New to Warhammer Survivors? This guide covers what to know first: how a run works, how to evolve weapons, how to beat the Extremis Bosses, and how to unlock characters, stages and modes.
How a Run Works
Choose a character and a stage, then survive until the time limit. Defeated enemies drop Skull Gems, which give experience. Each level-up lets you take a new weapon or passive item, or raise the rank of one you already have.
The time limit is shown on the stage selection screen: 25:00 on most stages. Other limits: Perils of the Warp (30:00).
When the clock reaches the time limit, the stage counts as cleared, even if you fall right after. Your first clear of each main stage also completes an objective worth 500 gold coins. On the main stages, an Extremis Boss appears when the clock reaches 25:00 (see below).
- Objectives you complete during a run count even if you lose or quit early, so a run spent on a single goal is not wasted.
- The pause screen shows the map, your statistics and all of your equipment with its ranks.
- Warhammer 40,000 and Warhammer Age of Sigmar keep separate coins and progress, so each world starts from zero.
How to Evolve Weapons
Most weapon evolutions use a chest and follow these steps:
- Raise the base weapon to MAX RANK.
- If a passive item is listed in the recipe, own it. Raise it to the specified rank only when a rank is shown; otherwise, owning it is enough.
- With the recipe’s requirements met, open a Treasure Chest or a Supply Crate. Supply Crates drop from dangerous enemies.
Some chest evolutions need no additional item. For evolutions through character transformation, follow the transformation shown in the corresponding row of the evolution list.
Some evolutions keep the base weapon and others replace it. The Weapon Evolutions page lists every recipe with the ranks it needs.
In the game, the Armoury’s “Weapon Evolutions & Unions” list shows a recipe only after you have made that evolution, and it doesn’t show the ranks. Each world’s Armoury opens when you find its relic: Munitorum Dataslate (Gallowdark) or Warscroll (Skrappa Spill).
Most evolutions also complete an objective the first time you make them. Most of these pay 500 gold coins; a few unlock characters instead.
Starting characters and their evolutions
The characters you can use or buy from the start, and the evolution of each one’s starting weapon:
Extremis Bosses and Bane Weapons
An Extremis Boss arrives at 25:00 on the main stages. Without its bane weapon your attacks don’t lower its health bar, so have the bane weapon ready by then.
Each bane weapon evolves from the starting weapon of a character you rescue, so the simplest route is to play as that character. The passive items in these recipes are unlocked by objectives that use the Auspex or the Arcanoscope (see Relics to Find).
Chapter Master Marneus Calgar
Saint Celestine
Commissar Sebastian Yarrick
Hanniver Toll
Gotrek Gurnisson
SkarbrandAoS
Rostus OxenhammerDefeating any Extremis Boss unlocks the Limitless mode. Encountering all three Extremis Bosses of a world unlocks its Hobby Table stage, and defeating all three unlocks Perils of the Warp or Necropolis.
How to Rescue Characters
Some characters are unlocked by rescuing them on a stage; their entry on the character selection screen names the stage. During a run, go to them. The rescue counts when a screen shows them joining the fight and you choose “Accept”. The rescued character then fights alongside you for the rest of the run.
Rescue spots are often far from the start, with many enemies around them. Heading there with low-rank weapons tends to fail, so build up your weapons first.
After the rescue, buy the character with coins on the character selection screen. Some rescued characters are free, and character prices go up with each character you buy in that world.
Relics to Find
Relics are hidden on stages. Once you pick one up it stays unlocked, and many of them open menus, modes or merchants.
Look for the Auspex and the Arcanoscope first. They mark hidden items on the map in every stage of their world, and some relics and passive items, including the ones in the bane weapon recipes, are found with them. They are on Desert Wasteland and Gnarlwood. These stages open once you unlock 'Eavy Metal on any stage, for example by defeating the Carnifex that appears at 15:00 on Imperial Bastion, or the Plague Furnace at 15:00 on The Great Parch.
