What's New
Every update to Blade Rush, newest first.
- Fix
Menu no longer spins your fan
The animated menu key-art ran an uncapped render loop (up to 120fps on some Macs) that re-created ~17 gradients every frame — so the fan revved even before playing. It's now capped to ~30fps, reuses cached gradients, uses fewer dust motes, and stops entirely when the tab is hidden.
- Art
Fierce weapon-evolution effects
Evolving your weapon now erupts in an effect-themed spectacle that also blasts nearby foes: a flame nova (Ignite), a blizzard (Frost), a toxic cloud (Venom), forked lightning (Chain), a life-draining red nova (Lifesteal), a void implosion (Execute), pillars of light (Holy), gold shockwaves (Crit/Cleave/Pierce) — with a themed flash, shake, and hit-stop.
- New
Weapon evolution
Your weapon's signature effect now evolves during a run — every 140 kills it advances a stage (up to ★★★), scaling its potency: stronger burn/venom/lifesteal/execute, colder frost, wider cleave, extra chain arcs, more crit & armor-pierce. The HUD shows the tier and announces each evolution.
- New
Accessibility: reduce flashes
A new 'Reduce flashes' toggle in the pause settings suppresses the game's full-screen colour flashes (for photosensitivity), joining the existing Screen Shake toggle. Persisted.
- New
Richer music + new sound cues
The soundtrack now alternates two lead melodies per bar (less repetitive) and layers an octave arp + a driving kick during boss fights and Boss Rush. New cues: an ominous sting when an elite appears, and a rising blip on every 10-combo milestone.
- New
Prestige milestones
Prestige Stars now unlock permanent milestone perks at thresholds (3/6/10/15/22/30/42/60 stars): +15% XP, +40 max HP, start with a relic, +8% crit, +1 Second Wind, +8 starting swords, +140 magnet range, and +25% base damage. The Shop shows the milestone track (lit as you reach each).
- New
Level-up cards show evolutions
When an elemental upgrade is one pick away from evolving, its level-up card now glows gold with an 'Evolves → Inferno/Absolute Chill/Plague' badge, so you can see the payoff before choosing.
- New
XP gems + magnet
Kills now drop XP gems (bigger gem = more XP) that are drawn to your hero — fast within magnet range (boosted by the Magnet upgrade), with a gentle homing drift otherwise so nothing is left behind. Collecting fills your XP bar smoothly.
- Fix
Faster, non-freezing load
Boot bakes ~880 textures; doing it in one frame froze the page. It's now spread across frames with a progress bar, so loading stays smooth and responsive. Everything is still fully baked before the game starts.
- Fix
Compact, collapsible quest tracker
The quest panel was eating too much of the screen on mobile. It's now much smaller (title + a thin progress bar) and has a show/hide toggle with a done-count, so it stays out of the way.
- New
New elite enemies: Caster & Splitter
Two new elite types join the horde: Casters (pink) hang back and lob homing projectiles at you from range, and Splitters (green) burst into two smaller shards when killed. Adds real moment-to-moment variety to fights.
- New
Companion pet (evolvable)
A little pet now trails your hero and zaps nearby enemies with homing bolts. It evolves through 16 distinct forms — growing bigger and fiercer (horns, wings, a crown) — as your hero climbs tiers.
- New
Session quests for coins
Every run now rolls 4 objectives from a pool of 40+ (kills, bosses, combos, absorbs, survive time, power, level, relics, evolutions, gates, ultimates, chests). Track them live in the HUD with progress bars; completing one pays out coins instantly with a toast.
- Fix
Blades now cut heroes they overlap
Your spinning ring used to pass through rival & AI heroes standing among the outer blades without hitting them. Combat reach now matches the ring's true drawn extent (all concentric rings), so any hero your blades visibly cover is actually sliced — with the clash spark on the target.
- New
Boss archetypes + multi-phase fights
Bosses now have unique mechanics by type — Summoner (add bursts), Teleporter (blinks next to you), Charger (telegraphed rush), Bomber (extra barrages), Shielder (a bubble that soaks most damage). Below half HP a boss enters Phase 2: a dramatic transition, then faster attacks, faster mechanics, and quicker movement.
- New
Map hazards
Maps now have environmental hazards you must play around: lava and toxic pools drain your HP, quicksand and toxic mud slow you, ice makes you slide (faster, harder to stop), and void whirlpools drag you toward their center. Each hazardous map scatters its own themed zones.
- New
Prestige
Once you've bought enough shop upgrades you can Prestige: reset your coins and all upgrades for permanent Prestige Stars. Each star is +5% base damage AND +5% coins forever, and stars never reset. Manage it from the Shop; your star count shows on the menu.
- Art
Grand hero rarity-up spectacle
Hero evolution is now more deliberate (no blur), and crossing into a new rarity tier plays a unique, escalating spectacle — blue for Rare, violet for Epic, gold for Legendary, crimson for Mythic, prismatic for Divine — with tier-colored rings, light beams, a full-screen banner, and a bigger flash/shake the higher you go.
