Last Ember maps, weather and modes: what changes

Last Ember has six maps: Pinewood, Amberwood, Frostfall, Blackmire, Ashfall and Sunscar. Every map is generated from a seed, so the layout changes each run, but each one has its own weather, enemy mix, water, ore, boss order and fire burn rate. On top of the maps sit five modes: Survival, Expedition, the Daily Challenge, The Long Night and the Boss Rush. Here is what changes from one to the next.

How do the six maps compare?

A map opens once that survivor has reached its day in Survival or the Daily Challenge. Every map has the same set of places: six outpost camps in a ring around the home fire, 3 shrines, a landmark, two ruins and an old cabin with treasure chests, ore rocks, fishing pools and plants. Harder maps also raise the item level of the gear that drops, so going deeper pays.

What makes each map different?

Pinewood

An old pine forest with rain and fog, and the gentlest enemy mix. Husks and wraiths start on day 2, boars on day 3, spitters and brutes on day 4 and lurkers only from day 6. It has plenty of trees. Fish here run from Minnow to Golden Carp, and the rare bloom is Moonpetal.

Amberwood

An autumn forest of red and gold where wolves run the ridges in packs. From day 3, each night spawn has a 45% chance to bring an extra wolf along, compared with 30% on most maps (Frostfall shares the higher rate). Boars show up on day 2 and lurkers on day 5. It is the only map that opens with Moonfang on night 5.

Frostfall

Frozen tundra. Snow slows everyone by 10% and blizzards by 18%, blizzards also cut your light by 20%, and the cold makes the fire burn 12% faster than Pinewood's. Wolves here have 15% more health and also come in the bigger packs, and the Pale Stag charges more often (every 3.6 seconds instead of 4.5). Its pools are frozen, so they do not slow you down.

Blackmire

A sunken bog of dead trees with thick fog most of the time. It has about 30 pools of water, and water slows anything walking through it by 32%, you included. Wraiths are the exception, so they cross the bog at full speed toward the fire. Husks are the most common enemy here and even walk in by day, with wraiths from day 2 and spitters from day 3. Fog cuts your light by 28%, so torches matter more here than anywhere.

Ashfall

Scorched badlands over rivers of lava. Lava burns survivors for 16 health a second, burns most enemies a little (not wraiths or bosses), and lights up the night. Every enemy type can appear from the very first night. Ashfall has the most emberite on any map, and with Fishing 15 you can fish the lava for better fish. Bosses here leave fire behind: the Molten Stag's charges and the Cinder Colossus's slams and rocks leave burning ground. The Expedition's final map, the Dark Heart, is built on Ashfall.

Sunscar

A red rock desert. Sandstorms slow you by 10%, cut your light by 22% and make the fire burn 20% faster. Water is rare (only a handful of pools) and there are fewer than half as many trees as on Pinewood, so wood is the real fight here. Husks are common from night 1, with spitters and boars from day 2. Sunscar drops the highest level gear of any map.

How do day and night work?

In Survival a day lasts 38 seconds and a night 55 seconds. The main fire burns 35% faster at night, and so do camps (30%). Every dawn:

• Night enemies flee, but bosses and landmark guardians stay.
• 16 new logs appear and a supply cache drops in the open.
• Shrines recharge, and the landmark challenge can be called again.
• New weather rolls in from the map's daytime list. Night weather rolls at sunset.
• In Survival and the Daily, a boss totem can rise from day 2, and the Ember Rift can open on day 6, 11, 16 and so on.

Every 7th night is a Blood Moon: enemies spawn 50% faster and move 15% faster. Every 5th night is a boss night. The bosses guide has each map's boss order.

What does each kind of weather do?

What are the game modes?

Survival

The open-ended run, and the only mode where you can add twists yourself. You can turn on any of these: Elites Only (every enemy an elite, a third as many, far more gear), Glass Cannon (you deal and take 40% more damage), Swarm (half again as many enemies with a third less health), Elite Hunt, Red Sky (every third night a Blood Moon), Hungry Fire, Endless Fog, Short Days, Early Bosses (a boss every third night) and Bounty (double XP, enemies hit 20% harder). Survival has no leaderboard, so anything goes.

Expedition

You carry your ember across four maps, three nights each, starting on the map you pick. The map's first boss comes on its third night. When it falls you pick your road: two maps you have not crossed yet, each with a twist such as Rich Earth, Bounty, Endless Fog, Red Sky or Glass Cannon. Hard roads also give everyone a boon. In co-op the party votes within 30 seconds, and a tie goes the host's way. You keep your levels, upgrades, gear, pack and fire along the way. After the fourth map comes the Dark Heart and the Last Dark. Beating it opens the next of five tiers. Each tier brings more enemies, less light, tougher monsters and, from Expedition II, twists that last the whole road; Expedition III adds elites everywhere, and Expedition V gives every boss an affix.

Daily Challenge

Everything about the day's challenge comes from the date in UTC: the map, the world, the difficulty (Hard about one day in four) and two twists from Glass Cannon, Swarm, Elite Hunt, Endless Fog, Red Sky, Short Days, Hungry Fire, Early Bosses, Rich Earth and Bounty. Only your first finished run each day goes on the board, later runs are practice, and dailies pay 25% more embers.

The Long Night

The sun never rises. A new wave starts every 60 seconds, a boss comes every 5th wave, a Blood Moon every 7th, a supply cache every 3rd, and shrines recharge every 4th. Your score is mostly time survived (ten points a second) plus kills and bosses.

Boss Rush

The map's five bosses, back to back, with a breather between fights and a boon to pick after each one. You start with 4 upgrade picks and get 2 more after every boss, downed teammates come back up at half health, the fire burns at about a third of its normal rate, and no common gear ever drops. There are five tiers, each opened by clearing the one before:

Does difficulty change the maps?

Difficulty sits on top of any map and mode. Hard gives enemies 1.5 times the health and 1.3 times the damage, and pays 1.5 times the embers. Brutal gives 2.1 times the health and 1.6 times the damage, and pays 2.2 times the embers. On the leaderboards Hard scores 1.3 times and Brutal 1.6 times.

Frequently asked questions