| Relic | Found on | Effect |
|---|---|---|
 Munitorum Dataslate | 40KGallowdark | Grants access to the Warhammer 40,000 Armoury menu. |
 Tome of Ectoclades | 40KGallowdark | Grants access to the Warhammer 40,000 Bestiarium menu. |
 Signum Array | Adds more detail to the map in Warhammer 40,000 stages. | |
 The Emperor's Tarot | Unlocks the ability to obtain and equip powerful Emperor's Tarot Cards. | |
 Maelstrom Key | Unlocks Endless War Mode for Warhammer 40,000. | |
 The Book of Tzeentch | Grants access to the Warhammer 40,000 Secrets menu. | |
 Gyrotemporal Vault | Unlocks Fast Attack Mode for Warhammer 40,000. | |
 Auspex | Reveals the location of hidden items and marks them on the map for all Warhammer 40,000 stages. | |
 Book of Woe | Unlocks Grim Darkness Mode for Warhammer 40,000. | |
 Warscroll | Grants access to the Warhammer Age of Sigmar Armoury menu. | |
 Creatura Mythologica | Grants access to the Warhammer Age of Sigmar Bestiarium menu. | |
 Atmospheric Anatomiser | AoSBloodwind SpoilFound with the Arcanoscope | Allows the merchant Drekki Flynt to appear on the Bloodwind Spoil stage. |
 Carto-Arcanabulum | Adds more detail to the map in Warhammer Age of Sigmar stages. | |
 Celestial Orrery | AoSUnder-Empire | Unlocks the ability to obtain and equip powerful Celestial Arcana. |
 Quicksilver Draught | AoSThe Twin-Tailed CityFound with the Arcanoscope | Unlocks Fast Attack Mode for Warhammer Age of Sigmar. |
 Arcanoscope | AoSGnarlwood | Reveals the location of hidden items and marks them on the map for all Warhammer Age of Sigmar stages. |
 Eye of Tzeentch | AoSGnarlwood | Grants access to the Warhammer Age of Sigmar Secrets menu. |
 Amberbone | AoSGnarlwood | Allows the Freeguild Fusilier to morph into the Fusil-Major on Ogor Warhulk. |
 Glimmering | AoSGnarlwoodFound with the Arcanoscope | Unlocks Endless War Mode for Warhammer Age of Sigmar. |
 Warpstone Talisman | AoSNecropolisFound with the Arcanoscope | Unlocks Grim Darkness Mode for Warhammer Age of Sigmar. |
Activating the Astropathic Relay on a stage (Imperial Bastion, Gallowdark, Ork Stronghold, Imperial Shipyard, Death World Invasion, and Hobby Table) lets Technoarcheologist Daedalosus appear there as a merchant. Activating it on every stage unlocks Technoarcheologist Daedalosus as a character. Technoarcheologist Daedalosus also sells the Teleportarium (10,000 gold coins): “Summons Astropathic Relays for the merchant Daedalosus in all other Warhammer 40,000 stages.”
How to Unlock Stages and Modes
Each world starts with one stage: Imperial Bastion and The Great Parch. Most of the others open when your character reaches a level on the stage before. The stages with an unlock objective:
| Stage | World | Unlocked by |
|---|---|---|
| Gallowdark | 40K | Reach level 20 on Imperial Bastion. |
| Ork Stronghold | 40K | Reach level 40 on Gallowdark. |
| Imperial Shipyard | 40K | Reach level 50 on Ork Stronghold. |
| Death World Invasion | 40K | Reach level 60 in Imperial Shipyard. |
| Desert Wasteland | 40K | Unlock 'Eavy Metal mode for any stage. |
| Hobby Table | 40K | Encounter the 3 Extremis Bosses. |
| Perils of the Warp | 40K | Defeat the 3 Extremis Bosses. |
| Skrappa Spill | AoS | Reach level 20 on The Great Parch. |
| Bloodwind Spoil | AoS | Reach level 40 on Skrappa Spill. |
| Under-Empire | AoS | Reach level 50 on Bloodwind Spoil. |
| The Twin-Tailed City | AoS | Reach level 60 on Under-Empire. |
| Gnarlwood | AoS | Unlock 'Eavy Metal mode for any stage. |
| Hobby Table | AoS | Encounter the 3 Extremis Bosses. |
| Necropolis | AoS | Defeat the 3 Extremis Bosses. |
'Eavy Metal is unlocked for each stage separately. The game describes it as: “Both enemies and Characters have an increased Move stat. Characters also gain a Skill and Coin bonus.” The unlock objective for each stage:
| Stage | Unlocked by |
|---|---|
| Imperial Bastion | Defeat a Carnifex on Imperial Bastion. |
| Gallowdark | Defeat Typhus on Gallowdark. |
| Ork Stronghold | Defeat Grukk Face-Rippa on Ork Stronghold. |
| Imperial Shipyard | Take no damage during minute 7 on Imperial Shipyard. |
| Death World Invasion | Defeat the Hive Tyrant on Death World Invasion. |
| The Great Parch | Defeat the Plague Furnace on The Great Parch. |
| Skrappa Spill | Defeat a Dankhold Troggoth on Skrappa Spill. |
| Bloodwind Spoil | Defeat a Khorgorath on Bloodwind Spoil. |
| Under-Empire | Take no damage during minute 13 on Under-Empire. |
| The Twin-Tailed City | Defeat a Plague Furnace and a Khorgorath on The Twin-Tailed City. |
Limitless: “Character stats can be improved by maxing out weapons.” It unlocks when you defeat any Extremis Boss.
Fast Attack, Endless War and Grim Darkness are unlocked by finding relics (see Relics to Find).
Coins and Enhancements
You pick up coins during runs, and objectives pay more. Coins buy characters, Enhancements and, during runs, goods from merchants.
Enhancements are permanent stat upgrades. Each rank you buy also raises the prices of the other Enhancements, so check the current price on the screen before you plan purchases. “Refund All” on the Enhancements screen resets them and returns the coins you spent, so you can rebuild for a different plan.
Some merchants only appear after you find a relic (see Relics to Find). The Merchants page lists what each one sells.
- Some merchants (Lord-Magnate Brokk Grungsson and Drekki Flynt) sell their other goods only while a Trade Agreement with them is active on the current stage. Buy their contract to sign one: Barak-Nar Contract (1,000 gold coins) and Barak-Mhornar Contract (1,000 gold coins). The first purchase also unlocks that merchant on the other Warhammer Age of Sigmar stages.
- Some Enhancements are unlocked only by buying an item from a merchant (Balphamus Vaulk or Drekki Flynt):
- Retribution (Unlocked by: Broken Sword)
- Bait (Unlocked by: Hunting Trap)