Nordhold news & patch notes

Beta Patch 1.1.2

Season 4 wraps up in the next few days. The patch for Season 5 is already live on the Beta Branch for anyone who wants an early look at the new content and balance changes.

How to join the Beta? Check here!

See you on the leaderboards!

Got ideas, questions, or just want to hang out? Join our Discord and be part of the community.

• Fixxed Issue with Hydra Fusion Banner (Mortar x Runestone) where the Mortar Tower stopped shooting.

• Fixxed Issue with Elite Enemy Health in later Waves

• Fixxed Issue where sometimes Enemies storming your Gate couldnt defeat you and you were stuck in the Game.

• Fixxed Issue where sometimes more Workers where send out to your Lighthouse Mission then expected.

• Fixxed Issue where New Leaderboard Entries did not have the previous Season rank Badge available.

• Fixxed alot of smaller performance issues

Major 1.1.1 Patch

Balancing / New Relics & Specialisation / QOL & more

• New Season: Season 4 starts with todays Patch! Good luck on the leaderboards!

• New Meta Perk: Unlocked in the Lighthouse – now lets you see upcoming enemy types for the next wave

• New Specialization: Added specialization options for the Houses

• Meta+ Layout System: You can now save and manage different node layouts in Meta+ Mode!

• New Items: Added 5 New Relics to the pool

Honor Update

The Double Honor Event has ended, but we have permanently increased base Honor gains across the board!

• Waves 1–10: 4 → 10

• Waves 11–20: 8 → 15

• Waves 21–30: 12 → 20

• Waves 31–40: 20 → 30

• Waves 41–50: 30 → 40

• Waves 51–60: 30 → 50

• Waves 61–70: 30 → 70

• Waves 71–100: 30 → 100

Fusion Banner Changes (Buffs)

We have significantly increased the damage/scaling values for several Fusions!

• Chaos Bolts (Arrow x Reaper): Initial 50 → 66 | Common 15 → 20 | Rare 20 → 27 | Leg. 35 → 47

• Charged Arrows (Arrow x Arc): Initial 110 → 125 | Common 5 → 7 | Rare 7 → 10 | Leg. 10 → 15

• Branding (Runestone x Mortar): Initial 400 → 450 | Common 120 → 135 | Rare 160 → 180 | Leg. 260 → 315

• Destructive Strike (Mortar x Arc): Initial 10 → 12 | Common 3 → 4 | Rare 4 → 5 | Leg. 7 → 9

• Shockwave (Mortar x Arc): Initial 150 → 170 | Common 21 → 30 | Rare 28 → 40 | Leg. 50 → 70

• Critical Breach (Frost x Arc): Initial 200 → 220 | Common 60 → 70 | Rare 80 → 90 | Leg. 140 → 160

• Unchained Rage (Shadow x Raven): Initial 30 → 40 | Common 9 → 12 | Rare 12 → 16 | Leg. 21 → 28

• Clinking Mastery (Frost x Raven): Initial 300 → 330 | Common 90 → 100 | Rare 120 → 130 | Leg. 210 → 230

• Critical Impact (Raven x Tornado): Initial 50 → 60 | Common 15 → 18 | Rare 20 → 24 | Leg. 35 → 42

• Double Nova (Frost x Reaper): Initial 40 → 50 | Common 12 → 15 | Rare 16 → 20 | Leg. 30 → 35

Gameplay Tweaks

• Seal of Constancy (Relic): Damage bonus increased 10% → 15%

• End of Wave Order: Resolution order optimized to benefit the player (Boss → Hero/Upgrade → Mission Return → Market → Oracle → Mission → Banner)

• Darkness: The Shadow Tower Banner "Darkness" is now auto-banished from the pool upon reaching 100%

• Quadruplicity: This Meta+ Perk now correctly applies to Hydra (Runestone x Mortar Fusion)

• Hero Level Up: "Height Chance" and "Extra Resources" are now auto-banished from the pool in the late game

• Spell Damage: Hero Level Up upgrade buffed significantly: 20% → 50%

• Lightstorm: The Arc x Runestone Fusion no longer scales with the Weakness applied by Nightburst (Mortar x Shadow)

