additional cleanup and stability work reduces lingering projectiles, stuck visual effects, transition hitches, and slowdowns during heavier scenes.
Localization
All new and updated text is available in:
- English
- German
- Spanish
- Brazilian Portuguese
- Russian
- Japanese
- Korean
- Simplified Chinese
See you in the swarm.
Tiny Foundry