How many Guildrun difficulties are there?
8 standard difficulties plus Endless Mode after the ladder.
Guildrun difficulty climb
This Guildrun difficulty guide is the D1–D8 progression answer for Steam players on Guildrun by Leyline (AppID 3669200).
Draft heroes on a hex grid, auto-battle through PvE runs, and craft relic-driven builds in a ~20-minute roguelike.
The demo ships 8 standard difficulties plus Endless Mode. Searching Guildrun difficulty or Guildrun difficulties usually means: how hard each step hits, when you are allowed to push, how modifiers force sustain pivots, and what unlocks after the eighth clear.
Enemy HP, damage, wave pressure, and modifier weight all rise as you climb — raw hero portraits are not enough. Last framing pass: July 20, 2026. Exact modifier names and unlock gates can change with weekly patches — confirm in-client before you plan a speed climb. Launch via Steam.
The eight-step Guildrun difficulty ladder
Think in three bands, not eight isolated numbers. Each band teaches a different failure mode.
| Band | Focus | What usually kills you |
|---|---|---|
| D1–D3 | Shop rhythm + one relic tag | Hoarding gold / empty frontline |
| D4–D6 | Sustain + hex placement | Burst-only comps leaking before boss |
| D7–D8 | Lovers, specs, item slots | Dead tags and weak Backup engines |
| Endless | Long-run scoring after the ladder | Treating it like a short D8 clear |
D1–D3 — learn the loop
Use early Guildrun difficulty steps to memorize the spine: draft → place → auto-combat → shop → specs / relics / items → boss. Win condition is consistency, not fancy pivots. Park one reliable tank, buy the first relic that matches your draft, and finish acts without panic-selling.
D4–D6 — sustain becomes mandatory
Enemy HP and wave pressure climb hard enough that glass boards fail mid-act. Invest in regen, shields, stall tanks, and cleaner positioning. Burst relics still matter, but only after the board can live long enough to cast twice.
D7–D8 — optimize the whole kit
Top ladder clears expect coherent specializations, filled item slots, and optional Lovers pairs that actually fit the relic plan. Random high-rarity heroes with mismatched tags wipe more often than a boring, tagged board.
When to raise Guildrun difficulty
Beating a boss unlocks the next step — that does not mean you must queue it immediately. Push when your last clear felt controlled.
- Do01You finished the previous boss without burning every panic sell
- Do02You can name the relic tag your board is actually building
- Do03Frontline survives the first half of an act without Backup babysitting every fight
- Do04You have at least one sustain answer (heal, shield, stall, or omnivamp)
- Do05You know which shop offers would force a pivot vs a greed skip
Stay one step longer if…
You are still learning Assassin back-row rules, Lovers range, or Backup keywords. Repeating a difficulty to practice positioning is faster than chaining D+2 wipes.
Skip upward only when…
You already clear the current step with leftover economy and a second viable relic direction. Skipping is a flex for experienced runs — not a beginner requirement.
Difficulty modifiers and how to answer them
Higher Guildrun difficulties layer global modifiers on top of raw stat scaling. Community writeups commonly call out anti-heal, armor inflation, crit suppression, swarm pressure, and dive patterns — exact labels can differ by patch, so treat the table as a response framework.
| Modifier pressure | Build answer | Placement answer |
|---|---|---|
| Anti-heal / regen cut | Shields, stall, armor, omnivamp alternatives | Keep stall tanks forward; do not lean on one healer |
| Armor inflation | True damage, burn / DoT, execute tags | Protect the DoT carry in rear rows |
| Crit suppression | Flat damage, cast frequency, summons | Stop forcing Assassin-only boards |
| Swarm / add pressure | AoE, burn auras, cleave items | Spread flanks; keep aura holders centered |
| Dive / backline hunt | Second frontliner, stealth, peel relics | Do not leave Assassins on the tip hex |
Read the tooltip before draft
Modifier text should decide your first relic greed. If the run suppresses crit, do not open Assassin-only. If heal is punished, prioritize shields from the first shop.
How builds change across Guildrun difficulty
The same hero roster plays differently on D2 vs D8. Use the builds page for sample comps, then apply these band shifts.
| Band | Comp bias | Economy note |
|---|---|---|
| D1–D3 | Tank + backline DPS | Buy the first on-tag relic early |
| D4–D6 | Double frontline or stall + aura | Save shards for sustain pivots |
| D7–D8 | Lovers core or relic-flex with full items | Respec dead specs instead of forcing them |
| Pre-Endless | Long-fight DoT / summon / sustain | Stop greeding short-burst only relics |
Pivot instead of ego-forcing
If two shops in a row offer relics that clash with your current specializations, respec. High difficulty punishes loyalty to a dead plan more than it punishes a clean mid-run pivot.
Tier lists are situational
Use the tier list as early / mid / Endless context — not as a static S-rank shopping list. A hero that stomps D3 can be a trap under crit suppression on D7.
After D8 — Endless Mode
Endless Mode is the post-ladder mode with global leaderboard intent and bonus-score pressure. It is not “D9 with a new number.”
Unlock mindset
Finish the eight-step Guildrun difficulty climb first. Endless assumes you already understand Backup engines, modifier answers, and long stall fights.
Build for duration, not highlight reels
Endless footage leans on Assassin engines, shard generators, and boards that still cast after many waves. Burst that one-shots a D5 boss often collapses when fights stretch.
Score is a different KPI
Leaderboard runs optimize bonus score rules — see the Endless page for scoring notes. A clean D8 clear build can be the wrong Endless opener.
Wipe recovery on the climb
Wipes are information. Extract the failure mode before you requeue the same difficulty.
| Wipe symptom | Likely cause | Next-run fix |
|---|---|---|
| Die before first boss | No frontline / bad hexes | Relearn positioning on current step |
| Win trash, lose boss | No boss rebuild | Reshape flanks and items at the boss shop |
| Bleed every other fight | Modifier mismatch | Force the counter tag from shop one |
| Strong start, late collapse | Dead specs / empty items | Respec + fill slots by mid-act |
| Clear once, fail the push | Unlocked too early | Farm one more clear for economy habits |
- Do01Name the modifier that killed you in one sentence
- Do02Name the relic tag you should have built instead
- Do03Fix one placement mistake before changing the whole roster
- Do04Only then raise difficulty again
FAQ
Does beating a difficulty unlock the next one?
Yes — clear the boss on your current step to unlock the next. Confirm the menu gate in-client after patches.
Should I jump straight to the highest unlocked step?
Only if your last clear felt controlled. Repeating a step to practice modifiers and placement is often faster.
What changes on higher difficulties?
Enemy HP, damage, wave pressure, and modifier weight. Adjust builds and hexes — do not only chase rarer heroes.
When do I play Endless?
After you understand the D1–D8 climb. Open the Endless Mode guide for scoring and long-run planning.
Related pages
Matched by build plan, shared topics, and guide progression — not random related links.