Improvements & Fixes

• Added the ability to reject Fusions

• Text and translation polish

• Various UI improvements (especially in Meta+ Mode)

• Event Wheel now displays exactly when Workers will return

• Optimized Save System stability

• Improved handling of Gold Skins (Supporter Pack) & Bug Report tool

• Removed legacy Demo code

Bug Fixes

• Fixed infinite loading screen when pressing "Play Again" in the Meta Mode end screen

• Fixed "Clearing Master" tooltip

• Fixed trigger behavior for Reaper's unique spells

• Hero Gazebo: Tavern specialization + Arcane Rift Research spell multiplier now stack correctly

• Healing Logic: Fixed health regen reduction to apply to total scaled healing and corrected percentage calculations

• Elite Undead Magicians: Now correctly apply their healing aura to other enemies, not just themselves

• Audio/Video: Fixed resolution/window UI bugs + Intro sound now correctly respects volume settings

• Fixed an issue with loading Season Badges

• Fixed Spell Energy UI bug after obtaining the Druid Wand

• Exploits Fixed: Fixed Honor gain on wave restart, Infinite Oracle Reroll, and Spell Energy target mode exploit

• Endless Mode: Fixed damage scaling calculation for Raven's Doom Blast and Reaper's Meta+ Chaos Blast

• Fixed spell targeting issues where spells could hit multiple times through barriers

Season 4 starts

NEW SEASON: A new season has begun and the following badges are awarded for the previous season:

Steam Trading Cards

COLLECT NOW: We added multiple Nordhold Trading Cards to Nordhold, have fun collecting them and earninig some unique Emojis and Badges for your Steam Account! Thank you for all the incredible feedback across Discord, Steam reviews, YouTube, and the forums! We read every message, and the beta feedback in particular was invaluable.

Got ideas or questions (or just want to hang out)? Join our Discord and be part of the community!

Double Honor Event Ending & Permanent Buff!

Patch 1.1.1 Incoming

Steam Awards Nomination

Fixes

• Fixed Meta+ exploit
• Fixed an issue where Tornadoes could incorrectly trigger Wrath Scattering
• Meta+ bonus “Free Raven Banner” now works with the starter bonus “Free banner for the tower type of the first built tower”

Patch 1.1.04

New / Changes

• Honor gain per wave slightly increased

• Temporary Extra Honor Event: earn double Honor for now — enjoy!

• Minor color tweaks added to fusion animations

Fixes

• Fixed bug where the Lighthouse persisted after a Meta reset

• Fixed Tower Focus Priorities incorrectly transferring to other tower types/groups

• Fixed rare issue where trees could spawn on seals (symbols) in later biomes

• Fixed issue where tower SFX could be lost

• Fixed older saves sometimes not ending a run correctly

• Fixed occasional incorrect buff-arrow indicators from auras (Runestone / Reaper)

• Fixed case where Multitude (Generalist Banner) could offer 0 banners

• Fixed Tornado-family spells sometimes disappearing in front of barriered enemies (they now shatter correctly)

Adjustments

• Bloody Chain (Arc x Arrow Fusion) no longer requires Barbed Arrows to propagate Bleed

• Fusions can no longer be skipped by leaving the game

• Starting a new Meta+ run no longer removes the Wave 10 starter bonus

• Tutorial refined for clarity and safety

• Blood Whip statistics accounting adjusted

• Jump behavior adjusted for Celestial Jumps (Runestone x Arc Fusion) and Charged Arrows (Arc x Arrow Fusion)

• Changed key bindings are now shown for the spell in the Statistics view

Improvements

• Non-essential Lighthouse upgrade tile choices are no longer offered when all options would be identical at the end of the path

• Doom Cold (Raven x Frost Fusion) is no longer overwritten by weaker Frost effects

• Duplicate items can no longer appear in queues (e.g., Lighthouse & Market) → prevents empty offers

• Meta+ mode node display improved

• Minor UI tweaks

• Further tuning of tower animations

Got ideas, questions, or just want to hang out? Join our Discord and be part of the community.

