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Nova SwarmNewsNova Swarm Patch Notes: Cabinet Wonders & Combat Clarity
Game update

Nova Swarm Patch Notes: Cabinet Wonders & Combat Clarity

Nova Swarm · published 20 Jul 2026, 13:11 UTC

All newsPlayers around this dateRead on Steam

Ten Cabinet Wonders

Pilots, this update adds more wonder to the swarm while tightening several systems that player feedback helped us pin down.

Cabinet Wonders now draw from ten rare spectacles. Alongside Ghost Fleet Salute, Starwhale Constellation and Aurora Crown, you may now encounter:

  • Singularity Bloom
  • Celestial Koi Procession
  • Prismatic Supernova
  • Warp Cathedral
  • Quantum Eclipse
  • Nebula Jellyfish
  • Phoenix Comet

Every Wonder now has a richer star field and a longer, more dramatic presentation. They scale correctly at every supported window size, remain rare, appear at most once per run, and never alter your score or the fight.

Bombs that go where you aim

Bombs now travel upward as intended. They can lock onto an aligned Tractor or Hijacker, guide toward a moving target, and detonate at its current or last-known position. Enemy bullets pass through them.

The firing rhythm is unchanged: bank three charges, release fire, line up a boss, Tractor, tough enemy or cluster above you, then tap fire.

Sharper Focus and clearer danger

Focus Lens now reduces weapon spread by 40%, up from 25%, making the precision effect much easier to feel. Its damage bonus, projectile count and fire rate are unchanged.

Hostile shots now draw above the player's projectile stream. Holding Focus also dims ordinary friendly fire, while enemy shots, Bombs, warnings and dangerous beams remain fully visible.

Safer Magnet and clearer pickups

Magnet no longer pulls the hostile orange bonus drone into your ship. It attracts only real pickups and collectible bonus cores.

Ace and Nemesis rewards that grant two different powerups now drop separately. Each visible icon, pickup message and collected effect matches exactly what you receive.

Voice controls now silence every voice

Level-clear voices, boss banter and boss-death vocals now obey the global Voice switch and Voice Volume slider. Turning voices off, or setting Voice Volume to zero, immediately stops active and delayed speech.

Achievement repairs

No Repair Receipts now correctly checks the ranked Sector 10 clear and the 250,000-point threshold together. Losing a life before both conditions are met invalidates the attempt; deaths later in Overrun no longer erase a clean qualification.

Full Hangar Omega now correctly requires and describes all 30 playable ships instead of the old 25-ship requirement.

Thank you

These changes came directly from careful reports and follow-up testing from the community. One player also asked us to remove their own invalid Mayhem Pure leaderboard score, and we have done so. Thank you for the honesty and for helping us keep the competition fair.

Mayhem Pure keeps its consistent no-draft rules, and the core score formulas, save data and Steam Cloud paths are unchanged.

— Tiny Foundry

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