What 1.0 changed
Emberward left early access on September 17, 2026 with version 1.0. This page pulls the parts that change how returning players should play — new towers, a removed tower, the balance pass that moved real numbers, and the systems that were added around the game.
The headline: a fifth region
Void Depths is the new final region, and it sits after Sealed Citadel. The developer's framing is that it was harder to build than the previous four regions combined, and that it deliberately returns the game to maze building: walls alone are not enough, and you are expected to use void zones, portals and Academy support items to route monsters through the longest possible path.
Clearing Void Depths on Normal difficulty or higher unlocks the Void Flame, the eighth flame type. Two things follow from the region's existence:
- Infernal Shards and Special Event Characters are gated behind finishing the game. If you had them from early access, they are temporarily unavailable until you clear Void Depths on any difficulty.
- Heroic difficulty is the new ladder top. The region's Pioneer and Conqueror achievements are Heroic clears, and the Conqueror tier adds an Infernal Shard level 24 restriction.
Tower changes that matter
| Change | Detail |
|---|---|
| New: Volcano Tower (3x3) | Fires magma orbs that explode on impact and have a high chance to apply burning |
| New: Sentry Tower (1x1) | Enters Alert Mode after a period without attacking, then greatly increases attack speed when a monster appears |
| Removed: Basic Tower | Retired at 1.0 — the tower that carried most early access players through their first runs is gone |
| Sniper Tower | Now has 50% base critical chance, cost reduced 90 → 80 |
| Poison Tower | Damage 25 → 35, blue upgrade cost 50 → 40 |
| Bomb Tower | Damage 30 → 35, red upgrade damage +15 → +20 |
| Earthquake Tower | Range 4 → 5, damage 8 → 10 |
| Fan Tower | Range 8 → 12 (a large buff for maze folding) |
| Dart Tower | Range 4 → 4.5, attack speed 1.25 → 1 |
| Landmine Tower | Damage 30 → 35 |
| Chomp Tower | Red upgrade damage +20 → +30 |
| Decimate Tower | Red upgrade damage +20 → +25 |
| Dice Tower / Giant Dice Tower | Range 4 → 5 and 4.5 → 5.5 |
| Drone Tower | Red upgrade detection range +50% → +100% |
| Laser Tower | Charge speed reduced by 20% |
| Hammer Tower | Blue upgrade speed +40% → +30% |
| Torch Tower | Bounce chance 40% → 50% |
| Magic Arrow Tower | Cost 15 → 20 |
| Frost Ray Tower | Damage 6 → 5 |
| Electro Gate Tower | Damage 5 → 6 |
Quality of life
- Camera rotation with Q/E — you can now look at your maze from another angle.
- Drawing tool:
\erases part of a drawn line, and grid-shaped lines can be drawn directly. - Damage chart now switches between Show All Damage, Show This Round's Damage and Hide, and reports relic damage, fire source damage, burning effects and S.C.R.A.B. output alongside tower damage.
- Dopamine Mode in the settings menu turns defeated monsters into a shower of decorative coins.
- Main menu backgrounds unlock by clearing areas or reaching wave milestones in Endless Mode, with a random option.
- Block skins are now purchased with spare EXP on top of the talent tree.
System and account changes
- Steam Trading Cards are live, and long-time players received retroactive card drops.
- New localisations: Korean, French, German, Italian, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish and Russian. The game only checks your Steam language on first launch, so if you played during early access you need to change the language in the settings menu manually.
New achievements
1.0 added 15 achievements, bringing the total to exactly 100 — four Void Depths clear tiers, two stage-hold objectives (Snowridge Outpost and Wyrmfell Bridge), the Big Five tower combination, Oathkeeper, All In, Mad Genius, Monster Express, Abyssal Foodie, Thinking with Portals and Emberwarder. The achievements guide covers the full order.
Infernal Shard adjustments
Two shard changes are worth knowing if you build around them: Shard of Fragility level 3 now reduces HP to 3 instead of 1 and no longer blocks maximum-HP increases, and Shard of Nightmares level 2 no longer spawns werebeasts and frost elementals as large monsters from other worlds, which removes a run-ending unlucky roll from the level.
What happens after 1.0
The developer confirmed the game keeps receiving updates after 1.0, and explicitly did not ship a Supporter Pack — the stated reason being there is no soundtrack or art book to put in it, and recommending the game instead is worth more than a cosmetic purchase.