Version 1.1

Wings of Chaos

The 9th tower has arrived: Chaos Reaper A ferocious close-range powerhouse that shreds clustered enemies and breaks barriers. Comes with fresh Fusions and new synergies to explore:

New / Changes

• NEW Tower (+4 Fusions)

• NEW Skin Shop (no real money – Honor only)

• NEW Season (including new leaderboards)

• NEW Fusions (two more are coming soon; for now there will be only one banner choice in two spots)

• NEW Spells

• NEW Relics

• 2 replaced Oracle paths

• 2 replaced starter bonuses

• 1 replaced and 1 new hero attribute

• Overhauled UI

Adjustments

• Arrow Tower range: 3 → 4

• Bosses can no longer perform the same boss skill multiple times in Meta Mode or Ascensions

• Honor is now awarded after Wave 40 in addition to Elite/Boss kills

• Wave 50: barrier health reduced

Relic Changes

• Coinfall: 2 → 4

• Magic Contract: 10% → 15%

• Scope Lens: 15 → 25

• Necrotic Curse: 80% → 75%

• Golden Incentive: 3 → 5

• Timber Stockpile: waves 10 → 20

• Elixir of Aleboost: 20% → 30%

• Burden Cart: 3 → 2 affected Outposts

• Distant Wing: -0.8 → -0.6

• Fractured Arrow: 3% → 5%

• Frost Cube: 120 → 125%

• Galdra Earrings: 10% → 15%

• Rikur’s Axe: 10% → 15%

Building Changes

• University – Best Selection: 10× → 6×

• Hero Tower Specializations: share of original spell damage increased 70% → 80%

Banner Changes

• Ring of Death now executes enemies under 15% (was 10%) health

• Darkness: 3/4/7% → 6/8/14%

• Doom Scattering – Base: 160 → 250%; Upgrades: 18/23/42 → 45/60/105%

• Skyfall Arrows: +20% → +50% arrow damage

• Glacial Nova: 5 → 10% chance

• Bloody Chain (Arrow x Arc Fusion): Base 15 → 10%; Upgrades 5/7/11 → 3/4/7%

Meta+ Nodes

• Small extra-shot (Arrow) nodes: 1% → 2%

• Mortar Meta+ AoE: 1% → 2%

• Slow amount reduced: 7% → 5%

Hero Changes

• Resources on map: 10% → 15%

• Spell damage upgrades: +20% → +50% spell damage

• Beer productivity: 10% → 25%

• Stone/Wood/Gold per worker (respective buildings): +2/2/1 → +4/4/2

• Gold per worker per wave: 1 → 4

• Rare banner chance: 7% → 10%

• Power Spike (Spell): +4% → +3% spell damage

Fixes

• Fixed Tornado “Endless Enemy Defense” bug (now interacts correctly with barriers)

• Fixed a bug that could skip waves

• Fixed excessive bonus from Plate Crusher (Rare Relic) when combined with Basic Training (University)

• Weakness is now applied correctly during Jumps in Endless Mode

• Fixed slow calculation on higher waves (enemies could exceed the intended slow cap)

Improvements

• Fixed UI glitch in Discoveries when displaying perks

• Better price refresh rates for tower unlock costs

• Minor scaling optimizations for higher Endless waves

• Higher Bleed stack amounts now possible (previously stacks could disappear at very high values)

Season 3 starts

NEW SEASON: A new season has begun and the following badges are awarded for the previous season:

Roadmap Update: v1.1 Delivered

Version 1.1 is out, which means the roadmap beats shown in the image are now shipped: Q1 Launch ✔️ Q2 Core Expansion ✔️ Q3 Major Update 1.1 ✔️ Looking Ahead: we’ll continue with steady, incremental updates as they make sense; shaped by your feedback and our still-not-empty backlog. 😄

Thank you for all the incredible feedback across Discord, Steam reviews, YouTube, and the forums! We read every message, and the beta feedback in particular was invaluable.

Got ideas or questions (or just want to hang out)? Join our Discord and be part of the community!

