Time Shards: the currency that survives
Gold and cards belong to one run. Time Shards are the one thing you keep. You collect them during a run from guardian kills, opening each room's exit gate, sealing void rifts (2 each), elites and the odd Merchant chest. Breaking the eclipse adds 120 more. When the run ends, win or lose, you bank 90% of what you collected, increased by any shard bonus you own. A run that ends with the clock running out still banks.
The main menu also offers a free daily reward of 60 shards once every 24 hours.
Shards have one in-run use: when you die in a fight you can revive once for 40 shards. Separately you can revive once by watching an optional ad. Each button disappears after use.
The Shrine of Time
The Shrine is where shards become permanent power. It has five tabs. Three of them belong to a single weapon: the upgrades you buy for the Knight's Sword do nothing for his Axe. Use the arrows to switch weapon and the hero row to switch hero. The other two tabs are shared by everyone. You cannot buy upgrades for a hero you have not unlocked.
| Tab | Applies to | What it holds |
|---|---|---|
| Power | One weapon | Raw offence |
| Survival | One weapon | Raw defence |
| Mastery | One weapon | That weapon's spell and its four Ascensions |
| Fortune | Every weapon | Luck, loot and control over your hands |
| Eternal | Every weapon | One-time upgrades for the whole roster |
Power, Survival, Mastery and Fortune nodes have five ranks costing 10, 20, 40, 70 and 110 shards, so 250 shards takes one node to rank V. Ranks IV and V of the three weapon tabs also need achievement stars on that weapon: 3 stars to buy rank IV and 6 for rank V, counted in Battle for Power, Bosses for Survival and Collection for Mastery.
Node examples, per rank
| Tab | Node | Each rank gives |
|---|---|---|
| Power | Might | +2% damage |
| Power | Ferocity | +4% critical damage |
| Power | Executioner | +3% damage to enemies below 30% health |
| Power | Overpower | +2% damage to elites and guardians |
| Survival | Vigor | +2% max health |
| Survival | Hide | +1 armour |
| Survival | Dodge | +1% chance to dodge a hit |
| Survival | Deflect | +3% chance to reflect a projectile |
| Mastery | (Spell) Haste | −2% spell cooldown |
| Mastery | (Spell) Echo | +4% chance the spell casts again |
| Mastery | Signature Focus | +0.5% damage per Signature held; rank V makes your first Signature arrive at level 2 |
| Mastery | Each Ascension | +1%, 3%, 5%, 7%, 10% damage while it is forged; rank IV lets it forge when one family is MAX and the other is level 3 |
| Fortune | Hoard | +4% Time Shards |
| Fortune | Bounty | +1 shard per elite |
| Fortune | Second Look / Spare Hand | Rerolls / banishes per run: 1, 1, 2, 2, 3 by rank |
The Eternal tab has single purchases: Eternal Might (+5% damage, 250), Eternal Vigor (+5% max health, 250), Eternal Hide (+4 armour, 200), Eternal Haste (+3% move speed, 200), Reroll (one extra reroll every run, 100), Reroll II (a second one, 200, needs Reroll), Banish (two banishes every run, 120) and Skip for Gold (100), which lets you turn down a hand for a purse of 14 gold plus 7 per room.
Achievements and stars
Achievements are tracked per weapon. Each weapon has fifteen tracks in five categories (Battle, Bosses, Collection, Progression and Special), and each track has three stars, for 45 stars per weapon. A few examples of the tracks:
- Slayer: slay 500, 3,000 and 15,000 monsters.
- Pathfinder: open the gate to room 3; open the gates to rooms 3, 5 and 7; do it again in Nightmare.
- Devourer's Bane: defeat the Abyssal Devourer 1, 3 and 10 times.
- Treasure Hunter: open 25 chests, 5 Epic chests and 3 Legendary chests.
- Forgemaster: forge 1, 2 and all 4 of the weapon's Ascensions.
- Ascendant: reach level 15, 25 and 35 in one run.
- Champion: break the eclipse; break it in Nightmare; break it in Nightmare with no revive.
Stars count in any order and are paid when you claim them on the Achievements screen. Every star pays 20, 60 or 150 shards, and many also pay a permanent Boon for that weapon, such as War Chest (start with 60 gold), Lucky First Chest (your first chest is Epic) or Keen Eye (+3% crit). Eight of the third stars grant Signature Mastery: one Signature family of that weapon can start a run already at MAX.
Above the tracks sit six summary cards. Each category card fills at 3, 6 and 9 stars and pays 100, 250 and 500 shards. The Legend card counts all 45: at 15 stars the weapon earns a title and Bloodthirst (+1% lifesteal), at 30 Second Wind (once per run a killing blow leaves you at 30% health), and at 45 a golden hero look and Early Forge (your first Ascension each run forges when both families reach level 3).
The first Legend star on any weapon unlocks the Druid. Legend stars on three different weapons unlock the Genie. The Demon and Nightmare open the first time you defeat Malphas.
The Chronicle and hunt milestones
A thirteenth page, the Chronicle, tracks goals across every hero, such as discovering 30 kinds of monster, sealing 300 void rifts or winning with every weapon. It pays run tokens (Reroll, Banish, Golden Hand and Second Wind, picked before a run and used up) and unlocks the Omens. Separately, every monster type has a lifetime kill count with tiers at 50, 250, 1,000 and 5,000; the last tier pays 150 shards.
Omens
An Omen is an optional rule for one run, with a gift and a price. Pick one on the Prepare the Run screen once it is unlocked.
| Omen | Gift | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Twins | Every tiered technique triggers a second time at 30% | −20% max health |
| The Fifth Hand | A fifth slot | −20% experience |
| Haste | Top tiers available from the first room | Tier-ups cost a reroll |
| Plenty | Hands offer five cards | Levels come 20% slower |
| The Crucible | Your element rider is twice as strong | You take 25% more damage |
| Crystal | Freezes, roots and stuns last twice as long | −15% damage |
| The Merchant | Twice as many chests, +50% gold | Every chest is a Supply chest; no Fates |
| The Quiet Hand | Every card arrives one tier higher | Hands offer three; no reroll or banish |
| Blood | 4% lifesteal, always | No regeneration and no heals |
| The Open Road | Dash cooldown −40%, and the dash carves | One fewer slot |
| Birthright | Your Capstone from level one | No Ascension and no Fusion |
| The Eclipse | Time Shards ×1.6 | Darker rooms; the boss gains a phase |
The Prepare the Run screen is also where you choose Normal or Nightmare, spend tokens and pick a mastered Signature. Which upgrades to buy first is covered in Strategy.