To make Warhammer Survivors easier, spend your coins on survival Enhancements (Toughness, Wounds, Save and Redeployment), keep the Corruption Enhancement at zero, and start with a sturdier champion such as Ulgromthier or a squad-builder such as Trooper Kozlowski. In a run, take weapons that slow or pull enemies, save screen-clearing pick-ups for emergencies, and kill the enemies that buff the swarm first.
Auroch has not detailed a simple difficulty setting, but the game gives you plenty of ways to tilt runs in your favor. Below we cover each one: permanent upgrades, champions, weapons, pick-ups, each faction’s tricks and what Auroch’s first hotfix changed.
Buy the Right Enhancements
Enhancements are the permanent upgrades you buy with coins between runs in Warhammer Survivors, and they are the single biggest lever on difficulty. If runs feel too hard, buy these first:
- Toughness recovers health over time.
- Wounds raises your maximum health.
- Save cuts the damage you take from each hit.
- Redeployment gives you a revive, so one mistake does not end the run.
- Move helps you outrun swarms and dodge charges.
- Attacks adds an attack to every weapon, so enemies die before they reach you.
Check your Corruption. Corruption is an Enhancement that makes enemies faster, tougher and more numerous. It is a challenge setting, not an upgrade, so if you bought it by mistake, it is making every run harder. Our guide to the best Enhancements to buy first has the full order.
Pick a Champion Who Forgives Mistakes
- Ulgromthier (Age of Sigmar) “starts each battle with a higher health pool,” per Auroch’s Steam Next Fest post. He is a rescue on the Under-Empire stage.
- Lorai, Child of the Abyss (Age of Sigmar) is available from the start, and her Nebulous Sea-Fog draws foes in, keeping them bunched up and away from you.
- Trooper Kozlowski (Warhammer 40,000) brings in more Shock Troopers as his Lasgun levels up, and followers “cannot take damage or collect items,” per Auroch, so his squad deals damage at no risk.
Avoid the Legend of Catachan early on: he starts with nothing but Frag Grenades. Our best character guide has our full picks for each universe, and our guide on how to get followers covers every way to add allies.
Take Weapons That Control the Swarm
- Nuln Oil works on both sides. Auroch’s Status Effects post says enemies it hits “will slow down and become vulnerable to fire damage.”
- Poison over fire when you are struggling. The same post warns that Burning “increases the movement speed of any enemy who is ablaze, whereas poisoned enemies slow.” Fire still hits hard, especially on Oiled enemies, but a burning swarm reaches you faster.
- Weapons that pull or restrain. The Nebulous Sea-Fog draws enemies in, and Lyssa Revenya’s Rope and Grapnel restrains them and often instantly kills weaker foes.
- Evolve early. An evolved weapon is far stronger than its base form. Our guide on how to evolve weapons lists every passive you need.
Use Pick-Ups at the Right Moment
Auroch says pick-up items are scattered around each stage’s faction-themed light sources, and they can clear “wide swathes of enemies” or heal you in a pinch. From its Pick-ups post:
| Pick-up | What it does |
|---|---|
| Blast Template | Destroys all enemies on screen, though some resist insta-kill effects |
| Melta-bomb | A powerful grenade with a short delay, so kite a mob into its radius |
| Hellfire Ammo | Temporarily raises all ranged damage and poisons enemies |
| Frenzon | Gives you Berserk, so your weapons attack more often |
| Suffocating Gravetide | Stuns enemies, then sends them fleeing in horror |
| Ravenak’s Gnashing Jaws | A pet that bites nearby enemies and sets them Burning |
| Purple Sun of Shyish | Damaging zones that hit anything, you included |
Save the Blast Template and the Gravetide for when you are surrounded, and keep clear of the Purple Sun’s zones.
Learn Each Faction’s Tricks
Auroch’s Faction Traits post and its other feature posts explain how each enemy army fights:
- Tyranids: Synapse creatures such as the Hive Tyrant drive nearby Termagants and Hormagaunts into a rage, giving them Berserk. Kill the Synapse creatures first: “Destroying Synapse creatures will cause the nearby lesser bioforms to fall into a temporary, stunned shock.”
- Orks: “if the screen starts turning red,” a Waaagh! is coming and more enemies spawn. Get somewhere open before it hits.
- Death Guard: they are “particularly potent at poisoning the player via noxious auras or weapon attacks,” so keep out of the green fog around Miasmic Malignifiers.
- Blades of Khorne: Bloodcrushers “charge in telegraphed attacks, giving you time to dodge out of the way.”
Know What the Hotfix Changed
Auroch’s November 11 hotfix made two of the game’s toughest enemies easier: it “tweaked Plague Marine boss variants and Meganobz so that they are not quite as impervious, making them easier to kill.” It also fixed poison clouds from Mork’s Mighty Mushroom hurting you long after they disappeared, and chests that dropped out of reach on Gallowdark and Imperial Bastion.
The hotfix is live on Steam. Auroch says GOG, PS5, Xbox, Switch, Switch 2 and mobile get it from next week, so on those versions Meganobz and Plague Marines stay tougher until then. Our best build guide has a loadout for each universe, and the Warhammer 40,000 guides hub has the rest.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there an easy mode in Warhammer Survivors? Auroch has not detailed one. The Enhancements are your difficulty dial: buy survival upgrades and keep Corruption at zero.
What does Corruption do in Warhammer Survivors? It makes enemies faster, tougher and more numerous. Leave it at zero if the game feels too hard.
What is the easiest character in Warhammer Survivors? Ulgromthier, for his higher health pool, or Lorai, who is available from the start and pulls enemies together with her Sea-Fog.
Why are Meganobz so hard to kill? They were tougher at launch. Auroch’s November 11 hotfix made them and the Plague Marine boss variants less impervious, on Steam first, with GOG, consoles and mobile getting it from next week.
Why do burning enemies move faster? That is how Burning works: Auroch says it speeds up enemies who are ablaze, while Poisoned slows them down.