New / Changes

• Added a "Next Wave" button (bottom right) when only one path is selectable

Fixes

• Fixed glitch in lighthouse missions related to worker count and banners
• Fixed issue where exploring could result in an empty tile
• Fixed Arc SFX bug
• Adjusted Tornado travel time so its flight duration now matches the intended value and is no longer affected by crossed hex tiles

Adjustments

• Arcane Fragments (Rare Spell Damage Relic) can no longer be obtained until Wave 5 is completed

Improvements

• Improved overall game stability
• Optimized behavior when all banners of a tower have been banished
• Optimized save process
• Text improvements and refinements
• Herbal Potion (Druid House Upgrade) is now locked on higher Ascensions when starting with full HP for that Ascension
• Various UI improvements for ultra-wide screens
• Optimized calculation for the Mystic Fury achievement
• Fixed error in game mode descriptions

Version 1.0.692

New / Changes

• NEW Gamemode: Meta+ Mode

• NEW Lighthouse Meta Upgrade: A new Pathing Choice System has been added

• NEW Mortar Banner: Crescendo has been replaced

• 7 NEW Relics

• Arcane Rift (University, War Tree, Spell Damage+) now increases spell damage multiplicatively

• Two new targeting options for Healer towers:   

  • Self-healing enemies   

  • Enemies that heal nearby units via aura

• Fire Arrows (Mortar x Arrow Fusion) now also transfers Burn via Charged Arrows (Arrow x Arc Fusion)

• Endless Damage Reduction scaling adjusted

• Endless Spell Base Damage Modifier increased – but now only applied at 7% for Lightning Surge-triggered spells

Fixes

• Improved leaderboard appearance, especially for new players

• Fixed issues with leaderboard entry overwrites

• Fixed saving of tower upgrade costs

• Multitude (Generalist Banner) now only affects banner rewards, not chests/Lighthouse/etc., as described

• Burn no longer deals damage to immune enemies until the immunity ends

Adjustments

• Marks of Ascension (Rare Relic) removed from the loot pool for the first 9 waves

• Raven Feather (Legendary Relic) downgraded to Rare

• Vulnerability (Shadow Tower Banner) now reduces block/armor by a flat amount instead of a percentage

  • Defense reduction adjusted:

    • -10/15/25% → -4/6/10%

  • Vulnerability now auto-banishes once -50% block/armor reduction is reached

• Doom Scattering (Raven x Tornado Fusion) adjusted: fixed chance and added multiplier

• Unchained Rage Buff:   

  • Initial: 20% → 30%   

  • Upgrades: +6/8/14% → +9/12/21%

• Supernova (Volcano Unique) Damage Multiplier reduced: 5000% → 4000%

• Collapse (Tornado Banner) now capped at 25% Crit and 25 Stone Production

• Spell Evolutions of “Arcane Strike” adjusted

• Valknut’s Ascendant (Legendary Relic) now only applies to manually triggered tower upgrades

Improvements

• Performance boost: faster, smoother gameplay

• Volcano Mortar VFX optimized – significantly improved performance

• Save game stability improved

• Leaderboard stability improved

• Starter selection now includes a reroll button

• Fixed Runeforge icon highlight (yellow) when all 4 upgrades are completed

• Dual monitor behavior improved

• Critical Breach (Frost x Arc Fusion) now applies to all slow sources

• Reroll now consistently considers the Statue Tower when “Blessing of Choice” is selected

• Fixed damage upgrade tooltip bug after selecting Generalist Banners

• Banner list now scrollable with arrow buttons when too many are on screen

• Camera movement speed can now be adjusted separately for mouse and keyboard (WASD) in settings

• Auto-banish for Tempest-Stopper (Tornado Banner) fixed

• Fixed Fusion/Unique Banner exploits

• Statistics display and tracking corrected

• Rare boss spawn location bug fixed

• Fixed bug that allowed picking two Generalist Banners

• Optimized execution order of University and Oracle effects

• Fixed bug where Runestone Towers incorrectly applied Burn

• Fixed HP scaling of self-healing enemies at Wave 80+

• Relic overlay now correctly displays under the eye icon

• Shift-click in Trading Post now toggles between min and max stack size

• ESC now works in more cases (e.g. opens settings from title screen)

