Nova Swarm Hotfix: Hangar, Reinforcements, And Ascendant Balance

Patch note timestamp: 2026-06-25 12:00 CEST.

This hotfix is focused on the feedback that came in after the last big combat-readability update: hangar progress should stay trustworthy, reinforcement waves should actually show up before the run is almost over, and the new late-game Ascendant ships should feel powerful without flattening the rest of the roster.

What Changed

• Fixed a hangar progress repair edge case that could make previously unlocked ships appear locked again.
• Restored the new-ship reveal flow when entering the hangar after earning new hulls.
• Improved Mayhem reinforcement reliability while keeping the rare surprise-wave feeling.
• Introducing the newe Ascendant ships, Unlocks at high levels.
• Cleaned up confusing end-of-run leaderboard status text when Steam leaderboard data is unavailable.
• Quieted combo-kill sound feedback so combo moments stay punchy without becoming grating.

Hangar And Ship Unlocks

Some players had valid progress history, but the profile repair path was being too aggressive and could hide ships that had already been earned. That path now preserves proven legacy progress instead of over-clamping it.

The hangar should now better reflect the real state of your career:

• Previously earned ships stay earned.
• Repaired profiles keep their real rank, sector, Codex, and run-clear evidence when that evidence exists.
• New ship unlocks should once again get their hangar reveal moment.
• Fresh Codex-only data still does not grant late ships by itself.

Reinforcement Waves

Mayhem reinforcement waves are still meant to be rare. They are not supposed to turn every run into a permanent dogpile.

The problem was that the first-reinforcement safety net could expire too early. If luck was bad, a player could reach much deeper levels before seeing the feature at all. That has been tightened:

• The normal rare roll remains around 5%.
• Reinforcements can still arrive while a large part of the current wave is alive.
• The first-reinforcement pity logic no longer expires after its target window.
• The warning callout and Mission Control reinforcement voice remain in place.

The intent is that reinforcements remain surprising, but not invisible.

Ascendant Ship Balance

The Ascendant ships are supposed to be late-game prizes, not a delete button.

The first balance pass reduced the visible stat table, but the real firing behavior still had too much extra output through rapid crits, wing shots, bonus shots, and trait cadence. This hotfix retunes the actual runtime damage package.

Current sustained output validation:

• Aegis Comet: about 10% above the best normal hull.
• Railbreaker: about 11% above the best normal hull.
• Drone Sovereign: about 11% above the best normal hull.
• Phase Seraph: about 11% above the best normal hull.
• Eirik the Viking: about 12% above the best normal hull.

Standard ships were not globally boosted. The normal 25-ship roster keeps its existing sustained damage output.

Score Status Text

The Game Over / score flow had some technical wording that looked like an error instead of a status message.

Cleaned up:

• No visible leaderboard slot this run
• Global: Offline - local still works
• Global: Failed - local saved

Those cases now read more clearly as Steam leaderboard unavailable / local score saved states.

Thanks for the blunt reports on this one. The hangar should be less weird, the reinforcements should be less mythical, and Ascendant ships should still feel like an endgame monster without making the rest of the game irrelevant.

Tiny Foundry