- New
Upgrade evolutions
Level an elemental upgrade to 5 and it EVOLVES into an auto-casting skill: Ignite → Inferno (meteor storm), Frostbite → Absolute Chill (blizzard), Venom → Plague (toxic cloud). Evolved elements periodically strike on their own, shown by an icon in the HUD.
- Art
Ultimates now have real, visible effects
Every Divine ultimate got a bespoke effect you can actually see: falling meteors, forked lightning, a blizzard of snow, radiant light pillars, ground-shattering quakes with cracks, a lingering toxic virus cloud, black-hole vortices, and more — no more flat warning rings.
- New
Boss warnings + bosses hunt NPCs
A boss now announces itself with a pulsing 'Boss Incoming' banner and telegraph rings where it lands — and it butchers any AI hero that strays into its reach.
- New
Map intro banner + dynamic music
Each run now announces the map name as it begins (one of 12), and the music intensifies — faster tempo and driving layers — when a boss appears or Boss Rush starts.
- New
Relics — passive run modifiers
Chests can now drop one of 10 unique relics (Iron Blades, Berserker's Rage, Aegis, Midas Touch, Ember Heart, and more). They stack with your upgrades, so every run builds differently. Owned relics show in the HUD.
- New
Changelog page
This page! A dated timeline of every update to Blade Rush, reachable from the menu.
- Balance
Faster mid-game leveling
XP per kill now scales with the kill's value and the level curve is gentler (×1.55). Lvl 6→7 dropped from ~567 kills to ~80, so progression never flat-lines.
- New
4 new maps: Sakura, Cavern, Necropolis, Abyss
Sakura Garden, Crystal Cavern, Necropolis, and Abyssal Depths — each with a unique ground tile, props, themed obstacles, and ambient particles. The world now rolls one of 12 maps.
- New
3 new maps + themed obstacles
Sunken Marsh, Golden Savanna, and Celestial Ruins. Obstacles are now themed per map (gnarled tree, giant mushroom, cactus, ice spire, molten boulder, rune monolith).
- Art
Redrawn Divine champions
Plague Lord, Abyssal Tyrant, Prism Archon, and Lunar Sovereign rebuilt on the armored god-figure base so they match the grandeur of the other Divine heroes.
- New
Skill cooldowns reset on hero change
Evolving or transforming your hero instantly refreshes every skill — including a freshly-unlocked Divine ultimate — so you can use it right away.
- Redesign
Revamped main menu
A command-console layout: eyebrow + title lockup, an icon-card mode picker, a prominent PLAY button, and a player stats rail (Playing as / Best / Coins).
- New
Unlock heroes with coins
Locked heroes in the Codex show a coin price and can be unlocked directly — the practical way to play as high-tier and Divine champions.
- New
Game modes
Pick a mode on the menu: Normal, Endless (no Boss Rush), Boss Rush from the start, or Time Attack (5-minute score chase with a HUD countdown).
- New
Audio & motion settings
Independent SFX volume slider and a Screen Shake toggle, with all audio preferences persisted between sessions.
- New
Cinematic ultimates & intense Boss Rush
Divine ultimates trigger an anime-style cut-in banner with a bespoke sound per ultimate, and Boss Rush adds a pulsing crimson vignette.
- New
20 Divine heroes
Ten more Divine champions (Verdant Titan, Tide Emperor, Solar Deity, and more), each with a totally unique look and a one-of-a-kind ultimate.
- New
How-to-Play guide
A new illustrated guide page walks through the core loop, power, leveling, hero evolution, skills, bosses, and Boss Rush as flowcharts.
- New
Boss Rush endgame
Reach Lvl 10 (in Normal) and the horde gives way to waves of bosses — one lead boss plus escorts, growing in count and toughness.
- New
Choose your hero before a run
Pick any discovered hero in the Codex to start as it; the menu shows who you'll play as, or Auto to evolve with your score.
- New
Bigger world + obstacles
The arena grew to 4800×4800 and now has solid boulders, pillars, crystals, and stumps to navigate around.
- New
Signature weapon effects
Every weapon carries a distinct on-hit effect — ignite, frostbite, venom, chain lightning, lifesteal, execute, and more.
- New
Live ranking + run summary
An .io-style live leaderboard shows your rank, and each run ends with a summary of kills, bosses, best combo, and unlocked achievements.
- New
500 monster variations
A roster of 500 procedurally-built monsters across 5 tiers — fiercer and bigger as you grow stronger.
- New
AI survivor NPCs
Ten AI heroes roam the world with their own sword rings — they fight the horde, duel each other and you, and can be absorbed for power.
- New
The Codex
A scrollable gallery of every hero, rival, monster, boss, and weapon — units are discovered by encountering or defeating them.
- New
Hero evolution & rarity
Your hero visibly transforms as your score climbs, from a humble footman up through six rarity tiers to a bespoke Divine champion.
- New
Meta shop & elemental builds
Spend coins on permanent upgrades between runs, and pick elemental status effects (burn / frost / venom) during a run.
- New
Controls, audio & pause
Added a floating touch joystick, procedural background music, and a Pause + Settings overlay.