• Fixed bug causing inconsistent Ascension boss skills in later waves

• Fixed jump damage reduction interaction with Endless Defense

• Translations, text, and tooltip fixes

• Tavern’s Althing bonus now displayed in top left of building status

• Reroll logic in market (with Uni perk) improved

• Fixed Frost Magician bug when spell energy is empty

• Herbal Potions (Druid House Upgrade) now blocked when at full HP

• Fixed Runestone beam animation bug

• Fixed map generation bugs

• Effects on enemies now reflect real-time status more accurately

• Price update behavior improved

• Relics in “Discoveries” are now sorted by rarity

• Fixed bug where two statues could appear simultaneously

• Vision Chest now shows a counter of remaining unopened chests

• Improved University UI – wave completion bugs during defense phase resolved

• Armor of barrier carriers no longer applies to the barrier itself

Roadmap Update

This also gives us an opportunity to update our roadmap. The yellow ticks indicate topics for which we've already partially delivered planned content in this patch - but as you can see, there's more on the way:

Thanks again for all the great feedback we've received from the community - we read every message, whether it's on Discord, Steam reviews, YouTube comments, or Steam discussions. THANK YOU! Special thanks as well to everyone who provided feedback during the beta.

Quick reminder: if you'd like to help us test upcoming content:

Got ideas, questions, or just want to hang out? Join our Discord and be part of the community.

🛠️ Nordhold 1.0.6 is live on the BETA – Come test the latest update!

A Big Beta Update is Here – New Banner, Relics, and More!

⚠️ Reminder: This is a BETA – Expect Bugs!

🔓 How to Join:

Version 1.0.5.02

Hotfixes

• Fixed an issue where the “Power Rise” (Generalist Banner) could reappear as a selection
• Fixed a bug in the calculation of Endless Spell Scaling

Version 1.0.5

Tower Defense: Defend & Drill

Patch 1.0.0.46

New / Changes

• Adjusted the behavior of Charged Arrows (Arrow x Arc Fusion)

Hotfixes

• Fixed a bug where some Mortar explosions did not deal damage
• Fixed upgrade issues related to certain Tower Level-Up Group constellations
• Fixed an issue where Weakness (Shadow Tower Debuff) could not be reapplied when using the Ruby Ring

Adjustments

• Stave Construction (Castle Upgrade) cost reduced from 25 to 20 gold
• Enemies can now no longer be slowed by more than 95%

Improvements

• Improved clarity of Specialization buttons by adding icon coloring
• Fixed an issue where the “Blessing of Wealth” statue perk did not display in Korean
• Fixed a bug involving the Distant Wings (Relic) in combination with the Workshop Specialization
• Various text and translation improvements

Patch 1.0.0.45

Bug Fixes

• Fixed healing calculation issues in Ascension-Endless mode (related to Vitalpierce Relic for Bleed)
• Further crash optimizations and prevention related to Unity Error 0xc0000005
• Fixed issues with uploading certain leaderboard entries
• Fixed calculation and application problems with Ancient Knowledge (Legendary Relic affecting the University)
• Fixed bug in counting progress for the "Dark Offering" achievement
• Fixed an issue where clicking too fast during Specialization selection would deduct resources twice
• Fixed a bug where the first boss effect in Ascensions incorrectly affected the Sacrifice malus
• Marks of Ascension (Rare Relic) no longer applies to level 20 towers

Adjustments

• Thor’s Wrath (Arc Tower Unique) now also applies to Chained Arrows (Arrow x Arc Fusion)
• Enemy weakening scaling from Comfort Mode no longer scales endlessly in Endless Mode
• Specialized Workshop (Workshop Specialization) now permanently discounts the most built tower type — it no longer changes during the run

Improvements

• Additional performance optimization
• Improved phrasing and clarity in various texts
• Minor UI enhancements
• Tower animation slider now more thoroughly affects VFX elements (e.g. Ghost Raven)

Hotfixes

• Fixed crashes related to Unity Error 0xc0000005
• Resolved an issue where too many Victim Traits (from Darkness, Shadow Tower Banner) on a single target caused it to become immortal under the village shield
• Fixed issues with uploading leaderboard entries
• Fixed problems with the Prism Banner when using the Turkish language
• Fixed issue where the savegame could not be retrieved
• Fixed issues with fetching meta progression
• Fixed a bug where boss special units could become elite units (Ascensions & Endless issue)
• Fixed a bug causing the camera to occasionally jump around

Adjustments

• Arrow Tower Range reduced: 4 → 3
• Timberwind Mark (Arrow Tower Banner) adjustment:   - Wood Production Cap: Banner is now auto-banned when 15 Wood Production is reached
• Scaling until Wave 27 adjusted – transitions between Waves 23–26 made smoother and less punishing
• Slight difficulty increase on Wave 35

Improvements

• Performance optimization
• Screen shake can now be disabled via Settings > Video
• Texts revised for clarity in several places
• Fixed a bug that allowed "Reroll" via the hide icon (eye symbol)
• Reduced auto-save moments to improve gameplay flow

Your voice. Our next steps.

Roadmap Reveal Incoming – Tomorrow!

Hotfixes

• Fixed an issue that could cause crashes on Wave 50 starting from Ascension 12
• Fixed crashes related to specific device settings when placing towers
• Resolved connectivity issues with Steam in certain network configurations that prevented proper game launch

Adjustments

• Outposts now store their individual construction costs and calculate demolish costs based on those, rather than using a global value
• Ascension 17 effect now also applies to Specializations
• Orc Caller (Enemy, starts spawning on Wave 12) Nerf:   - Movement Speed: 2.3 → 2.0   - Health: 2300 → 2250   - Elite Health Increase: +170% → +150%
• Signs of Death (Lvl 3 Spell of Shadow Rain) Nerf: 6 → 5 Projectiles
• Fatal Weakness (Lvl 3 Spell of Shadow Rain) Buff: 8 → 10 Projectiles
• Golden Fertility (Mill Production Upgrade) Buff: Reduced Costs from 5/20/55 → 5/15/40

Improvements

• Performance optimization
• No more oversized green healing symbols on higher Ascensions
• UI refresh improved in some areas (e.g. certain events not updating counters/resource values correctly)
• Rank percentage display corrected in the overview
• Texts revised for clarity in multiple places
• Smoother camera movement
• Improved visuals of tower models on lower graphic settings
• Several hint texts corrected

🛠️ Nordhold Feedback Form is LIVE – Help Shape the Future! ⚔️

➡️ Fill out the short feedback survey here!

Hotfixes:

• Default settings optimized (Vsync, frame rate)
• Fixed a bug where the hover tooltip of the Althing Feast was incorrect after loading the game
• Doomblast (Raven Banner) VFX optimized to be more performant
• Fixed a bug that could cause visual artifacts in the loading screen
• Slight performance optimization
• Optimized Camera Movement behavior
• Bug fixed that incorrectly awarded the damage bonus from the Forge

Hotfixes:

• Adjustment of the decline button for unwanted relics (added a warning)
• Tutorial performance improvements on higher resolutions
• Descriptions/Translations improved
• Improved behavior of the settings menu

🛠️ Nordhold BETA is LIVE – Help Shape What’s Next! ⚔️

Early Access to New Content – But Enter at Your Own Risk!

🔓 How to Join:

📋 Current Beta Patch Notes 1.0.0.1:

• Adjustment of the decline button for unwanted relics
• Tutorial performance improvements (especially on high resolutions)
• Optimization of perk description display
• Correction of certain translations
• Improved behavior of the settings menu (especially the reset function)

🙏 Thank You for Helping Us Build a Better Nordhold!

🎉 17,637,000 Enemies SMASHED in 24 hours! 🪓

Fun Fact:

Exciting Things to Come:

📜 Roadmap for the Year

🔧 First Hotfix & Performance Optimization

🚀 The Launch Was Bigger Than We Ever Imagined:

💬 Join Us on Discord:

The full version of Nordhold is now available!

Supporter Pack

Defense & Prosperity

No Diplomacy, Only Defense

Have fun with Nordhold! <3

NORDHOLD Spotlight Series: Day 8 - Our Core: The Towers

Don’t miss out - Nordhold is dropping TODAY!

NORDHOLD Spotlight Series: Day 7 - New Buildings

Nordhold launches in just one day! Wishlist it on Steam and get ready to experience these new features firsthand!